End of the year UpdateJust wanted to say some things here. A lot of this will be musing, though I wanted to give some project updates along with. New levels are still being prospected (including an eager new addition made by Fashahhh, who seems intent on surpassing himself one level at a time). Bringing some old levels up to speed has been my job this past year. Been a lot of roadblocks and some sacrifices, but the rest of the team has not been idle.
I'm gonna show a screenshot now.

Steadz and Alcapwned have been doing wonders behind the scenes. This pic shows that we've got some new ideas cooking with old pawns. You know how to fight Krall. So we're throwing new things at you that maybe you don't know how to fight yet. Unreal is over twenty five years old. That means Savage Land's biggest obstacle is finding a way to present you a Na Pali that keeps the magic going but at the same time throwing some things at you guys that you're not expecting (but they will feel right).
I could post some more screenshots of the latest test level but not everything I show on Discord is world breaking. The Moddb page has some extras. I'll try to find some to post some cool ones before year's end.
I've trying to think about long term impact. Of modding, yes, but more than that about the types of projects that last. As I'm writing this post the MOTW is from Tower of Shrakitha. It makes one think. The maps that last. There probably is a word for it, or a phrase. But there has been something that has been on my mind about Savage Land. You might know what I'm talking about. I'm thinking of that game or that mod that we've all played, where the thought comes to fire it up and give it a play. But then you hit that plateau. You get to that point of No Man's Sky where the game hits the material grind and you've been spending your Sunday messing around trying to manage your base farm or your freighter hangar and you just forget why you liked playing No Man's Sky to begin with. That's just an example from yours truly. But let's take it to Unreal. Maybe you want to replay that old classic community campaign, and maybe it's going cool until you hit that gameplay snag with the annoying battle spike in that one level that was never too well optimized with health and armor and ammo.
I call this
Gameplay Dread. I do not want people to hit that place. A lot of testing will be done to make sure that Savage Land offers a nice challenge to veteran Unrealers, but it will also not have those spikes we are talking about. If you want to enjoy the pack casually, Easy Difficulty mode will be there. Hard and Unreal for those who can take it, and since the campaign will be longer than past projects I have led I want to ensure that there will be a better balance. But one thing that will be different than Xidia and Seven Bullets is the amount of options given to the player. You will have some hard fights when the need is there for it, but you will have answers. More than Unreal offered at base game and certainly more than a small to medium campaign typically affords. Savage Land is about strength in many ways and your character will be strong and well equipped. Or at least that is our intention.
I'll tune in again when I can. Godspeed and enjoy your holidays.