Dec 31, 2022
Gatewalkers - A2Softworks
Hello Gatewalkers!

Today is the last day of 2022. Although we are polishing the last things before the premiere of Gatewalkers, which is less than two weeks away, somewhere between another coffee and a Christmas cake, we had a moment of reflection. So... Let's do a little rewind!

In 2018 we started working intensively on Gatewalkers. We started as a small group of enthusiasts who wanted to create something special. Given the limited budget, we knew it was going to be a big undertaking. We've been working on inventing and refining the graphics for a long time. From the initial meetings where we were brainstorming at a small board to the first attempts to create playable version of the game. Many times we acted by trial and error and also changed assumptions, until finally we saw the direction in which we wanted to follow. Fun fact: originally, Gatewalkers was supposed to be called completely different! In our first assumptions, it was called... Cataclysm! The plot of the game, its assumptions and mechanics have also changed over time.

Forest World before:


Forest World after:


Forest World before:


Forest World after:


Also this is how our interface looked at first!
UI before:


UI after:


We wanted to create an action RPG game but combine it with survival elements. Often playing hack'n'slash games we had the impression that in a way these games are unreal when it comes to basic human needs. On the other hand, we weren't going to make a simulator! That's why we decided to add some basic survival techniques that won’t slow the action down, but will add a touch of realism (and raise the difficulty level at the same time!). We also wanted a game with an interesting setting - hence the idea of traveling to other lands, where we can face various challenges. Of course, we spent a lot of time on combat mechanics and creating enemies and weapons - we had a lot of fun doing it too!

Sky Rocks before:


Sky Rocks after:



We decided to introduce, among others, solo and group combo techniques, elements, an extensive progression tree and skills, and not limit the player to specific character classes. The story element was also important to us. The plot in Gatewalkers is built around the secrets of the Ancients and how to save a dying planet.

Fire World before it became fire:


Fire World after:


And that's how the first drafts of Gatewalkers, whose Alpha premiered in 2019, were created. From this place, we want to thank everyone who has supported us for so many years - you couldn't wish for a better community!

Toxic World before:


Toxic World after:


Ice World before:


Ice World after:



We hope you enjoyed our walk down the memory lane! It’s been a lot of work but at the same time it’s very rewarding. We can't wait for the release of Gatewalkers. On January 12, 2023, you will be able to go through the Gate and start your adventure!

Happy New Year 2023 Gatewalkers!

PS. We always like to chat with you and read your opinions so jump to our Discord server and share your thoughts!


(click on the banner above)

You can contact us on social media too:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GatewalkersGame
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GatewalkersGame
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GatewalkersGame/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gatewalkersgame
Toram Online - syu_murayama
New Year Daily Emblems Details
Emblem
Condition
Reward
New Year Daily Bonus A
Logged in the game
Revive Dropletx1
New Year Daily Bonus B
Played more than 60 minutes today
Orb Shardx20
New Year Daily Bonus C
Defeated 100 monsters
Ticket Piece x10
Make sure you log in & play everyday to get those gorgeous items!

Special Emblems Available Period
From: 5:00 AM (JST/GMT+9) on 1/1/2023
Until:1/19/2023 before maintenance

Please note that the emblems are reset at 5:00 AM (JST/ GMT+9) every day, so please don't forget to claim and receive the rewards once you have cleared the condition.

*Emblems can be received when the conditions are met from [ [u]Menu > News > You've got Emblem.[/u] ].
Owyn's Adventure - Gazoid
Happy New Year to all!

It's long overdue but I am happy to announce that Owyn's Adventure now works on Steamdeck!
I have also included Chinese localisation!

There are some QoL improvements and bugfixes too, I may have left a couple tricks in for the speed runners out there ;-) but the camera system has been improved and a few other niggles ironed out.

To celebrate, the game is now 20% for the holiday season too!

Happy Holidays!

Gazoid
Dec 31, 2022
COSMIC STRIKE - The last Sub Sector - Smidy3
Cutscenes:
Duration timer reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
Fade in timer reduced from 2 to 1 seconds

Game Intro:
Fixed a bug where, Intro sequence Part 8: 'Something on the radar' scene was skipped if the player was to quit and reload the game.

Crew:
The crew, drag and drop functionality has changed from the Main profile image to the crew member card image.
Therefore the crew tutorial is now out of date!

Base building:
Has had a total rework in functionality, the base now has a set layout and there are new 'build points' where the player can build, 1 of each building on each build point (excluding reactors).
The edge of map line has been removed
The camera is now locked within a set area around the base and is no longer infinite.
The build cards now show the power icon next to the required power level.

Research Center:
Manufacture lore has been added to the research center.
Blueprints have been updated with ship descriptions, so the player will now have a better idea on how a ship is to be played.

Shipyard:
The whole shipyard is now clickable to take you to the shipyard screen.

Player level up Reward:
The player level up reward pop-up has been reduced in size and moved to the right of the screen, there is also a very short description on what the reward does.
Dec 31, 2022
Roxy Raccoon's Pinball Panic - [C$B] Roxy
Arcade Games
Dreary Desert
  • Ancient Egypt themed table designed to showcase the upcoming DLC.
  • Shoot Roxy into the corresponding holes to score different point values.
  • Be careful as the holes will spin with the quicksand.

Raccoon Rally
  • Roxy will bounce around in the center of the screen, use the paddle to keep her in the middle.
  • The paddle’s size will decrease over time.
  • A cosmetic and a fur color are earned for scoring 25 points. Another cosmetic and fur color are earned for scoring 40 points.

Raccoon Roller
  • Roxy will keep rolling around the giant bumper. The bumper will randomly change its speed over time.
  • Survive as long as possible by jumping over Donna's Magic Spell.
  • A cosmetic and a fur color are earned for scoring 15 points. Another cosmetic and fur color are earned for scoring 25 points.

Epic Egypt DLC

Dwarf Announcer
  • Free for everyone.
  • Loaded with over 90 voice lines.
  • Not useable in Story mode.

Misc.
  • Leaderboards added for the arcade games.

Survey
Please help me shape the game's future by taking part in this incredibly short anonymous survey!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHm6_A7C0K8avJaJRqxlzQuUMozFVaQ-VMQ5WqhbtMuCYNpA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Dec 31, 2022
Dark Past - HotDog
when a close enough to objects you can interact with. UI prompts are now displayed
Dec 31, 2022
Cereal Soup - blackmailchan
This list is not exhaustive and does not include any bug fixes!

January- Operation: Flip the Backend
  • Redid the entire backend of the game. Took me pretty much all of January to do it! Woof!
  • RIP Gamesparks, Amazon purchased you, abandoned you for a full year and then abandoned you in 2022.

Overall: I was beyond stressed out. Learning and then applying a brand new backend system is never fun. Reminder to always have up to date documentation.

February- Only the Hottest Keys
  • Hotkey menu (Ridiculous this wasn’t already a feature! Accessibility, people!)
  • Local minimap system!

Overall: Hotkeys are super important! Remember this! Having the ability to change hotkeys in your game is a necessity. I also tried to combat the “Stare at the minimap instead of the environment” problem a lot of games have by creating the local minimap. The problem still persists but it was a really fun experiment and I have some idea on how I’m going to rectify this issue already.

March, April, May- Zzzz….
  • Not much. A lot of working in the background because I released it in June once it was ready!

Overall: (Drooling on pillow)

June- I’m Awake!
  • Brand new eye rendering system!
  • Suricate got some new features
  • Raptor got some new features
  • Brand new loading system for speedier loading between scenes
  • Zebra Markings for Rare disease awareness for May
  • Flower garlands for Pride!
  • Return of Halcyon’s Heart
  • Return of treasure hunting!
  • Summer dance added for September event!
  • Interaction pop-ups!
  • Felis got new horns!
Overall: The eye rendering change was… 50/50 for players, I think. A lot of them understandably liked the textures made by players, but I’d been dreaming of making an eye system work like this for the longest time. It still needs a bit of work but I’m very happy with it. I think for newer players it’s quite the surprising level of detail.

I also got to make some items just for Pride, the community really likes Pride so I think having some items for it will be nice going forward every year. Plus they just look like nice items on their own, which is exactly what I was going for.

Treasure hunting returned, working on the same hotter/colder system as before but with some added complexity of showing exactly how far the player was from their find.

The new loading system was meant to curb as much of the wait-time as possible between scenes. It’s still causing a few issues, documentation is not great, and communication with the developers of the system could be better… So I’m navigating it rather blindly just to get it to work properly. Overall I still enjoy the speed of loading so I can’t say I’m absolutely disappointed in it.

Interaction pop-ups were added in addition to the sniff to examine system. I did previously have items highlight when they could be interacted with, but that system was finicky at best and depended entirely on the item’s code. I rewrote this to be entirely on the player’s code instead so that if items didn’t have whatever they needed to be identified, it was handled properly regardless. A very smooth optimization I’m pretty proud of.

July- Ambiance (pinky lift)
  • Eye scale slider!
  • Changes to dialogue
  • Can buy equips through trade with Gem Gecko
  • Return of insects!
  • Ambient sounds and things
  • Grasslands
  • Wind on raptor wing tips when flying!

Overall: I wanted to focus on the sound of the game. I didn’t want to add music because in roleplay games I felt like it would push the feeling of the moment a specific way, and I didn’t want that to be the case. Any moment should be allowed to feel tense, or calm, or sad, or happy regardless of noise. I put a lot of focus into ambient sounds like the crickets at night, rain, wind, and objects like wind chimes and bells were added to specific places in the map for an even more natural ambience. I hope to incorporate more instruments like this in the future, and I’m glad I started with a few already to set the stage.


August- Editor Revamped!
  • Ear feather item!
  • Editor revamp! Sorted by body parts
  • New in-game camera
  • Raptors gather feathers by grooming
  • Focused and did one patch of JUST bug fixes (She was biggun)

Overall: The editor was… kind of a mess before. I had a General tab, two Add on tabs… what if a player was looking for somewhere to change their ear shape? Would it be under General? The second or the first Add-on tab? It was confusing. Splitting the editor by body shape meant forcing every change to be categorized and having the game tell those bits when they could be visible. This is so much better, even for me who had the editors somewhat memorized. Do I need to change my ears? They’re in the Head tab, of course! Claws? Check the feet tab! Everything is so neatly organized now, adding new bits was incredibly easy. I didn’t have to worry about space anymore or how it all looked together, I could just trust my own system to organize and put them where they belong. One less nightmare to be concerned about.

People wanted me to stop with additions and quick pushes for a bit to focus on just bugs. Initially I was a bit upset with this but I swallowed my pride and put my head down to work on it. I’m glad I did, because it didn’t seem to change the amount of work I ended up getting done this year in terms of additions. It’s just hard to tell yourself to stop sometimes.


September- First Merch Giveaway!
  • In game purchases return
  • More editor changes-
  • Canis can apply all body tufts
  • Body size locked
  • Editor locks for randomizer
  • Tooltip added to most things
  • Laurel officially craftable
  • Golden laurel added as Premium Spinner prize
  • Gem gecko appraises 1 or 10 gastros at once
  • Nametag system fancy fade
  • Ability to sell custom amounts to gem gecko
  • We did a t-shirt giveaway!

Overall: Another somewhat selfish desire was fulfilled. I always dreamed of the nametags fading in when another player came on screen, and would disappear after a while. As well as being able to re-enable the view of the nametags by rotating your camera. I wasn’t sure I could ever pull this off, so I was absolutely stoked when I figured it out. Younger me would be screaming about the feature.

I decided to pull the trigger and add locks to every bit of the editors for the ultimate randomization ability. A surprising number of people just choose to use the randomizer, myself included. (Perhaps that will prove to be an issue one day) It’s nice to have some extra help with that. Was a bit of a pain in the ass but it was most definitely a labor of love for the community. In doing this, some of the species ended up with more customization than they started with, just to make things easier on my end.

October- Shopkeeper!
  • Minimap keys able to be disabled/enabled
  • Shopkeeper appears!

Overall: I’ve had this NPC for years and years. He’s finally in game! That’s a pretty cool accomplishment in itself. I was also surprised that he barely needed much fixing for his model in blender. I love his design, thanks to Mr. Blackmailchan for the creation of his concept art.

Minimap got even more love, and the last thing I think it needs is custom waypoints and it should be (chef’s kiss)!

November- Frens Time Frens Time Frens Time
  • Friends list is FINALLY here!
  • Fixed body colliders on all animals
  • Crouching lowers body colliders
  • Confused head action
  • Inventory items no longer stack (Not all of them anyway)

Overall: The friends list is such a complicated relationship of back end and front end. If I can help it, a feature is either 90% front end or 90% back end. I prefer to have the work only require small tweaks when it comes to situations like January where I have to move to a brand new SaaS and all of my code becomes defunct. BUT I managed to get it done. I hate it, but there’s no other way around it. The friends list is a love-hate relationship between backend and server. Atleast they’re still on speaking terms.

I also decided that inventory items shouldn’t stack. This was mainly so that the gathering of each item felt more important. It was less like being handed a deck of cards and more like being handed a vase at a department store. You can only carry so many vases, so each vase you are carrying has it’s place and meaning to you. This should put more value on space and what’s worth picking up and leaving behind.

I also went ahead and finally properly fixed body colliders on the animals. My hope is that when I start making smaller tunnels, some animals just won’t fit, or must crouch to make themselves small enough to fit. Size is a big deal to Cereal Soup (and you’ll all see more of that later). It’s very, VERY hard to design a game where the players can be any variable of sizes (Which is why most games do not have such a wild size slider or allow players to be a species twice the size of another) But it is a challenge I’m willing to take up, because I absolutely love how much you guys enjoy the diversity. There’s something so charming about a felis napping with 6 tiny suricates between it’s paws, and I could never take away that special piece of Cereal Soup.

December- Delicious
  • Food item added to shopkeeper’s shop
  • Special item possibility when creating characters
  • Added the NPC “Curry” for beginners!

Overall: I’ve been wanting something like Curry to guide players within territories. Trust and believe this won’t be the only time you’ll see him! I’m hoping every biome will have Curry on his travels to tell you about all the interesting spots of every zone. Ideally you could just see it and run towards it yourself, but I have yet to add enough interesting places and features to the maps for that to be the case.

I added the food item to the shopkeeper’s stock, as a little goofy thing as well as to test placing and removing items from inventory into the real world. Eventually players will be able to drop their items (for anyone to grab or not) and I want to test it out early with something relatively low in worth. I also think suricates just look so cute with the little sausage in their mouth, no? They remind me of when dogs steal food and look at you with a guilty expression. You can have that little sausage, suri. I don’t want it after it’s been in your mouth!

Sue Shi Survival - Rain
Hey all, hope the holiday season has been good. We wanted to kick off the New Year with a bang so we've got a pretty big patch this week. 2 new characters, a new upgrade tree, enhanced visuals to give the game more depth, optional post-processing, some balance tweaks, and a brand new auto-attack setting.

Characters:
Nukekubi - Fight alongside your detached head as this peculiar fighter. Can be unlocked by surviving for 4 minutes at 10 or less hp.

Onmoraki - Collect the spirits of your fallen enemies to summon spirit crows to aid you. Can be unlocked by winning a run with at least 5 Skulls equipped.

Warlock Upgrades:
Think carefully when picking these upgrades, as great power always comes at a cost. Trade in your health for various strong bonuses, but be careful not to leave yourself too wounded.

Visuals:
We've given the enemy sprites a bit of a touch up to help make them pop more, as well as enhancing the visuals with some light post-processing. By default this is enabled, but it can be completely turned off in the settings.

Auto-Attack:
Not everyone likes to manually aim their attacks, and that's okay. Whether it's simply a preference of style or so you can focus your attention on more important things - like not getting hit - you can now enable auto-attacks in the settings menu. While enabled, your character will automatically target and swing at the nearest enemy whenever close enough. Attacks aren't guaranteed though, they can still miss if you manage to run out of range before the swing finishes.

Balance:
We've made a few changes to the systems to hopefully help ease the early game.
  • The cost of all Runes has been adjusted
  • The cost of most Weapons has been lowered
  • The movement speed of enemies on floors 1-4 has been lowered slightly
  • The health of bosses on floors 1-5 have been lowered slightly

As always thanks for playing, if you want to contact us or leave feedback you can do so on our Discord or in Steams Discussions. We hope you enjoy the new content and will see you again in a week for more. Happy New Year!
Dec 31, 2022
Edengrall - Guedez
Changes:
Item get notifications now show 'g' when an item is measured in grams
You can now build inside the city, npcs will ignore and go through until the NPC update.
You can now add critters to your toolbar, activating it will equip the hammer and select it instantly
Nutrients now give twice as much bonuses to attributes.
Reduced the amount of harvesting exp cutting grass gives
More balance changes to many recipes
Added two new night songs

Bugfixes:
Fixed not being able to place any bug besides axolotls.
Fixed how mismatching grass configurations would produce up to 256x extra skill gain.
Changed Confirm to Eat in the eating screen and fixed it defaulting to 250g even when you have less than that.
Fixed an issue where sometimes the hoe fails to notice that there is grass.
NIMBY Rails - Weird and Wry
Public beta development of 1.6 is wrapping up soon so it was time to look back at the new features and changes implemented in December: improvements to track validation, speedup to station rebuild and bulk train editing. December also saw the continuation of the technical work on improving multiplayer, with two new options for game hosters: private sim and direct connections. 1.6 has been a smaller release to compensate for the huge effort of 1.5, but this also means that 1.7 will start development sooner than later, and in this devblog I am announcing its two headline features: save sharing and freeform train compositions.

Have a nice new year 2023!

https://carloscarrasco.com/nimby-rails-december-2022/
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