It’s a question you’ve probably asked yourself, and it’s a question we want to help you answer.

Dead Matter is a community driven, crowd funded survival game that aims to quench the thirst for a true zombie survival sandbox. Initially funded in August of 2017. We aim to bring the game to Steam Early Access shortly after our closed testing period.

Dead Matter caters to a multitude of survival playstyles that can be mixed and matched, affording players an infinite amount of ways to survive in post apocalyptic Alberta.

We’ve been hard at work over the past 9 months to bring Dead Matter to life. After many hardships the foundation has been laid and we’re now working on fleshing out key content. We always listen to feedback that our fans give us and truly appreciate all of the support we’ve been shown thus far.

In Dead Matter, the only limits on your player is you. Freedom of expression is an important design philosophy for us and as such, we’ve planned out our customisation systems from the beginning to give you as much power over your protagonist as you want. From hair, to head, to body, you’ll be in control.

The world of Dead Matter is filled with every manner of weapon you could think of, and we’ve built them from the ground up to support all kinds of customisation, allowing you to tune the weapon to your playstyle. Whether you want to wrap your baseball bat in barbed wire and go out bashing, rig an alarm clock with C4 to go off with a bang, or strap up your gun with a makeshift kitchen knife bayonet, the choice is yours.

You can also use scraps such as old lawnmowers, fire extinguishers, pressure washers, and more to put together weapons, ensuring your survival no matter the situation.

All of those rails will be used to hold a wide variety of attachments designed to aid your survival.

It doesn’t stop with the weapons. Our vehicles were broken down and designed in parts to allow you to transform any run-of-the-mill suburban family van into an apocalypse-kitted survivalist’s dream. All it takes is the right ambition and desire to leave your mark on the world (and the right materials, of course).

You can also turn your vehicle into a mobile fortress, or have a truck configured to tow a few thousand litres of fuel, water or even tow a wrecked vehicle. It’s up to you.

 

MULTIPLAYER

Hell on Earth. Better with friends.

Dead Matter was conceived and developed, from the beginning, by friends and singleplayer enthusiasts alike. We plan to support and encourage both playstyles as often as we can and wherever we can.

Whether you want to join a huge dedicated server and explore a bustling community of players and build your list of friends and enemies, or invite some friends and try to take on post-apocalyptic Alberta in privacy – it’s up to you. You won’t have to worry about any port forwarding, just invite a friend on Steam and Dead Matter will take care of the rest.

 

OUR WORLD

20x20km of beautiful Canadian landscape.

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.

To effectively simulate a breathing world, we’ve built our metagame and AI systems to support true variety. Expect the unexpected: any forest trek, highway cruise, or grocery store trip could lead you on crossed paths with a settlement of soldiers, a band of scavengers, or simple families searching for shelter, all of which will do whatever it takes to ensure their own survival.

But the AI don’t get to have all the fun. The world of Dead Matter was developed to support your settlements. Any building you see can be barricaded, upgraded, and fitted with electricity and flowing water. The land can be farmed and cultivated, and the lakes fished. You can live quietly, in the shadows of day-to-day post-apocalyptic life, or settle your people around Alberta’s transformers, dams, and bridges, to retake control of the world around you.

Dead Matter utilises a grid-based, jigsaw-style inventory system that challenges you to plan and conserve. Just as they are in the real world, items are host to a variety of unique variables beyond size and quantity, like temperature and quality. What you scavenge will often require unique planning and storage, so be conscious. 

We don’t want scavenging to feel restrictive in Dead Matter. Any container you find can be physically opened and looted, from a nightstand, to a vending machine, to a locked-up gun safe. You can search the home for the key or force it open and play your luck – just don’t make too much noise. 

Your character physically reaches out to pick up items, flick light switches, push buttons, open doors, open containers, and much more. Nothing in Dead Matter happens instantly, and items don’t teleport off the ground into your inventory. You are a part of the world and must interact with it.

RESOURCES

Essential to living.

Electricity is a core part of modern life, and the beginning of the zombie apocalypse will reflect that. Our robust electrical system enables you to fully power your home, opening up many gameplay options from the typical minutia of turning lights on and off, to permitting the usage of power tools to enhance your crafting and upgrades. Nothing this good lasts forever, however, and bad luck and poor planning could leave you with dead equipment when things go south.

We also have a robust sewer system to go alongside our water system, you’ll occasionally be required to head into a dark, cramped and terrifying environment in order to secure a steady supply of water for the survivors at your settlement or for survivors willing to trade some supplies for a little bit of your time.

Once you have a stable source of water, you can hunt, forage or scavenge for food in order to feed yourself and those that rely on you. Keep in mind that every gunshot near a town will draw the undead closer to your location.

Back to our roots.

Player freedom is an incredibly important aspect of a fun survival game, and as such we’re putting everything in your hands – our procedural development tools (which support full polish control for our environment artists), C++ and blueprint access, everything. We’re modders at our core, and we know how important modding support is for a healthy, long lasting community. Any user can host their own server, with their own settings and mods – on or off the Steam Workshop. It’s all accessible and it’s all free.

Epic Games has offered to help us bring modding to Dead Matter via the Unreal Launcher, and we plan to take them up on this once we know the game is ready. We plan to support modding via Steam Workshop to ensure ease of use for everyday players and for server owners.

Dead Matter is a community driven title. Our development staff is extremely active on the community Discord, and we often give our backers sneak peaks, as well as take suggestions. One of the most complex systems in the game was initially a fan suggestion that ended up becoming the vehicle towing system.

Want to join our discord server? Simply click here: discord.gg/deadmatter

We also take suggestions and engage with our community via our forum, which you can check out here: playdeadmatter.com/forums

We’ll also be opening our influencer program in the near future, allowing content creators and other cool folks to help spread the word around about Dead Matter!

We love progress!

Since our Kickstarter we’ve been working hard on not only the base game but the stretch goals for Dead Matter. Even though we’re still in pre-alpha, we’ve already put a dent into our stretch goals and we plan on bringing them to our supporters as fast as humanly possible.

MAP EXPANSION

“Our depiction of Alberta is already huge. However, we still have some unused space to fill, including underground. Hitting the required amount for this stretch goal means that we will be able to add in new locations to the map, such as an abandoned underground mining complex. We will also include new weapons and new items to compliment the locations that we add in.”

The code for the map expansion has been written and our world will now feature abandoned bunkers strewn across it. This stretch goal is complete.

Required Amount: $70,000 CAD – REACHED

PLANES & 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.”

Planes and Helicopters are still in progress. Trains are receiving a polish pass before we post them publicly, but are currently functional in game. This stretch goal is underway.

Required Amount: $85,000 CAD – REACHED

WAY BACK WEST

“A new sandbox inspired by Vancouver Island and the original Dead Matter mod’s map. Smaller and denser, Vancouver Island is home to new weapons, new enemies, new vehicles, new clothes, and new places to explore, all on a coastal landscape that will change the terms of survival.

You’ll also be able to travel between Alberta and Vancouver Island at your leisure, assuming you’ve got the supplies for it.”

This stretch goal is still in early development and will be completed after the initial Dead Matter release on Steam. This stretch goal has not been started.

Required Amount: $120,000 CAD – REACHED

INTERACTIVE AI SETTLEMENTS & FACTIONS

“Work with – or against – your fellow man. Trade with, run errands for, and earn favour with the inhabitants of the world to determine the outcome of new communities of families and strangers.

Or expand your own: invite your new friends and followers to join your homes. Organize scavenging runs, delegate jobs and roles, and work to keep each other alive.”

This is our favourite stretch goal. We’ll be revealing more information on player and AI settlements shortly. This stretch goal is nearly complete. 

Required Amount: $175,000 CAD – REACHED

RADIO & RADIO STATIONS

“The final word of stations of the past, classical tunes, emergency broadcasts, and hijacked airwaves will be yours to hear, control, and follow. Play with new vehicles like OB vans, contact your friends with new tools like pocket and HAM radios, and explore and conquer the old radio stations at your leisure.”

We’ve created the art related to the radios but not the stations. The code we’ll be using for VoIP has been partially implemented, and NPC Radio Hosts have been organised and are present in the teaser trailer along with a functional radio entity. This stretch goal is underway.

Required Amount: $200,000 CAD – REACHED

MODULAR GEAR, NEW WEAPONS, AND ENHANCED TWITCH SUPPORT

“Upon reaching this tier, we’ll be able to fully flesh out our modular suit system. Scavenge and scrap the remnants of the apocalypse and fit your player with a set of gear that can be worn atop most of the clothing in the game. We’ll also be adding fifteen new melee weapons and five new firearms.  

We’ll also be including official Twitch support. In addition to our already planned ‘Broadcast Mode’, which disguises your player name and the server you’re connected to, this goal will allow us to expand our integration further: view your chat in-game, poll your viewers, invite them to participate and easily add connected viewers to your party.”

All of our weapons have been remade from scratch. We’ve added over 15 new firearms and over 5 new melee weapons (on top of the 40+ melee weapons we had pre-kickstarter).  This half of the stretch goal is considered complete.

Streamer mode is currently implemented however an official Twitch integration is still underway. The additional gear is currently in the planning phases. This half of the stretch goal is still underway.

Required Amount: $225,000 CAD – REACHED

PLAYER-MADE STRUCTURES

“Construct, upgrade, and expand your control of the world. We’ll be overhauling our player settlement system to support greater constructive capabilities, allowing you to assemble seamless, personalized shelters from shacks, to shanties, to cabins, to garages that serve whatever purpose you’ll give them. Like all else in the game, our game options will allow server hosts or singleplayer explorers to adjust and fine-tune every aspect of these player structures, from changing the material requirements to outright disabling them.”

Player-made structures have been integrated into the player settlement system, and we’ll be revealing more information on this very soon. This stretch goal is nearly complete.

Required Amount: $275,000 CAD – REACHED

Enhanced Character Customization

“Reaching this stretch goal will enable us to implement custom morph targets that will expand our character customisation options. In addition to modifying your player’s eye colour, hair colour, and head type, morph targets will allow you to completely retool your player’s face.