Hello fellow Penal Colony Workers. It's been about a month since the last update so I wanted to get something out to keep ya'll up to date on how dev was going. Over the last month I've been going pretty hard trying to the narrative content in the game locked down as that's one of the last things I need to do to complete the next MVP build.

Now I can't share much of what that looks like but here's some cool updated props for the Crane and Winch on the ship, if you re watch the trailer you'll notice these we're pretty crusty.

I have also been tackling some backlog work that has been troubling me for some time, that being pathfinding.

If you read the last update you'll know that the player controller operates like an NPC Agent under the hood and of course the enemies in the game use some kind of path finding as well. Given the nature of the game taking place on a small, cramped and highly detailed space navigation for the player, and especially the enemies has just been somewhat broken for some time now. I set aside a week to finally put the issue to rest so I've made another devlog video to breakdown the issues visually. This one gets pretty technical around Unity quirks and the nature of A* pathfinding.

Stay Up to DateI've been streaming development over at twitch, you can check out progress roughly twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays Melbourne time. You can also join our discord community here.

-Nick

Friends!

An update with AX308 stat tweaks, a new FN Herstal Evolys machine gun, and Ranked Matches changes has been installed on the game servers.

An ultralight machine gun combining portability and high firepower. Designed with modern materials and advanced technologies, Evolys weighs significantly less than classic machine guns without sacrificing power or efficiency.

The advantages of this machine gun include a high rate of fire, multipliers for the body, arms, and legs, as well as decent hip fire accuracy.

AX308: The sniper rifle has been adjusted to meet the current meta's standards.

One skin is nice, but two is even better! Tireless Jim Spikes continues to expand the broad horizons of his military career and will soon appear in two roles—as a Rifleman and an Engineer. And a new Wild west FN Herstal Evolys machine gun will surely be a great addition to them.

Ahoy, mateys! The new event be settin’ sail soon! Keep yer course to the Pirates Den to battle for the new Tortuga weapon series, a unique charm, exclusive achievements, and other treasures of old sea dogs.

Stay sharp, the hunt on Pyramid Modern, Bridges Modern, and Ruins maps is about to begin!

[color=yellow]Agent skins and an event will become available later on. Stay tuned for the news![/color]

• Panzer Arms BP-12:
  
  • Increased the minimum damage of each pellet to 72 (was 69).
  Increased damage multipliers for head, body, arms, and legs to 1.6 / 1.12 / 1.12 / 1.1 (were 1.55 / 1.06 / 1.04 / 1.04).

If a player leaves a ranked match during the loading phase and does not return, it will be counted as a loss and recorded in their stats. This rule also applies to placement and transition matches.

If a player leaves in this manner more than three times, they will receive a progressive ban in Ranked Matches. If the player returns to the match, the ban streak is reset until any further similar violations occur.

• FN SCAR Creedmoor:
  
  • Fixed a bug where the unique animation after pressing the reload key with a full magazine had no sound.
    
  • Updated the weapon description.
• Kalashnikov MP-155 Ultima: Bonus stats of the unique sight are now correctly applied to the weapon’s characteristics.
  
• Added previously missing parameters to the foregrip module descriptions for certain sniper rifles.
  Fixed a bug where equipping the same scope on both the primary and secondary weapon caused the game client to crash.
  
• Fixed a bug where, in certain situations, some knives’ sounds continued to play after the unique animation had finished.
  
• Fixed a bug where enemies were visible through a smoke grenade cloud when aiming down sights with certain weapon models.

• Fixed a bug in Plant the Bomb mode where not all players were displayed on the mini-map for spectators.

• Fixed several issues that could cause the game client to crash.
  
• Fixed a bug where a player would not be taken to the confirmation screen when invited to a match while in the Safehouse.
  
• Fixed a bug where a player in a custom room (PvP or PvE) was shown as “In Menu” in contacts, and an error occurred when attempting to invite them to a group.
  
• Fixed a bug where a player in the Safehouse did not receive match invitations.
  
• Fixed a bug where the interface was displayed incorrectly when opening random boxes at the same time a match started.
  
• Fixed a bug where the slide sound played even when no one was performing a slide nearby.
  
• Fixed a bug where SED footstep sounds sometimes played incorrectly.
  
• Fixed a bug where incorrect data could be displayed in the PvE section of a player’s profile.
  
• Updated the localization: Fixed some inconsistencies, added missing texts.

[color=white]See you in the game![/color]

• Steam Publisher Page
  
• Saikey Steam Community
  
• Saikey Studios Website
  
• Twitter
  
• Discord
  
• Youtube

1. Louder - Star I: Lower the quality requirements for assembly/disassembly tasks.
   
2. Adjusted monster spawning in Tour - BossRush, removed <RC - 001 "Father">.

It has been a long time coming but Despondent is finally here! This game took alot of blood, sweat and tears to see it through but I would not change the experiences I have had during that time for the world. Despondent is by far not a perfect game, but I have poured heaps of love into it throughout the years and I hope that seeps through to all of you when you play. So enjoy and maybe... just maybe, make it out alive <3

If you guys encounter any bugs while playing or something has halted your progress completely, please let me know in the community discussions or you can reach out to me personally on socials. Please remember I am a one guy team, but I'll give my all into making sure you can play through Despondent unhindered. I will also be collecting all bug reports and will create a patch to address these issues in the coming weeks.

I have also chucked on a 20% launch discount so grab it while it is on sale if you are keen!

Later Skaters and have fun!

This update expands the “Remaster” of Dice or Die with a brand-new journal system to track discoveries and adventure progress, the first wave of Steam achievements, and important fixes for cursor and trigger issues.

• Journal System: Keep track of your discoveries and follow your journey across the island with a dedicated in-game log.

• Steam Achievements: Unlock rewards for your milestones and survival feats.

• Fixed cursor display issues occurring in certain cases.

• Corrected several trigger malfunctions affecting gameplay flow.

We’re excited to share that four of our cozy, heartwarming games will be featured in Steam Next Fest (October 13, 2025)! Each one offers a unique way to relax, explore, and unwind:

🐾 Solnest – Step into solarpunk-inspired rooms and uncover over 500+ hidden cats in a mindful hidden object adventure.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3907250/Solnest/

🌿 Silktrails: Cats in the Grove 2 – Return to the lush world of Silkgrove, where over 1,000 cats are waiting to be discovered across 11 hand-drawn environments.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3907990/Silktrails_Cats_in_the_grove_2/

🏡 Still House – A serene sandbox about building, decorating, and shaping a cozy home, where every corner tells its own quiet story.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3927820/Still_House/

🎶 Radio Heart: Lofi Hours – Chill with lofi beats, calming visuals, and light productivity tools designed to help you relax, focus, and recharge.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3927050/Radio_Heart_Lofi_Hours/

✨ Join us during Steam Next Fest to play demos, explore these worlds, and find your new cozy favorite. Wishlist now and don’t miss out!

A couple bugs have been fixed in this small balance update, plus the power Animation has been shortened, mainly to make the Crochop Battle less frustrating!

Bamlin

• Furious Lunge now deals 18 Damage (was 20)

Small adjustment as Bamlin now feels very strong after the last balance patch.

Gargon

• Sage Aggression now costs 1 (was 0) and deals 10 Damage (was 8)

• Archaic Blessing now costs 1 (was 0) and gains 10 Block

• Now knows Political Ambition by default (was a Move Tome)

• Has a new Move Tome: "Secret Technique (1) STR: Only useable after another Move. That Move costs 1 less this Battle. Forget."

Gargon was both too good when paired with the right Monsters, and too weak when it wasn't.

To help with that, we've lowered the ceiling a bit (by making the refresh Moves cost 1 by default), and then raised the floor a bit by giving it a Move that can teach Moves to trigger the refreshes.

It'll still go nuts in the right builds, but now you'll have to work for it a bit more. Ideally, this is what we'd like every Monster to be.

Tripleaf

• Blood Spores now costs 1 (was 0), applies 1 Bleed per Dazed (was 2) and has Forget.

• Fever Dream now gains 2 Block per Dazed (was 4)

• Psychic Bloom now deals 2 Damage per Dazed (was 5)

Oh boy is Tripleaf good now! The change to Floral Frenzy in the last balance patch has turned it into a real powerhouse.

We're okay with how Floral Frenzy plays now. It scales incredibly quickly, but it's a lot of fun to use. Keeping Floral Frenzy the same means adjusting the numbers on Tripleaf's Move Tomes though, so that's what we've decided to do.

While we continue to wait for more players to weigh in on whether we should shorten the game to 5 nights (current feedback suggests no!), we will be looking over the remaining Monster pool to see what changes need to be made.

To that one person who asked for Hexiboar changes, it is the next one we'll look at! We agree it could use a little something extra.

As always, thanks to everyone who continues to provide feedback!

Happy reanimating!