• Skip to main content

Undead Labs

using our brains to save yours

  • The Lab
  • Games
    • State of Decay 2
    • State of Decay
  • News
  • Jobs
  • Contact
  • FAQ: State of Decay 2

Moonrise

Aug 28 2015

The Sun Sets on Moonrise

Hello Moonrise fans,

As you know, Moonrise has been in beta on Steam in the Early Access channel for the past few months. At the same time, the iOS version of the game has been available in limited release, in countries including Australia and Canada. During this beta period we’ve been gathering data on how people play the game. The free-to-play model, and the mobile market, are new territory for Undead Labs, so we’ve been paying close attention to these numbers to make sure we’re making a game people are excited to play, and also a game that we can operate profitably and sustainably with the level of support you expect.

What we’ve found is that while some people really love Moonrise, there were unfortunately many more people who played the game and then moved on after a few days. For a standalone, offline game that might be fine; but for an online game with significant server hosting costs and an expectation for ongoing development and new content, it can mean a game that not only doesn’t pay for it’s development costs, but might even cost money to operate. As you can imagine, that’s not something that makes sense for an independent studio like Undead Labs, nor for that matter would it be a good business decision even for a large publisher.

Read More

Written by Alan Diekfuss · Categorized: Moonrise, News

Aug 14 2015

Solari Safari: Sagalee Ridge

Wait, Duncan was once a younger explorer?
Wait, Duncan was once a younger explorer?

DUNCAN: It is I, Duncan the Explorer, back once again to share knowledge of the wondrous Solari that one can find in a particular area. Today we’ll cover a dungeon in Taankwan Thicket known as Sagalee Ridge.

As it so happens, I’m quite familiar with this dungeon. When I was a younger explorer, I delved into these tunnels for weeks. I gathered samples from various depths, collected plant and fungus specimens…and did my best to avoid the Solari that lived there.

Read More

Written by Andy Collins · Categorized: Moonrise, News

Aug 07 2015

Solari Safari: Taankwan Thicket

Because “Duncan the Voyager” sounded pretentious.

DUNCAN: Hello, and welcome to the lush and beautiful Taankwan Thicket. As always, I’m Duncan the Explorer, and I’m here to learn about local Solari.  Guildmaster Laskian, thank you for joining me. Now is it just me, or are guildmasters getting younger and younger?

LASKIAN: I do not believe that the average age of all guildmasters has fluctuated significantly. Rather, I expect that the relative age of the guildmasters you meet may have changed slightly, at least from your particular perspective.

Read More

Written by Andy Collins · Categorized: Moonrise, News

Aug 06 2015

Designing UX

Hello! Have we met? I’m Vicki Ebberts, resident User Experience Designer here at Undead Labs. The other designers have already talked a bit about the design of content and systems in Moonrise, but if you’ve been wondering just how a design goes from words on paper to something you—the player—can enjoy as an in-game experience, well you’ve come to the right place, friends!

First, for those of you not familiar with UX design or what that even means in video game development, in a nutshell: UX for video games is all about crafting experiences and interfaces that feel good to use, and that fit the needs of a wide range of players. Easy enough, right?

Luckily, it’s not up to the UX designer alone to think about these things (whew!). Creating good user experiences is a studio-wide philosophy that all of us are thinking about all the time here at the Lab. From the beginning of a system being designed all the way through implementation, we all try our best to consider how the things we put into the game will impact the player and their overall experience.

So, how does one design UX for a game? Every UX designer’s process is a little different, but for me it typically goes something like this:

Read More

Written by Vicki Ebberts · Categorized: Dev Blog, Moonrise

Jul 31 2015

Solari Safari: Xenari Caverns

Did Duncan just call himself humble?
Did Duncan just call himself humble?

DUNCAN: Hello! I’m Duncan, a humble explorer of these lands, and welcome to another chat about the wondrous creatures known as Solari!

I had planned to discuss the inhabitants of the dungeon known as Xenari Caverns with Guildmaster Ibli, but he was, uh, called away on urgent business and could not join us this afternoon.

Read More

Written by Andy Collins · Categorized: Moonrise, News

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 7
  • Go to Next Page »

Privacy and cookiesTerms of useTrademarks

About our ads© 2023 Microsoft© 2023 Undead Labs LLC.