Apr 16, 2022

Absinthia - more screenshots and Kickstarter info

Knight Bewitched - SANIC

Hello again!

Not too long ago I made a small update to Knight Bewitched to add a button to Knight Bewitched' title menu that links to the Absinthia Kickstarter pre-launch:

Click here to follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page so you can be notified when it goes live!

With that out of the way, let's talk Absinthia news, starting with a WIP of the new cover art:

If you're wondering who these characters are: On the left is Freya, one of Absinthia's protagonists. On the right is Ruthea. If her name sounds familiar, that's because she's the great-granddaughter of a certain hero you already know about :)

And more screenshots!

(I'm still working on the lighting. Forgive me!)

The Absinthia Kickstarter

I'm still working on accruing followers for the Kickstarter campaign as well as securing a publishing deal for a Nintendo Switch port. With that said, I'll likely be delaying the campaign until late May-early June (originally I planned on launching the Kickstarter by late April)

I've also adjusted the goal to $22,000 (down from $23,000) and added a few small rewards. I'll share more info about the exact reward tiers and their dollar amounts once an official date is set, but for now, here's a quick overview on the rewards. New stuff is highlighted in bold:

Digital copies of Absinthia
Desktop Wallpapers and OST
Digital copies of Knight Bewitched and Celestial Hearts
Early Access (at least 1 month in advance)
Special Discord server role*
Leave an in-game message on a poster, grave, or book
Design a Legendary Weapon
Design an NPC (looks, name and dialogue)
Design a monster
Design a boss
Design a quest + NPC
Design a dungeon + NPC, quest, boss & boss loot

*We'll be launching an official Team Bewitched Discord server soon!

Once again, you can click here to follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page. The more followers I get, the sooner I launch!

And one more reminder--If you're interested in playing Absinthia, a demo is available on its Steam page.

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to DM me on Twitter or email me at Jkweath (@) gmail.com.

Apr 16, 2022

Development Digest April 8th - 15th

Swords 'n Magic and Stuff - Louis

Hi there!

Louis here. Janna and Michael are taking a few days off for their birthdays, so I’m in charge of the digest while they’re gone - and boy, do I have one for you this week.

Wendy’s hard at work in Bone Reach right now, as part of our plan to keep on top of zone updates so that we can ensure they release in a timely fashion without speedbumps between each zone. As you may have heard, the Windless Woods will be our next zone. So while that’s in the detail phase (encounter design, quests + narrative, towns + NPCs) Wendy’s blazing ahead with blockout in the next zone. It’s too early to show you what she’s working on, but while Janna’s gone I’ve managed to sneak this little teaser out to you:

Whatever she’s doing, seems like it’s visible even from Hope Harbor.

Things are continuing apace in the Woods. Here’s some spots you haven’t seen before:

On my end, I’ve been busy setting up all kinds of traps, triggers, levers and devices for the team to make use of in the ruins you’ll come across in future updates.

Stream viewers will recall the tripwires and pressure plates that can be used to open doors and operate elevators, but they can also be used for more devious purposes:

Better watch your step in the ancient ruins we’re working on in the Windless Woods.

Alongside these devious machinations, I’ve been delving deep into our combat code - tidying up, pulling out the parts we’ve outgrown, and laying the foundations for the new systems we have planned. It’s a big job, but we’re nearing the stage where we can start pushing prototype content to our dedicated testing team.

Before we wrap up the digest for this week, I have a segment here from Mike, who has been helping us a TON with server management and networking behind the scenes. Take it away, Mike:

Back in our extensive Quality of Life update in March, we gave you the ability to see who is on your server, what their Steam name is, and if needed, the ability to kick them from your server. Giving you the control you need when running a server is necessary to stop and prevent unwanted guests. Immediately, many of you asked "great, but what about banning?". We're happy to say that you'll be able to ban players from ever joining your server again, even if you stop and restart hosting at any point. This ban is tied to Steam accounts, so offenders can't just make another character. You can access this in the same admin panel from the pause menu.

And don't worry, if you ban someone by accident (or let's be real, you banned them as a joke) you'll be able to unban them using their Steam account ID.

As you might have noticed from the prototype screenshot, we’ve taken things a step further and set up the ability to grant trusted players moderator power. These players will be able to do everything except add/remove moderators.These changes are part of our effort to bring you dedicated server support (that Kindred leaked in a stream back in February). We can't promise you a date (Soon™️), but we can tell you it's important to us and we're actively working on it. Stay tuned for more updates!

Alright folks, that’s it for this week’s dev digest. Thanks for having me as your guest host while Janna’s away! She’ll be back in charge next week.

Take care!
Louis

Apr 16, 2022

Update #003 - Quick Patch

The Backrooms: Survival - P1

Hello,

We've decided to release an extra game update today for "The Backrooms: Survival", a quick patch fixing a few bugs. The weekly updates will still take place this Wednesday also.

Fixes:
-Fixed the "level skip glitch" which can be done with ladders
-Fixed a bug that prevented the "Demon Slayer" achievement from unlocking for some
-Limited the amounts of safes that spawn on levels as there were far too many
-Fixed cosmetic bugs that can cause in some rare cases vents or lights to spawn over ladders
-Fixed a very rare bug with the new pool rooms theme where the ladder could spawn outside of the level
-Batteries are much bigger and sparkle to make them stand out more as previously some players were having issues spotting them
-Fixed a bug where the player could sometimes manage to jump out through the ceiling
-Fixed a bug where moving to the "level 0" them wouldn't update the new entities to spawn and would use the old ones (i.e going from the circus theme to the level 0 theme would still spawn clowns in level 0, which shouldn't have happened)
-Fixed a bug that prevented textboxes from popping up sometimes (was caused by using a ladder/trapdoor/vent etc while being chased by an entity)

This unplanned patch update was released due to bug reports on our official discord. Join the discord below to report bugs/leave game suggestions as it is easier to be seen there and grouped into being fixed in unexpected patches like these!

https://discord.com/invite/qbQhTy2JhK <<< Discord link

Cheers!

Apr 16, 2022

We’re nominated for a Webby Award

Warframe - Markus

The New War was an emotional ride that left us all in complete awe. The incredible music and sound design throughout the Quest played a massive role in bringing that emotion to life, and we are thrilled that the outstanding work by our team has been recognized by the Webby Awards! We are proud to announce our nomination in the Music and Sound Design category.

…and you can vote for us right now, Tenno!

Vote here before Friday, April 22 at 2:59 AM ET.

Relive this incredible moment on YouTube, or find ‘For Narmer’ on Spotify, Apple Music and other major streaming services!

We cannot thank each of you Tenno enough for your support in making The New War such an incredible moment in Warframe history. We all lift together!