Patch 0.2.27j has been pushed, patch notes below

===Bosses====

===Artifacts/Crafting===
- Materials required to upgrade random attribute quality decreased

===Talents/Skills===
- Lesser Heal flat healing per level increased from 5 to 20
- Lesser Heal base healpower ratio increased from 25% to 26%
- Lesser Heal healpower ratio per level increased from 0.5% to 0.7%
- Spirit Orb flat healing per level increased from 5 to 20
- Spirit Orb base healpower ratio increased from 22% to 23%
- Spirit Orb healpower ratio per level increased from 0.7% to 0.8%
- Frost Bite level 2 mastery now only increases Ice damage gained by Heightened Senses

==QoL==
- Armory now has a little info on control+right click to sell
- Armory crafting menu is now at the top of the screen
- Artifact atlas now contains a divine version toggle for each artifact
- Artifact atlas now does not include the divine version of each artifact by default

==Bug Fixes===
- Fixed sometimes the swap action does not show up during midnight bio quarter
- Fixed Iron Vine upgrade not showing decimals
- Fixed Frost Bite level 2 mastery not working
- Fixed various copies/texts

==Miscellaneous==
- Removed the crafting index item button
- Improve the text resolution on some of the tooltips
- Auto restart has been added as a reward for a new end game achievement
- Hardcore description has been updated slightly

Hello and welcome back to the Weekly Update!

This week, the Creator Jammiversary has kicked off! The celebration is going on for the whole week, so there’s still plenty of time to join and have fun, see the program below!

We’ve received a lot of feedback on our GitHub on both the Facet system, which has been progressing nicely and on the planned blocking/votekick system. Please see the details below, as there are still important things to decide and discuss.

On our Friday livestream we’ve also gone over the community creations from May. There’s more and more amazing stuff being created every month, so definitely check it out if you missed it. We show a bunch of cool worlds and a Cross Universe game that’s being made by our Japanese community.



Today the 1 year anniversary celebration for the Creator Jam has officially kicked off! If you missed the initial live stream and celebration, there’s still plenty of time to jump in and hop through some of the best creations from the weekly community event.

The celebrations are continuing through the entire week of June 1st to June 6th, with the following program from Medra:

Monday - Improv 4:00EST(UTC 20:00)
Tuesday - Telephone Game/Build Challenge 4:00EST(UTC 20:00)
Wednesday - Avatar Fashion Show/Beauty Pageant 4:00EST(UTC 20:00)
Thursday - Gadget/Logix Snippet Drop Off 3:00EST(UTC 19:00)
Friday - Dance Party 6:00EST(UTC 22:00)
Saturday - Scavenger Hunt 3:00EST(UTC 19:00)

Come out to perform or watch Improvisational Theatre. Improv games will be played on stage.
Performance is encouraged but not required.

Groups play the telephone game with worldbuilding. Optionally a individual or team based build competition might be chosen instead of the telephone game depending on who votes for what.

Show off your avatar! People will strut on the runway letting others see all the work you've put into that avatar.
Performance is encouraged but not required. Please message Medra beforehand if you wish to participate.
Check out Creator Jam 42 to see examples of the telephone game.

In a relaxed environment stop by and drop off gadgets you've created and especially logix code snippets. We'll keep them all together for others to enjoy. (with credit to author of course)

Wiggle that bod!

Work individually or in teams to complete a list of tasks to video or photograph and items to grab. Scavenger hunt list will be distributed at near the beginning of the event. Late arrivals can still participate. 30 Minutes before the end of the scavenger hunt everyone will meet back in the world for a show and tell session. Winners will be determined then.

Prop Hunt Everyday (Server will be up all Day and Night)

We’ve gotten lots of great feedback on the user blocking functionality on GitHub, thank you everyone for chiming in! This is a really important feature for the future of Neos and having a community involved in its design is crucial.

The major concern is that features like this can be misused by many users and create a negative culture, where users get blocked permanently over trivial matters. At the same time it is important that the ability to block somebody shouldn’t be taken away, as it can be necessary to deal with some genuinely distressing situations.

The best compromise for this kind of situation would be a system, where the one-click block is temporary (e.g. 24 hours). This way when dealing with annoyances, the user isn’t blocked forever.

To actually apply a longer or permanent block, you’d have to expand the block options and add a little personal note (a private one, not shared anywhere, could be even random text) in order to apply the block. This way the permanent block is a bit more effort than the temporary one, but also nothing that would take more than a minute.

We believe that this setup would help nudge people towards using the permanent block in situations where they’re really serious about it and using the quick temporary one to deal with annoyances.

However this presents one problem - having this kind of UI for blocking isn’t implementable with the current UI, so in order to implement it this way, we’d have to wait for the new UI to be replaced, which will likely take a few more weeks.

This way, we have two main options:

1. Implement the permanent block now as a single button with the existing UI. Later replace it with the system proposed above once the new UI is in.
   
2. Delay the blocking functionality until the new UI is in and use other moderation tools to deal with the situations.

Which option would you prefer? Do you feel that the blocking functionality is urgent enough to warrant it being added now or do you think it’s sufficient to wait? Let us know your thoughts on GitHub or if you’d prefer to give your feedback anonymously, you can contact team members on Discord (preferably Veer, our chief of moderation).

There are some other points raised as well. We recommend reading the GitHub for details, but one important one is that the ability to block users can also be disabled by a host of the world. This will prevent game worlds breaking and will allow to also host “block-free” social zones. The fact that blocking is disabled in a particular world would be displayed of course, so users are aware before they join.

After gathering a lot of interesting feedback on GitHub, the development is continuing on the Facet system. Currently the focus is on designing the more technical parts of the system, so there’s not much interesting to show yet, but some important changes and additions were made to UIX and its underlying systems.

Particular support for nested canvases was added, which allows nesting one canvas into another, with proper masking and forwarding of inputs. This way a facet can be properly contained within the canvas of the container, with the inputs automatically forwarded.

The interaction mechanism for UIX was also redesigned to allow for new kinds of interactions, such as placing a Facet into a container, bypassing any interaction elements that cannot process the currently held item. A support for a hidden layer, allowing certain objects to be only explicitly rendered by a camera has been added as well. As more of the underlying systems are built, the changes will become more visual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN1BPcVMt4A

As usual, Neos keeps getting steady updates that provide small additions, tweaks and bugfixes, many of them based on the community feedback and bug reports.

One notable fix in the past week has been for the new laser system on Oculus devices. We have found out that when interacting with private UI, the laser is extremely jittery, but only when using Oculus headsets. Some community members assumed this was intended behavior, so the issue wasn’t reported sooner, but now should be fixed!

If you’re using an Oculus headset and you’ve previously disliked the new lasers because of this, we recommend resetting the settings and testing them out again now, to see if they feel any better.

There were many other changes as well, such as a new method to equip tools through the context menu simply by clicking on them, new dash icons and many more bugfixes.

We’re also working on a brand new streamer house! Aegis_Wolf is currently designing a new building that will serve as our main environment for our livestreams, but will be freely usable by anyone.

The work is still very much in progress, but you can see some renders here to get an early look at what it looks like so far:





This month, Nexulan has shown off all of the wonderful creations and worlds that our community has graced us with throughout the month of May. We do these every last Friday of every month on our Twitch channel, so come catch us for the next June showcase, or re-watch the stream below.



A group of educators using Neos have started holding regular meetings to discuss how Neos and other platforms can be used for learning and science, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you’re interested in following those discussions and meetings, check out the #edu-science channel on our official Discord. You can also ask a team member (preferably Shifty) for a new “Education & Science” role, so you get pinged with any news in that channel!



This world is designed with ambience in mind! The cave’s movie screen actually projects light around the room, giving off an emissive glow that reacts nicely with the shiny cave walls. This is a great place to watch movies, youtube videos, or listen to music with friends!



Kal’s Chess World features multiple chessboards, and a main table with a chess display so people can easily see what’s going on during a heated chess match! With a fancy Victorian theme, this is sure to be a delightful world to play a game of chess in.



Our main focus is still the facet, container and workspace system for Radiant UI. The first technical phase of getting those systems setup in the first place is the most significant one, once those pieces are up and running we’ll be able to start replacing all of the old UI pieces and reworking them under the new framework.

We’re still waiting on some more feedback for the blocking functionality, please let us know so we can decide the priority better!

Thank you again for reading the weekly update and see you with the next one!

Want to know more about the mysterious island of Graymount? You're in the right place!
Join the Welcome to Graymount Discord and chat with both the Dev and the community!
Follow this link: discord.gg/Graymount

Looking forward!
- Judah

Hey everyone,

May has been a very busy month for the team! Development of the Quest system has fully kicked into gear as we’ve begun laying down the foundation for the mechanics and story.

Behind the design of the Quest systems is the idea of taking all existing features (locations, NPCs, the Stonescript language) and remixing them in new ways, creating new connections between them and expanding where needed.

In a pragmatic sense, the quests are about exploring the existing space in the Dark World that perhaps was only seen briefly during the main story. This will also be an excellent way to test the capabilities of user-generated content for the eventual inclusion of player-developed Quests.

In the meantime, we’ve got a few things lined up to tide you over, like Lost Items, cosmetics, and the second Challenge Event!


Menacing monsters plague the Dark World. Icy giants, mad skeletons, and venomous serpents reign supreme over their dominions. However, a strange wind blows, filling these beasts with untold strength and draining it from others. Your Bardiche won’t be enough to help you for this Challenge. You must use your wits and cunning to take down these behemoths!

Challenge II - Hamartia goes live on June 6th with more details to follow.





Last time we shared The Blade of the Fallen God, a massive two-hander once wielded by Pallas, the Skinless. The next Lost Item we’re previewing is the Bashing Shield.




While not quite as flashy, the Bashing Shield nonetheless expands upon the design space for shields and Lost Items. Like other Lost Items, it will be a unique item that cannot be crafted. Challenge Events and Quests are just some of the ways we plan to integrate this into the broader scope of the game’s design.


One of the most often requested features for Stone Story is greater variety in player customization. To address that, we’ve brainstormed a number of possible cosmetic items.

First on the list is name tags! With these one-time consumables, you can give custom names to any piece of gear. Enemies will learn to fear your Big Stick of Whacking or The Bardichiest Bardiche.

We’ve got several other cosmetic ideas brewing, but we’re always open to suggestions.




---

As always, we’re interested to hear any and all feedback from our players. Discuss gameplay strategies and keep up to date with development on Stone Story RPG’s official Discord server.

Link: discord.gg/StoneStoryRPG


-SSRPG Team


Check out some of the awesome artwork that our community has come up with! We've got a small but mighty team of talented artists on our Discord server, so if you're curious about how to work with ASCII art stop by and we'll help you get started.

Version 2.0.2 is online. The game now has Steam achievement for every hat. You have to reach a checkpoint after collecting it in order for the game to save it. The level editor is now available from the main menu as well.

Both of these changes are only available in the Puzzle Reboot version, so make sure you select that one when launching the game.

After quite a bit of effort and some amazing help from my testers, Astro-g is releasing this coming week on June 4th!

I'm so excited to be bringing you this game, especially as a part-time, solo developer. When I first set out to make this game, I had no idea where it'd take me. Several months later, I've met a wide array of amazing people and received invaluable feedback on the game from their dedicated playtesting efforts. I've received positive feedback on the game thus far and certainly hope you enjoy it equally. I've put a lot of effort into making sure it's enjoyable by all types of gamers, casual or otherwise. Hopefully it brings you a new and fresh experience that we don't see too much of in popular gaming these days.

Please help me spread the word this coming Thursday as we release Astro-g to Steam on PC and Mac!

Cheers,
Chris

* Hard Mode challenge - spicy but not quite as brutal as Masochist Mode
* Some new room layouts in the Fleshy / 2nd sector
* Items should no longer get hidden in out-of-reach walls (except intentionally where a later upgrade can give access)
* Reduced HP a bit on the sector 3 super-tough enemies
* Added a note on the controller config screen / diagonal-shot section, for keyboards with multi-key scan problems that prevent diagonal shots
* Fixed some glitches with sector 3 "challenge pagoda" switch plates not reopening properly
* Damage upgrades now increase missile splash damage too
* Challenges now unlock whether you continue to the 2nd quest or not
* Crawlers no longer get stuck and pile up in secret door exits

I'm planning to submit the game to Steam for launch approval early next week, and shooting for a launch date of June 8th, so getting close! No idea how it'll do, the indie game world is crazy crowded these days and I didn't spend 75% of my time on Twitter, Twitch, etc. like devs are supposed to now (constraints of my day job, my introvert nature, etc.) But pretty proud of where the game is at, and I plan to put more time into updates, improvements, and marketing post-launch.

Thanks again to everyone who provided feedback so far, shared the game with friends etc., really appreciate it!

The arena planned for 0.8.4 is not a priority so the next update will concern the runes and improvements on the interface such as being able to define yourself how an object is considered better than other, thus saving time on the management of your inventory.
You will also be able to see the cumulative of your resistance and cumulative main damage on 1 single line.


Adding content

• New talent tree, talent points have been reset.
  
• A new spell: energy shield that you will have as a quest reward at level 1 or in your chest for new players you allow to absorb a certain amount of damage, when the shield to absorb all the amount it has possible, it recharges (depending on your energy shield recovery statistic) once the shield is 100% it can absorb damage again. Runes and items can change its functioning.
  
• Class spells are visible in the class wheel, only spells related to summons or static summons (such as blades, turrets, pets, traps) and ambidexterity are not lootable.
  
• The value of item statistics is random.
  
• 24 new spells have been added including 5 for all classes.

Improvements

• New calculations of the damage taken on a parry and dodge : when you make a parry you take X% less damage, the X corresponds to a new statistic that you can improve, the amount is 25% and should be able to go up at 75% with all talents, runes, passive spells.
  
• Spells on the action bar are only available from a certain level.
  
• It is possible to sort your storage chest.
  
• Mana shields and the Absorption Shield, no longer make noise when absorbing damage.
  
• Automatic placement camera: this places earlier and faster. Information is visible when you put your cursor on the option.
  
• Spells that are activated by other spells no longer cause screen shake.

Balances

• NPCs can no longer dodge or critically hit.
  
• The attack angle of slash has been improved from 60 °C to 120 °C, the visual effect has been changed.
  
• Maximum resistance to the elements goes from 99% to 75% and a maximum resistance improvement value has been implemented.
  
• On equipment the damage bonuses have been reduced and will always be lower than the spell type bonuses and specific type damage bonuses.

Bug fix

• Items that have multiple stacks are not set to 1 when sorted. (such as scrolls, potions).
  
• Sheep are no longer audible across all the Terrain : Brigands of the plains.

Going solo this time, it's been really hard getting to this point, but finally I feel like i have the start of something great that is ready for Early Access.

Its still quite buggy, but stable enough to be in early access. There are way too many changes to list off, and i've probably forgotten hundreds of small things i've changed, added or removed. But the biggest changes of all include:

Raiding
You can now dispatch vikings on raids, either they return with booty or they dont return at all. Its a risky move that may or may not pay off. Currently the raiding system is bare bones, but its a skeleton that I want to build a complex system of relationship management, strategy, war and drama.

Visual overhaul
I've spent a lot of time working on getting the visual fidelity to more what i imagined it should look like. There are many elements that I still havent worked on, but I hope it looks better now.

UI Overhaul
This is only halfway done. Lots of old ui elements are still there, but are being replaced constantly.

Custom made maps
The biggest challenge for me when i was taking over the project was to learn the complex code behind the procedural generation and pathfinding. I decided it was not adding enough to the game to warrant literal months of research, so I replaced it with custom maps that i will add continuously. Later hopefully it should be moddable and players can add their own maps.

Overall change in tone and direction
The game is less silly and aims to be more immersive now. At its core I want Mind the Vikings to be a thematic, strategic and personal take on the city building genre. Games like these often focus on grandeur and big numbers. Mind the Vikings wants to turn that on its head and let you in closer. Get to know your citizens personally, decorate the nooks and crannies of your settlement and make you think twice before starting a feud. This will be a long ongoing process but that is part of the journey!

The game is today lacking two very important features. Save games and Farming. This will be my biggest priority the coming weeks.

New things
# Introduced a couple of achievements, just a few for now, but the system is implemented to easily add more

Changes
# The telport int range modifier has been lowered

Bugfixes
# Fixed a bug where the create enemy scroll could spawn monsters outside of the map freezing the game
# Dual wieling damage now properly works, the offhand dealt more damage than the main hand before.