JUPITER HELL NEWS

Finally, after so many years, Jupiter Hell, our turn-based sci-fi roguelike, spiritual successor to "Doom, the Roguelike" is out on Steam and GOG Early Access!

Buy on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/811320/Jupiter_Hell/

Buy on GOG:
https://www.gog.com/game/jupiter_hell

Rip and tear zombies, demons, and heavy metal monstrosities with chainguns and chainsaws on randomized levels set all over Jupiter’s orbit. Buy, play and leave a review on Steam or GOG! And most importantly, please help us spread the word! Share, send it to your friends, poke your favorite streamers, and share with your communities!

Thank you for being with us in this important hour!❤

In less than 24 hours we’re launching Jupiter Hell in Early Access! Thank you so much for supporting us on this journey, we couldn’t have done it without you ❤.

THE KEYS

If you were PLAYER (or METALHEAD or DELUXE) level backer, you should have a key for Jupiter Hell in your inbox (check your spam folder too!) - this is a special release override key, so you can play RIGHT NOW!

NOTE: we just recently added a macOS build - it should be considered experimental, as there are still some issues, especially on Inter Iris Pro 5200 - hotfix will be available after launch!

WHAT IS NEXT?

Is this the end of development? No it’s just the beginning! We have a lot more stuff to add before we can call the game 1.0, and will be hard at work for the next year! This is just some of the stuff that’s still in the pipeline to add to the game.

• more branches, special levels, enemies and weapons (especially energy weapons)
• diffent damage types and effects, energy shields
• Dante Station endgame zone
• Boss-fights at the end of episodes
• simple cutscenes with more plot information
• much bigger trait and item variety
• full procedural destruction of levels
• more environmental interaction
• hacking and more terminal interaction
• full modding support
• and a lot more!
  

However, we feel that we are at a point that you can now enjoy the game and help us make it grow! So please let us know what you think of the Early Access version and how you want to see the game grow.

EARLY ACCESS RELEASE

Tomorrow will be a big for us and we could really use your continued support. As a really small studio without a publisher or a marketing agency, most of our outreach is through direct contact and people, like you, who believe in us. Here are some things you can do to help us during launch:

• Tell your friends about the game and share the Steam page
• Post about the launch in your Steam, Discord and other communities
• Ask your favorite streamers/Youtubers to play the game

Handy links to share:

• Launch trailer (watch it :D): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY8hfy0GopQ
• Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/811320/Jupiter_Hell/
• Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/jupiterhell
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaosforge_org
  

Thanks again for all your support!

PSA :
People who used the itch.io discount have been moved to the itch.io list of keys to send - you'll get your steam keys but a bit later!

PSA2:
If you still not received your key and nothing is in spam etc.
Please go here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2020043306/jupiter-hell-a-modern-turn-based-sci-fi-roguelike/creator_bio then "Contact" button!

Jupiter Hell Early Access launch trailer is live! Please share it around, especially in communities/discords/reddits/among people that might be interested, we really need your help! Enjoy! ;)

BETA 0.7.4

This version changelog might be short, cause we don't want to destabilize the game before Early Access launch, however, two major changes have still made the cut.

THE MAC OS

First and foremost. There is a macOS version finally! It should be still considered experimental, as we didn't have the possibility to test it on a lot of devices (known significant issues happen on Intel Iris Pro 5200), and as yet not very well optimized, but it should be a reasonable start. Note that because we use MoltenVK and hence Metal, it will only work on macOS Mojave or newer operating systems. Also, we'll be rolling out a hotfix for bluish scanlines tomorrow.

Due to problems with app signing, for the time being macOS versions will be Steam only.

VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS

Second major change is an overhaul of lighting - not only we made stuff by default brighter (by changing default lights strength and HDR parameters), but we also brought light to levels that were poorly lit - most noticeable on BSP style levels with corridors.

ADDITIONAL INFO

Apart from that there are several bugfixes and a slight balance change to Io Gateway. Take note that the Reavers that spawn from that portal wont stop spawning until you enter it!

We are more or less in a feature freeze until Early Access release, not to mess stuff up. Some things that we still planned to squeeze in are almost ready, but will appear in the first update after EA, including a Black Site special level, a CRI branch for Io, energy weapons on Io and healing terminals. Stay tuned as Early Access is not the end, it's the beginning!

Next versions will be Release Candidates for EA, only bugfixes, followed by feature-less 0.8.0. Once the game launches August 1st on Early Access, we'll return to regular programming.

Welcome to Io, Marines - there's a war raging! There's a lot of meat in this release so gear up and get ready (and restart Steam to force the update!)

INTRODUCING IO

We’ve added a whole new level, Io, placed between Europa and Beyond. On Io you'll encounter CRI - a "good" corporation who came to take out the trash. Unfortunately, that also includes you. Two new enemies from this faction can be encountered - CRI marines and CRI bots.

NOTE: Io and it's content is a work in progress - there's only one branch, no special levels, and no new weapons (yes, they're coming!). Our next update should address that so stay tuned!

NEW TUTORIAL

We’ve also added a full-blown tutorial for new players or to refresh your memory. Technically it's mandatory, but if you really don't want to do it, set skip_tutorial to true in the options. We’ve also included is a more robust help system.

ACTIVE CLASS SKILLS

Each of the three classes has gotten an active skill that is available from the start, and is usable once per level. Marine acquires Adrenaline which can convert your pain factor into health, Scout has gotten Stealth, which is basically a short-term invisibility (broken by attacking though) and Technician has a Smoke Screen which works exactly like a smoke grenade thrown under your feet!

VAULTS

These are special rooms that appear on some levels, that have locked doors. You need to find a terminal to unlock them and inside you'll find some more difficult enemies. You'll find a special box too though!

CHALLENGE MODES

We're starting modestly with 3 classics making a comeback - Light Travel, Shotgunnery and Impatience, updated for Jupiter Hell. Also joining are Carnage (Rockets only) and Confidence (warp to Europa). Each of the challenges is accompanied by 3 badges that you can earn - no ranks yet, but that's coming too (unfortunately we had to invalidate earned medals to implement it, that might happen from time to time before we go into EA).

SCORING SYSTEM

We’ve taken a look at the scoring system and revamped it so it’s easier to understand:

(score = ("depth reached" * 100 + "special levels cleared" * 100
       + kill count + medal values)*(difficulty factor))

We’re pretty happy withe this as it makes a bit more sense, but let us know what you think!

MUSIC UPDATES

Finally there's a lot more music added to Callisto by our Roland La Goy, and a general sound update for the enemies - turn those sliders up :P.

So that’s all for this release, Marines!

(Re)Boot Camp

Buckle up, Marines. Today we’re starting a new cadence of updates that culminates in our Early Access release this summer.

We want to better organize our updates around core features we’re implementing, as well as keep our current and future community informed on happenings around the studio, and lastly get more people in the beta for direct feedback for the upcoming release. We’re starting today with what we’re calling the “Universal Soldier” update, so gear up, read this briefing and get your ass to Jupiter.

The Universal Soldier

We’ve been listening to feedback and made a major gameplay change for 0.6 - universal weapon slots. Separate slots for sidearms, primary and heavy weapons were needlessly complex and not adding much to the tactical gameplay so as of today, you can carry any weapon in any slot. And yes, this means you can carry three chainguns at a time. We’re also adding a trait for Scouts and Technicians to increase the amount of weapon slots available.

Medals, Fixed Exalted Enemies & Gameplay Tweaks

Players of our previous game that start with a D and end with an RL will recognize this next feature - Medals! They are extremely hard to get but you’ll now see Medals show up on your death screen in the player data section. Medals are gameplay achievements that you can collect over time, now including real-time tracking for speedrunners. We’ll be adding badges and more challenges in the future so stay tuned for more updates.

Additionally, we’re doing a little spring cleaning around the games features. We tweaked the level generators for Callisto and Europa with better lootbox and turret placement (check out the new rocket turrets!) as a side-effect. This should also improve the BSP generator to be more common. We also finally fixed exalted enemies to now drop good loot on death - the risk now has a reward!

We made some significant changes are in weapon/ammo balancing:

• Revolvers and hunter rifles now use the new .44 ammo. Both got a damage buff and were made common.

• Double shotguns and auto shotguns have made more common

• Rocket launcher are more viable, as you’ll find heavy enemies carrying them

• Revolver, hunter rifles, double shotguns and auto shotguns are now carried by enemies and have their advanced variants available

Last, in 0.5 & 0.5.2 we added full-fledged controller support as well as drones and turrets.

PAX, Discord & Future Plans

We were at PAX East last month and had a great time showing Jupiter Hell to players from around the world!

We got a lot of valuable feedback as people took the game for a run. Additionally, we got some press thanks to our friends at Hardcore Gamer, Sick Critic and Gaming On Linux:

https://www.hardcoregamer.com/2019/04/17/tactics-and-heavy-weaponry-in-jupiter-hells-roguelike-deathrap/328708/

https://sickcritic.com/2019/03/29/pax-east-2019-jupiter-hell

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/jupiter-hell-the-roguelike-spiritual-successor-to-drl-doomrl-continues-getting-better.14028

Finally, as we mentioned, we’re starting the ‘road to hell’ AKA the road to Early Access. We’re going to be doing larger updates and communicating more as we get closer and closer to release.

Another part of this initiative is growing and organizing our community better. Starting soon, we’re going to have a promotion on our Discord to get more people into the beta and incentivize you to play more. Stay tuned for more but in the meantime, join the Jupiter Hell Discord server here: https://discord.gg/hmzuPKM

That’s it for now, Marines! See you in cosmic space hell.