Clickbait ftw!
I just wanted to write a bit about how in the first DLC (which is basically a 2nd Supraland game) you will see what I (now we) learned since the first game and where we increased the production value.

You cannot compare both games directly, because their general structure is significantly different. It is still very familiar for Supraland veterans but a lot should feel really fresh. Which I hope is kind of the perfect formula for a sequel. Enough familiarity but also enough new stuff. The core abilities are the same though (plus some variations), that's why we felt more comfortable releasing it as a DLC rather than a standalone game. It also does not tutorialise as hard as you would expect from a standalone game.



Here are the biggest changes:

- The world is much denser in DLC1. It is smaller, but there is much more stuff everywhere. In the first game the world is bigger but also much emptier. Red Town was the only very dense place. I find a high density much more appealing and in general better game design.

- The dialogue writing is much more interesting.
There are stories playing out in the world now, while in the first game there was pretty much nothing.
Narration for Supraland is tricky, because you don't want to interfer too much with the player's freedom and agency, which is the core of the game.

- The NPC characters are more fleshed out and interesting, compared to the random throwaway hint-givers from the maingame.

- The production value is higher when it comes to animations. You will see some cool animations here and there that we made just for an easter egg for example. Same for some elaborate assets that were built just for one little joke.

- It's pretty much all new assets. You will barely see assets repeating from the first game.

- There are more cutscenes, but we are honestly not quite sure yet how much we like it. During development you completely lose your senses for this kind of stuff. Some of these cutscenes take the control away from you for a moment, which is something I prefer to avoid, but sometimes there is just no other way because you must see certain things and we can't allow you to look the other way or run away. But these scenes are like 1% of the full playtime.

- A big difference is that the world design is now much more clearly a miniature world. When the first game was started, it was not supposed to be a small world. I got that idea when I was halfway through, so a lot of the game is not really built with big things. This time around it's pretty obvious.

- Combat is very minimal and barely noticeable. I know combat is the most controversial thing in the first game. But everyone saying "get rid of combat alltogether" is wrong. It has big effects on exploration rewards, on the entire atmosphere and other things. So what we're doing in this DLC is basically an experiment, but I have other combat plans for future games. But you can be sure, no monster is gonna bother you while you try to solve a puzzle.

- There are tons of little improvements that also made their way into the first game, like better speech bubbles, a reactive crosshair and much more. The next update will include a lot more of these.

- Last but not least, the music in the first game was all bought in the asset store. It fit very well, but it's awkward if you hear the same tune in another game. Now almost all music is made by us.
The songs also feature different moods, and we created a system that can seamlessly blend back and forth between them depending on the situation. The background music will become more energetic in an action scene and it becomes muffled when you're entering a house.

David

Today we'll be looking at the AKM which near certainly needs no introduction, the Tula and Izhmash-manufactured streamlined successor to the AK that was (along with its various variants) the primary workhorse rifle of the Warsaw Pact from its introduction to the Soviet Army in the early 1960s, all the way until the fall of the Pact at the start of the 1990s.



Though the AK was a historic first design of what would quickly become one of the world's most recognisable series of rifles, it still had various elements that could be improved, most of all on a production front that would assist in the ability to quickly and comfortably equip entire armies not only domestically- but internationally for those fighting for the "right" causes.

Principle among these production changes was a transition from a milled steel reciever to a stamped one of thinner guage steel that resulted in a lighter rifle (by approximately 1kg) retaining all of the structural integrity of the AK due to added reinforcements, while being easier to manufacture.

While there were many other minor production changes from the AK to the AKM, the ones most commonly noticed are the newly ribbed dust cover, different style of now laminated pine (adopted from the Type 3 AK) furniture, and most being fitted with a slant-cut compensator (though this was attached when being placed into service, not out of the factory).



While a ribbed dust cover and the particular type of wood used for the furniture of the AKM won't assist you much in gameplay terms while playing Afterconflict, the difference between using the straight-from-the-factory muzzle nut and attaching the slant-cut compensator is a difference that can be felt while firing the AKM in-game, reducing recoil especially with automatic fire.

On the topic of being straight-from-the-factory, there are many misconceptions about the AKM's variants such as the AKMS, AKMN, and AKML- that they're created simply by attaching a folding stock or an optics rail to an ordinary AKM which is not the case; let's go into each of those variants and their differences.

First off on the trail is the AKMS, an under-folding stock version of the AKM adapted from the AKS before it and overall largely inspired by the German MP40's very similar under-folding stock.



The AKMS's role, as with the AKS, was largely intended for paratroops who required a more compact assault rifle that could be quickly and easily carried and deployed during a combat drop; however in light of the APS's production costs and overall lack of firepower it also found use among vehicle crews.

In terms of the production differences beyond the different stock design, the AKMS has a different rear trunion to facilitate the attachment of said stock, differing rivet positions on the reciever, and the pistol grip always being of the wooden type due to the ordinary "bakelite" (we'll get into that name later) pistol grip often cracking under the conditions faced during the average parachute drop.

When playing Afterconflict folding stock weapons such as the AKMS will no doubt be useful for close encounters when moving in confined spaces as longer weapons are liable to get caught on door frames, windows, etc.
Who knows, you may even be able to use the AKMS in a combat drop down the road...



On to the railed AK variants there is the AKMN and AKML, both of these variants' main objective is to have the ability to mount night vision optics and were factory-fitted with rails to achieve this, however both were often repurposed as marksman rifles by mounting regular optics, particularly during the Soviet-Afghan war.

Of the two types the AKML is largely viewed as superior due to its ability to mount the PSO-1 scope (which the AKMN was explicitly designed not to do), a more favourable mounting position for daylight optics in general, and that it is supplied with a flash suppressor (something useful for both not blowing out your night vision optics or your position at night, good for the more subtle player).



However, though the AKML was ultimately the more favourable of the two, it was produced in smaller numbers than the AKMN, which when you take into account that out of every 100 AKMs produced only 1 of them would be an AKMN, isn't exactly favourable for those that enjoy using optics.

If you wish to use the AKMN or AKML in-game, you'd better to be ready to sacrifice in other equipment departments to afford its points cost, and perhaps it'd be worth just using a PGO-7 scope on an AKMN rather than forking out even more points for an AKML with a PSO-1, the choice is yours.



In addition to the AKMN and AKML being their own variations, there was also the AKMSN and AKMSL, which were a combination of the AKMS with the AKMN and AKML respectively, with a slightly different folding stock that doesn't interfere with the added rail.
As you can imagine, these were even less common than the variants they are a combination of.

Although so far we've had the AKMS, AKMN, AKML, and everything inbetween which are all factory-fitted with their additional components, the AKMP is a variant that virtually any AKM can be converted to.

The AKMP is an AKM with the addition of a set of 6Ч3 tritium ironsights, a cheap and economical way of equipping an ordinary soldier with the ability to accurately fire at night with the help of tracer ammunition, instead of having to rely on AKMNs and AKMLs with large, bulky night optics.



This same logic applies in Afterconflict, instead of trying to equip everyone in a squad with an AKML and their preferred flavour of night optic while being lacking in most other equipment departments, you could instead appoint a member of your team to serve as spotter with a night vision optic and coordinate to effectively engage targets while using a wider range of equipment.

Amusingly, the AKMP being considered its own variation can result in the creation of the AKMSLP, no doubt the cause of annoyance of some Soviet armourers.

An addition to the AKM that warrants its own designation as the "AKMB" is the PBS-1 suppressor and its set of ironsights that are set for the usage of said suppressor and the 7.62x39 "US" cartridge.



The PBS-1 was one of the more specialised AKM accessories, primarily being used by Soviet forces that were required to do their work with discretion (although not quite the level of discretion the PSS pistol was designed for later on), resulting in them generally only being issued to some of the Soviet Union's most elite troops.

Although the AK-74 had been in service for several years before the Soviet-Afghan war, the AKM still found near constant service with Spetsnaz units, largely due to the fact that while the 5.45x39 calibre does not have the ability to be effectively fired through the AK-74 with a suppressor, the AKMB remained perfectly adequate in the role it was required for.

If you're a player that prefers to remain unseen and unheard, perhaps the AKMB will be a perfect match for your playstyle.
Also, remember to fill your magazines with 7.62x39 US as accidentally firing with a magazine full of tracers likely won't do you much help for maintaining a low profile...

Many in the west regard shooting with the PBS-1 sights, 6Ч3 sights, and AK-style sights in general to be difficult and overall inferior to the more open sights of rifles such as the M16A2, however this is largely due to a critical lack of understanding in how AK sights function.

When set to the battle zero sights setting (П), all the shooter needs to do is place the AK's sights at the bottom of the target, this will near always guarantee a solid shot on the centre of the target at normal engagement distances, which with the AKM firing a 7.62x39 bullet, should be enough to immobilize an enemy combatant.
Try this method out in the in-game firing range and you'll see this method's effectiveness!



We make no compromises on realism when people who don't know how certain weapons work complain that they can't use them effectively, meaning we won't do anything like artificially widening the AKM or any other weapons' sights for "ease of use".
As we established, us saying Afterconflict will have accuracy and realism isn't a marketing ploy, it's a promise.

When many people picture the AKM it's usually pictured with a steel magazine, and while that would be correct throughout most of the 1960s, in 1968 a "bakelite" magazine was introduced as both a measure to make production more efficient along while further reducing the AKM's overall weight.

These new magazines would end up accounting for at least 50% of all AKM magazines, and would be the foundation for the distinctive 5.45x39 magazines of the AK-74; you'll be able to choose between either of them while playing Afterconflict.



In addition to the standard 30-round magazines, the AKM has the ability to fit 40-round 7.62x39 magazines taken from the RPK, a particularly popular method used in Afghanistan.
However, while the "bakelite" 30-round AKM magazines account for nearly half of the AKM's standard magazines, "bakelite" 40-round RPK magazines were a lot less common, using them in-game is definitely more of a style-over-substance sort of choice.

I've placed the word "bakelite" in quotes multiple times throughout this article, and while "bakelite" is the common name for most plastic features on pre-90s Soviet weapons, said "bakelite" isn't bakelite at all, it's actually called AG-4, of-which had many minor variations for different pieces, such as the difference between the AG-4 of a PM's grip and that of a 7.62x39 magazine.

Finally on the customisation front there are the choices between the AKM's furniture and pistol grip.
While the AK's birch wood furniture left a lot to be desired, the Type 3 AK and subsequently the AKM's laminated pine wood furniture was of a high quality and able to be easily produced in large quantities by Soviet manufacturers, making both the manufacturing of new AKMs and replacements of rarely broken stocks and other such components an exceptionally easy task.



This was also the case with the AKM's pistol grip, and even though the base AKM largely transitioned to a "bakelite" pistol grip to save on weight, as mentioned previously the AKMS continued using the laminated pine pistol grip to aid in resilience under the sorts of conditions the regular "bakelite" pistol grip would crack and break under.

Though the base AKM's laminated pine wood was virtually always the same, some difference did come in the way of differing finishes, some lighter and darker than others- which along with more heavily used furniture that has had a lot of the finish worn off, will be able to be selected by the player while playing Afterconflict.

There will likely be even more choices added in the future too.



In addition to the Soviet production of the AKM, most Pact-alligned countries had their own domestically produced version of the AKM under licence, of these one of the most notable (and most numerous) is the DDR's MPi-KM, which you can see in-game here.

We'll likely have an Afterconflict Armoury article on DDR weapons in the future, so stay tuned for that!
Other international AKM variants include the Romanian PM md. 63, the Egyptian MISR, and the North Korean Type 68. You may even see some of those in Afterconflict too.



Overall, the AKM is a rifle that needs near no explanation in itself, it's a tried and tested weapon that at over 10,000,000 units produced is one of the most recognisable guns in the world (albeit often listed as the "AK-47" on the news), though with this article we hope to have cleared up a lot of the common misconceptions about the AKM itself and we hope you've enjoyed reading it!

Those with modern tastes in Soviet rifle technology will most certainly enjoy what we have in store next, which we've already been previewing, so keep an eye on our Twitter and Discord for all of our latest previews and updates.

We hope you enjoyed the latest installment in this ongoing series, and we'd love to hear your thoughts and if you've learnt anything new!
If you'd like to talk to others about this article or anything similar in general, the Afterconflict Discord server has been continuing to grow recently and we'd love to have you as part of our community, we discuss all sorts of things from general gaming to sharing different pieces of history from the cold war.



Our Discord server is also the first place you can see our newest previews of weapons, items, and gameplay, so if you want to be the first to see new Afterconflict content, join our Discord server today!

For this patch, Version 0.49, we've added a Teams Mode, which should appeal to those of you asking for the experience of Co-op but with just 2 Players, we fixed that darn freeze error (hopefully once and for all), added Russian, Chinese, French, & Finnish Localization, and other improvements. Check it out below!

• Teams Mode added!
  • 2 Players to a zone, allows up to 2v2v2v2!
    
  • You can even solo it, meaning you reap all the gold benefits instead of splitting it with a partner.
    
  • Supports all of the existing maps, except Grand City, which we kept as-is for the existing Co-op Mode.
• Russian, Chinese, French, & Finnish Localization Support added!
  
• Expanded the Frame Cap options.
  • 60 is still the default, but you can now select options for 90, 120, and Uncapped.
    
  • FYI, if you select Uncapped, we recommend turning on Vsync via NVIDIA/AMD.

• Fixed a major bug where Jinx could sometimes freeze the game.
  
• In a Co-op Game, if someone leaves the game, it will now forcibly sell all of their towers, and then split their gold evenly among the remaining players.
  • Likewise, in the new Teams Mode, the respective partner reaps the rewards from someone leaving.
• Optimized the tower targeting code, which should help with end-game lag.
  • Late-game Co-op is still a lagfest; HOWEVER, going off-screen should actually help now.
• During a Multiplayer Pause as a result of lag or something, the game will now display "Synchronizing".
  
• Fixed a bug where Disease could deal so much damage, it could somehow heal a creep or Elemental Boss back to full.
  
• Fixed a bug where, if you built a tower from the Tower Table, then opened the table again, it would retain the highlights from the previous tower.
  
• Fixed a bug where having a UI Scale other than x1.0 would cause a black bar to show up on the Extras menu.
  
• Fixed Easy Difficulty displaying a difficulty multiplier of x0 instead of x0.25.
  
• Fixed a bug where viewing a replay with a clear time longer than 55 minutes would display a speed multiplier of x0.

That's it for this patch! Our next patch, Version 0.50, is looking to be a bit chunky. It's probably going to take us upwards of 3 weeks before we release it, but it should be worth the wait. A little preview of what's to come:

• Cosmetic Rewards, finally!
  
• Steam Achievements
  
• Balance update, including a Leaderboard Reset
  
• Leaderboard support for Teams & Co-op

Regarding the Challenges --> Campaign overhaul, a good chunk of it is reliant on the next patch's updates, so that's still some ways away.

As we get closer to release, we'll provide a more comprehensive patch preview. In the meantime, enjoy Teams Mode and the latest fixes, and as usual, if you'd like to provide feedback or are looking for games, you can join our Discord:
Element TD 2 Discord

Hello Players!

We've increased the player cap a couple of times since the release, but more of you keep coming, hooray!

The game servers will be migrated to improve connections and increase the player cap. The game will be offline for a couple of minutes and we will be announcing when the migration is done.

We know this can be frustrating and thank you for being understanding.

- Bravewolf Team

Now the game has a checkpoint system!

A new audio was attached to the blue clown event and some adjustments were made to the scenario.

* Observation *
Upon leaving the game your progress in the game will be lost.

Cars are being added to Epic City Builder 4. This is by far my biggest game so far. Aiming for early access on Steam around years end.

Next is traffic and pedestrians. There is just so much more to add to the game.

This game will have all the features of MegaCity Builder. A lot more features will be added on top of it after early access.

Tell me what features you would like to see in the game and I will considerate it.

WISHLIST LEAGUE OF MAIDENS ON STEAM TO GET NOTIFIED WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE TO PLAY!!!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/557180/League_of_Maidens/

Hello Maiden Nation! This is your Maiden Commander speaking! :)

We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during these difficult times. We wanted to try our best to get an update to everyone on our development progress featuring the updates since our last post. SO MUCH has been added and improved making it impossible to list everything but we invite you to check out our twitter or join our discord for highlights and a full list of patch notes with updates/improvements since our 9 new mob additions work earlier this year. Also, below you will find preview videos and screenshots from the 1.4.6a build of League of Maidens for your enjoyment!

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/leagueofmaidens
Follow us on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/maidengaming_net
Join our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/leagueofmaidens
Join our Discord Community: https://discord.gg/5TU2NX9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQiciSz1rpI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58AdcgUcsbs&t=1s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QaDhC9hIrQ

As always, thank you so much for your patience! We look forward to polishing the game and improving it for all of you to enjoy!

- Maiden Commander Out!

Hello Everyone,

Greetings once again and hope that all you are well.

The Release

First the bad news, we still cannot give you the exact release date yet, apologies for that once again. Apart that, as part of the business, we almost finished all marketing materials as well and you may notice some of them from the updated screenshots which represents the game in final form. Our release trailer is also ready waiting for the release date to be attached before the reveal and than there are some more items which we keep as secret for now!

Who is Clan N

Clan N is an ancient samurai group in the region of “Far East”, sworn to protect the realm from all who seek its destruction. The four group members consist of the shinobigatana-wielding ninja Akira, the staff-striking Reina, the dual sword-swinging Daiki, and the sickle-slashing monk Tarou.

After years of training and dedication to their respective craft, each character has uncovered their own unique magical abilities. Akira shoots pulse-filled lightning bolts, Reina controls the ground with vicious earthquake shocks, Daiki swirls up brutal tornado waves, and Tarou can call for the help of Dragons.



The Story

Akuji is a former samurai of the Clan N that discovered the balance of the world lies in three areas: Peace, Knowledge, and Time. Akuji found that if you knock the world of one of these, you can harness the powers of “spiritual imbalance” and grow stronger from it. As a result of pursuing spiritual imbalance, he was shunned from the samurai temple and kicked out of Clan N.

What Akuji didn’t know was that attaining spiritual imbalance would not only give you dark powers, it consumed your light and the purity of your life. Following his banishment from the temple and Clan N, Akuji was able to destroy peace by slaughtering villages and retain the power of those he killed, thus absorbing conflict and electric sorcery abilities, becoming the most powerful sorcerer warrior in the Far East. While he continued to grow, Akuji formed Seishin Gun, the spirit group, to join his conquest and remove anyone standing in their path.

Once his actions were discovered by Clan N, they set on a journey to stop the villainous pillaging by Akuji and Seishin Gun.

The Content

Continuing from our last post, here is further information about the levels in Clan N :

Level 3 - The Unnamed Land



Leaving the vermillion caves, emerge into the sunless lands of the unliving. Blooming through the moonlight, the undead thrive & rise again. The unnamed land is just that, an unspoken realm that bewilders the living. Sacred ground or hellbound, no one truly knows.

Level 4 - The Village



Surviving through the fuming lands of the undead, you’ve finally reached a prospering land, where dragons and dogwood flourish. Pretty sure nothing could slither its way out of this lovely little village, enjoy the gentle hostilities... hospitality, that is.

Again we reached the ending of another post. See you again in our next gearing towards the release post!

Regards,

Creamative

Hello everyone,

we made the first two videos from the current version of our game Drive 4 Survival for our fans.

First, new images from the current version are available:





And here are the first snippets from the game.

The first is the repair and expansion of your future starting point, from this watchtower you will set out on all expeditions and exploration of the world. Over time, you will be able to build your house as you wish and imagination using a construction tool.


And here is a 10-minute game demo in which you will see something from combat, driving a car and other elements of the game.


And as a bonus the third video;)


Please note that this is a work in progress version of the game.

If you like and like the game, do not hesitate and put the game in the wishlist.
Alternatively, recommend it to friends.
We will be grateful for anything.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1206670/Drive_4_Survive/



Regards

M3M