After implementing the final touches on the second level called “Joymart”, we put a new demo version on our download page.

Designing the level was quite demanding since it contains a lot of odds and ends which we all had to model from scratch. We also tried to use a few new camera effects to enhance the graphics. Baking the lightmaps was a pain and we hit a wall there, so we sadly had to dump this feature. We believe we messed up some of the textures… Surely there is much left to be learned.

We also integrated a new gameplay element: the shopping list. It works like a traditional list of objectives but is now a real part of the gameworld.

However, we invented this at a late stage in the development process, so it had to be squeezed into the existing gameplay. All in all, we are very satisfied with the level and have once again learned a lot.

But for now we have to part with The Slurping Dead: We asked ourselves where we wanted to go from here, in which direction the game should be developed. We listened to all of your feedback which ranged from “nice little shooter for a few minutes” to “it needs a storyline and more levels”. One funny idea was to implement a zombie management game :). But making big changes would call for big efforts in changing the code or even doing a rewrite for most parts. Since we never had a final goal in mind but were merely experimenting with Unity, we never structured the game code in any specific way. We think, every attempt to force the game in a non-intended direction would spoil the outcome.

So we decided to let The Slurping Dead rest in peace, bring the project to a satisfying end and face new challenges. As a result of that, this second demo version now is the final version. Over the next days we will start writing a design document containing our new ideas. Hopefully, we will then be able to develop our next game in a much more focused fashion.

We thank all of you for giving us valuable feedback or even trying out the game!