Autopsy Simulator gets new dev

I was a little late to the body carving-up party because I was quite busy, but I eventually got the review of Woodland Games and Team17’s Autopsy Simulator finished. However, that doesn’t mean the game itself was considered done, as I mentioned in the review there is the pending Autopsy Only Mode (“AOM”) yet to come to the title, though it seems Woodland Games won’t be heading that up. According to a new update over on Steam yesterday, Devlog #18 notes that Autopsy Only Mode will be in development by Epiphany Games as well as all further updates to Autopsy Simulator.

The update notes: “Before speaking about the future of Autopsy Simulator, we’d like to provide the community with an update regarding Autopsy Simulator‘s development partners. Woodland Games are no longer the active development team working on Autopsy Simulator. Team17 Digital would like to thank Woodland Games for their dedication to developing Autopsy Simulator over the last four years and for their efforts to bring Autopsy Simulator: Dead Memories to Steam.” The blame for the lack of publisher goals being met (it seems) are being laid at the doorstep of Woodland Games.

“Team17 Digital has partnered with Epiphany Games to develop Autopsy Simulator’s Autopsy Only Mode update,” the update continued. Speaking on Epiphany Games, it goes on to state, “Epiphany Games has a proven track record of delivering high-quality content and has previously worked with Team17 on several titles, including the console adaptations of DREDGE. We’re thrilled to work with Epiphany Games again to bring future updates to the Autopsy Simulator community.”

The Australian developer isn’t only known for its porting work, but it also worked on Tiny Troopers: Global Operations and Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops XL, Majestic Nights, and TownCraft. Though on porting and (I guess) sub-contracted work, the studio’s work includes a Home and Away mobile app, and for the Americans that’s a middle-of-the-road soap opera from Australia. Always preferred Neighbours if I’m honest, it had Kylie, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce, and Margot Robbie. That aside, hopefully, Epiphany Games can do a good job with Autopsy Simulator going forward.

On the Autopsy Only mode the update notes: “In Autopsy Only Mode, players will become a student Pathologist and will be scored based on a set of specific criteria.” This means doing both internal and external examinations of the corpses, though unnecessary examinations such as cutting open the stomach will be given a disapproving look on you as a student, determining the cause of death, and of course cleaning up, such as sowing the body back up. The Autopsy Only Mode will “focus on simulation gameplay, randomized causes of death,” with a points-based system determining your grade.

There is no word when Autopsy Only Mode will be fully playable, but we do know when the public testing will be, roughly. The update notes: “Today, we’re announcing our Public Testing Environment will arrive for Autopsy Only Mode in September. The introduction of this PTE in September provides an opportunity for the community to playtest our AOM update, with our team gathering community feedback around the game mode update before the update’s full release. We aim to involve the community as much as we can in the development of Autopsy Only Mode!”

The “Public Test Environment” or PTE is just a way of saying something is going into beta without directly saying it is going into beta. Hopefully, Epiphany Games and Team17 can make Autopsy Simulator something more than a bland horror with an intricate game of Operation stuffed in the musty old corpse.