Thank you for playing Exploration Update and all the feedback so far! We appreciate it a lot!

We have deployed a new patch v0.135.3 on public_testing branch on Steam! Feel free to try it out and we will switch it to default branch if no new problems occur, meanwhile we are working on the next one!




Important changes:

• added water & oxygen bottles in Tech Tree and to print
  
• added water & oxygen bottles loot in outposts
  
• changed repair kit place in the tech tree
  
• improved tech tree points notifications
  
• increased tools durability

Bugfixes:

• fixed issue with loading saves from ESC menu
  
• fixed blocked key interaction after picking up the small/medium circuit board
  
• fixed game resetting music volume settings after press "Apply" button
  
• fixed issue with moving Rover after load
  
• fixed issue with loading saves on Epic and GOG
  
• fixed sounds in tutorials
  
• fixed Small Rock Crusher animation to use the lever
  
• fixed Intro base wrong text mission after load
  
• fixed quad jumping when you enter it, while it is on a truck trailer
  
• fixed wrong default settings for cursor transparency
  
• fixed issue with invisible wall between airlock and some buildings
  
• fixed: when you drive into the trailer, it will connect to the front
  
• fixed: ECU shows wrong solar panel size
  
• small improvements in Spanish and Portuguese translation
  
• fixed wrong UI color while unlocking Main HQ in the tech tree

During Early Access we aim to address your suggestions as fast as possible. If you encounter any bugs or you have more thoughts about update, please email us to eracolonisthelp@gmail.com this will help to track down the issues faster. See the full changelog of all the previous updates here.

Yours,
Occupy Mars Team

The definitive version of pandora has arrived! with full update of the multiplayer system and correction of all previous bugs. The single player mode with the fixing of the collisions and correction of the towers, This final version is ready to play have fun.

Hey everybody, Ramon(AlbinoDev) here!

I received all your feedback and decided to implement a lot of proposed improvements to the game which I'll list below (more details will come in the update itself):

- Ball Movement

It's very clear that most of you didn't enjoyed the fact that the ball moves in 45º, so I'm currently working on changing how this works.

- Power-Ups

Power-ups are on a good place right now, but I received a feel suggestions on making them stack on top of each other, like being able to be Expanded and have the Guns at the same time.
So power-ups will stack now, I'm also looking into other possibilities, but it's too soon to confirm anything else.

- Boss Fights

Some bosses are very difficult to beat, but not in a good way. Right now it feels like it annoys people more than actually making them feel challenged. So Bosses will be balanced out. (Especially the second one)

I'm also working on a lot of bug fixes and improvements in general, things that you'll not be able to actually see, but will be important for the future of the game.

Before I go, I would like to say sorry for the long "hiatus". I'm currently solo in this project and don't have a lot of time left between family and work, but I haven't forgot you or this game. I made this at the start of my carrer (which was all over the place) and made a lot os mistakes. But with your support and feedback I'll be able to fix those and improve this game to be the way you deserve.

I'm planning on releasing the next update for the later half of September 2023. So please keep tunned.

Thank you and see you soon!

AlbinoDev.

Hello, Hunters!

When we first started developing Vampire Hunters, we had a different idea from our previous games. For Vampire Hunters, we wanted to develop it with our community and be opened to change whatever was necessary to create an amazing game. We wanted to explore Early Access to the fullest.

Fast forward to today, and I'm happy to see this idea being executed!

Our first impressions from Vampire Hunter's release was that a lot of people got hooked to the whole idea of the game, but we needed to make huge improvements.

Putting our heads together (with the immense help of a ton of feedback and suggestions we got) we realized that these improves will indeed make the game a lot better, but also change it significantly - of course, keeping the main essence that got a lot of people hooked.


Gamecraft's team putting their heads together


What we are doing right now, is working to release the first big batch of changes to make Vampire Hunters super awesome. This will come in the form of our first Major Update.

There are other huge changes/improvements that are already in our pipeline but let's focus on this first Major Update.

We don't want to spoil too much because the best way to experience these improvements is by playing Vampire Hunters.

So bear with us for a little longer because I'm sure you will love it!

Internal development.

@@ Weapon engineering changes

@ Crustacean
Exoskeleton-arm bouncing duration 0.05 seconds -> 0.07 seconds (+17.8% -> +25%)

@ Energy controller
“Explosive Bullet Launcher - Land Mine” enhancement adds the effect of increasing spider mine duration.



@@ Reinforcement changes

@ Added special reinforcement “Mental-Stimulants”
Stimulant skills can be used to reduce regeneration and restore desensitization tolerance and stun tolerance.



@@ Tactical Circuit Changes

@ Added “Predicting timing of action” and “Balance recovery calculation” to the initial circuit.
Circuit material possession at initial level 20: 42 -> 56
Unification of initial circuits provided differently for each type

@ "Display of damage" brain volume required: 10 -> 5
//Cost reduction considering the lack of additional effects



@@ Gene changes

@ Eerie aura
Stun, Dissensitization, and Blindness Tolerance Additional proportional recovery amount added by 0.4%
Stun tolerance damage and consumption added
Damage 7% -> 10%
Consumption 4% -> 5%
Stats penalty -4% added

@ Bone specialty and End of bone specialty
Added 10% reduction in received control state time

@ Pointed launcher
Other molecules fixed recovery +10 HP -35 -> Other molecules fixed recovery +10 Other molecules +5% HP -3%

@ Explosive launcher
Other molecules proportional recovery +2% stun tolerance -35 -> Other molecules proportional recovery +2% Energy +30 Other molecules +30 Stun tolerance -40 Life -40

@ Sniper
Delay increase 10% -> 12.5%
Pointed bullet firing damage +7% added

@ Shotgunner
Knockback collision damage 8% -> 5%
Knockback force added by 5%



@@ AI and difficulty changes

@ Added difficulty change function according to AI
Difficulty level is divided into 4 levels: “Adaptable”, “Simple”, “Normal”, and “Ever-changing”.
Default difficulty: “Adaptable”
Delete AI changes depending on the round

@ immediately triggered pattern timing interval 1.75 seconds -> 1.51 seconds

@ AI first-delay reduction due to increase in rounds has been removed

@ Changed engineering enhancement values for AI units
Number of rounds x 4 x Level coefficient -> Number of rounds x 3



@@ Sub content changes

@ Changed the enemy level coefficient increase per round for all sub-contents to 0.05
Contents excluding “Hundred per one” 0.1 -> 0.05
"Hundred per one" 0.06 -> 0.05

@ Save function provided every 5 rounds for each sub-content
Start with a saved round the next time you enter

@ Added BGM to each sub-content and changed the appearance of the “Activator Battle” map

@ Hundred per one
Number of enemies appearing per round: 25 -> 20
Reward: 0.02% -> 0.025% per kill

@ Boss Rush
Time limit 1 minute -> 10 minutes
Limited to only 1st round units appearing.
Add boss rush 2 featuring units from round 2

@ Duel of honor
Increased delay reduction at the end of Blade Storm's Storm Sword Dance

@ TOP5
Added Electric Controller to the list of units that appear.
Some changes to the initial tactical circuit



@@ Balance-related changes

@ Defense per level for drones except “Explosive drone” 5 -> 3

@ Engineering changes for pointed launcher
Rotating bullet -> Cross bullet
// Changed to non-penetrating for balance with infantry, which is a non-penetrating projectile unit.



@@ UI, display, and convenience changes

@ Added auto save function

@ The Toxic antibody description indicates the amount of infection time reduction.

@ Agonia strategy hint text change

@ Inventory can be turned off with the Esc key

@ All build icons display resource reserves and costs

@ Add summary for each keyword

@ Change game over screen

@ Added skill box UI with skill key written on it
Display skill information when cursor over skill box

@ A brief explanation is displayed when you place the cursor on the main resource bar.

@ Guide text is displayed until the I key is pressed for the first time.

@ When leaving the training center or sub-ordeal center, a message is displayed indicating that build changes will be reset.

@ Display monster individual information in genetic information text

@ Added mission box so mission text is always visible



@@ Bug fix

@ Fixed an issue where skill use and UI display were not processed until the map was moved after loading the save file.

@ Fixed an issue where the screen brightness was dark when entering the sub-ordeal from the underground waterway.

@ Fixed an issue where a tunnel spider would execute the following pattern after burrowing and before rising.

@ Fixed an issue where first-delay and after-delay bars had 1 to 2 pixels remaining.



@@ Other changes

@ With the addition of special enhancement “Mental-Stimulants, Agonia level coefficient: 3 -> 3.5

@ Number of saturated battlefields just before the giant turtle changed: 5 -> 3
Now, even members who fall on a saturated battlefield will be taken to the next battlefield.

Great news!

After a great turnout for the Closed Beta, we decided to offer a free trial TO ALL this weekend September 8-10 - so tell your friends and challenge them!

If you didn't get access to the Closed Beta, you'll be able to automatically join in on the fun this time around. If you're looking for someone to match up with, join our Discord of 3000+ members!

(For those that have the beta build in their Steam library already, you'll be able to use that same build to access the free trial)

We've already made a few changes thanks to the precious feedback gathered from the Closed Beta. You can take a look at our Steam forums to see what we've added and what we are currently working on. We're extremely keen on taking feedback directly from the community and making changes to the game with that feedback (changes that fit with our indie reality). We're excited to show you what we've been working on and we hope this gives you a sense of how competitive this game can be.

If you haven't done so already, adding our game to your Steam wishlist helps us A LOT. You can do so by clicking on the wishlist button right below the planned release date:


Also, after discussing amongst ourselves and asking our community, we've officially set a price point for our game at launch: 19.99$ USD with a 15% discount at launch.

If you want to join in on upcoming community events such as the Free Trial tournament, get in our Discord and join in on the fun! We've got some prizes to give ;)

See you this weekend!

- The Checkmate Showdown Team

Release notes:

• Fixed an issue where users are unable to close the clocks window during Dad's notepad puzzle.

Note: The download is the complete game.

Hi everyone I fixeda couple of minor bugs and some graphical changes

* A problem in the intro screen
* The humans now appear more evil, they looked to friendly and clean before
* Some small graphic changes for Boney
* A problem reading books

The recent focus for Instruments of Destruction development has been on the new singleplayer campaign and the PAX West demo in particular. When I started to work on the missions for the demo, I started to write voice lines for the intros and endings to each mission, and I was not happy. The writing was fine, but it felt like it wasn't a particularly interesting theme (testing experimental vehicles) nor was there a strong purpose to you destroying everything on these small islands.

I went back to brainstorming ideas for the overall theme/story of the campaign. There were a couple ideas about having the buildings being "infected" with some sort of mutated plants or locust-like pest that you were trying to eradicate, or the buildings being powered by some over-ambitious and out-of-control geothermal technology that would trigger earthquakes/volcanos/etc if the buildings weren't destroyed ASAP. But none of those ideas seemed as simple or visually obvious as the Blast Corps plot: In that game, there's a nuclear weapons disposal truck that's automated, malfunctioning, and heading straight towards its destination, regardless of what's in the way. [Blast Corps is a classic Nintendo 64 game created by Rare in the late 90s.]

That plot is a bit to explain, but once you're in game, it's simple: Don't let the big red truck hit buildings or it all goes boom. Given that Instruments of Destruction takes place on islands, a slow-moving exploding truck wouldn't work, but a giant monster from the sea might work. The problem was I didn't think I could make a Godzilla-like beast that looked good, animated nicely, and could traverse a variety of terrain well. But after I realized a giant octopus might work, I tried prototyping it over the next couple days as a big sphere with lots of ropes attached. Everything went pretty smoothly, and within a week I had the Kraken in the game.


The exact mechanics of how the Kraken might change a little, but it currently works like this: The Kraken wants to destroy all the large structures on the islands. As it does so, it takes damage. That damage makes it Rage meter go up, and if the meter fills to the top, it'll do a big smash attack that destroys everything, and will make the island sink. The islands don't *actually* sink at the moment, but I'll be working on that this afternoon.

So you're basically trying to clear the way for the Kraken so it doesn't take damage. You can't kill the Kraken, you can only make it mad, so attacking it is a good way to end a mission quickly. On the bright side, the blast wave looks really nice. There's a lot of work still to do with the Kraken and the UI/story/etc around it, but it was working well enough for the PAX Demo.

A Report On PAX West 2023

So I got the Kraken working less than a week before PAX, and was furiously putting together some missions and refining stuff as much as possible up until PAX started. PAX runs for 4 days, and I spent a lot of time each night refining the UI/game/missions/etc based on how things went. We had 3 stations playing the game, and there were frequently small crowds of people waiting to play, especially on Saturday and the busier parts of Friday and Sunday.

Not everything went smoothly, and there was a bug with destruction getting harder over time that meant I had to restart the game every 30 minutes or so. I thought fixed the bug Friday evening, but it was actually one of 2 bugs that were having a similar effect. The bigger part I couldn't figure out at PAX, though I fixed it earlier today. I ended up treating PAX as a super-intense playtest, as well as a deadline that I could use for gaining some momentum on the singleplayer campaign. In those regards it was a very successful event.

In terms of value, I'd say spending $5,000+ (got the booth for free, but plane tickets, rooms, equipment, and other stuff add up) is not the most cost-efficient way to get playtesting, but it was quite time-efficient. The game got over 2,000 wishlists from PAX, and sales were also up last week, though that definitely had more to do with the game being on sale than PAX. The wishlists alone mean the cost was probably worth it, and the game is definitely heading in a better direction because of PAX.

PAX Demo Playable Now (in a separate branch)

Since Monday's PAX demo build (0.350e), I fixed the annoying destruction bug (I think), replaced the 3rd missions' vehicle with a more-fun variation, and tweaked various vehicle controls. I also made it play better with keyboard, though it's still a gamepad-focused demo. The build is now available in a separate branch on Steam (the one labeled 'pax demo'). It uses a separate save file.

The PAX Demo build doesn't show everything that will be in the main campaign, but it's an indication of the direction the campaign will take. It's also definitely not final. The closest to "final" you'll see in the demo are the first 2 missions (the first mission is likely to have the island/vehicle refined slightly). Every other mission will be revised and likely changed where it appears in the campaign.

Some stuff NOT in the demo: Each island will have a STORY or TRAINING mission with a 3-STAR scoring system, and a BONUS mission with a score/time/place-based system (no bonus missions in the demo). For all mission types, you are given a pre-built vehicle designed for that mission, and that vehicle is unlocked by beating the mission (every Story/Training mission vehicle is unique, but may also appear in a bonus mission). Getting 3-stars lets you use any vehicle on that mission.

Vehicle building (and Sandbox mode) will always be in the game, but the campaign will not focus on it, and it's not in the demo. There will be *something* that teaches the player how to use the vehicle building system, though I'm not yet sure if that'll be its own smaller campaign or a bunch of optional missions in the main campaign. As mentioned previously the vehicle building UI will be undergoing a complete revision (with gamepad support added). I'll definitely be playtesting the vehicle building system at some point to help refine it, but it'll be a few months at least.

So that's about it for now. The campaign will remain the focus for a while, and after I get the PAX demo integrated in to the main branch (and the camera system redone), the number of missions will be expanded pretty quickly. There will likely be an update to the PAX Demo soon to add the "island sinking" part of the Kraken game over sequence, but beyond that it will probably be a couple weeks 'til the integration update.