Hi everyone! We’re glad to share a new progress report!



First of all, we know that we’ve been silent for a while, and we’re sorry about that, but it’s because we’ve been doing some work behind the scenes and found a new publishing partner that will help us bring Long Gone Days to all of you! This means we’ll be able to do some exciting things we couldn’t achieve on our own.

There will be an official announcement with our new partner soon and we’ll share more details regarding what it will mean for Long Gone Days and its full release.

Rest assured that the game is in good hands (we wouldn’t have signed with a publisher if it wasn’t one we really liked and trusted) and we can’t wait to tell you about all the things we’ve been working on.

On another note, we’ve improved several things in the game, including a lot of things our players have been asking for.



Among these things, we can confirm that achievements will be available in the game along with the full release. There’s a lot of them, so we hope you enjoy unlocking them all!



One of the most asked features was to be able to compare the stats between the items you have equipped and the ones in your inventory, so we finally added that.



We also revamped the battle system. Besides having a visible battle queue, you can now see which status effects have been applied to enemies, so you can plan your next move accordingly. Oh, and we also added a lot of new art for battles!



On top of that, we polished the art of several maps, as well as some portraits, and we added some new scenes in between!

Besides that, a lot of players wanted to be able to see their character actually running when the sprint key is being pressed, so we fixed that.



And lastly, we gave each major character a different voice pitch during dialogues!

That's all for today’s update! Remember that you can follow us on:

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/lgdays
Discord:
http://discord.gg/longgonedays

Until next time,
LGD Team.

Hey Exterminators,

Thank you all for the feedback and for giving the game a try. We have a final demo build coming towards the end of this week with various bug fixes, visual updates, and balancing. Any further changes will happen in the full game as we prepare for launch.

Thank you all again for all the downloads, plays and feedback.

The Keeper's room at Beacon's Bluff glows and breathes with otherworldly life.

Just disabling a couple of settings that snuck their way into the main build

Fixed:

• "Completionist" achievement now requires completion of final levels

Level changes:

• 7-34: Added missing spikes under moving platform
  
• 7-34: Added coins to falling platforms

- General performance optimizations

I will try and make one final update for the game, where I'll fix the stutter problem that some people talked about. I implemented the fix in my Monomon Black Sun game and it seemed to work. So hopefully, if new people play Holidays, they won't experience it happening.

I will also be changing one of the lines at the end of the game where I say something about using the holidays 1 save file to continue progress for the next game. When or if I ever do Holidays 2, I will be doing a rework on the assets and making the characters and stuff visually smaller. I would like to just start fresh for every game. So just uninstall Holidays 1 or the delete the save if you still have it.

That is all, thank you! :-]


Update: I tried to use the fix but it didn't work. What really helped was forcing the game to run with my nvidia graphics card. I don't think I can ever get rid of the micro-stuttering. Oh well, I tried. I'm sorry.

Get ready to confront your deepest fears as the puppets of your fondest memories turn on not just each other but you too! Step into a world of childhood nostalgia turned nightmarish with the highly anticipated release of My Friendly Neighborhood!

The cast of MFN is ready to meet you, but be careful and don't get too close!

---

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574260/My_Friendly_Neighborhood/

• John "Ducky" Szymanski's Twitter
• DreadXP Tiktok
• DreadXP Twitter
• DreadXP Youtube
• DreadXP Instagram
• DreadXP Discord

A large Chess Tournament is underway - Meridian 59 players organized a ladder-style chess tournament in celebration of a recent update to the Chess Board item in-game. The Tournament prizes were largely donated by players, with a couple unique DM contributions added in after the event was underway.

The update - a change to the viewing perspective of the board when used by its player - was personally done by creator-developer 'Zaphod', which was also the last thing added to the M59 by him when it was first released commercially back in 1995!

The entries filled up quickly, with 16 players competing for 'Chess Champion', with some on standby. Players and the Chess Master, 'Essun', go over the games, which are summarized and reviewed daily in the Meridian 59 discord and on the chess website, 'lichess', as show in a link below.

Players are able to watch the chess games in-game even if they're not one of the competing players - any amount of spectators can view the board and see the matches in real-time! The games have been happening in a newer hangout for shady characters - the candle-lit Abandoned Tavern across the street from the most popular bar in the land, Familiars.

Due to the popularity of the event, another like it is expected to happen again in the future.

Thank you to 'Essun' for organizing the event, 'Zaphod' for the real-time updates to improve the Chess Board, and to all Meridian 59 players for their patronage and support.

Log in to Meridian and join the discord to get in on the conversation for the Chess Tournament and other upcoming events! We hope to see you in-game!

Have fun playing and may you suddenly feel a little tougher ~

A summation of the rules, prizes and a collection of currently posted game analysis' are below!


The following was originally posted by 'Essun' in the Meridian 59 Discord:

Rules:

Open chess tournament in celebration of recent update

- all players of all skill levels are welcome

- rounds to be played throughout the week when players are available

- only 1 entry per player

Knockout-style tournament:

- one game per round, die roll determines color choice

- no external assistance (i.e. chess analysis engines) allowed

- no stalling once the game begins

- no timer, but taking longer than 10 min to make a move will result in a loss

- no game is to exceed 50 moves, if no winner by move 50, the game is a draw

- no draws by agreement, all games will end either with a winner or forced draw

- in the event of a draw, players will play a 5-minute blitz game to determine the winner

- in the event of further draws, more blitz games will be played with -1 minute to the timer per game

Final Round will be 3 games played in front of an audience, time & location TBD

- 0.5 points per draw

- 1 point per win

- same rules outlined above apply if drawn after 3 games

Here's the updated prize pool for the Chess Tournament, now featuring the kind donations of Oujia, Beumac, and Mayhem.

:::PRIZES:::

1st Place:

:gift~1: A special gift.

:lightningbolt: A Profile Engraving,

♟️ An engraved & colored chess board,

:Prism: Your choice: a red 3-sided prism OR a unique chocolate colored 5-sided prism

:shilling: 300,000 shillings

=================

2nd Place:

:mace2: Engraved Black Colored Hammer w/ 2 effects:

Heavy and blunt, this hammer is a powerful weapon, capable of shattering flesh and bone. It is the favored weapon of the mining folk of Jasper. The craftsmanship of this hammer is admirable, obviously the result of hundreds of hours of work by expert hands. The words 'Crafted in Darkness' are delicately engraved on the edge. A swirling green 'GMT' is stamped into the pommel.

This hammer is in flawless condition.

:daemonmask: Daemon Skeleton Mask

:Prism: the prism the winner didn't choose

:shilling: 100,000 shillings

=================

3rd Place:

:skullmask: Skull Mask

:NecklaceofJala: Jala Necklace

:shilling: 25,000 shillings

=================

4th place:

:Rose: Rose

:shilling: 25,000 shillings

=================

5th-16th place:

:MaskAnt: :MaskMummy: :MaskShrunken: :masktroll: :MaskRoXeo: a random mask or toy!



Game Analysis:


Round 1, Match 1:
Rend vs Hektic
https://lichess.org/T6nAzfxp

"First match of the chess tournament happened tonight between @A guy named Phil (White) & @Hektic (Red). Hektic won the roll and bravely chose to play as red, giving Rend first move advantage as white.

It was a very close game between two evenly matched opponents and it seemed like either could win at any given moment, both were sweating! But in the end, Hektic prevailed as white resigned just as the game was entering its end game."


Round 1, Match 3:
Psilotripitaka vs Grok!
https://lichess.org/eNp5MITc

Game #3 between Psilotripitaka (White) & Grok! (Red) was probably the best game yet. They were very evenly matched and the game was incredibly close until near the very end when Psilo pulled slightly ahead. Very well played by both players.

Out of the opening and through much of the middle game, Grok had the upper hand, but one small misstep caused the table to turn.

Round 1, Match 4:
Ouija vs. Judge Dredd
https://lichess.org/Mo2E8G1R


Here's video of the 4th match of Round 1 Ouija vs. Judge Dredd. Lots of games happening tonight, so there's probably going to be a flood of these...

Round 2, Match 1:
IceWing vs Psilotripitaka
https://lichess.org/IDdy7VOd

Next, we had our first match of Round 2 between IceWing (White) and Psilotripitaka (Red) which was a game with a wildly swinging pendulum featuring our second checkmate of the tournament. Winning this game advanced IceWing to become our first semi-finalist. Congratulations!


Round 1, Match 5:
Old Boy vs Black Panther
https://lichess.org/5SSNyHk8

Then we returned to Round 1 and had match 5: Old Boy (White) vs Black Panther (Red) which was fairly one sided in white's favor, but BP has never been one to back down from a fight. Still was a very exciting match!

Round 1, Match 6:
Lonesome Traveller vs Grunk


Last game of the night was game 6 of Round 1 between Lonesome Traveller (White) and Grunk (Red) and this was another fairly one-sided but exciting one. Lonesome was less experienced by his own admission but still put up a good fight and found creative ways to get out of many of the corners he was backed into.

Round 1, Match 7:
Alzoneth vs Haven
https://lichess.org/XGoXiXFF

This afternoon, the 7th match of Round 1 between Alzoneth (White) and Haven (Red) took place and it was a very creative and fun one! Both players admitted to being inexperienced at chess and I'm glad the roster worked out that they got to play together because it was a great game and it seemed like both learned a lot from each other. Both made mistakes, but covered for them with creative tactics.

They both only made 3 moves between them the engine considers blunders and had very high accuracy ratings.

UPDATE:

Deadline for the competition has been extended until this Sunday (August 20th) as I'm quite busy with the release version of the game at the moment, so there's still five days left to participate. Winners will be contacted by the end of this month and they will get their prizes just before Chronicles of Vaeltaja: In Search of the Great Wanderer launches by the end of September 2023.

Original Announcement:

Welcome, traveler!
I am happy to announce a competition that will give you the opportunity to win a Steam Key and a DRM free copy (at Itch.io) of the Chronicles of Vaeltaja: In Search of the Great Wanderer release version.

To participate in the competition you have to download the Chronicles of Vaeltaja demo, either from Steam or https://witchgrove-games.itch.io/chronicles-of-vaeltaja-in-search-of-the-great-wanderer-demo, and play it to find out the answers for three questions. You only have to answer to one, but answering to all three questions will improve your chances to win. If you have downloaded the demo already, be sure to update it and start a new game, as a small patch has been released just before this announcement to unlock content related to this competition. The patch also features some minor fixes which will be detailed in the patch notes, which are released separately.

One person can only win one Steam Key and a downloadable copy of the game, and there will be three winners altogether, one for each question.

1. After you complete the farmer's first task, you will eventually meet Hermin, a nervous guy who needs your help. It is easy to disappoint Hermin so that he will wander off and will never be seen again, but there is a way to make him share his problems with you. If you ever manage to help him with his real trouble, the quest doesn't end when you collect your reward from him. There are three slightly different end results, but any of them will qualify. What is the unfortunate fate of poor Hermin?

2. When you gain access into the Old Tower in either of the questlines, there will appear three Outlaw mobs in the Northern part of the Great Forest. You have a slight chance for a rare item drop from any of those Outlaws, but you can only get it once. Which item you can acquire from them?

3. If you manage to disappoint Hermin and he wanders off, another questline will open. Eventually it will lead you to the Old Tower. What are you asked to look for from the Old Tower?

When sending the answers, please remember to write 'Chronicles of Vaeltaja Competition' as subject. Send the answers with personal information (name, age and country) to Witchgrove Games' email address:
witchgrove.games(at)mail.com

The competition starts NOW and it ends in August 15th 2023. Winners will be contacted few days later, before announcing the results.

Your email address or personal details will NOT be used for marketing purposes and only Witchgrove Games' employees (which is just me) will get access to the provided information.

Good Luck and Have Fun!