I'm happy to announce a playtest for Ship v Maze. While the game already feels pretty nice to me, I'm sure it can benefit from some outside scrutiny ... bugs, gameplay problems, etc.
So if you feel like helping out or are just curious about the game, I'm looking forward to your feedback.
This playtest will run until November 11th.
Hello, everyone!
I just finished a task I'd been procrastinating on for way too long... mostly because I needed to gather the courage to tackle it, knowing I'd have to go through dozens and dozens of files all at once : (
But at least it's done now : )
I completely reworked (code wise) the ammo system: a necessary step to allow each weapon to use different types of ammunition, such as Medium Caliber Armor Piercing, Medium Caliber Hollow Point, etc.
Weapons now have an actual "magazine", regardless of how much ammo you have in your inventory (which makes perfect sense, but up until now it wasn't this way, given the gradual evolution and changes from the original EMPTY SHELL).
This means that when you find a weapon, now you'll also find some ammo loaded inside it. For this reason, now you'll have 2 new actions while browsing the inventory: an "unload ammo" action, for example to loot the ammo from a weapon before throwing it away, and a "change ammo type" action, to actually load a different ammo in the equipped weapon (if you own multiple compatible ammo types).
Ammo type will primarily affect two variables: flesh damage and penetration power. The first is the standard damage (the one that's always been there), while the second comes into play when facing another new feature: armored enemies and armored enemy variants.
You'll encounter some enemies and bosses with armor that works pretty much like the volunteers' armor (absorbing around 80% of damage until it's depleted).
Armored variants of enemies, depending on the type, will start appearing during the mid and late stages of exploration.
There will be variants for bullets and shotgun shells, and likely for other types of ammunition too (for example, modified energy cells, nails made of different metals, etc.).
Here's an example of how the new ammo types work:
STANDARD AMMO: flesh damage x1.0, penetration power x1.0
AP AMMO (armor piercing): flesh damage x0.78, penetration power x2.5
HP AMMO (hollow point): flesh damage x1.35, penetration power x0.65
Carrying multiple ammo types will therefore be very useful, to be ready to face any type of enemy, but switching them during combat will require reloading the weapon.
I hope you like the idea and, as usual, I'll give you more updates in the coming weeks : )
Speak soon, volunteers.
Hey everyone,
We caught up with This Is Fine creator KC Green to talk about how he helped bring Question Hound from meme to full-on Metroidvania. From surreal level concepts to in-game jokes and cartoon powers, KC played a big role in shaping the world of Maximum Cope. Here’s what he shared with us:
The “This Is Fine” meme is known around the world. How did you go about turning a single, silent moment into a full-on narrative Metroidvania?
That was more on the side of Numskull when they presented the original pitch to me! But it made sense and I liked the idea! The main point of “this is fine” is ignoring your problems and pushing them down in your psyche. So actually getting to go inside of Question Hound’s brain to deal with his issues is the obvious next step!
Question Hound’s mind is portrayed as a collapsing theme park. What themes or emotions were you hoping players would face in this surreal world?
Question Hound’s issues are everyone’s issues. Everyone’s had a bad time in high school, dealt with the loss of someone close to them, letting their vices get the best of them, and so on. You’ll go thru the gamut of emotion with him! You might even laugh a couple times.
This game dives deep into anxiety and inner turmoil, yet uses humor. How do you balance existential dread with satirical comedy in gameplay and storytelling?
I do it often with my comics, so I think the idea is to make sure there’s some jokes in the mix and some funny images to look at too. I was excited to be able to give a pass on some of the in-game dialogue with the Angel and Devil on Question Hound’s shoulders. Throughout the game, they’ll pop up with something to say about any given new area.
Fans know the meme as quiet acceptance of chaos. But in Maximum Cope, players actively fight through it. Was this shift intentional?
I believe so, yes! Otherwise you wouldn’t have much of a game with a dog sort of sitting there, haha!
Your art style is so expressive and hand-crafted. What influenced the look of the game — comics, cartoons, surreal art?
I have to give it up to the developer Hero Concept for aping my style in their own way and making the game very colorful and animated and fun to look at! That’s what my comics usually go for as well, I grew up really loving cartoons and drew comics as a way to get that energy out of me. I still keep up with a simple but effective style as I’ve studied the craft of cartooning.
Metroidvania games usually come with unlockable powers and tight progression. What kind of abilities can players expect? And how do they reflect what’s going on in Question Hound’s head?
Each ability is tied to a kind of cartoon-based joke that Question Hound could do, if he were in his own Max Fleischer cartoon. He can turn his hat into a boat, squish down small to pass under tight corridors, and more.
The Living Tombstone contributed a theme and music video. How did that collaboration happen, and how does music tie into the game’s emotional beats?
The Living Tombstone were a backer of the original Kickstarter and even one of the band members makes a cameo in the game as a Shop Keeper! The music video they put together and all that was separate from this game. The timing for their video and the demo release is a happy coincidence and we’re happy to see each project support the other!
The game was funded on Kickstarter. Were there any surprising ideas or feedback from the community that made it into the final game?
Not too much, save for the in-game cameos of those shop keepers I was talking about earlier. Some backers got to request a character who was to sell Question Hound perk upgrades in the game and I drew the characters for each backer. You’ll see them in the game.
Feeling a bit more curious about the world inside Question Hound’s head after reading all that? If you haven’t checked out the demo yet, it’s still live.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3994730/This_Is_Fine_Maximum_Cope__Demo/
Everything’s totally fine. Just keep on coping.
Numskull Games Team
Hey Deathliverers!
It seems like we went somewhat overboard with the last Optimization patch. It broke the visuals for some players, and for that we are sorry. And here it is, now everyone should have a game running with good performance AND same graphics as when we released the game.
Some new graphics options are available to use (or not) GPU resident drawer and GPU occlusion culling. These should enhanced performance but were also the cause of the bug for players without a compatible GPU. Now the game detects if you can use this or not, and choose automatically but you can change anyway in case our automatic choice is wrong.
The game is now Steam Deck Verified! Deliver pizzas anywhere, even to another pizzeria! That said, we know the game has some performance issue and we will be focusing on optimization in the coming days.
Here is the list of changes:
Automatic choice of GPU resident drawer,
Option to use or not GPU resident drawer and GPU occlusion culling,
Reduce mesh compressions,
Remove some object's distance of render,
Prevent multiple use of levers at the same time in Emergency, Shop and Pizzeria Basement,
Now you can deliver pizza even after reaching the end of the 5th star reputation bar,
Now, even if we will continue to fix bugs, we are also planning the next big update, so stay tuned to learn more about what surprises we have for you all !
Thank you for all the new comments and feedback we've received! We'll keep doing our best!
For those who dream of building empires that rule the seas, the Tides of Power DLC Bundle will be available free* for all Civilization VII players through the end of 2025! The first three content packs——Edward Teach, Republic of Pirates, and Tonga—launch November 4. Then, in December 2025, you can look forward to the Sayyida al Hurra, Ottomans, and Iceland packs rounding out the collection and joining your in-game roster.
To permanently add the Tides of Power Collection to your library, head over its Steam page to claim the offer and download it. This offer is temporary and will expire on January 5, 2026, so be sure to claim it now while you can! Starting Jan 5, 2026, this bundle will be available as a paid add-on content.
For more about the collection and the contents of each individual pack, you can visit our Tides of Power Collection page, which will be regularly updated to include new Game Guides for each pack.
*Offer available for owners of Civilization VII. Offer ends January 5, 2026 at 7am PT. Owners must claim offer between November 4, 2025 and January 5, 2026 at 6:59am PT. For details on how to claim offer go to https://www.civilization.com. Terms apply.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295660/Sid_Meiers_Civilization_VII/
Hi adventurers,
v0.901 is now available on the development branch:
Added the ability to build constructions from blueprints.
Added the ability to buy blueprints from the expedition board.
Added support for chests, and added a gold chest you can buy from the expedition board.
Added a game setting to configure the duration of expeditions.
Added new traits related to boat expeditions.
Thanks for playing, and please don't forget to leave a review, it helps a lot!
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our official Paleo Pines Trading Cards have launched and are available right now!
This has been a passion project for a long time, and we're so excited to share these high-quality collectibles with you all. Get ready to start your collection!
For those wondering why we chose to create trading cards, it comes down to four key reasons:
1. A Blast from the Past! Just like Paleo Pines itself, trading cards are a nostalgic throwback to our childhoods. We grew up collecting everything from Garbage Pail Kids to classic sports cards, and there's an unmatched joy in cracking open a pack to find that one rare, shiny card. We partnered with the lovely folks at CREO to ensure these cards are a premium collectible.
2. Supporting Our Amazing Artists We're always looking for ways to keep our incredible team creating! These cards became a special project for our concept artist, Elain Chen, who poured her heart into bringing our dinos to life on cardstock. The designs are breathtaking, and this project gave us a chance to celebrate her talent and hard work!
3. More for the Community to Share This isn't just about collecting; it's about trading, sharing, and connecting! We designed these cards to be shared so you can hunt for every single dino to complete the set. We can't wait to see our community trading and helping each other track down that elusive last card.
4. Funding a Brighter Future for Paleo Pines Here's the really important part: sales from these trading cards will go directly toward funding further research into wholesome gaming and implementing a special, experimental feature into Paleo Pines. We are committed to using 100% of our Kickstarter funds strictly for rewards and development goals, so this provides a separate stream of income to keep our passion project, The Power of Peaceful Play, moving forward. Every pack you collect helps us make Paleo Pines an even more nurturing and innovative place to spend your time.
{LINK REMOVED} Which dino are you hoping to pull first? Let us know in the comments!
As always, thank you for your incredible support and generosity!
The Paleo Pines Team
P.S. Keep an eye on our social media channels for details on upcoming trading card set giveaways!
Check it out in game, or in our Spotify Playlist.
Tones And I - Dreaming - Bass, Lead, Piano, Chord Chart
Tones And I - Fly Away - Bass, Lead, Piano, Chord Chart
Tones And I - Cloudy Day - Bass, Piano, Chord Chart
Song Availability May Vary by Region
We're very excited to release the free Demo of Pluto - look forward to completely new spells, artifacts, and a much better tutorial. After this we'll be gearing up for the full release in early 2026 with 8+ characters, branching map paths, longer runs, new enemies, and much more!
Please consider leaving a review if you enjoy our demo, it really makes a difference. Wishlist the game for updates and join the Discord to ponder strategies and commune with fellow wizards.