Noisy shooter Selaco is Steam Deck verified with new story stuff, AI improvements and "Randomizer" modes in the works

Nailgun-toting FEAR-meets-GZDoom FPS Selaco is now Steam Deck Verified, allowing you to either impress or appal fellow train commuters with your knack for pixel splatter. That's not all: developers Altered Orbit Studios have outlined planned features for the next round of updates. They include backpacks that considerately replenish your weapons, fresh story material, a tune-up for the enemy AI in the game's second chapter, and a "Randomizer" system that scrambles spawns and pick-ups while introducing weapon rarities, for beaucoup replay value.

"Getting the Steam Deck to behave according to Valve's quality expectations on GZDoom took a good amount of hard work, but we managed to get it done in the end," the devs write in a Steam blog. Selaco won't get an official early access roadmap, the post adds, because Altered Orbit regard such things as detrimental. "Roadmaps tend to have a negative effect on development/work. Experimentation with new ideas takes time, while roadmaps are schedule-focused and don't allow for such things. When something is in the works, we will let you know through these posts!"

Nonetheless, there's plenty to share right now about future additions. The next significant Selaco update will include backpack reloading, which discreetly tops up any guns you haven't equipped for a while, providing there are bullets to spare. This is an optional convenience for the player prone to absent-mindedly brandishing an empty handcannon at the worst possible moment - you can turn it off in the settings.

The update will also rebalance the guns, with automatic weapons in particular due a polish. "The current version on Steam has an oversight where there is a solid chance to roll low damage numbers consecutively, making some automatic weapons feel weaker than they are meant to be," the devs note. They're also going to remove and replace the system whereby enemies were less easy to stagger on higher difficulties, as this has simply made some weapons less useful. Beyond that, expect new visual and audio effects and map interactables, performance boosts and quality-of-life adjustments such as "a DMR that respects your hold/toggle setting".

Further afield, Altered Orbit are planning "a major voice-over pass to flesh out Dawn as a character, the world of Selaco and the general plot" for end of the year. They're working on AI improvements, including "better Patrol modes, a goal system, [and a] cover system". They're also looking at letting players adjust the difficulty mid-campaign, together with the ability to customise mutators (these being campaign modifers such as enemies having faster projectile speed).

Safe rooms will eventually become "more interesting and useful" with free one-time health caches and an armor shop. And then there's Randomizer, slated to drop alongside the major voice-over pass at end of 2024, which "randomizes enemy spawns, introduces a Rarity System where some weapons and enemies are more powerful than usual, repositions ammo pickups and offers tons of customization to tweak the game to your liking."

The enemy AI improvements and various other features should arrive as part of the game's Chapter 2, which is "coming along nicely". I've yet to play Selaco but this certainly sounds like an early access project that's hitting its stride. In our launch day Selaco review from June, resident RPS triggerman Ed Thorn hailed it as "a wonderful balance between tactical and frenetic, with intricate maps and immersive sim tomfoolery that'll delight and potentially frustrate".