WHAT IS DEAD MATTER?

SCAVENGE

Scavenging is how you initially gather resources in order to progress. Your hand has been forced by the downfall of society and you need to eat somehow. 

Scavenging in Dead Matter can be dangerous, especially early game. In a world filled with car alarms, the infected, and other survivors.

Your skills will be challenged as you lockpick your way into containers that contain the items that you need to survive.

MOBILIZE

Our map is massive, and there are a lot of heavy items that you need to transport in order to get established. Acquiring reliable transportation is a right of passage for every survivor. Our vehicle spawning system is built to ensure that there are always vehicles present for you to utilize.

If you can’t find a vehicle some there may be a player or an AI that’s willing to trade some gear for a basic vehicle such as an ATV.

Vehicles play a massive role in Dead Matter and our goal is to break the association between survival games and walking simulators.

SHELTER

Any building in Dead Matter can become your safehouse, so long as you can maintain control of it. Place sheets over windows to block zombie and player visibility.

Safehouses grant access to a variety of cooking instruments, crafting benches, beds as well as a plethora of furnture that can be used to store items you’ve scavenged.

Don’t feel like taking over a building? You have the option to setup a camp with your friends in the woods.

HUNTING

FARMING

CAMPING

PERSONAL APPROACH

INVENTORY

MEDICAL

DAY AND NIGHT CYCLE

Our advanced time of day system simulates the position of the Earth around the sun and uses this data to calculate the lighting, weather patterns and day length in the world of Dead Matter.

Always make sure you’re ready for winter, as temperatures drop to -40F, and daylight lasts half as long as it did in the summer, true to our geographic location.

As the days change, your threats change, and you’ve got to stay on your toes through all of it.

DECAYING SUBSTANCE

Day in and day out, the world of Dead Matter never stops moving forward. 

 The world slowly decays, fences will start to have more openings in them, buildings will grow dark and cold as the municipal power grid goes out. Car alarms eventually become a non existent threat as all of the batteries eventually get drained.

Society is over, and mother nature is looking to reclaim Alberta for herself. Animal patterns will change over time as nature begins to reclaim the long abandoned towns.

ADVANCED WEATHER

The weather is more than just a backdrop in Dead Matter.

At any time, the elements could turn against you, and the warm skies of Alberta could birth heavy storms, blinding blizzards, and scorching heatwaves, all of which pose unique threats to your survival and the world around you.

There are automated radio stations that can be tuned in to that have a weather forecast. Use them to plan accordingly.

TRUE ROGUELITE

Re-using a canned survival strategy that involves specific locations is impossible in Dead Matter. While we are not leveraging full-blown procedural generation, a lot of buildings have multiple different states that the game will intelligently pick between during the initial setup.

From different Gas Stations that are drained of their fuel, to NERA evacuation centers and military camps that occupy different locations on every server, you will have to look for new loot hotspots every time you’re getting established on a new server.

EVENT DRIVEN GAMEPLAY

Region encompassing events such as animal migration, shortages of specific items such as food, medicine or ammunition will force you to move around the map in order to find new supplies.

Small events such as helicopter crashes, aircraft flying over the region and potentially dropping supplies.

Make sure to keep your radio tuned in to stay up to date. Don’t worry if you miss the broadcast, the world will leave plenty of physical hints to let you know what’s going on.

VEHICLES BUILT FOR THE APOCALYPSE

We utilize a physics driven vehicle system. This system enables player movement in the back of the camper module for the pickup truck.

We’ve got a variety of vehicles that you can utilize, including bicycles, ATVs, and Emergency Vehicles, as well as large trucks you can transform into a mobile base or a high-end bug out vehicle.

TOWING

Certain vehicles have a tow hitch and can be used to tow a wide variety of trailers that can be utilized at your safehouse.

There are generators, floodlights, water and fuel storage, and even a variable message sign that can be stolen from a construction site for your own personal use.

IN DEPTH REPAIR

Spark Plugs, Glow Plugs, Oil, Oil Filters, Carburetor Filters, Engine Coolant, Lights, Batteries, Brakes, Turbo Chargers, Timing Belts, Radiators, Windshields, Mufflers and much more.

You’ll need to look around for parts and keep your vehicle maintained. When you go to make repairs, ensure that you’ve got the right tools for the job and the right workspace, otherwise you might find yourself stranded.

Keep in mind that not all parts are crucial to the vehicle driveability. Windshield missing? You can still drive, but you’ll get cold from the wind in your face. Muffler missing? You can still drive. It just won’t be pleasant when you start attracting a crowd.

FUEL

Gasoline is no longer being refined and will eventually become difficult to come across. Make sure you pick your ride carefully.

At the request of many of our fans, diesel fuel alternatives such as ethanol and vegetable oil have been taken into consideration and in a pinch can be used to refuel a diesel vehicle.

GUNS GALORE

The firearm assets that we’ve created for Dead Matter have a variety of modular attachments for you to utilize.  Each weapon has multiple attachments and modifications, with near limitless combinations that give you the opportunity to fine-tune your first and last line of defense against the infected and other survivors.

IMPROVISE

We aim to provide a large variety of improvised for players to create. Our Flamethrower is the first implementation of the improvised weapons and more will soon follow.

Improvised weapons cannot be reloaded without the proper tools. Blow your load then move on before it’s too late.

YOUR SAFEHOUSE

Every single building in Dead Matter can be reclaimed for your survival needs. Anything from an unassuming suburban home to a massive supermarket. Anything can all be taken over and utilized in order to aid in your survival.

Not all Safehouses are created equal, the more windows that need to be barricaded and covered up the more difficult it will be to maintain.

Heat, water and power are a concern. Make sure that you plan accordingly and pick the best possible location for your group.

EARLY ACCESS

We will be launching on Steam Early Access at a price point much lower than the final version of the game. We strongly believe in rewarding those who support us early.

After our 1.0 release we aim to periodically add minor cosmetics that our early supports receive exclusive access to.

This is our way of showing gratitude to the people who have gotten us to where we are.

OUR COMMUNITY FIRST

We will be launching on Steam Early Access at a price point much lower than the final version of the game. We strongly believe in rewarding those who support us early.

Even after our 1.0 release we aim to periodically add minor cosmetics that our early supports receive exclusive access to.

We strive to work with our community in order to gather feedback, ensure that we’re making the right decisions. We also have a program for QA testing that is completely driven by the community.

EQUAL ACCESS

While we will be working with an official server host, we have elected to work with a company that shares our opinions regarding public dedicated server file access.

We do not receive any financial compensation from server rentals.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED

We are extremely opposed to the idea of microtransactions in games that you pay cash upfront to play.

Dead Matter will never feature any form of microtransactions. We understand this is a massive source of revenue for a lot of developers, and that not including them is usually considered a bad business decision. However, we reject this notion because we believe that microtransactions are predatory, and we have no costs assosciated with the project outside of development.

We are extremely grateful to be funded by our community and our fans. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for allowing us to maintain our independence and keep Dead Matter free to experiment and do what we need to do in order to get the best product out there.

MAP EXPANSION

The key to nurturing the ideas of our players in a way that’s open and fun is the world.

We’ve crafted our depiction of Alberta to be the ultimate survival sandbox; lush with variety and life, from the wild forests and lakes of the Rockies, to the once bustling city of Calgary.

ADVANCED AI

Our initial implementation of AI will be the minimum in order to support our core gameplay loop.

While our basic AI will still serve their purpose, we would love to take them a lot further in order to enhance the atmosphere and overall player immersion.

MODDING

PLANES AND TRAINS

While the base game will be bustling with cars, trucks, boats, and bicycles, giving you the tools to conquer the skies and the rails will require more. Hitting our goal with this means that Dead Matter will receive helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, and trains for you to fortify, upgrade, and defend from those who want them for themselves.

To store your new machines, we’ll also be fleshing out the train stations, heliports, and airports throughout the map. New unique weapons, vehicles, and clothing will be there for you to find and claim.”

CALGARY, ALBERTA

Ground zero, a massive metropolis of 1.5 million people and the crown jewel of the Canadian oil and gas industry.

Our implementation of Calgary has been pushed to the back of our release schedule, we want to do it right. We want to build it properly and a massive amount of work needs to get done in order to get the city off of the ground.