☕🍰 Welcome to a world where coffee is an art and customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal! ☕👩‍🍳

Prepare to step into the charming café of Varista, the VR coffee-making and customer-serving sensation created by the talented solo developer at PomDev! ☕🎮

Join us for an exclusive live stream during Steam Next Fest, where we'll transport you straight into the heart of this cozy café simulator. In this limited yet tantalizing demo, you'll experience the thrill of taking orders, crafting delicious coffees, and serving up mouthwatering pastries to your virtual patrons.

While we may be confined to one scene, it's packed with the essence of café life, from the cheerful chitchat of customers to delightful ambient music as you serve your customers. You'll get a taste of what it's like to be the ultimate barista in the making!

And stay tuned, as we'll be sharing some pro tips, tricks, and showcasing how even in this small slice of Varista, every decision you make counts. It's all about serving that perfect cup of coffee and creating a delightful customer experience.

So, set your virtual stage and prep those orders, because in Varista, every moment matters. See you at the Varista live stream, where the coffee's hot, and the fun's brewing! ☕🍰🎉 #VaristaCafe #PomDevBrews #SteamNextFest

There is still a lot of work to be done! You can see Shinehill's future plans on the roadmap:


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1889890/Shinehill/

If you have any questions, suggestions, or issues with the game, please write to us at peachbitegamestudio@gmail.com .

• Launcher update for Galactic Civilizations IV.

Hello everyone!
Now that September is over, we are finally able to focus on the brand new update for Gamble Tower: 1.1!

As promised, here is a sneak peek of some of the features that are going to be present in this new content patch, please remember that everything you see is still a big W.I.P!

We got a developer page! Please follow us! :)
https://store.steampowered.com/dev/indiebuild


If you want frequent updates, we have several secondary platforms where we post Gamble Tower content that you may wish to follow or join, based on frequency:

• Discord (very frequent updates)
  
• Twitch (used to be daily, now it's usually weekly)
  
• YouTube (monthly-ish...?)
  
• X? (our good friend Erik handles this platform)

After showing the concept art for the bank NPC for so long, I am glad to announce that he is finally in-game and almost fully implemented! and he is fully 3D! (Because why not?)

Stebanks MacZee shows up both at the Inn and at the Tower after you pay the ludicrous amount of 10.000 gold coins to Inn Master. (you need to be at Gambler Level 5)

He provides different services in the different locations he appears, so we'll showcase them separately.

During expeditions, MacZee has a chance to appear as an intersection NPC on the left side of the Gambler, just like Stebax and Inn Master.


He'll provide you with two different banking services when you talk to him:


If you are overflowing with cash, you can conveniently exchange your Inn's gold coins for Gambling Chips by using the withdrawal service.

This allows you to get up to 500 GC per encounter with MacZee. (It is a 2:1 exchange rate though, so you will pay 1000 coins per 500 GC.)

If you are not feeling that rich or if you have A LOT of chips and are afraid of dying early, you can safely deposit as many GC you want and instantly convert them into Inn Gold Coins for posterior usage.

It is a fair exchange rate of 1:1 in this case, no fees for this service.


You may safely store a limited amount of orbs inside Stebanks, be it to make your pouch lighter or to retrieve them later.


The fee is a bit hefty (100 GC per storage and retrieval) but items persist in between expeditions! So nothing will stop you from storing and retrieving orbs that would otherwise be VERY difficult to get early on or from completely different clans than what you are playing!


MacZee may or may not sell/give some random bank artifacts like Credit Cards and Lottery Tickets.
We are still testing those and seeing if they work well.
I cannot say for sure if they are going to be present in the final version or not, so take this "sneak peek" with a big grain of salt.


At the Inn, MacZee allows you to upgrade its multitude of banking services and customize your loadout!


I am not going to spoil all the upgrades you can acquire from him, but some allow a pretty cool degree of customization, I think. (keep in mind, it is expensive)

You can use the orbs that you stored during expeditions to customize your pets and character loadouts permanently.


The way it works, you use orbs stored on the safe to replace up to a certain amount of orbs (upgradeable) from your character's loadout.
Each orb customized makes the price go up though, so be prepared to open up your wallet.


This allows you to create pretty strong and wild loadouts! Believe me, you are going to need all the help you can find when facing all the new challenges this patch adds.


(little game: find the NPC that wasn't there before)

I only covered some of the Bank features in this post, but the patch is planned to add an array of new things for you to unlock, find, fight and do.


(We didn't even got to show the new artifacts yet...)

I think that for this sneak peek we already have shown a good amount of content, so expect more to be shown on the upcoming weeks.

I sometimes get a biiiit afraid of showing too much as well, because we never know when we have to cut corners :p
(Don't wanna hype anyone up unnecessarily)

Everything I've shown so far is confirmed to be there though. (Except bank artifacts, we'll see.)

Anyway, I hope you liked this sneak peek!
Thank you so much for all your support and see you soon!

From the first concept drawings, sometimes sketched on a small piece of paper, to the final released product, indie games are definitely true masterpieces that need to be showcased. Usually supported by vibrant, engaging music and powerful messages, indie games are unquestionably defining a new generation of art.

Continue reading on our community page 🙂

fix - Ukrainian correctly used Ukrainian font.
fix - Music could start at a very low volume.
feat - Selection during battle is based on a polygon collider itself buit of the rendered sprite.

Still some more questions to go. Ready your peepers and go!

Q: Will there be workshop support?
A: No planned mod support for now. We’ll let you know.

Q: Can you make changes to the in-game world?
A: Yes, there are a couple of ways you can influence the world and change the environment.

Q: Are there any random events/encounters?
A: Yes, there will be some, but not to a big extent.

Q: Can you have a pet?
A: Yes, you can have pets in the hideouts that give you bonuses.

Q: Is there a moral aspect in DDS2?
A: There is a reputation system with the game world communities and a stress system.

Q: Are there any future plans for DLC/events/updates (other than patches) for DDS2?
A: No specific plans that we can share for now, but possibly.

Q: Is there a way to make a soundtrack for DDS2?
A: We’ve just posted a music challenge so take a look there! And if you miss that chance, go to our Discord Server music chat and ask K. Pietras, the composer, himself!



Q: Any chance you can add me into the game with the name "Darth Trace"? haha
A: General Kenobi?

Q: Are there Easter Eggs in DDS2?
A: Wouldn’t be an Easter Egg if we spill the beans now, no?

Q How many saves/profiles can you have in DDS2?
A: The cartel progress runs on one base save + backups, you can create as many cartel instances (playthroughs) as you’d like.

Q: Is there a jail system?
A: Yes, but we don’t want to spoil more details for now :)

Q: Making money means being able to spend money. Is there anything new in DDS2 like buying luxury goods or prostitution that I can enjoy my daily life with the money I earn?
A: Oh yes, there are a lot more ways to spend money in the game than in the original, up to some very expensive ones.

Q: Can I not only sell drugs but also produce raw materials and build production lines?
A: Yes, the lab system is much more complex and improved.

Q: Will there be a new skill or technology tree?
A: There will be unlockable perks for both playable characters as well as your cartel.

Q: Will I have black market stores or shops to sell drugs?
A: There will be some wholesale clients on the island, yes.

Q: Is there an economic system with a supply-demand relationship?
A: Yes, demand for specific drugs can rise or drop as a consequence of your actions and it affects your sales and client base.

Q: Can we bribe the government or even puppet a government?
A: Maybe not an entire government, but there are bribery options and some political aspects to the game, yes.

Q: In the later stages of the game, will I still be a peddler running errands and making deliveries, or can I become the boss of a drug empire?
A: You can become a boss, there is a much more complex progression than in the original.

Q: Will there be hunger and thirst?
A: No, there are some environmental threats but no survival mechanism.



Q: Will you be able to find weed strains all over the map and breed them to create new strains?
A: There are a few strains available and you grow them from scratch, yes.

Q: Are the things you learn in the game applicable to real life (asking for a friend)?
A: The production systems are researched and inspired by real-life processes, but are not precise and are simplified to the game needs.

Q: Will we be able to set prices for a specific mix? Will dealers sometimes try to avoid paying?
A: You decide on what drug or mix you distribute for the specific drug demand and have some control over the pricing.

Q: Can we get a client who is a scientist (imagine) and somehow allow us to have easier access to the necessary supplies? Or maybe even sell us out?
A: Not clients, but there are world NPCs that either sell us items, byproducts and equipment or can help us unlock tech and knowledge to improve.

Q: We know we will have co-op, but will we be able to create separate empires on the same map?
A: No, the game is based on cooperative PvE, all players share one cartel.

Q: How many different types of Drugs will there be?
A: We will inform you of the full list closer to the release. We are still considering some changes.

There you have it! Brains still working after that influx of info?

• Launcher update for Galactic Civilizations IV.

Update






- Added photo mode. It can be accessed by pressing the default shortcut P.
- Added Encyclopedia.
- You can check the maximum and minimum weight of the animal you caught.
- Added a tree branch item to the map. you'll be able to collect branches turn them into wood, and use them to upgrade your buildings In a future patch.

• Launcher update for Galactic Civilizations IV.