In the last update we mentioned that we’d just started work on a new weapon which is now implemented. The SMG sits roughly between the pistol and assault rifle so is a lower-tier weapon, but we’ve been having a fantastic time spraying enemies with it (or more measured bursts of fire in its dual-shot alternate fire mode).
New Enemy!
We’ve also created a new ‘Wasp’ enemy (placeholder name btw!)
In our enemy roster we have aliens that occupy the lower-and-middle thirds of the screen, but were lacking something that would draw the players aim to the upper portion.
The wasp helps fulfill that space and we’ve made it a small target with low health, low damage but high speed that has already helped mix up combat in a positive way.
When we’re thinking about enemy archetypes we also need to consider how they gel with deployables (our term for traps and turrets) so the ceiling mounted Steam trap is essential in dealing with them.
We’ll do a video devlog soon where you can see both the SMG and the Wasp in action.
Dynamic Campaign!
Last month we commenced work on our Navigator mode, which sits above the Ship Overview (which in turn is above the level-based FPS/TD gameplay). These collectively form our dynamic campaign and is a substantial part of what differentiates SENTRY from other FPS and TD games, so is something we continue to spend a lot of time working on.
This month we’ve been putting together several sectors of space you travel through, as well as implementing some basic sound effects, music and camera controls to improve the experience.
We’ve also been refining the ‘boarding parties’, which are the alien forces that move around your ship trying to take over different levels. Because SENTRY isn’t a linear game, we need to ensure that when enemies attack they are comprised of different waves emerging from different breaching locations, so that should the same level be attacked a subsequent time, the gameplay will be different. This is one aspect that is already working particularly well!
While we’re holding off showing a bunch of this stuff until it’s ready, here’s some concept art of what the current ship class (called “The Roughneck”) looks like:
Other stuff!
Our recent playtests highlighted issues where our AI had a habit of piling onto the player, so we’ve been implementing additional AI target prioritization systems to ensure that there is a better balance between the level objective and fighting the player. This is an area that will undoubtedly continue to be refined the more we test.
We did an additional art pass on Fuel Exchange, Alex has been having fun adding incidental signage around the level:
This next item falls under one of those “not very exciting but still essential” features, but we’ve implemented a Control Rebinding menu for both keyboard and gamepad-based control schemes.
Our enemies have different coloured versions that denote an increase in their power and behavior. We took one enemy type and created some model variations to further differentiate them. As this has proven successful we’ll roll this out onto other enemies that have these variants:
Just for fun!
In May we attended Format, a nightclub and gaming event based in Manchester. Here’s our demo station set up and ready to go, and you can see a short video of the event in full swing here.
It was great fun but my voice was destroyed from talking to people above the music for several hours!
Hope you enjoy hearing about the latest updates, if you want to reach out to us we’re active on all these platforms:
Hello from Magnolia Games! I’m Juergen, and I’m excited to announce the brand new game that we’ve been working on, Demon Loop!
Demon Loop is an adventure strategy game, inspired by Slay the Spire and Gloomhaven. I’m thrilled to be working with the legendary Alexander Pfister, who’s authored the board games Great Western Trail, Isle of Skye and Port Royal! Together, we’re combining the charm and strategic depths of an expert board game to the possibilities of a video game.
It’s still early days of development, but take a look at the reveal trailer!
There’s going to be plenty to do in Demon Loop, from expanding and upgrading your Loop hub, growing your deck of cards that you use to battle demons, and uncovering the larger story behind why monsters have turned on people.
The current plan is for Demon Loop to be released in Early Access towards the end of this year if all goes well, and develop the game alongside your feedback. There’s a long road of improvements and features planned!
For now, following us on Twitter is the best way to stay notified of any updates and game progress. Wishlisting also helps out more than you know!
Thank you for your support, and I can’t wait to bring you more updates soon :D
Fixed an issue causing some scenarios to not show up on the sandbox
If you're not already part of our community, we encourage you to join us on Twitter, Discord, and Reddit. By joining our community, you'll be able to stay up-to-date on the latest news and updates, and you'll have a direct line of communication with us. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to continue to provide feedback and help us make our game even better.
I've released a few updates over the past days/weeks, here's what's new in v0.66.36.
Landing pads can now be customized
A new Barista trait was added, and the Bartender trait is improved to work with coffee makers in addition to bars.
A new decorative, Scarecrow, was added which has a minor effect.
You can now view power and pollution breakdowns.
Someone asked why the house interior is always tiny even when upgraded to three storeys. So house interiors are now improved and now go up to three storeys!
On the experimental branch, the house building system is now available to try! This system is still in a very early preview/prototype state. Do let me know your thoughts on this if you get to try it out.
9 extra grids were added to bird island
Many improvements were also made, such as inventory resizing, displaying of trait levels in schools, clone improvements, etc. The changelog below will contain the full list.
Full changelog: - Added new trait: Barista - Bartender trait now works on Coffee Machines in addition to Bars - Added new decoration building: Scarecrow - Landing Pads can now be customized - House interiors have been revamped. It now goes up to three storeys and gets bigger with neighbours - Missions now get faster with Mysterious Gems' scavenging stat bonus - Cost of some decorative decks reduced - Clones should now work on other islands - Hovering over the pollution bar now shows a breakdown of highest pollution buildings - Hovering over the power bar now shows a breakdown of highest power-consuming buildings - Chef trait now clarified to say it works on Cookhouses - The efficiency potion now makes the sushi fountain consume sushi slower instead of faster - The efficiency potion now makes the sprinkler consume water slower instead of faster - When a mineral patch is depleted, characters are automatically unassigned from it - Volume of snoring at rocks halved - Snoring is now affected by voice slider instead of sfx slider - Visitor birds now have a chance to fly away after some time when new birds arrive - School panel now shows settlers' assigned building icon - Settler Priorities Overview UI window now shows the settler outfit and second trait - Settler Priorities Overview UI window now has translated title texts - Idle bots no longer lose electricity - Inventory can now be expanded horizontally - Power plant is now slower instead of faster with efficiency potion - Fruit Punch is now produced in pairs - Bird Island now has 9 extra grids to build on
Crane Improvements: - Cranes now prioritize delivering to storage boxes last, so it fills the buildings that need it first (eg Refinery) - Cranes now prioritize taking from storage boxes last, so if there is a production building, it takes it from there first (I hope this makes cranes more efficient and appear smarter!)
QoL: - Clicking on building icon in Settler Priorities Overview now toggles that building for all settlers - Added 'Take All' button to take out all building outputs with 1 click - Trait levels are now shown in school
Fixes: - Fixed Scavenger's Tent displaying incorrect duration from actual - Fixed bug where debris caught in nets would teleport when boatyard was reached - Fixed landing pad UI display issue if you rebuilt or moved a landing pad - Fixed landing pad UI showing a default landing pad even if you had none - Removed 'Add Trait' button showing on parrots accidentally - Mineral patch shifted down for new save files to prevent interact shortcut triggering submarine - Fixed rare occasion where pressing 'E' to stop mining mineral patch while in submarine's range teleports to land with underwater visuals - Fixed unable to research scuba diving on Spanish language - Fixed clones requiring houses - Fixed bug where changing farm seed while raining or sprinkled gave free water - Fixed occasional error when crane failed to correctly transfer optional input items - Removed extra blank panel in Parrot's info panel - Rewrote birdhouse upgrade description effects - Fixed human count displaying wrongly over building icons in Settler Priorities Overview - Fixed zoologist speech bubble button not responding when clicked - Fixed 2 grids on upper deck unable to build fat buildings - Fixed visual error where learn trait cost displayed in school did not update if you selected '+' button after selecting another trait - Hide doves when underwater, optimized doves slightly - Fixed rabbit unable to catch fire with dynamites - Fixed bottom tab buttons showing incorrect key on other islands - Potentially fixed transform.IsInAir multiplayer error occuring when saving - Doves should now disappear properly - Fix 'superman' getting injured at tent if first settler does not have SUPER - Fixed long decimal points displayed in power breakdown - Fixed issue where after adding a trait, the school UI did not immediately update until reselected - Sailor trait is no longer deletable - AI has been improved to use a fallback if it failed initial pathfinding
Experimental branch: - Added Advanced Housing System, unlocked through a trader item - Added corn to cow island - Mechanical Bull duration increased: 5 -> 15s - Flotsam base price decreased: 5 -> 4 - Mice can no longer be spawned while on a boat - The efficiency potion now makes the mouse house consume cheese slower instead of faster - Fixed unable to delete peacock coop - Desalination Plants added to Cow Island - Donuts and Purple Pies no longer cost Cooking Oil, and use Oil Extract instead (cheaper) - Fixed unable to delete mice when selecting them from the characters panel - Fixed Ice Cream research not increasing ice cream buff duration - Added new props and fixed icons in House building system
We are thrilled to announce the official commencement of our Open Playtest on Steam! This is the ideal moment for you to join us on a thrilling adventure through our game's captivating cave systems in R4YL, the immersive endless runner game.
For those of you joining us, "R4YL" is an ambitious project developed by DFT Games Studios, designed to deliver players a unique and memorable gaming experience. We have worked tirelessly on refining the game's mechanics and visuals, and now we're ready to bring it to the ultimate proving ground: YOUR feedback.
The Open Playtest version available now on Steam represents a substantial step forward in our development journey. This release includes a wealth of enhancements and new content and, most importantly, offers you the chance to actively shape the game's development process.
By participating in the Open Playtest, you will have the opportunity to explore the game's current features, engage with its mechanics and contribute your ideas and feedback to help us refine and perfect R4YL.
Please be aware that the game is still in active development. As such, you may encounter bugs and incomplete features. We value your patience, understanding, and, most importantly, your constructive feedback, which will be instrumental in helping us fine-tune and improve the game.
Joining the Playtest is free and open to everyone on Steam. Here's how you can get involved:
Go to the "R4YL" Steam page.
Click on "Join the Playtest".
R4YL will appear in your Steam Library.
In addition, we would love for you to join us on our official Discord Server, where we'll actively engage with the community, discuss your feedback, and address any questions you may have.
Your thoughts, feedback, and creative insights are vital to this process. We look forward to co-creating an incredible gaming experience with our amazing player community.
As part of the festivities, anybody that plays a game of Hamlet on Tabletopia between now and June 4th can enter the draw to win a physical copy of the game!
Invite up to 3 of your friends to play, and you'll get 4 entries - one per person!
Once you've played, simply register your play in this form to enter. A winner will be decided at random and will be contacted at their nominated email address.
After years of development, we are incredibly proud (and nervous!) to say that The Tartarus Key is now available! We hope you enjoy yourself, as much as anyone trapped inside a mansion with elaborate death traps and obscure motivations can. Don't forget to grab the soundtrack to enjoy some impeccable murder vibes as well!
It's always tricky to write these posts, as it can feel like you're just echoing the words of every developer out there who puts all the time and effort it does into making a game. "We hope you like it." "We hope you have fun." "Don't forget to review it!" All of those are obviously things we feel and want to say - making and releasing a game is always hard and scary, even if you aren't making a horror game.
But more than anything, what we want to say is thank you. The excitement and curiosity of everyone who has ever sent us a message, shared our game, or even just wishlisted it has meant the world to us, and has been a wonderful support to have.
So, thank you. Yes, you! Imagine this is like one of those post-credits scenes where they add "... and YOU!" at the end, because we couldn't have done it without you.
We want to share some exciting news! The Solarpunk Kickstarter is finally live, and we're thrilled to embark on this adventure together with all of you. We can´t wait to get your feedback and questions! Let's celebrate and party together! 🎉🥳
This is a significant milestone for us, and your support means the world. So, join us in making this campaign a success and spreading the word about our Solarpunk project. Together, we can make a difference and create something truly amazing. 🤝💪
Get ready for an incredible journey, filled with joy, creativity, and a bright solar-powered future! ☀️✨ Let's make this Kickstarter campaign one for the books. Cheers to all of you, our amazing community! 🥂🌟
