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Dead State

 
The RPG Scrollbars: Voices In The AirNov 30, 2015 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunThere’s something oddly comforting about radio. Comforting because it’s so familiar, so natural. Odd because it’s a comfort that most of us don’t really use all that much these days, at least not in the ways that games just casually assume. It’s a little like the whole audio diaries thing – it makes a vague sense that everyone in a city like Rapture might record their daily crimes and schemes onto audio tapes, even though in reality that whole idea became obsolete when Facebook/Twitter added status updates. But I do love in-game radio. It’s an amazing narrative tool, a great way of filling in the gaps the screen can’t show, a constant companion in the loneliest of situations, and not a bad way of making music diegetic – a term that translates to ‘let’s see who now sneakily Googles diegetic’. Forget Spotify. Never mind video. In RPGs, nothing can kill the radio star, unless of course you walk up to them and shoot ‘em in the face. Then, sometimes. Though usually nature still finds a way of keeping them on the air. … 12-HOUR MARATHON DS:R Stream Tomorrow + Reminder about Indie Megabooth Stream Fridays!Jun 17, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsJoin our Scripter / QA Lead Jake as he plays Dead State: Reanimated for 12 hours straight on the DoubleBear Twitch channel, tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. Pacific Time! Our Twitch channel is here: DoubleBear Twitch Channel As a bonus, the stream will also feature viewer polls that influence the choices Jake makes as he plays - who will he take into combat with him, what to do with a problematic ally, and how to handle a crisis are all possible decisions you can help him make. For starters, you can help him pick the character build he'll play: DECIDE MY FATE. Chip in, get hyped, and be sure to join us tomorrow morning (6/18) at 10 a.m. to see how far our team expert can get in twelve hours time! Also keep in mind that Friday we'll be doing our regular stream on Indie MEGABOOTH's Twitch channel at 4 p.m. PDT, here: Indie Megabooth Twitch Channel12-HOUR MARATHON DS:R Stream Tomorrow + Reminder about Indie Megabooth Stream Fridays!Jun 17, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsJoin our Scripter / QA Lead Jake as he plays Dead State: Reanimated for 12 hours straight on the DoubleBear Twitch channel, tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. Pacific Time! Our Twitch channel is here: DoubleBear Twitch Channel As a bonus, the stream will also feature viewer polls that influence the choices Jake makes as he plays - who will he take into combat with him, what to do with a problematic ally, and how to handle a crisis are all possible decisions you can help him make. For starters, you can help him pick the character build he'll play: DECIDE MY FATE. Chip in, get hyped, and be sure to join us tomorrow morning (6/18) at 10 a.m. to see how far our team expert can get in twelve hours time! Also keep in mind that Friday we'll be doing our regular stream on Indie MEGABOOTH's Twitch channel at 4 p.m. PDT, here: Indie Megabooth Twitch ChannelDead State demo updatedMay 26, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, Just a quick update for the people who've asked: The demo is now updated to include Dead State: Reanimated content and fixes. Please check it out if you're on the fence about buying the game - it's the first seven days of gameplay, so you can actually carry your progress from the demo into the full game if you choose to buy it. Enjoy!Dead State demo updatedMay 26, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, Just a quick update for the people who've asked: The demo is now updated to include Dead State: Reanimated content and fixes. Please check it out if you're on the fence about buying the game - it's the first seven days of gameplay, so you can actually carry your progress from the demo into the full game if you choose to buy it. Enjoy!Wot I Think Dead State: ReanimatedMay 19, 2015 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunI’d been wanting to check out Doublebear’s Dead State – which I’m going to loosely label ‘The Walking Dead does X-COM’ – for a while, but Wot I Thinkery fell to someone else upon its initial release. The free ‘Reanimated’ update is a fancy name for a mega-patch designed to address assorted gripes about the doomy turn-based strategy/RPG zombie survival game, and also my opportunity to finally visit the blighted town of Splendid, Texas. … Reanimated: Dead State Hefty Overhaul Patch ReleasedMay 14, 2015 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunDead State may have launched out of Early Access in December, but it’s just received a hefty update bringing the sort of stuff I’d expect from a final pre-launch polish-o-rama. Developers DoubleBear launched the ‘Reanimated’ update arrived yesterday, bringing overhauled combat balance, smarter AI, better pathfinding, new combat sounds and animations, a hardcore mode, new areas, new random encounters, bug fixes, and more to the zombie survival RPG. Cass grumbled about a few of those areas in her Wot I Think, so that’s good to hear. … Dead State: Reanimated is on Steam and free to owners of the originalMay 13, 2015 - PC GamerThe zombie survival game Dead State was decent enough for Evan to choose it as his "personal pick" for 2014. But it clearly could've stood a little extra work and fine tuning, too. As he said in his review, it was "somewhat blandly presented and burdened by bugs." So DoubleBear Productions went ahead and did just that for an updated version called Dead State: Reanimated. Dead State: Reanimated features major changes to combat systems and balance, as well as new AI behaviors for human enemies, enabling them to notice your presence more quickly and react to it more effectively. The new "PC Infection" option means your own character can, optionally, be infected as easily as any of your allies, and there's also a new Hardcore mode with more dangerous combat, increased resource consumption, slower healing, and lower morale. Reanimated also offers new areas to explore, plus new random encounters, combat sounds, animations, and even alarms in building that will attract all sorts of unwanted attention if they're tripped. Things have been improved under the hood as well. "We ve rooted out every crash and progress blocking bug to make sure you have the smoothest possible experience. Several popularly requested usability improvements have been added, such as friendly fire confirmation, looting piled up bodies, and an option to toggle Live Shelter movement on and off," the studio wrote. "Both allies and the undead have received major pathfinding adjustments that will reduce lag some people have experienced as well as make movement more consistent and natural." Dead State: Reanimated is live now, and will be a free update for anyone who already owns the game. A full list of changes is posted on Steam. Dead State: Reanimated is here!May 13, 2015 - Community Announcements​​​​We’ve spent a couple of months of solid development time making Dead State stronger, smarter, and faster, and we’re happy to say that the results are fantastic. We’ve brought new life - or is it unlife? - to every aspect of the game. This isn’t just Dead State anymore - this is Dead State: Reanimated! DS:R isn’t just an update - it’s our definitive enhanced edition with brand-new content, full of improvements and fixes requested by you, our community! The Highlights Major overhaul of combat balance! Core combat systems have been thoroughly reworked to take advantage of all the data and feedback we’ve gathered over the months since Dead State’s original release. Ranged weapons, melee weapons, armor, special attacks, ally / PC healing, and more have been reworked and carefully tested to create an engaging and challenging combat experience. Even the core combat system has been tweaked so that AC is calculated before damage reduction; this change makes combat more consistent and more fair​. Smarter AI! Medic, Guard, Grenadier, Sniper, and more - New AI behaviors and schemas exist for human enemies, making them more interesting and more challenging to fight! Enemies will notice your presence more quickly and fully utilize all of their tactical options, thrown weapons, and special attacks. New PC Infection option on New Game menu! Create a new game with PC Infection checked and your character will be as susceptible to infection as your allies are. Carefully manage your antibiotics and change your combat strategies to ensure your own survival! Hardcore Mode!​​ In Hardcore mode combat becomes more dangerous, allies consume more resources and heal more slowly, and Morale is harder to keep up. Turn on Hardcore, Iron Man, and PC Infection for the ultimate challenge! Alarms! That’s right - we’ve added alarms to buildings in several areas. Red, blinking lights warn you that there’s an active alarm on a building. Use your Science skill to deactivate an alarm and prevent a looting distraction from becoming a noisy attraction! New areas and random encounters! Several new levels and random encounters have been added. Make sure to keep an eye out for the Chemical Plant, an area with a unique twist… New combat sounds and animations! We’ve added new special attack, reloading, and healing animations and sounds. Special attacks feel smoother and more impactful now! Stability improvements! We’ve rooted out every crash and progress blocking bug to make sure you have the smoothest possible experience. Several popularly requested usability improvements have been added, such as friendly fire confirmation, looting piled up bodies, and an option to toggle Live Shelter movement on and off. Pathfinding improvements! Both allies and the undead have received major pathfinding adjustments that will reduce lag some people have experienced as well as make movement more consistent and natural. Impressive, right? And that doesn’t even cover the many smaller miscellaneous fixes an...Dead State: Reanimated is here!May 13, 2015 - Community Announcements​​​​We’ve spent a couple of months of solid development time making Dead State stronger, smarter, and faster, and we’re happy to say that the results are fantastic. We’ve brought new life - or is it unlife? - to every aspect of the game. This isn’t just Dead State anymore - this is Dead State: Reanimated! DS:R isn’t just an update - it’s our definitive enhanced edition with brand-new content, full of improvements and fixes requested by you, our community! The Highlights Major overhaul of combat balance! Core combat systems have been thoroughly reworked to take advantage of all the data and feedback we’ve gathered over the months since Dead State’s original release. Ranged weapons, melee weapons, armor, special attacks, ally / PC healing, and more have been reworked and carefully tested to create an engaging and challenging combat experience. Even the core combat system has been tweaked so that AC is calculated before damage reduction; this change makes combat more consistent and more fair​. Smarter AI! Medic, Guard, Grenadier, Sniper, and more - New AI behaviors and schemas exist for human enemies, making them more interesting and more challenging to fight! Enemies will notice your presence more quickly and fully utilize all of their tactical options, thrown weapons, and special attacks. New PC Infection option on New Game menu! Create a new game with PC Infection checked and your character will be as susceptible to infection as your allies are. Carefully manage your antibiotics and change your combat strategies to ensure your own survival! Hardcore Mode!​​ In Hardcore mode combat becomes more dangerous, allies consume more resources and heal more slowly, and Morale is harder to keep up. Turn on Hardcore, Iron Man, and PC Infection for the ultimate challenge! Alarms! That’s right - we’ve added alarms to buildings in several areas. Red, blinking lights warn you that there’s an active alarm on a building. Use your Science skill to deactivate an alarm and prevent a looting distraction from becoming a noisy attraction! New areas and random encounters! Several new levels and random encounters have been added. Make sure to keep an eye out for the Chemical Plant, an area with a unique twist… New combat sounds and animations! We’ve added new special attack, reloading, and healing animations and sounds. Special attacks feel smoother and more impactful now! Stability improvements! We’ve rooted out every crash and progress blocking bug to make sure you have the smoothest possible experience. Several popularly requested usability improvements have been added, such as friendly fire confirmation, looting piled up bodies, and an option to toggle Live Shelter movement on and off. Pathfinding improvements! Both allies and the undead have received major pathfinding adjustments that will reduce lag some people have experienced as well as make movement more consistent and natural. Impressive, right? And that doesn’t even cover the many smaller miscellaneous fixes an...Quick Progress UpdateApr 30, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, I know many of you are looking forward to the upcoming update, so I wanted to let you know how we're doing! We're tantalizingly close, but not quite there yet - we're wrapping up final testing and fixes and making sure that the huge number of new things in this build all play together nicely. We're hoping to wrap things up in the next few days, if the fates favor us - just keep in mind, that time window is an estimate and if something urgent comes up, we may push the release out a bit more. We want that giant update to be the best giant update it can be! Keep checking this space so you can be the first to know when the update goes live. In the meantime, I suggest you stock up on food and energy drinks, because you're going to want to start a brand new playthrough when you see the update - and you're not going to want to stop!Quick Progress UpdateApr 30, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, I know many of you are looking forward to the upcoming update, so I wanted to let you know how we're doing! We're tantalizingly close, but not quite there yet - we're wrapping up final testing and fixes and making sure that the huge number of new things in this build all play together nicely. We're hoping to wrap things up in the next few days, if the fates favor us - just keep in mind, that time window is an estimate and if something urgent comes up, we may push the release out a bit more. We want that giant update to be the best giant update it can be! Keep checking this space so you can be the first to know when the update goes live. In the meantime, I suggest you stock up on food and energy drinks, because you're going to want to start a brand new playthrough when you see the update - and you're not going to want to stop!March Update! Dead State v.1.0.0.280 ChangelogMar 13, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsWoo, the update is finally here! As promised, this is a content-heavy patch with some popularly requested features. Let’s talk about the big highlights first, then we’ll get the rest of the details down below. Added Iron Man mode! A true test of survival! All saves are disabled except for a daily autosave and a resume point when you quit the game. Whatever happens, happened. No take-backs. See our design notes below the changelog about separating Iron Man mode from difficulty settings and player infection. Added new undead type: crawlers! Seems some people got pretty messed up before they turned. These mangled dead dudes and ladies have a nasty Trip Attack, so keep one eye on the ground at all times. Added movement and activity to the Shelter! Everyone in the Shelter now moves around to different locations when assigned to work. If you forget where to look for someone, remember to check the Shelter summary screen with the ‘H’ hotkey or double-check the job board. Added custom portrait editor! You can now create your own unique portrait by selecting hair color, hair style, eye color, facial hair, tattoo, and more. We’ve also added a couple nifty features we felt were missing from the typical portrait creator: loading a previous portrait to work from, and undoing changes you’ve made. Added looting of KO’ed characters! Want to knock somebody down, steal their stuff, and leave them for the undead to finish off? Now you can! Changes to Parisa!: Added new discussion topic options in Shelter Added new dialogue Added new character perk choice See our design notes below the changelog about the changes to Parisa’s storyline. Changed noise-activated spawn behavior. Adjusted likelihood of spawning an undead at different noise levels, and undead spawns from noise become more likely over time. Balanced the distribution of items required for upgrades. Added five new levels. This was my mistake - I had a miscommunication with design team and accidentally gave you a spoiler for what's coming in the next update! Don't be confused when you don't find these, but know that you can look forward to them in the future :) Improved grenade and molotov code. Added Fortify skill on Riot Shield. Now you can end your turn early for a +10 AC boost to your defence. Fixed several combat AI related exploits. Enemies will now chase you around corners and through doors, and combat will no longer end if line of sight is broken temporarily. Improved undead mobbing behavior, added a mob bonus to undead grapple attack when in groups. Fixed human AI to make KO’ed enemies the lowest priority target for humans. Fixed an issue where humans-turned-undead did not drop weapons. Fixed an issue where Doug sometimes disappeared for a while before waking up. Fixed an issue with Shelter inventory ignoring maximum weight. Fixed a bug that allowed characters to equip stacks of items from Shelter inventory. Fixed exploit to bring dead characters back to life in combat. Fixed an issue where Survival b...March Update! Dead State v.1.0.0.280 ChangelogMar 13, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsWoo, the update is finally here! As promised, this is a content-heavy patch with some popularly requested features. Let’s talk about the big highlights first, then we’ll get the rest of the details down below. Added Iron Man mode! A true test of survival! All saves are disabled except for a daily autosave and a resume point when you quit the game. Whatever happens, happened. No take-backs. See our design notes below the changelog about separating Iron Man mode from difficulty settings and player infection. Added new undead type: crawlers! Seems some people got pretty messed up before they turned. These mangled dead dudes and ladies have a nasty Trip Attack, so keep one eye on the ground at all times. Added movement and activity to the Shelter! Everyone in the Shelter now moves around to different locations when assigned to work. If you forget where to look for someone, remember to check the Shelter summary screen with the ‘H’ hotkey or double-check the job board. Added custom portrait editor! You can now create your own unique portrait by selecting hair color, hair style, eye color, facial hair, tattoo, and more. We’ve also added a couple nifty features we felt were missing from the typical portrait creator: loading a previous portrait to work from, and undoing changes you’ve made. Added looting of KO’ed characters! Want to knock somebody down, steal their stuff, and leave them for the undead to finish off? Now you can! Changes to Parisa!: Added new discussion topic options in Shelter Added new dialogue Added new character perk choice See our design notes below the changelog about the changes to Parisa’s storyline. Changed noise-activated spawn behavior. Adjusted likelihood of spawning an undead at different noise levels, and undead spawns from noise become more likely over time. Balanced the distribution of items required for upgrades. Added five new levels. This was my mistake - I had a miscommunication with design team and accidentally gave you a spoiler for what's coming in the next update! Don't be confused when you don't find these, but know that you can look forward to them in the future :) Improved grenade and molotov code. Added Fortify skill on Riot Shield. Now you can end your turn early for a +10 AC boost to your defence. Fixed several combat AI related exploits. Enemies will now chase you around corners and through doors, and combat will no longer end if line of sight is broken temporarily. Improved undead mobbing behavior, added a mob bonus to undead grapple attack when in groups. Fixed human AI to make KO’ed enemies the lowest priority target for humans. Fixed an issue where humans-turned-undead did not drop weapons. Fixed an issue where Doug sometimes disappeared for a while before waking up. Fixed an issue with Shelter inventory ignoring maximum weight. Fixed a bug that allowed characters to equip stacks of items from Shelter inventory. Fixed exploit to bring dead characters back to life in combat. Fixed an issue where Survival b...February Progress UpdateFeb 24, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone! We just wanted to check in with you and let you know what's happening behind the scenes at DoubleBear, since we know some of you are wondering. We're making good progress on the content and fixes for Update #6. As previously mentioned, this one has brand new, somewhat complex features, so it's taking longer than the usual patch turnover time. Right now, we're done with about 75% of the new features, but we need to finish the remaining 25% and squish bugs that surfaced during testing, so there's still some work left to do. Thanks for hanging in there while we get everything ready! We don't have an ETA yet, but we're *really* excited about what's coming up and we think it will be worth the wait :)February Progress UpdateFeb 24, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone! We just wanted to check in with you and let you know what's happening behind the scenes at DoubleBear, since we know some of you are wondering. We're making good progress on the content and fixes for Update #6. As previously mentioned, this one has brand new, somewhat complex features, so it's taking longer than the usual patch turnover time. Right now, we're done with about 75% of the new features, but we need to finish the remaining 25% and squish bugs that surfaced during testing, so there's still some work left to do. Thanks for hanging in there while we get everything ready! We don't have an ETA yet, but we're *really* excited about what's coming up and we think it will be worth the wait :)Now Available: Dead State Soundtrack + Collectible Trading Cards!Feb 11, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsThe title says it all, but we'll say it again because we're just so dang excited: not only have we released the Dead State Soundtrack on Steam, we've also added Dead State Trading Cards! Let's start with the soundtrack. Anyone with Dead State in their game library can now buy the soundtrack as downloadable content and get their apocalyptic groove on. You can check it out here: Dead State Soundtrack. It's only $7.99 and it features all 26 of the tracks in Dead State, as composed, written, and performed by our amazing composer Leif Chappelle. Also starting today, you can unlock Dead State Trading Cards and use them to forge Badges; every badge gives you the opportunity to receive unique Dead State emoticons and profile backgrounds. All you have to do is play the game to start unlocking new Trading cards, so you better get on that if you want to be one of the first people ever to unlock a Dead State badge on Steam! Finally, a quick update for those who are wondering: we continue to work on the next game patch. This one will pack a lot more punch than our previous patches, so we're taking our time to make sure it's perfect before releasing it in the wild. Now that we've finished getting the Trading Cards and the Soundtrack on Steam, we'll have even more time and resources to put into the patch! Alright, time to get to work, everybody - go get those Trading Cards! If you can't and you're stuck at work, may we suggest buying and downloading the OST to get into the undead-killing mood for later? With love, The DoubleBears Now Available: Dead State Soundtrack + Collectible Trading Cards!Feb 11, 2015 - Community AnnouncementsThe title says it all, but we'll say it again because we're just so dang excited: not only have we released the Dead State Soundtrack on Steam, we've also added Dead State Trading Cards! Let's start with the soundtrack. Anyone with Dead State in their game library can now buy the soundtrack as downloadable content and get their apocalyptic groove on. You can check it out here: Dead State Soundtrack. It's only $7.99 and it features all 26 of the tracks in Dead State, as composed, written, and performed by our amazing composer Leif Chappelle. Also starting today, you can unlock Dead State Trading Cards and use them to forge Badges; every badge gives you the opportunity to receive unique Dead State emoticons and profile backgrounds. All you have to do is play the game to start unlocking new Trading cards, so you better get on that if you want to be one of the first people ever to unlock a Dead State badge on Steam! Finally, a quick update for those who are wondering: we continue to work on the next game patch. This one will pack a lot more punch than our previous patches, so we're taking our time to make sure it's perfect before releasing it in the wild. Now that we've finished getting the Trading Cards and the Soundtrack on Steam, we'll have even more time and resources to put into the patch! Alright, time to get to work, everybody - go get those Trading Cards! If you can't and you're stuck at work, may we suggest buying and downloading the OST to get into the undead-killing mood for later? With love, The DoubleBears Dead State Demo Is Hammering At Your DoorJan 31, 2015 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunZombies! They’re everywhere these days. Shambling up and down the road, moaning about something or other in those inaudible voices, causing long queues for the teller at your local bank. That sort of thing. They’re a menace and there’s just too many of them on the streets. It’s enough to make one long for the days when a human’s brains were their own concern. Still, despite our zombie glut there’s still unlife in the concept yet. Now you too can put this to the test with a demo for Dead State , courtesy of DoubleBear Productions. … Try your hand at zombie survival with free Dead State demoJan 29, 2015 - PC GamerDead State was plagued by a number of technical issues when it came out last year, but even so it was good enough to make Evan Lahti's "Personal Pick" for 2014. And now you can try it yourself, without spending a dime: Developer Double Bear Productions has released a free demo that offers roughly ten hours of play over the first seven days of the game.  The Dead State demo includes 15 survivors who can join your shelter, 18 unique locations to explore, and interactions with factions including looters, survivalists, and the Coyotes, a fearsome motorcycle gang. You'll have to deal with all the same problems that come up in the full game, from practical matters like finding food and reinforcing your shelter, to dicier issues such as resolving conflicts between your fellow survivors and deciding which outsiders can be trusted. The demo covers just the first seven days of play, but saves can be carried over into the full version if you decide to pick it up. Speaking of which, the fifth patch is also now live, which among other things adds loading screen images and tips, adjusts weapon balance, tweaks dialog, and fixes a number of bugs. A breakdown of the latest Dead State update is here, while the 1GB demo can be downloaded from the Dead State Steam page.

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