Hello Scavengers! It’s been a long 4 years, but we're finally ready to show you what we have made and we can't wait to start gathering your input during this Early Access.



Some planned features have already been set in motion but we really want your input as well. Years of listening to feedback from events like Gamescom and from our dedicated Discord community has taught us that some of the best ideas come from you.

Make sure to join the Discord server or add us to your Steam wishlist to make sure you don’t miss out on the fun of launch day! See you soon!

Hi, we've been working, and several bugs were corrected. Several changes were also made to tribe descriptions, unit stats and more. Full detailment here:

• Added: Long Blades' inventory/sheath/draw sounds
  
• Added: Throwing axes now make a sound when you throw them
  
• Added: Early access scene, contains information about the game, contact and information links for new players.
  
• Changed: Short Blades' inventory/sheath/draw sounds
  
• Changed: Several frankish units' stats. Mostly a positive buff.
  
• Changed: Information about the tribes should be a little clearer, with several upcases removed.
  
• Changed: Damage threshold was not being applied, making several attacks deal weird damage numbers, especially with armored units (armor and damage reduction cannot reduce incoming damage below 25% of the original attack damage, rounded up).
  
• Fixed: Battle IDs were never synced across the room and so saving a battle result was not finished correctly.
  
• Fixed: Battle history was not saving the ID of the winning player in the records
  
• Fixed: Some encyclopedia text overlapping.
  
• Fixed: error when dropping items from inventory.
  
• Pending: Some units are not receiving their stat bonuses, for example, additional HP from Endurance. This is not intended, but would imbalance the game further if it is applied, since most balance was done with these numbers. We'll need to crunch some data before correcting it 100%, but several units already had their HP values changed.

We will push a new build this week to address problems that may arise from these corrections, and strongly encourage players to post their experiences after these changes, since our prediction is that it will change combat pretty significantly.

He is coming.

May 27 2020 - 3pm ET - twitch.tv/smitegame

Previously the "force" mechanic was so you can grab objects from afar--more of a quality-of-life feature than anything. But, in a game where you play the part of a magician, being able to use magic should be a bigger deal, right?!

So that's exactly what I added, a new section at the beginning of the demo level that teaches you how to use one of the abilities featured in the full game. ​In the past, when I was messing with the force-like powers in Graymount it felt more robotic than magical, which wasn't what we wanted. So, to put it super simply (watch the video for more dev-details!), I attached a physics joint to your "magic cursor," making levitated objects feel more bouncy, magical, and fully driven by physics--something that we all love in VR.

I'm super excited for everyone to play the demo, starting June 9th for the Steam Summer Games Festival and hear all your awesome feedback!

Wishlist now to be notified when the full game comes out!

Thanks for reading!
- Judah Mantell
CEO and Lead Developer,
MidnightCoffee, Inc.

Read this post in the full context at the MidnightCoffee Blog!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC062WNimyM

“Maid of Sker is easily one of my top horror games this year so far, even standing its own against the AAA horror giants like Resident Evil 3”

“In a horror realm where overplayed tropes are plentiful, Maid of Sker conjures up something utterly unique”

“Maid of Sker is an excellent entry into the survival horror genre giving a nice balance between running or hiding from enemies and the puzzles or objectives around the hotel”





“Story is fantastically written, acting is brilliant and multiple endings massively help with replayability.”

“Phenomenal cast, complicated characters, a deep and rather dark narrative.”

“A sharp, smartly written interactive thriller, with not a single one-dimensional character in sight, The Complex is (despite its theme) a joy to experience.”

“Wales Interactive has earned itself a reputation for being the bar to be measured by in the interactive movie genre, and I can’t wait to see where they go with it next.”

“Once The Complex enters full-on thriller mode, this compelling choice-driven tale of a trapped scientist facing terrorists and moral decisions doesn’t let up and even provides enough prompting and interesting options to weather multiple plays.”





We hope you enjoy The Complex and Maid of Sker! Feel free to comment or reach out to us with any of the links below.

Wales Interactive

www.twitter.com/walesinter
www.facebook.com/walesinteractive
www.instagram.com/walesinteractive

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1107790/The_Complex

The Interactive Movie Bundle - https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/13435

The Ultimate FMV Bundle - https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/13434

Hello, This is Burak. Lead designer of Circadian City (CC)

Today I want to talk about our design decisions and where they come from. Before saying anything else, I think I have to mention that I'm a compulsive player of the genre and I have no shame :) You might think of this post as a design manifesto but I will try to keep it as short as possible.

While working on CC, I've talked with hundreds of players of the genre and tried to understand what they like and they didn't like in those games. So I will also talk about player tastes a little as well.

Let me start with common features of the genre and what we've done in CC.

PLAYER METRICS



Most Life Sims have an energy metric for the PC but they all work in a different way. For example in Sims there are 6 different metrics and keeping them at the lowest point for a long time ends up killing your character. It's a bit weird but it gives the game a "sense of urgency"

In Stardew Valley (SDV), the energy is there but it also works as hunger, you can top it up by eating and no matter what you do you need to be in the bed before 2 AM or you lose money and items. When the energy bar is low you can't do most of the actions. There is also a health metric to keep track of when you go to mines. They all help create some sort of "soft tension" in the game.

In Graveyard Keeper (GK), the energy works similarly to SDV, you can fill it by eating and when you go slashing creatures your health metric becomes visible as well. But there is no end of the day. You can work 24h until your energy is used so much that eating won't save the day so you go to sleep for an hour and come back. Normally I would say this would create a lack of sense of urgency in the game but game progress and quest dynamics make GK a unique and a bit stressed game I believe.

Animal Crossing New Horizons (ACNH) stands out in the genre by not using any visible metrics for the player, not even the energy bar. The game goes by in real time, so your character sleeps when you do. There is no way to pass the time forward in a faster way and there is no sense of urgency at all. Players preffering a really chill and casual play prefer ACNH over the others.

Rimworld, although a colony management game is using player metrics in a different way. There are some tresholds on the metrics affecting the behavior of the characters. It inspired us to use the system in Circadian City. Each level of the metrics in CC puts the character in a different "state" and that state has some outcomes.

In CC we have 5 different metrics for the day time and 1 metric for the dreamworld that works as energy. In the early days of the design, energy and hunger were vital stats and when they reached 0 player was passing out and player were losing some money, interests and friendships. Later on we found this was a bit too hars so we removed this from the game. We locked some of the actions of the character when these metrics are low and everything works as normal.

We also introduced stress, motivation and happiness to the game that have various effects on the game depending on their level. These metrics start becoming important when the player progresses in the game. Motivation helps the character to use time more effectively and happiness dictates the quality of life and work in general. Stress on the other hand have effects in the dreamworld and slows down the personality progress.



CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION AND CAREER PATHS



Having a character customization panel in the beginning of the game is a nice feature to have. Sims, being an AAA title have great options on that front. Animal Crossing and Stardew are doing ok and Graveyard Keeper lacks that function totally. In CC we will have a panel and it will include a few options as well.

The main fun though is within the game, when you start picking careers and start customizing your farm & house. Sims, again have incredible options when it comes to customize the house of your character and also have very different careers in the game you can follow. You pick some personality traits for your character and you can play as a casanova, a hardworking scientist or a game addict sitting at home most of the time. It's truly sandbox gameplay with tons of options and every new DLC is adding a lot to the base game. That gives the game a huge replayability bonus.

SDV on the other hand is another great example. You can customize your house to some extent but you can also customize your farm and it gives a lot of freedom wether you want to play the game as a fisherman, a miner, a farmer or an artisan. This also changes the gameplay as well. So lots of replayability again.

ACNH have a catalogue as large as Sims when it comes to decorations and customizing your house. There are lots of special events in the game and from each event you can collect some items to further customize your character & house.

In Circadian City we will have a single career path in the game in the beginning of the game. During Early Access we want to add the option of leaving work and starting a new career. We have a few career in mind but we want to discuss this with players before adding them.

The character customization in CC is the personality part. Player can choose personality paths based on the Briggs-Myers system. Introvert/Extrovert, Feeling/Thinking, Judging/Prospecting and Intuitive/Observant . These choices affect how the player can earn motivation, happiness and what stresses their character.

You can't do much for your home in the realworld but you can customize your dreamworld quite a bit. We also want to enlarge the dreamworld by adding biomes (procedurally generated islands that work like mines in Stardew Valley) during the Early Access.


FRIENDSHIP & ROMANCE & QUESTS



I really like the heart events of Stardew Valley. They make the characters very real and its great content. On the other hand the way we earn friendship with NPC's is a bit weird. Giving them gifts and completing some random daily quests is the only way of earning hearts. Friendship might turn to romance and marriage in the end. But most of the time friendship is there only for roleplaying reasons.

Graveyard Keeper relies on quests as well to improve friendships. Some of those NPC's show up only once a week and the days prior that they arrive makes the player speedrun their quests. It's fun for some players but also a burden for many. I enjoyed it to be honest. Progress in the game is related to friendships as well.

In Sims NPC's don't give quests but the player character has its own "inner quests" once they befriend or romancing another character. Some content becomes available, like inviting your friends or giving a party once you have friends. Also your "social" metric depends on time spent with other people. So it's a necessary feature for the game.

In Circadian City, this is one of the areas we've gone a little wild. As the designer I'm both proud and also anxious about our way of gaining friendships.

You can gain friendship by chatting with NPC's in the game. But if you don't have shared interests, this gives almost no friendship points. Most of the NPC's have 4 interests they like and 2 interests they hate. If you advance in the areas they like you gain friendship much faster and if you have some interests they hate your progress with them slows down. There are 26 different interests and you need to spend either time or money to advance in those.

It's up to the player to pick their friends strategically or just for roleplaying reasons but you can't friend everyone (because of negative interests) and every NPC unlocks different items in the dreamworld.

There are tresholds in the friendships and to pass those tresholds you need to complete a specific scripted quest for that NPC.

There are more than 50 unique NPC in the game and we want to add more during the Early Access. Some of them are bachelor so you can romance them according to their gender preferences.


STORY & GAME PROGRESS



Graveyard Keeper has the most scripted story among those I played and Sims is the most sandbox one without story at all. In that sense, GK is the only game with an "ending" but it still lets you keep playing instead of ending the game.

SDV has a clear story progression wether you choose the Joja Markt path or the Community Center (which 99% of the players choose I believe and hope) but it doesn't show you an ending whatsoever. Each NPC final heart event feels like an end of that storyline and satisfies the player a lot from a storydriven perspective.

In Circadian City, there is huge amount of written content but story bits are everywhere in the game and we can't talk about a "main story". Although, once the player advances in their personality and chooses their ultimate personality type, they unlock a "life goal" event that feels like the ending of the game in a sense.

In the beginning of Early Access we only have one life goal but we want to add a new life goal for each of the 16 personality types later on.

I hope you enjoyed this comparison with other life sims and if there is interest I might write more about it in the future.

- New: (Beta!) The game engine (Unreal) has been updated to version 4.25.0, which will increase the quality of graphics and performance in some cases;

- Changed: The "Storage" Map has been optimized;

- Fixed: Display of the sight PSO-1;

UPDATE 26-5-2020
Something went wrong in our packaged and distributed content to Steam. Our apologies for taking hostage 90 gb of diskspace for a moment. The size of the game is back to normal (around 37gb) with the hotfix 20146.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE
Hi everyone! A few days later then we hoped for, we release a new patch for the game. Yesterday it was already on the PubTest branch for a final test (yes this branch is available to everyone on Steam also!). Attached you will find the patchlogs, since its an enourmous list again. Some really great work!

Thanks to our very dedicated PTR testers we tweaked the weapon behaviour and player movement ones more. It's starting to feel better and better with every patch. Besides that I am very proud to introduce 5 (!) new map to the game! 4 of theose maps are ARENA maps. Smaller worlds, for quick games, ideal for that fast-arcade-fps-blood-pumping-feeling of a random day! Besides those Arena maps, Darksoe finished his MAP-Escape (yes... you have to escape the map). Try it out! Great work by DarkSoe, Dissident and Ssswing` with this new content.

Th120 and Darksoe have been putting out a lot of work on tweaking, fixing bugs and overhauls on various elements of the game. Most noticable is the UI reworks here and there (some menu's are still a pain, we know that!). But the movement and weapon behaviour tweaks should make the game slightly more accessible to new players. Enough chitchat here, let's play! The servers are updated already! And do remember: we love feedback! Leave it in #feedback on our Discord channel! Come and visit us!




Player HUD
- Reworked PlayerHUD handling to fix the MouseIssue
- Added new Info "Header" to Player HUD
- Replaced some buttons on IngameMenu

MainMenu and Settings
- New Settings menu
- Reduced volume of music in the MainMenu
- Rework "Key in use", should be more usefriendly now
- Fixed the Control Inputs for Mouse Wheel/Buttons
- Some new placement of buttons in menu to make it more user friendly
- Fixed the password issue on the Admin panel on servers

Game
- Reworked Player Movement (Strave speed ~85%)
- Max Acceleration a bit higher
- Fix too much loser money, increase 3. round loser bonus (800 -> 1200)
- Brand new Spray pattern v.4
- Weapon balancing (nerf precision SMGs, Saiga, AUG; lower damage range UMP)
- Fix flashlight (listen server)
- Fix evidences don't spawn
- Fix spawn protection not disabled on shoot
- Different (lower) velocity cutoff for sniper rifles based on movement state (falling, running)




General Map changes
- Fixed mapicons on minimap for all maps (rescuezone, escape zone, bomb plant zone)
- Added ambient sounds to all the maps (except for Crossfire, Drought, Eviction, Escape, Filth, Arena-Cargo, Arena-KillThemAll, Arena-Labyrinth)
- Updated TDM maps to more recent version
- Removed the CTF maps that did not work for that gamemode, updated the remaining ones to more recent versions

MAP-Arena-Cargo (NEW MAP)
- Lite up the Map a bit more.
- Litup Minimap a bit Cargo

MAP-Arena-LockDown (NEW MAP)
- New map by Ssswing`
- First map with volumetric lighting set
- Fixed crouching issues on crates

MAP-Arena-KillThemAll (NEW MAP)
- New map, very quick and small arena map made by Dissident

MAP-Arena-preAIM
- Redid lighting
- Redid landscape
- Redid look and feel
- Set dynamic lighting
- Set volumetric lighting
- Added Terrorist and SF base

MAP-Arena-RGB (NEW MAP)
- New map by Ssswing` (based on our old Performance map... see it as a LEGO world!)
- Volumetric lighting

MAP-Blister
- Fixed nades getting blocked on new passage Bombspot A (high) from blocking volume

MAP-Crossfire
- Added minimap

MAP-Escape (NEW MAP)
- New map by DarkSoe
- Lit up the whole map a bit more.
- More space in middlehouse basement.
- Blocked up the sideentrace to middlehouse basement so u need to crouch.
- Removed window on middlehouse basement stairs.
- Moved fence to Escape Area more away but Escape area more near.
- Add water to the sewerage.
- Made the 2nd door in sewerage larger.
- Reworked big building room to be more open.
- Added entrace to big building from the roof.
- Added ladder to roof ob big building.
- Added beam to move to big building roof from middle house.
- Fences are no longer random bulet blockers on this map.
- Removed some Fences (Reworked escape area)
- Added new Container to escape area
- Reworked Terr high "Roof" (no longer is the roof)
- Fixed "Walk on Edge" on Escape Middlehouse
- Litup Minimap a bit on Escape

MAP-Eviction
- Removed collision on the flagpoles outside (sniper alley from SF base to Terrorist base)
- New overhaul of the map is in the making!

MAP-Followthemoney
- Blocked off the main stairwell (left from SF spawn) for smoother movement (Razemike)

MAP-Fueled
- Fixed getting stuck on pipes of canals
- Added war effects to background
- New navigation symbols in the map

MAP-Prelude
- Fixed player collision on rocks and fence on Escape area (bridge to building) (remus)
- Blocked part of the warehouse on Terrorist base
- Removed some foliage that was growing inside buildings :D

MAP-RapidWaters
- Fix overpowered spot: ladder SF water towards terrorist water entrance (wingah)
- Added moveable doors to waterbuilding
- Fixed the broken impact effect under water, besides lower bridge and water entrance SF side (Pirate)

MAP-Scope
- Added breakable glass to the map (middle building and upper facility)
- Fixed: Weapons fall into the ground on the road mesh (remus)

MAP-TrainYard
- Fixed the middle door (sounds are still WIP)
- Added extra sightpoint for terrorist on the left side on the container (overlooking middle)
- Fixed the window issue where there was only collision on one-side of the glass
- Fixed several trick jump in Terrorist base
- Blocked the window on upper side of Bombspot B (ccKane)
- Added more cover from upper balconies on Bombspot A (ccKane)
- Fixed strange walls peaking through randomly on Bombspot A (near ladder room) (ccKane)
- Fixed the low res reflections in the map on weapons
- Added navigation marks on the map where bombspots are
- Added: breakable bottles on Terrorist start

Heya adventurers! After all the housing excitement next week, it’s time to take a quick breather! That doesn’t mean we won’t have anything for this week, though! Oh quite the contrary, this week is still just as exciting as the last just more laid back! Apart from that, don’t forget to check out the Item Mall for the newest cutie!

Housing Celebration Event 2

House party all day, house party all night! You think the excitement will stop but here’s part 2 of the fun!

• Try out how sweet your home life will be with the [Cobo] Housing Buff Trial Ticket! Just login daily for 10 minutes!
  
• Clear dungeons within your level range to choose an epic reward among these 3: [Luriel] Stamina Potion, [Luriel] Life Stamina Potion, or [Luriel] Refined Recovery Potion! It’s super easy!

Item Mall Goodies

We’ve tamed the elephant shrew and now you can ride it! Dash throughout the lands of Elrios with the Elephant Shrew when it comes out!



That’s all for now, folks~

See y’all in-game!

The International Battle Pass has arrived, ready to fill your summer with the epic trappings of Dota and unveil an overflowing vault of seasonal features, effects, and extraordinary rewards. Check out the full Battle Pass website to dive into everything in store.

You'll be able to create Guilds and undertake group assignments; face a new daily dose of competitive Dota in the Battle Gauntlet; and eliminate specific enemy heroes for special Bounty Killing bonuses. With prizes awaiting you on the rewards line like a custom terrain; two hero-bending Pudge and Anti-Mage Personas; three new Arcana items for Wraith King, Queen of Pain, and Windranger; and so much more, the most-anticipated season in Dota has now begun.

Please note that Immortal items from The International 10 Battle Pass—including Ultra Rares—cannot be traded or marketed until The International 11 Battle Pass concludes. Until then, each item can be gifted once.

As for The International itself, we will continue to monitor the global situation and will announce new dates when we can be confident in our ability to deliver a safe and uncompromised tournament for the players and fans. As always, 25% of all Battle Pass sales will go directly to the prize pool of this event.