HALLO

It's been over two whole microseconds since I shared news, so I think it's time for a new blog post.
Today I'd like to share some progress update on ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː, its funding, and also give you a bunch of free Outcore MIDI files.


If you read the previous blog posts then you might know I'm working on ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː.

Well, I'm glad you asked. ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː is ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː A NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː I think many of you will like. ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː will not be called Outcore 2, but in a way ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː is an Outcore 2. Confusing, I know, but you'll have to trust my word and judge once the game is announced. I hope you've been able to follow through this paragraph because even my dyslexic brain can barely read it. Look how terrible it looks in Steam's text editor:


Anyway, progress update. I've been working on polishing ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː in preparation to announce it. My current focus is the game's trailer, so it should tell you that it's in a pretty presentable state.
I don't want to promise anything, but I'm planning to announce the game this year. How soon depends on how long it takes me to find a good "stage" to host ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː's announcement.

Since we're talking about ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː, let's also talk about funding it.
This game's development is being funded entirely out of my savings. That means I make most of the game on my own, because I can't afford to pay professionals often.

This slows development down, so to tackle this, I'm planning to crowdfund ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː through Patreon.
I already have a Patreon account where I rip off Outcore fans by taking their money and giving them nothing but pictures of my cute cats.
To nobody's surprise, asking people to pay for very little value doesn't work well.

I want to revamp it to give people better value for their buck. I'm thinking about rewards such as different tiers for game credits, inclusion of your image/character somewhere in the game, and access to early news updates & builds.
I'd like to take this opportunity to ask, what do you think? What rewards would you want? The important thing to mention is that it should be things that don't slow down development.

The patreon revamp will launch once the game is announced, but there will most likely be rewards related to lifetime accumulation (meaning it's not too early if you wish to start supporting ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː THE NEW GAME ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː's development now!): https://www.patreon.com/c/DoctorShinobi

Oh god I'm so tired from writing the last few paragraphs, what was I thinking? How am I going to gather the mental energy to write about ːsteamsadːːsteamsadːːsteamsadː THE OLD GAME (OUTCORE) ːsteamsadːːsteamsadːːsteamsadː's FREE MIDI FILES??? Why can't I write just one single normal blog post like my parents always wanted?????? Maybe it's because I've never known my dad and haven't talked with most of my family in years. What, dad, you think your son that you've never known had planned to write his blog posts like a cringe edge lord that's wanna be funny? NO! I just start by writing normally but uncontrollably end up vomititing piles of hot molten nuclear garbage text that barely connects together to form gramatically correct sentences. You wouldn't be able to train ChatGPT to produce this unhinged toxic blighttown literature waste that parallels the poisonous hotdogs from the central bus station in my city no matter how many graphic cards you'd shove in it.

My point is that I like seeing Outcore fan content. I've seen quite a lot of fan art, but barely any fan remixes. I'd like to help the community making Outcore remixes, so I asked Fez (the game's musician) to release a bunch of MIDI files of popular music tracks.



I will say this, those music tracks were not originally created to sound good as MIDI files. They're not as great as the originals. Your ears might bleed a little, but you should still be able to use them to create something that sound good.

Enjoy:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pgKzOzflAlDH97n39FX9GQBvtmbiWDLG/view?usp=sharing

When I created Outcore, I tried to design every obstacle to be challenging but still passable even if you're not great at games. However, sometimes players still get stuck in puzzles I thought anyone could overcome.

One such puzzle is located at the beginning of the game: The MS Paint safe-unlocking challenge. I keep reading comments of angry players who get stuck at that part and quit the game.

I knew some players would have trouble drawing an accurate shape, so I made it very forgiving. Even if your drawing doesn't fit exactly inside the keyhole, the algorithm will still ignore a certain amount of error so players don't get stuck.

To ensure players wouldn't cheese the puzzle by drawing a tiny blob of pixels, I had every keyhole require a minimum amount of pixels before a drawing is considered a valid key.
And that's where players tend to get stuck. People often draw hollow shapes that don't pass the minimum required amount of pixels.



I knew this situation would happen, which is why I made Lumi tell the players to fill their drawing with more pixels. I thought that would mean the instructions are crystal clear, but players still got stuck and quit the game.

So I'm glad to say I (think I) finally found the solution to the problem!


....That is what I'd want Lumi to say but she won't actually say that. The truth is the only imbecile here is me. If players can't solve a puzzle, it's my fault for designing something they didn't understand.

I do believe that games should require a certain minimum skill level in challenges that are directly connected to those games' essence. But the truth is, puzzles aren't the essence of Outcore. They are just tools the game uses to showcase its desktop mechanics. That's why EVERYONE should be able to pass them.

For that reason I decided to add a new feature to the MS Paint game: SKIP THE WHOLE DAMN THING!

If you fail drawing a valid key 3 or more times, Lumi will suggest drawing a key for you. She won't actually force the solution upon you, but if you're too frustrated from this puzzle then you'll always have the chance to skip it.

(Lumi's drawing of something that looks like a spaceship and absolutely nothing else)

You'll see an option to skip a puzzle in other places too, like the idle game or the sonar puzzle. The only challenges I don't think fit having a skip option are things that are optional (like the platforming challenge from the "S.E.X Update") or the game's final boss battle (it would be too anticlimactic)

Every blog post I released in the last month has really just been an excuse to tell you to buy a Lumi plushie before it's gone
There are only a few days left to buy them, so this is the last reminder: Get a plushie (or 10, or 100???) now or forever regret saving your money for college or a house.




The new skip feature required new lines of dialogue. I'd like to thank the next people for translating those new lines so languages Outcore supports:

• Melancholy
  
• hidsky41 (Also translated a bunch of missing lines that were added a few months ago)
  
• Marvj13
  
• Lorigamer87
  
• helloyanis (Also helped fix other translations)
  
• ElChagnon
  
• xtwo520
  
• Daniel Zawadzki (Zawdan)
  
• Belfegordo
  
• Entsuo
  
• BotAn
  
• heerxingen
  
• Shahar from Team Kipod

• Updated Villain Lumi's sprites.
  
  I know some people asked for the option to switch to the old sprites. Unfortunately, the game wasn't built with interchangeable skins in mind, so adding this feature is a lot more work than it seems.
  
• Attempt to fix a rare case where Lumi doesn't recognize when the player opens their Documents folder.

Lumi's villain design has a little problem. Can you spot it?


When they're placed side by side it becomes obvious: Lumi's villain design is inconsistent and has 3 variations:
- Lumi's small sprite has black sleeves and no gloves
- Lumi's big sprite has white sleeves that are connected to her white gloves
- Lumi's plushie (WHICH YOU SHOULD TOTALY BUY BEFORE THE TIME RUNS OUT) has black sleeves, white gloves

Oy Vai Voy what a mess!!!

Lumi's small sprite was what I made first. I made it without gloves because it made sense to me. I then paid a professional artist to make her big sprite, but I only noticed her having gloves was inconsistent after the game was released.

For a long while I didn't care. It was a bit weird but most people didn't even notice there was an inconsistency. I did start caring when Makeship and I started working on Lumi's villain plushie (WHICH AGAIN, YOU SHOULD BUY!!! YOU LOVE LUMI AND I LOVE YOUR MONEY AND ALSO YOUR MOM).

Aside from her design being a bit inconsistent, there was something else that bothered me. People often reacted to Lumi's villainous transformation and thought she didn't really look villainous.
It makes sense since Villain Lumi is just a simple color swap. When I designed her, I didn't want to change her clothing because then I would have had to redraw all of her sprites.

Anyway, back to Makeship. The plushie gave me an excuse to fix her design once and for all. I decided to make her cape darker, but still keep it blue since it didn't feel like Lumi if it wasn't blue. I also separated her white sleeves into black sleeves + white gloves.

I want to make the plushie her canonic design in the game too, but before I do that I want to see what the community thinks about it. I often hate when characters I love are changed, so I don't want to release it only to end up pissing Outcore's community.

So, please let me know what you think about the new design in the comments. I sound like a generic trash tier Youtuber but I'm serious, I want to read your opinions.



Don't tell anyone, ok? I actually want you to buy a Lumi plushie. I know, it's really not obvious!

Lumi's villain plushie is still not funded. It will NOT enter production unless it sells at least 200 copies before February 24th. If that happens then EVERYONE WILL DIE. Also, this will likely be the last Makeship plushie for Outcore. Nothing sells like good ol' FOMO.

Here's the link https://www.makeship.com/products/lumi-plushie-villain-edition-outcore-desktop-adventure

Just in time for the next stock market crash, get ready to make one last terrible financial decision by purchasing one (or a million) Villain Lumi plush!

She's like the regular Lumi, except now she's EVIL and needs your credit card information, including the three digits on the back!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA


This plushie is available until February 24th. After that, she's gone. FOREVER!

This will (probably) be the last Makeship plushie for Outcore, so don't let sound logic prevent you from making this impulse purchase - https://www.makeship.com/products/lumi-plushie-villain-edition-outcore-desktop-adventure



If you didn't read the previous post, you might have missed that I'm working on a new, unannounced game.

Since then, I have sent an early prototype to three playtesters and received very positive responses from all of them. Of course, there were comments about things that needed to be improved, but that's to be expected.

Overall, the game loop is fun and works well. This milestone is important because it means I can leave the risky and experimental phase and move forward with development.

There are several steps I'm going to take next:

• Finish planning the story
  
• Work on graphics
  
• Apply more changes based on feedback from playtesters
  
• Create more content
  
• Start preparing the game's announcement

I don't want to promise anything, but I hope to have the game officially announced this year and hopefully released next year.

Follow my mailing list where I might post more frequent updates about the new game

Makeship is going to release a new Outcore plushie in February. It's going to be (spoilers) Lumi in her villain outfit

Start saving money now, because this will likely be the last Outcore plushie. There are no plans to release new ones in the foreseeable future.

Tease:


I'm collaborating with your mom to make a new game! I can't talk about what it will be just yet, but if you liked Outcore, you'd likely also enjoy that. And if you didn't like Outcore, then it's quite strange you found this blog post.

I don't want to promise anything though. It's currently in an early prototyping phase so there's still a good chance the idea won't work out. But I have faith in the new game, so let's hope it will mature into a full title.

I'll update you if it survived the prototyping phase or not in the coming months.

If you haven't heard about it yet, I have a Bluesky account: https://bsky.app/profile/doctorshinobi.bsky.social


I use it to post Outcore content + will probably post small bits about the new game.



For those unaware, I have a Patreon account that I use to share pictures of my cute and brainless cats, Shulu/Shaul & Jiji


If you think paying money for pictures of funny cats is a terrible deal then you're absolutely right! Here's where you can do it: https://www.patreon.com/c/DoctorShinobi

- Fixed some characters (such as Reinbo or the Electric Ghost) speech sounds sounding weird
- Removed the "Laifu plushie" option from K-Lev at the end of the game.
- Fixed the camera position being a bit off when Lumi throws her photo into the lake

Fixed some title texts not showing on the credits screen.

This fix is somewhat experimental, so please let me know if you find any text rendering issues anywhere in the game.

Fixed

Or at the very least my previous incarnation committed tax evasion and scammed some grannies in a mall.

Why am I certain of that? Because there is simply no other explanation for the sin I committed that cursed me to forever fix Outcore bugs in this life.

Jim is the Microsoft employee designated to ruin every day of my life. Every day I wake up and find a new game-breaking bug report from someone who can't finish the game because of how Windows works or an update it received. It's like that comic where Thanos visits a child every year to ruin his birthday, except it happens every day.

SPOILERS BELOW
Today's episode focuses on K-Lev's sonar mini-game, just like last time.


If you finished the game then you know that Lumi runs away and you need to use K-Lev's sonar to find her. Her location is C:/Windows/System32, but apparently Jim thought it was time for some computers to not have this folder which existed in every computer up until now.
Thanks, Jim.

Jim is a productive employee and made sure to sneak in another terror attack against the sonar mini-game before he checked out for the day.

If you read my previous post about Microsoft then you know there was an issue with the sonar breaking due to Microsoft adding a localized "- File explorer" to the folder name that was displayed in file explorer.

Apparently, there's another case where they change the name. For most computers when you're inside the Windows folder it should appear as "Windows", but for some, it appears as "C:/Windows". My new code can actually handle that case, but somewhere down the line there's another piece of code that couldn't.

Sure, I could blame myself for writing code that wasn't versatile enough to handle every imaginable case ever, but how was I supposed to know there were so many cases to begin with? I'll just blame Jim because I prefer to dump responsibility on a made-up demonic Microsoft employee.

Anyway, some of you are code nerds so here's the fix


Till next time