Award-winning independent games label Team17 and independent developers Unicube are excited to announce the arrival of the new Bloodlines Update for their co-developed post-apocalyptic disaster management game game, Sheltered.
Sheltered is currently available to download for Xbox One via the Game Preview Program and PC, Mac and Linux via Steam Early Access.
About This Game
Panting, scared, the shelter airlock smashes down behind you. You wish you did not have to go outside, but you do. It would be easier to give up. But you don’t. The hardship, the hunger, the thirst. The fear. You keep reminding yourself why you stay alive. Why you do this. Then you hear it. “Daddy you’re back.” You wife’s face lights up and you open a bag full of medical supplies. You need not tell her how you got them. You simply enjoy your small victory in this, the harshest of times. In the post-apocalyptic world, you must keep your family alive in your underground bunker in this deep strategy game from Unicube…
Sheltered is a post-apocalyptic disaster management game that gives a whole new meaning to the term “nuclear family”. Given a head-start over the billions lost in a nuclear holocaust, you must gather as many supplies as possible en route to the concrete underground shelter that will soon become your family home for the foreseeable dreary future.
With all hope lost, how will you cope in this bleak new world? How you handle the many moral choices you’ll encounter on a daily basis could be the difference between your family surviving or dying. Combat claustrophobia, radiation and mental exhaustion as you cling desperately to life in the cramp, cold and scary underground shelter. You’ll have to leave the scant protection the shelter offers behind as you’re forced to venture outside into the dangerous desolate wasteland to scavenge for vital supplies which could ensure your families survival for just one more day.
Feature List
◾Family comes first: Keep your family alive and protect them from the ravages of the harsh post-apocalyptic world.
◾Make the shelter a home: Maintain your shelter – keep it secure, habitable and make sure that the family have enough resources to survive. Protect your shelter from hazards and infiltration!
◾Customisation: Your family is unique to you; you decide their gender, names and their appearance.
◾RPG mechanics: As your family develop, their stats will adapt with an evolving experience and trauma system. Attributes, strengths and weaknesses will dynamically change based on your choices.
◾Crafting system: Create comforts for your family’s shelter and weapons for combat.
◾Exploration: Send out your family to explore and gather resources for everyday living and crafting.
◾Recruitment system: Recruit outsiders with different personalities, integrate them into your shelter life and earn their loyalty.
◾Dynamic encounter system: Your family will encounter various threats including roaming factions and feral beasts.
◾Turn-based combat: For those that cannot be reasoned with, violence can be used as a last resort. Your family may depend on it.
◾Pets: Your pet is family too. Choose between the dog, cat, fish, snake or horse.
◾Vehicles: Make exploration quicker and safer.
Planned Features currently in the works:
◾Bloodlines – extend your family lineage.
◾Lots more content, balancing and bug fixes – watch this space!
Features in the not-too-distant future:
◾New game modes and goals.
◾Your idea here? Let us know your ideas – we’re listening!
Full details of the update are:
New Features
· New Scenario: Family Ties – A new scenario has been added which on completion allows the players to locate and recruit additional family members
· New Quests
o The Sickness
o The Doll
o Arms Dealer
o On the Road Again (reclaim the RV quest, will only appear on fresh saves)
· New HUD element to distinguish family members from recruited outsiders
· New sound effects added for character actions
· Weapon descriptions now include stats on damage, accuracy and required strength to wield
· New tips added to loading screen
· Bedrock now visible beneath bottom floor of fully expanded shelter
· Added Kickstarter backer likenesses NPCs that walk across the top of the shelter
· Added zoom function for the mouse wheel
· Able to discard items from storage
Changes and Balancing
· The ‘Good Shower’ has been moved to Tier 3 of the work bench
· “Ending” catatonic characters has been removed
· Characters will now abandon shelter instead of going catatonic for second time
· ‘Valium’ has been renamed ‘Relaxant’
· Tool are now less frequently found at locations
· Petrol is now less frequently found at locations
· ‘Super Impatient’ quest has been renamed ‘Super Impatient Guy’
· Character customisation interface now occupies less of the screen
· Updated the way the encounter system works out if a trade/recruit/bully attempt is successful or not
· Disloyal characters can now be selected after recruitment, but remain automated until loyalty is 33%
· Player can now harvest trapped animals despite freezers being full
· Players can assign tasks to recruited characters immediately without improving loyalty
· Flies now appear over shelter mess (empty cans, vomit etc.)
· Increased the time between quest and scenario spawns
· Snare traps now have a sound effect when an animal is caught
Bug Fixes
· Fixed an issue with intruders becoming stuck during a breach
· Breaching NPCs will no longer get stuck climbing ladders
· The camera can no longer be moved before the tutorial starts
· UI pop has been added informing player when trade cannot be completed
· Factions now spawn in a set order; Scalpers, Matriarchs, Marauders, The Corp
· Obsolete button prompt removed from pause menu in encounters
· Reduced the spawn frequency of petrol at houses and farms
· Oxygen filter audio no longer plays when no power is supplied
· Animation added when getting water for a catatonic character
· Defend animation no longer plays twice in combat
· Character no longer say they haven’t left the shelter in a few days if an expedition is on-going
· NPC refusing trades will no longer stop character from exploring a location
· Audio added when crafting a shelter room
· Added construction sprites for the sleeping bag
· Changed the efficient shower icon in the workbench to match the object
· Changed the efficient shower sprite
· Added ‘under construction’ symbol for objects under construction.
· Added construction sprites to toybox
· Added name and descriptions to the door upgrades
· Changed the upgrading time from 1 second to 15 seconds for the shelter doors
· Changed trade value of books, toys and records to 25 from 50
· Added construction sprites to the mop
· Added construction sprites for the jukebox
· Incoming transmission sound effect now plays 3 times instead of once per transmission
· Added audio for when character use ladders
· Hazmat suits are now returned to the rack when the corpse wearing one is harvested, incinerated or buried
· Updated the small water butt icon
· Changed the background of the incinerator panel to match the other interfaces
· The punchbag no longer loses integrity when a character tries to use it if they are too tired
· Objects on fire now causes the object’s integrity to decrease
· Added audio to the punch bag when being used
· Added sounds when character gain trauma and loyalty
· Audio for the generator and oxygen filter change as they get upgraded
· Added ability to view map by pressing M on the keyboard or the View button on the Xbox One controller
· Fast forward audio no longer remains on when fast forward has stopped
· Added sound effect for refuelling generator
· Owned number of meat now correctly reflects the amount of meat in the shelter storage
· Fixed 5:4 aspect ratio so it no longer cuts of some UI
· Characters are now correctly awarded XP for killing an enemy with a counter-attack
· Quests locations can now be visited once per expedition
· Medicate option for indoor pets has been removed
· Spike trap no longer resets it position when the game is loaded
· Added animation for characters using the jukebox
· Added animation for characters cleaning the bucket toilet
· Added animation for characters adding parts to the RV
· Characters in automation no longer use objects in their burnt out state
· The journal now creates a day 1 entry if the game is exited at the end of the tutorial
· The repair icon now appears above objects when they are at 25% integrity
· Can no longer catch rats when moving rat traps in rearrange shelter mode
· Extinguishing a single fire no longer causes characters to slide towards a second fire
· Tooltips now only appear once per game
· Corpses can now only be interacted with by one character stopping characters from carrying around body bags
· Fixed the cursor from being hidden when players had certain items plugged into their computers
· Rain audio now stops when it is no longer raining
· The back button text is now centred on the button in the leaderboards
· Added audio to snare traps when animals are caught in them
· Characters on expeditions now take less trauma from deaths of characters in the shelter
· Adding a lock icon to the backpack space when going on an expedition with the RV
· Can no longer loot animal for weapons
· Can no longer disarm or steal from animals in combat
· Enemies no longer reset level after saving and loading
· Characters now use the correct colour scheme in the map and encounter resolved UI instead of using character 1’s colour scheme
· Able to add more than 5 water into the last trade slot when trading at the shelter
· Updated the amount of cursor nudge for d-pad object movement
· Changed the default speed for characters on expeditions
· Characters no longer appear incorrectly on ladders if the game is save/loaded when multiple characters are cued up to use a ladder
· Characters can now remove hazmat suits from corpses
· A message box now appears when the last character is going to be sent on an expedition
· Background added to the office complex location
· Characters now become hardened after killing multiple NPCs
· NPCs can no longer leave the shelter wearing hazmat suits if their stress is too high
· Characters who died in combat no longer increase stats if they killed an NPC in the same combat
· An error message now appears if the game is unable to set at the requested resolution
· When doors are upgraded, the room between is now updated to match the doors
· When the horse dies, the stable and saddle can no longer be crafted
· If the stable is built as the horse dies, the items are now refunded
· Added activity pane text if a character is killed by a snake bite
· ‘Not enough room’ tooltip no longer appears multiple times if rations cannot fit into the pantry
· Updated the description of resistance upgrades for the oxygen filter
· Updated the small pantry sprites so when there is no food, it shows an empty sprite
· Characters no longer appear behind each other when walking off screen with the horse
· Multiple tools can now be in the shelter storage
· The horse now visually returns from an expedition properly
· The horse can no longer die from radiation poisoning during the tutorial
· The horse no longer appears behind the hatch when crafting a stable when the horse in on an expedition
· The horse now saves/loads correctly while on an expedition
· Updated the construction sprites for shelter rooms
· Loading when the camper van is going on an expedition no longer shows the incorrect camper van sprite
· Characters now have dialogue when in encounters started by NPCs
· Characters can no longer interact with objects that are being moved
· Animation added for characters using the bucket toilet
· Can no longer pause the game during the game over screen
· The delay before recruits turn up at the shelter is now based on the party’s speed and distance from the shelter
· Added console button prompts to the pause menu
· If the ‘Super Irritating Guy’ quest is refused, the NPC will ambush you instead of attacking you after the encounter
· ‘Tier 5’ of the workbench has been renamed to ‘Special’
· Added a missing apostrophe into a day 1 Journal entry
· Added a backing panel to the continue button on the game over screen
· Changed the amount of meat gained from harvesting pets
· Answering transmissions will no longer disable returning parties
· Names of cities on the map have been changed so that location can be seen easier
· Changed the hardware store map icon so it has its own unique icon
· Changed the map cursor when using a controller
· Changed the map waypoint flag size
· Changed the name of the Small Water Butt from “Water Tank” to “Small Water Butt”
· Updated the tooltip text for the incinerator
· Updated the position of the title on the 2nd child’s customisation screen
· Toilets no longer lose integrity if they try to be used with no water
· Infections have a higher chance of being contracted when health is low instead of being random
· Infections now clear up after 7 days
· Faction members now have names
· Expedition party and dog will no longer become stuck if dog eats a rat prior to departing shelter
· Snake can no longer kill an expedition party member as they are leaving causing the expedition party to become stuck
· Can no longer send and un-loyal character on an expedition if another character in the party was loyal
· The camera will no longer become displaced if a transmission is accepted in rearrange mode
· Meat will now transfer between freezers if one is deconstructed providing the meat is not rotten
· Updated the opening line of dialogue for the “Protection Racket” scenario.
· Fixed the good shower, efficient shower, luxury shower and good toilet so they display correctly and become transparent when re-arranging
· Updated the radio scanning time to 150 seconds from 300.
· Added body armour to the “Wetwork” NPC
· Updated the expedition loadout screen to order the items with weapons, equipment, armour, bags and ammo listed first
· Updated the crafting panel so it shows the correct amount of “Owned” objects
· Updated the description of the X button on the leaderboard panel. It now says “Time” instead of “Next”
· Changes to radio scanning to help results remain balanced
· Updated the snare trap harvest panel to tell the player when some items were not harvested
· Updated the snare trap to show a panel when harvested
· Widened the text box for the “Take All” text as it was not big enough to fit “Take All” on a single line
· Updated the amount of waypoints that can be placed on the map to 50
· Changed how XP is calculated for books and toys
· Also added some speech for adults trying to use the toy chest and children trying to use the bookshelf
· Updated some dialogue for the “Well This Is Awkward” quest
· Updated the tabs background sprite on the ammo press panel and lab panel, to remove rogue shadow
· Updated camper van travel speed and carrying capacity
· The ‘Super Irritating Guy’ quest options now appear correctly when missing necessary items
· Single bed will no longer spontaneously combust on its own
· Updated the names of the makeshift toilet and good shower to include their quality prefix
· Faction controlled area now appear correctly on the map (Xbox One only)