Hey everyone! We hope you’ve been enjoying Cassette Beasts these past few months as much as we’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts, reviews and feedback! We’ve been putting the finishing touches on a new content update for all platforms that we’ve previously teased, and we're super happy to announce that the 1.2 “Catacombs” Update will be coming soon!
The update will have new content for the game (including new monsters and stickers) for all platforms, as well as visual and performance improvements on the game’s console versions.
Whilst we don’t want to give away too much at this point (there's more info to come!), here’s a sneak peek at one of the brand new monsters coming in the Catacombs update!
The mysterious Ferriclaws have only recently been discovered on New Wirral. These giant spider-like creatures seem to wear ancient death masks on their heads… Creepy! Their web spinning abilities allow them to stop their prey dead in their tracks.
We’re hoping to have a release date soon, alongside other announcements to come - stay tuned for something exciting we have in the works regarding this!
To celebrate the official reveal of the Catacombs Update, we’re throwing a flash sale for Cassette Beasts! The game will be 20% off on Steam until the end of the week! Get it before it’s too late!
And that’s all for now! Once again, please keep leaving us reviews as it really helps us out - don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and join our official Discord too!
We are excited to announce that this update introduces several exciting features we know you all have been passionately waiting for: Modding and language support!
Pistol Mix Launch
The Pistol Mix tool is now officially live for our community of modders! Plus, Steam heroes can now access their downloaded Remixed content with the in-game Remixes tab. We want to give a huge shoutout to our modding community for going above and beyond with our open beta and providing so much amazing feedback! Be sure to swing by our https://mod.io/g/pistol-whip page to get a run down of how to assemble your own Pistol Mix Scene or to download any of the wonderful action-packed Remixes our community has created.
Localization
That’s not all! Our team is excited to announce that we have rolled out a localization update for Pistol Whip. Heroes can now enjoy the Pistolverse experience in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian-Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean.
Have any questions? Be sure to swing by our Player Guide, or reach out to our team directly here.
There is all of this and more on the horizon, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Love,
Cloudhead Games
Pistol Whip “Remixed” Update Changelog
Added 'Remixes' Tab
Added integration for user-generated content (Scene Remixes) from Mod.io to display in “Remixes” menu (Quest/Rift and PCVR only)
Added localized in-game text to menus, including subtitles for both cinematic campaigns (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian-Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean)
The S.O.S. project team is on the line! The most steadfast, dedicated fighters, loyal to their crazy and courageous cause.
It's been a while since we last shared news from our workshop on the edge of the galaxy, Hekata. However, there has been plenty of news, and it has been diverse. Let's take the last diary we released a year ago as a starting point. It was published for issue number 30. Since that day, we have:
- Shrunk to six people and four to five permanent "orbit" helpers.
- Built a new ship sub-level on which an entire space expedition disappeared. It was later captured by pirates and turned into a junkyard, a warehouse of plundered junk and a home for outcasts, all in the best traditions of space criminals, like those in The Stainless Steel Rat.
- Rebuilt the battle system from tile-based to free. That is, our soldiers run around freely like in Gears Tactics. In the screenshot below, you can see the floor divided into cells, but it's just markings to which objects are not attached. However, units are happy to stick to cover and walls.
- Successfully implemented the system of remote skills, path calculation, and base AI. - Rethought and redesigned the rescue game mechanics and transformed it into a turn-based system. Without false modesty, we can say that nobody has seen or done anything like it before. Someone might say to me, "Well, no one did it because you came up with nonsense." Maybe so, but we believe in this system! Oh, if only we had the strength to lift it up. - Applied for a grant from the Institute for Internet Development. We even adapted our lore to their agenda. We'll write about the results a bit below.
- Made our own 3D models based on our own concepts. Well, as best we could, as they say.
- What else... what else... there was definitely something else... let's see... We decided not to take Unreal 5, it's too simple for us, we want hardcore and pain. So... well, the logs were erased, memory clusters crumbled, and some working files were written over them. Access is closed.
If something else happened, it's not important. We'll keep fighting by participating in any local contests that remain and not lose hope of creating an MVP version.
"So, if you've done so much, why don't you show us this miracle?" you might ask. And we'd answer: "The implementation of our game is only at the concept and prototype phase. We still have a long way to go before a demonstration version, even as far as walking from Berlin to Beijing."
Why did we write this diary? Just to show that we're still alive and want to make an awesome turn-based strategy game! We didn't win the IRI contest: instead, Peter & Wolf, The Three Bogatyrs and Vasilisa with Baba Yaga surpassed us.
On the one hand, we're upset that S.O.S. wasn't rated highly enough to give us money for development. On the other hand... whatever.
As long as there is a core team of developers and as long as we don't give up, there's a chance that we'll finally crack this wall with our heads and produce a cool game. On our own dime or on money raised, but we promise to show it to you someday. It's a shame we can't show our development progress more often since it has slowed down even more than last year. We often have nothing to write about. But we promise that if there's something significant, like losing a contest at IRI, we'll definitely whine about it and remind you of ourselves)))
Stay tuned. Thank you for your attention.
We'll try not to disappoint all the fans of turn-based tactics and release this long-awaited game someday. In the meantime, support us with a like or add the game to your wishlist. It would be very helpful!
Last but not least: 20% discount on Season Pass 2, which includes three new DLC! The Last Sarkorians DLC is already available to play, and The Lord of Nothing DLC and A Dance of Masks DLC will be released soon.
Pearls of wisdom from brother Woljif: “If you like a product and it has a big discount — just buy it immediately, what are you waiting for!”
I pulled myself from dev work long enough to make a quick video for you to see yourself. The video should cover most people in updates. However, if you want to nerd out and hear some of the tech just read on XD. NSFW Version of this trailer is already posted on Steam! Go Check it out!
To make more than just a game:
To remind everyone, we are not building just a VN. The game's foundation is being built to be modular, open source, and modifiable. With these requirements in mind, you can see why it has taken longer than normal to design, plan, and prepare all of the back end for future iterations of this game.
A good example is the template for the H Scenes. The template planning is what has taken so long to dial in. Making something modular, simple, consistent to use, and feature rich is no small feat.
Ensuring code is opensource so creators, devs, and writers can change or tailor the experience to their needs is something we take very seriously.
We rely on the basics of Unity using game objects and components to keep things easy to follow and figure out.
Knight has already created the documentation Wiki page on Github (although it isn't public YET), and we are now updating it with the commands and tutorials as we get closer to final vision of the systems.
The systems together can make story boards, animated sequences controlled by script, Visual Novels, ect. And it will all be FREE!
The Script writing doesn't require technical knowledge. A writer can drop the assets in Unity, and control them via this script to craft their scenes, add voice lines, music, affects, manipulate the theme, even control the models in the scene via movement, expressions, or animations.
We are even finalizing a format to add eyeblink transitions, rainfall, ect that will add another layer of control the writer can use.
The demo is the culmination of years of dedication to this philosophy and will be the core foundation for future creators, a vertical slice of all the systems at play.
Post Demo, we will be updating Unity to the latest allowed by Live 2D to give Mac Users on Apple silicon the ability to create using our systems. Knight will be handling that and doing the refactoring while I put the 40k words of the main game into unity that I already have ready.
Will this mean that progress will speed up after the demo is finished?
In a nutshell, yes. The core templates are finished, we can move forward and just direct the story. With the exception of the PDA (Which I will work on right after the demo drop) the core systems are all in place and ready to write in. At that point, it will just be a matter of waiting on Art Assets and Animations to be finished.
Rigging has started on post demo content! With Live 2D taking time, we are trying to stagger the production of assets to speed up the process.
There is not much left to do!
You heard that right. Even while waiting on some code to be finalized, we staggered work to prepare. Currently right now, the items we need to focus on are:
1. Zoom and Pan controls for H Scenes (In Progress right now) 2. Final touches to interaction audio for the H Scenes. 3. Minor Adjustments for mode switch from Story to interactive (H Scenes) 4. Adding the completed transitions into the demo (eye blinks ect). 5. Integrate the Language switch system (its core is already in game) and update the commands in each folder with the finalized versions we have now.
The translators will be checking out the localized changes to ensure they are accurate XD. Because of Japanese Censor Laws, the Japanese localized game will have to be a separate build. On Steam, you will have no issues. However, on Itch.Io, and Newgrounds, they will show up as B1NARY Jav Build.
The Jav builds will have full language support, but assets will be censored in the H Scenes to satisfy the Japanese Censor Laws.
I won't give a deadline for the demo, but it is coming very soon. We have a linux bug we are trying to isolate and I don't want to put undue pressure on our programmer lol.
With that being said, no one is left behind. The demo will drop fully translated, and across all the platforms we have announced.
PogCast
What is the POGCAST? It will be our demo release party! Live on Stream with our Host Rachi.
We will have a release trailer, final cast lockdown announcement, and future plans concerning the project itself. I will be available for AMA. At the end of stream, we will make the demo LIVE to play for everyone!
We will decide on a date once we are in Phase IV (Polish). No worries, you won't miss it!
What is this????
For now, it's something I am planning for Patreon Members Only. In the future, we may bring in some merch like cups and keychains to help fund the game and have something tangible for you to fondle. I am still researching the best way to get the t-shirts to people while allowing privacy. I will keep you up to date! (NGL I want some merch too lmao. )
I hope this update was good for you, because it was for me UwU. Just a bit longer and we can really get to work. As a writer I have been literally waiting years to get back to writing in earnest.
Thank you for all of your support peeps. Project Manager TherinWhitten
An experimental patch designed to improve the situation with the registration of hits and the smoothness of the movement of characters;
Improved hit registration;
Increased the refresh rate of the character's position;
Optimized network code;
ADS speed was increased by 10%;
Reduced the brightness of the flash light when fired;
Increased the maximum step height of the character;
Increased the maximum angle of the surfaces on which the character can move;
The ammo box now replenishes two magazines per cycle, instead of one;
We will continue to fix the current issues after the release of 0.7. We apologize for the temporary problems.
Join our Discord. There you can find news about the game faster, get quick help with any problems, and also take part in various contests with in-game rewards.
You can also support us on Patreon and get unique rewards, including an exclusive skin for weapons, as well as information leaks from development and early access to game updates.
The anomaly crisis proves fertile ground for a new Temporal War to begin. Those with ambition are quickly making connections with those who have the means to travel through time. And amidst it all, a new alliance forms, claiming that they can resolve the anomaly crisis - as long as their needs are met.
Event Name: Thaw Event Type: Faction/Galaxy Event Start: Thursday, 06/22 at Noon ET (16:00 UTC) Phase 1 End Time: Saturday, 06/24 at Noon ET (16:00 UTC) Event Finish: Monday, 06/26 at Noon ET (16:00 UTC)
Squadrons: Y Crew Sharing: N Faction Winner Bonus: N
