Our very own Weston Heflin has been nominated for OUTSTANDING VIDEO GAME CHARACTER, BEST VOICEOVER by the Voice arts awards for his outstanding work as the voice of James Irvine in The Lighthouse!




We are so incredibly proud of Weston and will be cheering him on December 20th.

You can stream the awards on Sovas.org December 20th at 6 PM EST.

Hello guys, hope you are well & safe!

I will first talk about how the demo experience was for me and then inform you about updates.

• It has been a month since I published the demo,It was a pretty crazy week for me, I was late for the festival, couldn't manage to finish the demo in time.After 3 stressful and sleepless days into the festival I managed to release the demo.And...I got my first crash report in a few mins from the playersːsteamhappyː
  
• There were a lot of bugs so the first people who played the game probably quit & never returned, but I managed to fix them rather quickly, so after a few days it was running fine mostly.I kept updating the demo, fixing,changing & adding few things based on feedback & my observations.
  
• Overall, it was a great experience.Even though I missed most of the festival, it got the attention of a few youtubers which has gained us quite a bit of new players(We are at 4.5k whishlists right now)! It gave me a chance to observe how people play the game, which I noticed can be quite different than I intended.
  
• The demo was supposed to last during the festival only, but I decided to let it stay for a while.Today I am going to take it down after almost a month, we are down to 2-3 demo downloads per day and it is a hassle to keep both versions running among other reasons.I hope to make available again some day.
  
  
• I want to thank everyone who participated in the demo and I hope guys had fun.
  Note:You can still contact me and I will happily send you a key for the demo.

I have noticed a lot of people have an hard time to manage their villagers and often can't find the ones they need.So I have implemented two solutions for that.
First one is a list of buttons that shows how many villagers are assigned to each job

It is an easy tool to navigate through villagers(No more lost villagers, yay!)

Second one is a list of villagers, this is more complex but it also shows villagers traits and you can change their name, this one is useful to pinpoint your target villager.


Save system kinda broke while I was rushing things for the festival, so I started fixing it.Lucky for me my game engine recieved another update which made the old data structures I used for saving absolute, so I rewrote the entire save system which took a week.But it works much better now, and I know the save is one of the most important things, nobody likes losing their progress!(Technical note: old data structures were not garbage collected so it let to memory leaks and other kind of problems if I forgot to delete or something)
I have added 6 manual save slots, also 1 more for quick save and 2 more for auto saves(which happens every day and after important events)


Researching
I have changed the system from a tree to an exploration based mechanic, which I think suits better to the game.The system works like this:You assign your villagers to become librarians in the dungeon libraries and gain research point as they work there.You can then use those points to research scrolls/books.You come across those rare books throug secret rooms in the dungeons,trading with other cities, or some islands on the map(I will come back to this)
Those researches are permanent and grant bonuses based on their rarity(From some minor buffs to new technologies, new villager or soldier skills,buildings etc)


Islands
I have added a new concept, you can come across mysterious islands on the oceans,to which you can send your soldiers and explore.These are like little side quests, you get a book from each of them and some small rewards.I have planned 4 for now and I don't intend to include more as I need to finish the core game first.
Here is a sneak peak at one:


Dungeons
Previously there could only be 1 stairs per level in the dungeons, which limited the layout.I have rewritten the dungeon system as well,villagers are smarter.Now I can make more interesting layouts.I am also working on a system so that I will be able to create 3-4 slightly different layouts so that if you restart the game the rooms will be placed slightly different.

Couple notes about that layout(which is just an example), vertically expanding the dungeons introduced another problem: long walking times between surface and dungeons.I think I have fixed it by dividing the dungeon into 3 sections.After you kill the sections boss a portal appears to another section, which is connected to all other portals.So you can directly travel to level 4 of the dungeons through the main ground portal.It also makes the design look more interesting!I will post more on dungeons in another devlog.

Next Up
So as I observed from people playing the game there were two major issues:Selection of villagers & long travel time between stockpile and buildings.I fixed the first one, and now I am working on the second one, which has been nightmare.I made it so that people deposit resources to their respective buildings(lumberjacks to woodcutter's camp instead of stockpile) and I changed the "ore_carrier" building to "Carrier's Hut" so that workers there grab resources from the connected buildings(woodcutters,fisherman,blacksmith etc.) and deliver it to the stockpile.
When you build a new building it connects itself to the nearest "Carrier's Hut".You can later delete the building from the connection list and connect it to another hut.The carriers will start going to buildings once there are enough resources stored in the building.You can change the minimum required resource amount for the carrier to move too.But it introduces another layers of problems and can be quite complex mechanic for many players so I am trying to simplify it..If anyone have any suggestions,I would be more than happy to hear it!
Once I hopefully finish that part of the game,which is a big part even though it might seem minor, I will make the enemies smarter, they currently have targetting issues.And then I will start adding more enemies and filling the dungeons and ocean.

I will announce when I make a closed beta, but don't expect it too soon.I am done giving dates since I fail to meet them.I am sorry about that but things take more time than I initially thought!:/

If anyone has read so far, thanks a lot, you win my love!
Have a great day!

Week 2's mission card—"MOON SHOT"—is now live. The updates over the last week include changes to the pings and updates to Guard.

2020.12.07 -

[ MISC ]
– Fixed a crash related to pinging rotating car model in Engage.
– Fixed Operation Shop buttons to appear correctly on OSX and Linux.
– Fixed a rare bug when several Broken Fang Premier game settings could get applied in regular Competitive matches.
– Added background movie fallbacks.

[ MAPS ]

Guard

– Blocked off construction corner.
– Added new cover for players entering the site from connector.
– Pulled drop a little closer to site.
– Shifted all covers on site to adjust angles towards bridge and archway.
– Slightly shifted connector between back alley and site.
– Partially restricted sightline between connector and pit.
– Decreased depth of restaurant corner.
– Decreased depth of VOOLT corner.
– Mitigated head peek close at stairs tunnel.
– Slightly mitigated head peek behind dumpster.
– Added minor visual details.
– Various texture updates.
– Dehexagonized beer bottles.
– Removed collision on window planters (Thanks Bubza101).
– Fixed missing faces on beer crates.
– Fixed a pixel gap on street (Thanks u/iBearably).
– Fixed grammatical errors on street signs (Thanks Sysel).

2020.12.04 -

[ MISC ]

– Fixed names for several Operation Broken Fang patches to appear as different Steam Community Market commodities.
– Fixed Sir Bloody Darryl’s death sound.
– Fixed a regression with soft shadows under agents.
– Fixed demo playback for the compatibility version of Mirage.
– Added “Looking to Play: Guardian” for people looking to play Guardian and Strike missions with a partner.
– Fixed mini-scoreboard alignment when showing player counts.
– Removed vote to change map in Retakes.
– Reduced round restart delay to 5 seconds in Retakes.
– Fixed ping icons to show actual pinged weapon or bomb in all game modes.
– Fixed ping icons to become transparent when player’s crosshair pointing directly at them.
– Localization updates.
– Improved stability.

Bugs:

• Level 3G does not give the wrong achievement anymore for those who haven't finished world 4
  
• Level 2H the debug key has been removed permanently, I have also removed any leaderboard entry that may have used that exploit to get a good place in the leaderboard (sorry)
  
• The leaderboard is now correctly hidden away when loading the game in offline mode

Features:

• I have added the leaderboard on the level selection for more simplicity and clarity, so now you can simply check your rank on any levels without having to finish them. I will make an optimization of that leaderboard later on to keep in memory the leaderboards loaded (this feature may provoke some unexpected crashes for some, so if you do have one please tell me)

And here's a screenshot of the new leaderboard system:


Next up: multi-language support for all the interface texts starting with french (because I'm french), and a speedrunner button to reset any progress except skins and blobs (just the timers and level progression, including stars)

新增吾光M和林沫的隐藏故事

新增机制：通关真结局后观看所有的隐藏故事时会产生隐藏的剧情？

配合新机制增加全新的隐藏结局

所有心魔前增添存档点

修复刘休风险投资计划描述错误以及获取菩提子错误的问题
修复吾光A好感度提升时出现的各种bug
修复王振光商店的打折显示错误
修复林沫好感度电视声音问题
修正音量无法存档问题
修正分辨率显示问题
修正部分错别字
修正町的隐藏故事文本，使内容更融合剧情

The Walking Dead has come far in this one year alone, and what better way to top off that year than being featured in The Game Awards? To celebrate our nomination for Best VR/AR game of 2020, we'll be offering a 20% discount on both the standard and Tourist editions of the game so that everyone gets a chance to play the immersive undead adventure everyone's talking about.

Be sure to vote for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners for Best VR/AR game and make sure to check out all the other great nominees for all the other awards.

The show will be streamed this December 10th at 3:30 pm PST on Steam! Find more details here!

You can also check out other Game Awards nominees on sale here!

And thank you all for showing your support for Saints & Sinners all throughout this year. We are excited for everything that's to come for this game in the next year to come.

In this first post, I only have a tiny update as I want to spend some time introducing myself and the project.

And that update is simply showing off a gun I did not have ready in time for the reveal trailer.

This is the Brawlers variant of the Needler, the Byte Rider variant was shown in the trailer.



One of the fun things about creating assets for PLUGGED is that the multiple games use altered versions of many of the weapons. It allows for a lot of varied play and ways to experience combat.



The Needler is a rapid-fire projectile weapon. The Brawlers variant fires needles in rapid succession.

The Byte Rider variant does the same, but has a tracking feature. At the point that the needle is generated, it will look for a target in it's direct line of sight and lock on, but this only occurs at the point it is generated. If a target is not found it will fire straight only.



Combat in PLUGGED is all about the guns and their function. Each weapon is being carefully designed with balanced strengths and weaknesses. The gun you choose to carry, as well as the weapon choice of your opponents, will greatly affect how each game is played.


And now, an introduction.

I will attempt to be brief, I do not wish for these updates to be lengthy.

I released a reveal trailer and announcement last week, if you would like to check it out you can visit the Steam page.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1367730/PLUGGED/

PLUGGED is a collection of online multiplayer combat arena games for VR.

I have been working on it for over a year and am working towards a summer release for all VR platforms (Oculus Quest at a later period).

There are three games in the collection: Brawlers, System Detox, and Byte Riders.

Brawlers: This is a classic arena combat shooter in the stylings of multiplayer FPS games in the late 90s - early 200s. Players pilot huge mechas with synchronized movement. Weapons are placed around the maps and all players must procure them and control the map to maintain the edge. The emphasis on resource control will be great, as weapons will be permanently held by players until they are killed. This means that if there is only one rocket launcher in the map, only one player will have it at any one time, you will have to kill for it. There will also be a classic arena ruleset available where all weapons and items respawn on a timer.




System Detox: This game has been loads of fun and is received very well by players. All players spawn into a map, and one is chosen at random to be corrupted by a virus. Corrupted players must chase down and corrupt other players. Uncorrupted players have access to weapons placed around the map that can be used to deter corrupted players. Corrupted players may become uncorrupted after corrupting a certain amount of other players. There are multiple was to rack up points playing either corrupted or uncorrupted. The player with most points will be the winner. The game has an almost pac-man like feel to it as the players run frantically around the maps chasing each other down and gathering weapons.




Byte Riders: This game is a twist of flavors. Vehicular combat mixed with classic arena combat, with a trick, movement is perpetual. Once the battle starts you will not be able to come to a stop, the Byte Cycles move constantly. You can steer and boost your way around a map with zero endpoints. There are no points where you can hit an obstacle or fall off an edge. With no defined up and down, you will find other players above, below, upside-down and right-side-up relative to you. Many weapons will be scattered around the maps for players to obliterate each other with. It is really hard to describe how fun this game is, it really needs to be experienced first hand, and it's an experience that really only works in VR.




Customization: All games in the collection have customizable rigs. All customization is purely cosmetic and will not affect the balance of the game. Also, all custom items will be free always. It is my intent to keep the core of this game all about the fine-tuned combat. And aside from cosmetics, all games have variable rulesets and multipliers that can be altered on custom games. You can play the game any way you like. Alter the damage or ammo for each weapon, change weapon spawns for each map, there will be endless ways to customize the experience.

Community: This game is 100% community oriented. Beta tests are coming this winter and the community will be heavily involved in the development. This is meant to be a game that people want to play, community involvement will always be #1 priority. There will be more announcements in the future on how the community can interact.


If you like what you see please follow the project. An online game will be nothing without a community to play it. These updates will be posted on various outlets (links below). And the best way to support the project right now is to wishlist on Steam and stay tuned for the betas.

See you all next week!

-Michael

Official Site: https://www.pluggedvr.com/
IndieDB: https://www.indiedb.com/games/plugged-vr-action-arena
Discord: https://discord.gg/JxQqcDU
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PluggedVr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pluggedarena
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUgjXT59F8qKl1hNiThC7SQ

Fix Plasma Cutter sometimes crash the game.
Balance drop chance of elements.

Hey everybody!

After releasing 0.6.2 last week, I started working on 0.7. This is going to be a bigger update and it will try to address the biggest request from all of you: A game that's fun for longer than 30 minutes!

Update 0.7 will be the first to improve this by adding new and additional content like decorative furniture, new exercise equipment as well as upgradable variants (cheap, normal, expensive etc.). Furthermore, I will be spending some time to balance the game. I aim to make the game's pace a bit slower without making it boring, but I think that will work out fine because it's super quick right now.

As you can see in the cover image, I already went ahead and created the first two items to add to your gym: A decorative plant and mat. More will come soon!

If you want to check out more upcoming previews, make sure to join our Discord server!

Have a nice day!

::Patch Notes for Demo::

- Turned off enemy drops as we are dealing with a bug that occurs occasionally.

- Needed items to complete the level have been scattered across the dungeon.

- Updated Sprites for items.

-Added thought bubble to Astraia to indicate when something is nearby that you can interact with.

- Created tutorial screens to help introduce the player to the controls (only keyboard for now).

- Pause menu is still in development, but you can now use a healing item. However, the inventory slots are limited at this time visually. You will still have all items you pick up in the backend. Also, notes you find can be read in the journal.

- We are aware that to open the pause menu for the first time during a playthrough it does not open. You must click esc a second time to open it. This is a bug being worked on at this time.

- Updated cutscenes so the dialogue does not run automatically, rather needs to be clicked through to continue.

- Added an Action cost to the Dash ability.

- Minor bugs were fixed along with small updates to certain functions for backend purposes.