It has been a few months since we had information on Will to Survive. The developer released a new update today with information on the state of the game.

Progress Update, February

It seemed like it was about time to post another progress update, so here it is plus a few sneak peak images of new art to boot! Happy Days.

Howdy all, it's been a good few weeks since I last updated so I figured you were all due some progress info, how time flies eh!

Progress is marching on at a nice and steady pace, we could probably do another dev video with what we have done but we're thinking of waiting until we have the enemy AI stuff working before we do that.

Will to Survive is the next kickstarter to not get funded. The developer has the following update with more information.

Is This The End?

One of the reasons for doing the Kickstarter was to see if there was actually a market for the game, I was sold on the idea myself but I wasn't too sure how others would perceive it. The general response from people has been excellent however showing that there is clearly a place in the world for Will and that makes me even more excited about the project than ever before.

I can definitely say that this isn't the last you'll see of Will! The project will live on so don't despair. I will also be posting regular updates via the blog, Kickstarter, IndieDB and Steam so that you know how things are progressing. I will attempt to update things each week but failing that I will certainly make make time to update you guys every other week.

What's Next?

There are a few different directions that I can look into heading with the project now, I could spend some time developing the game and attempt another funding campaign in a few months time. I could look into other funding options such as private investors or I could contemplate going the alpha funding route. Whatever I decide I will do my best to keep you updated and let you know what the plan is.

Right now I have actually started work overhauling the prototype, I've stripped it down to it's bare bones and begun putting it back together in a far more clean and improved state. The aim is to create a really solid foundation to start building the final game from, address some of the issues from user testing and also smarten up some of the code so that I can begin to accept help that has been offered from some of my programmer buddies.

Will to Survive has another update talking about the combat system being changed.

Today I wanted to talk a little about the new direction that I am looking into heading with regards to combat.

So far the combat in the prototype has not been met with much praise, in fact often people have been confused as to how it works as no other game features a combat mechanic like it and I've personally not been 100% happy with how it plays. I now feel like I know the correct direction to go in which will improve the game a lot and help cut down development time leading to a higher degree of polish and quality.

Out With The Old

Originally when I first developed the prototype the aim with the combat was to develop a system which would work well on mobile formats as well as desktops so I had the idea of using something along the lines of Pokémon style fight screens. It seemed like a sound concept and the player was taken to a different screen with the intention to help cut down art time and be a little more straight forward to develop in terms of AI logic.

The combat system was never truly locked down, it was still an early test of an idea but I needed to take that path in order to see if it was correct or not. I always had thoughts about changing it to a turn based system but wasn't sure how it would work, if it would work and how much extra time would be involved with that process.

Will to Survive has another update giving out info on the survivors you will meet in the game,

In the last update I mentioned I was creating concept artwork for some of Will's fellow survivors. I've finally managed to get round to finishing the artwork off ready for you to see.

Introducing The Survivors

                    

Not many survivors live in the worldnow and the ones who are left tend to lead solitary lives hiding away as best as possible. They don't want to get caught by the aliens who threaten their very existence.

When you do come across a new survivor you may need to gain their trust before they help you out. Once you are acquainted you may find that they have items to trade, tips or info to share and may even have quests for you complete. It's important to try and look after your fellow humans, failing to aid them when they are in urgent need of help could mean they no longer exist. If the aliens have less humans to search for they stand a higher chance of finding you!

Will to Survive has a new kickstarter update were the developer talks about ammunition.

I've been beavering away designing and drawing some of the other survivors who will be living in the world along with Will which I was hoping to show as an update, the art isn't quite finished just yet so instead I thought I would give you a bit more info on the role ammunition will play in the game.

Ammo is a bit different in Will to Survive, you'll be able to find different types of each round and will even be able to craft your own once you have learnt how. You could be adding phosphorus to some shotgun shells to create incendiary ammo or applying unknown alien liquids to the tips of bullets to test the effects. Everything that you can collect in the game will have a purpose, that purpose could just be to harvest chemicals or other supplies... ever wondered how much gunpowder is in a firework?

In The Press

A few more sites have been kind enough to mention the game which is fantastic and I even answered a few questions for OrdinaryGamer.com

OrdinaryGamer - Greenlight Spotlight Q&A
GameWalkers - Insert Money Here
IndiePub - Crowd Funding Round-up
GamersHell

Will to Survive has another update this time talking about weapon customisation.

In today's update I wanted to talk a little about the role weapon customisation will have in the game.

Here in the UK we don't have access to a lot of weaponry. We don't have AK47's and M1911's lying around the place so the ones you do find will be quite precious. Adapting them and improving them will be quite important. Adding scopes for example will increase your accuracy at various distances as well as the speed you can acquire a target. You'll be able to attach flash lights and laser targeting either by standard means or just by using some tape you once scavenged. Some of the attachments will be able to be transferred too as long as it wasn't a permanent fixture.

                         

Possibly the most important feature will be the ability to adapt some of the alien tech. You may find the ability to do this yourself or failing that find a helpful survivor willing to trade you something in return for his expertise in the matter. As enemies get bigger, you'll need something more powerful than that .22 rifle of yours!

At the end of the day Will needs as much help as possible, as time goes on the threat grows stronger and ammunition will be harder to find. Gather what you can and adapt to the ever changing world around you.

Steam Greenlight & Steam Keys

The Steam Greenlight page is still going strong, we're at 38% of the way to the top 100. If you've not already helped up vote you can do so here. If we can get this green lit then anybody receiving the game as part of a reward tier will automatically receive a free steam key.

In The Press

The game and campaign has been featured on a few more sites too, why not check them out.

GameZebo Kickstarter Picks
PCGamesN
EGamer
KaboomShark

Will to Survive has another update that shows us the gargantuan.

The Gargantuan

I've managed to sneak in a bit of alien concept art time in amongst the busy schedule of running a Kickstarter. This is one that I've been wanting to design for a while now. It's a rather big brute who has a rather devastating secondary attack capable of destroying both sets of cover during a fight. Scary!

                 

As the threat level of the world increases, the scale, amount and sheer power of the aliens will increase with it. As that happens Will needs bigger weapons or a way to reduce the threat... maybe he needs to sabotage their way of calling backup?

Press

The project has had some more press recently which is fantastic. I've been mailing as many sites as possible trying to get coverage. Here are the articles that went up recently.

http://indiestatik.com/2013/08/01/kickstart-this-will-to-survive/

http://www.indiegamemag.com/real-time-survival-rpg-will-to-survive-an-apocalyptic-tamagotchi-of-sorts/

http://beefjack.com/news/will-to-survive-hits-kickstarter/

http://www.indieretronews.com/2013/07/will-to-survive-rts-survival-with-z-i.html

Alien Nickname

The aliens don't have a name, they've never spoke to a human before so we don't know what to call them. They just turned up and kick-started the apocalypse. What would you nickname them?

A new kickstarter just went live called Will to Survive. It's described as a fully real-time survival RPG set in a persistent and perpetual world full of alien invaders.

Will to Survive is a true real-time survival game with base building elements and a few twists.

You control Will, a resourceful survivor living in a world inhabited by deadly alien invaders. The objective of the game is to keep Will alive for as long as you possibly can.

Will to Survive's persistent and perpetual world means even while you are away from the game events are simulated, so make sure you have enough supplies to last and that your safe-house is suitably fortified or you may well return to find your Will has been destroyed.
 
Death means death in Will to Survive. Permadeath means that if Will dies, you start from scratch at the beginning along with any of the unlock-able perks that you may have collected.

I'm aiming to release Will to Survive on as many platforms as possible including desktop, mobile and tablet devices. To help you keep your Will alive it will also feature the ability to synchronise your save between devices. That way you can check up on your Will, any-time, anywhere.

How long can your Will survive?

The project already has an update also.

A brief first update mainly just to give a big thanks to everyone who has pledged so far and expressed interest in the campaign! You are all fantastic. I've created a set of backer avatar images should you wish to show your support.

I'd also like to point you to a Q&A article that I recently answered for the Indie Spotlight section of Jump To Gamer.

Exposure really is the key, if you could help in any way by sharing, tweeting and generally just mentioning the project anywhere you can that would help greatly.