For years, we've clung onto GameMaker 8 (and GM8.1 to be more precise). It's the program that introduced me to game development, and because this was all just a hobby and for fun, we never bothered switching. Don't fix what ain't broke we thought. GM8.1's workflow was just so cozy, we had a great debug workflow and besides, it was cool to be able to work on and play the game on old Windows XP machines!

so cozy... any real ones reading this just got really nostalgic.

But sadly, it was broke. If you go back to Windows 7 or older, our game ran perfect on basically anything, even Athlon XPs, but there was a problem...

Windows 10 and 11 just do not like Gamemaker 8 games! Most systems ran just fine, but some lagged, making us look like typical lazy indie devs that can't even get a pixel game to run on a modern gaming PC. This was really embarrassing considering it SHOULD run just fine on modern PCs, considering it runs easily on hardware from 2003, but life isn't that simple. The GameMaker 8 engine is just too old and too crusty... If I had my way, the game would have been finished on GM8.1. But since that's not the world we live in:

We spent the last couple weeks migrating the game to GMS2!

And finally, we think the game is in a good enough state to push out The Patch™.

so........ cold...

So, with this big change, Team Dehdehbon should be up to snuff now! Right off the bat, the game runs about 5x faster on my Ryzen 5600x rig, and 3x faster on a bottom end HP Stream laptop! Just about any computer should run the game perfectly now. Bonus: It even halved the memory usage! The game starts pretty much instantly now and loading hangs are pretty much gone now.

This also opened us up to the world of shaders. Although I really don't wanna start throwing shaders everywhere, it will be really cool to have extra palettes!

really rough example of real time sprite recoloring, so much innovation...

and a rough example of shaders doing shader things!

It also fixed some problems old crusty GM8 had, like:

The Steam overlay did not work in 240p mode no matter what we did in GM8, so we had to ship the demo in 1080p mode, which broke the pixel grid. Now, the game ships in glorious 240p by default, obeying the grid!

left: icky mixels!!! right: chunky indie pixel goodness.....

Steam remote play actually works now from our testing!!! Before where it had a lot of delay and was REALLY laggy for some reason, it seems to work great now! And screenshots and recordings are even working proper now. (gee, how groundbreaking....)

This update also includes rebalancing and QoL changes, and we did a completely poor job of tracking the changes, so no changelog!!! We promise we'll get better about that. I'll try to list some of the changes here:

• Finished mouse support for the main menu screen/file select. (still none on the pause menu, sry!!!)

• RT and LT can now be remapped to on Xbox controllers! (This was a GM8 limitation)

• Some rooms are a lil easier, some a lil harder...

• Dehdehbon damage buffs!!!

• Boss 1 is a lil tougher now.

boss 1's punch sends shock waves that deal damage now, and is generally quicker to act.

Some known issues with the conversion:

• Zooming cameras are broken in VS mode, so they don't zoom anymore!

• We've had reports that alt tabbing can stop music, but we can't seem to recreate it.

• VS mode is a lil brokey right now in general...

• For some reason the start button icon is not displayed in the controller remap menu... huh...

And also, there's probably gonna be some other bugs we missed... So, sorry bout that....

Anyways, this update isn't really much in the grand scheme, but it feels really great for us to see our lil' guy growing up into a real product, er, game. This was a huge step into treating Team Dehdehbon as a serious game that we can sell to people as opposed to a little passion project. Thank you to everyone that's stuck with us through it all and hopefully, big things soon!!!

• Fixed cancel input on Stage Select menu items which had not functioned correctly after updating for remediating Unity CVE.
  
• Added graphical laser trail effect on laser rifle and fighter spaceship
  
• Added graphical afterburner trail effect on fighter spaceship (level 34)
  
• Made adjustments to 2 levels to avoid soft locks

This is a bit of a different one from usual. I spent a lot of time updating and improving this game over the first half of the year, and we were entering the content phase of production. As many of you are aware, Unity had a critical engine flaw discovered that affected nearly all versions of the engine that aren't the newest (convenient for the contract you sign, but that's another story). This includes the version we have been building Push & Plunder on for some time now. This version was already outdated, to make things just a little worse.

What this means, in effect, is that Push & Plunder needs yet another core overhaul. This would be the third core overhaul of the project. This project has suffered far too many setbacks as it is. The cost of overhauling this project would cause the cost of the development to rise ever higher.

Estimated value of time invested in the development of P&P: $28,000

Estimated time & value required to overhaul: 160hrs-320hrs | $5,600-$11,200

And it looks like the game needs another month, maybe two, of core engine improvement and reimagining.

Here is a breakdown of my projected workload for this cost prediction.

Push & Plunder is built on an extremely old version of Unity. There are many, many problems this causes. And a lot of strange quirks of P&P are due to engine bugs that I cannot solve, and have been solved since. This includes many security upgrades. It also comes with some negatives that I won't get into here, in regards to data privacy and the contract I sign when I use it.

Two years ago, I was determined to make everything myself. I built a custom serializer, and a custom save system. It was efficient, and worked for my needs. As the game grew, the save system became quite the limitation.

When I took a break to develop Fungal Colony Sim 2, I decided to invest in some plugins for Unity to improve my development. The first one was EasySave3. The save system I had previously was retired and adapted to fit ES3. Now, adding new save data is effortless, and I no longer have to clear player progression when making changes to the save file structure. If P&P wants to succeed, it needs to be updated to use the same system.

Again, for FCS2, I created a system that tracks game progress that is more efficient than the original version I had created for P&P. The core of the game is driven by this unlock system, and the badges are more stable and easier to add new challenges with than the old implementation.

I custom built a shader for all of my games, and P&P is the pinnacle of that shader. But it too has many limits. Another plugin I purchased for FCS2, was this shader. It can do everything my shader did, and more. It has more integration with Unity, and a better interface in the editor. It is superior to my custom implementation in every way.

When I started this project, Havok Physics was too expensive to use. Since then, they have made changes to the pricing and now it is reasonable to use. Switching Physics engines would mean a complete reimagining of the core systems of the game. All the coin shooting, bauble bouncing, chest wiggling action would need to be re-engineered and tested.

This would be a radical and extreme investment.

It would, however, allow for better coin stacking and more "real" feeling bounces. A Higher quality final game would result, if the proper time and effort was spent.

For FCS2, I learned how to properly use a string translation system, and localizing my games is as easy as paying someone to translate the sheet of text. P&P has a barebones translation system that doesn't work correctly and was not finished. This would need to be removed and replaced with the working version previously mentioned.

and then the rest of the development can continue as planned. Enemies can be made, tables can be put together, and content can be added and expanded.

There are a lot of things to repair and fix, and the cost of the time required has the potential to be larger than the sales of the game could hope to be. It may already have cost more than it could ever hope to sell. All of the above stuff could be done in Early Access, but I am uncertain if I want to go that route. Early Access could cause this game to die in an unfinished state just as easily as it could save the game.

Unless the wishlist number explode, Early Access will not be considered.

There is... another way... A risky one... With all the work that needs to be done, it could be just as easy to start the project over entirely with all the knowledge we have and implement all the correct systems from the get go. This would probably cause several major overhauls and a complete design doc rewrite. FCS2 and Grammar Grind were developed for ~$5000 each. There is a way to rescope, redesign, and rebuild the entire game for the same cost as it would be to upgrade and fix the old build on the new engine.

So that's where I am at. I am working on other projects that have better futures ahead of them. And I don't know what to do here. Let me know your thoughts here, or on Bluesky, or on Threads. I'm back on Threads btw.

We’re happy to announce that Pudding: Lyre Knight, the English version of Katatema’s latest work, will be released on November 11, 2025.

It invites you into a strange and beautiful new story filled with unforgettable music and emotion!

We sincerely apologize to all our dear players.

When creating the game's store page, I mistakenly selected the "Free to Play" tag, as I thought it was a demo page. Today is November 2nd, 2025, and I will be requesting the revocation of the "Free to Play" option and changing the game itself to a paid version.

This will not affect any players at this time, as the full game has not yet been officially released.

Again, we sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding, our dear players.

• All levels should generate faster and never fail (With fast generation on)

• Fixed locked doors appearing on the main path, preventing you from continuing

• Added more items to locked loot rooms

• Story Mode Janitor/Elevator keys have separate icons now

• Fixed footsteps in ArcLab

• Fixed Cyan Key/Door symbol

• Sped up Rewind level load

• Fixed getting stuck in Library Pool Slide

• Fixed slides sticking through other parts of the level

• Added Kidrooms Loot Room

• Fixed Poolrooms Vending Machine room

First, we want to thank you all for your incredible patience. We were pushing hard to get this update out for the game's anniversary, but unfortunately, our day jobs (yes, it's sad 😢) got in the way and we couldn't make that deadline.

But the wait is almost over! We are incredibly excited to announce that we are officially targeting a November release for the massive v0.6 PROPHUNT update.

We're calling this a "whole new era" for the game, and for good reason. We've been reworking the game's core, and we can't wait for you to play it. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming:

We've completely reworked the systems for both the Hunter and the Prop from the ground up, including movement, animations, and weapons.

• For the Hunter: Get ready for a new first-person view! This comes with an all-new tactical arsenal: an AK-47-type weapon, a shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, a frag grenade, and a claymore. Melee combat is also in!

• For the Prop: You can now transform and detransform (return to your robot form) at will! In your robotic form, you can attack in close combat, which can be very effective against a low-health Hunter.

• For Everyone: We've added a "walk" function for both sides, allowing you to move more slowly but completely silently.

• New Hunter Agents: Once a valiant robot soldier, Kovatek Corporation now employs new human agents for its Hunters.

• Skill System: Going hand-in-hand with the new visuals is the introduction of Skills. You can select these to customize your Hunter's play style.

• First Skill Available: “Resilience,” which allows you to take less damage for a short period of time. (Other skills will be coming soon, allowing you to create customizable classes!)

This is one of the pillars of this new update. The host of a game can now fill in the empty Props player slots with AIs. This is perfect for filling up a lobby or even playing solo as a Hunter. (Hunter AIs will be available later.)

• New Map: Rooftop: A brand new map set on the rooftops of an abandoned American city. It is also the first map to introduce the concept of the void, where both Props and Hunters can fall to their deaths.

• Map Rework: Warehouse: The game’s very first map, Warehouse, has also been significantly modified and improved, notably with the addition of new interiors and vegetation.

• NVIDIA Technology: We're excited to introduce support for NVIDIA DLSS, DLAA, and Multi Frame Generation to boost your performance and visual quality.

• PC Crossplay: That's right! Steam and Epic Games players can now play together!

• New Main Menu: It was high time to put an end to the old, austere menus. The new main menu is finally here and looks beautiful.

We're in the final stages of polishing and bug-squashing. We are so excited to get this update into your hands.

Thank you again for your support. Get ready, and we’ll see you in November!

Venalith

Thanks to everyone that played the demo so far! I'm really happy with the results and got a lot of good feedback so far.

I want to bring up something while the demo is still available and keep an eye on how it evolves: level length consistency.

I’ve seen different playthroughs; some where players took quite a while to find all the keys and the exit, and others where they completed both main levels in under 10 minutes.

This amount of variation between playthrough lengths was not nice so I improved a bit the algorithm placing keys and the door in Level 0 (and its sublevels) to take spacing better into account.

There are more things I want to do, also I would like to improve Level 0 puzzle further (instead of just finding 3 keys) to something more engaging, but for now this improvement should help.

There were many changes to difficulty and how it changes gameplay to list them, but there is a new difficulty selector when you start a new game so you can read all the details there.

• Improved consistency of Level 0 (and sublevels) keys and exit spacing.

• Difficulty rework

• Added Difficulty selector to starting new game flows

• Revive hints, lowered revive time, improved player kill seen post processing effect

• Phone ring now attracts entitiies

• Added subtle sound cue to hidden Level 0 exit.

• Various small bug fixes and stability improvements

Remember that the demo will be available until November 25th, a day before the game releases in Early Access.

If you got feedback or want to share a bug report, you can do so and get more info on how to help with log files in the following thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2419010/discussions/0/597413522044021445/

There are some issues with Multiplayer on China, I added a text on the multiplayer lobby regarding this that links to this discussion thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2419010/discussions/0/597413522044018193/