Hi everyone!

Today I want to talk about two things - one is a new experiment that we are running for an alternative ship appearance browser in empire generation, and the other is the Q&A session that we held during PDXCon.


Currently in Empire creation, when selecting the appearance of your ships, we display a preview of a sample ship utilizing your empire's colors.



Current Ship Appearance Selection

We have a bit of an experiment coming that will be rolling out to a portion of you soon that temporarily replaces this with an in-game ship browser that lets you switch between any ship and manipulate them so you can get a better look at them from different angles.


Cropped 3D Ship Preview

In our quest to constantly improve Stellaris we want to measure what impact a change like this can have, so that it would be easier for us to know how to prioritize these kinds of changes in the future. If everything goes well, the change will become permanent for everyone going forwards.

If you end up in the trial, we'd love to hear what you think of it!


During PDXCon, we hosted a developer Q&A session on the PDXCon Discord server, with seven of us answering almost a hundred of your questions. It was a tremendous amount of fun and we hope to be able to schedule more of these. (Most likely on the Stellaris Official Discord server. Join us!)

Here's the transcript of the questions and the answers, as well as a rundown of all the Stellaris panels and activities during this year's PDXCON.

Next week we'll give an early peek at our autumn plans, after which we will take a break from dev diaries for the summer.

See you next week!

• Added bows as a new weapon type.
  
• Added 13 new Bow items.
  
• Added 3 new Skills (requires a bow).
  
• Added new animations for player Skills.
  
• Added an FPS counter to the options window.

• Pets now have larger range of attack.

• Fixed missing attack animations for reeters, spiders and snakes.
  
• Fixed blood elementals resetting their idle animation too quickly.
  
• Fixed level up popups not disappearing if not connected to steam.
  
• Fixed some enemy levels not displaying the correct number.
  
• Fixed a bug where returning to the main menu could result in the character select menu not working correctly.

We want to thank you again for your reception! Another day in Free to Play New and Trending!

This morning we launched an update fixing a critical bug with the sensitivity that appeared with yesterday's hotfix. This one, however, focuses in adding a little bit of content and polishing.

Changelist:

• The Sniper's turret can no longer target traps, only enemies.
  
• The Sniper's turret, when placed in the air, stays in that position instead of appearing on the ground.
  
• The turbine works now! If it receives damage, it starts to shoot lightnings damaging the player, ally units and enemies. After some time, it explodes dealing big area damage.
  
• When finishing a level and deactivating traps, their lights turn off, indicating that they are inactive.

Hey players, go grab your sabers because the Interscope Mixtape just launched in Beat Saber! Check out our first cross-genre collection featuring 7️⃣ music hits from some of the biggest artists brought to you by Interscope Records!

We selected a truly incredible list of famous beats:

💿 OneRepublic - Counting Stars
💿 Kendrick Lamar - DNA.
💿 The Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha
💿 LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock - Party Rock Anthem
💿 Limp Bizkit - Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)
💿 Maroon 5 - Sugar
💿 Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape ft. Akon

Except for a new music pack, we also added:
- Materials with lightmaps support in environments.
- Music loudness correction.
- Visual tweaks and fixes.


Have fun everyone!

Added new levels.
100% of achievements are available.

Welcome to the Kourend Chronicles, a six-part series of tales from Kourend's murky past! You can see a full list of all the stories so far on our A Kingdom Divided round-up.

---

The rain hissed across the cobblestones as the thief swept silently through the shadows. At this time of night, in this weather, the streets of Kingstown were practically deserted. But through the rain she could just make out the silhouette of her target, shifting from foot to foot as they huddled beneath the doorway of Councillor Hughes’ former residence.

Despite the miserable weather, the thief felt a shiver of excitement run up her spine. Since the arrest of Councillor Hughes a few weeks ago, the Saviours of Kourend had been surveying the area to see if the Cult of Yama returned to the scene of the crime – but this was the first time anything interesting had happened.

As the door opened and the hooded figure hurried inside, the thief dashed forward. A convenient gap in the wrought-iron fence let her wiggle through and scuttle over to the window. She wiped away the grime with the corner of her sleeve. From here, she could clearly see the dining room, and the overhang of the eaves let her shelter a little from the rain, too.

It didn’t look like a demonic ritual. The former councillor’s home was brightly lit by candles. There wasn’t a cobweb in sight. On the table, where the thief had expected to see unnameable implements and bloody chalices, was a tastefully painted ceramic fruitbowl. The thief tried not to feel too disappointed.

The hooded figure removed their cloak and hung it up on a hatstand by the door. He didn’t look much like a cultist, either. He was old, almost entirely bald except for the ring of lanky grey hair hanging about his ears. In every other respect he looked like every other person in Kingstown – posh, maybe, but not a demon-worshipping madman. Then again, Sophia Hughes had looked the same up until her arrest.

The man remained by the door, still shivering from the cold. The thief craned her neck to see if she could spot who he was speaking to, but her view was obscured by an ornate trophy cabinet. She was about to climb back through the fence to see if she could get a better vantage point when a snippet of conversation caught her interest.

“We must do something about the girl,” He said.

What girl?

The thief settled back down among the roses.

“No. It’s too soon. It would only arouse further suspicion,” said the other person in the room. It was another man, the thief guessed, and the voice seemed familiar, though she couldn’t place it.

“Too soon?!” The man by the door scoffed, “I’d say we’re nearly too late. Sophia is in prison.”

“Councillor Hughes will not betray us.”

“How can you be sure?

For a moment there was no sound but the pitter-patter of the rain against the eaves. Then the hidden figure spoke.

“When we began this enterprise, we made an agreement –“

“And you think she’d keep to it? The woman’s mad. Conducting insane rituals, dealing with demons – how can we still trust her, after all this?”

“Calm yourself,” the other cultist snapped.

“If Sophia goes to trial, and lets even the tiniest thing slip…”

“Councillor Hughes will let nothing slip. She will not get the chance.”

The man by the door opened his mouth but ultimately remained silent. Outside the window, the thief closed her eyes and did her best to commit the conversation to memory.

“Do you need further assurances?”

The man by the door shook his head.

“Speak up, will you?”

“No,” he said. “I understand.”

“Now what’s this about the girl?”

The thief’s ears pricked up again.

“We’re already under so much scrutiny. Lawry can hardly be trusted, and there’s the matter of this adventurer, poking their nose in where it doesn’t belong…”

“Oh, please,” the other cultist dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “We’ve taken every precaution.”

“And what if it’s not enough?”

It was the other cultist’s turn to hesitate.

“Listen, I’ve had years to think this through. The only way we can protect ourselves is to be rid of the witness. Wouldn’t that be kinder than all this cloak and dagger nonsense?”

A shadow passed over the window and the thief ducked out of view beneath the sill just in time.

“We’ll just announce that she passed away,” the cultist continued, darkly. “Who would question us?”

“What is this really about?” the other cultist asked.

A fearful silence descended. When the cultist by the window spoke again, he did it so quietly that the thief had to strain her ears to hear.

“What we did – what we’ve been doing – it’s terrible. Evil.”

“It’s what you agreed to,” said the other cultist. “It’s what we all agreed to.”

“And when we get caught? The five houses will have our heads.”

“If we get caught. Follow the plan and everything will be fine.”

Above the window, the cultist made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

“Fine? Don’t tell me you still believe what that man – that thing – told us? You don’t really think he’s just doing us a favour, do you?”

“Be very careful what you say,” the other cultist hissed. “You never know who might be listening.”

Beneath the windowsill, the thief froze. But at the sound of footsteps across the wooden boards she exhaled slowly, before peeking into the window again. From the back, the man looked a little more familiar – but she still couldn’t place him.

“Perhaps you’re right.” The other cultist’s voice was perfectly neutral.

The man looked up at him expectantly.

“But it doesn’t matter. One way or another, the girl will soon be removed from the equation. Then nothing will stand between us and absolute power.”

The first cultist sighed. Whether in relief or exasperation, the thief couldn’t tell. Her thoughts were racing. A girl, a witness, a stranger, a terrible crime… what did it all mean?

“What about the potion?” The second cultist asked.

“All prepared. I’ll deliver it within the week.”

The second cultist nodded, satisfied.

“Then let’s try and keep our heads until this situation resolves itself.”

The pair were making their way towards the door. The thief hesitated, unsure if she should follow them. In any other situation she’d be loathed to abandon her watch, but this was urgent. If there was a witness to be dealt with, the cultists could only be talking about one girl. She had to warn her before it was too late – there was not a second to waste.

As the first cultist wrapped himself in his cloak and said his goodbyes, the thief darted out through the fence and raced as quickly as she could back towards the Warrens. There would be time to find the cultists later. Right now, she had to get home.

The Queen was in danger.

If you own the main game and buy Operation Eagle, or have the Deluxe edition (not Kickstater or backers edition), then you’ll unlock:

• The new Usonia Faction with over 20 new units
• The Usonia Campaign (Singleplayer & Coop) with 7 brand new missions and more than 25 minutes of new cinematics
• Three new playable heroes
• New flying units for all factions
• New anti-air defences for all factions
• New multiplayer maps
• New playable allies in the Usonia campaign
• Dozens of new skins & seasons to come

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1341702/Iron_Harvest__Operation_Eagle_DLC/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/826630/Iron_Harvest

This means if you buy Operation Eagle, but not the main game, you can:

• Play the full Usonia Faction Campaign
• Play all the new multiplayer/skirmish/custom matches maps
• Play on the new maps as host of a custom game
• Play Polania campaign missions 1-5 (Tutorial)
• Play multiplayer/skirmishes with Usonia or Polania
• Choose from a selection of multiplayer/skirmish and challenge maps

It is always a pleasure to work with the astute archivists of the Templin institute to add more flavour and lore to the amazing world of 1920+. They’ll be airdropping the latest lore later today (Thursday May 27th) at 21:00 CEST and Streaming an hour later.


Familiarize yourself with the forces of Usonia with this faction reveal video.


As with all things Iron Harvest, Operation Eagle will take you on an expansive story arc where morality is neither black nor white. Will Usonia be conqueror or oppressor?



As a thank you to our community, we are offering many physical goodies from the Deep Silver Collector’s Edition. These are different to, and available separately from, the backers rewards which will hopefully begin shipping this summer.

Click Here To Enter The Goodies Giveaway!

Join Sir Tobi and The Iron Doctor as they fly high and offer plenty of chances to win physical goodies. Join in the shenanigans here!



We’ll also be celebrating with our crazy friends the Lords Of Gaming on the Iron Lords podcast. We had a ton of laughs last time and we’re sure this time, with the added fun of Usonia, it’ll be a blast ;) Join us here!


While airships are cool, one of the best things about Iron Harvest is the community and the events you organize. The pro and casual competitive scene has evolved and grown a lot since release. It continues to be our great pleasure to watch and support this.

Click here to read the rules

With the arrival of Usonia, the multiplayer game has been thrown wide open and so there is everything to play for. We’re looking forward to seeing your strategies adapt.


Thanks to players feedback, we’ve implemented a ton of changes to improve the game experience when playing against A.I.

• We’ve reworked how the A.I. chooses which units are most effective for the current task or for destroying certain units
• The A.I. is more responsive when they detect hostile forces and groups start building combat strategies immediately
• We’ve revamped the A.I. at all difficulty levels to make them more distinct from each other. In particularly, Easy and Insane are affected the most, with Easy no longer idling for extended durations, while Insane will put up much more of a fight throughout the entire duration of a match
• We’ve tweaked A.I. at all difficulties to use unit abilities where available and applicable
• The A.I. now features an improved decision making in combat situations, resulting in better strategies when to push or to retreat
• Unit A.I. is now prevented from relentlessly chasing retreating enemy units. They will break off pursuit after a brief period if they can't kill their target
• Increased the chance that the A.I. will use small unit groups to quickly conquer objectives
• A.I. now deals with barbwire more intelligently, either cutting or navigating around it
• Reduced the chances that A.I. will all-in rush your base at the start of the game

As a result of all these improvements we’ve had to adjust the main campaign maps to restore their original spirit. This increased the general campaign difficulty which we then reduced again through other means while still keeping the smarter A.I. and enemy behaviours. Therefore, many old campaign maps are now more responsive, dynamic and fun than ever before!

General Changes:

• Fixed a rare case whereby you could target your own units with attack and abilities. For example, Gunter can no longer target allies, and himself, with his punch ability
• Fixed an exploit that allowed building multiple HQs in team games
• Tons of smaller fixes and improvements

These changes and improvements regrettably, but unavoidably, mean that in-mission saved games files from before this update are invalidated. We apologize for this inconvience but campaign progression is unaffected.

Balance Changes:
For skirmish/multiplayer, Usonia changes everything. Everyone will be experimenting with them to figure out what works best. As the chaos on the battlefield unfolds, we will be monitoring the game closely, collecting game data and making assessments. It will require time for the dust to settle, but no doubt we will have to modify the games balance once an accurate picture emerges.

Our Official Discord Channel!
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Devs are also streaming on Twitch!

Welcome to the Kourend Chronicles, a six-part series of tales from Kourend's murky past! You can see a full list of all the stories so far on our A Kingdom Divided round-up.

---

I am pleased to report that we have successfully retrieved the majority of the items in the Redoubt, with the exception of the Hammer itself. We expended just two assistants in the course of our investigation, and there is no hurry to replace them.

More importantly, it seems our assumption was correct. Each one of Dinh’s creations – with the exception of a few early experiments – are made from the same metal, and infused with the same magic you and I have become familiar with. Although the metal has proved unusually difficult to melt down, I have no doubt in my mind that should we find a vein of the appropriate ore, it would only be but a matter of time before we could fit our strongest soldiers with similar weapons and armour – in fact, I would highly recommend it.

However, there have been some… concerning developments. Several of my assistants, and even some of the guards, have reported a feeling of unease when working with the objects. Now, as you know, I have very little time for such superstitious nonsense. But it seemed unusual for the lizardmen to be affected. So I experimented.

Alone in a well-lit chamber with one of the lesser artefacts, the first human subject lasted four hours and twelve minutes before reporting deep unease and requesting to leave. Their lizardman counterpart managed six hours and twenty minutes.

Overnight, the results changed dramatically – one assistant (who has since been reprimanded) attempted to hurl one of the objects out of the laboratory window after just three hours and seven minutes. He is currently in the cells. This morning I found him cowering beneath his bunk, babbling about ‘being watched’.

Having determined that no physical effects resulted from the exposure, I of course attempted the experiment on myself. Armour and weapons that strike deep fear into our enemies would, of course, be highly beneficial – but unfortunately, after one night’s vigil, I was unable to pinpoint the source of the subjects’ fear. In fact, I felt remarkably at ease. I’d go so far as to say that I feel a kind of kinship with these objects – a strange sense that they want to aid our cause.

Still, should we seek to build on Dinh’s designs for our own armoury, I recommend doing away with the - admittedly striking - eye motif. Perhaps your own symbol would be a good replacement?

Before I sign off, there’s also the other matter you asked me to look into. I can confirm that the Bulwark of legend was among the artefacts abandoned in the tower – and if the rest of our contact’s information is solid, then I will also concede that it does indeed share some similarities with the Doors of Dinh.

It’s my hypothesis that the Bulwark was intended as some kind of early prototype – but it’s missing some key factor that made the Doors fit for purpose, an issue I discovered quite by chance after freezing an assistant during testing. That one will need replacing, I’m afraid.

How much do we know about Dinh’s life? His interests? His… allegiances? I sense the power of the Dark Altar in his work, but cannot entertain the idea that this lowly smith somehow learned more about it than you or I have managed. No, he must have obtained this power by some other means.

In any case, this missing piece of the puzzle has given me an idea. If we did decide to follow our contact’s proposed course of action and weaken the Doors, all we’d need to do is remove - or weaken - this extra layer of protection. We already know that without Dinh’s knowledge and expertise, the Doors cannot be repaired to the same standard. He took no apprentices. His hammer is well-defended, in territory we control. I’m not suggesting that we indulge our contact’s ridiculous plan, of course - but if managed carefully, the weakening of Kourend’s only defence against the Wintertodt would make a marvellous distraction from our true goal.

Regardless, it’s something of a moot point. When such powerful magic is involved, any disruptive action would be on the scale of decades, not days.

But I suppose there’s no harm in having a contingency plan. We have all the time in the world.

Yours faithfully,

X

Hey, detectives!

Today is the launch of one of our Raw Fury-family games – both games feature anthropomorphic animals! The Longest Road on Earth is a game that revolves around its music with over 24 tracks sung by Beicoli, one of the developers. There aren’t any raccoons in this one, but there is a baby moose, so that’s pretty cool.



Check out The Longest Road on Earth on Steam, iOS, or Android now!

Hello everybody,


Since the game has change quit a bit since the last demo we wanted to make a new one to have something close to the actual game.

This new demo let you play the first two level of the game with a boss at the end exactly like in the full game.