- Next Fest Stream Part Deux: The Nextening - 16 June 2024
Another stream of the Back To The Dark Demo for Steam Next Fest! This time playing mage, thief, perhaps some monk and marauder.
- Back To The Dark Stream - 15 June 2024
Back To The Dark Stream. Livestream of Back To The Dark. I will be streaming, live, Back To The Dark. At the time of this event gameplay of Back To The Dark will be streamed live. Streaming Back To The Dark. Etc...
- Back To The Dark Livesteam - 14 June 2024
Edit: Today was just a short stream (that over-ran), more tomorrow! Quick little gameplay stream of Back To The Dark. Come watch!
- Demo Crash Fix! - 12 June 2024
Demo 2.1 updated to fix the startup crash! Apologies for missing that in testing. Thanks to "norss" for reporting that in the forums.
- Demo 2.1 Released! - 7 June 2024
Demo 2.1 of Back To The Dark is now available! The main changes are an update to the lighting, item highlight outlines, character shadows, and some more performance tweaks. Updated lighting. Added shadows to characters. Highlighting of interactable items. Added Attack Speed statistic. Added new treasures. Performance improvements. Updated logo. Check out the updated visuals in the latest trailer: There's also a comparison screenshot of Demos 1 vs 2 vs 2.1 from a previous DevLog: Hope you like it all! Please feel free to leave comments etc etc...
- Demo 2.1 Comparison Screenshot - 31 May 2024
As I'm in the final prep stages for releasing Demo 2.1, here's a screenshot comparing previous Demo 1, 2 and 2.1. That's also a new logo for the game, which will be used in the intro and updated across the other pages soon. The "within the week" from Demo 2.1 Preview didn't happen unfortunately... that's still good though, right? Yeah definetly within *this* week. For sure.
- Demo 2.1 Preview - 30 April 2024
Dungeoneers! After further toiling in my alchemical workshop I am pleased to inform that an update to the dungeon shall be imminent with improved lighting to help guide your way. I have included a preview of such a change. Be assured, though this is something of a subtle update, in my unaffiliated opinion it makes the dungeon more of a pleasing experience. Additional to the lighting change are numerous performance improvements, and I have cast a spell upon the dungeon to enable highlighting of interactable items. I shall do my best to have this update for you within the week!
- Demo 2 Now Available! - 7 February 2024
Back To The Dark: Demo 2 is now available for download! Changes since Demo 1 include: New mobs! 🕷 New dungeon layouts! New rooms! New textures! New lighting! Shadows! Everywhere! More audio fx! Tutorial Dungeon! Some quests in "Trophies & Rewards" Armour! Necklaces. New mob behaviours. Vertical doors! Updated hit detection. Updated UI rendering. Redesigned item detail panel. Improved support for higher resolutions/aspect ratios. Improved performance for low end systems. Save games from Demo 1 are supported, however the amount of new content since Demo 1 is not very big, so previous players might find this release a little underwhelming. A future "Demo 3" will include more content in a few months, including quests, unlockables, spells, stats, bosses... Any feedback, problems, bugs, performance issues, or suggestions are welcomed in the community discussions board.
- Demo 2 - Trailer - 11 January 2024
Dungeoneers! I trust this message finds you in good health and high spirits. May I apologise for the tardiness of this communication, for I have been busy toiling in the workshop in order to bring you good news. Behold! A "Trailer" for our next adventure is available to witness: Alas, I am as yet unable to confirm the commencement date for said adventure, but surely there won't be more than a fortnight's waiting. See you soon, dungeoneers!
- Demo 2: Devlog 2 - 1 October 2023
I had hoped to have the new demo available by now but unfortunately due to a.n.other distractions I've not been able to make the progress that I was looking for. However I am still, gradually, working on it and hoping to make it available in the next few weeks. The current development focus is on performance optimizations, as the frame time has doubled over the original demo, and so I'm trying to claw back as much performance as possible to ensure a smooth framerate on as wide a variety of hardware as possible. Here's an updated list of features in the upcoming demo: New mobs! New dungeon layouts! New rooms! New textures! More audio fx! Shadows! Everywhere! Armour. Necklaces. New Enemy behaviours. Redesigned item detail panel. Vertical doors! Updated hit detection. Plus bug fixes and other smaller tweaks. As well as bug fixes etc.
- Demo 2: Devlog 1 - 8 June 2023
Work on Demo 2 for Back To The Dark has been proceeding. No timeline yet for when it will be available, but so far the following features will be included: Shadows! Everywhere! Armour. Necklaces. New Enemy behaviours. Redesigned item detail panel. Vertical doors! Updated hit detection. Plus bug fixes and other smaller tweaks. Things that aren't quite done yet, but hopefully will be included: New dungeon layouts. New rooms? New textures? Equipped armour shown on-character. More stats. Things not yet planned for Demo 2: Multiplayer (Sorry! But keep asking!) Skills Perks More spells. Spiders.
- Last Days Of Demo - 28 April 2023
Last few days to try the Steam demo for Back To The Dark before it gets deactivated on 1st May. This will be to help focus development on the next stage of the game without worrying about demo related issues... The non-Steam demo will still be available from Back To The Dark on itch.io, albeit without features such as Steam Achievement tracking or Steam Cloud saves.
- Small Demo Update - Korean Language Added - 13 April 2023
Back To The Dark has been updated with support for Korean language! If the game doesn't automatically use your language you can set it by either: Right-click the game in your "Steam" library, select Properties, then Language. Otherwise you can also change it in game, by going to "Settings" -> "Game Options" -> and change "Language".
- Small Demo Patch - 11 April 2023
Small patch to add an alternative font, accessible from the Settings -> Game Options menu.
- Small Demo Update - 10 April 2023
Small Demo Update: Enabled Steam Cloud for saves. Fixed Steam screenshots. Added a Play Confirm screen before entering the dungeon. Fixed not moving when inventory is open on Mouse + Keyboard. Fixed missing gamepad cursor in inventory. Added item values to shop tooltips.
- Demo Achievements Update - 8 April 2023
The Back To The Dark demo is now updated with a collection of steam achievements to aim for whilst dungeon delving, gold ingots to consolidate treasure, mobs with increased difficulty in deeper levels, a little more tweaking of item drop rarity, and a couple of crash/bug fixes. Added 12 Steam Achievements. Added gold ingots to shop. Increased enemy difficulty in deeper dungeon levels. Increased drop rarity in deeper dungeon levels. Added some statistics tracking e.g. number of escapes, deepest dungeon level reached. Fixed player hp not retained through red portals. Fixed dropped items appearing on top of the player. Fixed crash when "dropping" items in the tavern. Fixed game not pausing when opening steam overlay.
- Small Demo Update - 5 April 2023
Small update for the Back To The Dark demo: Added a down portal within the second level for endless runs. Reduced bow and staff charge time. Added fireball charging glow. New help pages to enlighten the journey. Gamepad options for auto-aim and auto-fire. Option for Pause On Inventory. Defaults to On. Disable for the true dungeon experience... Pause menu now, err, pauses. Fixes and tweaks for loot rarity... Fixed wrong avatar icon.
- Demo Update* - 1 April 2023
*Ok this time for real. Fix for the demo crashing when entering the dungeon. Sorry!
- Back To The Dark Playable Demo Available (Update) - 1 April 2023
Update: Demo extended until the end of April. Playable demo of Back To The Dark now available! The demo includes full controller support, although mouse + keyboard is recommended. Back To The Dark is a dungeon delving demake with extraction-looter melee-combat. Can you survive the encroaching dark long enough to extract through a blue escape portal? Or will you be forced to delve deeper in the darkness through a red portal? Oh and don't forget to loot some treasure. Help available from the main and "Escape" or "Start Button" menu. Controls Mouse + Keyboard Aim : Mouse Attack/Use Item : Left Mouse Movement: WASD Keys Walk : Shift Key Interact : F Key Cycle Weapons/Items : 1/2/3/4 Keys Unequip Item : X Key Drop Item : Right Mouse Inventory : Tab Key Menu : Escape Key Menu Navigation : Mouse + Left Mouse Gamepad Aim : Right Stick Attack/Use Item : Right Trigger Movement : Left Stick Walk :…
