Alert! Alert! We have an emergency message incoming! 🚨🚨🚨

We have intercepted a message from the devs that speaks of an event of cataclysmic proportions.
And it calls all brave explorers to heed this and put your foot on the pedal.
What is this event, you ask? You'd be glad because Captain Hardcore is hosting a giveaway, allowing five lucky winners to win sexy prizes. 🎉



I repeat, Captain Hardcore is organizing a giveaway, and five lucky winners will be able to earn rewards and prizes that include the ability to be the highest tier on Patreon and of course $25 Steam gift card (USD currency) or a Meta store game (up to $25).

All you have to do is click here and submit your entry completely for free! And, of course, follow our socials and Discord servers for additional entries to hammer home your chances of winning because you can always be lucky.

And as always,
For Science! 🚀

Ugh, lighting. The bane of my development existence. That and environments got a lot of attention over the last few weeks. It's been a wild ride, and, at times, I was questioning why I decided to take the plunge into UE.


 
This is always a struggle. Daz Studio, my old rendering software, has its own limitations with a lot of noise at low lighting conditions. For Unreal Engine, you've got multiple options for lighting your scene, apart from the "physical" lights themselves. Lumen, ray tracing, etc. are all options. I've gone the Lumen route, but it was this past month where I decided that I needed to get my lighting fixed up. Early previews were alright, but not looking as nice as things did before. These are the times I really love how quickly Unreal Engine can spit out renders, and this was never more needed then since I had to do a lot of testing to get the right balance.
 
I've now got different lighting sets that I just need to align and position with my character(s) that I want to light. There are dark and dramatic Rembrandt, high key, low key, loop, and many more options. This allows me to quickly setup the lighting I need for a scene and just make small adjustments to get it correct. I also corrected some render settings in UE that were causing abnormally dark shadows.
 
And this is another area where UE shines. Not only do I have these presets, but I've set it up with blueprints so that I can control most of the light settings from a single list of options. I can even key these settings in my animation timeline to change them. Cannot get better than that for easy setup and adjustments.
 
Is my lighting perfect? Nope, but it meets my personal tastes and consistently makes the characters look good. That's all I need.


 
Taking my old environments into Unreal Engine proved to be very problematic, especially since I'm using Lumen lighting. Lumen hates flat planes, which is how most walls, floors, and ceilings are done in Daz Studio (and in a lot of other software too). If you use flat planes, Lumen exhibits color bleed. Let's say you have a red wall. Light in 3D and the natural world bounces around. So it will pick up some of that red and project it into your scene. That isn't a problem. But with color bleed, that effect is exaggerated significantly. You'll get characters glowing red in that scenario. Not good.
 
What I ended up doing for Chapter 11, since I don't need all the environments I've used so far, is use native Unreal Engine environments for nearly everything. A lot of these look a lot closer to how I wanted the game to look anyway (but lacked the assets and, at the time, a lot of the knowledge to customize). The few that are not UE native, got a nice little trip over to Blender to extrude these flat planes and create depth. That fixed those color bleed issues, and didn't affect performance at all.
 
More environment work is ahead after Chapter 11, but I've got a good system, and I'm very pleased with the new results.
 
Other than that, it has been character fixes, creating a few new characters I need for Chapter 11, and getting comfortable with the animation system in Unreal Engine. There are a number of things that are now complete (or close enough that only minor adjustments will be needed). Renders and animation work for Chapter 11 are ongoing now, and the final big hurdle is one that is only going to be solved with experience: high quality, fluid animations.
 
We've got an estimated release date of this fall for Chapter 11. Sorry I cannot get more specific than that, but I'm working in new territory every day, and I've already had more than enough challenges to solve. The upshot of all this is that individual renders, instead of taking around 10-20 minutes each to render out like they did before (that does not include setup time), now take around a second. Animations, which could easily take a day in Daz for something around 10 seconds, are just a few minutes now. This production improvement is one of the big reasons I've invested in this months long process to make this change. Future things like variation in clothing, hairstyle, etc. for characters, pregnancy options, as well as just additional scenes, will now be relatively easy to implement.
 
We are just getting started on this, and I'm excited to continue to improve things for all of you as I get more comfortable in Unreal Engine. A final reminder that the game engine itself is not switching to Unreal Engine. If your PC (or Mac) could run To Be A King before, it can run it after. All of the rendering is still taking place on my machine and packaged as still images or video sequences (for the animations). Your saves will work just fine too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I better get back to work.

Of all the good things on God's green earth, we bet you would never guess what we have in store for you in your wildest dreams! And yes, this is some majestic news you can spread far and wide and get your friends in town! I know you're thinking hard about this news, so I won't keep you waiting any longer. 🤔

For the big reveal, we are delighted to announce that we are hosting a giveaway that allows five lucky winners to be awarded with a Steam key to enjoy the game's first volume!

You heard that right: A copy of To Be A King - Volume 1 will be given to 5 Lucky winners in this giveaway! 🔥



All you have to do is click here and let us know of your entry. Also, you can maximize your chances of winning by following our pages and socials to ensure you have the highest probability of clutching your spot in the final list of winners!

And as always, thanks for the support ❤️👑

ITRoy

Hello friends! Every Friday 17:30 UTC/GMT we hold a “Let’s play together” competition. During next 24 hours everyone is welcome to try and score the best time in a preselected level. Join our Discord server and keep Discord running while playing — your results will be automatically published in the #lets-play-together channel. You need to get 5 stars to qualify.

Glittering prizes include:
1) Top 3 winners receive one random card each. Collect 18 locomotive cards and advance to next set of 8 all new cards! Complete that second set and enter a final tier of 12 rare cards! Assemble all cards from all tiers and receive a special prize. Easy!
2) Every player registered by our Discord bot has a chance to get a card. The number of cards depends on the number of participants: one additional card for every 10 train connoisseurs on the list. More players means more prizes!
2.5) One non-Champion from the top 10 gets a Challenger Card - introduced along with 12 new loco cards from Myths And Rails and Editor's Bulletin!



Visit our Discord server (#lets-play-together channel) to learn more.

A level we are playing this week is
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3016772354

Now open your game - the link is right there in the main menu.

Good luck everyone!

- Added a setting that will reduce the sliding of the protagonist when turned on;
- Standard difficulty level became harder (more changes to come);
- Adjustments to aim assist;
- Fixed the appearance of some Bestiary entries;
- Fixed teleport spawning on Sentinels which prevented the player from activating them;
- Fixed weapon switching on gamepads;
- Fixed the radius of the Fire Grenade which was lower than intended;
- Small level adjustments in and around the Hospital area;
- Increased the voice-over volume (option to change the volume level will be added in the coming patches);
- Added another compass tutorial.

Fixed 3 level

- Added 9 new enemy types: Accursed Ghast, Ancient Ghast, Putrid Restless Soldier (2H Axe, 2H Mace, and Halberd variants), Wraith Monk, Wraith Cleric, Wraith Squire, Wraith Sergeant, Wraith Templar, and Wraith Commander.
- Added 5 high level minibosses. Undead: Ritualist, Revenant Commander and Wraithbinder. Proselytes: Brander and Juggernaut.
- Added 12 new enemy abilities.
- Added paper maps. Using them creates an outline of a specified area on your global map. Paper maps can be purchased from elders and governors (additional maps become available after you reach Benevolence with their settlement) or found as random loot in Mannshire and Brynn dungeons.
- Added a new artifact: Barbados the Lame’s Atlas of Aldor. Just like other artifacts, it has a chance to appear in distant dungeons.
- Added a Statistics tab (can be accessed through the Journal menu).
- Refactored the passive abilities exclusive to the player character, which made it possible to assign them to enemies.
- Fully reworked the enemies’ Will to Fight mechanic. The new version basically works as a gauge that can be affected one way or another through a series of random checks. And once a creature’s Will to Fight drops to 0%, it is guaranteed to start fleeing.

The list of conditions and situations that can potentially affect a creature’s Will to Fight:

• The creature is high on Health (gradually restores the creature’s Will to Fight depending on its current amount of Health).
  
• The opponent is low on Health.
  
• The opponent is Injured, Bleeding, in Pain, or affected by certain other negative effects.
  
• There’s an ally within Vision (increases Will to Fight depending on the ally’s level).
  
• The creature is low on Health.
  
• There’s a significant level difference between the creature and the opponent.
  
• The level of the character’s equipment is much higher than the creature’s level.
  
• The creature is Injured, Bleeding, in Pain, or affected by certain other negative effects.
  
• The creature loses Health due to the opponent’s attacks and abilities.
  
• Allies receive Injuries within Vision.
  
• Allies start fleeing within Vision.
  
• Allies die within Vision (the impact depends on an ally’s level and whether their death was a result of a critical strike or miracle-casted spell.

- Rebalanced most enemies to maintain their power on roughly the same level as it had been before they gained access to additional passive abilities.
- Rebalanced the Experience gain from killing most enemy types - high level enemies (and minibosses in particular) will now yield significantly more XP.
- Changed or updated the following enemy abilities: “Curse of Decay” (former “Curse”), “Curse of Agony” (former “Curse of Weakness”), “Desecration” (former “Bolt of Darkness”), “Unholy Blessing”, “Lesser Ritual of Resurrection” (former “Resurrection”), “Blasphemous Sigil” (former “Sigil of Darkness”), “Spectral Haunting” (former “Dispersal”), “Soul Sacrifice”, “Grave Chill”, “Sacrificial Blood”, “Mark of the Feast”, “Draining Sigil” (former “Vampiric Rune”), “Blood Scent”, “Neverending Torment”, “Taste for Flesh”, “Swarm”, “Loud Barking”.
- Changed the special effect of Unholy Damage: [chance to apply “Curse” > Health Replenishment].
- Changed the special effect of Sacred Damage [Health Replenishment > Energy Replenishment].
Added a new Reputation perk, “Specialty Goods”, which makes additional paper maps available for sale.
- “Deadly Tail”: swapped the chance to apply “Sacrificial Blood” with a chance to apply “Mark of the Feast”.
- “Net Throw”, “Bone Throw”, “Web Spit”, “Blood Spit” now use the missile mechanic, giving them a chance to miss their target.
- Made it possible to block and dodge Girruds’ skills.
- Updated the Stealing Mechanic: NPCs should no longer be able to detect you through walls.
- The Casket with St Wald’s Relics now grants immunity to an additional effect, “Curse of Agony”.


- Rewrote enemy abilities’ hovers in accordance with the Equipment Update III standards. Added a dynamic display of scaleable stats to enemy abilities’ hovers (their relevant Accuracy and Damage Dealt, for example).
- You’ll now be able to see enemies’ Will to Fight while inspecting them.
- When inspecting enemies, their abilities will be displayed in a predetermined order rather than randomly.
- The Character Menu and Journal tabs will now retain the position of their sliders when reopened.
- Improved the Global Map optimization.


- Fixed the bug causing different enemy types to use the same basic Health Restoration value.
- Fixed some AoEs having dead zones.
- Fixed the inconsistent display of certain AoEs and ability trajectories for different character’s positions in relation to the target.
- Fixed the bug preventing negative Dodge Chance from increasing the Accuracy of incoming attacks.
- Fixed the bug which allowed Pain to exceed Pain Limit.
- Fixed the Anmarrak being able to use “Wide Swipe” while its Tentacle Hand is actively participating in combat.
- Fixed Harpies and some other enemies using incorrect animations after recovering from “Petrification”.
- Fixed “Lion Leap” granting the Manticore an unlisted Dodge Chance bonus.
- Fixed the incorrect interaction between the dual weapons’ Damage and “Residual Charge”.
- Fixed Immobilization, Stun, and other similar effects not being able to interrupt Charge skills.
- Fixed the incorrect description of one of the Brynn Reputation perks, “Better Gear”.
- Fixed “Cleaving Strike” granting an incorrect bonus to Counter Chance.
- Fixed the potential softlock caused by missed “Distracting Shot”.
- Fixed “Onslaught” having its Cooldown reduced by an incorrect number of turns after failing to knock the target back.
- Fixed “Mutilating Lunge” having its Cooldown reduced by an incorrect number of turns after failing to cause an Injury.
- Fixed the buggy interaction between “Courage” and counters.
- Fixed “From the Shadows” applying its debuff even after missing the target.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of “Endurance Training” bonuses.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of “Startling Volley” effects.
- Fixed the combination of “Mighty Kick” and “Push the Falling” not prolonging some of the debuffs it’s supposed to.
- Fixed the Codex of the Triple Hand Order granting its bonuses even when the Undead or Proselytes die without the player’s direct participation.
- Fixed the disappearance of certain effect animations after moving to another location.
- Fixed the “Knockback” pop-up hint.
- New sprites for some items.
- New visuals for some Necromancy-themed abilities.

Hey there,

the playtest of Viking Chef: Feast Frenzy is out now! Come in and test it out.

The last days were very stressful to get the Playtest running, but here it is.
Explore the first recipes from simple salads over cooked fish and delicious stews!
At the start of the playtest there is only the forest scenario available, later in this test there will come the village scenario too.

The playtest is available until 29th of September!
Please give me as much feedback as possible, you can write it down in the Steam Community or on my Discord server!

Have fun and play it with your friends!

I'm very curious about your feedback!

I wish you the best,
Devlex

1. The upgraded gen art model has been added to the Revog Theatre movies posters and movie screen.

2. Enhanced the cyberpunk models in “Club Metaverse.”

3. As we continue prepare the character for the Character Skills Upgrade (CSU) we have now added stamina effect for melee combat action.

4. General bugs and fixes.

Here's a preview of some changes for The 1.0 Update happening on Monday September 25.

New Captain: The 1.0

• The hacker known as "The 1.0" can seize control of enemy vessels and turn them into allies, while her ship's cloaking technology allows her to vanish from enemy radar with unparalleled stealth.
  
• New Weapon: Hacking Beam

Select Captain Screen

• Captains have been split into two rows, featuring larger icons to highlight them & making it easier to navigate

General

• Display Photosensitivity Warning when the game is loading
  
• Reduced number of Super Magnets required to unlock Super Magnet Outpost