- Update on the Demo - 3 October 2025
Hello everyone,I would like to inform you about the status of the current demo. Following Unity’s recent report on a runtime vulnerability, maintaining the demo online would require rebuilding it with the latest secure engine version. Since the project has significantly evolved and the current demo no longer represents the game in its present state, I have decided to temporarily disable it.This step will allow me to concentrate fully on the upcoming demo, which will better showcase the direction and quality of the game as it stands today.Thank you for your patience and continued support. I look forward to sharing the new version with you soon.
- A New Face…and a New Style! - 21 April 2025
Hey everyone! I’ve reworked one of the enemy pirates. As I improve as a 3D modeller, I’ve been searching for a visual style that feels more personal, blending a stylized approach with the steampunk soul of the game. The new model reflects exactly that: gears, brass details, and a slightly more cartoonish style. This pirate is just the beginning. In the coming months, I plan to revisit other characters and further refine the style to give the game a strong, recognizable identity. I hope you enjoy the new look, here’s a sneak peek below! Thank you for following the journey!
- Tesla pistol redesign - 25 December 2024
This month, I’ve been working on redesigning some of the game’s weapons to make them visually more appealing and improve their functionality. For example, the Tesla pistol now has this new look. Essentially, it’s a plasma pistol that fires plasma projectiles, but with the right addons, it can unleash a piercing plasma beam that is especially effective against mechanical enemies. When fully upgraded, it features an overheating mechanism that increases the drill’s DPS if activated for an extended duration. That’s all for today’s updates. In the coming months, I’ll keep working hard on the weapons before moving on to improving the enemy models. Goodbye, everyone, and Merry Christmas! 🎄
- Latest and Upcoming Changes - 20 August 2024
In the past month, I’ve made several changes to the game mechanics, the most significant being that melee kills have been transformed into the Purge Fist ability. The basic idea remains the same: instant kills of nearby undead enemies, consuming the effect of the Vortex Catalyst and restoring the player's health. However, the ability, as it is now conceived, allows for uninterrupted movement and can be activated from a greater distance, which, in my opinion, offers a cleaner and smoother gameplay mechanic. These days, I'm modifying the effect of the first addon in crafting to separate its functionality from the primary fire. I'm therefore adding a secondary fire function that will give me greater flexibility in crafting. Finally, I plan to revise the ability progression system, but that's a topic for the next update. With all these changes in the pipeline, the development timeline has e…
- Melee Kills in "The Book" - 16 July 2024
In my game, you can perform melee kills using a sword. The sword instantly kills weaker enemies while regenerating the player's health. Upgrading the sword allows you to kill stronger enemies. Using a melee attack consumes the Vortex Catalyst effect on nearby enemies, dealing them damage. Additionally, the player's health is restored even more when Vortex Catalyst energy is consumed. The sword has a cooldown, which can be reduced by killing enemies with firearms. The cooldown reduction is even faster if the enemies killed are under the effect of the Vortex Catalyst. Stay tuned for more updates and happy gaming!
- Weapon design philosophy in "The Book - 15 June 2024
Firearms in "The Book" have a base version and two successive upgrades that add addons. Each addon modifies the weapon's functionalities and increases its effectiveness in combat. For example, the Gatling Gun, after the first upgrade, has a faster charge time and generates secondary explosions if the enemies hit are under the effect of the grenade. The second addon allows the Gatling Gun to restore the character's health during combat. Finally, crafting allows the tier of each weapon to be increased (from 1 to 5), enhancing its base stats such as damage, range, and fire rate.
- Grenade: new visuals and gameplay changes - 13 May 2024
This month, I've listened to players' feedback about the demo, and the main complaints were: - The grenade throw is not satisfying enough (which is a shame, considering it's one of the main actions of the game). - Many players find it odd that the grenade effect is required to obtain ammo drops. I've tackled both issues. First things first, the visuals. I've spent so much time redesigning the visuals, audio, and feedback of the grenade throw that now it seems 200% better to me. Secondly, I've removed the grenade requirement for enemies to drop ammo. Now, enemies drop a small amount of ammo regardless, and using a grenade simply increases the amount of ammo dropped. Now, the grenade primarily serves as a support weapon, amplifying firearms damage and combining with the sword and certain weapon add-ons. I'm curious to hear what you think. Steph
- Sea of Thieves meets Doom in new indie shooter, playable right now - 15 April 2024
Just added to Steam to enter early access soon, The Book: Gunsmith's Battles Echoes is an indie boomer shooter FPS that drops the player into a world of pirates, monsters and steampunk technology. Developed and published solely by Stephigames, The Book: Gunsmith's Battles Echoes is stated to be inspired by the recent Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, creating a frenetic and fast-paced environment in which constantly moving forward and retrieving health and ammunition from corpses is the way to go. It's also just had a demo drop alongside its Steam page, letting you try out the game completely for free. If you wanted a barnacled, pirate-themed shooter - Sea of Thieves with machineguns - this is for you. Read the rest of the story...
- Great changes in the last demo update! - 13 April 2024
I've just updated the demo right before the Steam FPS Fest, fixing a few bugs and enhancing the first open area to make it more compelling and interesting to begin with. I've also added more graphics quality settings to assist players with low-end devices in enjoying the game. Coming soon: windowed mode and custom resolutions. In late April, I will implement full control customization. So, play the new and updated version of the demo and have fun!
- How the grenade works - 17 March 2024
In "The Book", the grenade plays a key role in gameplay. Essentially, it has two functions: amplifying weapon damage and providing ammunition. When you throw the grenade at an enemy, they take on a bright orange hue: the grenade has taken effect. In this state, enemies suffer additional damage from weapons. The value of the damage multiplier depends on the level of the grenade itself, which can be increased in the game. When an enemy is killed under the effect of the grenade, they will release ammunition for the available weapons.
- New juicy visuals - 17 February 2024
I am working on improving the visuals of the game. For example, this week I improved the death animation of the undead. Later in February, I will push a major update of the demo. Stay tuned!
- DEMO OUT! - 17 January 2024
It has been a crazy week implementing all the changes needed after the beta, but I'm very happy to announce that the demo is now available on Steam! Make sure to check it out and feel free to leave additional feedback!
- One week to beta! - 29 December 2023
One week left until the beta launch; make sure to save your spot by subscribing at the link below. Join The Beta Now I'm almost 100% set up for the beta test running from January 5 to January 8. I just need to ensure that it's easy for you, the players, to provide your feedback and report any bugs that appear during the beta test.
- Two Weeks to beta - 22 December 2023
Two weeks left until the beta launch; make sure to save your spot by subscribing at the link below. Join The Beta Now In the meantime, I am focused on providing the best experience possible, solving bugs I can catch by myself, and improving the gameplay!
- "The Book" Beta Signup is Open! - 16 December 2023
I will run a free beta test of my game in January! The beta will take place from January 5 to January 8, 2024, and will be hosted on the Steam platform. The purpose of the beta is to test the codebase before the official public demo is released. Save your spot for the upcoming beta by joining at the link below: https://subscribepage.io/TheBookFirstPersonShooter
- Still working on the demo - 24 November 2023
The demo is coming together nicely; I have made some changes to player mobility and a big change to the sword mechanic. Now basically the sword is not counting a standalone weapon but it is a player ability (along with the magic shield and the greneade) which can be upgraded by progressing through the game. Finally, I improved the graphics of the game by adding some post processing screen space effects
- Free demo work in progress - 10 October 2023
Hi! as my first announcement I wanted to share the current state of this game! "The Book" has now all it's major features and now it's time to make it a cohesive and immersive expericence. I'm also excited to announce that I'm starting working on the FREE DEMO. The demo will hopefully be available on steam in november, stay tuned!
