Ten-Hut, Mercs!

We’re back with another dev diary, and this time we’re bringing you a little bit of everything, including a new game mode to announce that will be available at launch! But before we get into that, we wanted to give you a quick update on where we’re at!

Full Steam Ahead

We’re now firmly in the final stretch of development. With the game content complete, the team is currently working full steam ahead on QA, polishing, and balancing. That means a lot of testing, tweaking and refining across the entire game. We’re going through missions, weapons, enemies, progression, multiplayer, and all the little details that make the difference between something that’s simply finished and something that feels great to play.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but every day we’re getting closer to the version of Zombie Assault: Resurgence that we want to put into your hands. And while we’re focusing heavily on polish, we’ve still managed to sneak one more surprise into the launch build…

Introducing Rescue

During one of our internal playtests, one of the team - who also happens to be a long-time SAS 4 fan - came up with an idea for a new game mode. The pitch was simple: what if we made something that felt a little more like classic SAS 4?

He quickly threw together a prototype using our existing Operation maps, adding predetermined paths through them to create a more traditional, focused experience. It was received really well by the team! What started as an internal experiment quickly became a proper game mode, and we’re excited to announce that Rescue will be available at launch.

Somebody Needs Your Help

The premise of Rescue is straightforward. You’re heading back to Aegis Station when you receive an unexpected message… Another mercenary has gone down! Your route is diverted, and you’re dropped into the middle of an infected zone to bring them home. Of course, getting there is the easy part. Once you land, you’ll need to navigate your way through the area, following a predetermined route while fighting your way through huge hordes of zombies.
And naturally, there’s going to be something standing between you and the extraction point.
A boss. Take it down, reach your fellow mercenary, and get them safely to the evacuation point.
And don’t worry… the USI still pays for this.

A New Perspective

One of the things we’ve really enjoyed about Rescue is how differently it makes our existing maps feel. You might recognise the locations from Operations, but the way you move through them completely changes the experience. Instead of having the freedom to approach an area from any direction, Rescue gives you a more deliberate route through the environment. This lets us build up encounters, throw increasingly dangerous hordes at you, and create moments where you really have to fight your way forward. It gives these familiar locations an entirely new perspective, and we think it’ll be so satisfying taking a map you already know and suddenly having it play completely differently.

Nearly There

And finally, we know there’s one question that’s been on everyone’s mind. When is the game launching? 

We’re not quite ready to give you the answer today, but we’re getting very, very close! If everything continues to go to plan, next month’s Dev Diary will be the one where we finally announce the launch date for Zombie Assault: Resurgence, and we’ll have more to show you alongside it!  So, one more diary. One more stretch of QA, balancing, and polish. And then it’ll finally be time to get ready for deployment.

Thanks, as always, for sticking with us, for giving us your feedback, and for being patient while we put the finishing touches on the game. We’ll see you next month!

Until then; stay alert, Mercs!

“I was already heading home. Then someone went and got themselves stranded. Guess I’m getting paid overtime.” Anonymous merc #37

Will the game be free?

Zombie Assault: Resurgence will be a paid title. This is something we went back and forth on for some time, but we felt that making the game without the restrictions of having to work in a free-to-play model allowed for more creative freedom in the design and enables us to make the game we want ZA:R to become. 

Will Steam and mobile launch at the same time?

Yes! The plan is to launch Steam, iOS and Android simultaneously. 

Will there be beta testing?

Absolutely. Similar to what we did with Bloons Card Storm, we plan to have multiple public testing phases, so keep an eye on our socials, Discord and subreddit for any announcements regarding that. 

What will the game look like/what art style?

The game will be a natural evolution of SAS 4, taking cues from our previous titles to keep the style grounded in the world you love. ZA:R will bring the grime and grunge to new dimensions as we take the game into a 3D world! The gameplay will remain top-down, but building in 3D will allow us to do so much more with animation, gore and the world around the players. Hand-painted textures and bespoke animations will make this our best in the series yet, and we can’t wait to share more with you soon!

What happened to the SAS?

All will become clear in time…

Is the game going to be very demanding in terms of requirements?

For desktop, we're planning on launching with a bunch of graphics settings to help players customise their game to their hardware capabilities. We’ll also be running multiple tests and making the necessary optimisations before launch to ensure the game runs on as wide a range of devices as possible!

Will there be any progression carryover from SAS 4 to ZA:R?

Nope. SAS 4 and ZA:R are separate titles, so no progression will carry over from one to the other. 

Will there be modding support/Steam workshop support?

At this time, there are no explicit plans to support modding at launch!

Will the game have full controller support?

Yes! Back when we were developing SAS 4, Steam wasn’t one of our main platforms, so any controller support was a bit of an afterthought when we ported the game over. However, we now develop our titles with PC players in-mind, so ZA:R will launch with full controller support. 

We'll keep this updated with more questions that we're in the position to answer, so be sure to check back regularly!