When I released the Steam version earlier this month, I knew there were problems.
I just didn't expect the response to be this different from the mobile version.
This whole game started about six months ago from a very simple idea:
rebirth before the apocalypse, hoard supplies, get an RV, survive the end of the world, and live out that ridiculous apocalypse power fantasy.
I made the game alone.
The free mobile version eventually reached more than 500K popularity on TapTap and a 7.8 rating.
Before the Steam release, Next Fest brought in more than 6,000 wishlists.
Then the game launched.
About 1,000 copies sold.
Around 50 reviews.
Mostly negative.
That hurt.
But after reading the reviews and going back through the game myself, I also couldn't pretend all of it was unfair.
The Steam version still felt too much like a mobile game.
There was too much text and not enough presentation.
The PC UI wasn't good enough.
A lot of the story had ideas, but not enough actual payoff.
There were launch bugs everywhere.
And yes, I somehow launched a text-heavy game on Steam with Simplified Chinese only.
Not exactly a great combination.
So for the last two weeks, instead of doing another normal Early Access patch, I basically started tearing the Steam version apart.
V3.2 is the result.
What's actually new
The biggest change is a completely new full-screen Visual Novel system.
Important story scenes are no longer just buried inside chat messages or text boxes. The game now has proper VN scenes with character portraits, backgrounds, choices, transitions and cinematic presentation.
Large parts of the male protagonist storyline were also rewritten and re-integrated.
I wanted the story to actually feel like the kind of apocalypse web novel that inspired the game in the first place — stronger reversals, stronger payoffs, more conflict, more romance, and some much bolder harem routes.
There are also new opening CGs and more cinematic story sequences throughout the game.
The old Steam interface has been heavily rebuilt too.
The RV now has a new cockpit / center-console presentation, and a lot of the old mobile-style UI has been replaced with a warmer, cleaner PC interface.
Crew management, RV systems, trading, inventory, survival information and many other screens have all been touched.
Some were adjusted.
Some were basically redone.
The Highway Breakthrough gameplay has also been expanded heavily, with a much stronger first-person driving/combat feel, better collisions, enemy charges, knockback, hit reactions and boss feedback.
And underneath all of that, there has been a fairly ridiculous amount of bug fixing.
Combat.
Cards.
RV management.
Survival systems.
Progression.
UI.
Save behavior.
Story triggers.
All the small broken things that don't look impressive in screenshots, but make the game feel terrible when they happen.
V3.2 also adds English support and Steam Workshop support.
So yes.
This is a much bigger update than the version number probably makes it look.
About the launch
I'm not going to pretend an update can magically erase a bad first impression.
Some people played the launch version, disliked it, left a negative review and moved on.
That's fair.
I also know there were players who liked the original idea but felt the Steam version simply wasn't ready.
That's the part I've been trying to fix.
The last two weeks have been pretty rough.
At almost the same time, I watched another game in a very similar apocalypse-survival niche suddenly blow up.
That was a strange thing to watch.
It made me think a lot about what I got right with this project, and what I completely screwed up when bringing it to Steam.
Maybe the idea was never the problem.
Maybe I just shipped the wrong version of it.
I don't know yet.
But I didn't want to walk away without giving the Steam version one real shot.
So this is that shot.
V3.2.
I hope returning players can immediately feel the difference.
And if you're one of the people who left because the original Steam version disappointed you, I completely understand.
Maybe give it another look sometime.
Maybe don't.
Either way, thank you for playing it in the first place.
If V3.2 still isn't enough to bring this version back, then I think I'll finally have to accept that and let the Steam project go.
But not before trying this.
