Sep 6, 2023

Don Duality - Kenrald

Buongiorno, famiglia!

It's been a while since our last update, but rest assured, we've been hard at work! We've made significant changes to the gameplay, introduced quality-of-life features, and we're closing in on completing our September Fixes list.

But first of all, THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK!

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our players for the invaluable feedback you've shared about the game. Your input is instrumental in our ongoing efforts to enhance the gaming experience. Thank you for being an essential part of our community!

Please, share your opinion on this update. It is critical for us to hear your feedback and improve the game even further.

Let's dive into the major changes!

Economy changes

We've revamped the in-game economy to address the previous imbalance where players had great amounts of clean cash but struggled with black cash deficits, often leading to crippling debt in pre-IOU rework builds.

The tables have turned: now all salaries and upgrades are paid in clean cash, making it less available in the early game, while black cash is now primarily for laundering, as it should be. Some cards will still consume black cash, but you won't run out of it if you stay relatively active on the streets.

Of course, we can't show you all the balance changes in one GIF, you'll have to feel them in the game yourself.

We will keep on refining the game's balance, but we will need your opinion on these changes.

Bell indicator

We've introduced a special indicator above the deck, signaling when the next card you draw will feature a bell, eliminating the need to rely solely on luck.

Boredom meter

Addressing concerns about gangster behavior, we've added a visual indicator that shows when a gangster is getting bored, helping you better manage their actions.

Manual Battle Card activation

This feature was already integrated into the previous version. Now, you can click on a battle card to initiate combat instantly.

Client's Order Bubbles

You can now see what your clients want to order as they approach their table, giving you clearer insight into the impact of your upgrades.

Tutorial Update

We've revamped the tutorial to provide new players with a better understanding of how event cards are activated and how the debt card functions. Try it out yourself!

"Game Pause" Checkbox

We've included a new checkbox in the game settings called "App Pause." When disabled, the game won't pause when you switch to another window.

This is a big update and we are in dire need of feedback. Tell us what you think about it, because we won't stop refining the game until it is perfect. We do care about the game, and we care about your opinion on it.

See you in the future updates!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2247570/Don_Duality

About the game

Don Duality is a thrilling tycoon game that challenges players to manage a dual life of crime and entrepreneurship. Build a criminal empire by sending your gangsters to collect debts, rob banks, and steal valuables. Use the money earned to launder it in your legitimate business establishment. As a restaurant owner, hire and train staff, and upgrade the facilities to attract more customers.

However, balancing both lives won't be easy, as criminal activities will attract unwanted attention from law enforcement. Make strategic decisions and weigh the risks carefully as you navigate the dangerous world of organized crime and business. Can you handle the duality of running a successful restaurant and leading a criminal syndicate? Wishlist Don Duality and find out!

Join us on social media to stay updated on the latest news and events in Don Duality!

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Sep 6, 2023

Brawlhalla x TEKKEN, New Emojis, and Sticky Bomb!

Brawlhalla - whitesheepie

The King of Iron Fist Tournament and Grand Tournament collide! Devil Jin, Nina Williams, and Yoshimitsu are ready to brawl, featuring custom Signature FX, lock-in animations, and dedicated roster spots.

Brawlhalla x TEKKEN also brings a new Buddy Emote – TEKKEN Arcade Cabinet, a KO Effect featuring Panda, 6 Avatars and 5 Emoji Skins featuring more characters like Heihachi Mishima, King & Ling Xiaoyu!

You’ve heard of TEKKEN Ball… Get ready for TEKKEN Brawl! A new Map & Brawl of the Week where you get to play Volleybrawl inside the Mishima Dojo.

Also in Patch 7.12, we’ve added a new Gadget: Sticky Bomb to experimental queues! There’s also 5 new Emoji slots with new Store and Ranked Emoji Skins to celebrate, and we made some Bug Fixes & Game Improvements.

To catch the latest Brawlhalla news and content, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Discord, and TikTok!

GET READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE! Who will emerge victorious as The King of Iron Fist Tournament and Grand Tournament combine?

Epic Crossovers

Devil Jin

Mirrors the abilities of Zariel.
A powerful fighter with only ultimate power and destruction on his mind, Devil Jin is the result of Jin's mind and body being taken over by the Devil Gene.
Devil Jin will do whatever it takes to achieve victory. His Devil power allows him to blast his opponents with dark energy and fly with his black feathered wings.

Nina Williams

Mirrors the abilities of Lucien.
A master of the lethal arts and a professional killer known by the alias of "Silent Assassin,” Nina Williams was employed by the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Nina’s experience as an assassin gives her an edge in the Tournament. She’s a formidable opponent, whether she’s using Weapons or in hand-to-hand combat.

Yoshimitsu

Mirrors the abilities of Jiro.
The leader of a Robinhood-like guild of thieves known as the Manji Clan, Yoshimitsu has an artificial arm powered by a perpetual engine designed by Dr. Bosconovitch.
His mastery with a Sword and Scythe is on full display and he even has the ability to summon clones to boost his attacks.

Emote

TEKKEN Arcade Cabinet – GET READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE!

Bonus: Players can emote nearby to play too!
Some Legends may not be quite sure how to play, though…

KO Effect

Panda Slam – I'm so hungry. Bamboo dumplings would be so tasty right now!

Avatars

Heihachi Mishima – You think you’re tougher than me?
Kazuya Mishima – So it’s you…
Arcade Buttons – I got next.
Jin Kazama’s Fist – Feel the power coursing through you.
King – ANGER OF THE BEAST
Mokujin – Let's train!

Emojis

Kazuya Smart – So it's you… finally outsmarting your opponent!
Heihachi Thumbs Down – Not a fan of your off-stage fighting technique.
King Thumbs Up – That's how a true champion fights!
Kuma Wave – ROOAAARR (Hi!)
Xiaoyu Shrug – Oops, I won!

The Brawlhalla x TEKKEN Epic Crossover event also includes:

Free “1st dan” Title reward for logging in during the Event.
New Maps: Mishima Dojo (1v1) and TEKKEN Brawl (Volleybrawl)
New Splash art and UI Theme.
Original main menu, character select, and victory theme music.
Daily login bonus of 250 Gold to celebrate this Epic Crossover event!

Pair up and hit the Mishima Dojo for a 2v2 game of TEKKEN Brawl! Hit the ball to change it to your team's color. If the ball touches the opposing team's floor while it's your team's color, it'll do damage. Deplete their HP to score a point. Be careful: if the ball is still for too long or is hit four times without changing sides it'll reset. First to three points wins!

Volleybrawl Game Mode
2v2
Score the most points to win!

TEKKEN™ Series & ©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.

Introducing a new Gadget in Experimental: Sticky Bomb! This Gadget attaches to a player when thrown and detonates after a short time. See below for full details!

New Gadget: Sticky Bomb

Available to try with Test Features on, in the Experimental Queue, or can practice with it in Training mode!
When thrown, this Gadget attaches to a player and blinks in red for a short time until it detonates.
It can be passed to another player by running into them.

Please share all of your feedback with us on our socials like Twitter and Discord! For more information, visit http://brawlhalla.com/test-features.

We’ve added 5 new Emoji slots for you to express yourself before and after matches:

1 More

Wanna rematch?
Base Skin featuring Lin Fei!

Cry

Sad that a good teammate has to leave?
Base Skin featuring Kaya!

Heart

Show your appreciation for a teammate, or particularly good opponent.
Base Skin featuring Asuri!

Sweat

For close calls and long matches with 1 stock remaining.
Base Skin featuring Cassidy!

Lookin’ Good

For when your teammate or matchmade opponent has a great Skin or Colors.
Base Skin featuring Thea!

To celebrate we’ve also added alternate Emoji Skins to Mallhalla!

Yumiko Heart – The Heart of Aoku burns bright for you.

An animated Emoji!

Chel 1 More – Another round?

Ulgrim Cry – SCARLET, I'M SO GLAD HE LIKED TERRY!!!

Koji Sweat – Well done, Daizen-kun. You're strong. We get it. Geez…

Fait Lookin’ Good – Oh my stars!

Skyforged and Goldforged Skins for these Emojis are also available in the Ranked section of Malhalla. Featuring Munin, Dusk, Arcadia, Sir Roland, and Tezca!

This patch contains a round of balance adjustments based on the Summer Championship and Dreamhack Valencia, setting the stage for the upcoming Autumn Championship, and also for the World Championship at BCX.

Battle Boots

The Battle Boots Side Air now allows less backwards acceleration, as this attack could previously be too evasive on miss. We have also increased the Force of the Battle Boots Recovery to slightly bolster its relatively weak vertical knockout potential.

Battle Boots Side Air: Slightly decreased maximum allowed backwards acceleration.
Battle Boots Recovery: Increased Force from 50 Fixed/41 Variable to 60 Fixed/42 Variable.

Blasters

The Blasters Neutral Light and Side Light have received a minor reduction to their Damage, bringing the overall rate of damage closer in line with other similarly long-range weapons. The Side Light has also received an increase in Recover time on miss, granting a more reliable window to counter this attack. We have increased the Time to Hit and decreased the threat coverage of the Neutral Air to better match its range, defensive utility, and string potential. The Blasters Recovery now has less Force to better match the distance it carries opponents before the final shot.

Blasters Neutral Light: Decreased Damage from 17 to 15.
Blasters Side Light: Decreased Damage from 16 to 15; Increased total Recover time on miss from 12 Fixed/9 Variable to 14 Fixed/9 Variable.
Blasters Neutral Air: Decreased total threat coverage; Increased Time to Hit from 8 to 10.
Blasters Recovery: Decreased Force from 52 Fixed/43 Variable to 50 Fixed/41 Variable.

Bow

We have decreased the Hit Window of the Bow Side Air to decrease the timing leniency of this attack, given its general utility. The Recover time on hit and on miss have been increased to maintain the frame advantage on hit and total duration of this attack.

Bow Side Air: Decreased Hit Window from 5 to 4; Increased total Recover time on hit from 1 Fixed/22 Variable to 2 Fixed/22 Variable; Increased Recover time on miss from 5 Fixed/26 Variable to 6 Fixed/26 Variable.

Cannon

The Cannon Neutral Light now has greater Recover time on miss and less threat coverage on the second blast, granting wider opportunities to counter this attack. We have also decreased the size of the Down Air's grounded blast to open wider angles of approach against this attack.

Cannon Neutral Light: Increased total Recover time on miss from 13 Fixed/9 Variable to 15 Fixed/9 Variable; Decreased threat coverage of the second blast on hit.
Cannon Down Air: Decreased size and threat coverage of the grounded version.

Gauntlets

The Gauntlets Side Air now has less Stun, giving a shorter window to confirm team combos and wider opportunities to escape from follow-up attacks.

Gauntlets Side Air: Decreased Stun of the final hit from 20 to 18.

Hammer

The Hammer Neutral Light has received a decrease to its Recover time on miss to better match its relatively low range and threat coverage.

Hammer Neutral Light: Decreased total Recover time on miss from 6 Fixed/13 Variable to 4 Fixed/13 Variable.

Katar

We have increased the Katar Neutral Light's Recover time on miss to allow for a greater window to counter this attack. The Katar Neutral Air now allows less acceleration for more reliable counterattacks, as it could previously be too evasive on miss.

Katar Neutral Light: Increased total Recover time on miss from 7 Fixed/12 Variable to 9 Fixed/12 Variable.
Katar Neutral Air: Slightly decreased allowed acceleration during the attack; Moderately decreased allowed acceleration on miss.

Rocket Lance

The Rocket Lance Down Light now allows for a wider angle of Directional Influence for more reliable and varied escapes from team combos involving repeat use of this attack.

Rocket Lance Down Light: Greatly increased maximum allowed angle of Directional Influence when struck by a repeat instance of this attack in a single combo.

Scythe

The Scythe Neutral Air now has greater Recover time on miss and allows less acceleration on miss, as this attack could previously be too evasive.

Scythe Neutral Air: Increased total Recover time on miss from 7 Fixed/20 Variable to 9 Fixed/20 Variable; Decreased maximum allowed acceleration on miss.

Cross

We have decreased the Force of Cross' Side Blasters, Down Blasters, and Neutral Gauntlets to better match their short total durations and utility in team combos. Cross' Neutral Gauntlets has also received an increase in Minimum Charge time to better match its overall knockout potential.

Cross Side Blasters: Decreased Force from 45 Fixed/54 Variable to 45 Fixed/49 Variable.
Cross Down Blasters: Decreased Force from 65 Fixed/50 Variable to 60 Fixed/48 Variable.
Cross Neutral Gauntlets: Decreased Force from 60 Fixed/45 Variable to 55 Fixed/44 Variable; Increased Minimum Charge time from 13 to 15.

Gnash

Gnash's Side Hammer now has slightly greater Force to better match its stationary nature and relatively short range.

Gnash Side Hammer: Increased Force from 60 Fixed/56 Variable to 62 Fixed/57 Variable.

Magyar

Magyar's Down Hammer now has greater Force and Damage to better match its lengthy Time to Hit and highly telegraphed threat.

Magyar Down Hammer: Increased Force of the aerial strike from 60 Fixed/44 Variable to 60 Fixed/46 Variable; Increased Force of the ground splash from 65 Fixed/55 Variable to 65 Fixed/56 Variable; Increased Damage from 24 to 27.

Mirage

Mirage's Down Scythe now deals less Damage and has less threat coverage to offset it's high degree of utility. Mirage's Down Spear now has a greater Minimum Charge time and less Damage to better match its overall utility and threat coverage.

Mirage Down Scythe: Decreased Damage from 27 to 23; Decreased maximum threat coverage.
Mirage Down Spear: Increased Minimum Charge time from 9 to 11; Decreased Damage from 25 to 23.

Onyx

Onyx' Side Cannon now has greater Minimum Charge time, greater Recover time on miss, and less Force to better match its overall threat coverage and utility. Onyx' Neutral Gauntlets now has less Force to better match its overall threat coverage. We have decreased the Force of Onyx' Side Gauntlets to better match the distance it carries opponents, and some of that lost power has been shifted into the form of increased Damage. Onyx' Down Gauntlets now has greater Minimum Charge time to better match its priority and range.

Onyx Side Cannon: Increased Minimum Charge time from 12 to 14; Increased total Recover time on miss from 26 to 28; Decreased Force from 72 Fixed/53 Variable to 65 Fixed/50 Variable.
Onyx Neutral Gauntlets: Decreased Force from 75 Fixed/54 Variable to 65 Fixed/51 Variable.
Onyx Side Gauntlets: Decreased Force from 65 Fixed/54 Variable to 60 Fixed/50 Variable; Increased total Damage from 24 to 26.
Onyx Down Gauntlets: Increased Minimum Charge time from 10 to 12.

Red Raptor

Red Raptor's Down Battle Boots now has greater Recover time on miss to better match its sizable threat coverage and utility.

Red Raptor Down Boots: Increased total Recover time on miss for the ground version from 18 to 20; Increased total Recover time for the aerial version from 17 to 20.

Reno

We have increased the Damage and Force of Reno's Down Orb for greater reward that better match's its niche usage and tricky placement.

Reno Down Orb: Increased Force of the air version from 54 Fixed/42 Variable to 58 Fixed/46 Variable; Increased Force of the ground version from 65 Fixed/50 Variable to 65 Fixed/54 Variable; Increased Damage from 22 to 25; Normalized the knockback angle of the first frame to no longer bounce opponents into the ground.

Tezca

Tezca's Down Battle Boots now has less threat coverage towards the rear of the user, granting a wider escape path when trying to land behind or dodge through this Signature.

Tezca Down Boots: Slightly decreased threat coverage, mostly at the rear of the attack.

Ulgrim

Ulgrim's Down Axe now has greater Recover time to increase the risk of this wide and powerful attack.

Ulgrim Down Axe: Increased total Recover time from 24 to 26.

Wu Shang

Wu Shang's Down Gauntlets has received a reduction to its Damage, bringing it closer in line with other similar attacks. We have also slightly decreased the Force of Wu Shang's Side Spear to better match its quick total duration.

Wu Shang Down Gauntlets: Decreased total Damage from 27 to 24.
Wu Shang Side Spear: Decreased Force from 63 Fixed/50 Variable to 60 Fixed/49 Variable.

Gameplay

Players may now opt in to rematches in the "Strikeout 1v1" queues.
Adjusted initial Weapon spawns for team games on Halo and Small Terminus. On Halo, Weapons will now spawn lower and closer to the center of the Map. On Small Terminus, they spawn further out and higher on the Map.
Downward aerial attack consistency: Updated to include snap-up as well as the existing snap-down. When down is held for 4+ frames, downward aerial attacks will ignore platform/ledge cancels. This means you won’t accidentally Down Light when you meant to Down Air because a platform got in the way!
Out of Jumps Recovery: Removed from Test Features and the Controls window.
Lucien Neutral Blasters: Updated hurtboxing to better match the animation.
Lucien Side Blasters: Updated hurtboxing to behave more consistently when struck by multi-hit attacks.
Lucien Neutral Katar: Updated hurtboxing to better match the animation.
Lucien Side Katar: Modifed hurtboxing to behave more consistently when struck by multi-hit attacks.
Lucien Down Katar: Modifed hurtboxing to behave more consistently when struck by multi-hit attacks.
Onyx Down Gauntlets: Modifed hurtboxing to behave more consistently when struck by multi-hit attacks.

Art & Animation

Fist Bump Emote works in both directions!
Adjusted the initial Legend spawn animation to fix graphical issues with Legends and Skins with large torsos such as Jake and Tezca.
Sidekick layering – Sidekick and carried players are layered behind active players/active effects.

Localization

Fixed Brazilian Portuguese translation for "Light Attack" – now “Leve”.
Fixed Spanish translation for the Skyforged Wait Emoji’s store description – “When will my next target arrive...?” – now “¿Cuándo llegará mi próximo objetivo...?”

User Experience

Fixed a loophole where globally muted players could still talk to you in Custom lobbies.

Art & Animation

Fixed a visual bug in which animated Gauntlets equipped by Tezca didn't animate while charging his Signature attacks.
The Avatar Flag and Wall Tag Emotes now force the user to face right during the animation so that Avatars are always facing the correct direction.

Step into the ring with the Prizefighter Bundle! Revel in the chaos of Terminus and turn it into your own spectacle. This offer includes

Prizefighter Cross Skin
Cross Legend Unlock
The Heavyweights Gauntlets Weapon Skin

This promotion is available for all Amazon Prime members in supported regions to unlock for free. Claim your loot at http://brawlhalla.com/prime.

The free-to-play Legend rotation for this week features Koji, Caspian, Brynn, Munin, Arcadia, Thor, Lin Fei, Val, and Lord Vraxx.

Koji – Armed with his ancestral katana, Koji slices his way through the battlefield with Sword and Bow!
Caspian – Led by his showmanship and thirst for danger, he has come to Valhalla armed with Katars and Gauntlets to put on a show!
Brynn – Competing for the pure joy of it, this Valkyrie has seen many victories due to her skill with the Axe and Spear.
Munin – Rocking out to the sweet sounds of her Scythe and Bow, she’s ready to brawl in the Grand Tournament and finish her next Ravenqueen concert!
Arcadia – The humble beetle farmer turned Glorious Queen of the Faefolk. Arcadia, the great champion of the Fangwild, fights in the Grand Tournament with Orma - the singing Greatsword, her Eldritch Thorn Spear, and trusty beetle companion Domo.
Thor – Finally entering the ring, Thor, God of Thunder, makes his appearance in the Grand Tournament with his trusty Hammer, Mjölnir, and his powerful Orb.
Lin Fei – A defender of the innocent and teacher of the lost ways. She is a great teacher who has developed her own fighting style, the ‘Way of the Iron Dragon,’ which utilizes her Cannon,Katars and an ancestral dragon-spirit.
Val – An android assassin with terrifying strength and quicker-than-light cognition. With her Sword, Gauntlets, and extreme cunning, Val is a force to be reckoned with.
Lord Vraxx – This feared warlord dominates his opponents with Rocket Lance and Blasters. Now join the Zhaktari in kneeling before him or your planet will be destroyed!

Sep 6, 2023

Update 56 for cyubeVR is live! Much improved trees, huge optimizations and more!

cyubeVR - Stonebrick Studios

Hey everyone, Update 56 for cyubeVR is live!

This update adds significant VRAM optimizations (over 2 GB less VRAM usage!), RAM optimizations, significant GPU performance optimizations, a much better looking dark tree, new fancy shadows for trees, improved sky colors and a generally much improved sky, plus many more improvements, optimizations and bugfixes!

Let's first take a look at the long list of changes, and after that, let's get into more detail for the biggest changes! Btw, are you in the official cyubeVR Discord yet?

Significantly optimized the VRAM usage of the game, it now needs over 2 GB less VRAM!
Replaced the dark tree model with a better looking one
Added "voxel shadows" below trees, making the area below trees darker, without any performance impact
Significantly changed the color of the sky, it's now way more blue during daytime
Changed the color of light shafts from the sun, they are now less blue and a bit less strong
Significantly optimized RAM usage of the near-infinite view distance system. On large view distances, the game needs many GBs less RAM now
When launching the game, there now is a "Stonebrick Studios" logo first before you enter the main menu
Added new SSAO setting in the "Visuals" tab of the settings
Improved visuals of the tree trunks near the ground, they fade to a dark green at the bottom now, so the transition from grass to tree looks much smoother
When using LIV mixed reality, the hands are now invisible in the LIV view
Significant GPU performance optimizations, especially during night
Optimized the speed of loading the existing view distance when loading a world, it's significantly faster now
Significantly optimized GPU performance of foliage
Improved visuals of the sky, clouds look more interesting and more detailed now.
Improved foliage LOD transitions, they are less noticeable now
VoxelAPI mods like cyubePainter can now correctly remove grass and flowers
The strength of the snow on grass/flowers now matches the strength of the snow on ground around them much better, making it look much more correct
CPU performance optimization for tree spawning
Modified the furnace recipe video, it now zooms into the center to make it easier to see that there is a gap there
Until the player has opened the briefcase at least once, there is now a floating hint text above the left hand that explains how to open the briefcase
Slightly improved the grip position of the hand on the stick
When selecting a torch in the hand, the preview on the hand is now translucent instead of opaque, to make it more clear that it's just a preview for placing it
Fixed rainbow flowers not being visible
Adjusted texture streaming settings, it should no longer happen now that the bucket texture often looks blurry for half a second after enabling the bucket
Added a voice saying "Objective Completed" when succeeding an objective
After the "green arrow" animation finished playing in the objective UI on the currently succeeded objective, it now automatically moves forward one page to display the new objective
When starting a new world, the first objective visible is now the first "real" objective (Radial Menu) and not the always-succeeded objective to open the briefcase
The "Objectives" button in the briefcase UI is now called "Interactive Tutorial" until the first 20 objectives are done, to make it more clear to a new player that it makes sense to pay attention to it at the beginning of the game
Added new screenshots to community screenshot showcase in the main menu
Adjusted the text for the "Recolor torch" objective to explain how a torch can be recolored
Crafting a copper axe and copper shovel will also unlock the objective for stone axe and stone shovel now
Crafting an iron shovel will also unlock the objective for the stone shovel now
Fixed that the chunk mesh optimization code was disabled
Optimized the general save file format, slightly reducing sizes
At the bottom of the crafting recipe list, the game now tells you how much VRAM in total all the custom blocks use
Fixed block items sometimes incorrectly teleporting up while mining something like coal
Fixed that it was possible that when dying, and then respawning far away, the "dead body inventory" was not being saved
Decreased maximum burn time for all non-fuel block items (e.g. copper) from 25 minutes to 2.5 minutes
When it snows, the ambient sounds during day (birds, wind) are now only 5% the regular volume
Updated C++ compiler to latest version
Small improvement of aurora visuals
Slightly reduced the brightness of the grass side texture
After dying, the red "Respawning..." screen now stays active until the chunk around the respawn location is fully loaded
Fixed that dropping a ghost item from a radial menu slot onto a tool in a regular inventory slot created a ghost tool in the radial menu slot
Fixed that trees would often disappear incorrectly after cutting down more than ~4 trees
Fixed that it's possible to walk into/through the furnace and trees, both with smooth locomotion and teleport
Fixed that trees would sometimes stay on the lowest LOD for way too long when using very high view distances
Fixed crash when teleporting far away while standing close to a cactus
Fixed there being an incorrectly rendered grass below every floating recipe paper
Fixed recipe paper instantly disappearing when releasing it immediately after grabbing it
Fixed a possible crash when unloading a tree before it has become visible
Fixed that it was possible to stick an axe backwards into a tree
Fixed typo in objective (if -> is)
Fixed the main menu background sometimes looking too low res
Fixed that the "Torch Flickering" setting did not have any effect on block items
Some other small CPU and GPU optimizations
Fixed a possible crash

Significantly optimized the VRAM usage of the game, it now needs over 2 GB less VRAM!

This is a big optimization!

This is especially impactful because most players use a GPU with 8 GB VRAM and play the game on a Quest 2. Actually, Windows itself often uses ~2 GB VRAM and the Quest 2 requires much more VRAM than using a native SteamVR headset, due to requiring two compositors running at the same time (Oculus + SteamVR) which combined also easily use ~2 GB VRAM for themselves.
So that often just leaves ~4 GB that is left to be used by a game then, which means a 2 GB reduction in how much VRAM the game needs is a major improvement for many players!

The VRAM improvements are also almost independent of the ingame settings, even on the lowest possible settings the game will now use almost 2 GB less VRAM than before, without looking any worse.

Additionally, this update also significantly optimizes the RAM usage of the near-infinite view distance system. On large view distances (100 chunks or more), the game needs many GBs less RAM now!

Those VRAM and RAM improvements together look like this in the case of running the game at high settings (All settings mostly at Max, View Distance 100, Terrain Quality "Ultra"), in a large world, comparing the RAM and VRAM usage between Update 55 and Update 56:

VRAM: 8.6 GB -> 6.2 GB
RAM: 14.2 GB -> 12.6 GB

Significant improvements to the sky

This update significantly improves the visuals of the sky in multiple different ways.

First, it significantly changes the color of the sky, making it way more blue during daytime. You might think "just a color change?", but it's actually a really major difference to the "average color" you see in the game, since the sky often fills half your view! This change makes the whole game generally feel a bit more happy and uplifting.

Here you can see a Before / After comparison of the sky color:

Before:

After:

The detail of the clouds has also been much improved with this update: Before, the sky often looked a bit boring and blurry, but now, the clouds look way more detailed (not visible on the screenshots above, they both already have the better details active).

New Dark Tree!

The dark tree in the game has been replaced with a completely new, much more detailed model - the previous dark tree didn't quite fulfill the "everything should be super 8K" requirements any more that cyubeVR puts on all it's visuals ;) I think the old dark tree, which has been added to the game in 2016, really would have won the award for the most ugly object in the whole game, so it absolutely was time to replace it with a tree that looks like a proper 2023 high-resolution tree!

Here is a Before / After comparison of the old and new tree:

Update 55 Dark Tree:

Update 56 Dark Tree:

And here's one more Before / After comparison, from a bit further away from the tree:

Update 55 Dark Tree:

Update 56 Dark Tree:

And even though this new tree is way more detailed than the old one, it's actually faster to render than the old one as well! So it's a win-win in every possible way :)

There also is a technical reason for this change: The old tree heavily relied on tessellation to look acceptable, and Unreal Engine 5 actually removes the support for tessellation. So relying on tessellation for visuals is no longer an option once cyubeVR will be updated to Unreal Engine 5, so it's good to start now already with making sure everything looks great with no tessellation.

New shadows below trees

This update adds "voxel shadows" below trees, making the area below trees darker. These shadows are "free" on the GPU since they are calculated on the CPU as part of the chunk update, so they significantly improve the visuals of the game without requiring any more GPU performance! And the CPU-side is so well optimized that the time it takes to calculate them is completely insignficant.

Here you can see a before/after comparison of how the game looked like before, and how it looks like now with the new shadows!

Before:

After:

Independently from the new shadows, the grounding of the trees has also been improved by fading them to the grass color near the ground, which is also visible on the screenshots above already, but here's a comparison where the new shadows are active in both cases and only the improved grounding is compared to better illustrate that (Thanks Mika for making this GIF):

Significant GPU performance optimizations

There generally are many GPU performance optimizations in this update, so you should see cyubeVR run as smoothly and nicely as never before, while also looking better than ever :)

Currently, there is a big focus on optimizations because optimizations are also very beneficial for cyubeVR to run ideally on PSVR2, which will be a great platform for the game: It's the first time that a non-PC platform exists that supports VR and can actually run a very beautiful game like cyubeVR. And cyubeVR should be one of the best looking VR games on PSVR2 as well, just like it is on PC, so it's important that it's as optimized as possible so that the graphics can be set as high as possible!

Of course, PC's with RTX 4090s are still far superior in the performance and visuals they can reach, but not everyone wants to buy such overpriced GPUs, so for many players, the PSVR2 will likely be an ideal platform to play cyubeVR on. A PSVR2 release is planned to happen in 2023! After the PSVR2 release is done, the focus of development will shift from optimizations to more gameplay-oriented features again then.

But here's an interesting statistic that shows that adding more optimizations will always remain important on PC as well: Even now, in the years 2023, over 5.5 years after cyubeVR originally was released on Steam, while the min specs for running the game never significantly increased in all those years, the most often picked reason why people refund cyubeVR on Steam, even if it's overall just a small percentage, is still... that their PC can't run the game with good enough performance. So, let's see how much this big optimization update helps to improve that statistic :)

New screenshots in the community screenshot showcase!

These new screenshots of very cool builds have been added to the community screenshot showcase in the main menu of the game:

Observation Tower | Built by: ChibiArcher

Church | Built by: ChibiArcher

Pixel Art | Built by: ChibiArcher

Village | Built by: Backofen

Castle Area | Built by: Talsma & Community World

New video!

Today is not just the release of Update 56, but also the release of a new video on the official Stonebrick Studios YouTube channel! A video showcasing the amazing reactions from streamers playing cyubeVR. Here's a separate announcement post about the video:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/619500/view/3650784879032982145

Thanks very much to all the Patreon supporters!

A big thanks to everyone for supporting the development of cyubeVR on Patreon! I'm working full-time on cyubeVR, and it's often quite hard to make a living purely off the Steam sales of the game, so any Patreon Supporter is really worth a lot for the continued development of the game. Thanks so much to all the Patreon Supporters (list sorted by total lifetime donation, highest first):

ChibiArcher, Arados, Ethernoctis, @B4nH4mm3r on Discord, Quill, SkgBlaze, Lucanes, ErrorNull, Lynx, Sceptrex, Trevor Berninger, Tom Hörberg, KroyVR, Bhima, Plantmaster, Altair, Al Raw, David R., David O, Albertbz, Eti the Spirit, Shanya / Sabrina, MightyDuck, Saltshine, WillyVR, VenturePopTV, Austin Flores, DiamondHunter_, HeyMika, TallOnTwo, Tiddlez, gunair, Michael Ballard, M1kk3l, WarChi1d, Alphie, Jackerino, Dark Slaughter, Yasha, Talsma, Curzek, Lucas van Leiden, mazzawoollza, wherr, RelativelyQuantum, Netshaman, Dave Pearson, Bucket Codes, Lordoldmanrets, Volpe, Daniel Crawford, texhnobees, TinyMrMan (MB), __mt, AnubisXtreme, Adrian Sawn, Saul2000, joerkig, MurphChops, Connor A, Algiz, nqeron, Solid Hernando, SingingFluffyUK

Patreon rewards are being mentioned in the list of Patreon supporters in the main menu, getting a special colored name in the official cyubeVR discord, and physical items like a sticker, mug, or T-Shirt with cyubeVR designs.

More awesome new custom blocks

As usual, thanks very much to our great beta testers in the official cyubeVR discord who tested this update as part of 25 separate beta builds! If you want to test new features earlier when they come out in the beta branch, make sure to join the discord and take a look at the #beta-build-patch-notes and #beta-build-discussion channel!

That's all for today! If you like the game, don't forget to tell other people about it and write a review on Steam if you haven't done that already, even if it's simply "good game". Writing a positive review is the easiest way you can support the game because indie devs like me are very dependent on the Steam Algorithm recommending the game to new people to be able to afford to keep working on it!

Thanks for caring about the game and as usual, make sure to report all issues you see and give me as much feedback as possible in the official forums or the official discord server, join it before its full ;) We're over 3800 people there already, come and join us! If you don't like something about the game, please tell me there and I'll try to improve it! I'm available to chat with anyone in Discord :)

There's also the official cyubeVR subreddit on Reddit, if you're active on Reddit, make sure to subscribe to it and maybe post some great screenshots there!

You can also follow cyubeVR on X/Twitter or follow cyubeVR on Bluesky (a new Twitter alternative).

And lastly, don't forget there's an official roadmap with voting features.

Looking forward to hearing what you think about the new update :)

Cheers!