In May 2021 I’d just broken my leg for the second time (achievement unlocked!) and was convalescing in a hire-bed in my study, at home (there’s a gotcha to putting all your bedrooms on the second floor). I was going to be stuck in that bed for at least a month because it turns out that the second time you break your femur, it’s a nightmare to fix. I had a new titanium rod right up the inside of it.

I wasn’t going anywhere, feeling particularly useless, and we had a project called Solium Infernum just kicking off I wanted to contribute to. So I opened my laptop and entitled a document, ‘Archfiends’.

Across the afternoon I proceeded to write out the profiles, backgrounds, and visual descriptions of all of our Archfiends in the game - eight in total, and a number of additional ones for future DLC. I wrote them all in one sitting, and they’ve largely remained the same since or provided the path for the designs that followed.

It’s important to know that at this stage I was on serious medication. I think that’s important to note.

But they hadn’t quite been born solely out of a drug-induced fever dream; I’d been brooding over the question "what could Archfiends be"? Since around 2012 when I first encountered the original Solium Infernum. I’d prototyped both a Solium Infernum card game and a tabletop role-playing game (apparently high on SI’s premise and drunk on game design) and already had considered the anti-heroes of the Solium Infernum underworld. Who would they be? What are their relationships? How would each one feel different? And my favorite question; if this was a cool anime (obviously from the 80's/90's), what would the story be?

The material I’d already written formed the skeleton of the new Archfiends. Each would represent a different sin. Evagrius Ponticus, a Christian monk in the 4th century wrote the “eight evil thoughts”; gluttony, lust, avarice, anger, sloth, sadness, vainglory and pride - which happened to be the perfect number of Archfiends we’d want to launch with. This surely was no coincidence (it was).

This sin was the kernel or essence of the character. For example, Andromalius was obviously a prideful Archfiend. They believed themself to be the ultimate divine creature, higher than the throne itself. They had to be a deadly beauty in hell. An arrogant and tantrum-prone tyrant.

There was an obvious overlap with the original Solium Infernum for inspiration. In the original game, there were no ‘characters’ to select but only fascinating avatars (which did have names, but weren’t particularly surfaced for the player). When designing the visuals of our Archfiends, we did borrow where we thought appropriate, if not directly then in spirit. For example, our Belial, the schemer, contract maker, and little-finger of Hell, borrowed loosely from the original artwork, but we added more Baphomet to the visual design. We still wanted to capture that same arrogance from the original. Sometimes, we combined a few ideas together to make something new.

Lastly, we wanted each Archfiend to convey a different angle in the whole ‘evil overlord’ genre and player fantasy. Murmur is a vile necromancer, Mammon a Baron Harkonnen, Beelzebub a wretched horrorshow. We wanted players to sense these fantasies and get into them. Each Archfiend would have a custom ability that would further amplify this, a clear break from the original that asked for total customisation.

The final Archfiend product is something that we're immensely proud of. We hope that you love them, too.

Over the next few weeks, you will bear witness to Hell's Archfiends as we reveal them in full -- one by one.

Until then...

See you in Hell,
Ty

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you've made it this far, thanks for following along. I intend to share more posts like this, detailing the development process as it unfolds and exploring the unique challenges the privilege of re-imagining a cult classic like Solium Infernum for new (and old!) audiences holds.

For now, you can join the {LINK REMOVED}League of Geeks Discord community for all the infernal news and discussion.

For those who have undying questions about the future of Solium Infernum, we'll be hosting a Development Fireside Chat on March 20th @ 4.30pm PST.

P.S. You can support us and our re-imagining of Vic's "diamond in the dark" by Wishlisting Solium Infernum on Steam, if you haven't already. Wishlisting tells the all-great Steam algorithm that people like what they’re seeing and gets us in front of more eyes.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1893810/Solium_Infernum/

• Range Hunter - mini boss' range attack issue fixed,
  
• Melee one-handed weapon attack issue fixed,
  
• Radial damage, falling and character death related Ragdol issue fixed,
  
• Damage indicator blocking weapon selection(or any other ui) issue fixed,
  
• Single player after death exiting to main menu animation related issue fixed (checkpoint is now currently disabled, best advice: Get some help from your friends or chosing low amount of enemies might be useful),

• Added yellow/green trail to player laser bullets.
  
• Added lava planet to the pool of background planets..
  
• Nightwings now tumble to the ground when killed.
  
• Using sonic bomb on a rolling bomb will now stop Defensa from saying you didn't hit anything.
  
• The shinker power-up now prevents the player's ship from setting off mines.
  
• Added glow to brown, rocky planet.

Enter into the Endless Possibility!
Hello, Admirals.
Temporary maintenance has been completed and Uncharted Waters Origin is now available to play.

Please refer to the following information for details.

03/10 (Fri) Temporary Maintenance Completed

1. Completed Maintenance Schedule
: 03/10 (Fri) 09:00 - 12:00 (UTC+9)

2. Move to Temporary Maintenance Patch Note
EN : https://uwo.floor.line.games/us/bbsCmn/detail/1678366330699011954
JP : https://uwo.floor.line.games/jp/bbsCmn/detail/1678366433957005928
TW : https://uwo.floor.line.games/tw/bbsCmn/detail/1678366512921025115

3. Temporary Maintenance Compensation
: Blue Gem x 200 / Mate Ticket x 5 / Shipbuilding Acceleration (10 min) x 10

* You can claim the compensation from your mailbox
after the 03/10 (Fri) maintenance until 03/11 (Sat) 12:00 (UTC+9).
* Compensation is provided only once per account, and the compensation mail will only be kept for 1 day(s) (24 hours).
* Protections, Prayers, Donations, and Tax Permits have been extended for 3 hours.

Thank you for waiting for the maintenance to be completed.
We will always strive to maintain the quality and reliability of our services.

Thank you.

Greetings Fake High Schoolers! (That's the new Official name for Loser's Romance players. Or not.)

I've been working day in and out to add several huge new features and story paths:

• As of next update, you'll be able to earn scholar dollars (your school's fakey, neon reward money) for accomplishing certain goals. Trade scholar dollars in to unlock a bevy of gameplay enhancements, fun cosmetics, and secrets.
  
  
• You'll be able to get recoveries, which protect you from social gaffes. They'll also be needed to unlock...
  
  
• Best friendship endings. Instead of becoming a boyfriend/girlfriend/themfriend, you'll soon be able to become someone's best friend by sticking with and supporting them.
  
  
• Easy/normal difficulty will offer a "boring normie" answer to certain choices. It's low risk, but low reward.
  
  
• I'm tweaking the UI visuals, once again refining the entire script, and improving a few sprites.

With Loser's Romance expanding its scope from "comedy dating sim" to "comedy roguelike high school sim (with dating)," the near future will see a price increase. I recommend picking LR up while it's still dirt cheap.

We have added 11 new songs from Tetris Effect: Connected to the Tetris Effect Original Soundtrack on Steam.

The album is now known as the Tetris Effect: Connected Original Soundtrack, complete with 51 tracks by award-winning musical artist Hydelic. It is available on Bandcamp and is coming to other streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) soon.

For those of you who purchased the original album here, you will get the new tracks for free! To get the new tracks, update the album to the latest version.

Visit the store page here

・Another Style Ymir... Garambarrel's Another Style is available.

・Fateful Encounter (Paid, 2 Times Max) is available.

・The "Ally Encounters" under Regular Encounters were updated.

・Added new events for the characters and classes listed below for "Manifestation: True Weapon Discovery."
　・Ewan (Negotiator)

・Chronos Stone Sale Information
　・A limited time 2200 Chronos Stone package
　・A limited time 4500 Chronos Stone package
　▼Duration
　March 10, 2023 3:00 (UTC) – March 23, 2023 14:59 (UTC)
　*Each can be purchased only once

・There are cases where the time duration for the 2,200 and 4,500 Chronos Stones' sales are displayed incorrectly.
　Correct: –3/23(UTC) x1
　*The issue can be fixed by updating to version 3.0.110.

・Unintended behavior during the battle mechanics of certain boss battles in Symphony: Crown of the Pale Dawn and Symphony: Crown of the Pale Dawn's Another Dungeon

・When under the Blood Contract effect gained from Iphi's skills or abilities, allies can improperly cover for all-ally attacks even when under the effect of certain enemy skills that should prevent it.

・When using certain skills with an additional effect while Lunatic is active, if Lunatic is dispelled during the turn, the additional effects may still activate.

・Text and display issues.
・Other small bugs.
・The name of a badge available for sale in a certain area in Main Story 3 and the name of the badge you receive are not correct.
　Incorrect: Freeze Immunity Badge
　Correct: Freeze Resistance Badge
　*Only the name was affected. We have confirmed that the effect of the badge itself was not affected.

Common:
Bullet packs now display bullet icons.

Hero:
Knight - The attack power increased by the upgrade has been increased from 10 to 15, and the volume change has been increased from 10% to 20%, but now the maximum volume can only increase to 300%.
Vampire - Increased bullet damage from skill bonus from 50% to 100%.

Weapon:
Hen - Changed the damage of dropped eggs to 50% of the base bullet damage.
Firework Gun - Unlocked by default instead.
Frisbee - Unlocked by default instead.

Bullet:
New Bullet: Bomb - Falls to the ground after hitting an enemy, and explodes after a while.
New Bullet: Basketball - Bounce off enemies when hit, catch recovery ammo.
New Bullet: Football - Bounces off enemies and can be kicked away with your feet.
Frisbee - Unlocked by default instead.

Card:
AI - Now the increased attack power is also effective for Hero Android, which makes sense!

Bug fixed:
Fixed an issue where a bat would appear when the giant bird boss was appeared.

"The butterflies will show me the way."

Hope comes to us in a myriad of ways.
For Vanya, it was a kaleidoscope of butterflies that brought her to fantasy world.

But for all its glory, hope also brings even greater despair.
The butterflies were the only way to rid Vanya of the shackles around her ankles, keeping her tied to the ground.
Will the butterflies be able to lead Vanya to an even better world?

Vanya and her beautiful butterflies are ready to flutter toward Lumia!

We’re sure you have plenty of questions, so this guide is designed to help you get a feel for the game. From the start, you have access to three save files. Each save file is one of the six different classes within the game, so try the one that interests you most!



The demo starts right as you land in a monster-infested area. This is a great opportunity to experience the battle system! First you’ll notice that you can move your character with WASD, shoot with the left mouse button, and use your weapon’s special ability with the right mouse button. Using the scroll wheel will help you change between your two equipped weapons. The demo gives you access to high-level weapons, so blast away to your heart’s content! Each class has unique skills that can be used with the number keys to increase your chances of survival. Hover over the skills with your mouse to see what they do. If you’re in a pinch, press space to dodge!



On the top left you can see your current objectives, orange objectives are main quest objectives while blue objectives are side quest objectives. Follow the objectives to complete the mission!



After completing a mission, you’ll see a summary screen that details various information about your character and the base. This is a great opportunity to take a breather and think about what you can do to improve your base during the next in-game day! Your game is conveniently saved after each in-game day.



Now you’ve returned to the central hub for the game, the Base! You’ll be spending a lot of time here, so make sure to get acquainted with it! You can see some of the management options along the bottom, including Build Mode (more on that later), Inventory, and Overview. The first order of business is repairing the Cloning Facility, follow the yellow arrow near your character to find the Cloning Facility and press F to repair it.



Now that the Cloning Facility is repaired, it’s time to apply for a promotion! Press the P key to open the Promotion menu. Press apply to apply for a promotion. Congrats, you’re no longer a trainee!



Back at the base, it’s time to assign Max23 to a job. Head to the Headquarters and interact with the Employee Management terminal on the left. In this menu you can choose where to assign your employees, either manually or by pressing the Auto-Assign button on the bottom right.



Max23 has a job, but employees also need shelter, so enter Build Mode with the B key. Along the bottom, find the amenities tab and build a shelter.



Once the shelter is built, go back to the Employee Management terminal and choose the Housing tab. You can drag and drop manually or you can press Auto-Assign to automatically assign housing.



Now Max23 has a job and a place to live, but apparently people also need food. Go to Build Mode (B key) and place a Canteen in a convenient location. Enter the Canteen and start cooking!



Everyone likes a Fruit Cake, so click on the Fruit Cake icon on the bottom right to add it to the production queue. The queue will be processed at the end of each day, but Max23 is hungry now… So let’s press the blue Cook button at the cost of 1 Stamina.




Much like the real world, employee happiness depends on many factors, so keep an eye on your employees and make sure that your employees are satisfied!



With Max23’s needs now finally met, we can now go out and explore the world again. Head back to the Headquarters and use the World Map to the right. On the World Map you can see plenty of icons. Blue icons are side missions, while yellow missions are story missions. Let’s go to the story mission “Retracing My Steps”.



Follow the objective markers on your mini-map and help PEA investigate the deserted base.



Once you finish the mission and return to Base, it’s time to find this mysterious seed vault. A fierce battle is awaiting you, so make sure you’re mentally prepared! When you’re ready, go back to the Headquarters, enter the World Map and click the story mission “You Reap What You Sow”. Complete the mission and return to Base.



With that done, we now can undertake the final mission of the Demo, “Black Swan Down”. Head to the World Map and start the mission. This mission will test your battle prowess as you help Veronika, so make sure to take full advantage of your job abilities and weapon skills.



Congratulations! You have completed the Cygnus Enterprises demo! This demo was just a small taste of what the game has to offer, and many more adventures and challenges await you in the full version of the game! You can purchase the game here! Thanks for playing!

If you'd like to connect with us and get regular updates on Cygnus Enterprises, please follow us on Twitter @Cygnus_Game, and if you'd like to join our growing community, join our Discord, Reddit, and finally, don't forget to buy the game on Steam!


Thanks,
Team Miaozi