We're very close to launching Deadnaut: Signal Lost but we need your help.

We've prepared a technical demo of the first few levels of the game and we'd love to get it running on a wider range of systems. This will give you a taste of the game and help us catch any obvious bugs that have eluded us so far. It's a win-win.

Grab the demo at our freshly launched Discord server.

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[h5](Check the #general channel topic for links to the tech demo)[/h5]

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If the tech demo goes smoothly, our plan is to turn that into a larger demo and then release the game around the same time.

Yes, absolutely.

You sure can. Email us at support@screwflystudios.com and I'll send you a link.

The cosmos is tearing itself apart. Wrecks of long-dead starships are full of horrible, interdimensional creatures. The dead roam surfaces of moons, and you're being hunted by technically advanced soldiers.

Welcome to Signal Lost, Screwfly Studios' return to Deadnaut's grim and ruthless future.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/1801410/Deadnaut_Signal_Lost/

While Deadnaut: Signal Lost is situated in the same universe as the original and features similar, mission-based gameplay in procedurally-generated locations, it is not a direct sequel.

You play the role of a remote handler who controls the action "at a distance" via a physical console, however, Signal Lost is focused on a single Deadnaut, rather than a squad.

The action is more intimate and tactical, and you can develop your Deadnaut with numerous suit upgrades and abilities. Furthermore, the gameplay is turn-based, not real-time, which helps focus the action.

We'll have more to reveal in the coming weeks and months, but for now, head over to the Steam page and wishlist Signal Lost to keep up-to-date as development progresses.

Thanks to everyone who has returned for another outing in the drama-filled, chaotic world of Zafehouse and its unique brand of zombie mayhem!

If you'd like a DRM-free version of the game, along with a Steam key, please purchase the game via our website[zafehouse2.com].

Alternatively, you can grab the game straight from Steam.

http://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/653940/Zafehouse_Diaries_2/

We're looking forward to hearing your insane tales of death, starvation, cabinet throwing and guitar smashing!

Stay up-to-date and follow us on Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com], or visiting the official Zafehouse website[www.zafehouse.com].

Update: With the game coming soon to Steam, we've removed the tech demo. A massive thank you to everyone who helped us out! Original post follows.

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Special demo builds of Zafehouse Diaries 2 for Windows and Mac have been made available (download links provided below), so we can make sure the game runs correctly on as many systems as possible.

As such, we're focusing on feedback regarding problems with graphics, audio, input and anything else related to actually running the game.

If you do hit something, we'd also appreciate a run-down of your computer's specifications, e.g. CPU, video card, amount of RAM, operating system and version (including service packs) and display resolution.

Please note the tech demo isn't representative of the final release (we're still adding a few bits and pieces) and comes with the following restrictions:

• The game will end after 3 days of in-game time.
  
• Limited to 3 survivors (custom or random).
  
• Only the tutorial scenario, "Safe As Houses", is available.
  
• Some dilemmas, events and modifiers disabled.
  
• Item editor is disabled.

Links removed: Please check out the coming soon page for Zafehouse Diaries 2 instead!

Please post any feedback in this thread. If possible, let us know any information you feel is relevant (graphics drivers, hardware configuration, distribution etc.).

If you'd like to contact us directly, email logan@screwflystudios.com for technical queries, and contact@screwflystudios.com with general questions.

Stay up-to-date and follow us on Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com], or visiting the official Zafehouse website[www.zafehouse.com].

Customisation has been a major component of all Screwfly titles and Zafehouse Diaries 2 is no exception! Just like the original, you'll be able to make your own survivors, items and occupations and we've made it easier than ever to get your content into the game.

While our other games, Fear Equation and Deadnaut, allow you to create your own characters and import photos, it was Zafehouse Diaries that started it all and the sequel will continue the trend.

Character customisation in Zafehouse Diaries 2 is very similar to the first game, with two exceptions.

Firstly, if you don't want the game to randomly assign prejudices to your custom survivors, you're free to select your own. This means you can create specific rivalries between characters.

Secondly, creating custom groups of survivors has been greatly streamlined (see "Group Dynamics" below).

Of course, all the usual options are there -- age, gender, occupation, education and so forth -- meaning you can tailor your team to your exact specifications.

Zafehouse is a game about a group of people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse, so if you're creating your own survivors, you should be able to customise how they're grouped together as well.

The original Zafehouse wasn't very flexible in this regard and addressing this was a big priority for the sequel.

As such, Zafehouse Diaries 2 features a dedicated group editor so you can assign one or more survivors together.

You can even see the group's starting relationships before entering the game. Keep in mind that different scenarios and difficulty settings may alter these.

You can fill all five spots, or leave a couple open to randomisation -- the choice is yours.

This makes it incredibly easy to share survivors amongst a variety of groups and selecting your team at the start of a scenario takes just a few clicks.

A survivor's abilities and skills are defined mostly by their occupation and so Zafehouse Diaries 2 comes out of the box with an occupation editor.

To get you started quickly, you can clone another occupation and make a few tweaks... or change it completely.

Once you've designed an occupation, it will become available in the survivor editor, ready to be assigned to custom characters.

Finally, you'll be able to make your own items, based on templates to get you up and running with minimum fuss.

As with occupations, you can change one property, or all of them, depending on how deep you want to go.

There's no limit to the type of items you can make, be it a Swiss Army Knife or a Long-Range Shotgun -- it's totally up to you.

You can even add a custom image and sound effects to your items. The images will appear in the diary when the item is discovered and trigger their sound effects when used.

Stay up-to-date and follow us on Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com], or visiting the official Zafehouse website[www.zafehouse.com].

The original Zafehouse came with three scenarios: No Survivors, Roadkill and Deadline (in order of increasing difficulty).

For Zafehouse Diaries 2, we're adding several new challenges, as well as comprehensive options to tweak each game to match your preferred style of play.

Fresh meat
Zafehouse Diaries 2 comes with a number of unique scenarios, each with their own objectives, enemies and even orders.

For example, one might require you to patch up the power grid before making your stand, while another will task you with gathering the right assortment of survivors... who might not exactly get along.

Whatever your goal, you'll have a variety of approaches available to you. Will hit-and-run breaches be the most efficient, or should you defend your safehouse while steadily gathering supplies?

Old favourites
Seasoned Zafehouse players will recognise a few of the sequel's scenarios, including Roadkill and Deadline. While these modes follow the narratives of the first game, they pack enough changes and new twists to keep even the best undead survivalist busy.

Once you start tailoring things with custom content and under-the-hood options (see below), you'll find these classic scenarios unfolding in suprising ways that simply weren't possible in the original.

Play your way
Zafehouse Diaries has always been a challenging game and while it's great to pit yourself against each scenario at its intended difficulty level, we know how useful and fun it can be to go behind the scenes and tweak things to better suit your playstyle.

So, once you've selected a scenario, you'll have the option to change loads of individual settings, including zombie combat strength, the impact of hunger and fatigue and supply quantities. You can even disable prejudices entirely.

This screen will also allow you to select a group containing up to five custom survivors. How do you create custom survivors? That's a story for next time... and they're just the tip of the iceberg.

Stay up-to-date and follow us on Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com], or visiting the official Zafehouse website[www.zafehouse.com].

Missions
There are two missions in ZD2: breaching and investigating. In ZD1, these were both handled under the hood - you just select your group, give them items, then send them to the location.

In ZD2, you can customise your approach. When you breach, you can choose which entrances your survivors will use to enter the location. Make sure you send them into rooms with as fewer zombies as possible, otherwise they'll lose momentum and flee.

Investigation is now far more important and useful. You'll not only see how many zombies are around a location, but you can see how many zombies are inside, and exactly which rooms they're in. It's not easy though - to get a good look at a location, you'll need to take a few risks.

Risk management
In ZD1, breaching could often result in instant death. While that is still absolutely true in ZD2, you can now determine how much risk you want your survivors to take.

For example, if you aren't sure how many zombies are inside a location, then you can either go back and investigate further, or cautiously try and breach - if it looks too dangerous, then your survivors might flee, rather than stay and fight.

But remember: go too cautiously, and you might waste precious hours. There are no easy answers.

Smart defaults
While many players requested more control over missions and combat, we know that some of you may not want to worry about these extra options. Never fear: you can still play the game the same way you did in ZD1 and let the game figure out the details.

Stay up-to-date and follow us on Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com], or visiting the official Zafehouse website[www.zafehouse.com].

In the original game, dilemmas added drama to your story. Some were minor - do you trade your medicine for food? - while others could result in sacrificing one of your survivors.

In Zafehouse Diaries 2, we've made dilemmas more interesting, fun and varied.

• More dilemmas: There are many more dilemmas in ZD2 - deal with the mob, the military, experimenting scientists and more
  
• Varied outcomes: Dilemmas can have positive, neutral or negative outcomes, depending on your choices
  
• Smarter options: Sometimes more than two options will be available, giving you greater control over how you respond
  
• More predictable: Clearly see which options are supported by your survivors

Finally, dilemmas aren't just about making the best decision in the moment. A dilemma only appears because your survivors can't agree on what to do - and when you make a decision, not everyone may not like it.

If survivors feel like the world is against them - that their opinions aren't being heard - they'll become demotivated. On the other hand, agreeing with a survivor can help spur them.

Always remember that dilemmas have many layers and the obvious answer may not be the best.

Stay up-to-date and follow us on Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com], or visiting the official Zafehouse website[www.zafehouse.com].

This week, we're talking about survivors and relationships. This was a core concept in the original game, and we're going to improve on it.

Here's a rundown of the new survivor screen:

• Visible skills: You can now see exactly how your survivors will perform on various tasks
  
• Injuries: Easily see what kind of injuries your survivors have, and how they affect their skills
  
• Modifiers: Browse any special bonuses or penalties affecting the survivor
  
• Equipment: That's right, you can now assign survivors an item and protective gear that they will always use

But Zafehouse Diaries is all about relationships. Your five survivors will need to work together if they're going to make it out alive.

• Friendlier groups: If survivors aren't prejudiced, they're less likely to turn on each other
  
• Redemptions: Prejudiced relationships can tear the group apart. Now, survivors can redeem themselves and permanently remove prejudices
  
• Tight bonds: Give your survivors closer relationships - they'll stick together and help one another, even if they're unhappy
  
• Group control: Customise all relationships and prejudices to exactly how you want them
  
• Calm down everyone: Difficulty options let you control the positive or negative impacts of relationships
  
  That's all for now! Next week, we'll take a look at breaching and defending.
  
  Stay tuned for updates by following us on Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com], or visiting the official Zafehouse website[www.zafehouse.com].