JUPITER HELL NEWS

First of all, due to popular demand, we've been working on pre-Early Access Beta availability. We're now happy to offer Jupiter Hell BETA via itch.io! Note that buying BETA access through itch.io will still provide you a Steam key at Early Access! 

If you're a backer of Jupiter Hell at the player level below BETA access and want to upgrade to BETA, e-mail us at ( support at chaosforge org ) with your Kickstarter data (backer number and e-mail used) for a 75%-off coupon for the BETA - (you will still be entitled to only one Steam key though!).

 At this moment the BETA costs more than the game will cost at Early Access - this is done to be fair to Kickstarter backers. The game will have a regular lower price at Early Access launch - tentatively scheduled for June!

Beta 0.5.0 released!

Since 0.4.0 we've been hard at work on the Vulkan renderer (and following that, OSX support) - the task proved to be more tricky than we anticipated, and while we're not quite there yet, we're pretty close! Apart from that we've implemented player data, several new traits, exalted (champion) enemy groups, did a full overhaul of level generation parameters, started implementing modular weapons, and in the background created (but not yet implemented in-game) the visuals for Io!

Coming up next!

Early Access is might be still almost half a year away, but time is ticking! We're comited to both finishing long term tasks (Vulkan, I'm looking at you!), as well as seriously upping up implementation of gameplay systems. Below is a list of things that we hope to achieve for the 0.6.0 release!

• more level generators
• more interesting level interactions
• more enemies
• turrets and more weaponary!
• AI upgrades
• Vulkan and OSX port
• Io!
  

You can check the Steam news posts for detailed changelogs!

The next milestone in the Jupiter Hell Beta has been released! If you have Beta access, make sure to restart steam to force the update. If you have Beta access, but never received the Steam key, please get in touch with us.

We’re fully on schedule towards an end of May 2019 Early Access release! Many of you asked if there’s an option to get access to the beta before Early Access - we are working on it. In the meantime, do not forget to wishlist the game on steam!  

Progress between 0.3 and 0.4

We’ve managed to implement most of the things that we’ve planned for 0.4 and even more! The major highlights are:

• three player classes, each with it’s own sets of traits!
  
• special levels - 3 on Callisto, 3 on Europa, 2 in the Beyond!
• in-game configuration
• improved AI
• better loot generation
• utility slot and utility items
• upgraded audio and more music! 

Road to Beta 0.5

Next major milestone is Beta 0.5.0, with minor versions scheduled every two weeks. 0.5.0 is tentatively scheduled for 1st of February, and hopefully will include all of the following: 

• Io
  
• player data and first challenges
• more items, traits, master traits
• improved level generation
• Vulkan port finished
• hopefully OSX version
• ...and more!

Also new weapons, lots of new weapons…  

The Beta is here! If you’re a Beta backer or above you should by now have received an e-mail from us with the Beta 0.3.0 Steam Key - check your spam folder! If you can’t find it, please get in touch with us.

The game is still a deep work in progress, but has come a very long way from the early pre-Alpha stages, and has been gradually been improving with input and suggestions from the Inner Circle and Alpha communities. We’re thrilled to open this up now to many more fans and to get more feedback as Jupiter Hell moves into the next stage of development!

The beta is working on both Windows and Linux. OSX users, please be a little patient with us. From now on all updates to the game will be via Steam.

Jupiter Hell on Steam

The Steam page for Jupiter Hell is now live. It’s a big help for us if you wishlist it, so please do so even if you haven’t got access to the game yet!

Road to early access

Whilst the core of the game is in place there is still a lot more content to get loaded in. As we move towards open release on Early Access our development focus is now switching towards adding in layers and layers of content. That means more of the following:

• Player classes with unique traits and abilities
  
• Challenge modes, online leaderboards, player achievements, and extra difficulty levels
• A longer game with two more major locations
• Modular weapons and armor, more weapons, more items
• More enemies, bosses and enemy variety
• Plot details, quests, cutscenes
• Music, sound, voice acting
• UI configuration, mouse and controller support

And of course many other things secret or yet to be conceived! Community support is vital at this stage to let us know what works, what doesn’t, and feed in new ideas and suggestions. Make sure to try the beta out and give feedback via the community channels. Let’s plays and other recordings of the game are very welcome - please send us a link to anything you publish as we love to see them!

Jupiter Hell community

We’re thrilled to get to this stage, and we couldn’t do it without the great support of our fans. We always want more feedback, so if you have something to say please get in touch via:

• Discord chat,
  
• ChaosForge forums (inc dedicated Beta forum),
• Twitter,
• Twitch, with regular livestreaming of Jupiter Hell development
  

Also, most of the team will be at GiC next week. Get in touch if you want to meet up.

Development of Jupiter Hell continues apace! We have now released version Alpha 0.2.0. We've made many new advances in the last few versions, including:

• Saving and loading (though obviously not after death)
• Active traits - get new Headshot, Shredder and Overkill actions
• New cover and dodge systems, with UI aids
• Degrading armour on enemies, with graphical indicators
• New level generators
• Graphical enhancements and variety added to tilesets throughout the game
• Loot crates and basic terminals
• Destructible doors and scenery
• Various tweaks and bug-killing, including some long-standing issues

Alpha backers can go download it now from the Alpha Forums. Feedback from playtesting is incredibly welcome!

Path to Beta

Our eyes are now set on the Beta release, which will hit several new development milestones and be open to many more backers. We are currently implementing:

• Steam integration, including auto-updating
• Vulkan port (hopefully OSX too)
• More character traits and active commands
• Weapon and armor variations (random traits) + more weapon types, with new gameplay interactions
• More environmental interaction (locked/broken doors, many more options for terminals)
• More enemies to play with
• Dungeon branches for varied paths through the game
• Secret things!

We’re tentatively aiming for early October for the first Beta release.

PAX West

Kornel Kisielewicz will be bringing Jupiter Hell to PAX West Seattle, 31-Aug to 3-Sep. If you’re attending please say hi!

To keep updated on a more regular basis remember to check out our Twitter feed, our regular development streams on Twitch, and come chat on the Discord channels!