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StarCrawlers - All News

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May

StarCrawlers - Big Beautify Update

by Silver, Monday - May 04, 2020 00:26
A new update for StarCrawlers has been released which improves the graphics and lighting. The developer also hinted that their next project will be revealed soon.
 

StarCrawlers 1.1.4 - Big Beautify Update

Beautified with enhanced graphics and lighting effects.

StarCrawlers has been updated with a Beautify feature! This optional feature enhances texture fidelity and sharpness, lighting appearance and effects, and enhances visuals overall. In the course of working on our next project (more news soon!) we experimented with retroactively applying the visual upgrades to StarCrawlers - and it worked :steamhappy:

The Beautify feature should not have any noticeable impact on the performance or resource usage of the base game. Beautify is enabled by default and can be turned off in the Graphics menu if desired.

June

StarCrawlers - Hotwire Update

by Silver, Wednesday - June 20, 2018 06:41

StarCrawlers has received a substantial content update that was originally intended as DLC.

StarCrawlers v1.1 - Hotwire Update

Hotwire Hotfix 1 Deployed! Details inside...

The Hotwire Update is live and it's FREE. Originally intended as DLC, we've reworked and integrated all of the content from Hotwire into the base StarCrawlers game as a free update for all players. Here's what's inside:

Hacking

  • Hacking is now a fully developed and separate system that works alongside the base game.
  • Datajacks will now spawn on randomized missions allowing access to the virtual Wire network which connects all of the systems of the map you're on.
  • Using your Deck, jack in and ride the Wire to encounter 35+ new enemies and discover 25+ new abilities exclusive to hacking.
  • The Hackshop in STIX sells Programs and Utilities to beef up your Deck and tackle the toughest denizens of the Wire.
  • Enemy programs guard the Wire and change depending on the type of network, security rating of their nodes, and other factors to give a different feel to each network you hack.
  • New hacking element types (Security, Corruption, and Deception) each have their own enemies and program types for you to unlock and use both in hacking combat and when interacting with nodes.
  • Nodes in the network control security doors, alert levels, contain loot data, and more. Hack your way to the Core and crash it to bring the system down and stick to the megacorps.
  • Now that hacking is live, more hacking specific content is in the works (and will arrive SoonerTM)!

Additional Patch Notes for v1.0.4

Tip Jar

  • We'll be supporting ongoing development of StarCrawlers with free updates and content patches by adding a Tip Jar button to the title screen. If you enjoy the Hotwire Update and want to see more of it (and new stuff!), please consider showing your support with a $1 tip!
  • Tipping confers no in-game advantage and never will (but we'll think you're really cool) and amount may vary in your local currency as determined by Steam.
  • If the Tip Jar bothers you, simply click the Hide Tip Jar button and you'll never see it again.

Story

  • Fixed a plot hole that could allow a certain character to randomly appear on the final mission (despite your refusal to work with them earlier in the story).
  • Firing the Prototype allows it to be rehired from the STIX bar - possibly. It may wander off and do its own thing if it feels like it.

Smuggler

  • Sped up animation of Showdown crosses on target when stacks are greater than 3.

Linux

  • Unsupported resolutions checks are no longer ignored on Linux as a workaround - as such, you may need to adjust your resolution and reset your preferences if you are playing on Linux with a non-3:4 display.
  • If you encounter issues with your resolution on Linux - please let me know your distro and native resolution in the forums so I can support as many as possible.
  • Double typing on text entry is still a known issue - Unity has not patched it. Investigation continues!

Other notes

  • Fixed additional elusive typos.
  • Minor bug fixes and QOL improvements.
  • Known issue (non fatal) with event entering hackshop for the first time that can cause a sentence be skipped.

May

StarCrawlers - Released

by Hiddenx, Tuesday - May 23, 2017 20:17

The sci-fi dungeon crawler StarCrawlers has been released on Steam and GOG:

Crawlers Wanted: high pay, certain risk. Plausible deniability a must.

Build a crew of renegade adventurers on the fringes of space, taking jobs from megacorps to hunt bounties, sabotage rivals and conduct corporate espionage. If you can navigate the intricate politics of wealth and power, you might just survive long enough to spend your hard-won credits.

You’re a Crawler, and that means you work for those that can pay. Asset recovery, commercial espionage, and mayhem for hire are just a few of your crew’s specialized services. If something shady needs doing, chances are a Crawler will be involved. Succeed and you’ll be rewarded with better pay then any corp drone can dream of. Plus, you'll earn the respect of the eclectic assortment of merchants, opportunists and adventurers who make their home in the fringes of space.

Key Features:

  • Wage strategic battles against futuristic enemies with an innovative time unit turn-based combat system.
  • Procedurally-generated dungeons and events create endless replayability.
  • Choose your allies and your foes wisely. Your choices will change how the story unfolds.
  • Eight player classes each with unique abilities, both in combat and when exploring.
  • Randomly generated weapons, armor and gear with upgradeable enhancements.
  • Easy to Hardcore difficulty modes and optional permadeath.

StarCrawlers - Now Launching May 23rd

by Silver, Tuesday - May 16, 2017 01:27

StarCrawlers release has been delayed a week due to a secret new system and some necessary tweaks.

Hi everyone!

We've decided to delay launch until May 23rd- there's a few more adjustments, fixes and tweaks to make (plus a brand new system we've been keeping secret) and we want to make sure everything is solid for launch.

Thank you for your patience and we'll be back in 7 short days with launch of version 1.0!

April

StarCrawlers - Launching May 16th

by Silver, Wednesday - April 05, 2017 00:37

StarCrawlers finally has a release date of May 16th according to the latest Kickstarter update.

loading...

We've been quiet working away during Crunch Time (super fun) on the final content, and it's finally ready. Thank you everyone for being patient with us! If you haven't been patient with us, that's cool too, we love you. It turns out making games takes some time, and we may have ended up adding a few things above and beyond the original scope of funding, but we couldn't resist. :D

[...]

A few of the upcoming features in the final patch include :

  • Boss Mode - Elite boss mobs have deployed to procedurally-generated missions along with unique abilities, squad makeups, and loot.
  • Collectible Lore Items - Scattered around maps, hidden lore loot reveals additional info about the corps and can be compiled into dossiers for a reward.
  • Achievements - 30+ Steam achievements are live with this update (more at launch) and we're working with GoG.com for Galaxy achievements for launch.
  • Class Abilities - During Early Access and InDev we've received tons of feedback and suggestions on class abilities and mechanics - the latest patch brings something new or improved for every class in combat.
  • Mob Abilities - With the addition of elemental damage, and now elemental effects, player classes have been annihilating mobs in a variety of ways. In this patch, the mobs bite back with new and improved abilities and tactics.
    [...]

March

StarCrawlers - Tipsy Tarantula patch

by Silver, Monday - March 06, 2017 23:04

StarCrawlers has been updated with a rather large patch called the Tipsy Tarantula patch. Due to the amount of changes the patch notes extend over two pages. (P1, P2)

Due to the massive amount of changes, patch notes will be split into two parts. Get comfy...
PART 1 OF 2

We've been taking in an enormous amount of feedback and suggestions on combat, and this patch is all about it! Thank you to everyone submitting feedback and bug reports, we hope everything will find something they like in the Tipsy Tarantula patch. After experiencing the patch, let us know what you think about the changes in this handy feedback thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/318970/discussions/2/133258593396281495/

Stat Changes
Health has been recalculated to lower the cap for players. When loading a save from a previous build, your team may have current health that exceeds the new maximum. This will be addressed in a future patch, but enjoy the excess health while it lasts! :D

Combat Changes
Combat speed and damage for both mobs and players has been revised. You should find combat at lower levels to be quicker and deadlier overall, with difficulty ramping more smoothly as you advance towards level 30.

Many classes have picked up Regeneration and healing abilities in their support trees. These become more important at higher levels to sustain your team against tougher enemies and reduce reliance on using medkits.

Regeneration heals at the start of a character's turn. A character can only have 1 active Regeneration effect on them, with stronger effects overriding weaker ones.

Several of the more deadly abilities have had their damage caps adjusted and require building charges to use them at full potential. This creates more opportunities to build power over the course of a run instead of just popping your nukes each battle. Looking at you, Hellfire Salvo.

Several debuffs have been standardized to make them easier to recognize in action: Blind reduces hit chance, Burn deals damage over time, Shock reduces Energy resistance, Corruption converts buffs into damage, and Vulnerability increases damage taken by the target.

Mobs will be updated in the next patch with new abilities and buffs.

Gear Changes
Heavy Armor no longer has a Time Unit penalty, but a dodge penalty.
Light melee weapons and pistols provide a bonus to dodge.
Heavy melee weapons and heavy weapons have a penalty to dodge.
Medkits can once again be used by the Prototype. The mechanic of having a separate healing item just for the Proto sounded fun, but in play was found to be less so.
The damage reduction for shields and armor has been reduced and damage ranges across all three types brought slightly closer together.
These changes do not affect gear generated in previous builds, but you will experience unbalanced play if you choose to use legacy gear.
[...]

December

StarCrawlers - Last Patch of the Year

by Silver, Monday - December 12, 2016 12:07

The latest patch for StarCrawlers introduces a lot of fixes and a few changes.

Bad news everyone! The freezon capacitors in STIX are acting up again and covering the station in ice, but at least the residents are getting in the spirit by cooking up winter treats and leaving festive gifts laying around with rare loot inside...

Last patch of the year as we enter the holiday season, but work continues for a big update in the New Year. Happy holidays from Juggernaut :D

Factions

  • Fixed issue with using Rhyzohm Master Keys and Skeletonkeys in UFP territory locking the event. But seriously, don't try it...
  • Fixed an issue with the Aurora Wire contact event that could cause it to close unexpectedly.
  • Fixed issue where faction ops could spawn in maps owned by other factions and subsequently cause rep loss with a faction not associated with the map.
  • Fixed employees from some factions awkwardly wandering into enemy faction maps.
  • Fixed issue where disposing of an faction employee causing rep loss with a different faction.


Maps

  • Failing to hack / shoot down a camera no longer automatically summons security but still triggers any trap attached to the camera.
  • Fixed room generation that could occur in Office maps that made small hallways impassable.
  • Fixed additional instances of trash cans appearing lootable when they are in fact not.

Force Psyker

  • Aegis Strike no longer incorrectly displays a weapon attack particle on impact.

UI

  • The timeline in combat can now be scrolled manually with two handy buttons.
  • Combat Inventory, Flee and End Turn options have been combined under the Options icon on the Ability Wheel.
  • Combat Log and Crew Status buttons no longer become semi-transparent when battle begins.
  • Combat UI more strongly displays that an ability is unavailable in its tooltip.
  • Look Smoothing is now disabled by default and correctly factors Free Look Sensitivity settings into movement when enabled.
  • Prototype Malfunction events now use any custom character image defined.
  • Spyder Drones now correctly appear on the minimap as an objective marker when the room they are in is discovered.
  • In combat, ability icons no longer incorrectly display as highlighted when their ability is on cooldown or unavailable.
  • Fixed issue where entering blank text into an event input field could cause the event to fail.
  • Fixed particles persisting on some enemies after they have been defeated.
  • Fixed character portrait not displaying when resetting abilities in the Medbay.
  • Fixed item tooltips persisting in some menus after the menu has been closed.
  • Fixed gear restrictions showing in the Black Market when inspecting crated items.
  • Fixed issue allowing terminal data transmission event to be repeatable.

Gear

  • Added weapon skills for Void Psykers to use Heavy Melee and Rifles.
  • Added weapon skills for Hackers to use Paired Melee, Rifles and Shotguns.
  • Added weapon skill for Smugglers to use Paired Melee.
  • Added weapon skill for Force Psykers to use Basic Melee.
  • Added seasonal items appropriate for crawlers.

Coming Soon

  • Final friendly faction contact event: Pink Abduction Ray
  • More cool stuff!

November

StarCrawlers - Polish then Launch

by Silver, Saturday - November 05, 2016 04:29

Juggernaut Games has released a new kickstarter update for StarCrawlers which explains some of the polish and enhancements they have made to the game. The next update at the beginning of 2017 will announce the spring release date.

New Features

We've come a long way since the end of our Kickstarter, and the game has grown quite a bit from our original concept and pitch. Our initial alpha, beta, and Early Access has provided invaluable feedback from you guys and our Steam and GOG communities, which is making the game stronger with each update. Here's a run-down of just a few of the newest features that we've added:

Design a Backstory for your Hero

Now you get to customize a history for your hero / first crawler. Your history will affect your character's starting stats, gear and credits and will change the way your character will interact with NPCs in certain quests and events.

______________________________________________________________

Enhanced Gear Randomization

We recently retooled the loot system to add a lot more variety to the types of gear you can get, and added a much greater variety of upgrades to make the loot collection and customization features much more enjoyable.

Gear Enhancements

Besides adding a lot of depth and richness to the types of gear we have available, we've also added a number of enhancements that let you customize your gear even further by modifying their stats according to your own preferences.

______________________________________________________________

Faction Rewards and Consequences

As you progress through the game you'll get to know certain factions and they'll get to know you. Your crew will now accrue positive and negative favor with corporations. Positive favor can be used to barter for special rewards from corporations and negative favor may motivate them to run ops against you, so balancing corporate reputations becomes a much more significant part of the overall gameplay experience.

Character Custom Portraits

Based on feedback from forum users, we've added the ability to upload custom images for each character to be used in events, combats, and menus. We can't wait to see what you create for your crawlers!.

Our next update will be at the start of 2017 and will announce the Spring launch date and our plans for continued support of the game. It's been a long and interesting road, we're tired but excited to see launch in sight, just on the horizon.

October

StarCrawlers - Halloween Update

by Silver, Saturday - October 29, 2016 21:17

A new patch for StarCrawlers brings a new faction and some fixes.

merchant

A mysterious merchant has appeared with the rising of the Hallowed Mün...

Factions
GalaxyMart is now available to contact via the Wire terminal and has signed contracts to furnish several different locations with their new vending machines.
Additional vending machines are in the works for different corps.

Items
Added unique items to celebrate Halloween :D
Items that modify as the party level increases (such as grenades in Talrie's shop) now correctly scale when not on a mission.

UI
Tooltips for items now correctly position themselves regardless of UI scale / resloution.
The camera smoothing effect when using free look can now be toggled in the Options menu.
Fixed an issue with the mailbox icon not appearing when you have mail.
Events will ignore keypad / number presses while inputting a secret code.
It is no longer possible to open the ESC menu during an event.

Fixes
Fixed an issue with Mine map generation that could create a map that was impassable.

Coming Soon
More friendly faction contact events:
Fear
Dablue Yutaki
More cool stuff!

StarCrawlers - New Patch

by Hiddenx, Saturday - October 08, 2016 07:57

The Early Access dungeon crawler StarCrawlers got a new patch:

StarCrawlers Patch Notes - 9/30 - More Faction Events!

Please note
The method of applying gamma adjustment has changed. If your title screen / space station is black, you simple need to reset your Player Preferences on the title screen. This will fix it!

A smaller (and sooner) patch this week as we're doing an optimization / bug fix patch in the next two week cycle which is less exciting - but necessary! This patch brings several new contact events on the Wire terminal, new items from those factions, and some bug fixes and gamma improvements.

Please also note! If your ESC hotkey (or any other hotkey) is not working, simply reset your player preferences from the Options menu on the title screen.

Factions

  • UFP loyalists can now receive all of the services from contacting Horizon Robotics.
  • Supporters of Aurora Starliners can now receive all of their services.
  • Dissidents supporting Workers United can now receive all of their support.
  • Emer LT, fiercely loyal to the UFP, can now be contacted via the Wire terminal in STIX.
  • Anulap, telecom giant of the UFP, can now be contacted via the Wire terminal in STIX.
  • Riggo’s Fine Spirits, fiercely loyal to partying, can now be contacted from the Wire terminal.

Items

  • Added new unique items obtainable with favor when contacting factions.
  • High-value items stolen from pirates now have a wider array of potential bidders at auction.

UI

  • Added new method for gamma control that avoids the nightmare of adjusting ambient lighting. The method of scaling has changed, so you may need to adjust your gamma settings to achieve the desired level.
  • Clarified info in the Wire terminal to indicate that factions with Neutral or lower rep may not wish to communicate with you.
  • Effects and Abilities that pull characters in the timeline will not cause low level Time Units (0 - 5) to increase.

Cyberninja

  • Cyclone Kick will now also hit targets that have the same TU as the Cyberninja once the ability is executed.

Engineer

  • Bolty will no longer occasionally fly upside and shoot at the ceiling when performing Strafe.

Smuggler

  • Kalmonri Trap now deals the correct amount of damage when attacked by enemies.

Void Psyker

  • Siphon Life (Rank 3) Detonation will now correctly hit all mobs.
  • Void Shell now correctly only shows damage reflection on the effect description at Rank 3.
  • Fixed an issue causing crawlers to bizarrely state their class when encountering pirates which have been terrified by the Void Psyker.

Fixes

  • Fixed wall placement issue in Mines.
  • Fixed an issue with item upgrades that applied buffs inadvertently removing other buffs.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause NPC merc gear to become removeable and fail to regenerate shields at the start of combat.
  • Events that give items will now attempt to create a loot cache nearby (if on a mission) or send you the item in the mail, if your inventory is full when the item is given.
  • Fixed an issue with a certain boss incorrectly scaling to a lower level when faced on Challenge+ difficulty.

Coming Soon

  • More friendly faction contact events:
  • Allure Cybergenetics
  • Dablue Yutaki
  • An enhanced way to interact with StarCrawlers.
  • More cool stuff!

June

StarCrawlers - To Catch a Privateer

by Silver, Wednesday - June 22, 2016 06:13

Another update for StarCrawlers titled 'To Catch a Privateer'. This one introduces a new story mission.

The next story mission has arrived: To Catch A Privateer

After the events of Dumpster Diving, you'll return to STIX to hear a game-changing announcement from Aurora (better check your rep situation!). Your employer will then assign you a mission to either capture or rescue a notorious criminal...

We hope you enjoy the next step in the story, we won't spoiler anything here, but please feel free to share your thoughts in the forums!

StarCrawlers has been updated to Gregarious Gorilla v8 - 06.16.2016

Soldier
Fixed an issue causing bomblet explosions to halt combat.
For real this time.

UI
Added a UI scaling amount slider. This feature is still experimental.
Fixed ability tooltip triggering automatically when targeting an enemy.
Fixed overlapping elements in the event popup screen.

Fixes
Optimized some class ability memory usage.
Fixed an issue with doors acting oddly if you enter combat while standing next to one.
Fixed trap panels complaining about strings they had failed to find.
Fixed an issue with floor tile navigation in some mine tunnel variants.
Fixed issue with cam traps obssessing over a single tile.
Misc fixes and improvements.

Coming Next
New Story Mission : The Train Job
Ragnarok Missions (if you passed the test)
Tasks System
More environment lootables
More friendly faction contact events
More cool stuff!

StarCrawlers - Elemental Madness

by Silver, Saturday - June 04, 2016 13:31

In the latest patch for StarCrawlers the elemental damage system has arrived. Extensive patch notes can be found here.

Elemental Madness has arrived.
An elemental damage system has been bubbling beneath the surface of StarCrawlers for a while and now it's ready to burst forth in all it's zapping, burning, melting, devouring and terrifying glory. In addition, we've added a Combat Log, new twists to Challenge & Hardcore difficulties, and tons of improvements to class abilities, weapons, armor, shields and accessories. Dig in!

Elemental Damage
Class abilities can now deal basic Physical damage, elemental damage (Energy, Fire, Chemical, Nanite or Void). multiple types of elemental damage, or channel the element of your equipped weapon. Most generated weapons will deal Physical damage, but rarer and high-level items can deal elemental damage. Mobs also deal elemental damage with some of their attacks and the power of elemental attacks from mob abilities grows as they level.

Elemental Resistances
Elemental damage is absorbed by Barriers and Shields as normal, but pierces Armor. The block power of Armor has been increased to serve as a superior defense against Physical attacks, and the absorption power of Shields has been slightly reduced. When facing elemental damage, you'll want to stack resistances to reduce the incoming damage to manageable levels. Armor, shields, accessories, item upgrades and class abilities can all contribute to resistances. Similarly, mobs have natural resistances to some elements and have gained abilities to boost resistances.

Classes
There have been significant changes to the class trees to incorporate the new elemental damage system. All classes abilities that deal damage now deal either Physical, Energy, Fire, Chemical, Nanite or Void damage. Some classes will see further abilities updates and changes as we test the new system and receive feedback.

May

StarCrawlers - Early Evaluation

by Silver, Tuesday - May 24, 2016 02:31

@Vox Ludicus they have an early evaluation of StarCrawlers which the writer has broken up into categories - Visuals, Audio, Gameplay and Story.

----GAMEPLAY---
...

Combat is turn based, your team of crawlers against the enemies. Enemies are shown on screen as sprites, and your team is represented only by the health bars at the bottom of the screen and on top via the initiative tracker. Initiative is determined using a system called Time Units. Each action costs a certain amount of time units, and this dictates where your action places you during a fight. When a character or enemy reaches 0 Time Units they can take an action. For example, if your basic attack is 150 time units, then when you use it you drop to place 150 on the chart. If an enemy currently has 100 Time Units, you go after they do, but if your action only cost 55 time units then you would go again BEFORE the enemy could act. Its fairly easy to figure out once you get the hang of it. My hacker is fast enough with light armor, for example, that I frequently get two or three turns before an enemy gets to go with her, or anyone else on my team for that matter. You need to pay attention to your weapons and armor and what effect they have on your Time Units in battle, as heavier armor can inflict a penalty to your speed, basically making every action cost more, while light armor can do the opposite. Heavier weapons do more damage, but also cost more in Time. It's a balancing act. Also your special attacks cost Time Units as well.

[...]

----AUDIO---

The sound work in this game is serviceable. The music is frequently overshadowed in combat by the sound effects, which are again solid but nothing noteworthy. There is no voice work or voice acting at this time, so no comment really there. Truthfully, I barely notice the sound most of the time unless I am in the main station. The music that plays there is dreary, and monotone, and I suppose it's meant to be that way, to give you a feeling of being out on a lone space station in the middle of space. Combat music though does have a more frantic feel, but again can frequently get overshadowed by the booms and zaps of your special attacks and guns.

During exploration, when you can hear the music in the dungeons, its really quite nice.

StarCrawlers - Ironmode has Arrived

by Silver, Saturday - May 21, 2016 01:36

StarCrawlers has been patched and now has a permadeath mode for those that want it.

Ironmode has arrived! As requested, you can now subject yourself to permadeath in StarCrawlers by starting a new game with the Ironmode option selected. Mercenaries can now join your crew for a limited time under special circumstances - the first first mercenary available is the enigmatic Mr. Lieu, a security consultant working for Kage Enterprises. Expect to see more mercenaries become available from Factions in the future!

Ironmode
This is the first time this feature has been activated, so if you choose to go Ironmode, we'd love to hear about your experience, be it good or (probably) bad! :D

  • New games with difficulty of Standard or higher can choose to activate Ironmode.
  • Limit of 1 Ironmode save that auto updates.
  • Character death is permanent and equipped gear is lost forever.
  • The Ironmode save updates whenever a character dies.
  • Not for the faint of heart.


Mercenaries

  • Mercenaries can temporarily join your crew for a mission.
  • Mr. Lieu, a friendly smuggler, can be hired after reaching Allied reputation with Kage.
  • Unique mercenaries can be obtained from rare drops.


Factions

  • Kage Enterprises can now be contacted via the Wire terminal.
  • Kage can supply items to help crawlers deal with traps, provided they like you.
  • Fixed some typos in the Jiyin contact event.


Items

  • Added new drops that can counter traps.


UI

  • The new game menu has been improved.
  • Saved games now display the difficulty setting of the game.


Coming Next

  • New Story Mission...
  • More friendly faction contact events.
  • More cool stuff!

StarCrawlers - Gameplay @PAX East

by Silver, Tuesday - May 03, 2016 00:10

StarCrawlers has recently been demoed at PAX East. In this brief video from Tek Syndicate we see some gameplay while the developer explains stuff. Gameskinny also wrote some impressions based on the PAX East demo.

loading...

March

StarCrawlers - Preview @ Armchair Empire

by Myrthos, Wednesday - March 30, 2016 12:26

The Armchair Empire checked out StarCrawlers and penned down a preview of the game.

About a year ago, StarCrawlers slinked its way into Steam's Early Access and since then has been getting regular updates as it makes its way to becoming shipshape for a full release. In a world where science fiction themed RPGs are vastly outnumbered by ones with a decidedly fantasy shtick, this one certainly got me to raise an eyebrow when it came along. Moreover, it's a dungeon crawler, and as such had me instinctively reaching for my wallet. Of course, with it being unfinished, this excitement could have been premature if playing it revealed a game needing much more time in the oven. After pouring a fair bit of time into the game, that's certainly the case to a degree, but thus far it seems to be more a case of sorting out some of the text in conversations than any game breaking bugs.

This is a first person dungeon crawler with procedurally generated areas, so, right off the bat, one can see that exploring, fighting baddies, and collecting loot will be a big part of StarCrawlers. While there is an actual main line of quests with a story, most of one's time can be spent wandering futuristic corporate offices, derelict space ships, monster-infested mines, and the like without paying it much mind.

Players have a space station referred to as STIX that they use as a home base between jobs. It has basic amenities to help aspiring crawlers do their job better. There's a shop for buying, selling, and upgrading gear, a medical bay for patching up badly injured party members and resetting talent trees, there's a black market for playing a lottery to get gear of varying degrees of quality, and, most importantly, a bar.

January

StarCrawlers - On Track to Launch

by Aubrielle, Sunday - January 03, 2016 05:00

It's old news now, but still relevant.  In early December, StarCrawlers finally moved to Unity 5, as promised back in October.  In this latest update, they also gave us an idea of what might be in the next patch as the game moves toward release in early 2016.

Here's a short list of some of the new features we are adding in the next patch :

-Revamped Mine maps with visual improvements and more interactive features

-Variants for critters and other mine mobs with new art and abilities

-Improvements to Mine mob health / damage balancing

-Interactive "mini-event" items added to Mine environments

-More rare spawn mobs (randomly generated) with unique art, abilities and loot

More information.

October

StarCrawlers - Moving to Unity 5

by Silver, Wednesday - October 14, 2015 23:40

The StarCrawler team announced on Steam that they are moving from Unity 4.6 to Unity 5.

Unity 5 Update Inbound!
15 October - Thunderflux
Updating to Unity 5

During test builds of the next update we started to encounter issues with Unity 4.6's ability to compile the project (there's a lot in there, and Unity 4.6 can only address 3 gigs of memory to build - then it crashes). One solution would be to reduce the quality of or remove assets to allow the project to compile, and while that worked early on, it's become increasingly problematic and undesirable - we want to add MORE!

Originally the benefits of moving to Unity 5 were outweighed by the benefits of sticking with 4.6, but that has now reached the tipping point:

=>Unity 5 supports offers Auto API update (switches a lot of code from 4.6 to 5 automatically)
=>Unity 5 can address as much memory as it needs to build, ending the build issue for us.
=>Unity 5 offers features that will improve how StarCrawlers plays, looks and feels.
=>Unity is ending support for 4.6.

The biggest hurdle with switching to Unity 5 was supposed to be converting our entire codebase (StarCrawlers currently has over 223,500 lines of code) but I'm extremely happy to announce that part is DONE - we were able to update and fix the entirety of the code in less than a day!

There are some minor animation, graphic, UI, and general transition wonkiness that needs to be resolved, but given how quickly the code was addressed, we're optimistic about committing to the full transition to Unity 5.

What this means :
A brief delay before the next update while we complete the transition to Unity 5 and ensure the game is smooth and stable on all platforms- then we'll be back with even more to show. In the meantime, these guys are on their way...

animation of space pirate

Here's the TLDR version:
We're moving to Unity 5! There will be a brief delay while we update the project, but it means more good stuff for the future.

Thank you everyone for your support!!!

 

April

StarCrawlers - Patch Notes for 4/11/15

by Couchpotato, Sunday - April 12, 2015 04:09

A new patch was released for StarCrawlers this week on Steam. Here are the fixes.

Main Campaign

  • NEW Campaign mission: The Black Box. Take a trip aboard the Stella Marin in search of answers
  • Saved games from older builds will have their mission progression reset (don’t worry - your characters and gear are not affected) to make some important decisions on the mission Distressing Signals.
  • A new vendor is setting up shop on STIX.

Combat

  • NEW Inspect feature added to combat! Check out all the horrible debuffs you’ve applied to your foes by mousing over their Battle Icons.
  • NEW Detailed inspect added to combat! Click on a Battle Icon to get a detailed view of the enemy and learn more about them.
  • NEW Armored foes have started arriving. Get out your Hacker DoTs and Armor debuffs!
  • Void Psyker’s Horror now has a limit of 8 jumps and will attempt to jump if it kills a target.
  • Fixed display issue with Horror Void Energy cost.
  • Cyberninja’s Setup ability can no longer trigger when Cyberninja is dead. Spooky.
  • Smuggler’s Roulette ability no longer has a chance to complete instantly when activated.
  • Force Psyker's Fists of Fury ability using a ranged weapon now triggers correctly.
  • Prototype's Kill Cone ability now correctly has 100% accuracy at Rank 3.
  • Enemies that channel buff effects on allies can no longer stack them with the same effect from a different caster.
  • Fixed an issue where Mites Frenzy attack could remove multiple shields from target.

Interface

  • NEW You can now specify a save game name when saving.
  • Fixed an issue where xp rewards after combat were displaying incorrectly for parties with varying character levels.
  • Fixed an issue where Y-look inversion was sometimes not being saved.

March

StarCrawlers - First Glimpse @ Anything Geeky

by Couchpotato, Sunday - March 29, 2015 05:37

A site called Anything Geeky has a new video preview this week for StarCrawlers.

Watch as we take on some nasty bugs and some pesky droids in Star Crawlers, a Dungeon Crawling like RPG game currently in Early Access on Steam.

StarCrawlers - New Patch Released

by Couchpotato, Thursday - March 26, 2015 04:07

Juggernaut Games released a new patch for the Beta version of StarCrawlers. I will also be announcing the two winners tomorrow for the game contest on our website.

StarCrawlers has been in Early Access for just 1 week and already the game has grown so much with your feedback! This update includes a number of player suggestions and improvements along with fixes and improvements. Our first major content update is coming soon - new manufacturers, events, random missions and the next main campaign episode.

Our dev roadmap for Early Access can be found here. The roadmap will be current with every major update - hotfix notes can be found here and on our site forums.

StarCrawlers - Beta Key Contest

by Couchpotato, Monday - March 23, 2015 05:55

Well welcome back to another contest on RPGWatch. This time thanks to Elena Consacro of Juggernaut Games you will be able to win a key for the beta version of StarCrawlers.

All you have to do is tell me what you like about the game in the comment section, and I will pick the two best answers to win on Friday March, 27th.

So as you see its very simple, and straight forward so good luck everyone.

Update: Well it's Friday so here is the promised update about the winners. So Drum rool everyone, and the two winners are Carnifex & arthurelo.

RPGWatch - Starcrawlers Interview

by Couchpotato, Monday - March 23, 2015 05:45

We had the chance to talk again with Elena Consacro of Juggernaut Games to get an update on the development of Starcrawlers that just released on Early Access.

Couchpotato:  One change that I do want to talk about about is from your October 2014 Update where you announced the game would be going episodic. Can you talk about the reason why you decided to change how you would release the game, and how did backers react to the news?

Elena: Our beta will be releasing in episodic chapters - once the 1.0 version of the game comes out, it will contain the full story. The main reason for that decision was that we realized that we were really going to need to leverage our beta community to adequately test and balance the game's systems. With a team of five, you just can't do enough QA or get enough feedback to balance a game that is as mechanically complex as StarCrawlers. Team members get tunnel vision - they tend to fall back on the same abilities or characters and to complete tasks in repetitive ways without even realizing it. That makes it really hard to find and address every issue, even when you’re testing repeatedly.

Coupled with the fact that this is a story-driven RPG, we felt we needed to do some hard thinking about how and when the main story missions would come out. We want to avoid having players complete the campaign in a less-than-polished fashion. The campaign should be the highlight of the game and we want to control how all players experience it - even in early access. If the core mechanics aren’t totally solid while you’re playing the campaign, you risk ruining the player’s enjoyment and pulling them completely out of the story. Unlike open-ended games like Minecraft or Don’t Starve, you can’t really “get back” that feeling of discovery that’s part of playing an RPG campaign for the first time, so making sure the first time goes well is crucial.

I think most of our backers understood what we were trying to do and could appreciate it. There’s always going to be some disappointment whenever plans change, and we can relate to that. Our main focus is to make sure we deliver a really polished and worthwhile experience at the end of the day. If we can do that, I think most backers and Early Access supporters will ultimately be happy with their decision to support the game.

StarCrawlers - Early Access Release

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - March 17, 2015 07:34

Juggernaut Games announced today that StarCrawlers will be launching later today on Steam Early Access. So here is the new trailer and information from the developer.

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STARCRAWLERS NOW ON STEAM EARLY ACCESS

Watch the New Trailer and play StarCrawlers for the first time on Steam!

San Diego, California, March 17, 2014 – indie studio Juggernaut Games announces the arrival today of the Beta build of its original title, StarCrawlers, now available on http://store.steampowered.com/app/318970/.  StarCrawlers is a modern take on a classic cRPG dungeon crawler set in a gritty spacepunk universe. Build a crew of renegade adventurers on the fringes of space, taking jobs from megacorps to hunt bounties, sabotage rivals and conduct corporate espionage.

“We’ve been working intensely to bring our vision for StarCrawlers to life.” said George Cochrane, creative director, Juggernaut Games. “We’re excited to share what we’ve accomplished so far and to continue working with the Beta community to take it to the next level!”

StarCrawlers is an RPG adventure in a classic dungeon-crawling style. In a dystopian, spacepunk world, players will navigate the tricky politics of a universe overrun with powerful megacorps, all the while trying to survive and earn a living on the jagged edges of the fringe worlds. The game also features an incredible, atmospheric soundtrack created by award-winning composer Ben Prunty (FTL, Gravity Ghost).

Key Features:

  • Wage strategic battles against futuristic enemies with an innovative time unit turn-based combat system.
  • Procedurally-generated dungeons and events create endless replayability.
  • Choose your allies and your foes wisely. Your choices will change how the story unfolds.
  • Eight player classes each with unique abilities, both in combat and when exploring.
  • Randomly generated weapons, armor and gear with upgradeable enhancements.
  • Easy to Hardcore difficulty modes and optional permadeath.

StarCrawlers is available now in its Beta stage of development on Steam’s Early Access program, with an introductory launch discount (this week only!) of 25%. The full game is due out later this year on Windows PC, Mac and Linux.

StarCrawlers - Steam Early Access Update

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - March 03, 2015 04:45

Juggernaut Games released a new post-funding update for StarCrawlers with information the game will be launching on Steam Early Access on March 17th.

Rumours have been swirling on the Wire and we can confirm:

StarCrawlers is coming to Steam Early Access on March 17th!

Thanks to the amazing contributions of our Alpha and Beta backers in both crushing bugs and contributing feedback, StarCrawlers is in a great place and we’re excited to open it up to the Steam community at large.

In just 1 year our small team has been able to take a small prototype to where the game is today - all thanks to your support. As a special “thank you!” to our backers, we will be kicking off Backer Appreciation Week on March 10th. You will receive your Steam key through BackerKit, allowing access to the Steam version of StarCrawlers a week earlier then it will be available to anyone else. In addition, we’ll be sending out the official KickStarter survey to find out how you want to be immortalized in the credits for helping bring StarCrawlers to life.

Our focus until now has largely been on the core systems and ensuring the AI storyteller is doing a solid job on the side missions. With the Steam release, you’ll have the first look at the main campaign: custom built content, story missions, challenging events, boss fights, and secrets galore. We're hope you're hyped too :D

January

StarCrawlers - Beta Access Has Started

by Couchpotato, Wednesday - January 28, 2015 10:53

Juggernaut Games announces on the kickstarter page for StarCrawlers that Beta Access has now started for certain backers, and give details on whats included.

We released the first Beta build with a wave of SendOwls on Jan. 24th. We’ll be using SendOwl to provide routine updates moving forward, so keep an eye out for them. We’re zeroing in on a Steam Early Access date too. 

Builds will also be sent to Humble Bundle to update the widget. We will discontinue use of the dashboard on our site - no more login required to grab the latest build. Thanks so much to our current beta testers for the bug reports and feedback you've been providing! It's an invaluable resource for the team and has really helped us to weed out and eliminate issues.

Please note: the latest build of the Beta will always be the same whether you are accessing it through SendOwl, Humble Bundle, or Steam. The only difference is how you choose to get your hands on it! Please make sure your email address is up to date to ensure you receive your SendOwl updates. Contact us at elena@juggernaut-games.com for any changes.

December

StarCrawlers - Post-Funding Update # 32

by Couchpotato, Friday - December 19, 2014 04:47

Juggernaut Games latest post-funding update for StarCrawlers has information about a new contest, music trailer, wallpapers, and the games development progress.

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Soundtrack Preview Trailer 

The StarCrawlers soundtrack is just about done and it is AMAZING! We wanted to give everyone a bit of a preview of Ben’s work, so we put together this trailer that has a medley of several tracks, plus a first glimpse at some new environments you may not have seen yet!

Backer-Only 'Design a Weapon' Contest 

For those who didn’t get the opportunity to participate in content creation during Kickstarter, we thought we’d offer another opportunity for you to contribute your creative ideas to StarCrawlers. We are running a contest to design a legendary weapon drop. The winning weapon will be featured in the final release of StarCrawlers! Rules and entry form are below: 

Contest Rules: 

  • 1 entry per person
  • 1 Winner will have their weapon featured in the game 
  • Winner will be announced after January 9 
  • Deadline for submission: January 5, 2015 

Design a Weapon Contest Entry Form

Development Progress

We’ve been making so much progress on the game in the last few weeks its hard to know where to start! The team has been pushing themselves like never before and it shows. Here are a few of the many things we’ve been working on:

  • Character Abilities - all characters now have a full set of unique abilities, complete with particles and effects. We are currently working on balancing, tweaking and SFX from the talented team at PowerUp Audio. 
  • Itemization - randomized weapons are in and we are working on randomized art for them - armor and shields are in progress. There are currently thousands of possible unique weapon drops that can be encountered in game. Weapon class specific upgrades are coming soon. 
  • Character Art - Final art for male and female versions of all character classes is complete
  • Mobs - new enemies are in and can be encountered on runs - rarespawns have started to appear also. 
  • UI Overhaul - the UI has been completely redone in the past few months to improve functionality and appearance - we can’t wait to hear what you think!

November

StarCrawlers - Interview @ Game Trailers

by Couchpotato, Thursday - November 06, 2014 05:05

Game Trailers has new live demo with the developers of StarCrawlers.

Dungeon crawling goes cyberpunk in this futuristic take on the classic CRPG.

October

StarCrawlers - Release Update Posted

by Couchpotato, Wednesday - October 22, 2014 05:37

Juggernaut Games talks about the release of StarCrawlers in the games latest post-funding update. They also share some new art, and music from the game.

We’re not releasing StarCrawlers in November - and why that’s awesome for StarCrawlers! 

We have been lucky enough to get some extra funding for StarCrawlers which is going to give us the flexibility to be able to slow down our release schedule a bit. This is great news for us (and for you guys) because it gives us more time to polish the game and to make sure we’re delivering the best version of StarCrawlers we can possibly produce. We really believe in this game and want to make sure we don’t sell it short. Rushing to Steam release was something we’ve been expecting we’d have to do purely for financial reasons - our post-KS budget was meticulously planned and carefully managed to get us through November, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to go much beyond that. Now we have the flexibility to put in a few more intense months of work and make sure that we’re delivering the best possible experience with StarCrawlers! 

If you backed at the Beta Access+ tier, we’ll be opening up access for you to StarCrawlers (via our site) in November. Our current plan is to release the game onto Steam Early Access in early 2015 for the general public. However, we’re doing something we like to call “episodic” early access: the game will be released in a polished and largely feature complete state in February and will feature the first chapter of the main storyline. In addition, you’ll be able to run endless side missions of different types, have access to all the character classes, and be able to level and collect loot to your heart’s content. 

Each additional chapter of the main story will follow soon after, with associated new bosses and enemies, new random events, and new non-essential stretch goals added (like the claw machine / Interstellar Postal Service). This way we get the game in your hands as soon as possible, without sacrificing quality or polish. As an added bonus we think serializing the most story-intensive elements of the RPG experience may actually make the game experience more enjoyable in some ways. We like the idea of having StarCrawlers periodically re-introduced in smaller portions. Our hope is that it will make the story more approachable for busy people, give us an extra boost in media attention that we’ll need to spread the word about StarCrawlers, and help us keep the game fresh! 

As always, we encourage you to get in contact with us via the forums or KS message to let us know what you’re thinking or if you have any questions!

StarCrawlers - T-shirts & New UI

by Couchpotato, Friday - October 10, 2014 03:50

Juggernaut Games finally posted a new kickstarter update for StarCrawlers with news about the games new T-shirts, and shares a new image of the games UI.

T-shirts are going out soon!

For those backers who ordered StarCrawlers T-shirts, they are currently in the process of being folded and packed for mailing. If anyone has a last minute address change, make sure you login to backerkit today and update it! You can expect to receive them in the next few weeks (depending on where you are located).

StarCrawlers UI Overhaul

After the release of Unity 4.6 last month, we are right in the middle of a complete UI overhaul for StarCrawlers. The new UI not only looks better, it’s also designed to be much more intuitive and user-friendly. Here’s a shot of the updated ability screen:

Alpha backers will get a chance to test out a lot of the new UI functionality in the next build, so please remember to get on the forums and give us your feedback.

That’s all for today, but we’ll be back soon with a bigger update and a sneak peak at some new content!

September

StarCrawlers - Pax 2014 Update

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - September 09, 2014 02:36

The latest kickstarter update for StarCrawlers has infomation fom the game at Pax Prime 2014. I also included a new image from the show floor to the post.

We’re back from PAX and diving back into StarCrawlers totally reinvigorated from the experience. It was phenomenal to be able to share the game with so many people and we were thrilled by the positive responses we got. We also got to meet some awesome indie developers and get a first-hand look at a lot of games we’re really excited for! Our booth was bustling the whole time, and it was a lot of fun chatting with everyone who stopped by. Our alpha backers will all get a chance to experience the PAX build for themselves very soon! We're just making a few adjustments based on user feedback from the show floor.

August

StarCrawlers - PAX, Space Vermin, & More

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - August 19, 2014 06:12

Juggernaut Games finally posted a new update for StarCrawlers with news about the game at PAX, Space vermin, T-shirts. and more. So read the link for all the details.

PAX, Space vermin, T-shirts & More

Happy August all,

First off, exciting news: the entire team will be going to Seattle at the end of this month to show off StarCrawlers at PAX! If any of you are planning to be there, we’d love it if you’d stop by and check out the build (or just come by and say hello). We’re working away getting ready for the show and we'd love to be able to show off the latest build to our first supporters :)

July

StarCrawlers - Audio, Paperdolls, & More Art

by Couchpotato, Wednesday - July 30, 2014 17:44

Juggernaut Games has finally posted a new update for StarCrawlers to share news on the games audio. paperdolls, artwork, and talk about future updates.

StarCrawlers audio, print-your-own paperdolls, plus more sweet art!

Happy (end of) July everyone! 

This one will be a short update, with another to follow very soon with some more news! First off, we’re really excited to announce that Power Up Audio has agreed to work with us on sound design for StarCrawlers! They’re also working on Darkest Dungeon, Timespinner, and a lot of other indie games that we are really looking forward to, and we’re very happy to have their expertise on StarCrawlers. Alpha testers may notice that the sounds improve significantly in the next few months, and if so, you know who to thank.

Sorry for the delay in the update, expect them more regularly in the future! If you’re looking for even more frequent communication - please check in on our forums every now and again. 

June

StarCrawlers - Pre-Alpha 2 Update

by Couchpotato, Friday - June 13, 2014 04:55

Juggernaut Games released a new post-funding update for StarCrawlers infomation on the Pre-Alpha,and talks about how science is used in the game.

Pre-Alpha 2 update + Science!

We've been hard at work getting tons of new systems implemented into StarCrawlers. We now have randomized item generation, a new mission type (target extraction!), security camera traps, saving and loading, and lots of tweaks & fixes to character abilities. Our pre-alpha backers will get a chance to check out some of the recent changes out in our second pre-alpha build which will be available on Friday, June 13th. (Pre-Alpha backers will need a verified account on the StarCrawlers dashboard in order to download the build, so sign up if you haven't already.)

We've also made a lot of progress on some new environments, including laboratories! As you explore deeper into the Stella Marin colony ship, you'll find that there was actually a lot of weird and interesting stuff going on on the ship before it went missing.

May

StarCrawlers - New Livestream on Tuesday

by Couchpotato, Sunday - May 18, 2014 05:24

Juggernaut Games announced in a new short kickstarter update they will be hosting a new Live Stream for StarCrawlers with the developers of Darkest Dungeon.

Darkest Dungeon & StarCrawlers Livestream

We're doing a joint livestream next week with the Darkest Dungeon team! Come watch Asa draw a Darkest Dungeon character in the style of StarCrawlers and Chris from Red Hook draw a StarCrawlers character in the style of Darkest Dungeon. Expect a delicious, delightful melange of Lovecraftian horror and spacepunk sci-fi :)  

Both teams will be on hand to field your questions! Here's the details:

When: Tuesday, May 20th 4:00 PST (What time is that where you are?)  

Where: IndieMegaBooth Twitch Channel 

Backer Kit

For those who backed at $65 and above and haven't completed their backer kit survey, we're waiting on you guys so we can get our order in! If you didn't get your survey (or don't want to do the survey for some reason), send me a message. Otherwise, take a minute to fill it out so we can order some t-shirts!

April

StarCrawlers - Post-Funding Update #24

by Couchpotato, Sunday - April 27, 2014 06:28

Juggernaut Games shares new information for StarCrawlers about new art, surveys, pre-alpha release, and much more in the latest post-funding update.

Pre-Alpha Invites

If you are in the pre-alpha tier, you should have already received an invitation to create a pre-alpha account on our website. If for some reason you haven’t, please check your spam folders to make sure it didn’t end up there. If you can’t locate it, send me an email at elena@juggernaut-games.com and I’ll send you another :). 

Backer Kit Surveys 

You should have all received your backer kit surveys by now. If for some reason you haven’t, please check your spam folders or email me to resend it. 

We’re hoping to lock down backer kit next Friday, so if you haven’t completed your survey or if you were hoping to add something else to your order, please go ahead and do it soon! 

NPC and CEO backers 

If you pledged to create and NPC or a corporation you should have already received a questionnaire from me about your creation. If you have NOT received a questionnaire, check your spam or then email me to resend it. 

Beyond Kickstarter

Now that the furor of Kickstarter has died down, we are finally settling into our groove and getting back into intense development mode. We'll be making occasional updates here (about every month) on the Kickstarter page, but we'll be transitioning to using the StarCrawler forums for much of our communications with backers, so please stop by if you haven't already and set up an account!

As always, thanks so much to our backers for your enthusiasm and support for StarCrawlers! We all feel incredibly fortunate that we have the opportunity to work on this game and we could never have gotten here without you!

StarCrawlers - Post-Funding Update #23

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - April 08, 2014 05:26

Juggernaut Games has posted another post-funding update for StarCrawlers with news about backer surveys, new add-ons, and docs for content creators.

Backer Surveys Coming Soon & NEW Add-ons! Advice and Docs for Content Creators.

Hi everyone, Elena here - I’m done with the backer surveys and waiting on the double check process from Backer Kit, so expect those at the end of the week. I wanted to give you guys a quick overview of what to expect :)

New Add-Ons!

We came up with a few new ideas for content creation that we couldn’t resist adding. Quantities of all of these are limited, and the backer kit survey will be the only opportunity to grab these up!

Design a Deployable Consumable Combat Bot

Work with the developer to design a deployable bot that can be used in combat. You'll help design the style of the item, its animation set and its abilities in combat.

Design an Achievement 

Work with the developer to design an achievement that will be added to the game, including the achievement name, requirements and an icon that will be used to represent that achievement in the game. All achievements will be integrated with both Steam and DRM-free versions.

Name a Ship  

Choose a name for a space ship. Your name will be added to a list of names which will be randomly assigned to ships that you visit or encounter during missions.

Upgrade your NPC to full length combat NPC  

Convert your NPC into a full-length NPC complete with a set of combat animations. You'll also get 3 gifs of your animated NPC performing their animations.

StarCrawlers Buttons 

We got buttons made for the MIX and we liked them so much we decided to order some extra for backers!

March

StarCrawlers - Post-Funding Update #22

by Couchpotato, Sunday - March 23, 2014 04:59

Juggernaut Games talks about being at GDC 2014, and goes into detail on the games stretch goals in the next post-funding update for StarCrawlers.

GDC, The Mix & Stretch goals

Hi Everyone! We’re back from GDC - refreshed and ready to start getting back to the business of making StarCrawlers. It was an exhausting whirlwind of a trip - we met a ton of people, had a lot of fun, and hopefully impressed some media with the early build of StarCrawlers. At the very least we now have a few media contacts that we’ve met in person and can keep updated with what's going on with the game - making it that much easier to get more press for StarCrawlers moving forward.

Stretch goals  

We want to keep working towards unlocking additional stretch goals until the pre-alpha build comes out and that means we have another month or so to get some more features locked in for StarCrawlers. So it’s not too late to share the game with friends, coworkers, etc, if you haven’t already. On our end, we’ll try to drum up some additional press coverage and generally do anything we can to get people excited for the game.

Forums

The StarCrawlers forums are going strong so if you haven’t stopped by please do! Now that we’re back from GDC, we’ll be keeping up a regular presence there and we’ll try to read every suggestion and question and answer everything as best we can. Keep in mind that we don’t have a full time community manager and the team will be handling the forums in addition to tending to their regular work responsibilities, so be patient with us :)

We had a little trouble with spam-bots the first few days, but it seems we’ve bested them for now. Any suspicious/inappropriate activity should be reported in a DM to Aelyria to ensure that it can be taken care of right away. Forum guidelines will be posted shortly which may help keep the riff raff under control to some extent.

StarCrawlers - Pre-Orders Now Available

by Couchpotato, Friday - March 21, 2014 04:17

If you missed your chance to support StarCrawlers its not to late. Juggernaut Games has announced on the games webpage that you can now pre-order the game.

StarCrawlers is now available for Pre-Order through the Humble Store!  We have several pre-order options available at this time, including early-access.

StarCrawlers - Post-Funding Update #20

by Couchpotato, Saturday - March 15, 2014 04:54

Juggernaut Games has posted the first post-funding update for StarCrawlers that once again thanks the gamer backers, and talks about what comes next.

A huge thank you & A look at what comes next!

Hi everyone! These last thirty days have been life-changing for us. Because of your support we will be able to continue to work on StarCrawlers AND we’ve also unlocked some amazing stretch goals to help make the game everything we all want it to be. You all have our heartfelt gratitude for not only your financial support, but for believing in us! We <3 our backers!

As you can imagine, we’re getting a lot of questions about what comes next. So here it is in a nutshell.

StarCrawlers Forums are GO!

Thanks to Rocky’s hard work we managed to get the forums up and ready for you guys already! Head over there, make accounts and let’s keep the ideas (and the haikus) flowing!- http://starcrawlers.com/forum/

Payment Issues

As with every Kickstarter a percentage of pledge payments will fail to process correctly. If you're one of the people affected by this, you’ll have only 7 days to fix the issues. You should be receiving an email from Kickstarter with instructions on how to correct your payment information.

So if you're one of the affected please take the time to fix your details. Every cent will matter towards our stretch goals and currently the "errored" pledges could take a sizeable chunk out of our final tally.

You Can Still Pledge Through Paypal

Paypal crowdfunding is still available until the 17th, and this is your last chance to be a part of the StarCrawlers universe by pledging at the content creation tiers. After that, we’ll be switching to a pre-order system using the Humble Widget. Either way, we’re going to keep working towards those additional stretch goals! Hero Class Enemies are a mere 14k away and thats something we would love to add to StarCrawlers!

Pledge Rewards

Our plan is to get the physical rewards (T-Shirts) out to you guys over the next few months. After the Paypal pledge window closes in two weeks we’ll send out a survey to get your shirt sizes. Then we’ll need to produce the shirts and get them mailed out, which will take a few more weeks. 

What’s Next for Team Juggernaut

TL;DR: Tons of hard work! With the Kickstarter over, we’ll have a brief window of being out of contact while we’re up at GDC. Once we get back, we’ll be as active as we can be in the forums and on the Kickstarter page, and we’ll be working really hard to get StarCrawlers firmly into pre-Alpha and into the hands of the early access backers! So in the short term you may hear less from us, but we’ll definitely still be in touch! Once again, thanks for your support. We’re looking forward to putting out something that we're all proud of, and hopefully will play for years to come.

StarCrawlers - Successfully Funded

by Couchpotato, Friday - March 14, 2014 06:05

StarCrawlers kickstarter was funded, and managed to get $100,278 of the $65,000 goal. Here is the last update from Juggernaut Games on the games final hours.

StarCrawlers! The Final Funding Update

We are humbled and fired up by the enthusiastic response to StarCrawlers by the Kickstarter community and we look forward to working with all of you over the coming year to craft this game!

The best backers in the universe

We mean it. Heading into the campaign we had high hopes for a good campaign, we weren't expecting to utterly crush our objective and meet so many great backers and fellow kickstarterers. Thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts.

As always,

CHEERS!

StarCrawlers - Kickstarter Updates# 16 & 17

by Couchpotato, Thursday - March 13, 2014 04:35

Juggernaut Games has posted two more kicksarter updates for StarCrawlers. The first update is about a poll were backer can vote the game new character class.

StarCrawlers! Backers vote to pick a NEW CLASS II - The Envotening

YOU'VE DONE IT. The Engineer has joined the crew, and it's time to pick a new class. This poll will run until March 19th, or until the next stretch goal for a class vote is unlocked. Now... get in there and vote!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VMG7D56

The second update is a reminder the game has 35 hours left. The game so far has earned $89,066 of $65,000 goal. So all etxra income will allow the game to expand more.

35 Hours To Go! & Press Build Sneak Peek

Let's take a sneak peek at the press demo build! First off - some sweet new environments.

Here’s a version of the nav room from the Stella Marin colony ship. Maybe if you poke around, you can find some clues about what happened to the residents :O At the very least you’ll have to locate the ships black box and get it back to the corp that hired you if you want to get paid.

Unfortunately, someone’s looking to steal your score! Enter Riggo - scourge of Crawlers everywhere. He’s a Bounty hunter with a reputation for shady dealings and opportunism. He’s looking to make off with the box - by any means necessary. His pack of drones will make him a tough adversary - especially Evei (don’t let her diminutive size fool you!)

Here's an awesome first look video posted by FedoraG4mer! https://www.youtube.com/watch… Be on the lookout for more first impressions of StarCrawlers popping up in the next few days!

StarCrawlers - Update# 14, Final 72 hours

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - March 11, 2014 05:15

Juggernaut Games announces that StarCrawlers has 72 hours left on Kickstarter. The game is already funded, and has gotten $80,776 of the games $65,000 goal.

StarCrawlers! Final 72 hours - last chance to make your mark!

We're in the home stretch! With just 72 hours remaining in the campaign, we have achieved over 122% of our goal, and there's still time to stretch a little further and lock in more features for the first release of StarCrawlers!

Final shot at community content creation

If you were waiting to back at one of the content creation tiers, now is the time. This campaign is the last opportunity to get in the game as an NPC, create a corporation and its CEO, create an event or mission, build an item or a design an enemy - after crowdfunding ends, we won't be offering these options again!

Let's blow this thing outta the sky

It's been an amazing month and everyone at Juggernaut is excited and overwhelmed by the community involvement in StarCrawlers - thank you all so much for your support! As the campaign comes to a close, please consider sharing, sharing and sharing (some more) the Kickstarter link with friends, family, celebrities, bloggers, celebrity-bloggers, space whales. We're not a giant publisher backed team with a massive PR department, YOU are our publishers and your support is the best way of letting people know about StarCrawlers. You're awesome!

International Backers

We're emailing everyone who pledged at RECON and RECON ELITE tiers to remind you to adjust your pledge to avoid the pesky $1 international shipping charge, and we're posting here in the update as well. Here's how: Click on “manage my pledge” and select the $20 reward instead of the reward from your current tier. When we send out the backer survey at the end of the campaign, you can select alpha or beta access as an add-on according to your pledge amount - You’ll get all the rewards for the correct price!

We'll be updating again before the campaign ends with an exciting look at the press build we'll be sharing at The MIX and elsewhere!

StarCrawlers - Kickstarter Update #13

by Couchpotato, Thursday - March 06, 2014 05:26

Juggernaut Games has posted a new update for StarCrawlers with information on the games lore, story, factions, and gives an update on the games AI.

Story and Lore of StarCrawlers

Rapid technological advancement has sent humanity sprawling to the farthest reaches of known space. Spreading out from the core, an uneasy alliance of megacorps wields dominance over all, bending lesser powers to their will in a never-ending quest for wealth. This “Universal Foundation for Prosperity” styles itself a benevolent advisory board; in reality they routinely exploit the outer worlds to finance the extravagance of their privileged lives.

However, cracks are beginning to appear in the UFP alliance and old secrets have become weapons in a new power struggle. On the fringes of space, the iron grasp of the UFP has yet to close in. It’s a place where allegiances are everything, power is lost as easily as it is gained, and a good payday is always on the horizon, provided you’ve got the skills to get the job done.

The powerful member corps of the UFP are major landowners throughout the galaxy, controlling entire planets and sometimes squabbling over them. The decentralized local governments of free planets are essentially shills for whatever corp is dominant in their region and they risk removal (or outright corporate takeover) if they step out of line.

Faction Reputation / Threat Levels and Narrative AI

The StarCrawlers universe is rife with different factions and entities competing for power. You’ll navigate the intricacies of these power struggles as you take and complete missions. Take a job against a corporation, and your reputation with them will decrease at the same time your threat level increases. Run a lot of missions against the same corp and eventually they’ll start taking precautions against you - warning their security teams to be on the lookout for your crew and ratcheting up the difficulty rating when you’re doing runs in their territory. Betraying a mission giver, or even just doing a particularly shoddy job on a mission, will also negatively affect your reputation with a corp, making them more cautious in their future dealings with your crew

StarCrawlers - Update# 12, 100% Funded

by Couchpotato, Sunday - March 02, 2014 05:23

In the latest kickstarter update for StarCrawlers Juggernaut Games announces the game is now funded, and on it's way to a few stretch goals.

StarCrawlers! 100% Funded & Tackling Stretch Goals

Well, Plop says it all. StarCrawlers is 100% funded! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who backed, shared and cheered on the campaign to get us this far. The outpouring of enthusiasm and support from the Kickstarter community has been simply amazing. We are fired up to make StarCrawlers for you!

Nice! What now?

The mission to 100% is complete, but the campaign rages on! We've already unlocked the first stretch goal (Juggernaut Legendary Gun Charm - bonus credits for your crew) and we've begun to make headway towards the first minigoal (Heavy Weapons & Sub Machineguns) and the first macrogoal of New Portraits for Every Class (Ladies & Gents). 

StarCrawlers - Update# 11, Mid-Campaign Update

by Couchpotato, Saturday - March 01, 2014 06:03

Juggernaut Games has posted the next update for thier sci-fi dungeon crawl StarCrawlers that gives a Mid-Campaign report on the games status.

If you haven't read the interview eariler the game is already funded.

Just two weeks left and we’re 97% of the way to the funding goal. That’s crazy close! In today’s update: Combat Update #3 (with video!), PayPal support, the official StarCrawlers wiki, becoming an NPC, info for international backers, and love for an awesome Kickstarter project.

Combat Update #3 is below and all in real-time video action. Please note this is pre-alpha footage: all abilities, items, numbers, etc are works in progress and subject to change. Let us know what you think!

February

RPGWatch - StarCrawlers Interview

by Couchpotato, Friday - February 28, 2014 21:41

We had the chance to interview Juggernaut Games about StarCrawlers. I want to thank Elena Consacro the Producer of StarCrawlers for allowing the interview.

At the time of posting the interview the project is already funded, and has $65,875 pledged of the games $65,000 goal. Congratulations Juggernaut Games.

RPGWatch: Let me get started by saying thanks Juggernaut Games for agreeing to do this short interview. So to get started can you tell us a little about your company and game StarCrawlers?

Juggernaut: Thanks! Juggernaut is a small indie team of seven located in San Diego, California. We’ve been working together for 3 years doing contract work and making content for Sony Computer Entertainment. StarCrawlers is our first opportunity to work together on our own original game project. As a team, we decided we wanted to make a dungeon crawler, but not in an ARPG or 2d platformer style.

We wanted to focus on rpg story elements with a strong feeling of player choice and consequences and then add some random elements into the mix with what we’re calling the “narrative AI” and procedurally generated dungeons. It’s really important to the whole team that we create an experience that is as enjoyable to replay as it is to experience the first time. Procedurally generated content also goes hand in hand with building out complex structures on the fly, and lends itself to indie efforts where you don’t have a massive team to build content.

StarCrawlers - Kickstarter Updates# 9 & 10

by Couchpotato, Wednesday - February 26, 2014 04:49

Juggernaut Games has two more update for thier sci-fi dungeon crawl StarCrawlers. The project has managed to get $60,285 of the $65,000 goal.

It's safe to say the game will be funded. Here are the two updates.

Update #9 - StarCrawlers! The MIX, AMA, New Tiers, New Classes!

Just about to hit the halfway point in the campaign and we’re 88% of the way to the funding goal - thank you to everyone who’s backed us so far and for spreading the word. We’re so close!

To kick things off, check out this awesome doodle by backer and talented guest artist Jezreel!

The MIX StarCrawlers has been selected to be showcased at The MIX in San Francisco on March 17th. Demoing our game at The MIX is an amazing opportunity for a small team like ours to show StarCrawlers to the rest of the world! http://www.mediaindieexchange.com/

AMA We’ll be hosting a reddit AMA on Tuesday, 25 Feb at 10am PST, led by our Lead Animator and resident templar, mixologist, dream maker, and beard enthusiast, Jason. Find it here: http://www.reddit.com/r/games and come ask us anything!

NEW TIERS By backer demand, we’ve added two new tiers of GET IN THE GAME II and CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE II. If you were looking for a chance to score some digital immortality and or torture other Crawlers with your fiendish machinations, there’s more opportunities to do so!

NEW CLASSES We’re almost to 100% funded and looking to crack into the stretch goals, so we’re excited to reveal two new classes that you could vote to be added to StarCrawlers!

Update #10 - StarCrawlers! Mini-update: reddit AMA is up!

Just a quick update to say our AMA is live on reddit: http://bit.ly/1dv1W81

If you're a redditer, please consider joining us for a live Q & A!

StarCrawlers - Kickstarter Updates# 7 & 8

by Couchpotato, Saturday - February 22, 2014 04:49

Juggernaut Games has two more updates this week for StarCrawlers. The first update talks about new portraits, and some new game classes.

With 21 days to go, we’re 70% of the way to our goal. Per backer requests, time to talk about some stretch goals! Between the larger stretch goals we’ve sprinkled some mini-goals that add items, variations and fun stuff to the game. As for the first two major stretch goals:

More Portrait Variations! Our first big stretch goal at 70k is to create alternate male / female character portraits for every class, including any we unlock down the line at later stretch goals. With this goal achieved, we’ll be able to do full-detail illustrations of all the classes, from head head to toe, for both sexes, for all of the classes.

More Character Classes! Adding more unique character classes is something we’d love to do! A class is comprised of dozens of abilities, dialogue choices, event interactions, items loadouts, and more, making them some of the most complex features to integrate, test and balance. We wanted to reserve adding additional character classes for stretch goals to ensure we’re not reaching beyond our grasp by promising too much too soon.

That said, if we can reach the major milestone at 75k, all backers will get an opportunity to cast their vote for the first class they’d like to add to the game. With extra resources, we’ll be able to make the game even better by adding in more awesome classes, two of which we’re going to reveal... right... now.

The second update is part two of the combat system explanation.

As promised, Combat Update #2 is here: some class-specific abilities in depth and some combo theory! Please note, all systems, numbers, abilities, etc are still in the Pre-Alpha stage and are works in progress - as always, we love to hear your feedback. WARNING: This update contains a lot of theory, system jargon, and geeky numbers. Enjoy!

StarCrawlers - Update# 6, Combat System

by Couchpotato, Thursday - February 20, 2014 04:23

In the next update for StarCrawlers Juggernaut Games explains the games combat system. Also the game has managed to gather $42,860 of the $65,000 goal. 

StarCrawlers! Combat System update #1

Hi everyone! First a huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s supporting us. In just 7 days we’ve achieved over 58% of our goal thanks to your generous support and help spreading the word. We’re on track to punch through the funding target and crack into some stretch goals!

Tell us more about combat! We’ve heard your requests for an update that focuses on the combat system, so we’ll be starting a series of updates that cover this system in detail. Please note, all numbers, abilities, etc are works in progress - but we’d love to hear your feedback. Brace yourself and enjoy!

StarCrawlers - Kickstarter Updates# 4 & 5

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - February 18, 2014 05:44

Juggernaut Games released two more kickstarter updates for StarCrawlers. So far the game has earned $32,500 of the $65,000 goal. So things are looking good.

Update #4 - Music Update with Ben Prunty

I'm Ben. I'm making the music for Star Crawlers. I also made the music for FTL, which put me in a bit of a quandary. How do I make another sci-fi soundtrack that doesn't sound too much like FTL? It's important to me that every game has a unique sonic footprint.

When the folks at Juggernaut told me about the thematic emphasis on the seedy, unscrupulous nature of the Crawlers and their environments, I got an idea. After some research on different instruments, I came back to them with this:

Orchestra/electronic hybrid à la Tron Legacy mixed with dirty, exotic space jazz.

They loved it. I haven't quite gotten to the jazz part yet (that's reserved for the space taverns and such), but I think I have everything else down.

Update #5 - Tees, Open Houses and Teasers

 Hi everyone! Quick update to show you a prototype of the StarCrawlers tee which you can swag and let you know about a special event we've got planned. First the tee:

         

Please note this is the prototype, so we'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts. All sizes for ladies and gents to be included.

We're having an Open House! If you're in the San Diego area, or can get there, our open house will be on Friday, Feb. 21st, and you can let us know you're coming by RSVPing here: http://anyvite.com/events/home/zagfmbc834

StarCrawlers - Update#3, Happy Valentine's Day

by Couchpotato, Saturday - February 15, 2014 06:32

Juggernaut Games wishes you all a Happy Valentine's Day in the games latest update.

Happy Valentine's Day from StarCrawlers & Juggernaut Games

Knit Plop is a custom made 100% hand knit snuggle-ready cuddle machine, and he wants you to make him your Valentine. To celebrate love and StarCrawlers, we're excited to add a special STARCROSSED LOVER tier (only 21 available!) to get a custom Knit Plop of your own. Here's the Knit Plop prototype without his romance module at half strength:

     

  • Knit Plop prototype - please note actual product will vary!
Knit Plop likes long strolls through derelict spacehulks, decimating unwary Crawlers, and snuggling.

Happy Valentine's Day from StarCrawlers & Juggernaut Games!

Well it's more of an avertisement really.

StarCrawlers - Update# 1, Recap & F.A.Q

by Couchpotato, Thursday - February 13, 2014 04:38

Juggernaut Games has a new Recap & F.A.Q for StarCrawlers in the games first kickstarter update. The game so far has earned $15,280 in one day.

StarCrawlers! Day 1 Recap & F.A.Q

Hello world! George from Juggernaut Games here -

It's been an exciting first day and we are currently 18% of the way to the funding goal! We'll be providing updates on our progress and sharing news regularly through Kickstarter Updates, but not annoyingly so ;D You can also follow us on Twitter @Juggernaut_News for all the latest!

There's a series of updates planned that highlight different features of the game and go into more detail on them, if there's something in particular you'd like us to feature - please let us know!

In the meantime, we're putting together a F.A.Q list which will be added to the front page which will include the following questions from the first day (if you've got additional questions or suggestions, we'd love to hear them!)

StarCrawlers - Kickstarter Now Live

by Couchpotato, Wednesday - February 12, 2014 04:19

Juggernaut Games has just launched the promised kickstarter for their sci-fi dungeon crawl Star Crawlers. Here is the video and some game details.

You’re a Crawler, and that means you work for those that can pay. Asset recovery, commercial espionage, and mayhem for hire are just a few of your crew’s specialized services. If something shady needs doing, chances are a Crawler will be involved. Succeed and you’ll be rewarded with better pay then any corp drone can dream of. Plus, you'll earn the respect of the eclectic assortment of merchants, opportunists and adventurers who make their home in the fringes of space.

January

StarCrawlers - Pre-Alpha Gameplay Video

by Couchpotato, Wednesday - January 29, 2014 03:37

Juggernaut Games has a new post on the StarCrawlers with a look at some pre-alpha gameplay footage based on the games explore, and combat mode.

Hey George here from Juggernaut Games! We’ve put together a short video of uncut footage from our Pre-Alpha build of StarCrawlers to share some details on what it’s like to play in Explore and Combat modes. Time stamps correspond to the video above – let’s go!

StarCrawlers - A New SciFi Dungeon Crawl RPG

by Couchpotato, Tuesday - January 28, 2014 05:42

I received news today of a new Indie RPG called Star Crawlers being developed by a studio called Juggernaut Games. Here is a little information on the developer.

Our talented team of artists, programmers, and animators has a combined 20+ years experience working in the game industry. We've recently been lucky enough to start work on our first independant game title, StarCrawlers. Being a part of a project like this has long been a dream of every member of the Juggernaut team and we're excited to share StarCrawlers with the community!

Their game is desribed as the following.

StarCrawlers is an endless first-person RPG adventure with procedurally generated levels, enemies, events, and of course, loot! If you’re a fan of classic dungeon crawls like Ultima Underworld and building a team of shady characters ala Shadowrun, we’ll hope you’ll feel right at home in StarCrawlers

I also have a video to go along with the news-bit.

Information about

StarCrawlers

Developer: Juggernaut Games

SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Sci-Fi
Genre: Dungeon Crawler
Combat: Turn-based
Play-time: 20-40 hours
Voice-acting: Partially voiced

Regions & platforms
World
· Homepage
· Platform: PC
· Released: 2017-05-23
· Publisher: Juggernaut Games