Fixes an issue with Special Star

「晴夏奇遇」up卡池限时开启。

◈预计开启时间：2025.07.07 11:00

◈卡池内容：社员薇薇安、纱织征集概率限时UP。

◈登录领奖：活动期间登陆游戏可在卡池界面领取免费征集令及沙滩狂欢节活动道具（分两阶段开放，累计可领14日）。

◈活动期间商城限时上架「晴空」限时征集礼包和「气象」限时发展礼。

全新活动「沙滩狂欢节」限时登陆山湖城！

◈预计开启时间：2025.07.07 11:00

◈活动内容：活动期间通过活动赛事参与「沙滩狂欢节」获得狂欢活动积分，累计活动积分可获得「牌桌-泳池一夏」、「自摸-沙滩」、「牌背-打牌鸭」、「和牌按钮-和瓜乱切」、「浪漫水族馆」等多重惊喜装扮奖励。

◈特殊连胜挑战：「沙滩狂欢节」中开放闪电对局连胜挑战，达成9连胜挑战可直接拿下狂欢节终极大奖「浪漫水族馆」。

「夏日派对」活动一览。

◈预计开启时间：2025.07.07 12:00

◈活动内容：活动期间参与夏日派对累计派对积分，可获得珍贵养成道具。

◈活动加成：活动期间持有社员纱织、薇薇安、「浪漫水族馆」、「自摸-沙滩」，均可获得派对积分加成，同时拥有多个道具时，加成效果可叠加。

◈社员玖、冬青随版本加入常驻卡池「拂晓同行」，商城同步上架组件兑换道具【玖·组件】、【冬青·组件】；

◈新社团横野气象会加入山湖城，版本更新后，周四、周日在海湖及中州地区的派遣有概率获得横野气象会职业发展书；

◈新社团横野气象会加入山湖城，版本更新后获得的自选发展书、随机发展书、发展书自选礼盒等物品中均加入了新社团职业发展书。过往的发展书自选礼盒及过往武道大会奖励邮件中未领取的道具不会更新。

Hello, this is the Chrono Odyssey Development Team.

We want to thank everyone who joined the recent closed beta. Your support, curiosity, and genuine feedback have meant a lot to us. It’s been a privilege to watch players explore what we’ve built so far, and your input allows us to take an honest look at where the game stands and shape our next steps.

We were excited to see that many of you enjoyed the core experience of Chrono Odyssey. However, there are also areas that fell short. We heard consistent feedback on animations, motions, combat responsiveness, performance, optimization, graphics, etc. All forms of critique, whether big or small, are critical to the development process, and our top priority is to address these shortcomings accordingly.

To that end, we’re carefully reviewing all the feedback you’ve shared. Some of it will be addressed here in Part 1, while the rest is being thoroughly reviewed and will be covered in detail in Part 2.

• Animation/Motion and Combat Experience Improvements (1/2)

• Performance/Optimization

• Lighting and Other Graphic Enhancements

Here’s a look at some of the key areas we’re working to improve.

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• This was a major issue during the closed beta test. Some actions felt sluggish or disconnected, with attacks, dodges, and blocks occasionally failing to register as expected. We believe this stems from packet desyncs between the client and the server, and will accelerate packet transmission to improve timing accuracy, redesign packet intervals, and refine the packet structure.

• Currently, motion and combat packets are interconnected in a shared data stream, which may be contributing to sync issues. We plan on separating these into distinct systems, actively reviewing and resolving all collision detection inconsistencies to ensure combat interactions feel consistent and responsive.

• While each class has a wide range of abilities, we’ll be introducing a new system called the “Matrix” in the next test to give each weapon a more distinct identity. This system will allow you to choose from four progression paths per weapon (twelve in total) as each class has three weapons.

• We aim to diversify skill usage of each weapon based on progression paths. Even if two players are using the same weapon, their primary skills may differ. The same skill can also produce different results depending on builds. Our goal is a wide range of playstyles, whether you're focusing on chaining skills, switching between weapons, or exploring other tactical options. Farming will become more dynamic, and players will need to find gear with stats that match their playstyle.

• With added playstyles, we’re creating new animations to ensure each weapon feels distinct and expressive in combat.

• We are fixing an issue where the camera angle affects visibility when you’re too close to walls or certain environments.

• The following issues with the lock-on system will also be addressed:

  • Abrupt screen change when changing targets

  • Camera getting too close to the target during melee combat

  • Camera reset after combat

  • Skills being cast based on the direction the player is facing rather than the camera’s

• We’re also addressing an issue where the camera shakes vertically in certain areas.

• To enhance the overall feel of combat, we’re redesigning hit reactions by increasing the reaction duration from 1 to 2-4 seconds. This provides clearer timing for follow-up attacks and adds a greater sense of risk and reward when taking damage or landing hits.

• We're also reviewing and fixing unnatural character movements and collision inconsistencies that caused characters to appear as if floating.

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• We’re restructuring how assets are rendered to reduce GPU load and improve real-time performance.

  • High-resolution Nanite geometry will only be applied where necessary, while frequently repeated assets will rely on Instanced Static Mesh (ISM) or Hierarchical Instanced Static Mesh (HISM) to minimize draw calls and reduce GPU strain. Assets will be managed in batches, and draw calls will be consolidated to minimize CPU–GPU communication overhead and maximize rendering efficiency.

• We're shifting level design toward reusable environmental assets to improve development efficiency and runtime performance to speed up production and simplify maintenance, while reducing memory, disk, and rendering overhead.

• We're also minimizing redundant materials and textures by standardizing our art pipeline with trim sheets, ensuring high-resolution visual variety.

Trim sheets consolidate commonly used detail elements (such as metal edges, moldings, panel lines, and bolts) into a single texture laid out within a 0–1 UV space. Each asset is then UV-mapped to the appropriate section, allowing for a wide range of visual details using just one shared material. This eliminates the need to create separate high-resolution textures for every object. In Unreal Engine, trim sheet–based materials are loaded only once, which reduces memory usage and optimizes draw calls. By instancing parameters like color, roughness, and metallic values, we can easily introduce visual variety without adding performance cost. Trim sheets are particularly effective when applied to modular environment pieces and background structures that are frequently used throughout the game world.

• We're restructuring the loading system by separating rendering data from collision data to reduce memory usage and improve system stability.

Previously, collision data was loaded alongside rendering data even when it wasn’t needed. With the new structure, only rendering data is loaded by default, while collision data is selectively loaded based on player proximity and line of sight, completely avoiding unnecessary memory usage. For Nanite meshes, we’re planning to replace per-polygon collision with simplified low-poly collision meshes to lower GPU and CPU overhead. Unused collision primitives will be unloaded from memory to further optimize resource usage and improve loading speed.

• We’ll be refining our Garbage Collection (GC) and memory allocation structure to manage unused areas more efficiently.

  • Unused cells and actors within the World Partition system will be automatically unloaded, and the garbage collection timing will also be adjusted to remove unnecessary references more quickly.

  • Resources will be managed based on their data layer state with only active layers remain loaded, while assets in inactive layers are prevented from loading altogether. This ensures that only relevant assets consume memory, resulting in better performance and system stability.

• We’ll be designing a dynamic loading system that adjusts based on the player’s hardware: high-end systems for broader areas and higher-quality assets, lower-end systems for nearby cells and lower-resolution assets. This ensures a balanced experience between performance and visual quality, regardless of system specs.

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• We’ll be reducing unnecessary calculations and streamlining the rendering pipeline without compromising visual quality.

  • Redundant material shaders will be consolidated into unified master materials, managed entirely through instance parameters. 

• By improving ocean surface shaders and wave rendering, we aim to enhance realism while minimizing GPU load.

  • To further optimize performance, we’ll be reducing reliance on World Position Offset (Vertex Animation), simplifying material functions, and replacing screen space reflections with a mix of cubemap reflections to achieve a better balance between visual quality and performance.

• We’re working to improve overall screen quality by delivering high-resolution visuals and smoother transitions.

  • By adjusting and migrating our Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) settings, we’ll be reducing motion blur and ghosting artifacts. 

This update also enhances image clarity and frame stability compared to traditional Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA).

• Additionally, we’re adding support for DLSS (NVIDIA) and FSR (AMD) to enhance both performance and visual quality.

  • Upscaling options will be available on compatible graphics cards to ensure players get the most out of their hardware.

• We’re working to reduce unnecessary lighting calculations by removing unused lights and limiting the excessive use of Stationary and Movable lights.

• We're also transitioning to a cluster-based light management system to reduce rendering costs, light overlap, and shading complexity, resulting in more efficient rendering.

• To improve the overall quality of lighting, we’re standardizing exposure values and redefining the priority and range of key lights to improve contrast fidelity and maintain consistent exposure across the scene.

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Please note that this update includes a number of technical terms. We’ve done our best to explain things clearly, and we appreciate your understanding as we focus on sharing our development plans as transparently as possible.

Part 2 will take a closer look at what’s ahead. In addition to the areas we’ve already covered, we’ll continue improving combat systems, technical stability, graphics, and animations. We’ll also be addressing new topics such as sound, UI/UX, gameplay flexibility, in-game guidance, balance, content flow, progression, replayability, social features, narrative, server stability, and bug fixes.

We don’t plan on rushing ahead without first getting things right. We want the next version of Chrono Odyssey to reflect all the hard work and honest feedback that have gone into this process. Our focus remains on quality and delivering a more polished, complete experience.

Stay tuned for more details and as always, we look forward to hearing your feedback. Thank you again for being part of this journey.

- The Chrono Odyssey Development Team

Hello! We’re only one week away from Odyssey’s release! The new expansion launches on July 11, 2025. Please wishlist so you’re notified when it’s out.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3022790/RimWorld__Odyssey/
Today’s blog post looks at the creatures of Odyssey - over 40 new animals, additional ways to train pets, and quests built around legendary beasts. Plus, we’ll talk about fishing as a new way to feed your colony.

Odyssey adds over 40 new animals to the world - creatures you can tame, train to work, trade for silver, bring in caravans, or raise into a loyal pack of bodyguards.

Let’s look at a few favourites.

Crows, flamingos, herons, macaws, quails: Birds - that fly! Murders of manhunter crows may descend on your colony. Pink flamingos wade through warm waters. Colorful macaws flap through the jungle canopy. And chubby quails make a great snack for your colonists. (Fun fact: Our artist painstakingly drew 24 frames per flier - that’s nearly 400 unique frames of flying.)


Porcupines: Cute and prickly, but try fighting one and your colonist will end up with a face full of quills.


Bog hounds: These tough pups descend from domesticated dogs, but they’ve adapted to harsh, toxic conditions and are no longer accustomed to human company. They’re scavengers that travel in packs, so attacking one means you’re attacking them all.


Colossus toads, bullfrogs: The first frogs in RimWorld - chunky, swamp-dwelling amphibians.


Otters, walruses, sea turtles, sea lions, seals: These aquatic friends are found along ocean coastlines. They tend to stick close to the water and not bother anyone, but hunters target them often due to their gentle, unsuspecting nature.


Mastodons, scimitar cats, greatwolves: Prehistoric megafauna that roam the glacial plains. These massive beasts make excellent companions, but they also make excellent fur parkas…


Lava snails: One of the few creatures adapted to the extreme heat of the lava fields. They’re big, slimy, slow-moving, and often farmed for food.


Hippos: Enormous semi-aquatic mammals that you do not want to mess with. Their powerful jaws can crush through armor and bone, so keep your distance.


Hermit crabs, stone crabs: These little guys crawl across coastal beaches, like on islands and archipelagos. They walk sideways too.


Pursuing quests will lead you to rare creatures. Rumours speak of the legendary alpha thrumbo - bigger, faster, and stronger than any thrumbo. And you’ve received a tip: one has been spotted roaming the wilderness with its herd. If you’re quick, you might be able to catch it. Will you attempt to tame and claim it as a majestic ally? Or hunt it down and harvest its priceless horn?


Then there’s the hive queen. Deep underground, insect hives can merge, creating a single bloated matriarch. She spews sludge and lays egg sacs, which hatch into writhing, acid-spitting larvae. She’s defended by her spawn, including the flying locust. Those that dare to venture into her lair can put her down, or attempt to tame the beast.


Odyssey expands how animals can help around your colony. Many creatures can be trained to do new tasks around the base.

Your fluffy cat or panda can be trained to comfort colonists. They’ll nuzzle more often and give a bigger mood bonus - because really, that would make anyone feel better.


Pigs and raccoons can learn to forage, snuffling out treats like berries from the brush.

Creatures with claws like the megasloth and megavole can be taught to dig - they’ll slowly chip away at spots you’ve marked for mining.

Predators like wolves, bears, and big cats can be trained to attack specific targets. So you can sic your tigers on the raider that tried to kidnap your wife.


Train mastodons or elephants to use war trumpet, a bellowing roar ability that disorients your foes, making them slow and clumsy. The alpha thrumbo has a similar terror roar that causes enemies to break and flee in panic.


If you’re bold enough to tame the hive queen, she can be trained to use her egg spew on command - launching acidic sludge and birthing offensive larva. It’s disgusting and incredible.

Of course, not every creature is smart enough to be trained - for example, alligators’ reptile brains are too simple. But with the sentience catalyst, you can inject ultratech mechanites into any animal to increase its intelligence and trainability. Suddenly, your alligator can become a distinguished loyal bodyguard.


Cast your line and catch your next meal from rivers, oceans, or gaps in frozen lakes. Fishing is a reliable way to feed your colony - available year-round, even when your crops are frozen and wildlife is scarce. It’s safer than hunting… as long as the fish don’t nip your colonists’ fingers.

Different waters have different fish. Reel in big marlin and tuna from the ocean, freshwater salmon and bass from lakes, and piranhas from tropical rivers. Lucky fishermen may pull up unusual catches like treasure, drugs, bionic limbs, and other surprises.

Skilled fishermen are faster and catch more, but fish responsibly - overfishing could empty your only lake. And if gill rot, a parasitic fungus, hits the waters, your food supply could vanish overnight. Smart colonies have other food options as backup, like crops or pemmican or wild game.


Build a sleepy lakeside village with a shanty dock over the water, and feed your colonists and pets fresh catches. Trade fish for supplies with passing caravans. Use it as a protein source to cook higher-quality meals. You’ll also occasionally see animals like penguins, otters, and grizzlies fishing for themselves when they get hungry.

But fish aren’t the only ones in the water! Colonists now swim for fun - they’ll wade into jungle pools, marshy ponds, and hot springs to relax. Odyssey animals swim too - each with unique visuals as they paddle around.


Thanks for reading. It’s only one more week until Odyssey releases on July 11, 2025. Wishlist so you’re notified when it’s out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3022790
Chat with us about the new animals over on Reddit, X, and BlueSky.

In next week’s final preview, we’ll go over the new quests, the mechhive endgame, and other miscellaneous bits in Odyssey.

- Tia!
Website | X | BlueSky | Reddit | Facebook

Throughout July, keep an eye on our social channels and on IGN First for an exclusive inside look at Mafia: The Old Country.

Get ready for new gameplay this Monday, July 7, followed by hands-on previews, interviews with the team at Hangar 13 and more during the lead-up to launch on August 8, 2025.

Each week, we’ll drop a recap covering the latest news here. Please note: Some of the footage may contain light spoilers. But don’t worry—we’ll include clear disclaimers at the start of each recap, so you can experience Mafia: The Old Country on your own terms.

The business is picking up now. Keep your eyes open. The first drop lands next week.

The Mafia Community Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1941540/Mafia_The_Old_Country/

Hello everyone !

Exot has been available for a week now, and sales are slowly starting to roll in 😁
Don't hesitate to spread the word about the Exot galaxy to help us propel Maurice to make him go nova !

We'll be focusing on live streams and multiplayer development for the next few weeks, so it's very likely that the pace of updates will slow down during the summer.
It's now time for our small team to take stock of the past few months and decide on the direction we'll take in terms of communication for this new stage of Early Access 🙂

A quick reminder : streams and videos continue on Twitch and YouTube.
To make sure you don't miss a thing, don't hesitate to follow us on our social networks !

See you soon !

Hi all,

We've improved the Shuriken's damage and it's projectiles now spread out.

• Try the Shuriken with Tessa since it gets double damage during limit break. You can add an additional 3 Shuriken by using the Projectiles +1 aura.

• You can now hide the "arrows" above followers by setting the option "Hide follower chevrons".

• When viewing a player's attributes (click on their portrait in-game), you can hide the attributes that have a default bonus of 0%. This helps you find the attributes that are boosted.

• A bug prevented the character's color from working in some instances. This was fixed.

Try out the Shuriken, you'll be surprised by it's damage output, especially when used by Tessa.

Till later,

André

As we approach the long awaited backend update, we've decided to make an intermediary update to address some much requested suggestions. We've increased both the inventory and the bank space, as well as having increased stacking sizes for certain items. We have also reverted the magic system to use mana once again, since this has caused a huge divide in the community. The full changelog:

- Magic system now relies on mana instead of scrolls.

- Adjusted lootbox probabilities.

- Fixed skill guides being out of sync.

- Increased default bank space to 600.

- Increased inventory space to 36.

- Increased the stackability of all forageable items to 5.

- Fixed some minor rounding issues with the client.

As we commemorate the 249th birthday of our great nation, I ask all New Frankfurtians to remember the sacrifices made by our own brave revolutionaries during the Battle of Frankfurt Heights on Aug. 27, 1776.

While we might’ve lost the battle — through raw determination, gumption, and some big guns — we won the war.

A couple hundred years later, we now find ourselves in a precarious spot where the very foundations of democracy, freedom and independence hang in the balance.

I, for one, will not rest until I am re-elected for my fourth term as Mayor of New Frankfurt and I can continue to lead our fair city toward the future. I trust you all feel the same way. (https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mickeymcfinnigan)

But despite the turmoil facing our country, today is a day of celebration, rest and relaxation.

To quote New Frankfurt legend of sound and stage Lin-Manuel Miranda, “In the eye of a hurricane, there is quiet. For just a moment.”

Now go out and do what New Frankfurters do best:

Hello Pee Wee Friends!

Shaker Chicken Lovers, Pee Wee Pig Aficionados, welcome one and all. I'm excited to release a pig game on Steam for free!

I built this game in appreciation of antiques, collecting culture, and novel storytelling. It's the kind of game you can only build right with the help of your friends. So thanks to everyone who plays the game and enjoys what I've put together. I particularly enjoy the thought of creating something wonderful and sharing it with others and this game has become just that! If this game is a fridge, you guys are all the magnets that make it fun.

A special thanks to Nora at PineyWoods Corner who has embraced the absurd curiosities I've come up with. Sometimes it's fun to just have fun.

Have a great weekend everyone!