Hi everyone!

Don't have much to report for May, development on endgame content is progressing relatively smoothly, although I have a personal matter that may delay things a little (I'm moving, it's pretty stressful and a lot of work).

Still looks like we're shooting for sometime in July for the full launch.

We'd like to provide an update on the Infinity Rework, which was mentioned in the previous Dev Diary.
Please note that this post might contain spoilers for existing or future mechanics. If you want to play the game without any spoilers it’s best to stop reading here.

We recently altered a number of modules to make the new infinity phase of the game more balanced. This had to be carefully tested by our supporters, and we've made even more changes as a result of their feedback.

We're now putting a new mechanism to the test that should make higher difficulties more intriguing.
In addition higher difficulty highscores are now more effective at charging infinity stones.
Depending on the difficulty level, enemies will get additional stat modifiers and unique powers such as energy regeneration or reduced debuff duration. No modifiers are used on easy mode.

We'll be ready to release the next version after this mechanism has been thoroughly tested.
We believe that this will be the case later this week.

Because the last Dev Diary's vote resulted in a almost three-way tie, we've decided to treat highscores in the following manner. Between 0 and 200, all infinity highscores will be unaffected.
Everything greater than 200 will be scaled down to avoid making them unreasonably high in the new meta.



We offered a sneak peek at the Anvil in the last Dev Diary.
Today, we'd like to share another screenshot with you in order to give you a better idea of the many boosts available.



The unit selection window has also seen some changes.
All active era abilities, era multipliers, as well as modules that the unit has mimicked, are now shown.



The Update will include Boss 5, new modules, new software, new achievements, and more, in addition to the previous mentioned adjustments.


We hope that you are looking forward to these changes and we're excited to finally be able to share Boss 5 with you all!

__
Follow us on social media to not miss out on any news!
Discord: https://discord.gg/fireswordstudios
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FireSwordStudio
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/fireswordstudios
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDV-wwiAAic-OESAayfUz_Q
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PerfectTower

I finally fixed Steam Cloud Saves on MacOS. Sorry it took so long. I had to do some things. Like get a mac.

As a tiny bonus, I've added a font size slider to the screensaver modes for all platforms.

Fun fact: the screensaver mode was something I wrote in partnership with the Science Gallery in Melbourne for an exhibit they made on Kind Words. I like to leave it running on an old screen in my kitchen so I can walk by and see people's words of encouragement throughout the day… and so that I know the server is still running and I don't have to panic.

Technical Caveat:
If you used cloud save previously and then started fresh on a mac without cloud save, your old cloud save file may now come back and overwrite your fresh start. Don't worry, the game will detect this and backup your fresh save as kindwords.json1. You can verify that this is what happened by looking for kindwords.json1 in the same directory that the game will display to you when you use the "export" function.

If that happens and you wish to replace your old cloud save with your fresh start, use the in-game option to completely delete your current save. Close the game and then replace kindwords.json with kindwords.json1.

Hopefully this won't affect anyone and I'm being paranoid. But not losing your letters is pretty important to me. As always, reach me at support@popcannibal.com or http://discord.gg/popcannibal if you have questions.

• reworked the engine a bit to load assets better an use less RAM.
  
• modding tool v2.0.8 added.

Alright! So this is our first update since 1.0 which is not simply a hotfix to patch issues - it also adds a few requested features. Many of you have asked us to ramp up POSTAL’s over the top comic gore and dismemberment, so in this update we’ve added brains to head explosions. There has also been comments saying P4 is missing some expected features found in P2, and we’ve started addressing that by bringing back the suicide button for when you want to end the game on your own terms. Oh, and we’ve added the PIII dude coat to go along with Corey’s voice option. Finally, while Third Person is not really an official feature of P4, far more of you are using it than we expected, so we’ve added more animations to it and they now cover collectables.

And naturally there are a few notable bug fixes. The subtitles system has been expanded to include the comic book intro and outros.




Brains to head explosions. Exploding an NPCs head will sometimes result in a brain popping out!

Speaking of head explosions, the suicide button for the Dude has been added! (K key by default)



Going POSTAL challenge in Desert area. Completing it will reward you with a POSTAL 3 skin!

POSTAL 3 skin for The Dude!

Missing pacifist check before assigning the "Kill Bosses" errands - if player is pacifist, these errands are now skipped as intended and only "Meet the Boss" is assigned

Health Bars for some bosses!

Subtitles to comic book intros/outros! (In-game cutscenes will be getting subtitle support soon!)

Third-Person animations for picking up collectibles!



Interest Points to Supermarket in Prison tile!

More Krotchy Tips to better explain some of the game mechanics!

Support for burning characters, both dead or alive!




Optimization pass in the Residential tile

Tweaked the house NPCs to get them unstuck

Adjusted the culling on landscape in the Prison tile

Updated M60 textures

Improved Krotchy texture for collectibles counter

Made Baton less OP

Reduced loading delay in “New Day / Load Game” loading screens

Reworked the fluid weapon particles so they’re more three dimensional

Improved audio in Pit Boss Vault cutscene

Final door now checks only for Meet Boss instead of every Friday errand including killing the 3 bosses (Pacifist ending fix)

Removed day constraint from Duck Hunt Challenge





Picking up collectibles not counting towards the counter

Crash after throwing Pigeon Mine during Install Bidets errand

Janky puddles in front of Sewer entrance

Duck Hunt challenge only triggering on Wednesday

Removed broken ladder from Clock Tower. Roof only accessible via the Grappling Hook point

Shoot Cans challenge not working correctly

Window Cleaner challenge not accepting all damage types

Old bystander models being used in Pit Boss errand

Sewer Dwellers not being dismemberable / using old models

Certain NPCs using Dude’s voice…

A house in Riverside tile lacking collision in the bedroom

Weapon recoil not applying in third person

Rick Hunter's Dude using wrong voice cue when equipping Sexy Outfit

Yaw weapon recoil persisting at lower framerates

Old NPC characters being used in Pit Boss cutscenes

"Frustrating in the most entertaining way possible. Yargh! I shall survive!!!!!"
- Review on Steam

The Pit series of games are pleased to be part of Steam's week-long celebration of the Rogue genre!

We are particularly pleased that after 6 months in Early Access, The Pit 2 has taken great strides in finding a balance between the gameplay and feel of the 2D original and offering plays a sequel with something new. Now is a great time to join the game in Early Access and help The Pit community work with the dev team in striking that balance, particularly with this week-long discount. The Pit 2 will climb our of Early Access soon and the Early Access pricing will not last.

Join us on the Community Boards, Discord, or Twitter to chat with the developers!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1698630/Sword_of_the_Stars_The_Pit_2/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/233700/Sword_of_the_Stars_The_Pit/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/577410/The_Pit_Infinity/

Hello there! This is quite a large update for today. Here are the major notes:

• The LAWD drone can now be piloted in 3rd person.
  
• Added an intro cinematic to set the tone.
  
• Added new settings options: showing/hiding HUD, Icons, and Anti-Aliasing.
  
• Updated game to work better with a controller.
  
• Added more instructions and helpers.
  
• Updated how Biotraces and Triangulation points work.
  
• Added more Biotraces and characters.
  
• Updated the crime scene look and feel.
  
• Added support to climb up ledges.
  
• Fixed walking/running and the drifting that sometimes happens.
  
• Added player picture image puzzles.
  
• Updated artist area to be more interactive.
  
• Updated look of player hands so it works in any scenario.
  
• Lots of bug fixes with the notebook, player, phones, drone, etc.
  
• Added more personal picture content for the characters.
  
• Fixed a bunch of sounds.
  
• Added custom occlusion (still in progress).
  
• And so much more!

Thanks for playing!

All the best,

Larry

0.9.4O

New/Improved Mechanics

Montgomery County firefighter now has separate SCBA & Mask equip options

Readded the radial menu option to stretch a specific amount of lengths and expanded on it

Lengths stretched through the new radial menu options will automatically connect to a discharge on the pump so you don’t have to drop the line to go connect the other end to the truck


Multiplayer

The Role selection menu will now stay open instead of closing when someone spawns a character. This was an issue in larger games when everyone is spawning in and the menu closes as you try to spawn your unit

Fixed a bug where if you grab the line and run to the fire and someone else connects the line for you, you can't spray until you drop the hose and pick it back up


Vehicle Fixes & Changes

Fixed Ambulance AI not responding when using the move to command

Readded doppler effect on EQ2B Sirens

New Q Siren on Rescue 2

New Q Siren on Rescue 9

New Q Siren on Ladder 176

New Q Siren on Quint

New Q Siren on Rescue Engine

New Q Siren on Engine 227

Fixed Mack lights that were squares instead of circular

Fixed Tower Ladder 157 stream spraying backwards

Fixed wheels on Ladder 112

Fixed wheels on Ladder 132

Fixed wheels on Ladder 74

Generic Fixes & Tweaks

Reduced amount of tension needed to pull another length off the hose bed when pulling off more lengths of hose with the mouse

Fixed Middle mouse button of toggle between old & new character camera not always working

Fixed Fire academy residential building doors not working

Fixed K12 pushing you when holding RMB without LMB

Added Beacon on minimap for E31/74/5

Added beacon on minimap for Hospital

Fixed ladder 33 Stillwater not spawning

Fixed tree that was clipping through wall at underpass in Central Park

Fixed wall around projects near 49/68 not having physics

UI

You can now drag around the role selection menu like the MDT screen

Increased size of the “Press H” for the patient UI

Made MDT darker blue for those partial & fully colour blind

Added “X” to close scenario menu in Fire Academy

Fixed missing escape/pause menu on Fire Academy

Fixed screen brightness defaulting to 0

Version 0.7.1.206

Beta version is available in Betas tab(Right-click on Sky Haven in Library -> Properties -> Betas -> 0.7.1.206)

* Improvements
- added new airliners icons
- add ATC Tower animations
- add HighTower90
- increased hiding roof distance
- changed terminal roof visual
- setup treatment facilities loop animation
- setup AgentCar-2000 and LiftTruckSmall-2000
- setup proper agents for AgentCar-1940, AgentCar-1960

* Bug fixes
- fixed loss of research officers even if they have another office building to move to
- fixed that researches sometimes worked at nighttime (19:00 - 7:00)
- added missing icon for info panel
- fixed loading to times the same save leads to crash
- fixed passengers removal from queue
- fixed crash when attempting to place some buildings
- fixed bulldozer tool decorations and buildings removing
- fixed a possibility to edit terminal outside the terminal area
- fixed stuck bus problem after gate is closed

Hey everyone, Patrick here again. In our first Friday update the other week, we showed off a small preview of what is to come with our procedurally generated hospital: The Farrow Hill Mental Institute.
You got a sneak peek at it, and now it's time to experience it.



Today we are launching a big update to The Grip of Madness Demo with the most significant introduction being the procgen system. This system shows off some of the rougelite aspects of the game and where we want to take the game.



We have updated the demo with a store page refresh to follow soon. I’m excited about this next chapter for The Grip of Madness as we dive into what's next for the game.

Anyway, here’s a list of some of the major changes to The Grip of Madness 0.2.0 demo:

• Procedural Generation System - The demo now features our prototype of the procedural generation system. As development continues on the game, we will continue to expand on this.
  
• Proximity Voice Chat - The game now has proximity voice chat! That way, players can communicate with each other as well as in private groups if you need to. You can disable/enable voice chat from the host-game menu.
  
• All new Matchmaker - We’ve added a matchmaker that will pair you up with other players. Just hit “Play” at the top of the main menu, and it’ll try and get you into a game.
  
• How to Play menu - There is a new how-to-play section on the main menu screen. We will add a fully-fledged single-player tutorial in later releases that show how the game works.
  
• Buuuugfixes! - We found a lot of bugs and problems with the prior release. But we’re sure there are plenty of additional bugs lurking in the shadows. So if you find anything, give us a holler on Discord!

We invite you to the RustBit Discord to talk about everything on The Grip of Madness and more! We’re super stoked to have you guys along on the journey as we build the game!