Hello all, this is a mouthful of information.
Last month was the three-year mark since Reload began development. Initially planned as a “seasonal content update”, it flourished into a full-on reboot of the game, from the game’s systems to recoding disasters. Reload is the biggest project I’ve worked on this platform, and I would love for you all to play it soon.
Unfortunately, Reload’s development cycle has been through the busiest and hardest points of my life, from academic to personal struggles,
Reload has struggled to keep a consistent development cycle, thus leading to: Working on Reload → Personal/Academic Issues → Work on those issues + Delay Update → Rinse and Repeat
For a large update like Reload, I unfortunately can’t see myself reaching the end of it anytime soon. For a vicious cycle like this, it has pushed the update by multiple years. (Remember: This was supposed to come out by Summer 2023!) But maybe it doesn’t have to come out in one package. Perhaps, we can spread out a massive update like this over a few months, to have you all test it out.
And this leads to today. After years of developing one massive update, I have decided to cancel the initial update, and put out what I have worked, been working on, and will work on, in a series of updates, known as the Return Updates.
What are the Return Updates?
The Return Updates are a series of updates coming to the base game of Disaster Warning, spanning from small changes to massive content additions. In the past, we have previously added content intended for Reload into the base game, such as Landslides, Blitz, and most notably, Super-Dual DX. This will be a continuation of that on a more massive scale.
Instead of reserving changes for when we overhaul the game’s system, we will push out changes intended for the original update (Reload’s engine) into the current engine (2.9), to make Disaster Warning a much more fun and balanced experience. We get that DW is an unbalanced game, and Reload would address that, but we don’t want you to wait for another year.
Our focus with these updates is as follows:
- Base Game Changes
- Content Additions
- Framework Overhaul
The first one, base game changes, focuses on changing the game’s content itself. From rebalancing disaster to fleshing out bugs that have plagued the game, this focuses on making Disaster Warning an overall more enjoyable experience. This will also focus on vaulting certain content. Disaster Warning has a fair bunch of filler content that has plagued the player experience, so some will be removed from the game or sent to private servers.
The first update, in fact, focuses on bringing many changes from Reload, such as disaster changes, map physics (parts will no longer float), and a proper recode to damage blocks (meaning damage will no longer stack instantly). However, not all changes will be shipped out. Down the line, we will make more changes before we move on to the next one - content additions.
Content additions will bring in new content to Disaster Warning, such as new maps, new disasters, new twists, and even new features, like the return of Private Server Controls!
And lastly, the Return Updates will culminate in the biggest update yet - the framework overhaul, otherwise known as Version 4.0 - RELOAD. This is the update that would bring in the initial framework of Reload into the base game, as well as massive changes that, unfortunately, would not work for the game’s current engine. Version 4.0 is truly massive, but with that update being only focused on the framework, rather than a culmination of game changes and content additions, it should be out at least a couple of months after content additions finish up.
Release, Testing, & Disaster Warning: Classic
Now, all of this sounds like a bunch of information being thrown at you, and it certainly was! But the good news is that it’s not far away. As mentioned, the first update, which will be Version 3.0, is in the works, and if testing goes smoothly, the first of many updates should be out by November 28, and from there, we will be shipping out updates hopefully at a constant rate, but please give us some time.
Due to our focus on the return updates, we are pushing back this year’s Winterfest, Frosty Legends, to a start date of December 20th.
However, that’s not all. Starting in January 2026, we will be conducting testing on the framework update, under a new game in the Disaster Warning HQ community, titled “Reload [Experimental Build]”. For a small robux fee, you can test out the new framework update to get a fresh look at what 4.0 has to offer and give us proper feedback so that we can begin a new, fun era of Disaster Warning in 2026!
Last but not least, Disaster Warning is expected to change in many ways over the next few months in ways that some fans may prefer the older versions. Back in 2023, we promised that with the release of Reload, a legacy version would also be released. That legacy version, Disaster Warning: Classic, will release this Friday! Currently, the legacy version will only have the game before the 2.0 update, Version 1.9, meaning that all content from then, such as the original private server controls, will be available!
Conclusion / TL;DR
This certainly was a mouthful of information, but if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to any of the developers via the social links. As a recap:
- Reload will be split into smaller, more consecutive updates, rather than one big package
- The first reload update, Version 3.0, will be out by November 28th. Disaster Warning: Classic will release tomorrow, November 21st.
- The framework overhaul [Version 4.0], aka Reload, will be in development once the return updates conclude and will be released in 2026! The Experimental Build will be out in early January
And that’s all. It’s been a crazy development cycle, especially starting immediately after the flopped release of 2.0, but I hope you all are excited for the return of Disaster Warning.
we are so back
-Soda (@telavation)