Hey there, friends!

Shane is here, and I'm glad we've met again, are you? :ls_heart:

This year is going to be full of new releases and surprises. I know we've talked about community items right before the New Year's hit, but today I think it's time to share some more information on what comes next!


Yep, that's right! Soon you'll be able to decorate your profiles with all-new animated backgrounds (even for mini-profiles!), user pics, trade new cards and use long awaited emojis!







Isn't it nice to have an animated frame for your profile picture? Can't show you how good it's gonna look, you'll have to find out yourself soon! But for now, I've sneaked into our files and stolen a preview for one of those. Shhh... Don't scare Jack off!




The love is in the air already, though it's still January, we have to be ready, right? Well, we're working on the bonus story. Old characters will meet you again, in the new diverse plot just in time for the St. Valentine’s Day, romantic story for all the horny boys out there! And I can even give you a hint on who's gonna come back! Do you recognize them? Name them down in the comments!



These are all news for today, don't forget to party with us in our social media! See you soon!

XOXO

Shane

It has been a while, but today we are very happy to announce a major update to Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. The most important new feature this update introduces is local co-op. Two players can join together to not only fight monsters and explore dungeons (as in Ys VIII), but also explore the city of Balduq. Beyond co-op, this update also brings support for aspect ratios narrower than 16:9 -- which is particularly useful on e.g. the Steam Deck's 16:10 screen -- and a number of more minor bug fixes which we have accumulated since the release. These will be detailed at the end of this announcement.

The local co-op feature allows two players to play Ys IX together, at every point in the story where more than one character is available.



Note that there is an in-game co-op setting which you need to enable in order for co-op to be available. Once this setting is enabled, the co-op player can drop in and out of the game using the "Start" (or equivalent) button on any non-primary controller, while the "Select" button on the secondary controller toggles the player ID indicators ("P1" and "P2") on and off.



Unlike Ys VIII, where co-op was mostly limited to combat, the second player is largely equivalent to the primary player in terms of capabilities in Ys IX, including movement and combat abilities, using Monstrum Gifts, discovering and triggering landmarks, enemies and events, opening chests, picking up collectibles, and initiating dialogue. Only interacting with menus and the map is restricted to player one.
Another significant improvement over the co-op feature in Ys VIII is that character switching is implemented individually for each player: that is, if there are 3 characters in the current party, players one and two can both independently switch to the currently-unused character without affecting each other.

Of course, given the experimental nature of this feature, there are some constraints and restrictions to keep in mind:

• You need two controllers to play in co-op (or one controller each for Steam remote play together), and it is not possible to re-bind the controls for the second player.
  
• There is shared camera control, and while the co-op camera code does its best to keep both players on screen, this takes some getting used to and requires a different approach to camera control than the single-player mode.
  
• The co-op mode is experimental, and in select situations sequences of specific actions could lead to a softlock (e.g. triggering some device which closes doors with the character controlled by player 2, and then logging that player out). Please keep this in mind.

We have completed 100% of the game in co-op at Nightmare difficulty during testing, and I personally think that it is an incredibly enjoyable way to experience Ys IX.

Previous versions of Ys IX used letterboxing for any resolution aspect ratio narrower than 16:9. In this version, all 3D scenes render at full resolution for aspect ratios such as 16:10 (even down to 4:3). 2D elements such as the menu or map screens will still be letterboxed as, just like for ultrawide, the effort to redesign all of these to be aspect-ratio-independent is prohibitive.



As you can see above, the Steam Deck benefits from this change with its 16:10 screen.

• Local co-op support
  
• Support for narrow aspect ratios
  
• The "Equip Screen Supersampling" graphics setting now also applies to the "Ritual Relics" screen

• Make sure that traps behave functionally the same at high framerates (>>60 FPS) as they do at the default framerate
  
• Fix timing of fades after video playback before Grimwald battles
  
• Fix spikes at Dry Moat Ruins boss not being shown with some settings
  
• Fix crash on startup when no audio devices are available
  
• Fix UI animation speed of Grimwald result screen at high FPS
  
• Fix a long-standing bug causing NPCs to get stuck on some ceilings after wall run
  
• Fix some English spelling issues

I am personally very much a fan of local co-op in games, and feel like too few RPGs in particular offer the option to play their main campaign in co-op. I hope this update brightens the day of my fellow co-op aficionados out there, as well as anyone playing on a 16:10 monitor or who is planning to get a Steam Deck of course.

- Peter "Durante" Thoman, PH3

PS: As always, you can use the "Betas" feature on Steam to revert to a previous version of the game in case something goes wrong on your system with this patch.

- Sunset summer map

- Night summer map

- Soviet flat interior

Sorry for the lack of content but it was important to fix a lot of bugs first but cheer up! You will have a little surprise in the next patch!


Changes
- Sword element skills added description
- Added mana regen on many food
- Snow repty reworked loot tables
- Snow slime reworked loot tables

Fix
- Necklace attributes disappear after using a rarity reroll currency
- Currencies: rerolling 'Void' effect freeze the game
- Keybinding key order of movement keys
- Electric boomerang: unable to ascend
- Electric boomerang: one effect is 'Void' instead of 'Chance to electrify'
- Monk (rapier) getup animation bug (sprite -1 not found)

Multiplayer Fix
- Pickaxe bug in multiplayer
- Players don't absorb HP/SP/MP orbs
- Soul magnet skill is never disabled when used
- Fast run gfx never end for other players when the skill is used once
- Soul harvester and soul crystallizer are not sync when you place an item inside
- Soul crystallizer craft is not sync
- Soul dispensers are not sync
- Clients can lose souls in soul thiefs and detectors

Hi! As we said, we were reading for your suggestions on future content packs, and we found a bunch of interesting ideas!

We've created a poll with the ones we found most interesting, so you can vote on the ones you prefer. Note that creating a content pack takes time, so it be a couple of months at least until it's ready.

Also note that while the most voted is the one that will get more priority, other themes may end up being done as well (no promises!).

Here's the vote link: https://strawpoll.com/e191xpa2y

Fix some language problems

1. Changed location of the easter egg. Looks like that before that all players, who received the corresponding achievement, found easter egg accidentally;
   
2. Changed main levels 2, 8, 11, 13, 16 (slightly changed) and 23;
   
3. Fixed "Random generation" inversion arrow tip, which stay after other levels with inversion (thanks for report to К.Воробьянинов);
   
4. Fixed displaying of mouse move tip;
   
5. Changed tutorial images with mouse controls;
   
6. Maximum (medium) settings get optinized, so now owners of old graphics cards will receive for about 25% more FPS without graphics changes;
   
7. Changed "Workshop" button to "Create / Load", to not get confused like its Steam Workshop;
   
8. Changed "Hotkeys" button image;
   
9. Model of available clicks next to tiles at levels with inverted controls rotated for a bit, but still experemental;
   
10. Total version (195) no longer displayed in the main menu, because before Steam release I count version every working day, but now bigger patches coming every week.

This patch was released at January 17, 2022, as planned.

Have a good game :)

KAT_Editor

Changes:
Eating items from the toolbar now displays the cursor so you can use the slider.

Bugfixes:
Fixed Graphics settings not reverting the resolution after the countdown.
Fixed an error in the saved recipe tooltips.
Fixed saved recipes not loading back after saving.

Hello there, fellow Cafe Regulars! ːctjorjiː

Did you know that Coffee Talk Episode 2 was teased a few months back? You can check out this video below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qCE1S4i90s
Did you know that Toge Productions celebrate its birthday on 17th January? For this special occasion, Toge Productions Anniversary Sale is underway right now! We are so grateful to be the first developer and publisher from Indonesia to receive this opportunity. It's even getting better with the announcement for the official demo release for Coffee Talk 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly! ːctcoffeeː

There are new stuff you can find in the episode 2. Are you curious about them?
You can try out Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly demo right now! Do check it out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1663220/Coffee_Talk_Episode_2_Hibiscus__Butterfly/

The demo for Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly will only be available only during Toge Productions Anniversary Sale. If you enjoy the demo, don't forget to wishlist the game as well ːctfreyaː

Toge Productions Anniversary Sale will be going on for two days from 17th January 10am PT to 19 January 10am PT. Also, don't forget to check out other Toge Production games as well, there are a lot of other fun games for you to play!

VANARIS TACTICS - DEMO IS NOW AVAILABLE!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599860/Vanaris_Tactics/

KRIEGSFRONT BATTLESCAPER - DEMO IS NOW AVAILABLE!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1703930/Kriegsfront_Battlescaper__Diorama_Editor/


Oh, and since this is our first news in 2022, we wish you all a Happy New Year!
Let's have a wonderful journey this year as we will announce more exciting stuff later on. And thank you for all your love and support as always.

Follow our social media not to miss any updates!




Please stay safe and healthy, friends!
Fully brewed with love,

Coffee Talk Team. ːctluaː

Greetings, Stalwart Tacticians.

Have you looked at our latest trailer for Vanaris Tactics? Take a look at this trailer if you don't miss anything out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESP9LUTato
After a few months of waiting, it's finally here. Are you intrigued to look at the struggle of Morgana, Adrien, and Nigel as the righteous rebels to fight their motherland? Try out the demo right now and see parts of their story intertwined. See how they struggle and fight as rebels to attain their freedom from Vanaris, a motherland once they called a home.

The demo will only be available on Toge Productions Anniversary Sale for two days from 17th January 10am PT to 19 January 10am PT.


You can play the demo directly with all of the main casts.


Check out some of the mechanics Vanaris Tactics has to offer.

If you enjoy playing the demo, don't hesitate to wishlist the game!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599860/Vanaris_Tactics/

Stay safe and healthy, Tacticians.
Cheers!

The Vanaris Team.

Follow us on Twitter!
twitter.com/VanarisTactics

Join our community!
http://discord.gg/toge