My new office is currently a bit of a downgrade but the work must continue!

Ah yes, its not ideal but I am still managing to get some things done regardless. This is temporary as my good desk is on its way in from Canada. I just hope its sooner than later XD

I am currently preparing art assets for the next area in the game. It will be a new map simply called the Under Tunnels. The Under Tunnels is a fairly large network of sewers and ventilation pathways heavily corrupted by demonic presence.

You will enter this area after a fairly heavy combat sequence located in a decently lengthy area of The Dark Base called The War Path.

In the picture above you can see a blurry screenshot of the area that houses the final power node before you will open the entrance into Under Tunnels. The first area after entering the Under Tunnels will have a fast travel point.

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Lets talk about Project Stray's brutality for a moment. As I plan to harp on this contentiously until I eventually eat my own face off while watching people get their asses handed to them over and over again.

The under tunnels will have a couple new enemy types not yet seen before. These new enemy types will likely have a big impact on how you approach fights. Enemies that can line of sight kill you like the Shambler from Quake or the Arch Vile from Doom 2 are by no means out of the question.

With that said Project Stray also has more depth in terms of its stat system. Enemies that cast buffs as well as even heal their friends can very likely make an appearance. I also plan to have some enemy types that will cast AOE buffs on the ground around them where if you dispatch the enemy quickly enough you will be able to gain the benefit of the enemy AOE as well.

Not only that but the under tunnels will be one of the first times where you will begin dealing with environmental hazards. Not limited to Swinging blades and spike traps. I would like to say that this is where the game takes its gloves off but I think the War Path sequence already took the gloves off previously. By this point in the game you have already been dealing with tougher combat.

The difference now is that the level wants to kill you in addition to the hordes of enemies.

With that said I also plan to have a few new weapon types that will appear in this area. You wont be going in completely raw. You will pass through a smaller section of the under tunnels with the goal of re-entering The Dark base from a new location. This will be where the games first true boss battle will begin.

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The challenge is too damn high!

My father had a chance to finally play the game. My dad is not a super skilled player by any means at all. He was not able to even clear the first section of the first area of the game. I would like for my dad to be able to play the game. I am now strongly considering the notion of adding an optional easy mode setting that can be toggled on in the games options menu. I might even allow for you to toggle this mode on when starting a fresh game.

"Warning : This game is much harder than normal first person shooters by default. Would you like to toggle easy mode on before starting the game?"

Easy mode may have the following changes :

• More access to better loot.
• You dont drop your items on death.
• Gain EXP at double the normal rate.
• Obtain Random items upon death.

This wont solve everything as I think even with easy mode the game will still hold a considerable challenge for a lot of people. But at least its something.

But maybe this is a bad idea. Should I be catering at all to lower skill players? Dark Souls doesn't have an easy mode does it?

Should Project Stray have an Easy Mode?