Hi!

Starting today, the OutOfTheBit Team is at the WASDxIGN event in London (UK) to present Full Void. If you're around, come talk to us, meet the developers and artists and grab a badge and a sticker to show your love for the game!

To celebrate and mark the event, Full Void will be on discount!

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok for updates on the 3-days event.

Twitter and Instagram: @outofthebit
TikTok: @outofthebitgames

-Actually fixed thermometer
-Fixed version stuff
-Fixed leaderboard

The 2023 Halo World Championship event is almost here to bring Year 2 of HCS to a climactic conclusion with a $1,000,000 prize pool – save the date on your calendars for October 13-15.



With the return of the Community Stage, the cosplay contest, partnered team booth activations, and some special guest appearances, let’s get you a debrief on everything happening that’s going to make this the biggest year of HCS yet!

We’ll be updating this blog with new information over the coming weeks as new announcements are made regarding special guests, panels, and other elements of the event.

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The Halo World Championship is not just the culmination of a year of HCS, but a celebration of the Halo community where there is something for every type of Halo fan to enjoy. From campaign to competitive, and everything in-between, the Halo World Championship is an event for everyone that provides epic entertainment against the backdrop of thrilling competition.

In the hallowed halls of the Seattle Convention Center, you’ll be able to meet with Halo developers, see jaw-dropping cosplays of characters and creatures from the Halo universe, and get hands-on with previews of the upcoming content in Season 5 of Halo Infinite. The Community Stage panels promise another round of conversation and chaos with a slew of special guests.

The event itself plays host to the final showdown between the best professional competitive Halo teams from across the world – a climactic clash of titans with a prize pool of $1,000,000 on the line.

But the competition doesn’t end there, as we’ve got some additional prize-winning opportunities at the event.

• 4v4 Prize Pool: $1,000,000
  
• FFA Prize Pool: $25,000
  
• Cosplay Contest: $5,000
  
• MCC/H5/Infinite Side Tournaments: $5,000

Like we had at Ft. Worth, the Halo World Championship will also have some “side tournaments” in Halo: MCC, Halo 5, and Halo Infinite that attendees can sign up for on-site for free. Further details on this will be announced soon.

For full details on the tournament breakdown, check out our 2023 Halo World Championship announcement blog from earlier this year.

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• Venue: Seattle Convention Center
  
• Address: The Arch, Halls DEF, 705 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW!

The 3-day VIP package ($250) has officially SOLD OUT, but you can still secure your 3-day General Admission ticket ($75) to make sure you don’t miss the biggest Halo event of the year! Full details on tickets can be found in the link above.

Single-day tickets will be sold at the door to make sure you can join in the fun as well!


Support your favorite teams and use any of the codes below at checkout to receive a 10% discount on your tickets – you save 10%, the teams receive 10%.

• CLOUD9
  
• COMPLEXITY
  
• FAZE
  
• NAVI
  
• OPTIC
  
• SENTINELS
  
• SPACESTATION
  
• QUADRANT

Additional discount codes at checkout include:

• MILITARY DISCOUNT: MLT for 10% off
  
• SENIOR DISCOUNT: SNR for 10% off

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We’ve got a bunch of special guests joining us for the Halo World Championship this year, from actors to authors and beyond.


Last year, the Halo World Championship played host to Steve Downes (the voice of Master Chief) and Jen Taylor (Cortana, Dr. Halsey, The Weapon), and we’re thrilled to announce that this dynamic duo will be back again this year to meet with fans and take part in Community Stage panels. Jen and Steve will be on-site Friday and Saturday.


With over three hundred roles across film, stage, television, and other media, you perhaps know him best as the Arbiter. Keith David is coming to the Halo World Championship this year, marking the first time ever that the Master Chief, Cortana, and the Arbiter will be in the same room—it’s going to be an unforgettable and historic time on the Community Stage this year! Keith will be on-site Friday and Saturday.




Author of seven Halo novels, including the story of the Master Chief and Blue Team, Veta Lopis and her ONI Ferret team, and most recently the return of the Arbiter and Spartan Vale in Halo: Outcasts, Troy Denning will be joining us to talk about all things Halo fiction.


A game development veteran and the “father” of the Master Chief during his time working on Halo at Bungie from 2001-2010, Marcus Lehto will be at the 2023 Halo World Championship to meet with fans and join us on the Community Stage for a discussion about the earliest days of Halo.

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Similar to last year, attendees can expect a variety of fun, engaging panels and activities – from Community Playdates and deep dives into Season 5 of Halo Infinite, to memorable moments with special guests.

Here’s what you can look forward to:


Members of the HaloWC audience join 343 Industries’ Unyshek and Ron to go hands-on with new Halo Infinite Season 5 content and earn the coveted Unicorn of Ice rewards.


Join members of the Forge Team for an early look at Season 5 as they build unique PvE experiences and showcase Halo Infinite’s upcoming Forge AI Toolkit live on the Community Stage.


Discover the depths of the Digsite team’s efforts to restore cutting room floor content from Halo’s ancient past with special guest Marcus Lehto.


Join Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, and Keith David for a fireside chat about their storied careers, funny moments, and fond Halo memories.


HaloWC audience members help fill in the blanks of iconic Halo quotes, which are then read in-character by Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, and Keith David.


Iconic community members UberNick, Alyek, OathxX, and HiddenXperia share their journey and provide insights for creating successful video content about Halo.


Halo lore returns to HaloWC in a new edition of Canon Fodder LIVE, featuring fun fiction discussion and a chat with special guest Troy Denning.




Join members of the 343 Industries team to learn more about what’s coming with Halo Infinite Season 5: Reckoning when it launches on October 17.


HaloWC audience members have the opportunity to join Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, and Keith David as fan-favorite scenes are performed from across the series.


Legendary Forgers reveal the secrets of their best Halo creations while sharing insights on how to build maps and modes that will leave a lasting impression on the community.


The Halo World Championship isn’t the only clash-of-titans competition closing out Year 2 of HCS. Legendary voice actors, authors, 343 developers, and audience members will meet for the ultimate battle of Halo-themed Pictionary!


Troy Denning has written over half-a-dozen Halo novels, covering the adventures of Blue Team, Veta Lopis and the Ferrets, and most recently the return of the Arbiter and Spartan Vale in Halo: Outcasts. Join us for a fireside chat with the acclaimed author, featuring community guests!


Halo’s legendary voice actors answer YOUR questions live!

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The Cosplay Contest returns to the Halo World Championship, with a $5,000 reward up for grabs!

The Halo community boasts some of the most incredible cosplayers in the galaxy, bringing the Halo universe life with jaw-dropping dedication and detail. (Last year, WexyLex’s Halo: Reach Skirmisher was the star of the show, even performing Cortana’s emotional farewell scene alongside Jen Taylor!)

This year, contestants will compete in two initial heats of 12 participants (for a total of 24 participants) on Friday and Saturday and will be judged on four categories: Execution, Creativity, Complexity, and Accuracy. The three contestants with the top scores in each heat will move on to the final, held on Sunday, on the HCS Main Stage.

The Cosplay Contest has its own unique ticket – the Cosplay Contest Pass, which you can get here.

The Cosplay Contest Pass ($75) includes general access to the event for all three days and enables your participation in the Cosplay Contest. Cosplayers should pick which of the initial Heat 01 days work best for them, and each day is capped at 12 participants on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Note that should you be invited to the Cosplay Contest Finals, you MUST be available to participate on Sunday, October 15 (time is TBD).

If you already purchased a General Admission or VIP Pass, you will be refunded the value of the General Admission Pass within the next 24-48 hours after purchasing a Cosplay Pass.

In order to facilitate communication, contestants will be asked to join the official Halo Discord server.

Registration: If you're interested in participating, please make a submission to HaloWC 2023 Cosplay Contest Form

• Once capacity for each day is reached, you make make your interest to particpate known by being added to the waitlist (same form)
  
• You'll be contacted if a spot is available
  
• No purchase necessary

Schedule (2-day event)

• Friday - Day 1 Qualifiers (up to 12 participants)
  
• Saturday - Day 2 Qualifiers (12 participants)
  
• Top 3 scores as determined by the judges from both qualifiers will be invited to the finals taking place Saturday evening

Rules

HaloWC 2023 Cosplay Contest Rules

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Stop by the Halo Gear booth with your fireteam and bring a piece of the 2023 Halo World Championship back home with you! The shop will have event exclusives, new Halo gear and more all weekend.

And if you’re not able to make it, keep an eye out on the Official Gear Shop as a limited selection will also be made available, and be sure to follow @HaloGear for all the latest.


Gamers have the power to help, and the Haloo community has always stepped up to support their fellow spartan. Learn more about this incredible foundation at their booth and learn what you can do to make a positive impact.


Channel your inner warrior at the booth hosted by the Marines. Back for their second year, there will be activities and challenges for you to test your mettle and see if you have what it takes to lead the pack.


Looking to get a little competitive? Several of the partnered teams will have booths onsite with activations and merch to get you excited, kitted out, and ready to cheer them on to victory.


The Halo World Championship is all about making memories with friends and fans, so grab your fireteam and take a snap to as part of this Halo celebration.

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It isn’t a Halo event unless you can jump in and play with friends! Be sure to grab a seat and get hands-on with the playable experiences on-site all weekend.

We’re looking to bring Season 5 of Halo Infinite to the event ahead of its launch on October 17, and here are some of the great opportunities that await fans looking to get ahead.

• Season 5 with Bandit EVO Starts
  
• 5K Prize Pool
  
• Pre-Register: Halo Championship Series 2023

• CTF on Forbidden
  
• Slayer on Forbidden
  
• Extraction on Prism

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If you’re looking to experience the Halo World Championship and its myriad offerings from the comfort of your home, then be sure to tune in to Twitch and YouTube.

Follow and subscribe to each account to ensure you’re not missing any of the action – whether that action is the final series of showdowns leading to the grand finale that will crown the championship team of 2023, or the offerings of the Community Stage.


Check out the official HCS channels on both YouTube and Twitch.
NOTE: For even more details about the tournament action, sure to check out the HCS blog!




Check out the official Halo YouTube and the Twitch Gaming Channel.

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The countdown to the 2023 Halo World Championship is on, so be sure to secure your tickets today and get ready for the most exciting Halo event of the year!

Gather your fireteam, it’s time for a Halo celebration for the ages!

LFG Closing

Regarding recent news about Unity and their new Runtime pricing.

Star Valor and I will be fine. Considering last year revenue (Star Valor launch), I was going to change to Unity 'Pro' subscription anyway... So I won't meet the revenue threshold (1M USD in 12 months) and won't have to pay the new fees. That's my optimistic and practical view of the situation, as Unity has been changing in all sorts of obscure ways, to say the least. I won't go into other shady details, like their install detection or whatever, as it's just confusing right now... The worst part is the uncertainty in what they are doing next and how will that affect me and other devs. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Overall I'm pretty sad about it... It was with Unity that I changed my life and was able to live my game dev dream. I love the engine itself, but I most likely won't be using it for my next projects and I won't recommend it anymore. For the next game patch, I also removed the Unity logo, which was in the splash screen as a homage since Early Access, even though it wasn't mandatory for the most part.

I won't change the engine for Star Valor, though, as it's a 7 years project and it would be a huge set back, not to mention expensive... So the game development will not be affected. I will probably be making less money for having to pay the ‘Pro’ subscription where the 'Plus' (which is now gone) would've been enough, but I'll deliver everything I promised (including DLCs) as I have the resources for it, thanks to the game sales and all my supporters: collaborators, donators and patrons. If it ever comes to a point where I can't keep the game on Unity, I'll just have to change engines anyway and move on, I guess.

So overall... Star Valor and I will be fine, and so will your space adventures.
- Laious

Hello Everyone!

It's been awhile since the last update post, so I thought I'd throw together a quick progress report on the upcoming v0.1.4 update set to release on experimental sometime in the next week or so.

Also, just to quickly preface this post - I am aware that the Discord link in-game is not working. We recently reached level 3 on Discord, and were able to setup a custom URL. However, I was unaware this would terminate the previous link we were using, and so it unfortunately no longer works.

This will be fixed in v0.1.4, but for the time being you can only access our Discord using the new custom link. Please share it around for those that aren't aware: https://discord.gg/Vectorio


With that out of the way, let's get into v0.1.4!




The main change in v0.1.4 is how power functions, and what buildings consume power. This rework fundamentally changes the way you need to think about power & heat as resources.

For those that don't know, in v0.1.4 all logistics buildings (drones, collectors, labs, etc.) will no longer consume power, and ONLY produce heat. Defenses on the other hand (turrets, walls, shields, etc.) will no longer produce heat, and ONLY consume power. Ideally, this is meant to enable more strategic decision making on your part, making heat and power bounce off each other much more naturally instead of power feeling pointless & tedious to try and manage.

In correlation to this change, since the total amount of available power has been drastically reduced, turrets are being MAJORLY buffed. This is meant to make each turret feel much, MUCH more impactful on your bases overall defensive capability. You'll require much much fewer turrets, and each turret will be balanced in a way where they can naturally bounce off each other to enable more strategic decision making with how you choose to setup turrets, instead of say defaulting to a wall of miniguns.

For a deeper look into this subject, check out the power rework post below!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/3681182908908723466


One of the first things I noticed after beginning the power rework, was that the UI was lacking critical information that would actually help the player maker more informed decisions regarding power / heat balancing. The first change I made was to the inventory, which now much more clearly displays what type of resource a building uses, and the cost associated with that building.

Here's an example of what power consuming buildings look like in the inventory panel...



And an example of what heat producing buildings look like...



I also changed where the power & heat counters are located, moving them to the top of the screen to free up space on the hotbar for multi-hotbar support. In the future, mode switching will be moved down onto the hotbar, and a "Region Overview" button will be added to the top near power & heat.



Finally, I redesigned the entity info panel, which is now laid out in a much MUCH neater way. The model preview has a little animation to it, and now supports custom model ID's & animations. When cosmetics are brought into the game, this is where you'll be able to select & view them from.




The way you produce power has also changed. Gone are the days of being able to produce free power at no cost to you - now, all generators will require some form of resource, whether that's directly from a node (like the essence reactor seen below), or from a resource input via a drone.



In the future, additional generators will be added with more unique pros vs. cons to them, letting you more strategically choose how you want to generate power.



Now here's where we come to the main issue I've noticed with the power rework - resource abundance. Before, the resource abundance was typically obfuscated by the fact you were constantly redesigning defensive structures, meaning you would typically notice a resource drain whenever constructing.

However, as you now no longer need to produce as many defenses, it has critically highlighted how bad the issue with resource abundance is. Unless you're actively researching or expanding, there is practically no resource drains in the game. That has slightly changed now with generators consuming resources, but only a handful of resources are actually used towards power, meaning there's still plenty that have almost no real use-case to them beyond build costs & research costs.

This is where the new planned levels & upgrades system comes into play.


The current plan for upgrades is as follows. Please note this is all very much subject to change, and is actually the topic of this weeks discussion podcast with our community over on Discord.

• Upgrades will work similarly to research, in that you can have one active upgrade set at a time
  
• The upgrade will consume resources using a "Upgrade Bench", again similar to research
  
• Each building will have 5 unique upgrade levels to start, with more in the future
  
• With each level, you get to select from 3 different upgrades unique to the building being ugpraded
  
• Upgrade improves the effectiveness of a building, but in turn increases its heat & power
  
• Heat and power increase apply retroactively, meaning you need to be careful when upgrading
  
• Carelessly upgrading can result in power outages or heat level increases
  
• Upgrades are permanent, but you can completely reset a building back to level 1 at anytime
  
• In the future, upgrades will unlock engineering slots, which alter the way a building functions
  
• Ability to upgrade is unlocked after essence, with the new "Upgrade Bench" building

As you can see, this is quite a large system that adds a ton of depth to the strategic gameplay options you have. Upgrades are not a mindless task, but rather something you need to be mindful of and plan ahead with. Careless upgrading can result in your base hitting limits it's not yet built for.

Here is a little example of what this would look like. You have a choice between three upgrades, each with it's own benefits, however each one effects the overall cost to run the building. In-game, this would also display the overall change to your bases power or heat if applied, showing if it would result in a heat level increase, or power outage.


This system is very much needed to solve to the resource abundance problem, and so I am doing what I can to at least get it partially in a testing state for v0.1.4 - however, this is something that requires a lot of thinking in order to balance properly, and so there's a chance it may not be ready in time.

In the case it isn't ready on-time, other methods will be used to temporarily solve the resource abundance problem will be used, such as temporarily higher build and late-game research costs. But, the end goal is to move resource sinks towards upgrades and engineering, with upgrades being an additional motive to expand and gain new resources, and engineering being a huge resource sink you need to scale your base up to obtain. (as it'll have ongoing costs associated with it)



Finally, many people have been requesting expansions to the OST. Our lovely producer Drew and I are well aware of this, and we've both agreed that the OST would be expanded over the course of the games early-access lifespan, including unique theme tracks for each region.

In v0.1.4 however, two additional tracks are being added to the main playlist. Here's a little sneak peek at them below, for you music lovers are out there!


A super spacey track that fits in perfectly with the rest of the soundtrack. Inspired by Com Truise, this track brings a new unique touch to the Vectorio OST!



A very chill ambient track that is meant to counteract the more futuristic / space themed tracks. This one was heavily inspired by one of the newer tracks in the early-access Steam game, Satisfactory!





While not directly tied to v0.1.4, we recently had a survey on our Discord server that asked the community what features they'd like to see next. You can see a screenshot of the survey below.



With this survey in mind, certain feature priorities are being shifted around, here's a list of the changes being made so far, which will be reflected in an updated roadmap coming out sometime after v0.1.4 is released and stable on the live branch.

1. Multiplayer has had a boost in priority, moving it into the release view for v0.2
   
2. RTS mechanics (unit control) will be partially implemented in v0.2, but not fully
   
3. Logistics v2 will be split into multiple segments, part of which will be in v0.2
   
4. Armory (cosmetics) & other gamemodes have been lowered in priority.

These changes are mainly to ensure that there are better ways to attack enemy bases and setup supply chains in v0.2, but will not be a fully inclusive update to either feature, as multiplayer will be receiving more of my attention going into that update!


Please let me know! I love hearing from the community and what they think about certain changes or features, and it helps me to make more informed decisions on specific features.

New Discord Link: https://discord.gg/Vectorio

This Friday we'll be hosting another episode of our community discussions podcast, which is where we pick a specific topic and let the community directly give their feedback on it. This weeks podcast will be on the upcoming levels system, so if you want to give your ideas or feedback on the subject, this is a great chance to do so! Like previous episodes, this will be uploaded on YouTube afterwards.

I can't wait to see everyone get their hands on v0.1.4! Lots of new exciting changes are coming in it that will start to pave the path towards Phantom Plains (v0.2), the first major early-access update.

Thanks for reading,
~ Ben

The game "Paws on the Sand: Lionessy Sins" will be available in 12 languages. So I hope you can play as Lionessy with the best comfort :3
Here's a list of languages:

1. English
   
2. Russian
   
3. German
   
4. Chinese
   
5. Spanish
   
6. Portuguese
   
7. French
   
8. Italian
   
9. Polish
   
10. Japanese
    
11. Korean
    
12. Turkish

1. EN Paws on the Sand: Lionessies' Sins
   
2. RU Лапы на Песке: Грехи Львичек
   
3. DE Pfoten im Sand: Sünden der Löwinlein
   
4. ZH 沙滩上的爪印：可爱的母狮们的罪
   
5. ES Patas en la Arena: Pecados de Leoncitas
   
6. PT Patas na Areia: Pecados de Leoncinhas
   
7. FR Pattes dans le Sable: Péchés de Lionnettes
   
8. IT Zampe sulla Sabbia: Peccati di Leonessine
   
9. PL Łapy na Piasku: Grzechy Lwiczek
   
10. JA 砂の上の肉球：かわいい雌獅子たちの罪
    
11. KO 모래 위의 발자국：귀여운 암사자들의 죄
    
12. TR Kum Üzerinde Patiler: Dişi Aslancıkların Günahları

Hello everybody.

The multiplayer playtest starts now!

This is a bit of a surprise, but we're trying to keep things relatively quiet because this is the very first external multiplayer playtest.

We're gearing up to hopefully participate in the upcoming Steam Next Fest so we want to make sure we're in good shape.

The previous playtest was an entirely unnetworked game. This version is almost the same as before, but now entirely playable online. There is no new content in this version and contains the same two stages as the last playtest.

We have plenty of future content we've been working on, but this playtest we're focused on getting these two stages polished for the Next Fest Demo, so that's where we are focusing at this time.

We have been testing multiplayer for a long time time, since well before the combat playtest. However we can only catch so many edge cases so we do expect some issues. There will be bugs. You may lose your progress, it may be frustrating. But we hope not.

If you find yourself frustrated by early testing issues, you might want to wait for Next Fest.

The content at this time is essentially the same, but now with network and local multiplayer. We're keeping our tests focused on the multiplayer experience so new content will not be in the playtest.

We are aiming for one week. However we may run longer if we see value in running it longer. The longer we run the test the longer we're focused on feedback so we want to get things resolved pretty quickly.

Everybody in the last playtest will be able to play immediately and we will be letting in new signups as we progress through the week.

Go ahead. But please note that this is very much a test and we do expect issues. We're testing our networking code here, there will be issues.

While we are in closed beta, it's going to be a bit harder to find people to play with.

You can look for people that want to play in the official discord here: https://klei.gg/discord

And you can also use the Looking for Group Steam forum here. https://steamcommunity.com/app/2451740/discussions/1/

F8 is the very best way. But you can also report bugs over here. And you can participate on our forums here. You can also report stuff on the steam forums, we gather feedback from everywhere, but our focus will be on F8 reports.

Hello, some of you may or may not know that we were building our game, Top Gnome in Unity. Due to the recent monetization changes they have made, we have made the hard decision to port our game over to Godot. We don't yet know the extent of how this will affect our studio. This change has cost us time and trust, because of this we don't feel that it is financially stable to continue our business with Unity.
We hope that this doesn't push back our timeline for release and we'll keep everyone updated going forward.

- added a new map to the pvp WIP progress section "wp_spelunk"!
- fixed an oversight to the build process regarding EAC / game launching