Now you won't get lost!
- New territories are marked on the map
- Simplified navigation through the Forest
- Fixed moment with the beginning of a new cycle

Greetings, Principals!
Another playtest result has come in and today we’ll be showing you a recap of the feedback we received. A big thank you to all 75 testers who tried out our 5th alpha build. Your feedback is always appreciated and is crucial to the game’s development. Now let’s jump into the results.

1. Time Allocation
As stated in our previous playtest recap, we hope to have a more balanced gameplay in VAHHS2. Our time allocation goal is a score of 5 to 6.5, which means testers have a balanced experience both in academy management and combat. In the 4th playtest testers rated the time allocation a 6.7, the current build has a score of 6.6 which still aligns well with our goal and we hope to maintain this score until release.

2. Comparison with VA:HSS
About 30% of our 5th alpha play testers have played the first VA:HSS game. Out of that 30% about half preferred the previous hack and slash combat system compared to the current turn-based combat. However, the majority commends the game’s new academy management system, let it be the enrolling and graduation aspect or scheduling and courses. The story is also a noteworthy increase from the previous game.

3. Changes from Previous Build
We’ve implemented most academy management features in the 4th alpha. However, in the 5th alpha we also added some new features such as the student promotion system and principal task. The principal task as stated before, are goals and task for principals to complete and can help players accustom to the academy. Letting them fully experience all it has to offer. More than 70% of our testers found the principal task helpful and easy to understand, giving it a score of 7.15.



Of course, we’re still further polishing the game so there are a few principal task bugs and issues here and there, but hopefully we’ll be able to get rid of those as the game gets closer upon release. One thing to note, we’ll probably add more principal task or clarification regarding student promotions. This is due to the fact that most testers quickly get the hand of scheduling and courses, however some testers completely missed the promotion feature.



Another thing we plan to work on is the combat tutorial. The combat introduction was changed for the 5th playtest; however, this was met with mixed opinions as some felt the combat was clearer in the 4th alpha. A combat tutorial is currently planned in the works, so hopefully that will help players understand the overall gameplay.

Buildings have also been improved, facilities are resized and have more varied models, the building upgrade layout have been modified as well, giving it a cleaner look. Building mood effects have also been updated to work properly with adjusted stats.



4. UI/UX Update
One of the major updates in this build though is the UI. We added new nameplates for the students, new icons, updated the notification feature, implemented in-game menu on quests, updated skill descriptions, and many more. Notification being one of the major updated ones, with added notification for students kicked out of their classes and we also added a student list.



The UI design gets a makeover as well, as you can see from the comparison above between the 4th and 5th alpha test. We made significant layout and background changes in the students tab. Courses description are updated, and the student stats are more organized. We’ll probably improve on the visual aesthetic of the UI next, also adding descriptions for some buttons as the game development progress. Recurring testers seem to appreciate the overall improved clarity, so that’s great news!

5. Combat
Testers who have played the prequel have mixed feelings about the new combat system, some like it, some still preferred the hack and slash system from the first game. This is expected, as turn-based combat is not for everyone. However, testers appreciated the combat length not being too long or short, hitting that sweet spot. Quest time and exploration are considered a bit shorter than expected, but still well received. Skill execution and defense break are still the most favorable aspects of combat. However, we do realize we might need to add more skill chains, gimmicks, and of course, balancing the overall combat.



6. Control
We improved the camera control making it more fluid and reactive, but we still want to improve on our camera speed and maybe add some camera invert options. Our feedback results also show that most of our testers use both keyboard and mouse control, although some messaged us that they actually prefer to use the controller. Something we were quite fascinated by and wonder about our audience. Are you a keyboard and mouse fan or more of a controller gamer? Let us know in the comments!

Overall progress is still going as planned. Some features were met less enthusiastically than we hoped, but nothing too far out of our expectations. We’re very glad that some returning players still like the game’s combat, despite the major change from the prequel. We’re also very appreciative of all the feedback we received, many of you made excellent suggestions and we hope we can implement some of them before release. If you have your own opinions and input for VA:HSS2 please feel free to tell us in the comments, or through our social media.

That’s all for the 5th alpha playtest recap, don’t forget to wishlist us and we’ll see you in the next one, Principals!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453640/Valthirian_Arc_Hero_School_Story_2/

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Hello fellow Zed hunters! Here comes a bunch of stuff,fixes, changes and added stuff for 0.61.

Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where you could shoot a bullet 2 times within split seconds from each other when holding the Shoot button, reloading and still holding the button.
  
• Fixed an annoying issue when holding the sprint button, quickly pressing the Aim button and shooting the weapon while releasing Aim, you would sprint and shoot at the same time. This is now fixed.
  
• Added Several collision boxes on placed players aren't supposed to be at, especially in the Aquapark and Cyber Alert!.
  
• Fixed an issue where you didn't respawn IF falling through the floor in the map Cyber Alert!.
  
• Fixed an issue when switching from sniper rifle (while holding RMB) to secondary or any other weapon, the Sniper HUD was still visible.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Scoreboard (TAB) could get stuck on the screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Bio Chainsaw would continue to run while sprinting.
  
• If unlucky, You could get stuck inside a Objective mesh (Shredding machine etc.) if it spawned at the same spot you were standing. The player will now be teleported to Player spawn if this happens.
  
• Fixed a bug regarding the Invincible Power-up and the Speed Power-up.
  
• If you pressed "Start Game" and quickly pressed "Change Map" You would get stuck, unable to click anything in the UI. This is now fixed.
  
• Fixed a bug where the drop chance for Supply drops (Ammo, health and Piggybanks) didn't increase from 3% to 8% during Boss wave in Endless mode.
  
• Fixed a bug where you could continue to shoot while stunned.
  
• Fixed a bug regarding showing wrong Total ammo for a weapon.

Changes:

• You can no longer damage the Boss when it spawns or during the cinematic. Only when the cinematic ends.
  
• Blood stains now get removed when jumping in the pool at Aquaworld!
  
• Gordon the Chef's (the Fat Zed) Health have been increased by 66%.
  
• Creeper's chance to stun a player have been increased from 8% per hit to 20%, making them a more prioritized target.
  
• Changing class at P.U.G.S now cost 700₹ instead of 1000₹
  
• Poison Grenade's Damage is reduced from 10 Damage per second to 5 Damage per second.
  
• The Suicide option in the Pause Menu now have confirm window to avoid accidental suicide.
  
• Commando's and Torpedo's Health Regeneration Perk now yields 2 health points per second instead of 1.
  
• M24/7 Eco Gun's Recoil have been reduced and Precision increased across all weapon levels.
  
• Swedish Hell Bomber's reload time have been reduced across all weapon levels.
  
• The Ammo Generator's Despawn time is now 10 minutes instead of 6.

Added:

• New Siren Head (Zed enemy) mechanic: When Siren Head's alarm ends and the Zed explodes (10 second fuse time), all nearby Zeds will enter Enrage mode, increasing their Health/Damage by 35%, and Speed by 50%.
  
• Bullet Penetration! Hefty Sweety Revolver and all Shotgun/Sniper weapons now have bullet penetration. Up to two targets can be killed with one bullet, the second target receives 60% of the weapon's base damage.
  
• Removing and replacing several placeholder images with new images for the weapons.
  
• Showers in the map Aquaworld!
  
• New Zed Enemy! The Acid Puke Master!! A fairly slow Zed with an Extremely high damage output and Healthpool. He's getting lighter for every puke he does, making him faster each time. Immune to explosives. Pro tip: Aim for the Gas tank sitting at his back (1/15th of Zed HP).
  
• Player Sliding Speed boost and Parkour Roll! You will now receive a small speed boost when entering Sliding mode, and pressing the Jump button while Sliding will make the player Roll on the ground.
  
• New weapon! Harry's Auto Popper: Fast shooting Fully automatic Sniper with low Recoil that deals decent amount of Damage. Medium Scope.
  
• New weapon! Vortex Blaster x2000: Shoots insanely compressed air together with a little bit of Uranium, dealing huge amounts of Damage around its destination. USE WITH CAUTION!
  
• 4 new Steam Achievements!
  
• A couple of new Daily challenges!

Coming in the next update:

• Bugfixes
  
• A new boss
  
• A new map
  
• Upgradable melee-weapons
  
• Fast Refill-option at P.U.G.S
  
• And more!

Tip of the day: Slide around the map to keep your Score Multiplier active!

Hello friend. It has been a while hasn't it? Here is a small update for Quiet as a Stone. I have fixed some bugs and things, I have even added some new content and features! It’s not as much as I wanted to do, and it's not as much as you all deserve but we make do with what time we have available to us don’t we? Now lets see…

* Project updated to the latest version of Unity. Was a bit of a trial but this should bring with it some general performance improvements and so on!
* Improved MacOS support.
* Native Apple Silicon Support.
* Photography Mode : The camera now has exposure controls. You can shift the current exposure up or down in 1/3rd stop increments. The default keys for this are ‘9’ & ‘0’.
* Photography Mode : The current position of the photo camera is now represented in-game using a nice model. Handy if you want to put objects in its view. You can toggle it on or off using the ‘-‘ key by default.
* The exposure controls also work when using the creative mode orbital camera. Should be useful if you find scene too dark.
* The spawn chance of some stones has been increased.
* Object Scaling : The maximum possible size of an object has been increased. The scaling audio FX are now quieter.
* Scattered or thrown items using physics will no longer fall off the edge of the world.
* Create Mode : The create menu now has extra objects. Environmental rocks, cozy looking buildings and lamps.
* The Player’s Guide has been updated. http://quietasastone.com/quietasastone_guide.html. You can also find it as a Steam Guide in the workshop.
* Various bug fixes and stuff.

- Update! Quiet as a Stone - Version 0.7.1 pushed. This should fix an issue with the text on the Apple Silicon build, plus a few other minor fixes and tweaks to the UI.

If you find Quiet as a Stone worthy please let people know in the reviews. It really helps. Please spread the word. :)

Hoping you find this all pleasant and agreeable,
-Rich

We are sharing another of Battle Bands Tour Mode NPC Bosses: The Scrap Titan!
This hulking machine lumbers through the scrapyard its pilot always improving the titan and screeching of his musical dominance. Beware this titan and it's angry pilot as they climb from the scrap to get energized and smash your stuff and your dreams of conquering Riff City!





https://store.steampowered.com/app/1322100

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Hello SnowRunners!

Another week, another modder to discuss with!

This time we’re welcoming CanuckRunner in Meet The Modder! *round of applause*

I first began gaming on an original Nintendo playing Blades of Steel and Super Mario Bros, eventually upgrading to a Super Nintendo when it was first released, and my love grew even more. My first foray into PC gaming was with Warcraft 2 and I was forever hooked.

As my name implies, I’m from Canada where we are very used to cold and snowy conditions. I always joke that our igloos melt each summer from the heat 😜 I’m a very humble person in my 30s with simple dreams and ambitions while normally keeping to myself. I work in Building Automation and Controls where I enjoy creating solutions for things that don’t communicate/work together with custom graphical user interfaces.

I’ve been part of the iX Modding Hub since its inception helping refine wonderful creations for the community to enjoy. As a result, I began to dream about different vehicles for the game and thanks to a conversation with PuppyMaster, I was really intrigued to get my feet wet. I began browsing different 3D model sites and came across a beautiful old ramp truck and immediately fell in love. The thought of introducing a vehicle into the game that didn’t exist really inspired me. Never did I imagine that something I did would end up available on gaming consoles and PCs for everyone to use. Even more was impressing the developers who awarded the Ramp Truck as July 2021’s most unique vehicle. Thank you!

SnowRunner is the first video game I have ever modded for.

This will be a two-part answer.

1. My favorite public mod would be the iX 3880 as it offers a unique experience for role playing or tackling any challenge in the game. Honorable mentions to Poghrim’s C-series Volvo’s as well as DeathCoreBoy’s Mack Defense.
   
2. My favorite personal mod is the SnowRunner Cup! It was my first fully scratch built attempt and implementation into the game before the Ramp Truck.

Mod: SnowRunner Cup

It would have to be my Ramp Truck. It’s truly a unique, niche vehicle that I’m sure no one would expect to find in SnowRunner. Just keep it away from deep mud and extreme obstacles.


Mod: Heritage 54 Ramp Truck

Dynamic weather conditions – Where white out blizzards reduce visibility and make surfaces more slippery to rain making the various terrain softer to traverse.

Everything. There really is no other off-road game like it out there to my knowledge that offers as much content and fun as SnowRunner does. I had no prior knowledge of past titles in the franchise, so I learned about SnowRunner on its release day when I watched someone stream the game and immediately bought it (on two platforms) and sunk hundreds of hours into it. You can use your imagination to create almost any role-play scenario or kick back with a few friends and help launch a rocket to outer space.

First - Understand that modding is not easy and requires great patience when starting out. I suggest tweaking current vehicles in the game to learn how the XML structure works while applying changes to see different results. Getting familiar with 3D language and software is essential. There are several wonderful tutorials to help learn different 3D software available based on your individual preference. Once comfortable, begin with small objects, such as add-ons, allowing yourself to become comfortable and learn the process from creation to export for in-game use. Examining the template vehicle Saber provides to learn aspects of the 3D model for game use, including the bone skeleton, while studying the provided guides will only help you understand the processes further.

Second – Ask questions! There are several modders and community discords that are available to help you out.

Third – Have fun! Modding is an adventure, not a race.

Yes. I’m currently working on two upcoming mods.
The first is a scout that will be released later this month – TRK Cargo Van



The second has been kept top secret until now. Based on the Oshkosh FMTV, here is a sneak peek at MEAN GENE.



I remember watching the movie Corvette Summer when I was young and always had a love for all generations of Corvette in general. It’s a dream to not only drive but own one someday.

As for SnowRunner, the International Fleetstar has my heart. It’s a delicious classic truck! The Derry Longhorn 3194 gets an honorable mention.

A bear. I’m a soft, gentle giant. But poke the bear and look out!

If you have questions you'd like to see added to these interviews, feel free to suggest them and we may add them! 🙂

Perfect Tides Beta v0.2

Welcome to the next chapter. Perfect Tides v.0.2 is chock full of bug fixes from the previous version - far too many to list. Thank you for your dozens of playtest notes that have helped tidy this game up significantly!

Some fixes in this version:

*many baseline and walk-behind issues fixed
*numerous typo fixes
*phantom NPCs cleaned up
*changing Walk Speed slider now changes walk speed alone, instead of game speed

New features in this update:

-Brand new season: Fall is now fully playable! Just play to the end of Summer to begin.
-Experimental new feature: Mara talks to herself to remind the player where they are. This is an unfinished feature, and will only work for the first few puzzles. Feedback on its usefulness is welcome (but it doesn't work great yet)!
-Hitbox hand: Trying out a visible pink hitbox pixel on the hand cursor. Perhaps this will help users click the object they want. Hitbox issues are still a work in progress!

Things that AREN'T in this update:

*Ability to back-scroll IM conversations (other than the very first one). This feature will be fully implemented in the next build.
*Full functionality of the Gardening mini-game. Please be aware (and forgiving) that this particular quest will be buggy and strange.
*Most NPC functionality. You still can't interact with many NPCs.
*Classroom mini-game: As the game itself will note, it is not finished, and you will simply skip ahead.

--------
Unfortunately, once again, this update will break save files. To restore your save: Right-click the game in your Steam library, go to Properties -> Betas, and select the branch of the previous version to make your save playable again. However, you won't be able to play the new chapter if you revert to an older version. Thank you for your patience as I figure these things out day by day!

Welcome to the video blog covering the development of Living The Deal!

Hoo boy, it's been a while since the last update, hasn't it? Let me fill you in on what I've been working on...

It's been almost six months in the making but now, finally, the game has a deep and strategical negotiation mechanic! In this episode, we take a look at the new and improved battle system, and explore some of the new features that have been added to make battles more interesting and compelling.

Living The Deal is a Business Management Role-Playing Game.

Rise from a nobody who's drowning in debt into a prolific deal-making negotiator as you navigate the lucrative trading world of Cedarwood City.

Be sure to manage your time effectively by balancing your work-life and well-being in order to survive. Explore the city, meet a variety of characters and learn their stories. After all, in a ruthless city like Cedarwood, you can never have too many friends.

You can learn more at http://www.livingthedeal.com

Wishlist the game on Steam: http://www.livingthedeal.com/buy

Follow updates about the game on Twitter: http://twitter.com/livingthedeal

Join the Discord - http://discord.gg/uNeCZB4


Don't forget to subscribe and follow the blog for more updates!
http://www.skatanicstudios.co.uk/blog/

Updates & changes

• Added volume setting for in-game videos.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed allegiance log event not disappearing (now it should behave like all the other log events)
  
• Fixed some minor Story mode bugs
  
• Fixed sound clipping issues after the boss death
  
• Market prices won’t reset anymore after loading the game
  
• Fixed rare bug when a player couldn’t buy out arrested buildings in Story Mode
  
• Players can now build an Aerodrome in Foscani Region where the preinstalled one has been removed.
  
• Fixed a lot of localization issues
  
• Fixed the lieutenant's personal quest "By Sea, Land and Air" for Los Grandes, Cerro Tacarina.
  
• Changes between building tiers in the research center are now displayed correctly.

Balance

• Updated plant growth areas in Cerra Tacarina

Known issues

• On some of the Windows versions (specifically if something has been done with the default Media Player) our animated intro causes the game to crash. The temporary workaround is to turn on “Skip movies” in the settings menu.
  
• Some Nvidia cards cause D3D to crash at start-up (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/256280/unreal-engine-is-exiting-due-to-d3d-device-being-l/)
  
• The main menu UI is bugged at some laptops - switching from Fullscreen to Windowed or Borderless usually fixes this.

This week's patch is another maintenance patch, with some tweaks and fixes, as well as map updates for the upcoming week

• Fixed an exploitable bug that could be abused to cause the server to crash
  
• Fixed bug where reloading in certain circumstances would show an extra or wrong magazine in hand during the reload
  
• Small tweaks to various level objects
  
• Updated a couple maps previously in rotation