Dead State Gets Release Date, Beta Patch #4 Out

To celebrate this year’s Halloween, the folks at DoubleBear Productions have released a Kickstarter update that contains one of the most important pieces of info on Dead State we’ve gotten since its announcement: the release date for the title. Barring last-minute problems and delays, we should be able to play the zombie-filled survival RPG in its completed form on December 4th:

The DoubleBear team has some extra-special, ultra-awesome news for you to celebrate Halloween: Dead State has a release date!

That’s right: on December 4th, 2014 – just over a month away – Dead State will emerge from the cocoon of Early Access and transform into a beautiful, fully matured game!

Given a lot of people are already playing the title in its Early Access form, however, it’s also worth noting that a new beta patch has also been released. Here’s the changelog:

Added a new intro sequence:
What exactly happened to you before you woke up in the Shelter? Time to find out!

Changed night-time behavior:
You no longer lose the game for staying out past midnight. Instead, nighttime combat penalties are applied after 8 p.m.; staying out past midnight causes the fatigue status; and staying out past 3 a.m. now incurs a -50 morale hit, 50% health loss to all members of the party, and kicks you back to the Shelter. If you’re using horses, they become exhausted and unusable for a couple of days, and if you’re using the car, it breaks and you need to repair it again. (In other words, get your butt back to the Shelter before 3 a.m.!)

Added a Recycler Upgrade:
By popular request, you can now build the Recycler Upgrade to break weapons and armor down into parts. This will most likely need balancing work, so make sure to share your feedback with us on the boards and forums.

Adjusted Healing:
Based on feedback from the community, the Infirmary is no longer the only way to recover lost maximum HP. Lost max HP now slowly heals naturally with rest in the Shelter at the rate of 1 per hour. Treatment in the Infirmary still offers a much quicker way to get back on your feet, but it is no longer the only way.

Performed major combat balance pass:
Including armor, weapons, shields, enemies, and enemy chance to crit.

Updated level visuals: We improved visuals in over 70 levels.

Updated level loot, combat, and events:
A number of levels received combat and loot passes, and we even added some more random events.

Implemented and fixed perk effects:
New perk effects for Animal Magnetism, Pharmacist, and Gardener were added, and some existing bugged perks were fixed.

Updated and added icons, portraits, and models

Added new rare melee weapons and minibosses on multiple maps

Added more Lore items to various enemies:
Note: there’s a known bug with the Lore system right now that will be resolved in the next patch.

Added ability to obtain cats for the Shelter

Added new Crisis Events
Added ally deaths from antibiotic shortages:
It’s a known issue that camera data isn’t in yet, so consider these WIP for now.

Added mood bonuses and penalties

Changed fence job behavior and text:
We changed the title and description text on the stone-reinforced fence job to more correctly reflect the nature of the upgrade.

Fixed, added, and updated dialogues

Added Credits button to options menu

Added wounded status icon

Added better handling of location detection on area map

Added additional infirmary polish:
Characters teleport to the infirmary when they’re injured and even lie down in the beds.

Adjusted prone AP penalty

Added requirement of rotten fruit to antibiotics manufacturing

Added buff status effects (Aimed) and (Pumped)

Added new faction combat barks

Added new ‘˜select all’ buttons in the shelter

Adjusted travel speed of horses

Despite backing the title during its Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign, I’ve barely had the chance to actually play Dead State, but I’ll definitely find some time for the final release of the title. Hopefully going in unspoiled will pay off.