Outbreak: Shades of Horror - Next-Gen Retro Survival Horror

Stretch Goals and Character Update: The DJ
about 2 years ago – Tue, Sep 13, 2022 at 11:18:20 AM

Hey Survivors,

Hope you had a great weekend! It was the first one Evan and I had off for a while and man was it nice! Now we are back to the grindstone! Just a reminder that we have some incandescently awesome stretch goals for you, so take a look if you haven't already. We are 44% on the way to our first stretch goal: AI Bots! You helped us survive the Outbreak Kickstarter, now help us thrive!

Quick reminder that today is the last day for the Stadia Premier Edition Console giveaway so make sure you have your entries in!

Now that we are fully funded, we are going to start collecting names for the characters that we promised to name through crowd voting on our discord, so keep your eyes peeled for the next few days as we get that set up.

Character Focus: The DJ

Making it on your own is never easy, and the DJ knows this better than anyone. After finishing her Audio Engineering degree at Cypress Ridge University, the DJ has had a hard time getting recognition for her work. She felt stuck in Cypress Ridge before there were zombies destroying everything! She has something to prove, and is not going to let a bunch of rhythm challenged corpses stand in her way.  If the beat is too slow, up that tempo!

The DJ's special move is Tempo Mismatch, She can speed up characters and slow down enemies.

Games we are Watching

Nostalgia over old school gameplay and style is not limited to just the Survival Horror genre. I feel like if you have been floating around the Kickstarter video games area, they need no introduction; but just in case you haven't, I encourage you to go take a look at Armed Fantasia & Penny Blood, the dual game Kickstarter from Double Kickstarter,  a collaboration between the creative teams at Aria Entertainment and Studio Wild Rose. These teams were the developers behind the cult classic games, Shadow Hearts and Wild Arms and are looking to bring back early style JRPG! Check 'em out!

100% Funded!!!! We are unleashed!
about 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 10, 2022 at 04:07:10 AM

WE ARE FULLY FUNDED!!!!! YOU (our loyal backers) HAVE UNLEASHED THE OUTBREAK! We can't believe it happened this quickly!!!!! 

I know we say it a lot, but I want to say it again. THANK YOU to everyone who contributed. Our community of fans has always been our strongest allies and supporters and we are so happy to be the ones to bring you the games you deserve! We may be the people who make the games, but your continued support has made all 7 games in the Outbreak series possible, and we can't wait to bring you number 8!

MORE STRETCH GOALS!

Now that the main game is funded, we are excited to bring you more stretch goals to make you experience even more tantalizing. These goals were written, rewritten and then rewritten a second time on the fly, to make sure the goals reflect the most commonly requested things our fans have wanted to see, in some cases for years; and some fun things we just want to be responsible for creating (DINOBREAK!). Evan released  3 additional stretch goals this morning on our highly active twitter, but so much has been going on that I haven't had a chance to sit down and actually write this update until now, So here is what we got:

Cross Platform Multiplayer: 

We all just want to play together, right? It's clear Outbreak fans do, because this is the second most requested feature of all time in across our discord and socials (The first requested feature if you are curious, is Online Multiplayer, and that was built straight into Shade of Horror upon conception). If this stretch goal is unlocked, no matter what platforms you and your friends are playing on, be it PS, Xbox Series, Steam or Stadia, we will do our utmost to make sure you will be able to survive and thrive together! 

Bonus Modes:

Operation Rabid Wolf is our loving homage to one of the greatest bonus modes in survival horror history. It will be the Outbreak take on The Mercenaries mode in RE3  that revolutionized mini games across the genre. We will will be evolving  the concepts that originated back in the 90's to give an in depth, greatly expanded, next generation experience. 

Ironman Mode is a different take on the survival experience in Outbreak. Rather than playing as one character throughout the game with friends to help you,  you get to play as the entire cast.  Every time a character is killed they will stay dead, and you will revive as a new character with new skills. The goal is to get through the whole games before whole cast is killed off. But please note, every time you die, your prior character will revive as a super motivated zombie whose sole purpose is to help you meet your end! MUHAHAHA! 

Fun times, no?

Dinobreak! Ok, technically, this was requested all the time in chat; but we have also really wanted to make Dinobreak in some capacity even before Shades of Horror existed. We are big fans of the survival horror classic, Dino Crisis, and we want to bring Dinosaurs back to the undead apocalypse. We love the idea of ferocious, larger than life, mutant bird lizards and want to imagine the fate of Cypress Ridge and it's inhabitants in the DINO-pocalypse!

NEW Add-on!

We have added a limited amount of add-ons that allow you to design a standard trophy/achievement for the game. Check 'em out now and help us fund the stretch goals. 

Games We are Watching

There is no better way to celebrate getting 100% funded than promoting a fellow indie with a cool game that hasn't quite gotten there yet! Today we are featuring Mortal Rite by Round Toast Studios. This an action RPG that wants to breathe new life in the the old school rouge lite and dungeon crawler style games. I love me a good dungeon crawler, and the character design here is really nice. Check it out!

88% Funded! First Stretch Goal Revealed!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Sep 09, 2022 at 10:44:26 AM

Hey Survivors!

Ecstatic to announce that we have reached 88%! As always, Backers, thank you for backing! We are so excited to bring this to you! 

Stretch Goals Added! 

Being the optimistic rays of light and sunshine we are, we are releasing our first stretch goal and it's a doozy! AI teammate survivors! Shades of Horror is an extremely co-operative game, but we don't want to leave you hanging when you prefer to play alone. AI teammates will allow you to enjoy  the cooperative options without having to play co-op.  available both online and offline! 

74% Funded!!! Woo Hoo!!!
about 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 08, 2022 at 06:45:18 AM

Holy cow! We are now 74% funded in 7 days! YAY! ALMOST THERE! A huge thanks to anyone who backed or modified their pledges to help us get this far today! 

Remember we’ve added some wonderful new tiers and add ons so please take another look if you've already pledged! If you are still on the fence about backing,  please pledge! Help us get all the way to our goal and unleash the Outbreak!!!! Once we are funded, we have some real nice stretch goals for you!

Character Update!

Now that we are at 74%, it’s time for a character update!

Introducing: Michiko Yamaguchi, the Opera Singer

This wasn’t exactly what internationally acclaimed opera singer, Michiko had in mind when she signed up to do a 9-month tour of prestigious opera venues in the US. She had expected New York, Chicago, San Francisco …not Cypress Ridge! 

Rehearsals are increasing running late as the cast and crew come down with a mysterious illness. On top of that, the director is completely unprofessional! He keeps staring off into the distance and she could have sworn yesterday he tried to take a bite out of her! This is NOT what a diva of her standing deserves!  Trying and failing to reach her agent, Michiko decides she is going home; only to step out of her out of her dressing room to find the opera house overrun. One doesn’t get to the top by cowering in fear! She is determined to escape Cypress Ridge and doesn’t care who she needs to take out on the way back to fame and fortune.

 If you haven’t already, be sure to enter this week’s giveaway: A signed stadia premiere edition!
 

A note for our Twitch people: Evan’s stream is canceled for tonight because of a bad cold, we hope to be back up and running by tomorrow!

Games we are Watching
Another game that caught our eye for mixing retro and modern style gameplay is the newly funded Titan Shell (congrats guys!) by Meatbag Studio. Inspired by classics, like Contra, and more recent entries into the video game universe, like Enter the Gungeon, Titan shell looks like it’s going to have both great gameplay and a good story. What’s not to like? 😊

60% Funded!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Sep 07, 2022 at 01:39:08 AM

Hey Survivors! 

We reached the 60% funded mark yesterday evening! Thank you to everyone who has back us and is helping to make Shades of Horror a reality. 

We would love to get  'a project we love'  tag from Kickstarter, so we asked them via Twitter! Help us out by liking and sharing our tweet here

Remember to sign up for this week's giveaway,  a signed stadia premiere edition console. Follow the link below for details!

Signed Stadia Premiere Edition Console Giveaway!

Games we are watching

No horror today but we still have something pretty cool. The outbreak series started as 2D, so we have great respect for any kind of 2D game trying to break into the market because we know it's not easy. Putting a spin on an established genre is even harder, so we think it is really cool what Evan Tor is trying to accomplish with Rebel Transmute.

Rebel Transmute is a 2D Metroidvania looking to have an expansive a world as possible, so instead of Alice in wonderland  think like Seamus in Terraria.  Check it out!