DUSKmay have a bit of a renaissance ahead, as the developer New Blood Interactive announced it’s releasedthe optionalDUSK HDremaster of the game. Its purpose is twofold: to celebrate the game’s fifth anniversary, and the release of its software development kit and the accompanying Steam Workshop support.
“What started as a fun way to beef up theDUSKSteam Workshop,” saysthe announcementfrom New Blood Interactive, “soon evolved into a full-blown visual remaster thanks to the hard work of a group of very talented developers at New Blood under the supervision of David Szymanski, myself (Dave), our QA Lead Cam, Dev Support Lead Scott, and the rest of the New Blood crew.”
Citing extremely positive responses from theDUSKcommunity, New Blood explains that the studio decided to takeDUSK HDa step further than initially planned. The end result?DUSKHDis no longer just a Steam Workshop download, but a free DLC withits own Steam Store page.
DUSK’s modding scene is about to kick off
Even though the release of the DUSK software development kit, DUSK HD, andDusk‘s official Steam Workshop are huge steps forward for the game’s modding scene, New Blood Interactive promises that there’s lots more where that came from. Notably, the current version of theDUSKSDK is, indeed, available for anyone to peruse and build custom maps (to the point where the game supportsQuakeandHalf-Lifelevels by default), including custom texturework and audio.
However, modders can expect an even more comprehensive version of the SDK to come out in a few weeks’ time, allowing them to implement custom enemies, weapons, and entities into the game. This means that classic shooter fans have much to look forward to in the context ofDUSKand its Workshop.
What’s really neat here is that New Blood Interactive did not fail to highlight the efforts of Ben “Zombie” Moir and David “Garumin” Bonin, who have rewrittenDUSKfrom the ground up and remade the game’s visual assets, respectively. “Unbeknownst to [Zombie and Garumin], all the profits from DUSK for the month of December 2023 will be split between David and Ben,” says the blog.
Finally, the blog also points out that New Blood Interactive has hired three new developers as a result of their efforts in producingDUSK HD: Cody Lambert, Dom Antonazzo, and Lachlan Milne. The three will continue working for New Blood “across all [their] games” in the future, signing off on a very promising future for the studio.
