Corrected issue with scene 4C.
Comic panel 4 was never displayed, instead showed panel 5 twice.
Now shows the correct images for the scene.

We've taken the opportunity to update Owlboy on Steam. The game will soon be available to play on Steam Deck.

The latest version should enhance loading-speeds across all operative systems & add additional controller support.

List of changes:
- Changed to FNA, which should fix multiple crashes
- The old XNA version of the game is still available on the "xnaversion" beta branch on Steam
- Level loading is much faster
- More readable Japanese, Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean fonts
- Better error logging, moved logs to C:\Users\<User>\Saved Games\Owlboy\Saves\logs
- One shared build for Windows, Mac, and Linux
- Support for PS4 controller natively
- Help files now available in Data/Help in the install directory
- Many out of bounds and speed-runner glitches fixed

Along with the knowledge system and some fixes we are working on including wild dogs for the new version of Ancient Cities. Stay tuned!

Hello soldiers!

Today marks the 7 year anniversary of Verdun! The first game in the WW1 Game Series. To celebrate this, we have multiple things going on!
To start of with, Verdun is playable for free starting today until May 2nd! Join the Verdun battlefield once more and bring in that fresh new recruit! We can always use more soldiers!



Furthermore, Verdun is on sale with an 80% discount! Alongside the 4-pack 75% and the soundtrack also has an 50% off!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/242860/Verdun/


It doesn't stop here! We prepared a quiz to test your Verdun knowledge! If you're amongst the people who answered all the questions correctly, you might win a WW1 Game Series goodiebag! Be sure to participate here.


More reason to celebrate, as the news surrounding Isonzo keeps coming! We're sharing more news about the Gorizia map! We can hear you thinking, " but wait, wasn't last dev blog about Gorizia already?" Yes but there's more! It's a big map so be sure to not miss out on any intel!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/3199254625398454172

Thank you and good luck soldiers

WW1 Game Series Team

Like many developers, I have a giant brainstorm list of many more ideas than I'll likely have time to realize. That's where Iron Lung sat following my trip to a Loch Ness museum in 2019, where a random bit of narration got me thinking about the idea of being underwater taking fuzzy pictures of some unseen creature. It sat there for a few years afterward, while I worked on projects with New Blood and DreadXP and went through a series of prototypes that all ended up shelved for various reasons. It's been hard to get any larger solo project to "stick" since Dusk, and frustrating to continually start a game only to end up stalled on it for whatever reason, with too much work in it to comfortably abandon but not enough to brute force my way toward a release.



Throughout that time I kept coming back to the basic idea of Iron Lung, and thinking "I should really just do this." It was a simple concept, befitting a short simple game. And eventually "I should really just do this" turned into "ok screw it let's just do this." I spent a few months working part time to create what was basically a small experiment that I didn't expect or need to sell very well. I just wanted to experiment with the concept, and get back into both self-publishing and serious horror, which I hadn't really done since 2015.

I expected to maybe sell around 5k copies in the first month or two and have a little following of people who liked the niche concept. At the time of this announcement Iron Lung has sold roughly 37k copies and holds at 95% positive reviews and has blown past all my expectations. I didn't expect so many people to resonate with the gameplay or the approach to horror, or be so drawn into the world (which I've always planned on expanding on at some point, so don't worry!).



So I guess what I'm trying to say in a very roundabout fashion is "thank you." I'm immensely grateful for the support you've all shown for this little idea, and I genuinely don't feel like I deserve it. Iron Lung is just an idea I thought was cool and wanted to try out, and I never expected it to be this popular. I've said this in the past, but it really does mean a lot to me that I can do stuff like Iron Lung, or Squirrel Stapler, or Dusk '82, and you guys are willing to give it all a chance and enjoy it for what it is, even when there are bugs, the visuals aren't the best, and they aren't Dusk 2.

And speaking of bugs... I just released Iron Lung patch 1.2 onto the public branch. This is mainly to address two of the biggest issues in the game: the resolution not defaulting correctly, and "The Jerma Bug" where you could accidentally hit a checkpoint while running into a wall, resulting in an effective softlock. So hopefully new players won't be running into any more gamebreaking problems.



Do what's next? Well... I plan on adding trading cards and achievements at some point soon, as well as some requested quality of life features like control rebinds and gamepad support. I'm considering the possibility of adding more lore-related stuff since people are hungry for that, but I'm not sure if I will or what form it would take. As I said, I do plan on revisiting the world in some fashion regardless. I'm not sure when since I tend to just do whatever seems like a good project at the moment, but... hopefully soon. A lot of people have requested a VR version, and I'm gonna consider that although I don't want to promise anything. Same with console ports. I'd like to port Iron Lung to consoles but I've run into some issues with porting my older games because of their short length, so we'll see.

Now... if you're new here, and are like "man I wish this guy made other games I could play" then have I got news for you! I've made a bunch of games, and hope to make many more! If you want to see everything I've done, and/or want to follow me to keep up with future releases, check out my Steam creator page

I've even got a handy bundle of everything I've self-published, if you want to splurge:

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/24702/The_David_Szymanski_Publisher_Bundle/

And now, a handy bundle with Dusk, Dusk '82, and Iron Lung together, if you're into fast-paced shooting action as well as horror:

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/25842/IRON_DUSK/

You can also follow me on Twitter, although that's mostly cursed memes and general clowning, not so much game development.

Oh and uhh... make sure to check out the Iron Lung goodies folder in the install location for some fun stuff :)

Heya everyone, so today we’re pushing the 41.69 patch out into the Unstable beta, which you can subscribe to by right-clicking PZ in your Steam library, selecting Properties, now go to the Betas tab and select the "unstable" branch from the dropdown menu.




This is a the first release of a wide-ranging version that touches many parts of the codebase – including some fairly foundational stuff to improve the smooth running of MP, some handy new hooks for modders and many and various different fixes and improvements.

The full and unexpurgated changelist is pretty vast, but a quick topline run-through of its contents will now follow:

• In MP: improvements to car physics, admin improvements, anti-cheat fixes, better handling of dead bodies, PvP and safehouse fixes, fixed grass growing through safehouse floors and much much more.
• VHS fix – an end to the peril of one-time-use video tapes on servers.
• A raft of Steamdeck compatibility improvements.

• New items, new forage finds, updated 3D models, new hair types and more.
• Scarecrows and Lab Skeleton ‘mannequins’ that can be kitted out in player clothes.

• Quality of life features: renamed Skill books, better item placing, movable minimap and many and various other things.
• 3D items now shown as textures rather than models. As such they now slide around less when the player moves, and have far less of a performance impact when all piled up.
• New/improved tag system for modders, and other general mod-side improvements.
• Added ambiance noise for different areas on the map tied to particular buildings and items, such as a little bit of mall muzak.

• Relevant ‘power down’ noises for the above-mentioned sounds to flag the power/water cutting out.

• New sounds for arcade machines, gas pumping, vehicle headlights and car window opening (both via handle and electric windows). Also BBQ noises, campfire sounds, fireplaces and more zed trip/thump stuff.
• Improved treatment of inside/outside sounds depending on whether doors and windows are open or closed.
• Loads of UI and controller improvements that are universally handy, but have primarily been put in for (you lucky!) Steamdeck users. 41.68 works okay with the new handheld device, but 41.69 should provide some vast improvements.
• Lots of general balance, including a spotlight on foods and recipes.
• A shitload of general fixes.

We would be hugely grateful if players could move over to 41.69 and report any oddness or hiccups, and likewise to inform the creators of any mods that have been broken.
 
We have done our best to bypass disruption, but in such a wide-ranging patch there will always be mod toes that the code has unavoidably trodden upon.
 
(Creators of radio/TV-related mods should especially pay attention to the MP VHS fix, as it may cause some issues.)

Elsewhere work continues on Build 42 and 43 content continues, with RJ still focusing on farm animals, and also the introduction of some basic AI versions of wild beasts also. Please consider these WIP!



Also coming to you today with a WIP tag (as we are working on far better player directional ‘strain and lean’ animations rather than a repeated ‘pull animation’) is a video from Aiteron showing his current work on the fishing update.
 
A lot of work these past few weeks has also been into making it work online, and our testers have been having some impromptu fishing competitions already.
 
Here, also, you can see:
 

• Water splashes (visuals WIP) to show placement of groups of fish, ultimately we plan to move to a more constant surface disturbance to show the positions of fish at any given time, as well as use the current splashes instead when the fish is struggling on the line.
• Lines and hooks that can be changed on the fishing rod that have an impact on your fishing.
• A fishing net you can catch items in, and a new ‘generic trash’ item that can also become snared up in your tackle and provide you with a random item (not always a shoe!)

In the land of MP meanwhile the Strike Force are currently working on vehicle smoothness, and rare strange physics during and after vehicle collisions. They also have some imminent plans for better hit-fall position prediction, which should make corpse placement much closer to how it looks in SP.

We are also partway through a longer term process of making the inventory system completely server side (or rather authenticated server side) to avoid any kind of item spawning cheats. This is something we really need to do to close up the potential for item hacks on MP servers.

It will not likely appear for a while, most like coming in a major build rather than an iterative patch as it is a major piece of work and will also come with the potential for mod breakage for mods that spawn items directly on the client.

(We’ll make sure to keep it unstable a good period to give mod authors a chance to fix when it rolls around, and will provide some method for modders to legitimately spawn items recognized by the server when needed.)


This week’s stand-off from Viиicius. A changelist of all our pre-release and post-release patches since the 41 beta began can be found here. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send you update notifications once builds get released. We also live on Twitter right here! 
Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

Bug Fixes
-Fixed a bug where bats would spawn with 0 HP and immediately faint
-Changed HP loss pop-up on round end to white text with black drop shadow

Sorry for the second update in one day! Who would've guessed I had so many little things tied to some UI??

 

• A new augment for Twins has been added to Ultra Containers — «Plasma Injector». 
  • 
    (Note) This augment applies «Armour-piercing» status effect on critical shots and disables splash damage
• 
  Mammoth default skin updated to the HD version
• 
  Added dynamic lighting for shots, explosions, and bonus boxes
• 
  Updated log in and sign up pages
• 
  Firebird
  
  • 
    Critical damage increased from 380-1060 to 900-1800;
  • 
    Critical damage chance decreased from 12% to 9%;
  • 
    «Magnetic Mix» augment
    
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 2 to 1 s.;
• 
  Tesla
  
  • 
    «Superconducting discharge» augment
    
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 3 to 2 s.;
  • 
    «Armour-piercing discharge» augment
    
    • 
      The «Armour piercing» status effect’s duration decreased from 5 to 2 s.;
• 
  Hammer
  
  • 
    «Dragon's Breath» augment
    
    • 
      No longer increases Critical shot chance;
    • 
      No longer decreases Clip reload;
    • 
      Critical damage decrease is 25% instead of 50%;
  • 
    «Wyvern's Breath» augment
    
    • 
      No longer increases Critical shot chance;
    • 
      Clip reload duration decreased by 10%
  • 
    «Magnetic Pellets» augment
    
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 4 to 2 s.;
  • 
    «Armour-Piercing Shot» augment
    
    • 
      The «Armour piercing» status effect’s duration decreased from 7 to 5 s.;
• 
  Twins
  
  • 
    Critical damage increased from 105-205 to 130-260;
  • 
    Critical damage chance decreased from 25% to 16%;
  • 
    «Vaporizer» augment
    
    • 
      Critical damage decrease is 50%;
  • 
    «Cryotron» augment
    
    • 
      No longer decreases Critical damage;
  • 
    «Magnetron» augment
    
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 2 to 1 s.;
  • 
    «Plasma Turbo Accelerators» augment
    
    • 
      Recoil decrease is 80% instead of 50%;
• 
  Ricochet
  
  • 
    Critical damage chance decreased from 12% to 9%;
  • 
     «Sizzling field» augment
    
    • 
      The «Burning» status effect’s power decreased from 100% to 50%;
    • 
      Maximum number of ricochets increased from 0 to 1;
  • 
     «Cryo field» augment
    
    • 
      Maximum number of ricochets increased from 0 to 1;
  • 
     «Super-smart Minus-Field» augment
    
    • 
      The «Armour piercing» status effect’s duration decreased from 2 to 1 s.;
• 
  Smoky
  
  • 
    «EMP Rounds» augment 
    
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 3 to 1 s.;
  • 
    «Paralyzing Rounds» augment 
    
    • 
      The «Stun» status effect’s duration decreased from 2 to 1 s.;
  • 
    «Armour-piercing rounds» augment 
    
    • 
      The «Armour piercing» status effect’s duration decreased from 3 to 2 s.;
• 
  Striker
  
  • 
     «Missile launcher "Hunter"» augment 
    
    • 
      Aiming time decrease is 60% instead of 80%; 
    • 
      No longer increases rocket angular velocity; 
    • 
      No longer increases rocket initial velocity;
  • 
    «Stunning missiles» augment
    
    • 
      Aiming time decrease is 60% instead of 80%; 
  • 
    «Armour-piercing missiles» augment
    
    • 
      The «Armour piercing» status effect’s duration decreased from 5 to 2 s.;
    • 
      Aiming time decrease is 60% instead of 50%; 
    • 
      Salvo reload time decreased by 40%;
• 
  Vulcan
  
  • 
    Critical damage increased from 44-88 to 140-280;
  • 
    Critical damage chance decreased from 12% to 2%;
  • 
     «Shooting speed regulator» augment
    
    • 
      Reload decrease is 10% instead of 15%; 
    • 
      Price increased from 149 000 to 245 000;
  • 
    «Reinforced aiming transmission» augment
    
    • 
      No longer decreases Vertical autoaim; 
    • 
      Barrel startup increased by 50%;
    • 
      Barrel slowdown increased by 50%;
• 
  Railgun
  
  • 
    «Incendiary rounds» augment
    
    • 
      The «Burning» status effect’s power decreased from 100% to 50%;
    • 
      No longer increases critical damage chance;
    • 
      No longer decreases critical damage;
  • 
    «Cryo rounds» augment
    
    • 
      No longer increases critical damage chance;
    • 
      No longer decreases critical damage;
  • 
    «EMP rounds» augment
    
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 4 to 2 s.;
    • 
      No longer increases critical damage chance;
    • 
      No longer decreases critical damage;
  • 
    «Stun rounds» augment
    
    • 
      The «Stun» status effect’s duration decreased from 2 to 1.5 s.;
    • 
      No longer increases critical damage chance;
    • 
      No longer decreases critical damage;
  • 
    «Super armour-piercing rounds» augment
    
    • 
      No longer increases critical damage chance;
    • 
      No longer decreases critical damage;
• 
  Gauss
  
  • 
    Critical damage decreased from 670-1340 to 665-1330;
  • 
    Critical splash damage radius decreased from 6 to 1 m.;
  • 
    Average splash damage radius of arcade mode shots decreased from 4 to 1 m.;
  • 
    Average splash damage of arcade mode shots decreased from 90% to 50%;
  • 
    Minimum splash damage of arcade mode shots increased from 25% to 50%;
  • 
    Regular damage in sniping mode increased from 750-1500 to 800-1600;
  • 
    Aiming time increased from 2.2-1.7 to 2.8-1.8 s.;
  • 
    Reload time in sniping mode increased from 3.6-2.7 to 4-3 s.;
  • 
    Maximum splash damage radius in sniping mode increased from 2 to 11 m.;
  • 
    Average splash damage in sniping mode percentage decreased from 90% to 50%;
  • 
    Minimum splash damage in sniping mode percentage increased from 5% to 50%;
  • 
    «Electromagnetic salvo» augment 
    
    • 
      No longer decreases damage in sniping mode;
    • 
      Sniping reload duration decrease is 10% instead of 50%;
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s radius increased from 10 to 11 m.;
    • 
      The «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 4 to 3 s.;
  • 
    «Armour-Piercing Salvo» augment
    
    • 
      No longer decreases damage in sniping mode;
    • 
      Sniping reload duration decrease is 10% instead of 50%;
    • 
      The «Armour-piercing» status effect’s radius increased from 10 to 11 m.;
    • 
      The «Armour-piercing» status effect’s duration decreased from 5 to 3 s.;
• 
  Shaft
  
  • 
    «Armour-Piercing Sight» augment
    
    • 
      The «Armour-piercing» status effect’s duration decreased from 5 to 2 s.;
  • 
    «Healing Emitters» augment
    
    • 
      Removed critical damage
• 
  Terminator
  
  • 
    Initial rocket speed decreased from 100 to 90 m/s;
  • 
    Max rocket speed (m/sec) increased from 50 to 60 m/s;
• 
  Wasp 
  
  • 
    Wasp overdrive’s «Stun» status effect is replaced with the «Micro-stun» status effect;
  • 
    Wasp overdrive’s «EMP» status effect’s duration decreased from 3 to 1 s.;
  • 
    The Wasp overdrive’s «Burning» status effect’s radius increased from 25 to 40 m.;
  • 
    Wasp overdrive’s «EMP» status effect’s radius increased from 25 to 40 m.;
  • 
    Wasp overdrive’s bomb explosion deals 100% damage for tanks in 13 meters radius, and only 10% if a tank is more 15 meters away from the bomb. The maximum radius is still 20 meters.
• 
  Hopper 
  
  • 
    Hopper’s overdrive no longer applies the «Burning» status effect.
  • 
    Hopper’s overdrive now deals instant damage of 1500-3000 HP to all enemies in the radius of the «Stun» status effect. Supplies do not affect the amount of damage.
• 
  Paladin 
  
  • 
    Paladin’s overdrive no longer applies the «Jammer» status effect
• 
  Hunter
  
  • 
    Hunter’s overdrive no longer applies the «Jammer» status effect
  • 
    Hunter’s overdrive now deals instant damage of 1000-2000 HP to all enemies in the radius of the «EMP» and «Stun» status effects. Supplies do not affect the numbers of damage.
• 
  Dictator
  
  • 
    Dictator’s overdrive no longer recharges overdrives for teammates.
  • 
    The «Supercharge» status effect duration increased from 9 to 10 s.;
• 
  Ares
  
  • 
    Damage/Healing radius increased from 12 to 15 m.;
  • 
    Lightning deals damage twice as often;
• 
  Repair kit
  
  • 
    Immunity duration decreased from 0,9 to 0,8 s.;
• 
  Removed the following missions: «Finish battles in mode», «Earn crystals in battles» and «Score points in mode»;
• 
  Requirements for the «Collect supply boxes» are increased from 5/10/15 to 10/15/20 for all supplies but Repair kit;
• 
  Requirements for the «Collect Repair kit boxes» are increased from 2/5/7 to 5/10/15;
• 
  Delay between dropping supply boxes decreased from 104 to 84 s.;

Welcome back to our reveal of the Gorizia map, including the complete flyover video! Our last blog left off at the river - now it’s time to force a crossing.

The final two objectives are both on the far side of the river: a capture point in the train station and a sabotage objective in the town square. However, this final part of the Gorizia map is a large combat area, so the construction and destruction of forward spawn points will be a top priority for both sides!

The Isonzo river (now commonly known as the Soča river) was shallow where it ran past Gorizia, and much like in the final stages of Monte Sabotino it is easy to ford it. But just because it’s easy to move across doesn’t mean it’s safe to do so! Both cover and concealment are limited on the water, and both banks of the river have buildings or defensive positions prepared.


The Austro-Hungarian trenches on the city side of the river. There are spots for both an Austro-Hungarian and an Italian forward spawning point, so expect heavy fighting here.

The attackers and defenders alike will find themselves crossing the river - the Austro-Hungarians first, as they try to counterattack and prevent the Italians establishing a foothold near the factory. Assuming they fail to do so, the Italians will then need to force a crossing on their way to the final objectives of the map - the railway station and a courtyard full of supplies.


A dugout alongside (and underneath) the railway line. In-game the Italians can build a forward spawn point here.

Historically there wasn’t a great deal of resistance at this point, with most of the fighting taking place on the Monte Calvario beforehand (covered in last week’s dev blog). Austro-Hungarian commander Svetozar Boroević - a skilled senior officer who was nicknamed ‘the Lion of the Isonzo’ for his defensive operations in the theater - did want to try and hold a line along the river, but simply didn’t have the troops or equipment to do it. In Isonzo you can expect to face firm resistance when playing as the Italians!


Attacking into the park that houses one of the final objectives.

If they make it across the river and can establish their forward spawn points, the Italians will be well positioned to continue to the objective zones. The sabotage objective is a gun position in a park, and to reach it the Italians will need to attack across a courtyard from the train station, or navigate ruined buildings and battle scarred city streets. This was an interesting change of scene for us, being the first urban environment to be featured in the WW1 Game Series.



A comparison of our in-game city to historical photographs.

As always we made plentiful use of references to make sure everything is as authentic as possible. We have recreated parts of the fortresses of Douaumont and Przemyśl before, as well as Russian village buildings, but these are the first larger civilian buildings outside of churches to be in-game. The painted walls combined with the bright greens of the park come together to form a very different environment to most First World War battlefields. It’s certainly no less dangerous, however. The attackers will have to decide if they want to concentrate on destroying the heavy guns in the park first, or if they want to try to take and hold the train station first…


A view over the city park and courtyard towards the train station. The sabotage objective is in the park.

Another route forward is via the railway yard instead of through the streets. This leads up to the railway station where Second Lieutenant Aurelio Baruzzi would raise his flag. The station is designed for a large flow of people in peacetime, and as such has multiple entrances on all sides, as well as plenty of windows which now serve as extra entryways. Inside there is an Austro-Hungarian command post and sandbags which provide cover from enemies outside the building, but also can hide ambushers.


The train yard and station interior.

As one of the rare structures with the roof still intact, you won’t be able to bomb out the train station defenders. More work for grenades and bayonets! That isn’t to say that supporting artillery or gas won’t be useful in deterring counter-attacks and reinforcements. Stay alert and be prepared for attacks from any direction.


Comparison of the in-game train station to historical photo.

As you can see, these final two objectives will not be easy ones for the Italians. Success will hinge on securing the forward spawn points across the river, and then making use of the multiple routes forward to keep the Austro-Hungarian defenders off balance so that they cannot simply camp out and fortify one or two paths. For the Austro-Hungarians, it’s always worth trying to raid and destroy the Italian forward spawn points, but especially the gun pit should be well defended - the train station can be recaptured if lost, but once that dynamite goes off the guns are gone for good.


Attacking the station through the train yard.




Today is Verdun’s seventh year anniversary (it was launched into Early Access back in 2013!) and to celebrate the game is free to play on Steam this weekend and highly discounted to buy and keep. Check it out, invite your friends who haven’t experienced the mud and blood of trench warfare, and stay sharp out there!



And talking about sharp, you can win yourself some great goodies by testing how sharp your Verdun knowledge is, by taking this quiz.

Enjoy the weekend and don’t forget you can wishlist Isonzo on Steam already!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1556790/Isonzo/

Hello soldiers!

Today is the release anniversary of Verdun! It's already been 7 years since the first game in the WW1 Game Series was officially released and we thank you all for your continuous love and feedback for our games! We're glad we can share this passion for WW1 and videogames with you all! To celebrate this special occasion, we got several things going on!

Starting today, April 28th, until May 2nd, Verdun will be available to play for free on Steam! This is a great opportunity to finally get that one friend to play the game with you or introduce new recruits who might've found us during our Isonzo expo booths to the game where it all started!



But that's not all! Furthemore, you'll be able to get Verdun with an 80% discount! Additionally, a 4-pack for you and your friends is available with a 75% discount and the soundtrack also has 50% off.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1247200/Verdun_Original_Soundtrack/?curator_clanid=35312128


As we say here in The Netherlands, 'the one who celebrates, treats others!'. We prepared a special Verdun quiz you all can take! Amongst the people who got all the questions right, we'll select one winner who will receive a special goodiebag full of WW1 Game Series merch!
You can find the link here.

Note that we ask for your email address to be able to contact you in case you're the winner! We're not using your email address for other purposes.


More Isonzo Intel for you all! You thought we were done with highlighting the Gorizia map? No, there's more! Be sure to read up here!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/3199254625398454172

Thank you for everything soldiers!

WW1 Game Series Team