(Posted on December 28th, 2020)

Happy holidays from Studio FOW! We hope you're all having some ten-tacular times, just like Lily here did during her recent experimentation. Like the good doctor always says, "Scientific research can be a very, very thorough process."







As we're sure many of you have noticed, the Steam store in Germany has made changes that prevent the release and purchase of adult games. Here at Studio FOW, we refuse to stand by and do nothing while this injustice against the porn of our Deutsche Freunde takes place!


We want everyone to know that we're currently putting a significant effort behind the scenes to make sure that any consenting adult in the world that wants to play Subverse is free to do so via our own distribution platform. Our intention is to have it ready by the time the game launches so people can make their own choice.


This has become an increasingly prevalent issue. The adult content restrictions of Steam affects not only our German users, but several other geographical areas such as Australia, South Korea and China. Our bespoke game delivery platform will allow users from these regions to enjoy the game.


Rest assured - we are taking this very seriously and more details will provided as development continues.




Concerning the need for thorough information, we've been actively reading Kickstarter and Discord and it seems everyone is looking for more details regarding how the release of Subverse will work. As a result, we've compiled a list of frequently asked questions and will be providing the answers here.


How many chapters are we getting once the game is complete?


We originally planned on Subverse having 10 chapters total, and the original chapters were much shorter than the newer expanded ones. Currently there are TWENTY-TWO chapters in main script of the game. That doesn’t even include the devotion quests, which are almost like a second full questline per character.


How much content will be in each chapter?


The initial release will include the first three waifus, DEMI, Lily and Killi. This content includes the obligatory tutorial introduction levels and recruitment missions which add up to six chapters total. We're still doing internal testing, but we'll detail the total expected gameplay length expected at launch in early Q1.


However, when you take into account the average length of each chapter plus the fact that you get additional level 2-3 difficulty planet scenarios with each release, Subverse is going to be pretty damn big. This is why we confirmed there will definitely be more than 30 hours of content in our last announcement.


Not only that, we've also significantly increased the amount of Pandora animations that will be available with each release beyond what we initially expected. Expect a preview video and more details coming soon. Keep your joysticks polished and ready, everyone...there's plenty of action coming!


Will a waifu launch with all of her Pandora content or will this be updated over time?


We always intended to make more pieces of the total Pandora content available the further you progress through the game. However, since we increased the total amount of sex scenes you’re still going to have access to more content per waifu within the first few releases that you were originally going to have in the entire game.


Will content be added to previous chapters when a new one comes out?


Content will not be altered in previously released chapters as new ones are produced. While the game will have general improvements like bug fixes, you won’t need to worry about missing out on cutscenes/plot, missions, etc. if you play them as they are launched. You will be getting content that is totally complete.


Are the chapters save-game compatible? What will happen when you finish a chapter?


Of course! You won’t have to start your progress over every single time a new addition is made to Subverse. One of the reasons we were most comfortable with this release strategy is that Subverse is constructed like a traditional RPG where you have places to go even when you’re not pursuing the story. If you finish a waifu’s main content there will still be dozens of planet scenarios including several side quests you can complete in each section of the game.


How will this release strategy effect waifu screen time?


It won’t. The script was written in a way so that if a waifu is recruited later in the game, she generally still receives around the same amount of total screen time as those that came before her. Another big advantage of doing a chapter-based release is we know exactly what order the waifus will be recruited in and can plan accordingly to still include her in the story after her initial content is finished.


Other than inclusion in the main story missions, you can unlock new dialogue options for your waifus and talk to them aboard the Mary Celeste about every major event of the plot as it unfolds. The "on-board" script for the game is substantial, so those of you that love to get to know characters and dive even further into a game's lore will really enjoy this content.


What is the estimated development time between releases?


It’s difficult to give an exact timeline because some of the releases are slightly larger than others or require the introduction of new areas/game mechanics in addition to their regular content. Our plan is to set a reasonable pace with our first update and increase it as we start to hire additional programmers and animators.


How many systems are there per nebulae, and how many planets are explorable in each one?


Here's a rough breakdown - there are five nebulae in Subverse (six if you count Dragon being split into north/south). Throughout those nebulae, there are over 500 planets. About 2/3rds of these have some kind of level one planet encounter, main or side quest. Beyond that, each system has typically has several level two encounters and most will have at least one level three as well.


Does a chapter-based release influence development in a good or bad way?


From a development standpoint it is 100% positive. Rather than having to focus on completing an entire game at once and worrying about so many different objectives, we can follow a very clear chronological path to completion.




The mercenaries and monsters of Prodigium have arrived!


As we detailed in our previous announcement, today marks the release of the Scoundrels. This is a secret sixth faction of enemies that appear throughout the game throughout Prodigium in planet encounters and as part of many side quests.


You'll see in the SHMUP endless mode that even though they're technically just guns for hire, their ships pack some deadly technology that allows their attacks to go through asteroids or even turn them into deadly obstacles. Make sure you watch out for their wide firing patterns that make evasive movement essential.


This will also be the first SHMUP beta where you can select a waifu as your co-pilot! Try out Lily's special sniper attack and Killi's shotgun and see which one matches your personal playstyle best.





We've included a total of five different grid combat scenarios this time around. The first two, Bug Hunt and Lava Trouble are basically single enemy type whack-a-mole maps that test your unit spacing and target choice in order to clear them with the highest grade possible. Subverse's grading system is online, so let us know if you manage to get a gold star in every mission!


Then there's the Scoundrel Madness map, which takes place on a jungle planet and features a chaotic blend of every single current enemy available for the faction. That's right - we're going to add more in time and bring the total grid enemy unit count even higher!





After that we have the more standard action of the Mercenary Battle. Here you can fight against a typical composition of Raenos Mercs, Gunchubbas and Artillery Drones in a city environment. You can even try out a new mantic unit - the previously announced Napholeon! Note that we made the scenarios slightly easier this time around so you could enjoy experimenting with unit composition to see what works best for you.


Also, just a reminder to make sure you are using the "CHANGE BETAS" option at the bottom of the screen to see all of the content.




January 2021 will be a very important time for the game. We'll be working hard to make sure Subverse's launch goes smoothly. Expect even more information about release and some exciting promotional content!


Sincerely,


Mr. Kristoff

(Posted Novemember 14th, 2020)

Greetings once again, everyone! The year is starting to come to a close, and for my fellow Americans Thanksgiving will be here soon. This begs the question - what are we most thankful for this year?


For me, I'm most thankful to be part of this project. Subverse is shaping up to be an amazing game and I'm so proud of every single person in the studio for making it happen. And of course, I'm eternally thankful for every single of our backers that pledged to this project and made it possible.


We at the studio know you've been asking for information concerning release, and we've heard you loud and clear - that is why I am letting everyone know that the next Dev Diary on November 28th will provide not only our publishing strategy for the game and a release window, but it will also contain a ton of information and production materials that fully explain and demonstrate the total gameplay experience of Subverse.


After all the months of teasing, I expect everyone's going to be so satisfied with the massive hot load of information they receive that they're gonna need some intense waifu cuddling action, so here's some in advance!





So...if we're going to talk about the release in the next Dev Diary, what are we talking about today?


I've invited the ever-amazing Professor BANG to give you some insight into some rather exciting grid combat content and the behind-the-scenes process that went into making it!


"Professor BANG here. You may know me as one of the devs, but I'm also an animator and modeler. I have to say my fellow coworkers are more skilled creating erotic and suggestive animations, but what I'm good at is making more traditional video game stuff like animations for the grid combat characters.


Because the characters in grid combat are so small, we always make low-poly models for them to increase performance. You might assume this makes them look more basic, but that's not necessarily true. Baking the high resolution details onto a low resolution surface is a good way to have great-looking characters that are easy to render. Animating low-res characters is both difficult and fun since I try to put personality into the character's movement by adding little quirks that make them different from the others.


Usually I make eight animations for a character - their basic attack, ultimate, counter, death, taking damage, idle, affliciton status and teleport - but the most important is always the idle animation. That is the first anim to be made since that is what is the player will see the most and serves as a foundation for everything else.


I always try to get the most out of the animation rig, so sometimes I have to rely on Unreal's extra abilities like ragdoll physics - something I really enjoy testing!

Physics Footage Here

Ragdolls are especially useful for the death animations. Making a Fuccbott fall apart would take a lot more hours to animate by hand, so instead I just simulate its physics in Unreal and record it to an animation.


And you know what else helps? Jiggle physics! Now I know what you're thinking, but they're not just for breasts. Things like hats and hair and most of the dildos on the Fuccbotts are physically active, so when they get hit or move around the momentum on their appendages is calculated in real time.


My philosophy is that limitations breed creativity, and I always try to make the most out of our options.

I provided several videos below to show you my recent work, but keep in mind these characters and animations are normally seen from a distance with additional particles and effects added, so please consider them WIP!"




There are three types of mantics in Subverse - those that fight, those that fuck and those that do both. The previously teased big boy Fuckenstein that you all loved so much is one that does both. However, today I'm going to reveal one that exists exclusively in grid combat. He's also the first manticore you can unlock outside of the core team you start with (Bulgetto, Chodestool and Dromstik).


Meet the mighty Napholeon!


Born from Lily's attempt to create a super-soldier manticore that would have the tactical intelligence of one of Earth's greatest military commanders combined with unstoppable psychic powers, Napholeon, unfortunately, came out of the tube a bit pre-mature.


Regardless of his hilariously under-developed self-awareness and delusional self-importance, this mantic is a ranged energy unit that can shred tanks with his Giant Slayer passive that does % HP damage. His ultimate can also do heavy damage while stunning the target, giving your team an entire turn's worth of strategic advantage to take them down.


Napholeon Footage Here



Hold on to your butts - it turns out Subverse has a super-secret SIXTH ENEMY FACTION that's even bigger than any of the others! How is that even possible? Well, it's quite simple - they're called the Scoundrels, and they're made up of mercenaries, monsters, mindless drones...basically all the random units that don't have a particular allegiance to anyone but themselves. Here's a rundown of some of the Scoundrels you'll meet in the game...


Vekati Artillery Drone


This cute little fella has long been the gold standard for mechanized guard bots. After all, why deal with cleaning up the messy entrails of intruders that managed to penetrate your perimeter when you can just nuke them on sight from a distance?


While they are durable and have great range, they aren't very mobile. They can be easily surrounded and neutralized with little trouble from that position.


Vekati Artillery Drone Footage Here


Lava Kappa


Known for causing all sorts of perverted mischief with anyone that gets too close to the pools of liquid hot magma they live in, Lava Kappas are not to be taken lightly. Though their bodily fluids are normally about the same temperature as a manticore's ejaculate, when they get angry their sticky liquid reaches a boiling point and becomes weaponized.


Lava Kappas can gain access to their ultimate faster than most units in the game, so make sure you target them correctly to prevent a volcanic eruption that will damage your entire team.


Lava Kappa Footage Here


Raenos Mercenary


Raenos are a reclusive species of amphibious bipeds notorious for their tendency to teabag enemies upon defeat. Hey - it's not disrespectful, it's their culture! Due to their physical requirement to live in a moist, warm environment they are always seen wearing heavy bio-regulated armor that makes them tough to take down.


Word of advice - don't send your melee units in to attack these guys unless they're going to land the killing blow. They carry some of the most powerful shotguns in Prodigium that can shred through almost anything and anyone.


Raenos Mercenary Footage Here!


And that's not all - the Scoundrels also exist in space. You'll encounter all sorts of mercenary and junker vessels that will have interests involving your untimely demise, so get ready to face them soon.







The Dev Diary on the 28th of this month is going to be HUGE. As previously mentioned we're announcing a release strategy and window, showing off gameplay AND you can look forward to seeing Subverse's incredible cover art. For those of you that have the artbook, you probably know what to expect from the previews in there.


I'm looking forward to it, and I know you are as well! See you in Subverse soon.


Sincerely,


Mr. Kristoff


- Senior Producer


As always - Don't forget to join our Discord!
https://discord.gg/studiofow

(Posted on October 28, 2020)




HAPPY HALLOWEEN! It's that spooky scary time of year where we all put on slutty costumes and beg strangers to give us something sweet and sticky to put in our mouths.


This month's entry is going to be different from our usual setup - you see, the beta testers have been asking me to do another Q&A for months now, so I cleared some time out of my schedule over the past week and hosted one on our Discord server.


They asked some excellent questions, so check out the answers below!




"Are Demi's boobs squishy, or hard? I'd assumed they were squishy due to the comics, but I know those aren't canon so I was wondering." - Petrichorus


DEMI's boobs are similar to those you'd find on a real doll - there's a soft layer on top with a uniquely synthetic yet comfortable texture that's very squeezable and suckable. Her solid chassis/skeleton beneath gives them structural integrity. In terms of physics, they're pretty much the same as an organic pair of funbags.






"Which waifu has the loudest moan?" - Peridot


I feel like talking strictly about moans doesn't quite paint the correct picture of the waifu's sexual tendencies. If I had to make a ranking of how vocal the girls are while doing the devil's dance, it would look something like this...


Ela > Killi > Taron > Sova > Lily > Fortune > Blythe > Huntress


Note that DEMI would probably be ranked between Fortune and Blythe under normal circumstances, but she can immediately adapt to provide whatever kind of auditory stimulation her partner desires.


"Why do the senu rule the galaxy? Seems like quite a few of the other races could take 'em if they wanted to. Is it a religious thing?" - Petrichorus
The clout of the senu is a lot more complex than a few major factors like military might or religious domination. The intricacies of the political situation in Prodigium will be fully explored in Subverse, especially for dedicated players that take an interest in hunting down every bit of lore.


This is something you'll come to realize early on - this isn't just a porn game. It has a real universe with rich history to uncover that goes back millions of years and every single event derives meaning from what transpired before it.

"Which character was the first to get in depth lore?" - TimothyDG


The first character to be "completed" was definitely Fortune but this is because the game went through two or three major overhauls before we landed on the concept that became Subverse. Fortune's character has always been a central component of the story, and she hasn't changed much outside of her origin story, which was altered significantly to be more comedic and endearing.


"Any new character reveals coming soon for the website?" - Fusion-X


Yes, there are several more character bio pages that we intend to put up on the website before the game launches. Honestly...we've just been so busy with making Subverse that we haven't had a single day to sit down and get them ready. I can confirm that one of them is the first antagonist you encounter in Subverse - Dread Lord Tibold.


"Do vanneran only have yellow eyes?" - willuwontu


All vanneran (Killision & Dallick's species) have glowing yellow eyes and large black horns. However, only the females have tails.





"What's the reason vanneran like human culture so much?" - Andy, The


We mentioned as an aside in the artbook that vanneran and solars (humans) are kindred spirits. There are several key reasons for this, one being that they have a very similar philosophy about how to live the best life possible (which of course involves copious amounts of intercourse). However, their political situation in Prodigium is also quite similar. You'll learn more about the history of the vanneran in Subverse, and fully exploring the meaning behind their tragedy is one of my favorite parts of the script.


"I’m curious if the codex will have voice over, or will we need to knuckle down and read it all?" - Havok


Prepare to read, nerd.


"How did y’all decide on the waifu’s clothing/weapon of choice?" - VincentValen


The final waifu outfits are all the work of our incredible art director Dzung. We gave him some initial references and he just went wild and came up with numerous sexy designs that also fit the waifu's personality. You can see most of these sketches in the artbook. After we selected our favorites, he spiced them up from there until they became the final outfits you see today.


The weapons were actually easy - we just made a list of various archetypes and started applying them to the waifu that made the most sense, like sniper (Lily), archer (Ela), buster sword (Blythe), etc.


Some characters, like Killi (rapier) and Sova (great hammer) have intricate backstories in the game that not only explain why they use their particular weapon and fighting style but also how those choices form a significant part of their personality.


"The Requital are a terror group yet they seem to have the best ships out of the enemy factions? Where did they get the technology from?" - CZombie

I'm pretty happy someone picked up on this because it's definitely an intentionally set up as part of the story. As always though, no spoilers.


"In a 3-way drunken bar fight between Kili, Sova, and Blythe, who's left as the dom and whose the two subs? Or will there be two doms and one sub?" - D-Scythe911 (N.T.)


Oh boy, let's break out the rankings again! In terms of dominant to submissive, it would go like this...


Blythe > Killi > Taron > Sova > Lily > Fortune > Huntress > Ela


DEMI's once again removed because she can assume whatever kind of role you wish.


In terms of those three specifically, Sova's perfectly happy to get pounded despite her rough demeanor. Killi likes to be in control but will sub if she's in the mood and respects her partner enough while Blythe does not really sub.


"Among the Waifus who has the best 'smartass' mouth?" - D-Scythe911 (N.T.)


Sova is 100% the biggest smartass on the ship. I'd say that Lily and Killi are probably the wittiest in their comebacks though. Fortune should also be in the conversation but she's more lethally intelligent in the way she systematically dismantles the opposition her approach. You know, that kind of Hannibal Lecter dissection that keeps you up at night. On that note, here's a shot of her keeping Fuckenstein up late...





Concerning game content...

"Why include both SHUMP combat and turn based tactical combat? What inspired this?" - Nobudi


We always intended the combat in Subverse to be RPG-style, but it wasn't until we decided on a science fiction setting that we wanted to have a SHMUP module as well. It just made sense that when your team was traveling through the galaxy that they would encounter hostile forces in space. Narratively, including this opened the door to include some fantastic sequences that otherwise would not be possible if we only had one combat system.


There were initial concerns about including SHMUP content though as the genre itself was once incredibly popular and influential during the old-school arcade days with titles like Asteroids, Space Invaders, etc. However, the fundamental problem with these games is that they tend to be too hard.


Even when you look at a title that's a masterpiece of design like Ikaruga, the majority of gamers will never even give it a try because not only does it take a larger investment of time to learn the color-swapping mechanics and improve your base control and execution, you also need a certain amount of inherent reaction time and skill just to get through the first few levels.




It was apparent to us though that Roguelikes, the sister genre of SHMUPS, had actually been going through a renaissance of sorts over the past decade with wonderful and innovative new titles like Enter the Gungeon, the Binding of Isaac, Crypt of the Necrodancer, etc. Rather than having a simple scrolling shooter, we discussed the possibility of one that used an open map like these games and replaced the characters with a ship. It would have a low difficulty curve but solid production values and arcade-style gameplay that anyone could enjoy.


As if it were destiny, it was at that time that I managed to find the OG Subverse programmer HungryJJ. When he turned in the first build of Subverse's SHMUP, it was already far beyond anything we intended in terms of quality. Having that kind of talent on the team combined with our creativity was what laid the foundations for what Subverse would become.


In terms of the tactical combat, it was always on the table from the start. We also considered having old-school Final Fantasy-style RPG encounters, but once we hired another dev and began to do alpha testing for the grid combat we realized it was not only possible but could look fantastic. It went through several reworks, but we're at a point now where I think we've really nailed the fast-paced, casual but satisfying approach.


"Will there be more shots taken at the industry's silly things like lootboxes, crunch culture, etc?" - VincentValen


Hell yes! We definitely had a lot of fun putting together some full video game meme force quests for you guys. Though I'd be surprised if anyone figured out who this guy is supposed to be, speculate away!





"Will we see in endless mode in the full release that can be customized with settings (which factions to fight, damage, health drip rate)? What about progression like buying weapons in COD zombies?" - Halfpint


I can confirm that the SHMUP's endless mode will be in the game in some capacity. Custom settings that make for a full-on sandbox environment are not likely due to the development time this would require. I think the idea of a COD zombies style progression system could be fun, but once again that would take a lot of work so it would need to be something we really see the demand and need for prior to making that investment.


About the team...

"Is there any particular favorite waifu among the dev team, or is it more of an even spread?" - Justenrules


Each of our team members has their favorite waifu and some are even very vocal about their devotion - but yes, there is actually quite an even spread. In order to make sure no one's feelings get hurt, I will simply state that I love all of our daughters equally.


Pantied Bandit inquiry...

"Is there a specific reason the Captain wears panties as a mask, or is that just another layer of his perversion?" - VocalFox


If you've read the artbook you might have noticed that this design choice was the result of random collaboration in our virtual workroom. Originally the Captain had this sort of evil-looking helmet, and we were having trouble achieving the comedic hero look we wanted with him. One of our programmers (One-Eyed Jeremy) posted a Hentai Kamen chibi and we all thought it was perfect.





The next day the Captain had panties on his face and since I was in the middle of writing the script, it fell on me to come up with a good origin for those underpants. While it is indeed another layer of his perversion, the story of how the Captain got his panties became something much more grand than was ever expected. It even led to a side project I was honored to take part in that leads to one of the funniest sequences in Subverse, and I can't wait for everyone to experience it.


Production Questions...

"How has mocap been beneficial for the team?" - Mon-sieur Bome


It's a huge benefit for SFW scenes. Hand-animating things like walk cycles, action sequences and even seemingly simple things like holding objects is far easier when you can use mocap as a solid base and clean things up from there. It also gives you a fluidity of motion that is hard to achieve otherwise.


"How is the experience of build a game this big, like Subverse" - Red Padoru


It is pure hell, and I openly welcome the flames to kiss my sack on a daily basis.


"Do the ladies have specific hand holding animations based on their sexual preferences?" - Mon-sieur Bome

Absolutely - you will see their personalities come through in many of their Pandora scenes.


"What gameplay aspect are you excited for people to play but haven't yet?" - Mon-sieur Bome


Honestly, it's not one aspect - it's how the whole experience ties together. It's the glorious feeling of "I'm actually playing a real video game with fully hardcore alien tentacle on waifu butthole action."


I imagine most of us never thought we'd see the day, but here we are! Thanks again to all of you for making this possible.


"Taron’s look changed quite the number of times from milestone tease to reveal. What was going on there?" - VincentValen


Taron was a really tough character because of the fur involved combined with her thief archetype and a tall/slender body type. She went through numerous small tweaks through the process, especially when we kept finding different color schemes that we liked much more than the others. It was important that she be able to stand out in the waifu lineup not only by virtue of her catgirl status.


"Is there some friendly competition(s) in the devs team? Can you talk about them a little?" - Red Padoru


Every single dev that works on this game is somehow an incredibly friendly and mentally stable individual that has almost zero ego about their jobs. I have no idea how this happened.


HungryJJ is a former capitalist office alpha and massive nerd whose idea of heaven is programming SHMUP combat all day.


One-Eyed Jeremy is a legit academic powerhouse that writes C++ and rap lyrics in his head simultaneously.


Professor BANG is an ultra-passionate gamer, lover of sci-fi and also a walking UE4 encyclopedia.


Mrs. Mankrik is a super talented rhythm game addict and also a saint for putting up with our filthy porn studio Slack shitposting.


"What are the top 3 things you really wanted to make it into the game but they weren't possible?" - Red Padoru

Although it's not a fetish of mine, pregnancy options were something I hoped would make it due to the sheer fan demand. Unfortunately...the more we investigated it, the more obvious it became that we couldn't do it this time around.


Going off that, I would have loved to make a full manticore breeding system where you could design your own monsters. Their physical/genetic aspects would not only determine their abilities on the battlefield but also how they held hands with the waifus in Pandora. Once again, it was just too difficult for a small team with our budget.


And on a personal note, I'm actually more passionate about writing music than anything else. I wanted to do the entire game's soundtrack so it would be 100% original, but that's the kind of job that could take upwards of a year and I was too busy managing the project and finishing the game's massive script. Maybe next time...


...and speaking of next time, we'll be back on November 14th with more! But tell me - did you like this style of dev diary with in-depth writing about the game? What else would you like to see?


Let us know!


Sincerely,


Mr. Kristoff


- Senior Producer

(Posted Oct 14th, 2020)



I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that our stunning artbook will be sent out to all eligible backers today (Asstronomer Tier - £50 pledges or more), so check your Kickstarter messages to download it! (Please note it may take a few days to show up!)


Everyone involved did such an amazing job on this monstrous 160-page experience, and it really helps to set the tone of Subverse and give people a good idea of what they can expect from this project. There are no major story spoilers in the book so you can read it at your leisure and enjoy it now if you wish.


The book has some interesting lore and some tongue-in-cheek references alongside the usual lineup of concept art, doodles, and other neat stuff. Obviously the book is very NSFW so I wouldn't put this on your coffee table!









And finally, I'd like to step aside and welcome our casting director Singing Samine to discuss some of the finer points of Subverse's audio with you!


"It’s time to talk about our lovely audio pipeline! I know, I know...the fun of audio is listening to it, not reading about it! But...if you have some patience, there may just be a reward for you at the end of this update!


First we have FOW-Chan bully our basement-dwelling writers incessantly until they form a half-decent script. When their paperwork is deemed good enough by her standards, it is safe to hand off to our voice cast. The various vocal talent across the world then submits their work to me, and I get the privilege of pulling selects! That’s fancy film industry talk for deciding which takes are the ones that will make it into the game.


Once we have our best selects exported into individual files, we still have to do a few things before we can import them into the engine.


1. Basic Clean Up

The easiest but most vital step: All voice files must go through some basic processing, such as normalizing the volume if it is too quiet or too loud, cleaning up ambient background noise, and EQing out any unwanted puffs or clicks.


2. Special Effects (Optional)

For some characters, be they androids like DEMI, or senus wearing a suit of armor like Azzorion, they require additional mastering and effects before being game-ready. We have our very creative sound designer specialist Shah to thank for bringing our imaginations to life. A lot of work goes into making sure each character has their own unique “sound,” while also ensuring the original performance shines through.


3. FMOD Studio

We can finally import these freshened-up voice files into FMOD Studio, an audio tool which integrates into Unreal Engine. This is where our audio engineer HungryJJ can build a timeline for conversations between multiple characters, mix and match EQ to ensure all VO sounds similar despite everyone having different recording equipment, apply scene-specific effects like reverb, and very importantly, make sure the VO is still crystal clear even when the music tracks get laid down. If things are sounding muddy and the voice is getting lost in the shuffle, then extra fine-tuning is needed, but it all happens inside FMOD’s DAW-like interface."

Sincerely,


Mr. Kristoff


- Senior Producer

New factions: The Kloi and Fuccbotts are ready to kick your ass in testing! You can now play two different scenarios (the second being more difficult) against each of these nefarious new foes.


We definitely tried to give both factions distinct play styles and tried some new things, so please provide feedback and let us know what you like about them and what changes we should consider.

On top of that, you can also take on the pirates too if you want to see some of their tweaks.





You also now have the option to choose between two different waifus - Lily and Killi. This gives more choice about how to approach the new combat scenarios since Lily is a ranged energy character with support mechanics and Killi is a melee physical wrecking ball. Finding the right balance between damage types as well as tactics and matching them to the weaknesses of the enemy factions is one of the key concepts to understand in order to perform well in Subverse's grid combat.






Since we received feedback that Lily's secondary ability was not as useful as it could be, we reworked it into a high single-target damage buff that really helps your team's ability to deal with different defence types. For example, if you have a target with high shields and it's Lily's turn, her energy rifle won't do as much damage as Chodestool's physical attack. You can now buff Chodestool's damage significantly and absolutely shred the shielded enemy. Tactics in a porn game? What the fuck!


This latest build also includes many other new improvements such as the much requested range indicator, damage previews, new health bars with armor/shield overlays and even additional context-sensitive audio. This means there are more combat lines for the waifus and their enemies which makes the module feel more fun and alive. Also, please note there have been a few suggested keybinding changes as well (such as moving ultimates to 1 and 2 respectively).





Probably the most significant change is the reinforcement system, since enemy units no longer drop all at once after a wave and then immediately attack. They now drop throughout combat whether or not the previous enemies have been defeated, and this leads to far more gameplay variety and more interesting scenarios overall. You'll see an update to the UI on the turn order bar that indicates how many enemies are arriving and when.





Finally - as you guys might remember, there are hundreds of planets and interactive locations to explore in Subverse - part of the experience of exploring them is fighting on different biomes. For example, if you undertake a mission on an arid planet, you'd expect to see sand right? So we're uploading the new desert map for testing in this beta, enabling you to get a taster of what is to come.


What's more, our randomized terrain generator has been activated for this beta which makes every battle unique.


TLDR

• Two new factions to battle, 5 different units each with unique abilities
  
• New hero in Killision the Red
  
• New reinforcement system
  
• Expanded grid combat voice library
  
• Tweaks to the pirates
  
• Tweaks to visual fidelity
  
• New desert map biome
  
• New random terrain obstacle generator online

Artbook Preview

Last but not least on October 14th we're going to be releasing "Prodigium's Most Wanted" - our little artbook/companion piece to the game. I can't remember the last time a freakin' porn game released an artbook, but this collaboration between Dzung, Manski and DC is bound to blow your socks off. It's chock full of great concept art, lore, and cool little tidbits that shed more light on the world of Prodigium.





It's presented from the viewpoint of a dickhead Imperium news anchor who hates everything the Mary Celeste's crew stand for and also contains some neat behind the scenes snippets from production. We hope you enjoy the hi-resolution hijinks, and yes there are some (minor) spoilers in the book so take care when reading!


Sincerely,


Mr. Kristoff

Senior Producer

The wait is over - the Huntress boss fight has been uploaded to the closed beta!





Here to discuss some behind-the-scenes action from development is none other than our lead SHMUP programmer!

"Hello again, FOW fans – HungryJJ here.

I’m really happy with how the Huntress boss fight turned out. One thing I have learned working on games is that there comes a point where it's best to let a character's personality lead you to the gameplay.

Since this is a dogfight with an apex predator cephalopod, we implemented a vanishing system that allows the Huntress to compete with the F3N1X in terms of mobility. Her squid girl status influenced the look of the particles we created for this, making them resemble ink clouds in a space environment.

We also used spline tracks so the Huntress could effectively move relative to the player’s position. Getting this to feel natural required the use of spline movement, curves to control speed, the strategic injection of lag and finally...a lot of time obsessively staring at the screen to fine tune it all.

The goal was to make her feel evasive and deceptive while still allowing the player a chance to fight back and land damage once they figure out the patterns.

In terms of sound we wanted to achieve a bit of horror movie atmosphere with the action, which resulted in more deep, pulsing tones that shift along with the visuals throughout the course of the fight to invoke fear and intensity.

I can hear Fow-chan's stiletto's approaching, so it's time to go back to spending all day and night chained to my PC making cool shit for you all to play. Enjoy!"

Download the update now to face off with the baddest bounty hunter in Prodigium. As always, please give us your feedback about this fight. The one thing we're concerned about most is knowing how you felt about the difficulty. We intentionally toned things like boss damage and the overall length down due to previous surveys, so let us know how we did, and if this feels better or not.







We recently completed the final opti passes on all the rooms of the Mary Celeste, and they're looking absolutely fantastic. To us, this was a critical task. After all, the Mary Celeste is your home - this is where you'll be hanging out, planning and executing intergalactic revolution, and getting into your waifus in more ways to one. The game's central hub needed to look and feel right, and we're proud of how well it all came together.



The next dev diary on the 28th of September will feature the full release of the Kloi and Fuccbott factions in grid combat. This is a massive update! Until then, stay safe!

Sincerely,

Mr. Kristoff

- Senior Poonmancer

Posted on: July 28, 2020

Boy oh boy...do I ever have something sublime to share with everyone this week! Courtesy of the artist Luna L, here's an undeniably yummy work of fan art of the lovely Dr. Lillian Margaliss showing off why she's such a valuable asset to the revolution...





Those stockings...dem curves...major mmph!

And Lily isn't the only waifu that stopped by to say hello this week. Please join me in welcoming the lovely Fow-chan to show off her brand new designer dick chompers and make an important announcement.







"Hello Darlings!

As you may have heard, our discord has passed the 80K mark (Horrayyy!) We are so excited to continue our climb to that triple digit deliciousness of 100k.

If you haven't joined up yet, you totally should! A big giveaway will be coming soon too!

And now to get to the most important reason why I'm here, which is to announce the ability to change your name in the credits (£20 base reward)!

I looked at the list and realized there are a LOT of names that we cannot use. Please note we reserve the right to remove any of these from the credits list. Overly dark/vulgar names, copyrighted material, impersonations (both real-world individuals and fictional characters) and racist/derogatory comments are not welcome.

That's why Taron#0030 is here! DM her on our Discord and she will guide you on how to change your name for this reward. Below is an example from our amazing mod known as c0nfus3d:





You will only get ONE name change, be sure to use it wisely.

Surveys for the £20 tier are now closed and will NOT be recorded. Please use Taron on Discord to add or change a name!"




Customization is an important part of any waifu game, so we're currently working on some skin concepts for the characters that will give them a variety of unique looks for everyone to enjoy.

Take a look at the awesome preview concepts below courtesy of our art director to see what we have in mind when we talk about "skins!" There will be more info about skins closer to the launch date!







Recently, one of our biggest tasks has been compiling all of the best feedback provided by everyone during the recent Subverse grid combat beta launch. We're happy that once again outside of a few very clear items that we knew going in would need improvement, the overall reception was once again quite positive! You guys provided so many helpful suggestions, and we've noted every single one.

The programmers have been working to implement many significant changes to the game like installing an upgraded UI to provide range and damage type indicators. We're also experimenting with how reinforcements work and a few other balance changes that we think will really help to give grid combat that extra shine it deserves.




I'm also happy to announce we will be reintegrating the SHMUP into the closed beta soon. Every faction will be available to fight, and we've even made significant changes to the Pirates. They were the first enemies we ever worked on and we've gotten much better at implementing A.I., particle effects and designing attacks since the start of production. Naturally, we wanted to give them another pass and we're happy with the results.

I can also confirm that our new and improved testing waves are all set. You are guaranteed to fight every ship in a faction by wave 10, and the first 10 are much easier. After those, things will start to get challenging. It should also help our more casual players get the full experience while still providing the testing difficulty our veterans crave.

Finally, we've also made updates have also been made to the Tibold boss fight after your feedback. We totally revamped the difficulty level as well as the third phase of the fight into something much more mortar-riffic!





That's all for this month! Stay tuned for some juicy details about the artbook in the next dev diary.

Sincerely,

Mr. Kristoff

- Senior Podracer

Per our 2020 roadmap, the next major milestone in development will be a 1v1 fight with none other than the Captain's arch-enemy, THE HUNTRESS!

Ever since we met the "Squidgirl" stretch goal near the very start of Subverse's Kickstarter campaign, we were thrilled to be able to include our vision of a character that continuously stalks the Mary Celeste throughout the game, setting up one intense ambush after another (much like the Nemesis in the Resident Evil series, tentacles and all).

We took great care throughout development to make sure that each encounter with the Huntress would feel like an intense rivalry and require focus and good execution from the player to overcome her tactics.





Your first encounter with her is a fierce dogfight where you'll be dealing with complex attack patterns, swift movement, area denial traps AND a mechanic unique to her ship that allows the Huntress to take down her prey with puzzling efficiency.

And the gameplay's only half of the fun! Over the course of the game, you'll also bear witness to one of the most complex character arcs as the Captain and the Huntress's relationship evolves. Eventually, everything culminates in a recruitment quest that parodies an obscure yet awesome 80's sci-fi movie and sets up some seriously heartfelt dialogue alongside all the dicks and titties jokes.

Closed beta participants will be able to throw down with the Huntress upon the publishing of the September 14th Dev Diary.







Grid combat is set to receive a huge update on September 28th.

First off, we hope you're all ready to get your hands on Cuntbeard Crimson herself as Killision makes her way to the battlefield!

While Lily filled the archetype of a support unit with ranged energy damage, Killi is a melee berserker that deals physical damage and is capable of putting a savage beating down on enemies by forcing them to fight her up close with crippling attacks. She can also take out several of them at once with her AOE ultimates.

This will be the first time you get your hands on a melee waifu, so let us know how she feels!




Along with Killi, we'll also be adding two new factions - the Fuccbotts and the Kloi!

As you all know if you've seen the SHMUP combat, we want each faction to feel unique when you fight them. While the Pirates were a jack-of-all-trades faction that doesn't require specific tactics to fight, both of our newcomers are far more specific in design.

The Fuccbotts, just like in the SHMUP, are a swarming faction that are relatively weak alone but typically appear in large numbers. You'll need to plan out your turns carefully against them since the most common unit you'll encounter is the Suicide Squirter - a droid that furiously faps to generate an AOE electrical shock whenever they get near your units.

If you don't manage to keep these away before you kill them, you'll suffer damage from their self-destruct passive. The best way to avoid this is to keep your units at a distance and spread out, and leaving the killing blow to ranged characters whenever possible.

However, if you line up your shots just right, you can turn that self-destruct passive into a tool since it damages fellow Fuccbotts as well.

Proper movement and target selection is key to surviving an encounter with these maniacally masturbating metal misfits.

The Kloi are the obligatory glass cannon faction - they deal some of the highest damage but are quite easy to kill...that is, if you can get close enough. The majority of their units are ranged and have higher than average initiative, so expect to eat some opening salvos when facing them.

Front-loading the damage of the Kloi in a turn forces the player to immediately consider their own health as the most important resource.

The best way to fight the kloi is to get up close and take out as many of their smaller units as possible at the start of the battle, as well as cut off the potential movement options of those that manage to survive.

Since they have the ability to counter even ranged attacks, melee units are preferred against them. Physical damage is also particularly valuable since they mostly use shields for their defensive measures.

The team has already completed a variety of QOL and design improvements for the grid combat as well. The most requested features from your feedback such as range indicators and damage previews will be live in the update.

Another critical gameplay piece that received revision is the reinforcements. Units can now spawn on the map even when other enemies have not been fully cleared, which allows for far more interesting gameplay scenarios. We also removed the reinforcement method where entire waves spawn at once and get to immediately take their turn, which allowed them to totally blindside your team.

We feel grid combat is now much more consistent and fun now as a result of these changes, but please let us know if there is anything else we can improve!

Sincerely,

Mr. Kristoff

- Senior Producer

Posted on: July 14, 2020

As advertised, we're returning with a smaller update than last month, but it still contains lots of important information about Subverse's progress!



We've been receiving glowing feedback for months now about how good Subverse looks and how well the closed beta performs, even on lower end systems. It's crucial to us that this quality extends to every part of the game, and that's why many of our waifu models recently received an upgrade pass on their materials and shaders for their naughty bits. We obviously can't show them here, so you'll just have to wait and see!



We're currently ass-deep into the mocap pipeline so we thought we'd give you an update on it.

Mocap is reserved for the SFW sequences in Subverse such as storyline cutscenes and cinematics. Fear not, though - all the sex scenes are still animated by hand as we have been doing since 2013. But in order to meet the challenge of delivering the cinematics, we have switched to a virtual production environment using Unreal. Through a combination of storyboards, in-engine shots and remote feedback sessions, we're able to give our performance artists clear direction to produce the performances we need.

I really can't stress enough what a major time saver it is to be able to capture something like a character walking vs having to animate walk cycles by hand, and this process is going to allow us to execute some fantastic footage. Seeing the characters of Subverse in motion doing all sorts of badass things adds a lot of production value to the game.



Recording for Subverse's script has been one hell of a ride. The actors and casting director are having a great time going back and forth, bringing their characters to life and getting the best possible takes of the script so all of you can laugh, cry, and spray your pants (though hopefully not all at the same time).

Assembling all of the audio for this game is quite the task. We're at over fifteen hours of recorded dialogue at the moment and we're not even finished yet - quite the accomplishment for a porn game! We are using FMOD to integrate the audio into game and its proving to be a huge timesaver.



Thankfully, our production team has been thus far fortunate enough to avoid the COVID disaster. Dwelling in our basements glued to our PCs working on the game every day of the week probably has something to do with it.

While that doesn't mean there weren't some setbacks due to the worldwide disruption in general, we're proud to say that the team is still accomplishing our goals for the month.

We also want to remind everyone (especially in countries where COVID has not yet gone into remission) to please take care of yourselves and those around you by observing proper social distancing and wearing a mask whenever you go out in public.

Sincerely,

Mr. Kristoff

- Senior Producer

The fourth Subverse manga is here, brought to you by none other than the final boss of grotesque monster fornication himself...Butcha-U! His work inspired our Code Valentine movie so getting to finally collaborate with him was a hentai dream come true. Our unholy alliance spawned a 30-page FULL COLOR doujin that will bring a single tear to the eye of xeno aficionados everywhere!

Just like every other release, links are hosted elsewhere due to the rules. Visit our Discord sever and check the studio-announcements section to find a download. Otherwise, you're welcome to visit Luscious hentai, Pururin or Sad Panda and search for "Subverse."




The wait is over - Subverse's grid combat is here! The first closed beta has been released with the tutorial and two levels where you'll face off against the Pirate faction.







To put it simply, this not XCOM or Phoenix Point. From the start of production, we've strived to keep Subverse's gameplay fast-paced and casual-friendly. That's why you'll find a typical grid combat scenario in Subverse can be cleared in five minutes rather than 30 like in most tactics games.

However, it still allows for the most skilled players to be rewarded. Correctly utilizing your team composition and making the best decisions will result in faster, more efficient clear times where all of your units survive, which will in turn earn you better grades and higher rewards for your efforts.





We've taken the micromanagement of equipment loadouts out and the enemy composition is rather simple. We've also limited the amount of abilities, which helps to increase the pace and keep the action going.

(Note - the grading criteria function is not fully implemented and will likely be in the next major build.)







While we've put together a solid tutorial for the beta that will teach you almost everything you need to know, here are a few extra tips that will help you succeed:

- Most importantly, you can get detailed unit info by right clicking any unit or clicking their portrait in the turn order bar. This will help you find out what type of damage they deal, what passives they have, etc.

- Ranged enemies cannot attack adjacent tiles and suffer a damage penalty when counterattacking. All units can only counterattack once per turn.

- Turn order is determined by the initiative stat, and the units with higher amounts go first.

- Using the WAIT option will not skip your unit's turn, they will instead be sent to the back of the turn order bar.

- Each unit has 1-2 passives that give them extra abilities. You can see what each one does on their detailed information screen.

- Movement can be undone by using the button on the bottom right side of the screen.


WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK


This is our first beta build for grid combat, so your feedback is essential. What do you think of the gameplay? How's the pace? What changes or additions would you suggest? Let us know so we can build the best possible tactics module for Subverse.

Also, please note that we will be disabling the SHMUP scenarios for a few weeks while we do routine bug maintenance and implement some A.I. upgrades. We'll also be installing new waves that will allow players to see every ship in a faction by wave 10. Expect these changes to go live and all five factions to be playable again in endless mode by this time next month.




After all this hard work, we're going to step back and assess your feedback while working on cleaning up some animations that have been needing our attention. Expect a smaller than usual entry for the next Dev Diary and we'll return to our usual format on the following 28th.


StudioFOW