Feb 8, 2022

Slime Research - nanimonull

Release Notes
- Player Character re-implemented in Obi Fluid (#AssetFlip HYPE)
- 6 of 18 levels from v2.4 beatable with v2.5 Beta Slime
- Dev levels added to pad out playtime (I recommend "dev_SlimeMovement")

Known Issues:
- Slime Core remotely calling Slime - Remote Slime may no longer respond after touching errant Slime particles
- Poor Fluid collision on Physics Spheres (breaking "Slime Containment Puzzle")
- Leaky One-Way Gates (Guess that's what $5 gets you)
- (UI) Build information blocks some menus, including Level Select
- (Click Here to see 27 more issues)

Beta Access
The beta is available in both Paid and Demo form.
After downloading the game:
- Find "Slime Research" in your Library, right click it, and then click "Properties"
- Click on the "Betas" tab, and then look for "Select the beta you would like to opt into:"
- Click on that, then on "beta - Fluid Sim Beta", and close the window!

Not v3.0?
Nope - While this is a MAJORBIG UPDATE (buy my game), it's still a Minor version number.
3.0 and Major versions will be saved for new features that require the Level Save Format to be updated.
Or in another way, in the event 2.X can NOT load a new 3.0 Feature - This could include new place able Level Objects/ Block Types, or new Slime Types.
On the other hand, Minor versions may include improvements to existing Characters, new Menus, maybe even a Minigame. These don't interact with "saved level data" and, much like this Fluid Simulation Beta, some BIG updates may only get Minor version numbers!

Before Buying
Try the Demo!
This game has very little existing content, with nearly a 1 in 5 Return Rate!
The Median Playtime at the time of writing is 29 minutes for Paid players, and 7 minutes for Demo players.
Plan on entertaining yourself in in a small number of levels, or experimenting with your own in the Level Editor!

"""Premium""" One-Way Floors - New-fangled Fluid Slime can't even walk proper on 'em yet...

Future Work
I'm hoping the remaining levels might be fixed by 2 issues:
- SR-76: Having Slime stick to Level Objects, as it does to normal Ground
- SR-77: Moving Slime around corners more generally/ deftly (based on climbing up stairs)

I'll be looking into these, and a myriad of smaller issues, over the next 2 weeks (!) .
And.... Maybe I'll finally get around to adding some background.

The beta "event" ends in two weeks, but Beta Access will remain until more Existing Levels are Beatable, and I release a new non-Beta version.
If/When I again decide to completely overhaul some pre-existing system - Maybe there'll be another Beta!

You, downloading the Free Demo

Hope you enjoy Slime Research!
- Scotty

Feb 8, 2022

Forts Tournament XXII

Forts - Romerolagus

G'day Forts fans!

It's tournament time again!

Tournament XXII will be a 2v2 Team Death Match event. As with Tournament XXI, we will once again be extending invitations to past 2v2 champions for direct entry. We will also be holding another qualifying event where anyone may compete to earn a spot in the tournament.

What past 2v2 champions you may ask? Anyone familiar with the Forts competitive scene will no doubt have guessed that we're talking about the Forts Pro League which was run by Reloflex for 2 seasons. The FPL was one of the primary forces behind the shifting meta, popularizing everything from the shotgun support base to tinydoors to anti-greed buzzsaws. Nearly every ranked and tournament champion was at one time a competitor in the FPL and we are more than thrilled to see them reunite in Tournament XXII.

Any finalist from seasons I and II of the FPL and the teammate of their choice will be granted direct entry into Tournament XXII without needing to qualify. Their teammate does not need to fulfill any requirements. Everyone else will need to compete in a qualifying event in order to secure their spot.

The qualifying event will be held on Feb 19th at 3PM EST and hosted by Bobereto and Project Incursus. Tournament XXII will take place Feb 26th at 3PM EST where our casting crew will also be joined by special guest EtaN, winner of Tournament XXI.

The FPL's legacy lives on

How will qualifying work?

Spaces in Tournament XXII will first be reserved for the previous winners and runners-up from Seasons I and II of Reloflex's 2v2 Forts Pro League who wish to participate. FPL finalists may pick any teammate and will be granted automatic entry directly into Tournament XXII. Additional teams may gain entry by signing up and competing in the qualifying tournament.

How do you earn entry into Tournament XXII from the qualifying tournament?

The remaining spots will be awarded to the top finishers of the qualifying tournament with tiebreakers held as needed.

How large will the qualifying tournament be? How many tournament XXII spaces will be available?

This will depend on the total number of entries and the number of FPL finalists who choose to enter. There will be a maximum of 8 positions in Tournament XXII.

What format will the qualifier have?

This will also depend upon the number of participants. We may use a mix of single elimination and double elimination rounds depending on the final size of the tournament in order to fit time constraints. We may also give first round byes to top seeds if there is an asymmetrical bracket, such as 12 total players.

Please note however. As before, both tournaments will also feature commander bans. At the start of each match both competitors will be asked to select the commander they would like to ban. The two banned commanders may not be chosen by either player for that game on penalty of immediate disqualification.

Seeds? How will players be seeded?

Players in the qualifying tournament will be seeded first on the basis of FPL performances if available. Then using Ranked and tournament history, otherwise randomly determined.

Tournament XXII seedings will first be assigned to any participating FPL finalists and for the qualifying teams on the basis of their results from the qualifying tournament.

If you have any additional questions please contact us on Discord.

In order to participate, you must do the following...

Join the Official FORTS Discord
Your name on Discord and Steam must match and include your team tag (see below)
Inappropriate competitor names will not be accepted
Send a direct message on Discord to Romerolagus#9918 with your team name, tag and roster
Team names must be 12 characters or less
Team tags should be 3 characters
Qualifying teams will also be asked to provide a team logo (128x128 pixels)
Entries will be accepted up until the the start of the qualifying tournament, Feb 19th 12PM PST
FPL I and II winners and runners-up (and partners) granted automatic entry into Tournament XXII
All other entrants must compete in a qualifying tournament on Feb 19th at 12PM PST
The qualifying tournament results will be used to fill the remaining Tournament XXI slots
Maximum of 8 total participants for Tournament XXII

Team Meme
[EWG] Knightsinclair
[EWG] Romerolagus

Sample Team and Logo

WHEN

Qualifier Tournament will be held Feb 19th, 2022 at...
12PM (PST West Coast USA)
3PM (EST East Coast USA)
8PM UTC/GMT (London)
9PM CET (France, Germany)
6AM AEDT (Eastern Australia)
Tournament XXII starts Feb 26, 2022 at...
12PM (PST West Coast USA)
3PM (EST East Coast USA)
8PM UTC/GMT (London)
9PM CET (France, Germany)
6AM AEDT Jan 16th (Eastern Australia)

WHERE

The FORTS Tournament lobby
The Tournament XXII Challonge
The Official FORTS Discord

RULES

2v2 Death Match
Double elimination
15 minute time limit
Tons of Guns enabled
Moonshot enabled
Portals enabled
Commanders enabled
Commander bans! Each team selects 1 commander to ban at the start of each game
Failure to honour the bans will result in immediate disqualification
Draws decided by core damage inflicted (total damage if same core damage)
Maximum of 8 teams
Check-in on Discord at least 15 minutes before tournament start
Late or absent players forfeit their matches
Use of exploits or bugs for self-charging or any other purpose is strictly forbidden.
Earthwork Games reserves the right to make changes to this event as needed

STREAMS

Bobereto
Project Incursus
With special commentator Nozehed

THE BATTLEFIELDS

Selected From Scratch maps included with Forts.

Cheers,
EWG

Feb 8, 2022

Launch Release Notes

Lost Ark - Roxx

Heroes of Arkesia,

For existing fans of Lost Ark and participants in our Closed Beta test, we wanted to compile a full list of changes and updates we’ve made since the last time you were able play. We’ve made a variety of updates, from new game content, new features, and store adjustments to westernization and moderation changes. For key timings and other non-update related launch details, check out our Launch Details Article.

GAME CONTENT

USER EXPERIENCE

Thanks to player feedback on the new Prologue experience during Closed Beta, we’ve added an additional "Welcome Challenge" feature. The Welcome Challenge helps guide new players through a subset of optional missions. Initial missions will support and teach players game mechanics and increase in complexity as you move into later areas of the game.
- The Welcome Challenge will be visible after reaching Prideholme with a new character.

CHARACTER & ROSTER UPDATES

Level cap increased to 60, up from 55 in Closed Beta. Each level earned after 50 grants the player additional skill points.
Roster level cap increased to 250, up from 100 in Closed Beta. Roster was previously called "Expedition Level".
Removed Summoner and added the Sorceress sub-class.

DUNGEON & RAID CONTENT

Three new continents added: Yorn, Feiton, Punika.
- Respective Field Boss Additions.
- Chaos Dungeons
  - Yorn Earth stages 1-4
  - Feiton Shadow stages 1-4
  - Punika Star stages 1 & 2
  - Punika Moon stages 1-3
  - Punika Sun stages 1-3
- Yorn / Feiton / Punika Chaos Gates have been added
During Closed Beta, content up to the Phantom Palace was available to players. For launch, we've also added the following Abyss Dungeons:
- Ark of Arrogance [Lamenting Road]
- Ark of Arrogance [Falling Proud Furnace]
- Gate of Paradise [Sea of Sloth]
- Gate of Paradise [Silent Karkosa]
- Gate of Paradise [Alaric's Sacred Ground]
- Oreha's Well [Eye of Aira]
- Oreha's Well : Oreha Preveza
New Guardian Raids Added:
- T3 Dark Legoros
- T3 Helgaia
- T3 Calventus
- T3 Achates
- T4 Frost Helgaia
- T4 Lava Chromanium
- T4 Levanos
- T4 Alberhastic
- T5 Heavy Armor Nacrasena
- T5 Igrexion
- T5 Night Fox Yoho
- T5 Velganos
We introduced the Shadespire Tower (Floors 1 - 50) during Closed Beta. For Launch, we've also added Fatespite floors 1-50. Either tower can be accessed via any major city.
Additional Cube instances have been added:
- Elite Cube (Normal)
- Dimension Cube (Normal)

ISLAND & SEA CONTENT

During Closed Beta roughly 70 islands were accessible. We are introducing 3 more continents for Launch (Yorn, Feiton, Punika) with 27 additional islands to discover and explore in the Procyon Zone.
Co-op quests added for Yorn Strait, Feiton Strait and Punika Strait (Sea Regions).
Sea Gates added:
- Gate of Earth
- Gate of Endurance
- Gate of Guidance
Additional Ghost Ships added:
- Feiton Ghost Ship
- Punika Ghost Ship

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES

Players can check for 4 types of content through Procyon's Compass (the widget that displays active content), or by accessing the Calendar in the top-left of the HUD for the full schedule. Activity times are based on the local time of the server's region.

If you drop out or leave the area while participating in these activities, the reward counter will not increment and you will have another chance to earn a reward.
Field Bosses, Chaos Gates, and Ghost Ships
- Following the day-of-the-week schedule, the Field Boss, Chaos Gate and Ghost Ship activities will take place every hour between 10am until 5am on the next day.
- You can participate every hour, but you will not get any additional rewards once you’ve exhausted all opportunities to receive rewards. The limits are:
  - 1 reward per day for Field Boss and Chaos Gate activities. Opportunity to receive rewards will reset every morning at 10am UTC + 0 .
  - 1 reward per week for Ghost ship. Opportunities to receive rewards will reset on Wednesday at 10am UTC + 0.
Adventure Island
- Following the schedule listed on the in-game calendar, the same Adventure Island will unlock 3~4 times a day.
- On weekends, a total of 2 groups of Adventure Islands will appear within the schedule. Example: Ghostwhisper Island / Lagoon Island / Snowpang Island x3 *and* Monte Island / Harmony Island / Phantomwing Island x3.
- Adventure island has two types of rewards:
  - Permanent Rewards: Island Tokens and Skill Runes, which are obtainable once per Roster.
  - Repeatable rewards: Gold, Silver, Card Packs & Pirate coins, which can be obtained once a day per Roster.

STRONGHOLD CONTENT

Stronghold Knowledge Vault has been added. With the 'Knowledge Vault,' you can take progress that has already been experienced on one character and transfer it to a different character on the same account.
- You can use the Knowledge Vault by completing the following:
  - Complete the Stronghold quest ‘First Steps"
  - Progress a character to level 50
  - Complete North Vern’s main quest 'Ealyn’s Gift’
  - Complete the 'Nothing is Impossible for Cykins!' quest offered by the Stronghold's Butler, Adeline
- When receiving knowledge transfer, you can only transfer knowledge for 1 continent at a time. Transfers go in order of the storyline, starting from North Vern.
- Once knowledge transfer has begun, you cannot cancel. You cannot do instant complete.
- Characters receiving a knowledge transfer cannot use Power pass.
- Knowledge Vault will be available for North Vern up to Feiton.

EVENTS AND REWARDS

Similar to Closed Beta, we will be running an attendance bonus event at the start of Launch. Adventurers will be able to claim various rewards each day they login.

IMPROVEMENTS & QUALITY OF LIFE

Improvements made in support of Player Safety, including reporting for messages and entity names.
Updated Guild menu UI/UX.
Polished and updated the store UI.
Added the ability for users to add an account (similar to adding their roster) as a friend and display which character they're currently playing on - friends lists are no longer locked to characters.
Added the ability for players to display themselves as AFK and provide a message to other players attempting to interact with them.
Integrated presets have been added, allowing players to create presets that consist of a variety of feature specific presets (cards, skills, gear, gems and more).
DirectX11 support has been added as the default setting. A player can switch made to DirectX9 mode if they feel their performance is affected. Once in-game, press ESC to go to the Game Menu, click the Settings gear icon, and go to the Video tab. DirectX 9/11 mode can be toggled at the top of this settings screen.

NEW FEATURES

We are including 15 playable classes.
- To match the Sorceress release in Korea, we will also include the Sorceress advanced class, replacing the Closed Beta option of the Summoner.
- The Striker class has also been introduced since Closed Beta.
Global Chat has been added to allow players to communicate with others in other worlds of the same server region.
- Each chat room can hold a maximum of 100 players.
- Players can see the previous chat logs before they enter the room and chat messages that were sent when they have logged-off.
Korean VO has been added as a DLC pack on Steam. Please note this only affects spoken dialogue to allow players to experience the original VO of the game. Text options are restricted to English, French, German or Spanish.
For a full list of Accessibility features added, please visit our accessibility options article.
- Text-to-Speech Accessibility is available for reading chat messages. Additional improvements have been made after Closed Beta Feedback. To use this feature, players have to activate Windows Narrator outside of the game. Once the "TTS" setting is turned on in-game, chat messages or text typed will be read aloud by Narrator.
- Speech-to-Text Accessibility is available for transcribing voice chat in a Party or a Raid. To use this feature, players must turn on the setting under Game Settings >> Community >> Chat and must participate in a Party voice chat.
Added the Room Of Growth, which is accessible after completing the Northern Bern World Quest "Afterimage of the Rift". This feature allows you to experience and learn additional game modes that Lost Ark has to offer, such as mounts, pets, crafting, engraving, disassembling, and refining.
Added Procyon's Compass - Adventurers will find a menu accessible through a Widget that showcases the active Field Bosses, Ghost Ships, Chaos Gates, and the current Adventure Islands.
Added Adventure Island - This is a new activity that directs users to islands that are only available during certain times. Once on the island, you'll be given a co-op quest and must face a boss in order to receive a variety of rewards.
Custom PvP matches and spectating has been added.

WESTERNIZATION

Free-to-Play Focused
- As we expressed in previous release notes, Amazon and Smilegate RPG worked together in fine tuning contents. One example is “View More” boxes in raids are now obtainable with Gold instead of Crystal.
Moderation
- Mechanisms and messaging have been put in place to support player safety, keeping Arkesia free from behavior that is against our code of conduct.
Language Filtering
- Additional improvements have been made on our language filter after feedback we received in Closed Beta. We will continue to watch this post Launch and make adjustments as needed.
Currency Exchange
- Updated the Currency Exchange make it more understandable on what's being exchanged and earned through the auctions.

Power Pass / Adventurers Path
- Power Passes allow players to progress already-experienced content quickly on additional characters, so more classes and content can be experienced. There are two ways a Power Pass will be provided to Adventurers:
  - When the player completes the Main Quest (Ealyn’s Gift) from North Vern, a single Vern Power Pass Token will be provided via in-game mail.
  - After using the first Power Pass, a second Power Pass will be granted to players via in-game mail.
  - After two Power Passes are received, you will not be able to earn a third Power Pass this way.
- Only two Power Passes can be earned per game account.
- The Adventurers Path can be started immediately after consuming the Power Pass on an alternative character.
- This feature compresses the level 10 - 50 segment for an alternative character through a story told by Beatrice.
- It will guide you on the essentials and progression, specific to your class, allowing you to re-live the content quickly through the new character.
- Completing the Adventurers Path quest chain will equip your character with the gear appropriate for Vern content.

STORE

Post Closed Beta, we collaborated with Smilegate RPG in fine tuning products to accommodate the market of Western players.
- The full store will be open starting at Head Start including Mari's Secret store, set with its own schedule.
- Crystalline Aura will be available at Launch and is the exclusive premium service for the Western users.
  - This service allows adventurers to enjoy an array of convenience functions. These benefits will be differentiated from other countries and can be found listed in the shop for each Founders Pack
  - Additional functions will be added to the Crystalline Aura at Launch.
Odds Information
- Some products acquired with Crystals or Royal Crystals that are purchasable in the store contain random rewards. The breakdown of the odds of receiving those rewards will be published online on our odds page.
- This link can also be accessed through the in-game Store.

Our Known Issues List for the launch build can be viewed here:

Thank you for your support! We can’t wait to see you in Arkesia.

Feb 8, 2022

Character Spotlight: Ares (5.1.6)

Cross of Auria - Hardytier

This update allows the collection of the new character Ares. Ares is a discoverable unit in the Den An'ura Encampment who fights using ranged weapons. More details below.

Note: 5.1.6 will be available for download by the end of tomorrow night. Check your game version in the Info section of the home screen.

5.1.6 [Build #124, Release Date: February 08, 2022]
New:
- The gate in the Encampment is now unlockable with the Pristine Arrowhead!
- During the Orc War, the An'ura Expert can be found in Port Reception. If the quest was started in Auria, she won't react to the player having given her the An'ura Documents. However, the rest of the quest will progress the same regardless of where the next steps are completed. After the Orc War, she returns to the Grand Library in Auria.

Character Spotlight: Ares

- Draw & Barrage. Draw will add one to the internal barrage counter. Barrage will perform one basic attack for every point added by draw Draw and reduce one from the counter until the counter is 0. If Ares is killed via counterattack or the battle ends before the counter reaches 0, the forced attacks are considered attempted but failed and the counter will still reduce to 0. Draw cannot be used out of combat and the counter only diminishes from the Barrage ability. In other words, they can be stored in one battle and used in another. If Barrage is used to end a battle, all remaining points in the counter are lost. Ares learns Draw and Barrage at level 1.
- Craft & Beast Shot. Craft will allow Ares to combine one Arrowhead and one Short Stick into an Ares Arrow. This skill can be used out of combat. To use craft, Ares must expend 100 TP. Beast Shot will fail without an Ares Arrow in the inventory. On success, Beast Shot fires a single arrow for (a.atk * 16) damage, four times that of a normal attack. Beast Shot has a physical damage type and does not benefit from Normal Attack alterations. Additionally, Beast Shot has a 5 turn cooldown and does not cost or generate TP. Ares learns Craft and Beast Shot at level 10.
- Prime Shot. Prime Shot increases the potential damage of future Prime Shots by 0.5 per usage. Damage formula ((a.atk * 4 + (v[PrimeShotModifier]/2) - (b.def * 2)). Just like Electric Alignment for Ruby, this modifier in uncapped.

Skills Learned by Level-Up
- Prime Shot (Lv. 1)
- Draw (Lv. 1)
- Barrage (Lv. 1)
- Rapid Shot (Lv. 6)
- Impact Shot (Lv. 9)
- Craft (Lv. 10)
- Beast Shot (Lv. 10)
- Fire Shot (Lv. 12)
- Arcane Shot (Lv. 14)
- Multi-Shot (Lv. 17)
- Volley Shot (Lv. 22)
- Poison Shot (Lv. 26)
- Ignition Shot (Lv. 30)
- Lifelink Shot (Lv. 42)

Fixes:
- Veil portal cancel actions no longer force the player to walk 1 tile down.

Updates & Changes:
- Removed the temporary Veil chest containing congealed items, tomes, flasks, and snowflakes.
- Hit Rate on all player classes increased to 100%. From now on, chance to miss will be handled only by enemy Evasion Rate.
- Hit Rate on Archer class increased to 115%.
- The An'ura researcher will give a reward upon returning to her with Ares in the party.

Edit before version release:

Additional Fixes:
- Adjusted empty battles in Heart of the An'ura.

Additional Changes:
- Added a Weak Tool Kit next to the Recipe Book chest in Heart of the An'ura for players who had already defeated the Hive Mind before the tool kit was added to the loot pool.