Hello! It's time for a quick update on the development of TFC, specifically the Milestone 3 (M3) update!

Unfortunately, for several reasons, we will have to delay the release of M3. Chief among them is that we want to get it right. We want to make sure it works well and fits with our vision for this update and the "TFC DNA".

Those who have followed TFC for a while know that integral to our process is the careful and meticulous iteration on features and design ideas.

This means that we can't release M3 by the end of Q1 2023, despite the roadmap, and we apologise for any disappointment. Having said that, we are confident that this will benefit the release when it is ready and that you all will be happier for it long term!

We cannot commit to a release yet, but we will let you know that we have most of the work done already. In fact, we've been working on M3 since before M2 was released last year.

In the meantime, here's a little bit of info on M3:

For us, M3 is a very important update, as it's when we finally introduce multiple playable factions. Multiple playable factions are often one of the pillars of RTS games, as it provides asymmetrical gameplay, added variety and depth, and more content to learn and master. It's a moment we, as developers, have waited patiently for a long time ourselves!

It's also a chance for us to implement an idea we've had for a long time, which has to do with how you select your playable Bronze Age civilization. We'll talk more about the specifics later, but at least we can say that we're very excited about this! It's a feature that we think fits perfectly with the "TFC DNA".

In the next milestone update, there will be 3 playable Bronze Age civilizations. Each of these will have unique looks for all their military units and buildings.


One of the new playable Bronze Age civilizations.

Exactly what these Bronze Age civilizations are named and what are unique to them will be revealed closer to the M3 release. However, we can tell that they have unique technologies, buildings, and wonder bonuses, that benefit them in a focused direction, like growing and defending a large population or expanding and taking map control.


A unique building for one of the new playable Bronze Age civilizations.

We're implementing a new Tech Tree from the ground up that, while still looking familiar, will provide us with more space in the UI for additional technologies.

We're also improving in-game descriptions to make it easier to make connections between terminology and UI elements.

• 8 completely new technologies
  
• 5 existing technologies are being completely re-redesigned

In M3, the Wonder will provide unique faction-based bonuses that increase for each stage you construct.



You'll be able to construct the Wonder in Horde Mode as well to utilise these bonuses. Reaching the last stage won't win you the game, though, but it does increase the bonus further.


Since the Wonder becomes more important, how many stages you've constructed will be a part of the resources UI in M3.

Expect the usual compilation of general improvements, improved Skirmish AI, balance changes, etc.

We're grateful for the excitement around M3. Please know that we're not taking it for granted. We can't wait to share with you the rest of all the new ideas, designs and improvements that we've created for M3!

- Team TFC

Our sophomore title, the funky sokoban/stealth-strategy mashup Backbeat is now available on Steam!



This is our second title launching on Steam and it’s really cool to see how much our company grown since Hexagroove: Tactical DJ in 2020. The first time around was a great experience but there was so much more we wanted make more accessible and inviting. In Backbeat we designed the interface from the ground up for 4K and able to scale across Windows, Mac, and Steam Deck, on monitors boxy and wide. The games we design at Ichigoichie are built on mashing up genres and deriving our gameplay mechanics from musical theory. This was at times a little overwhelming in Hexagroove, so we worked hard to portion out new mechanics in Backbeat through a much broader portion of the game. So much in fact you’ll still be learning new tricks more than three quarters through the main campaign!

Backbeat is at first glance a turn-based sokoban puzzle game. You have a band of up to four characters and must get them all to the goal within a limited number of turns. Each character moves differently presenting unique challenges. After some levels we introduce time mechanics to the mix, and you’ll need to synchronize each character’s timeline with the others, working together to unblock obstacles on the path to the goal. Finally, we add four shared resources you must manage while navigating space and time. Which turns you choose to change direction or interact with the environment cause these resources to increase or decrease. Maximize the resources and you get a high score. Run out of resources, and you’re in a failure state. Fortunately, rewinding the turns of each character individually is possible to allow incremental improvements to your puzzle solutions.



One thing we wanted to add to Backbeat was a story to motivate the your choices and set the stakes. The setting is 1995 in suburban Washington, D.C. and has a lot of callouts to the last days of the analog era before the advent of the internet. The narrative is a homage to ensemble 90s dramedies like “With Honors”, “The Commitments”, and “School of Rock”. Heroine Watts is doing her best to hold together a band of amateur funk musicians and contending with all the struggles of collaborative creation: inflated egos, clashing personality types, and external responsibilities to work and family. A diverse cast of characters exist in each of the two main bands, and we hope you can find one that speaks to you.

If you’re a fan of puzzle games, turn-based strategy, or story-rich retro experiences, then I think there’s something for you to appreciate, and many more novel features to discover. Start with the free demo and I hope you have some fun!

Here are some places to get tips on starting and up to speed on what makes Backbeat unique:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2946791114
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmCvB3AKNLU&list=PL-c7vBDSe07Lumz1ZKPuWGnDj-GNynJF5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rDkXJwnYMo&list=PL-c7vBDSe07Lumz1ZKPuWGnDj-GNynJF5&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Kn6_cXYhU&list=PL-c7vBDSe07Lumz1ZKPuWGnDj-GNynJF5&index=3

From lovely Stockholm,
David Ventura - Creative Director

Our 90s retro video game homepage
Our Twitter

Another quick one to fix things that could not wait:
-Fixed issue where a bug on the Chapter hud triggered errors while advanding in-game chapters
-Changed how the Input bind works
-Fixed issue that frozen Pause menu on certain conditions
-Added AutoAim for gamepad (triggers automatically when using a gamepad)
-Railgun bullets are now bigger/wider

— MacOS (M1) players: This update contains a possible fix for memory leaks, hangs, and crashes! Please give it a try and let us know if you notice any difference
— Increased name maximum length for everything that can be renamed: company, cities, vehicles, stations, depots, labs
— Updated appearance of New Save button in the Save Game window
— Tooltips no longer disappear when taking a screenshot with Print Screen
— Unity updated to 2022.2.10

1、Expanded the field of view during battle.
2、Reduced the duration of most bullets.
3、Optimized the animation and feedback of UI buttons and added sound effects.
4、Added a unified return key for UI (ESC key for keyboard and X button for gamepad).
5、Optimized some of the English localization texts.

This is a fun one. Each day, you get one attempt to set a high score the Daily Challenge. The Daily Challenge is a one-round user-designed challenge with Cards from any Promo Pack or Expansion. It only takes a few minutes to play, and gives everyone a shot at the leaderboard, you don't have to grind to make it.

In addition, there's a Challenge Editor feature in there to create new Daily Challenges. Create your best challenge and submit it, and others can play it and rate it. The highest rated challenges will then become a Daily Challenge for others to test themselves against.

We've also updated our multiplayer with a new backend system that we hope will be much more robust at handling folks dropping games and timing out, along with other various bug fixes.

Check back every day for the days' new challenge and set a record for having the highest average placement each day of the week. Enjoy both of these new features!

Colorway Antics is a VR colouring game that follows a group of friends getting up to a series of teenage high-jinks across a mixture of real and imagined worlds.

We developed the idea as a direct response to the rapid rise of teenage mental health issues over recent years. Teenagers today face too much pressure in this ‘always-on’ world, so we wanted to celebrate a more carefree teenage life, full of friends, laughter and exploration.

Coloring is perfect for reducing stress and anxiety and fostering a creativity and imagination.

Plane and Helicopter jumps now start at a much higher altitude
Added real world free fall speed values for Belly and Sit fly jumps
More detailed tutorial for free fall and canopy controls
Optimization and Bug fixes

Update

1. Increased the number of save points in Stage 3.

2. Lowered the difficulty of Stage 3.

3. Increased the delay of some traps in Stage 3.

4. Lowered the difficulty of some bosses and cubes in Stage 5.

5. Adjusted the damage of some traps in Stage 5.

6. Added a hint for Stage 6.

7. Lowered the difficulty of Stage 6.

8. Added a hint for Stage 7.

Bug Fix

1. Fixed the issue of the screen freezing when the game ended during character resurrection.

Hello, Inspectors. Another update has come to the Callisto Hotel. This update handles additional long-standing bugs and adds additional mystery content to explore!

General Updates

• UI-related assets interactivity has been improved, including menus.
  
• F.R.E.D. has been given feelings, but he doesn’t know how to show it.
  
• Audio and subtitles have been improved and several translation fixes have been implemented.
  
• Once again, more content has been added to the epilogue playable teaser. There’s even more mystery to uncover!
  
• Gwen’s song “cosmic_ocean” is now more likely to get stuck in your head.
  
• Modified the view angle for Desktop to be taller.
  
• Added a control to toggle crouching in Desktop (Ctrl by default)

Bugfixes

• Several puzzles will work more consistently and reset correctly when saved/loaded.
  
• A bug causing the intro puzzle to softlock was fixed, and the persons responsible for it were shoved out of an airlock.
  
• Fixed a bug that would show the VR teleport UI in Desktop.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the player to rotate in desktop when certain keys were held down.
  
• Fixed several lighting and occlusion issues.

Please note that this update may not be compatible with previous save games.

Make sure to drop your feedback, bugs, and discuss the case over on our Discord.

Good luck, Inspectors. Thank you for supporting us during Early Access.

-REGAC