I’m personally a little giddy about how it’ll all play out, and I reckon you’ll be pleasantly surprised yourself with the revamped combat. It has a flavour all its own, one I’m quite proud of. The instant it’s all working, expect a shiny video.

I will be working very, very hard to release the game this year, and extra super hard to squeeze it out a demo before the end of June.

Z2 has benefited enormously from the input of (what I hope are) fans, and it is a better game for those lovingly suggested modifications. In particular, kulik242 seems to have a direct connection to my brain; many of his suggestions adding the final pieces to my own, half-formed ideas. I think it’s wise to listen to those on the outside, the external observers, because distance is a magical thing in the creative realms.

In the meantime, if the survival horror simulation itch just won’t go away, check out Zafehouse: Infection, a user-made mod of the original Zafehouse. It’s got me thinking Z1 could do with a refresh sometime in the future…

Once Z2 is done, of course. :)

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Currently, you can only move to entrances and zombie “hotspots”, as I didn’t really see the need to position survivors outside in the middle of nowhere. If someone can give me a really (really) good reason why it should be any different, I’ll think about it.

Implementing outside movement required me to confront my fear of A* pathfinding and, while it was a tortuous and many times frustrating endeavour, my work paid off.

I also took the opportunity to give the underlying graphics engine (which isn’t so much an engine as it is one of those tiny electric motors you get in a toy racecar) a boost. The game now supports double-buffering of the pixel kind, which has improved drawing performance by a metric arseload. Scrolling around the map is now smooth as buttery silk, even considering the sledgehammer-like approach I have to 2D visuals (read: amping the crud out of GDI+)

It’s time now in Zafehouse 2′s development for me to work on the meat and potatoes… or the “actual game” as it’s called in some parts. Which means details should get juicer, and the gameplay videos tastier as time goes on.

Again, thanks for bearing with me. There are moments when I wish I had whole days (weeks even) to commit to the title, instead of the couple of hours a night I have now. I’m not at the point yet where I’m willing to sacrifice my social life. :)

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