- DEADCRAFT Ver. 1.04 Patch Notes - 16 February 2023
We have released a new update for DEADCRAFT that applies the following changes: - Energy consumption of some actions has been adjusted. - Adjustments have been made to make it easier to recover HP and energy when sleeping in bed.
- DEADCRAFT Ver. 1.02 Patch Notes - 12 September 2022
We have released a new update for DEADCRAFT that addresses the following issue: - Fixed a progress-blocking issue that could occur during the mission "Gene and Reid."
- DEADCRAFT Ver. 1.01 Patch Notes - 17 June 2022
We have released a new update for DEADCRAFT that addresses the following issues: - Fixed a progress-blocking issue that could occur when reporting a successful mission while a different mission is displayed on-screen. - Fixed a progress-blocking issue that could occur during the mission "Firestarter." - Fixed a progress-blocking issue that could occur if the mission "Frankie Envy" was accepted while the mission "A New Power" was in progress. - Fixed an issue where the Storage Shed would become unavailable for crafting if the skill to unlock the Hoarder's Shed was learned before the Storage Shed was crafted.
- Jessie's Wasteland Wares Launch Stream! - 16 June 2022
Ready to raise some funds for Jessie's beloved Duna? Join us at 4pm PT/7pm ET for tonight's #DEADCRAFTgame stream! Tune in for giveaways in the chat as we show off the brand new "Jessie's Wasteland Wares" DLC! :syringe::zombie: https://www.twitch.tv/xseed_games https://store.steampowered.com/app/1702260/DEADCRAFT/
- Developer Blog #9: Creating the second DLC: Jessie’s Wasteland Wares - 16 June 2022
The second DEADCRAFT DLC, “Jessie’s Wasteland Wares,” is a standalone mode starring the character Jessie, who appears as a supporting character in the main game. In this mode, she runs a shop to earn money for her beloved Miss Duna. The second DLC was created all at once during the final stages of development, and I think it turned out great due to our staff being more experienced from working on the main game. The systems of the main game lent themselves well to the store-management gameplay of the DLC. I decided to make Jessie the main character of the DLC because I wanted to create a fresh experience that was different from the main story. However, I was worried that the combat would be monotonous and players might get bored quickly since Jessie only has one weapon and can’t use special zombie abilities. However, we were instead able to create a combat experience that is about managi…
- Livestream and Giveaways Tonight! - 9 June 2022
Tune in as we head back to the Slums for tonight's #DEADCRAFT livestream! ːdeadcraftzgrampsː Join us as we show off the newest DLC with code giveaways in the chat, starting live at 4pm PT/7pm ET on Twitch and Steam! https://www.twitch.tv/xseed_games https://store.steampowered.com/app/1702260/DEADCRAFT/
- "It Came from the Junkyard" DLC Livestream! - 2 June 2022
#DEADCRAFTgame's first DLC has arrived and we're celebrating with gameplay and giveaways! Join us TONIGHT at 4pm PT/7pm ET as we show off the brand-new "It Came From The Junkyard" DLC! ːdeadcraftdunaː https://www.twitch.tv/xseed_games https://store.steampowered.com/app/1702260/DEADCRAFT/
- Developer Blog #8: Creating the first DLC: “It Came From the Junkyard” - 2 June 2022
The first DLC for DEADCRAFT, “It Came From the Junkyard,” was conceived in the early stages of development. We started with the general idea of an additional story like you often find in manga, where after beating the game an even stronger enemy appears, and you must team up with your friends to defeat the new foe. What I wanted to do was simple—I wanted to create the supreme ruler of DEADCRAFT’s post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland. Both DLC scenarios were assigned to a different writer than the main story. I thought it would have been difficult for our staff to be working on DLC while also developing the main story. The main setting in “It Came From the Junkyard” is the eponymous Junkyard, a barren land inhabited solely by zombies. Although this area appears in the main story, it may be difficult for players to fully explore it because of the sheer number of powerful zombies that roam th…
- Launch Livestream Tonight! - 19 May 2022
#DEADCRAFTgame is out today! Join us tonight at 4pm PT/7pm ET as we celebrate launch day live on Twitch and Steam! ːdeadcraftzgrampsː https://www.twitch.tv/xseed_games https://store.steampowered.com/app/1702260/DEADCRAFT/
- Developer Blog #7: Building the story and world of DEADCRAFT - 17 May 2022
DEADCRAFT focuses on the story of its main character, Reid, but the lives of NPCs such as Vernon, who asks Reid for help, are also woven into the game’s overall narrative. When creating the story, we took care not to make Reid and other characters virtuous heroes. After all, a sense of morality would limit gameplay options in the lawless lands of the apocalypse. In DEADCRAFT, the player is able to go so far as to engage in villainous activities such as stealing resources and money from the weak, so we made sure to not portray Reid as a just hero. For this reason, Reid, Vernon, and other characters are each motivated by their own selfish needs and desires. When creating the world of DEADCRAFT, we wanted to avoid relying on elements of devastation, ruin, and wastelands that are associated with post-apocalyptic environments, and focus on creating a more original world that would stand apar…
- Developer Blog #6: Designing unique post-apocalyptic characters and environments - 12 May 2022
DEADCRAFT’s art direction was conceived by a team of four people: the director (Akira Kurochi, myself), the producer (Hisashi Fujii), the art lead, and the lead concept artist. In the early stages of development, we met face-to-face in conference rooms, but our meetings eventually shifted toward remote work due to COVID. Since we were not used to developing remotely, we encountered difficulties with miscommunication and conflicting ideas. For the environment design, we strived to make the “Ark,” the last bastion of humanity inhabited by the villainous Nebron and his lackeys, exude the lively energy of the people residing there. At the same time, we wanted to convey an eeriness reflecting Nebron’s treatment of his subjects as little more than living resources. By featuring steel and fire heavily in the design, we were able to create a rich environment that feels unrestricted by conventio…
- Developer Blog #5: The best of both worlds—making the protagonist a half-zombie - 10 May 2022
During the planning stages of DEADCRAFT, the main character Reid was originally a normal human, not a half-zombie. Although the game featured lots of zombies at the time, they were not the main attraction. They were used more for worldbuilding and to add some flavor to the game. Our focus at that time was creating a realistic, post-apocalyptic world based on the struggle for precious resources such as food and water. However, we felt making the world too realistic would hinder gameplay and storytelling, and our team decided to make the game more outrageous and unique. By forgoing realism, we were able to come up with various zombie-related gameplay ideas and decided to make zombies a main feature of the game. This is what led us to make even the main character a zombie. It would have been difficult to give Reid personality and purpose if he was a full zombie, so we decided to make him h…
- Developer Blog #4: Be as brutal as you want with shakedowns and robbery - 6 May 2022
In DEADCRAFT, you can live a self-sufficient life, growing vegetables in your fields and killings rats to cook their meat. However, we wanted to make a survival game that provides players with multiple pathways to their next meal. Some methods to get resources you need to survive include threatening or even killing townspeople for their possessions. Of course, there are risks in committing crimes, so it is up to the player to choose if they wish to engage in these activities. Killing residents raises your Wanted level and makes you a target for reprisal, but you can kill Bawkers—members of an outlaw gang living in the wastelands—with impunity. That’s why Bawkers are treated pretty horribly even by in-game missions, such as asking the player to go kill them when an ally needs zombie food. You can also rob shopkeepers, but they always have several bodyguards, so be prepared for a fight if…
- Developer Blog #3: Zombie crops and zombie cars—the origins of zombiecrafting - 28 April 2022
From the beginning of development, we had already decided that frankies (loyal zombie followers) should be growable like crops and that the main character would be a half-zombie, but we wanted to give the game an even stronger hook that players hadn’t seen before. When I was thinking about reasons to make the main character a half-zombie, I decided that we needed to make a crafting game that incorporated zombies. That is how zombiecrafting, a process in which items are made from corpses and other undead materials, was born. The first zombiecrafting item I thought up was the zombie car (a.k.a. The Sleigh). I needed to present my plans internally before beginning full production of the game. The Sleigh was easy to understand conceptually and had great visual impact, so I ordered the design even before deciding where it would be used in-game. Normal tools have engines, motors, and other ki…
- Developer Blog #2: Striking the right balance between action and survival - 26 April 2022
This is Akira Kurochi, the director of DEADCRAFT at Marvelous. In this post, I will talk about how action and survival work in our game, and how crafting is at the foundation of everything. Since the game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, I thought about what life would be like. I imagined a world where resources are scarce, food and water are difficult to come by, and even just surviving is a daily challenge. We wanted to incorporate realistic gameplay elements that would make the struggle for survival feel more intense and desperate, such as expending energy when running and attacking, and becoming thirsty and hungry as time passes. Although thirst and hunger do not kill you immediately, they do put you at a disadvantage: the screen becomes blurry with thirst and your character’s movement becomes slower with hunger. To prevent this from happening, players must always be thinking abo…
- Developer Blog #1: Combining zombie action, zombie survival, and zombie crafting - 21 April 2022
This is Hisashi Fujii, the producer of DEADCRAFT at Marvelous. The idea for this game came from Kenichiro Tsukuda, the head of Marvelous Global Games Studio, who asked me if I would be interested in doing a life simulation game set in a post-apocalyptic world. I asked, “Do you mean post-apocalyptic farming?” and he replied, “Doesn’t that sound fun?” I was quite interested in the subject, so I immediately agreed and created a proposal that combined Tsukuda's vision with my own. In the early stages, our plan was to utilize elements of our company’s signature farming simulation titles with a post-apocalyptic twist. Given the setting, we imagined bandits coming to steal your water and seeds, and even taking away your precious crops. If they robbed you, rob them back! Then players could kill bandits and use their corpses as fertilizer for their fields. Though not all of our early ideas made…
