Apr 25, 2023

Occupy Mars: The Game - Pyramid Games

Greetings, fellow Martians!

We wanted to share some exciting news about our upcoming game release and what we've been working on lately.

As many of you may have noticed, we've been updating our Steam Page and other official pages with more screenshots and information. We had to temporarily change the visible release date from April to Q2 (because Steam requires a concrete day announced at least 2 weeks before the end of the month and we didn't have that confirmed yet), but we can now happily confirm the official Early Access release date.

The game will be launching simultaneously on Steam, EPIC, and GOG platforms on May 10th, 2023!

We are in contact with the publishing teams of these platforms to ensure a smooth launch.

We have also released the Colonist FAQ thread, which answers many gameplay-related questions (beware of spoilers!). We hope it will be helpful once you get your hands on the game.

Additionally, we've launched the Steam page of the optional Occupy Mars: Supporter Pack DLC, which includes the soundtrack, artbook, and other artistic content that will be released with the game.

Our team is currently determining the final list of features that will be available in the Early Access release, which we'll share in our next devlog. All the other functionalities will be subsequently enabled in the future updates. We are working hard to ensure a smooth game release, that is also why we have paused our weekly streams recently - to focus 100% on delivering the Early Access build to you.

We appreciate your patience and support as we prepare for the Early Access launch.

See you on Mars on May 10th!

Best regards,
The Occupy Mars Team

P.S. today our friends from Drago Entertainment are launching "Routastic Event" on the occasion of their Gas Station Simulator - Airstrip DLC launch. Our games are also joining their event so we wanted to share this information with you :)

Apr 25, 2023

Kingdom Crier #21: Feature Preview - Terraforming!

Noble Fates - xobermon

Kingdom Crier #21 ahoy!

Feature Previews

As you've likely noticed, we're taking extra time on our Feature Updates now. The stability of the game has allowed us to strive for a better work/life balance for the team and ensure that each major update from here on out represents a clear step towards 1.0. While they're taking longer, we think that each one will be that much more interesting. The Adventure Update is the first example of this new workflow.

Given that we're spending extra time on these, we thought it was a good time to revisit our approach to announcing new features. Instead of waiting for the Beta of the Feature Update to announce it all in one go, we thought it'd be cool to start sharing Previews of features that we know will be in the update once as we begin to near it's full announcement.

To that end, the first major feature of Feature Update #5 is...

Terraforming!

Build a house in a hole!

A land bridge!

A root cellar!

Whatever these weird things are...

Or repair the hole that pesky Catapult knocked into the roof of your underground base.

Terraforming follows similar rules to building, with the exception that a terraformed block must be placed on top of or attached to existing Terrain. You can place any of the tile types that map generation uses.

To start, you'll only be able to build things out of Dirt. To keep with the grounded nature of Noble Fates, this will have a cost in the form of a new resource - Dirt. Dirt will can be gathered by mining, trading, or looting.

Feature Update #5 Status

Feature Update #5 is quite far along now. There are only one or two features left to build then we'll enter the bug fixing and tuning phase at which point we'll announce.

Terraforming is just one of the features of Feature Update #5 - any guesses as to what else may come with it?

Community Corner

There have been quite a number of interesting mods released since the last crier, here are a few!

13erserk released the Spartan Set

Plum dropped Tameable Ogres...

Sato made these cool wings

Sato and Plum teamed up for Predators & Prey!

And Monster Madness 2!

Discord

Join the Official Discord to participate in Development!

Reviews

If you like the game, please consider leaving a Review. These can help players decide that Noble Fates is worthy of their attention.

Thanks for reading and thanks for playing!
The Noble Fates Team

Apr 25, 2023

Puzzler's Pack Free Update - EP.10.2 - “Wow, so much stuff!” Patch Out Now

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon - YCG

Welcome, Puzzlers! So we hear that you want to delve even further into the Pocket Dungeon and explore the new Puzzler’s Pack DLC early! To access the Early Preview, you will need to switch to a special Steam Branch to access the content.

Friendly reminder! This is an Early Preview of our Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Puzzler’s Pack DLC, we’re still in the process of ironing out a ton of new features and rolling out fixes! With that in mind, there is a possibility that you’ll run into bugs, crashes, and oddities that you wouldn’t normally encounter in a retail release. So, to avoid any potential mishaps, we recommend you back up your save files just in case! This Early Preview is currently limited to the Steam version of the game. Once the DLC has been polished and meets the quality bar that we’re happy with, we will bring the DLC to consoles. Thank you for your patience!

If you encounter any issues or have any feedback for us reach out to us on our Discord, or email us at our support email.

Changes

Updated Art and Sound Effects

Random Knight & Shuffle Knight
Most foes and hazards in Legendary Path have updated SFX
Tadvolts and Blue Floatsomes now do an electrified SFX if you are nearby.
If you are wearing any hats, they’ll collapse on defeat!!
And much, much more!

General Updates:

Bombs with a 3x3 range no longer cause flash.
Whatever is inside Scrap Knight’s bag at the end of a run now pops out at the results screen.

The Big Creep:

Now counts as undead (for Divine Liquid)

Present Hat:

Gives you a random free relic each stage, instead of giving you two choices.
Fixed - a relic is offered before entering the first stage.
Present Hat can now appear in the Trial of Offerings.

Haste Helm:

Moved faster turns indicator to the bottom-right corner. This also applies to the Legendary Path’s faster bosses
Slightly increased turn speed when pressing Turbo.

Legendary Foe Helm:

It now adds big foes from Legendary Path as well.

Memmec’s Kin Cap:

Increased chances of memmecs appearing within a stage to 60%. Chances are then lowered by 10% per memmec spawned.

Mining Helmet:

Now up to two keys and/or two chests can spawn inside blocks per stage now.

Legendary Path:

Adjusted chances of hazards, new foes, and big foes showing up each stage. All three cannot spawn all at once, and very rarely none will spawn.
Memmec chests have a 5% chance of appearing.
Relic prices are now rounded to the nearest multiple of 250. (This applies to Extravagant Gem Hat as well)

Needleorb Hat:

Adjusted spike setups.

Wall Hat:

One less row of units spawn during Scrap Knight’s boss fight.
In Clockwork toward and onward, the spawn rates were adjusted

Dozedrake:

Takes a couple of extra turns in between attacks.
Adjusted how bubbles are spewed.

Lampeeto:

Only one Lampeeto can spawn at a time on the board.
HP increased from 4 to 5.

Tadguard:

Protected units now stop chain damage.

Bomb Seed Bag:

Now has a VFX for resisting bomb damage.

Bohto Boater:

Extra meal tickets won’t appear in Glitzem’s sideroom or shrine rooms.
Extra meal tickets become more rare the more relics you have equipped, stopping at 24 relics.

Red Alert Beret:
During boss fights:

Increased the amount of green alert time.
Slightly decreased the amount of red alert time.

Donovan:

Caltrops now deal 2 damage against enemies, and 1 damage against bosses
Caltrops don’t chain when thrown.

Mona A:

When not wearing Turkey Torque, Turkeys explode in a 3x3 area for 3 damage.
Weak or expired potions now explode for only 1 damage.

Mona B:

Potions are thrown a bit faster.

Board Bombardment Quest:

You now start the quest with two Meal Tickets.

Tinker Knight A:

Mech will always have a minimum of 3HP.
Mech now uses Emote and Weak sprites from Tinker Knight’s Quandary Quest.

Toad Totem Topper:

In addition to a free Toad Totem, you start each level poisoned.
Poison acts every 8 turns instead of every 4. Attacking anything delays poison for 1 extra turn.
Gem penalty from poison kills removed.
Toad Totem Topper can now appear in Trial of Offerings.

Magnetic Morion:

Grapps don’t stick to other units.
Units don’t stick to walls in side rooms.
Crabstals don’t move diagonally anymore.

Marathon:

Reverted spawn rate speed increase. Adjusted each wave’s duration.
Waves beyond 100 are now randomized setups.
Marathon gets a 1% extra charge from chains.

Bug Fixes

Fixed crash when using Shovel Drop on shielded foes.
Fixed crash when attempting to buy more costumes than available for purchase.
Fixed Upside-Crown would cause instant-board fill in Marathon.
Fixed wrong orientation sprite for Shuffle Knight B in the guidebook.
Fixed electric units in the main board being able to damage Mole Knight B while inside side rooms.
Fixed you could get Propeller Knight B’s feat with Shuffle Knight B
Fixed some units transformed in Invisishade Hat wouldn’t reset their quirks.
Fixed Tinker Knight’s Mech wouldn’t cause a chain on its last metal.
Fixed Wizzems could get desynced from the board by a magic book’s bombable block.
Fixed Boneclang Skull resetting the stage to Plains if picked in Trial of Offerings.
Fixed Invisishades wouldn’t unphase when using Potion Napkin on Potions.
Fixed certain units wouldn’t give out Joustus cards depending on their state.
Fixed Puzzle Knight and Scrap Knight jumping and moving during red alert.
Fixed you could get all meal tickets when wearing Juggler’s Cap and Glitzem’s Top Hat.
Fixed using joustus cards would always give you joustus cards back regardless of chain size.
Fixed traps dealing damage and expiring during red alert.
Fixed the ice cube in camp would always randomize to the same type of statue.
Fixed Shields would spend durability even when guarding through Coin of Cover.
Fixed hidden keys or chests inside blocks would chain with other blocks.
Fixed Cogslotter’s cog was able to destroy chests and other important units.
Fixed grabbing air as Scrap Knight would reset her bag timer in Spawner Sack Quest.
Fixed all the chests in the chest sideroom would give the same item.
Fixed refract abilities not recognised by Mr. Hat if you had a statue.
Fixed Plague Knight didn’t receive damage from poisonous bombs.
Fixed stages were spawning one less chest.
Fixed crash when defeating Black Knight before meteors dropped.
Fixed softlock if you bash a boss taking you both down.
Fixed Mole Knight B not receiving damage from Mr. Hat’s attacks.
Fixed Mole Knight B able to bypass water tiles.
Fixed multiple issues concerning Bump Buffer.
Fixed Tinker Knight would lose to Blue Beetos even when you had plenty of Health to spare during Mona’s minigame.
Fixed defeating a Wizzem with Single Glove would stop a spear attack.
Fixed Treasure Knight would use other boss warnings for his attacks.