Dec 16, 2022
This Time - apocalypsetodaygames
This dev diary was originally posted exclusively to patreon subscribers on 9th December 2022.


Another week bites the dust.

Pace has accelerated this last week and there are now only some minor parts of Chapter 2 left to render. There's still a fair but of programming to do, but this tends to come together pretty quick.

We have decided that once Chapter 2 is complete, we are going to throw together a preview build exclusively for VIP DLC holders and High level Patreon subscribers (any tier with intra-chapter releases).

This build will contain the rewritten core code, Chapter 1 and the new Chapter 2. Given the scale of the coding work being undertaken we expect this release may be buggy, so it will NOT be the default branch. We will have this as a seperate BETA branch, details of this will be given at release time.

I think we are still a few weeks from being ready for this release but we will keep you up to date.

Image pack 3 is also coming together nicely and should soon be launched on Steam so keep your eyes peeled for that.

That's all for this week. See you all again shortly.





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Dec 16, 2022
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers - wladi | astragon


Fellow officers,

we've just released a Hotfix Update with the version number 8.0.1. It addresses some frequently appearing crashes which sneaked in with the most recent Update 8.0.0.

PSA: If you encounter a crash, please send us the crashlogs so that we can take a look at the issue. You can do that here.

Changelog - Update 8.0.1

Crashes
  • Fixed a crash which occurred when attempting Car Patrol
  • Fixed a crash which occurred when driving around
Christmas Break

As mentioned before, we are heading to a little Christmas break starting, well, today! We'll take some time to relax, reflect on the year, spend some time with family & friends, play some video games, watch movies, catch up with the latest series... and come back in full force in January. We can't wait for it!

Enable & Disable Callouts

Some users have mentioned that the feature to enable & disable callouts has been removed. Well, actually, you have to activate this feature in the game's settings!

Head over to the settings, select 'game' and you will find the setting 'Show turn On/Off the radio callouts'.

Your Police Simulator Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/997010
Selaco - Nexxtic
Version 0.4
Happy 6-month anniversary to the Selaco Demo!

Phew, has time flew by these last couple of months! After we launched the initial Demo Version, we were immensely satisfied with the feedback we got. We have been working on this game for a long time but we were never quite sure whether or not the game would connect with our audience. During development, especially as a small indie studio, that always felt like a bit of a coin toss. Thankfully, the launch of the demo gave us some much needed confidence and put a lot of weight off of our shoulders. I can speak for the entire team when I say that the feedback we have received has been overwhelming in every positive way. There's a long road still ahead of us, and plenty of obstacles we have to overcome before the game is completed, but we're getting closer day after day.

However, despite the positivity, the initial Demo Launch has some flaws. We had a very right deadline due to Steam Nextfest rapidly approaching, so we had to work quickly. We knew going in that we would have to release a demo that lacks the intended level of polish and features that we wanted to include, and promised the community (you!) that we would eventually launch a Big Patch that would update the game to something that is closer to our vision. The game is still in active development of course, so it's only going to improve further from here, but we are confident that you will love what we have been cooking up here.

The Steam Forums have been a tremendous help. It gave us good insight on what we were doing right and what needed tweaking. This patch addresses a lot of the feedback we have received and aims to improve the game as a while. So grab a drink and get comfortable, because this will be a long read.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you; The Big Patch.

Quick Summary (Patch Note TL;DR)

  • Significant Quality of Life improvements
  • Added Steam Deck Support
  • Added Gamepad support
  • Challenge rework
  • Drastic changes to levels, both in design and visuals
  • Engine changes for better performance and smoother visuals
  • Most Particle Effects have been migrated to our own Particle System, making performance smoother in combat
  • Fully rewritten, better looking flashlight
  • Brand new gore system
  • (Vulkan) Added multi-threaded asset loading to combat stutters and improve gameplay smoothness
  • Hundreds of new special effects and sound effects
  • Improved AI
  • Pacing changes
  • All weapons rebalanced
  • First phase for Translation support
  • Over a hundred bugs have been fixed

General Improvements
Player Movement
Starting with the one everyone will notice right away!
  • Player movement has been slowed down a little and this one needs some explaining. Selaco was always meant to be a fast-paced title, but we felt like things ended up being much faster than intended as development continued. We were aware of this problem before the demo launched, but due to Steam Nextfest arriving earlier than we had anticipated, we had no time to properly test a tweaked movement system, until now. In this new build, you will still be fast, you can still Slide Jump, but running speed is slightly reduced. We are confident this makes combat more engaging and exploration more immersive. Do let us know your thoughts on the Steam Forums if you have the chance!
The Demo Level have been touched up and significantly improved.
  • Lighting has been redone in most areas
  • Additional rooms have been added
  • Combat encounters have been partially redesigned to flow better and allow for more movement
  • New effects have been added to all levels
  • New scripting has been applied in some places
Performing slides and dashes are now much more responsive and triggers faster.
  • The previous demo version has some errors. Holding the Dash button before moving would often not trigger, or players were unable to dash shortly after sliding. These issues have been fixed and improved upon.
Added Zoom Interpolation to GZDoom.
  • Sliding, zooming and firing your weapon will now smoothly adjust the camera FOV without giving the illusion of the game running at a low framerate.
Fully reworked Roaring Cricket.
  • See the "Balance" section below for more information!
Performance has significantly improved
  • (Vulkan only) Added Asynchronous Asset Loading to GZDoom (Multi-threading). Audio, textures and sprites will now be loaded on a different CPU thread to eliminate a large amount of stutter.
    - Quick Saves will still cause a slight hiccup
    - For the time being, this is only supported on Vulkan. But will eventually support OpenGL
    - Some UI effects may still cause a short hitch when loaded for the first time (e.g Dirt, Damage Vignettes). This will be fixed in the full game
  • Expensive alpha effects are no longer rendered inside reflections (both floor, ceiling and walls).
  • Updated explosion effects to look juicier and more performant.
  • Heaps of logic code have been rewritten for improved to require less CPU resources.
  • Added Particle Limiter. In case extreme amounts are happening, to prevent stutters.
  • Reduced CPU load for individual smoke effects.
  • Drastically improved loading times when entering a new level.
  • Complete rework for lighting effects. All lights attached to special effects like explosions and muzzle flashes perform better than ever before.
  • Migrated most effects to our own Particle System for improved performance
  • Added 'Shadow Quality' setting. This setting adjusts the amount of lights that cast a shadow. A lower setting means less effects casting shadows (e.g muzzle flashes, flashlight and more)
  • Expensive AI tasks are now seeded, preventing stutters during larger battles.
Map Improvements
  • The player icon has been made much more readable and is no longer a thin white arrow
  • A couple of icons have been reworked
  • Players can no longer shoot with the map open
  • Adjust Default Zoom to keep things readable.
Added partial Translation support (~95% done).
  • Language Packs have not been added yet, but fan translations are now possible. We will explore this further in the future! A couple of smaller things like Datapad Labels are not translatable yet, but will be the case before we launch the full game.
Heads-Up Display
  • Some tutorial pop-ups have been made bigger for better readability on smaller screens / players sitting further away from the screen. This can be reduced.
  • Reduced the default UI scale to make the HUD less big. To customize the HUD size, go to the Options Menu -> Interface -> ''UI Scale''.
  • Reloading a Saved Game will now show you a reminder of your current goal / objective.
  • Picking up new equipment now adds a description to your Datapad.
  • Objectives on your HUD are now easier to read due to a different font size. Receiving a new objective has also been made more obvious through a new sound and text effect.
  • Added Context-sensitive Death Tutorials. Getting killed by certain types of enemies will give relevant Tips on the death screen.
  • 'Secrets' label in the Datapad has been renamed to 'Current area secrets' and 'Total Level Secrets.
  • Applied some tweaks to the ‘Customize Control’ menu. They are categorized better and Weapon Keybinds now show weapon names.
Challenges rework.
  • We have removed challenges that required the player to use specific methods to kill enemies (Explosive Kills, Melee Kills, Headshots, Throwing Knives etc) and decided to only keep general kill challenges (Kill X amount of Y enemy type) and exploration challenges (Find X amount of Y, destroy X amount of Wall Cracks). The previous system forced players into playstyles they may not like or would or not offer a tactical advantage.
  • Some challenges have increased requirements.
Gore Changes:
  • Improved performance and less bloated code.
  • Added Intestines when gibbing enemies
  • Added brain pieces for headshots / full gibs
  • Added slime pools for enemies who have been dead for a while.
  • Brand new sound effects for gore/impact/combat related audio
  • Additional severed arm and legs sprites
  • The position of blood effects when killing an enemy is now relative to the point of impact
  • Recolored the blood effects and adjusted the way they are illuminated by light sources, resulting in an overall more pleasing visual
  • Fixed a bunch of gore related errors
Added Fall Damage.
  • We've considered this for a while now but eventually decided to pull through with it. General fall damage is low, but high enough to give a slight penalty for recklessly jumping off a high ledge.
Added Safe Saving system.
  • Players are no longer able to save when there is danger nearby (e.g Active Grenades, alerted enemies).
Armor has been made more important.
  • Armor now absorbs more damage and deplete less fast. With how damaging the enemy can be, this armor change makes scavenging for armor more rewarding and important.
Full rewrite for the flashlight.
  • The flashlight now uses a cone-shape, making it more like a real flashlight. This not only looks better, it's also much more atmospheric.
  • Adjusted how lighting is applied to sectors ahead of the player. This improved flashlight performance
  • AI is now more reactionary to your flashlight usage
Improvements to jumping
  • Added 'coyote timer' to jumping, making platforming more responsive and less prone to failed jumps during platforming sections
  • Slight reduction in Cooldown before being able to jump again
Slides / Dashing
  • Dashes and Slides no longer share the same cooldown.
  • Added Dash Cooldown indicator
  • Hitting the wall while sliding will now cancel the slide, rather than awkwardly slide you backwards.
Added minor Hardcore Mode Quality of Life
  • Completing Level 1-1 will now give you a confirmation box asking if you are sure about continuing on with Hardcore Mode. In case you feel like Hardcore Mode is a bit too difficult, you can revert to Traditional Mode.
Accessibility improvements:
  • Finished Photosensitivity modes. ''Reduce Light flickering'' will eliminate most the light effects that last for a short duration of time, and ''Reduced Muzzle Flashes'' no longer kills the entire muzzle flash light, but rather makes them smaller and less strong; maintaining a power feeling weapon while still being more friendly towards the eyes.
  • Added auto-climbing feature. Run up to a ledge that's within reach and climb automatically!
  • Streamlined Screenshake intensity setting to be less overly complicated.
  • Added 'Disable Camera Motion' setting. This will eliminate movement from the camera when using melee, sliding and other things.
  • Added 'Censor gore' setting. This will reduce the amount of blood and gibs, as well as altered scripts to contain less depictions of violence.
  • (Gamepad Only) Added Assisted Mode. On Commander Difficulty and below, Assisted Mode will provide additional guidance to lock-on to targets. Use this if you have difficulty aiming with a gamepad.
  • (Gamepad Only, requires Assisted Mode) Added option to enable a Ringing sound. This is a sound queue that plays when Lock-on acquires a target, and when the target is inside your crosshair.
VAC-BOTS have actual AI now!
  • VAC-BOTS now properly clean up trash that they can see
  • Added VAC-BOT Emotion System. Their display will now portray how they feel and they will adjust based on circumstances. They will actively flee from incoming explosions, find a way to hide when shots are fired, look disgusted when cleaning up gibs and can get lonely if left alone for too long. If you want to keep them happy, give them frequent pets or stuff to clean up that aren't giblets.
  • VAC-BOTS now utilize Pathfinding, allowing them to reach their destination better
  • Added a cleanup effect when a VAC-BOT erases something from the map.
Gamepad / Steam Deck Support
  • Selaco is now fully playable using a Steam Deck / Gamepad.
  • Rewrote the majority of GZDoom's Gamepad input code. Setting it to modern standards and improving support on Linux devices.
  • Added Steam Deck Optimized preset. This will enlarge certain UI elements for increased readability and optimizes graphics based on either Quality or Performance.
  • Added Vibration Support to GZDoom
  • Added Aim Acceleration to GZDoom
  • Added support for both Xbox and Playstation button prompts. Visible buttons can be tweaked in the Gamepad Menu.
  • Added 3 stages of Aim Assist; Weak, Default, Strong. This adjusts how much the Aim Assist is going to help you aim.
  • Added 2 Aim Assist Modes. 'Moving Targets', which only enables Aim Assist on targets that are on the move, and 'Always, which applies Aim Assist to all enemy types regardless of movement.
  • Added joystick button prompts that dynamically adjust based on the input device that is being used. Gamepad and KB/M are able to be used simultaneously.
  • Added optional Lock-on mode for lower difficulties.
  • Added squared stick input option for gamepad Look and Move, allowing for more responsive diagonal inputs.
  • Gyroscope Aiming is not included natively, but should work perfectly fine when using Steam's Gyroscope mode. If you have any trouble with this, reach out to us and let us know!
  • Redesigned portions of the Wrist Computer to make it easier to navigate with a gamepad
Economy:
  • Now that Credits are harder to come by, ArachnoCola prices from Vending Machines have been reduced (5c -> 2c)
  • Additional Credit Bags have been added to the levels.
Other improvements
  • The menu has been partially overhauled
  • Added 'Longest Headshot' statistic.
  • Added option to increase Zoom Sensitivity above 1.0.
  • Crouching behind flipped cover will now properly protect your head
  • Explosions made by the player deal significantly less self damage. Standing close to the origin of the explosion will still end up dealing a significant amount of damage, however.
  • Weapon Switching has been tweaked to feel snappier. It is now easier to switch weapons even during animations.
  • 90 is now the default FOV. Remember to change this if you prefer something lower or higher!
  • Grabbing objects now lowers the player's weapon to keep the screen free of additional clutter.

World / Presentation
  • Updated Splash Screen when loading the game
  • Re-rendered some of the sprite work to make them seem less out of place. Not all sprites are properly 'converted' yet. This will be an on-going process.
  • Enemy muzzle flashes now properly follow the shooter and no longer clip through the sprite of the shooter.
  • Smoke effects have a bit more transparency applied to them, causing less problems with visibility.
    (The RIDICULOUS setting of Smoke Quality uses the same thickness as the previous version)
  • Added proper impact effects when shooting at Window Blinds
  • Added impact effects when a shot down sign impacts the floor.
  • Added voxel model for Blood Bags (decoration)
  • Added 10 new variations for Wall Paintings
  • All datapad entries now have proper dates assigned to them.
  • Enemy footsteps now react to glass shards and leave footprints behind when standing on water, blood or slime.
  • Added bullet whiz effect for tracers flying past the player
  • Improved visual effects for Smoke Grenades
  • Added new variations of Cardboard Boxes.
  • All Pickup Items have been brightened up for improved readability.
  • Added variants of impact sounds after landing from a fall. Additional grunts and effects have been added.
  • Added a weight scale. No further elaboration needed.
  • Changes to Crate destruction to make them a bit more satisfying to break.
  • All weapon descriptions in your Wrist Codex have updated artwork
  • Brand new effects when destroying window panes. This new system ensures that the amount of glass shard matches the size of the window pane. Longer windows spawn more glass, smaller windows spawn less.
  • Added Breathing Frames for the Roaring Cricket.
  • Dawn shields her eyes from explosions much faster.
  • Cleaned up the Slide Entering animation, making it less jerky
  • Added new death animations for all enemy types
  • With subtitles enabled, the names of the opposing side are written in Orange.
  • Most actors will now properly adjust to the slope of the floor
  • Food now fades out when eaten, rather than disappear right away
  • Bullet Brass code has been entirely rewritten to be more performance friendly and visually appealing.
  • All weapons will now spawn a unique bullet case model when fired.
  • Added brand new toilet voxels. Happy flushing!
  • Added Toilet Cleaner voxel model.
  • Dawn will no longer eat the flag of a burger.
  • Level Names have been adjusted to be more clear. A "Level" is broken up into multiple "Areas". Every loading zone takes you to a new area within the level.
  • Added 'Foot Slide' sound that often plays on top of footsteps.
  • Added visual effects when sliding
  • Shockwave effects from explosions are now smoother
  • Drastic adjustments to the lighting of the levels to reduce visual busyness
  • Retextured and redesigned significant portions of the demo level
  • Walking on human blood will now leave bloody footprints behind
  • Added transition effect when interacting with a Camera Feed
  • Improved enemy readability
  • Added splash effects when jumping into water
  • All guns play a sound effect when the last bullet of a magazine is fired.
  • Optimized ejected Weapon Magazine models. With the new optimization, we can keep them in the level for much longer. Playing with ''Effects Lifespan'' on Ultra, keeps them around permanently
  • And a whole bunch of other improvements that we forgot to log...
Audio
  • Completely remade the Intermission track when completing the demo. The previous one was outdated and no longer matched the tone of the game
  • UC-36 and Shotgun have improved sound effects
  • You will now be able to hear the mechanisms of the weapon when firing while zoomed in
  • Added sound effects when hitting wooden surfaces
  • Added unique sound effects per bullet casing type. Heavy sounds for big bullets, lighter sounds for machineguns.
  • Added unique sound effects for paintings being hit, and new sounds for when they hit the floor
  • New sound effects for Destroying Crates
  • Added additional foley sounds for different player actions
  • Brand new bullets impact SFX, making them sound more punchy and impactful than before.
  • Added new sound effects for bouncing metal
  • Added sound effect for paper debris touching the floor
  • Added sound effect for bouncing ceramic pieces.
  • Updated sound effects for player footsteps
  • Added new sound effects for Metal floors
  • Added new sound effects for walking on boxes
  • Added squishy sound effect when walking on blood piles
  • Security Camera sounds have been updated so it's no longer a stock sound
  • Enemy soldiers now have their own footstep and foley sound effects for improved recognition
  • All weapons now have unique (de)selection sounds
  • And a whole bunch of other sound effects we forgot to log...
Difficulty Tweaks
Captain Difficulty and above:
  • Various stat tweaks to enemy tactics and action speeds
  • Portable Medkits now heal for 50, just like the other difficulties. We felt that 25 was not enough for such an uncommon item.
  • Portable Medkits healing rate has been cut in half.
Admiral Difficulty:
  • Given the slight tweaks to a certain number of factors, enemies deal 10% more damage to compensate.
  • Enemies are much more mobile in this difficult setting.
WEAPONS
Roaring Cricket [rework]:
While we always liked how much damage it dealt, its magazine capacity and recoil might have been too troublesome. We've made some changes to better balance this out and make it easier to use.
  • Primary Fire Recoil reduced (1.5 -> 0.7). Alt Fire remains the same as before.
  • Magazine capacity increased (9 -> 12)
  • Damage per shot reduced (60 -> 48)
  • Max ammo reserve increased (45 -> 48)
  • Increased Roaring Cricket ammo pickup (9 -> 12)
  • Roaring Cricket alt fire now works with less than 3 shots. It will deplete the rest of the magazine instead.
  • Swapping speed is now nearly instant, making this the ideal weapon to switch to when caught with an empty weapon during a fight.
  • Particle trail is now instant between player and target. The previous version made the Roaring Cricket look like a projectile weapon instead of hitscan.
UC-36 Assault Rifle:
  • Headshot damage has been decreased (25% -> 15%).
  • Increased damage per shot (13 -> 14)
  • Changes made to the firing sound to sound more punchy
  • Some sprite improvements when Zooming
  • Changes to how recoil is handled, making it increase incrementally with each shot.
ESG-24 Shotgun:
Shotgun is in a good place, but had some issues.
  • Beefed up the firing sound of the shotgun
  • Dawn will now pump the shotgun before starting to reload, in case the shotgun requires pumping.
  • Added 'Chamber Empty' indicator when your shotgun requires pumping.
  • Pressing 'Reload' with no shell in the chamber will now cause Dawn to pump the shotgun.
  • Fixed minor stutter when firing the shotgun
Melee improvements:
  • Quick Melee with your weapon is now much faster.
  • Weapon Melee damage has been reduced
  • Collision damage has increased. For maximum effectiveness, try hitting targets against walls.
  • Improved wall collision detection. Hitting enemies against walls should be much more consistant and reliable.
AI
Added Strafe Node system.
  • This will allow soldiers to dynamically adjust their strafing behavior based on player location. This results in soldiers being more intelligent with how they strafe. A confident soldier with high health will be more likely to stay within line of sight of their target, while a low health soldier is more likely to strafe towards nearby walls for cover.
Added intelligent reloading.
  • When a soldier is low on ammo, there is a chance they will seek cover to reload their weapon.
Improved enemy pathfinding.
  • AI no longer gets stuck in geometry
  • Enemy are now able to chase you around the entire level
  • Tweaks to Pathfinding to make it more likely for AI to flank your position
Misc
  • Animation smoothing, logic performance improvements and other additional things have been added.
Enemy Rifleman:
  • Increased mobility. Rifleman is far less likely to hold still. This increases per difficulty.
  • 'Attacker' Rifleman now has a slight speed boost to have an easier time closing the gap.
  • Rifleman now has less issue dealing with faraway targets.
Enemy Engineer (Shotgunner):
  • Slight reduction in health (135 -> 125). This change should be enough to make it easier to take him down after he sets his sights on you.
  • Engineers no longer fire at teammates.
  • Added Suppression role. Engineers can now choose to not rush towards their target, but instead unload shotgun shells from a distance to keep targets suppressed.
  • Engineer strafe patterns have been improved to make them more engaging to fight.
Enemy Juggernaut:
We liked how fast-paced and lethal the Juggernaut is. It's an opponent that has a similar moveset as the player and requires the player to use everything they have learned so far. However, we also felt he was a bit too dominating. Here are some tweaks to make him a more fun opponent while still being a dominant presence. Remember that the Juggernaut is not a one-off bossfight. You will encounter him often during the full campaign and he frequently learns new tricks!
  • Health Reduced (1200 -> 1000)
  • Tracer Speed has been reduced (80 -> 70)
  • Added a slight delay before the Juggernaut starts firing during a Sidewash dash.
  • Increased Splash Damage Range after leaping (300 -> 390)
Energy Shields
  • Energy Shields (that soldiers can deploy after reaching Invasion Tier 1) felt a little weak because their height was small enough to not cover the head of the enemy soldiers. We've added an extra piece on top that gives them a bit more protection
BUGS / MINOR TWEAKS
  • 'Rifle Start' can no longer be checked. It is not supposed to be present in the demo because there's only one level, making a Rifle Start impossible.
  • The Credits Track now fades in.
  • Fixed a bug where the 'Open Codex' button would not work when '5' was one of the assigned buttons.
  • Items can no longer be picked up through the walls
  • Fixed an error where Dawn would make two grunts after landing from falling.
  • Fixed an error where footstep sounds would play underwater
  • Corpse hitboxes are no longer overly large, causing enemies to keep hitting corpses despite going over them.
  • Players can no longer slide jump when there is no space to jump, preventing players from getting stuck
  • Fixed a goof where the weapon sprites would show a breathing animation when underwater
  • Soldiers no longer kill themselves with Smoke Grenades
  • Fixed an error where Fan textures behaved like Concrete when shot
  • Fixed an error where Dawn's underwater speed was much faster than intended
  • Fixed a bug where the UC-36's firing sound would abruptly end without a proper tail sound.
  • Fixed an error where smoke grenades used an outdated sound effect from way back in our modding days
  • Fixed a bug where tracers would be blocked by plants. My sincere apologies to all ACE Security agents who used plants as armor. Adjusted the size of certain objects. The scaling was not very consistent. This includes enemy sprite work
  • Applied a minor tweak to Interaction Prompts to make them update faster and seem more responsive
  • Stationary Grenades are no longer shootable
  • Fixed an error where enemies touched by a burning actor would lose their Self Lighting properties
  • Fixed a bug where bananas would briefly turn into a sandwich when eaten
  • Fixed a bug where crates would jitter around the level when hit by particles
  • Certain smaller items no longer collide with the player
  • Dawn will no longer shield her eyes from explosions when dead
  • Fixed a bug where throwing fire extinguishers against enemies would sometimes not put the enemy on the floor, but would have them enter their Collision animation instead
  • Fixed a bug where paper pieces would have a random angle upon touching the floor
  • Fixed a bug where the hitbox of flipped cover was not high enough to fully protect a crouching player.
  • Fixed a bug where keyboards could not get destroyed with melee attacks
  • Fixed a bug where Dawn's legs would not go away when climbing after a slide
  • Fixed a bug where Zoom Sensitivity would have an effect on the overall sensitivity
  • Fixed an error where some areas of the game looked darker than intended on the Low graphics setting
  • Fixed an error that forced XY Billboarding on enemy soldiers after hitting them with melee.
  • Fixed a bug where picking up Health Injector would take your health away when on health above 100
  • Enemies colliding with falls no longer damage the player when nearby
  • Fixed a very sloppy error that added a one tick delay (one 35th of a second) before showing an impact effect on walls.
  • Sliding away after being near an explosion will no longer cause Dawn to awkwardly shield her eyes too late, and temporarily get 3 arms.
  • Fixed a bug where 'chair base' could not be picked up
  • Fixed an error where the Shotgun muzzle flash was not properly aligned to the animation of the weapon
  • Fixed a bug where a certain Easter egg progressed a challenge
  • Fixed an error where Engineers their 'attack indicator flare' would flicker rapidly
  • Fixed a bug where Fire Extinguishers could pass through rushing engineers
  • Fixed Fire Extinguisher duplication glitch.
  • Loading the saved game of an incompatible version will now display a proper error message. In the future, this will explain how to fix it as well.
  • Sliding in a narrow tunnel that is of crouching height will no longer endlessly slide you forward.
  • Zooming while reloading no longer causes the camera to 'jitter' to one game tick
  • Fixed a bug where the 'end fire' sound would not properly play when a player stops firing a Zoomed UC-36
  • Fixed an error in the Gameplay Menu where 'Automatic mode' and 'Manual Mode' were swapped around
  • Fixed a bug where Engineers would spawn a severed arm after a melee death, despite the sprite showing both arms intact
  • Fixed an error where HoneyComb Cases would not properly align to the slopes they were on
  • Fixed an error where using iron sights showed an unintended crosshair
  • Fixed a bug where floor paper decals would not spawn
  • Pathfinder's alert sound now persists to Level 1-2. This was always intended but ended up broken
  • 'Toggle Run' has been renamed to 'Toggle Walk', since Run is already the default speed.
  • Flares carried by the player now correctly transition between levels
  • Sliding Sounds now require the player to touch the floor. Once contact with the floor is removed, the sliding sound stops.
  • Fixed a bug where the player could slide while crouching, making their hitboxes 1 pixel high.
  • Fixed a bug where one corpse actor could not get gibbed.
  • Fixed a bug where Strafe Tilting was still applied when dead
  • Dying while holding an object will now properly drop the object
  • Fixed a bug where bullet casings were able to climb staircases
  • Fixed a bug where a couple of icons on the automap would disappear when getting far away from them.
  • Given corpses some weight. They will no longer slide across the floor when shot.
  • Fixed an oversight where ArachnoCola cans could not get kicked by enemy soldiers
  • Fixed a bug where some footstep sounds were not playing correctly
  • Fixed a rendering bug where Lightshafts would show artifacts at the bottom
  • Fixed a bug where players could climb into very narrow surfaces and get stuck
  • "Disable Hud" now properly disables the visor frame as well
  • Fixed a bug where Selaco's movement code was ignored prior to opening a Keypad or Gwyn Station. This caused Dawn to slide forward like she was on ice skates.
  • Fixed a bug where Slide Kicks would stack multiple times, sending enemies flying further than intended. (It was funny though! Will keep it in mind for a mutator >:) )
  • Fixed an error where reloading an empty Shotgun would 'twitch' the weapon sprite
  • Fixed a bug where reloading a weapon while being at max ammo reserve capacity would take too much ammo away
  • (LINUX) Fixed ''SDL unsupported'' errors
  • Fixed a bug where the game could keep playing during an Invasion Tier screen
  • Water Coolers no longer keep buzzing after being destroyed
  • Alt Fire can now be used to drop objects.
  • Fixed a bug where Juggernauts left a 'solid ghost' after dying

Woah, you're still here!? Thanks for reading <3
Japanese goblins - elektrobeard
All 18+ images are available now!
Fireworks Mania - An Explosive Simulator - Laumania ApS

Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to the ones who celebrate 🎅🎄

It is the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas, New Years and a big update for Fireworks Mania.

To celebrate the holidays, I have decorated Town, Ranch and City. The weather forecast predict snow for the next few weeks, so enjoy the decorations and snow while it's there.

If that's not enough Christmas for you, check out guanaco0403's "Christmas Addon for Fireworks Mania". It even has a mini-game of finding presents.


Custom maps

This year I have not added any new maps into the core game, however, I have added support for custom maps.
This means mod creators can create maps for the game, so instead of me added one extra map - you now in theory have unlimited new maps!

Mod creators have already made 20+ new maps during the closed-beta - so there is a lot to choose from already in the ingame Workshop.
To only see maps, use the filter options to limit to maps.

ProTip: Don't have too many map mods activated or installed at once, as it can take a long time to load the map selection. I am working on improving that, so it will hopefully change soon.




Heads-up fireworks novices!
I know all Fireworks Mania players have pure intensions and only play to make beautiful and controlled firework shows, therefore this is not relevant for you.

However, there have been some reports of cases where houses in Town have had a really bad reaction to fireworks and explosives in general.
So keep a save distance to buildings in Town, so it doesn't end like below.




... and more
There is a ton more tweaks, fixes and features in this update.

For example we now have a first draft of a weather system (that's the one providing the Christmas snow). There are currently no UI to change it, but I plan to add that. For now you can change the weather via the "fm-weather" command in the console, if you want to.

1600+ pieces of fireworks
Many have asked me if the new update will have new fireworks in the core game.
The short answer is no, but fear not, as there are literally 1000s of fireworks to play with.

If you don't know, I am one dude making this game in my spare time, meaning time for developing is limited.
One way to get more content into the game, is to add support for mods.
Therefore, last year I implemented "mod support" and the ingame Workshop.
This means that mod creators can make new fireworks, props and now custom maps too.

This free up time for me to work on new core features, bug fixes etc.

Does this mean I will never add more to the core game - no - of cause I will add more fireworks.

For instance it is a tradition that I make a new cake each year, so this year I will add a 2023 cake.
It is not part of this update - but will come in an update between Christmas and New Years.

The core game have around 75 pieces of fireworks that I made.

in the Workshop in the MainMenu you find 1600+ pieces of fireworks and many of the fireworks are much better than the ones I have made. Since I add 'mod support' 1 year ago, there have been downloaded over 3.5 mio - yes millions - mods for Fireworks Mania alone.


So don't hold back - check out the awesome stuff the mod community have created.

So fear not, if you want more fireworks, browse the Workshop in the MainMenu.


If you rather want to browse for mods in your browser you can do so here:
https://mod.io/g/fireworksmania

If you have feedback or suggestions reach out in the "Workshop" section of my Discord server.


Updated Mod Tools
I have simplified the Mod Tool dependencies, so it's now much easier to get Unity setup.

As I have been busy getting this update ready for the game, I have not had time to create a new "Getting started video" and other Mod Tools related videos.

Mod Tools will be updated in the coming days - so if you are into modding for Fireworks Mania, keep an eye on my YouTube channel.


- Enjoy!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/
TFM: The First Men - Gathering Tree
Offsprings of the first men, once again, welcome back to another #FeatureFriday! ːreexcitedː

Two of the most often requested improvements are included in today's update: path point accumulation and controlling character jobs by turning a passion on and off.



Changelog

Total number of additions implemented this week: 38 ːhappyhfː
Changes made in response to community input and assistance is 57% and marked with ːhappyheartː

ːhappyhfː [Caution!] The game save version has been updated.
To play previous versions, you must opt into Steam's Beta branch. Here’s how to do it:
1. Open your Steam library
2. Right-click on TFM: The First Men
3. Select Properties
4. Go to the BETAS tab
5. Choose your desired version from the drop-down list
6. Wait for the game to update the files
7. Launch the game
Repeat the steps above, but choose "None" from the drop-down list in step 5 to revert to the standard version.
ːhappyheartː [Feature] By simply turning the associated passion on and off, the player can select which activity each character can engage in using the characters panel.
ːhappyheartː [Feature] Instead of a constant of 100, path points are now determined by a formula. With more playtesting and balance in the following days, this feature will address the issue where characters in their late adulthood expected the player to frequently choose paths.
ːhappyhfː [Content] New Alerts: Rocksplitter needs pickaxe, Claydigger needs shovel, Woodcutter needs hatchet, Gatherer needs sickle, Fisher needs rod, Character with passion is idle.
ːhappyheartː [Content] Reintroduced the old "Bier" for all faith clerics. They can Craft a Bier, carry the dead settler there, have people pray for the deceased, and collect the body to craft a "Settler's Grave" for it.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Following items are now automated crafts since we can now toggle passion activities: Water, Timber, Stone Block, and Brick.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] The following constructions are now required for Copper Miner to unlock (before any construction in the settlement would do so): Brickmolding Pit, Carpentry Workshop, and Stonemason’s Workshop.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Increased all Sheet craft stacks to 2 from 1.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Increased Cotton Sheets' cost to 3 Cotton from 2.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Increased Funny Material's craft stack to 2 from 1.
ːhappyhfː [Balance] Wraith mobs from Arcadia's "Caverns of Trial" now respawn every Sun.
ːhappyhfː [Balance] Reduced Animal Feeding time significantly.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Water is now a Resource instead of a Need. It no longer removes the Fatal Body.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Bonfire now costs Firewood.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Reduced Firewood craft stack to 1 and made its cost 6 Tree Trunks.
ːhappyhfː [Balance] Construction cost overhaul; increased all construction resource costs by at least 75%.
ːhappyhfː [Balance] Lindaris' portal spawn characters now each drop 3 random resources on death
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Removed the Collector passion from the game and everything that relates and hints to it. Woodcutter, Rocksplitter, Claydigger, and all Miner traits are now Passion instead of an archetype.
ːhappyhfː [Balance] Added two additional starting Gathering Fruits to all maps.
ːhappyhfː [Balance] Reduced "low need" alert threshold to 5 from 10.
ːhappyhfː [Balance] Warcrafter archetypes (axecrafter, swordcrafter, and so on) are now perks.
ːhappyheartː [Balance] Entertainers now automatically craft Funny Materials after testing new jokes on the platform; it is no longer a manual craft.
ːhappyhfː [UI/UX] More tooltip improvements to display additional trait triggers.
ːhappyheartː [UI/UX] Characters panel now displays characters' age, faith, and element traits.
ːhappyheartː [UI/UX] Visual enhancements to the character panel. The background of trait slots now has an empty icon.
ːhappyheartː [UI/UX] Craft panels now provide a search-by-name option.
ːhappyheartː [UI/UX] Main menu items were made resizable for future UI scaling.
ːhappyheartː [UI/UX] Colorized alert keywords associated with the five primary stats.
ːhappyheartː [UI/UX] Everything in the crafts panel is displayed along with a count of how many of each object the player settlement owns.
ːhappyhfː [UI/UX] A new notification alert is displayed when the player settlement cannot afford a crafting attempt.
ːhappyhfː [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where an already displayed craft path was displayed as new after loading a save file.
ːhappyhfː [Bugfix] Bathing activity prefabs were given additional control to prevent water particle fx from spawning in the incorrect location.
ːhappyheartː [Bugfix] Merged Nursery for Nursemaids and Caretakers (no longer 2 Nurseries in Crafts)
ːhappyheartː [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where the character panel displays the wrong trait icons.
ːhappyhfː [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where alert prerequisites are only checked once.
ːhappyheartː [Bugfix] An obsolete weight modifier that prevented Gatherers from gathering Plainshroom if the character possessed Watercarrier has been removed.
ːhappyhfː [Bugfix] Saving and loading are now working correctly for characters with disabled traits.
ːhappyhfː [Bugfix] Stepping Rock now has a display name, and its tooltip reveals it correctly.
ːhappyhfː [Internal] Characters can now acquire effect outputs by right-clicking on constructions. This will be used to test a new system where characters can choose their jobs by right-clicking on specific constructions.

We will continue working on enhancing the onboarding phases of TFM next week.

Wishing you all a great weekend. See you next Friday!
The Dancer: Definitive Edition - Spacepiano
The Dancer 2 village has frozen over! Explore the winter wonderland in a new seasonal event.

Patch notes:

DDE Patch 1.6 | Festive Waltz

- Status panel added to menu

- Challenge 2 is Out Now!
- New challenge - Chapter 2: Festive Waltz
- Some minor bugfixes

Vote for the features in the steam news tab! Best submissions will be added in the next update!

Have fun!
-Spacepiano :D
Potionomics - XSEED Liz
Hello Potion Sellers!

The last patch introduced an unfortunate bug where the potion shop couldn’t be upgraded. We’ve reverted that patch and that should no longer happen now. So sorry for the inconvenience!

Love,
Voracious Games
Arcane Vale - Zero
Hello adventurers!



The wait is finally over! After many sleepless nights, Arcane Vale is now available on steam for you to play and enjoy! I have been working really hard on Arcane Vale the past few years and hope you love playing it as much as I loved making it.



It's up to you to complete your fathers legacy and discover a long lost treasure as you are thrust into a world full of discovery.

Explore a huge open-world full of deadly creatures and hidden secrets. Complete quests to win favor with the local inhabitants, in return, they may just help you on your journey. Level up your skills and equipment to become stronger as you face ever more powerful and deadly foes.

The game is releasing in a full 1.0 state and features -

  1. A huge open-world to explore filled with unique characters and enemies to discover. As you explore you will encounter new and unique characters. Each with their story to tell, choose to help them in their struggles and they may reward you!
  2. Level up your skills to become stronger. Mastering skills will allow you to craft and wield stronger weapons and armor, brew powerful potions, and cook delicious food. All will help you on your journey.
  3. Fight your way through caves and crypts, defeating deadly bosses to unearth lost secrets and hidden treasure!
  4. Hundreds of items to discover and unlock











I hope you enjoy the game!

- Zero
Spheriums - Imalael
Another strong milestone. The overall revamp of Meolia is done. The second world has eight islands to explore, and you must fight your way to free all the emitters from the invaders.



Gameplay and Visual Enhancements
  • Complete revamp of the level design of Meolia, getting the second world closer to its final version. It still needs decoration assets and must change some materials, and no level optimization.
  • Drainer Mechs - New firing mode, muzzle flash, and enhanced AI.
  • Medusa - New Medusa visual, animation and AI.
  • Add four new Psionic weapon upgrades.
  • Reduce the spread when firing multiple psionic rockets for better accuracy.
  • Raise the energy required when firing psionic rockets.
  • Update the visual of the Psionic and Magnetism weapons (still a work in progress)



Fixed Bugs
  • The choker on world two was broken.



Known Issues
  • Objectives are not done for Meolia.
  • Kralian creatures are not scannable. Fix: Use the Energy blaster to defeat.
  • Drainer commanders will sometime be stuck somewhere. FIX: Save/load to correct the situation
  • The battle sound may keep playing after killing all enemies in a region. FIX: Save/Load to fix the music until we fix the bug.
  • The soundtrack cuts when Kindra is speaking.
  • The game will currently display in full screen only on the native resolution of the screen. Otherwise, it will be displayed in a window.
  • Resolutions with an aspect ratio different from 1.77 will result in a distorted display.



Upcoming
  • Revamp from the ground up Mazir (world 3).
  • Better and funnier AI with more creature animations.
  • Add new drainers
  • Improve the map by showing all resources.
  • Improved layout and design coherency for the user interface.
  • Animate weapons.
  • Sound effects, sound mixing, and interactive music.
  • Texture painting on enemies.
  • Controller Support (Xbox/Playstation)
  • Full options to adjust graphical settings.
  • Add Steam Achievements (full suite of 25+)
  • Much more.


We are proud to be part of the Top 100 IndieDB of the year. You can visit the site and also take the opportunity to vote for us for the Top 10!
https://www.indiedb.com/games/spheriums
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