They take place in the same universe, it's sort of like the thing Marvel does but this isn't the MCU it's the uh, Isopod/Raccoon cinematic gaming universe. The IRGU... Ok that's not the name but you get the idea.
Here's a raccoon dunking cotton candy in water gif, it's a metaphor for how the sale will disappear just like the cotton candy. This is one of those gif implementations that you have to think about to absorb it's deeper meaning.
Update 1.3 is live with the usual slew of tweaks and fixes plus a couple of bigger changes addressing some relatively common grumblings about the game.
First, some of the main difficulty modes have been redesigned:
EASY mode now has been made considerably easier, giving the player a damage bonus, double the starting supplies, longer times before the H/K spawn and lower enemy density on top of the usual enemy damage reduction.
NORMAL mode, which used to be that enemies dealt 75% damage has been replaced by what was previously easy mode, where enemies deal 50% damage. The rationale for this change is that, on one hand, a 25% damage reduction didn't give you that much more survivability over taking full damage, so the previous normal difficulty felt somewhat redundant as it overlapped quite a bit with hard mode. And on the other hand the previous easy mode was a bit of a misnomer by not being particularly easy, since it was the developer intended way to play the game until first clear and thus it posed a significant challenge to newer players.
HARD mode remains exactly the same, with enemies dealing full damage.
Second, I've added a brief text-based intro to provide some more explicit context about the premise of the game. This is something that I considered implementing before launch but at the time discarded because a) since Dead Hand is a game of repeatedly dying and playing again I wanted to have as little friction as possible when starting a new game; and b) since you play as a simple rule-based AI controlled drone whose only concern is to carry out its directive, it felt out of place to have any kind of lore dump. The intro is, of course, skippable.
And without further ado here's the complete changelog:
Full Patch notes
Rebalanced difficulty: "Hard" stays the same, previous "Normal" is removed, previous "Easy" becomes current "Normal", "Easy" becomes easier.
Added a brief text intro on game start to provide a bit more context.
Added a "Destroy (3AP)" option to items in the loot menu, so the player may dispose of crates and scrap piles without having to attack them or pick all the contained items up.
Fixed some memory leaks on inventory item destruction.
Log is cleared when entering a new level.
More descriptive log entries.
Armor Piercing and Overpressure bullets now erode 20% more terrain than their FMJ/Match counterparts.
Minimap now immediately updates on changing chassis size.
Fixed issue where the 1st level very rarely would not have a clear path from player spawn point to exit.
Fixed issue where mid-flight projectile models could continue existing after the player being destroyed.
Fixed issue where an enemy armed with a Tank Gun could favor AP shells over explosive ones when player is in cover.
Fixed issue where corridors could dig too deep into connected rooms.
Added a "Free storage after destruction" counter when destroying stacked items from the inventory.
The Command Console now has a custom minimap icon.
Tweaked actor's front light position so it's less likely to be blocked by front hardpoint mounted weapons.
Overhead actor lights now stop casting terrain shadows when they intersect with the terrain.
Parts found in supply crates may now come with preinstalled modules.
When starting a new game as an Assault class AWP the Light Machine Gun is now selected by default.
When interrupting an enemy that's charging you, the combat log will note that the enemy is mid charge.
Higher tier ranged enemies now favor slightly longer ranged engagements.
Shortened the particle appearance delay when digging with the Mining Drill and the Mole.
Increased the height at which a Drill or Mole equipped actor may dig so they have an easier time digging an upwards path.
Charger type enemies now try to avoid ending their turn too close to charge the player.
If a charger-type enemy has no path to the player, it will now attempt to seek cover even if it has a suicidal-type brain.
Added a "Not enough ammo" indicator to the crosshair, it takes precedence over the "No Line of Sight" one.
Hovering the mouse over the "Continue Game" main menu item now displays the saved game player AWP, if there's one.
Added a workaround to fix most instances of the pathfinding library issue where paths might snap at a navmesh vertex instead of going in a straight line.
New cooking map where you have to cook steaks, pasta and pizza in an Italian themed map. The enemies in this map are way faster, making this map more difficult to complete with 3 stars.
You can find this level in Noblewood's shop with the other cooking maps.
For this week's challenge you will need to destroy everything! When you place the weekly challenge table you will have to destroy trees, grass, flowers and more with TNT. Each destroyed environment item makes you progress in the challenge. You will need to explode 130 environment items.
Donβt forget to put the Weekly Challenge table in your map. You can also do this challenge with your friends.
How it works: Unlock the Weekly Challenge table in the Star Milestone. Place it whenever you start a map and it will record your challenge progress while you play. You need to place it every time you start a map for it to record. Watch your numbers grow and make sure to complete the target before Friday!
They take place in the same universe, it's sort of like the thing Marvel does but this isn't the MCU it's the uh, Isopod/Raccoon cinematic gaming universe. The IRGU... Ok that's not the name but you get the idea.
If you're running SteamVR's OpenXR utility and are having issues detecting your controllers, you can now choose to launch the game in OpenXR mode which should fix that issue.
I have not written in at least a couple of years here. But I remember how many views I will get every time I will post a new article about SugarMill.
Today after all this time I will share with you a new small game I have created to hopefully help open your eyes to the only truth.
I grew up in Socialist/Communist Cuba, I lived there all my life from 1983 all the way until 2010. Living in a Communist environment at least in Cuba a lot of things are different than living in a free country.
#1: You are not free #2: You feel watched, and are watched always. As a matter of fact, there is a guy in every block whose task is to report any suspicious activity you may perform. #3: They teach you all from a really small age the Darwin theory, that we are products of evolution.
Well⦠I never believed anything, meaning, I was a smart monkey and period, but after COVID that changed, last year, being in the house for so long and getting sick for not being able to release SugarWinds I completely gave up on making it as a Video Game Dev. And well decided to start learning about anything, I got a job as an SW Dev and also start inquiring and researching about religions in the world.
I came to the conclusion that all monotheistic religious movements share roughly the same commandments: -Don't steal -Don't lie -Don't murder -Honor your mother and your father -Don't commit adultery
And so on, and as SW Devs, we are trained to find patterns in a way to solve issues in our daily life of Developers. Anyways when I saw this general pattern, it really got to me. I start then listening to all sum up stories of the Bible Old Testament.
Anyways, I didn't believe much either, yet. I was like, that a book and anyone can write on a piece of paper, something I learned in the army.
But everything changed for me when I studied what happened in Fatima, Portugal May 13, 1917. Virgin Mary appears to 3 kids, all below the age of 11. I knew then that they could not lie consistently for 6 months, in a small town in Portugal in 1917, especially in that specific period of time. That right there was my conversion.
As I myself have 3 kids and my wife is from Portugal, I knew was all true. Then I start digging into this. I learned about all Fatima apparitions and the Miracle of the Sun.
Then I have a family member tell me one day from Cuba:
James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
When I learned that I said to myself. Well, I will get close to God every day as much as I can, and is a journey I have to say.
And then discovered many other apparitions of the Virgin Mary, Garabandal, Medjugore, Akita, Lourdes, Guadalupe, and so on. And is easy to see the pattern too. Virgin Mary every time that appears is always asking the same thing over and over again.
Long story short. After a while and many dreams, I understood that I should bring the light of the gospels to as many people as possible and that is what I'm doing here.
Jesus came to liberate us from the real slavery, and sin. Sin is the real slavery, anytime you commit a sin you are less free, and more of a slave of that sin. Is that simple.
Game Quiz
-Incorrupt Bodies
Then I learned about the Incorrupt Bodies the Catholic and Orthodox churches have. This really got to me
-Eucharistic Miracles
This is the icing on the top of the cake.
Lanciano Italy 700βs: Ancient Anxanum, the city of the Frentanese, has contained for over twelve centuries the first and greatest Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic Church. This wondrous Event took place in the 8th century A.D. in the little Church of St. Legontian, as a divine response to a Basilian monk's doubt about Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist. During Holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was changed into live Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood, which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size. The Host-Flesh, as can be very distinctly observed today, has the same dimensions as the large host used today in the Latin church; it is light brown and appears rose-colored when lighted from the back. The Blood is coagulated and has an earthy color resembling the yellow of ochre. Various ecclesiastical investigation ("Recognitions") were conducted since 1574. In 1970-'71 and taken up again partly in 1981 there took place a scientific investigation by the most illustrious scientist Prof. Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy. He was assisted by Prof. Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena. The analyses were conducted with absolute and unquestionable scientific precision and they were documented with a series of microscopic photographs. These analyses sustained the following conclusions:
The Flesh is real Flesh. The Blood is real Blood.
The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species.
The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart.
In the Flesh we see present in section: the myocardium, the endocardium, the vagus nerve and also the left ventricle of the heart for the large thickness of the myocardium.
The Flesh is a "HEART" complete in its essential structure.
The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood-type: AB (Blood-type identical to that which Prof. Baima Bollone uncovered in the Holy Shroud of Turin).
In the Blood there were found proteins in the same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are found in the sero-proteic make-up of the fresh normal blood.
In the Blood there were also found these minerals: chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.
The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.
Chaste Heart of Saint Joseph
Now there are many Eucharistic miracles, here I will relate the most important ones in the last couple of decades
1991 Dec 8, Betania, Venezuela: On December 8 of 1991, Father Otty Ossa AristizΓ‘bal was celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Shrine of Betania in CΓΊa and during the consecration, saw the Host bleeding. The miraculous Host is preserved in the city of Los Teques, at the convent of the Augustinian Recollects Nuns of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, where It is permanently exposed for the adoration of the faithful and It is visited every year by numerous pilgrims coming also from abroad. Many prodigious events have taken place, connected to the Host of the Miracle, among the one which stands out that occurred to a young American who filmed the miraculous Host pulsating like a heart, while It was exposed to the faithful.
2008 Oct 12, Sokolka, Poland: On October 12, 2008, at the church dedicated to Saint Anthony of SokΓ³Εka, the Holy Mass of 8:30 AM is celebrated by a young vicar, Filip Zdrodowski. During Communion, unknowingly the Host falls from the hands of one of the priests. A woman kneeling, ready to receive the Eucharist, makes him notice it. The priest remains paralyzed from fright and believing it was dirty, places it in the vasculum, a small silver vessel which contains the water utilized by priests to wash their fingers after distributing Communion. At the end of the Holy Mass, the sacristan, Sister Julia Dubowska, takes the vascu-lum with the Host and for in-creased safety pours it into another vessel which she then locks in the safe where the chalices were kept.
2013 Dec 25, Legnica, Poland: In St. Hyacinthβs church in Legnica, during Holy Mass, on December 25, 2013, a Host accidentally fell on the ground, during the distribution of Communion. It was immediately placed in a container with water and closed in the tabernacle as required by code of Canon Law. A few days later, a red spot appeared on Its surface. The Bishop of Legnica at the time, Stefan Cichy, decided to establish a commission for a scientific analysis. The results were surprising, and confirmed that It had similarities to βhuman heart muscle with alterations that often appear during the agonyβ.
Who is Carlo Acutis: Blessed Carlo Acutis was an English-born Italian Catholic youth and amateur computer programmer, who is best known for documenting Eucharistic miracles around the world and cataloguing them onto a website which he created before his death from leukemia.
I am happy to announce August 16, 2022 as the definitive release date for the huge free Co-op and Conquest update to Airships: Conquer the Skies.
The update adds co-op airship combat with any number of human and AI players to each side of the fight.
It also massively expands the features of the conquest mode:
A full-featured diplomacy system. The AI takes a "realpolitik" approach, and the system explains in detail why the AI likes or dislikes a diplomatic action. So no AI opponents that hate or love you for no clear reason. Your diplomatic actions also affect your reputation in the world as a whole.
I'm especially pleased with the ultimatum system, where you can send an interaction saying "do this or else I'll do this other thing". This can be "pay me tribute or I declare war" but also more out there things like "upgrade our non-aggression pact pact to a defensive pact or I'll cancel our trade treaty".
You can now upgrade your towns and cities with shipyards, factories, police stations, pleasure palaces, labs, and more. Balance your expenditures between building up your empire and conquering more of it.
There are new systems for logistics and city unrest, as well as a fully rewritten espionage system, a revamped technology tree, and a much prettier new map.
Finally, there are now special eras in conquest that change things up by having special rules. Like an Age of Piety that reduces unrest and gives the players a bunch of holy sites to fight over. Or an Age of Exploration that lets the players send out expeditions to find knowledge and valuables.
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Airships: Conquer the Skies is a real-time strategy game where you build steampunk vehicles and fight with them against other players and weird monsters. It's been around for a number of years and is developed solo by David Stark.
