DESPOT'S GAME LEAVES EARLY ACCESS

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227280/Despots_Game_Dystopian_Army_Builder/



We kept the game in the dark and deep dungeon of Early Access for almost a year. All this time, we were working on the balance and posting GIFs on Twitter adding new stuff to the game. The “Brawl” mode, buttons (consumable items used between battles), the new mutation tree, new enemies and whatnot—it was a busy couple of months for us. And it’s all for you, puny humans. Now come on and pat yourselves on the back: you’ve been honored by the Despot.

But enough compliments, let’s get straight to the point. The final version is now LIVE, so let’s see what we have in store for you.

• 6 new quests in addition to the existing 4!
  Tired of looking for the T-virus? Start an epic adventure of distributing flyers on the level! 📄
  

  

• Unique abilities for the Tier 5 weapons!
  A banana-bomb for every skilled thrower! 🍌💣
  

  

• 9 new killer musical tracks—3 for each of the 3 biomes!
  It’s a pure banger, the best album of the 3000s! 🎸
  

  

• Free buttons to start a run with!
  Issued for reaching level 4 in your previous run. No more restarting runs over and over again—better get that bonus and take advantage of it, puny human!
  
• The ability to select what medals are showcased on the online "King of the Hill" leaderboards!
  Besides that, we added a couple of new medals. The Despot loves those things!
  
• Reworked balance!
  Huge thanks to puny humans in our Discord server: a lot of the changes have been made based on their amazing feedback! #NotSoPuny

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CHALLENGES DLC IS OUT

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2089800/Despots_Game__Challenges/

The first Despot’s Game DLC is set on the freaking moon and features 20 non-random challenges. The add-on is paid, but the first three challenges are available for free to everyone, so you can check them out and see if it’s your thing before giving money to the Despot!

The DLC is automatically added to your library if you purchased the game while it was in Early Access.

Challenges DLC represents what the game would look like if it was an arcade title with puzzle-based missions rather than a permadeath roguelike.

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Congratulations to the winners. All three will receive a special final season prize: Steam keys for any game of their choosing from the tinyBuild catalog. Please contact George Kulko via Steam to claim your prizes.

• Fixed the Simplified Chinese translations
  
• Slightly less enemies in waves 8 and 11
  
• Some enemies' health has been slightly reduced (big guys)
  
• Reduced the hitbox of the player (should be easier to avoid damage and to get closer to enemies as a melee character without taking damage)
  
• Bosses now have HP bars
  
• Slightly increased the enemy spawns' player detection range (so they shouldn't spawn as close to the player)
  
• Fixed a bug where Brawler had +100% crit chance. Now has +5 Melee Damage and 0% crit chance instead of -50%
  
• Torture: heals 5 HP / sec => 3
  
• Lowered the brightness of explosions
  
• Manual aiming now has a custom bigger mouse cursor
  
• Improved the hitbox of the Wizard boss projectiles (shouldn't damage you when the ball is not fully out anymore)
  
• Slightly increased the chance to find weapons in the shop
  
• Reduced the volume of the sound made by the enemy that appears in wave 11

Added 16:9 resolution for wide screens

Howdy!

We're working hard on Camp Canyonwood's next update and we have some exciting new features we can't wait to show you! In the meantime, we want you to hear your thoughts on the features and activities that you'd like to see in the game. If you're interested, you can take our survey and let us know what you think.

This helps us makes the best game possible and give you the ultimate camp experience!

As always, let us know on Discord or the forums what you think of the game, and happy camping!

Hi folks! I'm Mike, one of the Game Designers who specializes in content for V3, and today we're going to talk about the delights of modding.

Modding is a whole world of things in Paradox games. Some mods are total overhauls, some are just simple little tweaks. I've seen sweet little mods that just add a person's pet as a graphic, or even one that I spotted on Hearts of Iron's workshop page as I wrote this that added in a dearly-departed office cat as a replacement for Joseph Stalin. There's all sorts of mods out there! And, hopefully, by the time you've finished reading this dev diary, you'll know how to create the start of your own mod for Victoria 3, too.


First thing's first: the way the innards of Victoria 3 operate is similar, but not exactly the same as, Crusader Kings 3 and Imperator, since they're all derived from the Jomini engine we also use. If you know how those games tick scripting-wise, you're 90% of the way to knowing how to make a V3 mod. If not, I will happily let Crusader Kings 3 explain a bit about how scripting in Jomini works.

If that stuff still leaves you a little baffled, don't worry about it! We're gonna walk through the basics of making a whole mod, from the first point of creation to actually running the darn thing.

So! Let's start from the top. When you fire up Victoria 3, you'll be greeted by the game's launcher. If you look in the upper-left of the launcher, you'll see four little options: Home, DLC, Mods, and Game settings. Click the Mods one. Go on. You know you want to.



From the Mods menu, you'll be greeted with three buttons. If you click "Mod tools" in the middle, you'll be greeted with a prompt to create a new mod if you haven't got any yet, otherwise you'll have to find the button on the menu and click it to bring up the Create new mod prompt.

Let's make something simple, shall we? How's about we make a country out of Ohio. Yeah, let's just make one country and make it show up in-game, that'll be a good test of all this stuff.



Slam that create button, and the launcher will create a new directory in your mod folder wherever your savegames and such are stored. In my case, and in most of your cases, that'll be in some place like



Found the directory? Good. Inside that directly, you're gonna find a folder named ".metadata", with a single file inside that, called "metadata.json". That folder and file is where all the data is stored that the launcher reads when checking out the mod, including the mod's name, version number if you wanna be fancy, and so forth. If you want to tinker with that stuff later, go on ahead, but we're not gonna touch it for this. Go back to the main directory, so that you're looking at "[...]\Paradox Interactive\Victoria 3\mod\It's Ohio!"


Let's start defining Ohio. The key thing with how to set up a mod is that you have to essentially copy the paths used in the main game, so the game reads everything right. In V3, country definitions are stored at "Victoria 3\game\common\country_definitions", so in our "It's Ohio!" directory we're going to make a "common" folder, and then a "country_definitions" folder within that. This mimics the path of the base game (that "Victoria 3\game" bit), so when the game reads this mod and tries to figure out how it interacts with the base game, it doesn't scream and die.

Inside our mod's "common\country_definitions" folder, we're going to make a little file I've arbitrarily called "ohio.txt". Open it up, and we'll paste text like this bad boy into it:



Wow! We've defined Ohio. Now let's tinker with history files so Ohio appears in-game.

Country control of a state is defined in a couple history files, found in the following directories:

• common\history\buildings
  
• common\history\pops
  
• common\history\states

All three of these will need the base game files copied over- we sadly can't just add a new entry in a new file, because we also need to remove/replace the USA-related data in these as well. Make sure you duplicate these folder paths in the It's Ohio! mod folder, like you did with common\country_definitions.

Starting with the buildings directory, what we do is find "STATE_OHIO" among the buildings files- turns out it's in 05_north_america.txt. Copy that file and plop it into your mod's history\buildings folder, open it up there, then search for STATE_OHIO. You'll find a section that starts off with



and goes on from there. What's happening there is that we've declared that within the state region of Ohio (that is, "s:STATE_OHIO"), there should be a state controlled by the USA ("region_state:USA") that constitutes American Ohio. But we're making an independent Ohio, so all the data referring to American Ohio is useless and will confuse the game. All we're going to do is change that "region_state:USA={ " line to "region_state:OSU={ " so the same section now reads



Now, instead of telling the game that within the state region of Ohio we want to create a state controlled by the USA filled with the following buildings, we've told the game to create a state in Ohio that is just… Ohio, and that should be filled with the following buildings.

The same thing applies for common\history\pops. There's a 05_north_america.txt file we're gonna copy over, and we're going to find the STATE_OHIO entry, and change USA control to OSU.

State history is all saved in a single file, so in common\history\states\ you're just going to copy over the entire 00_states.txt file into your mod directory, and again crack open the file and search for STATE_OHIO. There, you'll find this entry:



A state is created out of provinces, which are all just x + whatever the hex code (a color expressed as six characters) for their province color is in the province map we used to create the whole map. In places like Ohio, there's only one state created per state region, but in places like Germany this section looks far more chaotic, as it is possible to create multiple states within a single state region. Don't think about Germany though, think about Ohio.

Hopefully you've picked up on the pattern of changes we've been doing- here again, we're just going to change that "country = c:USA" bit to "country = c:OSU", so that the whole STATE_OHIO section becomes



Exciting! I wonder what happens if we start up the game now?




First, we need to get the darn thing enabled in the launcher. Open up the launcher, add a new playset, and call it "ohio!" or the name of your choice.



The launcher's going to say that the playset looks empty, so click the "ADD MODS" button that appears, so you can add mods, and then add “It's Ohio!”

Make sure the playset is enabled, and then let's play the game and see what happens.



Hold on… something feels wrong here. Let's quit out of the game, right-click on Vicky 3 in Steam, open up properties, and change the launch settings by plugging in "-debug_mode".



This enables the error log to appear in game. Let's see what happens when we load up the game now.



We have errors! We'll open up the error log, which can be found at "...\Paradox Interactive\Victoria 3\logs\error.log", and let's take a look at the error messages. Any time you're working on a mod, I cannot emphasize enough how useful it is to run the game with debug mode on and do your best to resolve any issues reported in the error log.

Please read the error log and fix errors reported there. I'm not even talking to just potential V3 modders now. Please, I beg you… read the error logs and fix the errors reported there.

Anyways! In our case, there's four sources to these errors:

• By removing Ohio from the USA, we've reduced wine consumption enough that a scripted trade route that the USA starts with needs to be changed or removed. Easy enough, I'll copy the trade route history file over and remove that entry outright so I don't have to think about it anymore.
  
• I didn't localize the Ohio tag (OSU)! I'll get around to localization after fixing the next two items.
  
• I've completely forgotten to add country history, so Ohio's technological know-how hasn't been defined at all.
  
• Starting pop prosperity, located in a separate "populations" file, hasn't been defined for Ohio.

Country histories cover technology and politics. To make this easy on myself and avoid scripting everything from scratch, I'm going to copy the country history of Ohio's natural counterpart at vanilla game start: Belgium. All I'm going to do is get to "common\history\countries\bel - belgium.txt" in the base game, copy that file over to the same path in the mod, rename it to "osu - ohio.txt", and open it up real quick. Inside, the file has a whole section enclosed within "c:BEL". That section contains several effects that set the starting laws and ruling interest groups of the country. I'm just gonna change that c:BEL there to c:OSU, so all those effects regarding politics and technology now apply to our OSU tag, then I'm gonna save the file and close out there.

The other history file I need to add is a population file. The population file contains some scripted effects which distribute health and literacy rates among a country's starting pops. We're going to find the Belgian one at "common\history\population\bel - belgium.txt". Like with the country history stuff, we're going to rename our copy to "osu - ohio.txt" (as long as it's named anything other than an existing history file, it won't accidentally overwrite anything, but keeping the same naming convention in place is useful for organization), and inside that file change the scope from c:BEL to c:OSU so the effects of the population file actually apply to Ohioans.

Speaking of "Ohioans", let's get that localization sorted. Base game localization is stored at "Victoria 3\game\localization" and further divided into the various languages the game is available in. I'm an Anglophone, so I'm going to default to English for this stuff. We're going to recreate the whole English-language localization folder path in our mod (so "It's Ohio!\localization\english"), then we're going to create our own little loc file to throw in there- let's call it ohio_l_english.yml just to stick to the theme. Now, all we need to add in that file is



And now our country should have a name and an adjective!

Some of you folks with modding experience may have noticed that existing localization in our games tends to have a number after the colon in these localization entries (like 'FRA:0 "France" ', for example). Those numbers are just there to help us and our translators keep track of when entries are changed and require revised translations- they have no functional purpose beyond that, and if you're just modding in one language and don't intend to translate your mod with the same tools we use, there's no need for you to include that number bit after the colon.

With those errors hopefully fixed, let's start up V3 again.



Ladies and gentlemen, we have Ohio. It still doesn't have a scripted flag- you can read more about how those work and are scripted here - but it's a country that functions. You could select Ohio and play as Ohio now, if you wanted, or you could elaborate further, and start writing events and journal entries. You could script up individual characters, or replace all Yankee pops in Ohio with your own bespoke Ohioan culture where everyone has names like "Bud" and "Janet". Explore the game itself, and the insides that make it all work!

In our Dev Diary next week, Paul will be talking about Data Visualization!

Hey drivers! On your marks… Get set… GO!

Get ready to drive – Funtasia is now live! 🎉



Thank you all for your support throughout development! We could not have done it without you and your support. Our community means the absolute world to us and we’re so excited to share the finished product!

Be sure to let us know what you think! You can leave us a review, tell us about a bug you’ve found, or just to give some feedback in our Discord - we’d love to hear from you! You can also follow us on Twitter for more news.

Hello,

The game server will be temporarily closed from September 30 @ 12PM EST until October 1 @ 12PM EST for scheduled maintenance, during which time we will push an update to our backend servers. We apologize for the extended interruption this will cause.

See you all soon!

New World: The Natural Disasters Department – Discover and explore a new twisted world, the Natural Disasters Department. Experience a world a world torn asunder by the destructive forces of the natural world, from ferocious hurricanes to devasting tornados. This new world introduces the following new content:

• New Bosses – Go up against one new Sorrow (boss) and one new mini-boss (Thanager) as you dive deeper into the update’s new world.
  
• New Sorrow – Catherine Imamura, a mighty empress who has the power to create clones of herself and unleash powerful water-based spells.
  
• New Thanager - Horace Sinistrocirrus, a giant storm cloud opera singer, has a full arsenal of deadly lightning attacks. Once he starts singing, be prepared to dodge lightning strikes that only get more intense over time.
  
• New Enemies - While exploring the dangerous world that is the Natural Disasters Department, be prepared to hack’n’scythe through five new elemental enemies that can burn you to a crisp, pound you to the ground and more.

New NPC - Meet the new NPC, Ms. Muriel the Reverent, an artist and performer who’s the painter behind the wondrous works of art in the Lobby.

New Curses, New Spells and a New Weapon – Ten new curses, two brand new spells: like the Sepulchral Ray -- an instant-death ray that detonate enemies – and a new long-ranged scythe weapon, the Billhooks, that lets you easily scythe down enemies from a distance.

New Lore - The lore within the Underworld continues to grow as you can dive into new character stories, worker guide descriptions and over 900 lines of dialogue.

New Training Room – Test out your new weapons, spells and curses and make-up your own character builds in the new training room that can be found in the Lobby.

New Features Based on Community Feedback - In response to player feedback, Magic Design Studios has implemented the following new improvements to the game in this new update:

• Challenge Rooms: Throughout your adventure, you can now stumble upon new Challenge Rooms that will put your hack’n’scythe skills to the ultimate test. Complete tough challenges in just a limited amount of time to earn special rewards.
  
• Run Summary: After a run’s been completed, you can get a complete breakdown of it run by interacting with Pitbook.
  
• Curses Encyclopedia: Dive into this new encyclopedia to see all the curses you’ve acquired across your adventure in Death Inc.

“Quality-of Death” Fixes - Modifications to the combat system, along with difficulty, frenzy attack and food adjustments changes have been made to improve the overall gameplay experience.

Check out the trailer! 🔥



Explore the virtual worlds once again! Gamedec – Definitive Edition brings a fresh look to the current-existing cases! First, players can immerse themselves in the world based on Seven: The Days Long Gone, the game released in 2017 by Fool’s Theory and IMGN.PRO. The case is completely readable to those who played neither of these games, thus offer a mouthful of additional flavor to those who did. Expect the brand new virtualium and even more challenging NPCs.

Additionally, fans of the Cthulhu mood can take on a new twist in one of the current-existing cases. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!



That's not all! Below you'll find the more specific change list:

• New fully voice-overed cutscenes: epilogues for each decision at the end of the game
  
• New sidequest on the Like Father Like Son along with the brand new NPC: Clown
  
• New sub-level on the Like Father Like Son case
  
• Voice overs s for the new NPC on Like Father Like Son
  
• New game difficulty: True Detective Mode
  
• New Main Menu music theme
  
• Bugfixing and optimization across all content
  
• New language available: Japanese

• Whole new case in a new Virtualium, which contains over 30 quests
  
• New playable character: Ken Zhou
  
• Partial voiceovers for the 24 NPCs
  
• Two characters made in collaboration with our Backers: Dungeongeek and Ryan
  
• Five characters from Seven: The Days Long Gone game lore
  
• A few new minigames

THERE IS STILL MORE🔥

We have a bundle of four skins available for free! Unfortunately, due to technical issues, there will be a slight delay in the bundle release, but we're working with Valve to deliver it to you as soon as possible🕵️



We have one more important information for you. Post-launch support for Gamedec will continue until the end of October 2022; after that, we plan to focus on other projects. Of course, we still encourage you to report any issues through our social media channels and Discord server - we are going to work on any issues up until this point.

Hop into the game and enjoy the new content; don't forget to share your feedback with us through our social media channels and discord server!

Cheers,

Team Gamedec

Today we’ll be introducing Flora Burn, the dreaded Pirate Captain with a flair for the supernatural, and the main antagonist who you’ll be going up against throughout your adventure.



Along with David Douglas, Buffalo Calf, Bussa, and Akane Yamakawa, Flora and her pirate crew are prisoners of the British Empire, being transported to London aboard the HMS Barfleur. However, during the crossing Flora and her crew hatch a devious plan to escape...


By channelling magical energy through a piece of the fabled Eye of the Serpent, Flora weaves a diabolical curse which transforms everyone on the HMS Barfleur into rats!

As an insurance policy, Flora kidnaps the Admiral’s son and begins transforming the local flora and fauna into ferocious adversaries. In desperation, Admiral Blacksmith offers the remaining prisoners freedom if they rescue his son.



It’s up to you lead the hunt for Flora, defeat each member of her elite pirate crew and free little Timothy from the paws of evil...




Standing in your way are Flora’s vicious crew. Made up of some of the most conniving and deadly pirates to have ever roamed the seven seas, this band of misfits will stop at nothing to prevent you from catching up to their Captain.

Each of these crew members presides over an area of the map, lying in wait for you to spring their trap. From the terrible twins, Fatso & Fatsie, to the sinister spider, Freddy Eightfingers, there are no shortage of menacing foes to encounter.



Defeating the various elite crew members will not only get you one step closer to Flora but will also yield exciting rewards. Beating the vampiric flying Murat Reis, for example, will unlock the Dash ability. The nature of each character’s Dash is unique, so have fun experimenting with everyone’s move set as you progress forwards.

Intriguingly, every member of Flora’s entourage that you defeat will yield a golden tooth. What could these mysterious items mean? Collect the set and find out!


On the night the curse was unleashed, the Pirate Witch attempted to steal The Eye of the Serpent, a magical, gem-encrusted artefact. However, she only made away with the gem, ensconced within the ring she wears, leaving the rest of the amulet behind.

Unaware of its true power, Admiral Blacksmith entrusts the amulet to you in the hopes it will aid you in retrieving his son.

Now, guided by the wise and powerful Wu Yun, you must stop Flora Burn and her crew from becoming too powerful, retrieve the other half of the artefact, and perhaps learn more about its true nature...

Petoons Studio