Aug 26, 2022

Cities: Skylines - CO_Avanya

Greetings mayors, and welcome to another set of Dev Diaries! Are you excited about Cities: Skylines Plazas and Promenades? Over the course of the next two weeks, I will walk you through all the new content from pedestrian areas and streets to new specializations and service buildings - and plazas of course! And without further ado, let’s have a look at the announcement video:

At the center of Cities: Skylines Plazas and Promenades we have pedestrian areas and streets, which give you the tools to create neighborhoods focused on walkability. These will work to reduce traffic as well as noise pollution. To ensure you are able to create areas suited for your specific city, the pedestrian areas work with all existing zoned buildings!

Creating Pedestrian Areas

Pedestrian areas take advantage of the Area Tool, which you may be familiar with already. It can be found in the Districts and Areas menu and becomes available when you reach Milestone 3 - Tiny Town. Paint over empty land if you want to create a new pedestrian neighborhood, or over an existing part of your city if you wish to turn it into a pedestrian area. Like other areas and districts, it can be adjusted later as needed.

Paint a pedestrian area to unlock service points

Once you are satisfied with the area, it’s time to place a Service Point, which can be found in the Pedestrian Areas menu under Parks & Plazas. Service points are essential to pedestrian areas as most vehicles, including garbage and delivery trucks, are not allowed on pedestrian streets. Instead, garbage is automatically collected from buildings on pedestrian streets to be picked up at the service point. Similarly, resources, goods, and mail are all routed through the service point, so make sure it’s placed on a road that can handle increased truck traffic!

Service points come in two different sizes and three different types: The general Service Points, which cover all the listed needs, Garbage Service Points, which focus on waste management, and Cargo Service Points, which handle resources, goods, and mail.

Service points are vital for your pedestrian areas

The different service points are important as they each have a capacity and if the area exceeds this, some buildings on pedestrian streets will not have their needs taken care of. Large pedestrian areas will need more service points to provide for the buildings on pedestrian streets, and depending on the mix of buildings in an area, you may need a higher capacity for garbage collection or cargo delivery.

Pedestrian Streets

With the pedestrian area created and a service point placed, it’s time to place pedestrian streets! These paved roads can only be used by walking or biking citizens and, when necessary, emergency vehicles like ambulances, hearses, police cars, and fire trucks. As citizens are the main users of the pedestrian streets, vehicles have to obey slow speed limits unless responding to an emergency.

We have included a lot of variation in the pedestrian streets so that you can customize the look and feel of your areas. There are 3 styles: Sandstone, Bluestone, and Cobblestone, which come in two different widths. Each street also comes with 5 different variations with things like added grass, trees, and bus-only lanes. That’s a total of 30 different pedestrian streets for you to choose from!

Bluestone on the left, Sandstone in the middle, and Cobblestone on the right

As you’re building your pedestrian streets, you may go outside the pedestrian area you defined earlier. If that happens, the streets will automatically extend the area to follow them. This option can be enabled or disabled when placing the streets. Pedestrian streets can also be placed outside pedestrian areas, but keep in mind that any buildings placed on these streets will need a pedestrian area and a service point to function.

Lastly, pedestrian streets come with a cool new little feature: Bollards automatically appear at the entrance to pedestrian streets to discourage vehicles from entering. When a vehicle needs to enter or exit the pedestrian street, they will stop and wait for the bollards to retract into the street before driving past. Isn’t that cool?

Bollards retracting for a waiting police car

That’s all we have for you this time! In the next Dev Diary, we’ll cover the management and progression of pedestrian areas, so stay tuned for more information on Monday at 4PM CEST / 7AM PDT! And don’t forget to check out the video tutorial by Overcharged Egg below:

Aug 26, 2022

Working on Main Menu - Devlog #14

Viking City Builder - Viking_City_Builder

Hello Vikings!

The UI in the Viking City Builder game is starting to take shape! We’re slowly polishing the selection of element styles, typography, or colors and today we’d like to present one of its parts, which is the Main Menu.

As most of you probably know, the Main Menu is the UI element that you’ll see on your screen, even before you start playing the game.

When creating the various UI elements, we’re accompanied by the idea of functionality, with an effective, thematic design at the same time.

OK, let us introduce you to the technical side. When creating a 3D game, some elements like User Interface are in 2D, but the Main Menu is a 2D Art in a 3D space.

Initially, in the process of creating the Main Menu, concept art is created, which is divided into layers such as the sky, clouds, earth, or characters.

The character’s layer must be additionally divided into small parts and scattered over the texture.

On separated parts of the texture, the mesh is cut and the UV of the island is placed and then the mesh is folded so that it looks like the previously created key.

Summarizing the first stage of technical preparation, in the beginning, you should break Art to re-glue it.

In the next stage, a rig for characters and movable elements is created, to which the mesh is skinned (assigned).

Then the animation is created and the source file is exported and then imported into the engine.

In the engine, a scene without lighting is prepared, with an orthographic camera and a previously prepared widget with UI added.

The mesh previously imported to the engine is added to the scene and the appropriate materials are attached to it.

The materials are unlit and all rather standard except the cloud material which has a sliding tile on one of the axis to keep the clouds moving in the loop.

Keep in mind that the Main Menu is currently a work in progress and we’re exploring its possibilities and its best looks. Today you’ll only see an iteration here and many things may still change, so we look forward to your feedback on our Discord and social media!

Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more!

Aug 26, 2022

Who we are & what’s special about Brewpub?

Brewpub Simulator - Argetaie

Hello, everyone!

First of all, thanks for following our game. Soon you’ll learn a lot more about it. But first, since we believe that games are a work of art and they carry the voice of their creators, we’d like to say hello.

I’m Piotr, I’m leading the production of Brewpub Simulator. This means that I lead the programming part and care for the code structure, but I also sometimes design things. That’s me, hard at work:

And this is (some of) my team: Kuba, Arnold, Alex, Piotr, Tomek, Kasia, Kuba, Michał, Krzysiek.

So, hello! It’s fantastic to meet you. Tell us something about yourself, too, in the comments. What kind of gamer you are, what brought you here, why do you like the idea of the game? We’re curious to know!

And while we’re at it, I can share our perspective on why we’re doing all of this.

Brewpub Simulator is not an… obvious game to make. We hope it enriches its genre, and perhaps even breaks some boundaries. How so?

Brewpub isn’t just a sim. It’s a mix of simulation and tycoon, all seen from the first-person perspective.

The initial idea for the game was pretty different. We knew we wanted to make a game about brewing because we dig the subject. I brew my own beer, for example! But at first, we thought it would be a classic tycoon. You know, isometric point-and-clicky type of game.

This first attempt was more about the logistics of brewing, the strategy etc. But eventually, we realized that it’s nothing special when you present it like this. It could be about anything. Pizza, macaroni, whatever, just a different skin. To us, craft brewing is more personal. It’s about choosing the recipe. About the moment when you add carefully measured ingredients to the pot.

It’s also about carrying the pot and having trouble with the door because you didn’t plan it out.

This is the fun stuff! And so, the game became Brewpub Simulator, still keeping its tycoon roots.

I can’t wait to show you more, but this post is long enough already. See you later, Brewers, and don’t forget to tell us something about yourselves!

Cheers,
Piotr

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1755180/Brewpub_Simulator/

Aug 26, 2022

Veni, Vidi, Vici: Italian Tank Destroyers Are Coming!

World of Tanks - The Dot

We’re ready to add an entire Italian tank destroyer branch to the game, Commanders!

This branch will consist of six researchable vehicles, from Tier V through Tier X. Starting from Tier VII, all new TDs will have strong frontal armor, excellent gun depression angles, and an autoloader with unusual implementation as a unique gameplay feature. Read on to find out more!

Italian Tank Destroyers: Well-Armored, Dangerous, and Unusual

Researching the new branch of Italian tank destroyers starts from the Tier IV P26/40 medium tank. You will need approximately 12,650 XP to unlock the branch-opening vehicle, the Semovente M41. Almost all of these Italian TDs existed as design projects, and some of them even had physical prototypes. Thanks to surviving blueprints and archive materials, we've taken these forgotten concepts to the next level and recreated six historical in-game machines as they might have existed in real life.

This new branch features decent frontal armor and excellent gun depression angles. You would probably expect these vehicles to be equipped with an autoreloading system, as well, like Italian medium or heavy tanks. But here’s the big surprise: High-tier Italian tank destroyers come with a magazine loading system that offers up a completely new playstyle! We’ll give you more information about this mechanic using a Tier X vehicle as an example. But let's first take a look at the lineup!

The Semovente M41 and the Semovente M43 Bassotto

The new branch kicks off with the Semovente M41, which is a Tier V transitional vehicle. It is equipped with a non-rotating cabin instead of a turret, as well as a 75 mm gun. With a 350 m view range and great concealment values, this vehicle is a born Tier V master of camouflage and offers exciting stealthy gameplay.

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Sitting at Tier VI, the Semovente M43 Bassotto is somewhat of an improved version of the previous vehicle. It can brag about a more powerful 102 mm gun with good accuracy and penetration values. Alternatively, you can equip the 105 mm Tier VII gun with HE gameplay. The vehicle’s frontal armor is also more solid. Both vehicles are rather slow and rely on a stealthy playstyle using their great concealment values.

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The SMV CC-56

The next Italian newcomer is the SMV CC-56, which is noticeably different from its predecessors. Starting with this TD, the branch begins to take on its main features, offering you an idea of what the gameplay of the high-tier vehicles will be.

The SMV CC-56 is equipped with a rotating turret but limited turret traverse angles (30 degrees to either side, 60 degrees in total). The turret and frontal armor are quite solid, so you can rely on them in close-range combat. However, what makes this vehicle so dangerous is its 105 mm gun that features an autoloader with a non-standard configuration (more on that below), as well as good depression and elevation angles (–10/+20 degrees).

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The SMV CC-67

Now for the high-tier tanks! Let’s start with the menacing SMV CC-67, which embodies all the finest qualities of Italian tank destroyers. This vehicle also has a rotating turret, but its turret traverse angles is an impressive 70 degrees (35 degrees to either side).

The vehicle’s other characteristics are also evolving. The frontal hull and turret armor is even stronger, and the vehicle’s mobility is increasing, as well. The Tier VIII vehicle has a higher top speed, reverse speed, engine power, power-to-weight, and even traverse values. Although the SMV CC-67 can move from one flank to another, it will take you some time, so you’ll need to choose the right direction in battle. Its 120 mm gun with an autoloader and –10 degrees of gun depression make it easier to go hull-down, take a shot, and withdraw into cover for a few seconds so that enemies can’t hit your weak spots.

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The Controcarro 1 Mk. 2

All of the above-mentioned gameplay features continue to evolve, making the Controcarro 1 Mk. 2 an incredibly dangerous opponent in close- and mid-range combat. The vehicle’s partial turret traverse and average mobility are counterbalanced by its excellent frontal armor and good gun handling. Its menacing and high-DPM 127 mm gun boasts 80 degrees of turret traverse angles (40 degrees to either side) and an autoloader that causes 490 HP of alpha damage.

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The Controcarro 3 Minotauro

As the crown jewel of the new line, this Italian minotaur has key battle parameters similar to those of other high-tier TDs, but this is where they reach their maximum. Like its brothers-in-arms, this vehicle has excellent frontal hull armor and few weak spots, meaning that it can easily repel enemy shells and save your precious HP in a one-on-one duel.

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The rotating turret tops out at 90 degrees of total turret traverse angles, with 45 degrees to either side! The gun depression angles of –10 degrees are also good. The accuracy of the 130 mm gun is not too impressive, but its aiming time is very decent for this caliber, especially compared to other heavy tanks and tank destroyers with comparable guns. The penetration values are also more similar to those of heavy tanks rather than tank destroyers. This does not make firing from a long distance very comfortable, so the Minotauro will feel right at home on the front line as a powerful breakthrough vehicle. With its respectable 530 HP of alpha damage, it will perform brilliantly in both frontal assaults and positional hull-down duels, assisting heavies and putting pressure on the enemy in close combat.

The vehicle’s top speed of 30 km/h and its acceleration remain competitive compared to heavy tanks. It can confidently follow other allies to support them on the flanks.

The parameters displayed are valid for the vehicle with each crew member trained to 100% major qualification level. Some vehicle characteristics can be further improved with the Commander's bonus to major qualification level, crew perks, and skills, as well as special in-game items.

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And now, meet the branch’s real superpower: its unique autoloader!

Not Your Classic Autoloader: How It Works

Unlike high-tier medium and heavy Italian tanks, Tier VII–X tank destroyers are equipped with a drum-type autoloader. However, this is not the classic autoloader that you might play on some popular French vehicles. Let's see how it works using the Controcarro 3 Minotauro as an example.

The autoloader has five shells with 530 HP of alpha damage. The full reload time is 24 seconds, and between shots—surprise! — a whopping eight seconds! This may seem strange on paper, but in practice, an autoloader with these unique parameters is perfect for trying out new tactics and keeping your opponents on their toes.

Always remember that you should treat this vehicle like a standard tank with a normal cyclic gun. Its alpha damage is equal to that of alpha heavies, but with a reload time of eight seconds, it’s faster than many brawlers, such as the IS-7 or the 60TP Lewandowskiego. This means that you can jump into a 1v1 duel and come out victorious, thanks to your huge in-clip DPM—up to 2650 HP!—and excellent frontal armor. One drum is enough to outshoot most of your opponents, even those with large HP pools.

Of course, you will have to pay for all of those shots with a reload that takes 24 seconds. Consider it a kind of delayed penalty for unleashing your devastating in-clip DPM. On the other hand, 24 seconds isn’t that bad. After all, the cooldown won’t take you out of the game for a very long time. Also, don’t forget that you have excellent frontal armor. While reloading, try to face your opponents frontally while hiding your lower plate so they have a harder time punishing you.

If you have a few shells left and the combat situation is favorable (meaning you can potentially do more damage), simply skip your drum to fully reload it. In just 24 seconds, you will have five shells with nice alpha at your disposal. Your rate of fire will probably be higher than that of your opponents, and they won't even know how many shots you have left! Whether or not to reload your full clip will be an easier decision in this vehicle than it would be in other autoloaders, so you will be perfectly capable of quickly adapting as the battle progresses.

This autoloader concept makes the Controcarro 3 Minotauro a unique and versatile vehicle that is sure to challenge its commander. You’ll need to get used to the Minotauro’s temper, but if you succeed, you will have a real king of the hill on any map.

If you are ready to take on this challenge, go ahead! It all depends on you!

Aug 26, 2022

Update 1.0.3 features a-hole host of bug fixes & changes for Cursed to Golf! ⛳

Cursed to Golf - Mamas_Johnny

Greetings cursed Golfers,

It's been a week since Cursed to Golf opened its gates to Golf Purgatory and the first thing we want to do is to thank you all. So: THANK YOU! ❤️ It's so great to see you all playing our little Golflike. And thanks a ton for providing a massive bunch of feedback since the release. That's really appreciated! ːsteamhappyː

And of course we want you to have as much fun as possible with Cursed to Golf! That's why the update 1.0.3 is available from now on, featuring a bunch of fixes and changes including zoom toggle, mystery pack card changes and upped cash.

But there is way more - this is the complete change log including all fixes and changes:

Design Changes:

Zoom Toggle

New feature - The ability to zoom out has been added.
Players can toggle between the default camera and a new zoomed out frame.
Birdie Eye camera options unchanged.

Cash Rewards

Upped; players will now receive more cash per hole completion.

Mystery Booster Packs

Mystery Boosters now have the ability to unlock late game cards earlier.
Cost upped - $1250

Blessing Meter

Ace Card reward rate upped.
“Practice Shot” added to the card reward pool.

Power Meter

Animation speed slowed across all clubs.

Angle Meter

Animation speed slowed across all clubs.

Curse Trigger UI

Opacity changed; when players change clubs or start a shot the Curse Trigger UI in the top-right corner of the screen will lower in opacity.

Bug Fixes:

Fixed issue where controller input is unrecognized upon the main menu.
Fixed issue where Explorer Boss Cutscene “Short” would play incorrectly.
Fixed issue where Hole 16/17 Ace Card chest rewards were incorrect.
Adjust position and appearance of the auto-saving icon.
Fixed issue where Ace Cards could be interacted with while the “Curse Survived” banner was playing in Cursed holes, causing input issues.
Ace Card Chest icons flip immediately after opening them on the World Map.
Fixed issue with Course Map not scrolling enough to show all holes.
Disabled the ability to fast-forward through the final textbox of cutscenes.
Disabled the ability to fast-forward through the Boss “Boon Unlocked” textbox.
Increased scroll speed of Course Map when using mouse wheel input.
Fixed issue where Eterni-tee hub objects couldn't immediately be interacted.
Fixed issue with fast-forwarding Boss golf shots, causing issues.
Golf Ball is now destroyed when colliding with the camera collision boundary.
Fixed art issue with lava pits in Hole 18.
Fixed missing localization text for the Forgotten “Short” intro cutscene.
Fixed issue where cutscenes wouldn't pause on the final dialog before a playable section of a cutscene.
Ace Card controls UI tip box issues addressed.
Fixed issue where the equivalent of "NEW ROUND" in Italian and Brazilian Portuguese localization was mixed.
Fixed issue where the Explorer’s “Gimme” wouldn't trigger when going into a Mimic.
Force game app into the nearest supported resolution when on a display with an unsupported aspect ratio or resolution.
Fixed issue where Golf Ball would fall out of Pipe Rail entrances when fast-forwarding.
Fixed issue with camera when using a radial controlled Ace Card at the starting point of a hole.
Fixed issue where the Scotsman would sometimes appear to jump forward in position before taking a shot.
Fixed issue where Front 9 and Back 9 trophies would sometimes not trigger.
Fixed issue where the wrong rewards would be given in Ace Card chests.
Master Audio set to 75% by default.

Thank you so much for the ongoing interest and feedback for Cursed to Golf. You folks are purely awesome, each and everyone of you! ❤️

We’ll see you on the leaderboard!
Liam & the Chuhai Labs Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1726120/Cursed_to_Golf/