Today's update focuses on a Mac requirement update and Marie combat bug fixes.

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Mac OSX Required Version Increase

As of October 31st, 2023, Apple requires us to update some of our tools used to build the Mac OSX version of the game. This has resulted in us needing to increase the minimum Mac OSX version required to run Skullgirls 2nd Encore from 10.9 (Mavericks) to 10.13 (High Sierra). Since 10.13 (High Sierra) is the lowest version supported by Steam as of September 2023, we are hopeful this change will not make the game unplayable for any current Mac OSX users. If you experience any new bugs on Mac OSX as a result of this, please report them in our official Discord or Forums. Thank you!Discord: https://discord.com/invite/skullgirlsSkullheart Forums: https://skullheart.com/

MARIE

• Suction Obstruction (QCF+LP+LK) when used to start a chain at max Undizzy now triggers a burst.
  
• Reduced Carpel Pummel (QCF+PP) damage from 2500 to 2000.
  
• Reduced Repetitive Skeleton Impact (QCF+KK) base damage from 800 to 650.
  (As before, each new slam adds an additional 100 damage than the last.)
  
• Reduced Air Throw recovery on whiff.
  
• Fixed a bug where Dust Bunny (QCF+P) would add wrong (15) Undizzy amounts and activate Undizzy in incorrect situations.
  
• Hilgard's Haymaker
  
  • Fixed numerous bugs where Hilgard could not be defeated if attacked (with or without armor) during the end of his punch from Hilgard's Haymaker.
    
  • Hilgard spawns further backwards if Marie is close to the opponent, and the distance Marie has to be to the opponent to be considered "close" is more lenient now. After performing a sHP or jHP that make contact, he spawns even further backwards.
    
  • Hilgard continues falling towards the floor more reliably even when performing an airborne punch.
    
  • Hilgard slows down from his charge towards the opponent more reliably now if he's in range to punch.
    
  • Hilgard retains a bit more of follow-through momentum when punching.
    
  • Hilgard will spawn further backwards if there is a wall in front of Marie.
• Tag In
  
  • Marie now travels faster while riding the vacuum.
    
  • Marie now has to wait a little longer before she can manually dismount early (press P or K) from the tag in.
    
  • Fixed a bug where Marie could go off camera with tag in some cases.
    
  • Marie dismounts earlier than before if she approaches the stage edge while riding.
• Tweaked VFX on Marie Go 'Round [H] (QCB+HP) to be larger and easier to see.
  
• cLP (first hit only) blockstun reduced by 1F, increased recovery by 2F.
  
• Fixed a bug where Hilgard could follow Marie's position and float up with her if she cancelled quickly into Weight of our Will after he appears.
  
• Removed screen darkening effect from Weight of our Will (QCB+PP).
  
• Fixed skeleton voice lines getting cut off when Marie blocks hits or performs a pushblock.
  
• Made numerous improvements to the flow of how Hilgard performs his win pose, and fixed a bug where he could fly away off screen during it.
  
• Fixed an issue where Marie could cancel into a Blockbuster on the frame she is hit with an armor breaking move, when using Marie Go 'Round [H].
  
• Fixed a bug where Air Throw wouldn't kill opponents unless the first three hits did enough damage to kill.
  
• Adjusted crouching hurtboxes during idle, block, and hitstun to be slightly larger.
  (Ms. Fortune's sHP x L Fiber confirm is now universal again)
  
• Fixed a bug where Marie couldn't get as close to walls when dashing into them compared to other characters.
  
• Fixed a bug where using Repetitive Skeleton Impact (QCF+KK) with Marie's back too close to the wall could cause some odd behavior on larger characters.
  
• Fixed a bug where the second hit of jHP could activate Undizzy unexpectedly if the first hit started a chain and filled the victim's Undizzy bar.
  
• Fixed a bug where Dust Bunny could be oddly rotated during its (not so secret) win pose.
  
• Fixed a bug where Marie could trigger the Dust Bunny to fly forward with cLK from unintended ranges.
  
• Carpel Pummel (QCF+PP) now has higher input priority over Weight of our Will (QCB+PP).
  
• Marie Go 'Round [L] (QCB+LP) no longer causes preblock.
  
• Fixed a bug where Marie did not make a noise when landing during a sliding knockdown.
  
• Fixed a visual bug where two versions of Marie could show up rarely if dashing towards the opponent after dashing away from them.
  
• Fixed secret bugs for secret behavior of a certain standing heavy normal.

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(Build version 3.6.3)

Rosas Are Red 🌹



Hello there gamers,
Rosas Are Red is nearing it's launch, so we are hosting a Gleam giveaway, which you can enter below!


Giveaway of Rosas Are Red


Last moment for you to get on the hype train, you don't want to miss it! 🚂😉

October was a very productive month for us! Strange Seed is beginning to feel very “playable”, even though there’s much work left to be done.

Combat feels completely different with this change: locking-on to enemies. This includes an auto-rotate to attack and auto camera rotation while moving around.

😀

Pretty much everything should work now! I’m a controller-first guy and being able to constantly test Strange Seed using a controller is a huge, positive change for me.

… actually, I haven’t tried playing with a joystick or rhythm game accessory yet, so I can’t claim “everything” 😅 Let’s just say, any typical game controller.

Once we had the controller in, we realized that ranged attacks need a special control scheme when there’s no mouse. With a mouse, you just click wherever you want to attack. With the controller, hold L1 and move the joystick to position the landing zone. (This makes me want to play Valkyria Chronicles again…)

Originally I thought we’d have a rough demo out by now, but the plan was to have very incomplete combat mechanics. When it came down to it, combat felt so central to the game that we needed to work on polishing it before the demo.

So that’s what we’re doing right now — in November, we’ll be running some private playtests of combat in greybox levels, ensuring that our attack timing, movement scheme, encounter design and so forth is really solid.

Thanks for reading!

Hey Oracles,

We are still hard at work nailing down some of the bugs you guys have been reporting but I wanted to take the time to thank you all for the amazing launch of Astrea!

I am ecstatic to announce that Astrea appeared in Steam's top 20 new releases list for September! You can check out the top 20s here!


This would not have been possible without the amazing support from you guys. So again thank you for the amazing support with Astrea!

Join the Astrea Discord and strategize with others who are saving the star system!

-riv otter

We've released two of the music tracks from the game's OST over on YouTube. Be sure to give them a listen. And make sure to wishlist the game if you haven't, already.

Today I want to show off the upcoming free expansion coming this November which you can find listed below as coming soon. It will include a new theme that works with all existing levels as well as introducing 10 new additional levels.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2577930/Golfing_In_Aether__Dustbowl/
Please note that this is work in progress and not due to release till November 14th so some visual elements could well change in between now and then.


For this theme it introduces a desert-like environment, with as the title suggests a lot of sand and dust has been thrown up, covering the otherwise grassy levels. You will also find the water areas dried up and lots of things normally found in the levels worn down compared to usual.

Beyond the reskinning you'll find a few new art assets such as animal skulls in some of the dried up water areas, and music specific to the theme. There is also a new obstacle type / mechanic which I will discuss later in this post.


The above screenshots are from existing levels 'Leapfrog' and 'You feeling lucky?'. All existing levels will be able to work with this new theme.


For this expansion I wanted to add some more earlier levels to help improve the balance when it comes to how levels are chosen as part of the random courses. Following feedback these levels also have more of an emphasis purely putting rather multiple holes.

While these levels are small they still do offer an element of challenge if aiming for a hole in one.


These next two levels I'm showing how they look with existing 'Spring' and 'Winter' themes, all new levels will work with previous themes adding to the overall diversity when it comes to playing a random course whichever theme you wish to play with.

The levels shown above also feature a new obstacle type know as the 'Flipper'. This behaves similar to vertical movers (barricades that go up and down) except in this case offers a ramp, which can be to your or advantage or not depending on the level. A few of the levels will feature this new mechanic in different ways.


Of course not all levels are small in this expansion and this is a late level included which includes a similar theme of maze-like behavior as found in some of the existing late game levels. There is about a half dozen or more possible ways to complete this one, so you'll have to find the best path to a hole in one.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2577930/Golfing_In_Aether__Dustbowl/
Just a reminder that this expansion is entirely free and will be available November 14th. If you wish to keep track of when this will be released then add it to your wishlist.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/
Golfing in Aether is currently on sale for 70% off till the 8th November along with a currently running halloween event ending on the 14th. Dustbowl will be the fourth free expansion released bringing the games included level count to a total of 70. More content is planned.


Be sure to check out the official discord server with channels for Golfing In Aether and my other various projects.

Highlights:

• Updated Default Gun Alignment:
  They now align properly to your controllers and should feel more natural to hold
  
  
  
• Open Bolt Weapon Remake:
  They now fire when the bolt closes instead of when the trigger's pulled, leading to a more realistic and unique feel
  
  
  
  
• Mission Difficulty Settings
  
  
  
• New Settings Menu:
  Settings are now consistently saved & loaded, the UI is a lot cleaner and more straightforward, and you can now configure them from your rucksack menu anywhere in the game!
  
  
  
  
• Gunstock Mode:
  Enable it in the settings menu
  
  
  
• Bolts no longer automatically release and can be held back / manipulated manually
  

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• Replaced TT-33 pistol with a better model
  
• Organized and standardized materials (helps performance & development workflow)
  
• Remade most UI (check the changelog below for more info)
  
• Added more cover between spawn and the rest of the temple on Ruins
  
• Fixed issue with MAS 49/56 & Tokarev bolt/slide not functioning correctly
  
• Changed skyboxes, fog, and lighting palette on multiple maps
  
• Changed socket spawners to trigger grab to avoid misgrabbing with main weapons
  
• Repositioned VZ61 second-hand grab position. It behaves like the other pistols now

• Fixed issue where distant audio sounds wouldn't play
  
• Changed scale on multiple guns
  
• Made grenade explosion effect larger
  
• Added more effects to grenade explosion
  
• Enemies no longer talk when they're dead :(
  
• Fixed Type56 bayonet (it unfolds properly again)
  
• AI gunshot sounds now keep playing after they die
  
• Fixed collision issue with VZ61
  
• Decreased AI visibility distance on Bridge
  
• Adjusted enemy presence values on all missions
  
• Optimized multiple missions
  
• Fixed bugged enemy spawn on Elephant Grass
  
• Fixed collision issues with player & M16, XM177
  
• Made in-game Discord link more straightforward & visible
  
• Rearranged mission select UI
  
• Heavily simplified & optimized settings script
  
• Removed outdated settings options
  
• Slightly lowered threshold before scroll bars activate to make button clicks easier
  
• Fixed settings load order to be on par with script load order
  
• Settings UI now properly shows correct information on start
  
• Replaced outdated AI helicopters in Firebase Range
  
• Reworded a few rucksack hints for clarity
  
• Made PunjiVR logo more visible on startup
  
• Made back of all menu UI a solid color (no longer transparent at some angles)
  
• Renamed "Reload Scene" to "Restart Mission"
  
• Fixed visual artifacting when looking at emissive materials
  
• Disabled outdated camera settings on XM21 scope
  
• Fixed minor hand grabber issues outside of main menu scene
  
• Reworded, removed, updated, and added to the rucksack tips
  
• Made grenade explosion effect bigger
  
• Polished and added to grenade explosion effect
  
• Added more AI cover triggers to multiple positions on multiple object prefabs
  
• Minor rendering optimizations to Ruins, Firebase Range, Streets, & Bridge
  
• Made intel more visible on Highlands
  
• Made single round ammo storable in chest rig
  
• Fixed issues with side shells on sawn-off shotgun
  
• Applied more accurate material color to XM21 scope
  
• Fixed magazine positions on M14, XM21, & VZ 61
  
• Removed easter egg M14 (golden one) on Firebase Range due to it being extremely outdated... Will add more secrets later
  
• Fixed issue with hand disappearing when opening the M79 while grabbing w/ forward hand
  
• Changed materials on multiple items
  
• Fixed issue with visible magazine ammo not appearing on start sometimes
  
• Fixed bugged grab point on MAS 49/56
  
• Normalized scaling on a few outdated weapon models
  
• Fixed issues with some effects not playing in local space (leading them to be rotated wrong in game)
  
• Moved ammo spawners closer to player on tables
  
• Fixed issue with turn setting UI not displaying correctly
  
• The health watch is now hidden on left hand grab to avoid it floating in the air
  
• Arranged menu ammo spawners & made them easier to grab
  
• Fixed issue where hand model wasn't appearing when grabbing some bolts
  
• Made shotgun pumps a little more responsive. More polish is needed though
  
• Fixed Type56 bolt lockback issue
  
• Grabbing the M60's top cover now requires you to be holding onto the main grip first (prevents it freaking out when grabbed by itself)
  
• Repositioned unfair sniper on Bridge

---



This was a smaller update but a necessary one. It fixed a lot of the long term issues with PunjiVR, including accurate gun alignment and bolt manipulation while also adding a few heavily requested features like a gunstock mode and difficulty settings. Now that this update's out, the entire experience should be a lot smoother and less janky feeling.

If you missed the previous announcement, a testing branch was added about a week ago which let you guys check out and provide feedback on the update before the actual release. It helped me out a ton and saved a lot of time and effort for development, so I will definitely continue doing this for future updates. If you are interested in helping test out future content early, stay alert for announcements here or join the discord (link below) to get instant notifications when a new testing build is ready.

---

As for the future, I will be reverting back to a more frequent update schedule to try and get at least one major update out every month. I tried the slow but large release schedule with the past few updates, but that style leaves far too much downtime for the state PunjiVR's in right now.

The next update, U15, will introduce a new gamemode and mission called Dustoff. Dustoff will be the first actual transport helicopter mission with a simple but replayable objective: Pick up wounded soldiers at a randomly placed landing zone, then bring them back to base. You'll need to save as many men as you can before the timer runs out.

Along with the new mission, Update 15 will continue to focus on general polish and bugfixing.

---

I wanted to close this off by thanking you all for your continued support and feedback. I know the past few months have slowed down in terms of new updates, with the AI Overhaul and scrapped graphics update taking up a lot of time, but I'm hoping that the new update cycle will start to kick everything back into full gear. If you experience in bugs, have any suggestions, or just want to stay up to date with PunjiVR, make sure to check out the links below. Thanks again and make sure to keep your eyes peeled!

Discord
Twitter
Subreddit


---------------

1. Right-Click on "PunjiVR" in your Steam library
   
   
2. Select "Properties"
   
3. In the properties tab, select "Betas"
   
4. Click on the dropdown box, then select the option for last_stable_build
   

If you want to go back to the most recent update, follow the same process but click on "None" in the dropdown box.

Hello everybody!

OK, I admit it has been a long time since a major update, and I apologize for that.

Having said that, I'm excited to finally have Early Access patch 0.5 out in the wild!

The following are patch notes for the patch overhaul:


High Level Changes

• Various new Weapon, Curse, and Aura Skills, including unlockable customization system
  
• Vastly expanded and modified Passive Tree
  
• Customizable Character Outfits
  
• Numerous new mod types, attributes, and skill mechanics
  
• Performance Optimizations Galore
  
• World map progression system
  
• Support for boss fights & arenas
  
• New ladder/leaderboard system
  
• Powerful, drop-only endgame mods
  
• Magic and Rare monster mods
  
• Player Damage Log
  
• Complete rebalance of monster and player power

New Skills

This patch introduces a couple of new skills, which can all be augmented with Skill Supports listed in a later section. New skills will be added in upcoming patches.

• Minigun: Rapid fire weapon.
  
• Icy Shard Burst: Cast a volatile ball of ice at a nearby enemy, which releases shards in random directions. Extra projectiles affect the number of released shards. Shards cannot pierce or chain.
  
• Scorch Curse: Curse enemies in an area with Scorch, lowering their Fire Resistance by 25%.
  
• Hypothermia Curse: Curse enemies in an area with Hyptothermia, lowering their Cold Resistance by 25%.
  
• Polarize Curse: Curse enemies in an area with Polarize, lowering their Lightning Resistance by 25%.
  
• Bane Curse: Curse enemies in an area with Bane, lowering their Toxic Resistance by 25%.
  
• Rush Aura: You and nearby allies move faster.
  
• Regeneration Aura: You and nearby allies have added life regeneration.
  
• Resilience Aura: You and nearby allies have a chance to avoid ailments.

Example of Icy Shard Burst on a low level character:


Skill Supports

• Extra Projectiles: Skill fires 2 extra projectiles, but deals 30% Less Damage.
  
• Sniper: Projectiles have no spread.
  
• Collateral Damage: Projectiles deal 30% of hit damage to nearby enemies.
  
• Puncturing Shots: Projectiles gain +3 Pierce.
  
• Ricocheting Shots: Projectiles gain +2 Chain, but deal 30% Less Damage.
  
• Quicker Projectiles: Projectiles gain 30% More Projectile Speed.
  
• Focus: Skill deals 50% More Damage, but will never Critically Strike.
  
• Critical Honing: Skill gains +1.5% Base Critical Strike Chance, and has 125% Increased Critical Strike Chance.
  
• Critical Mass: Skill gains 100% Critical Strike Multiplier.
  
• Bloody: Skill gains +25% Physical Ailment Chance, and 15% More Physical Ailment Effect.
  
• Ignition: Skill gains +25% Fire Ailment Chance, and 15% More Fire Ailment Effect.
  
• Chilling: Skill gains +25% Cold Ailment Chance, and 15% More Cold Ailment Effect.
  
• Charged: Skill gains +25% Lightning Ailment Chance, and 15% More Lightning Ailment Effect.
  
• Poison: Skill gains +25% Toxic Ailment Chance, and 15% More Toxic Ailment Effect.
  
• Lacerating: Skill gains 50% Increased Physical Ailment Effect.
  
• Stunner: Skill gains 50% Increased Lightning Ailment Effect.
  
• Frigid: Skill gains 50% Increased Cold Ailment Effect.
  
• Scorched: Skill gains 50% Increased Fire Ailment Effect.
  
• Venom: Skill gains 50% Increased Toxic Ailment Effect.
  
• Wizardry: Skill gains 40% More Cast Speed.
  
• Cold Attuned: Skill gains 50% Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage.
  
• Shock Attuned: Skill gains 50% Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage.
  
• Fire Attuned: Skill gains 50% Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage.
  
• Expansive: Skill gains 50% Increased Area of Effect, and 25% More Area Damage.
  
• Physical Damage: Skill gains 40% More Physical Damage.
  
• Lightning Damage: Skill gains 40% More Lightning Damage.
  
• Cold Damage: Skill gains 40% More Cold Damage.
  
• Fire Damage: Skill gains 40% More Fire Damage.
  
• Toxic Damage: Skill gains 40% More Toxic Damage.
  
• Physical Penetration: Skill gains 25% Physical Penetration.
  
• Lightning Penetration: Skill gains 25% Lightning Penetration.
  
• Cold Penetration: Skill gains 25% Cold Penetration.
  
• Fire Penetration: Skill gains 25% Fire Penetration.
  
• Toxic Penetration: Skill gains 25% Toxic Penetration.
  
• Ailment Duration: Skill gains 50% Increased Ailment Duration.
  
• Enhanced Ailments: Skill gains 50% Chance to inflict Enhanced Ailments.
  
• Increased Duration: Skill gains 50% Increased Skill Duration
  
• Potent Suppression: Skill gains 30% More Damage over Time
  
• Vulnerability: Skill gains 30% Chance to Inflict Vulnerable on Hit, and has inflicts Vulnerable with 25% Increased Vulnerable Effect.
  
• Weakness: Skill gains 30% Chance to Inflict Exposure on Hit, and has inflicts Exposure with 25% Increased Exposure Effect.
  
• Doomed: Skill gains 20% More Curse Effect.
  
• Large Curses: Skill gains 50% Increased Area of Effect with Curse Skills.
  
• Infection: Skill gains +1 Infection Spread Count
  
• Cast on Crit: Skill is cast when another skill inflicts a critical strike. Skill does not auto cast, and cannot trigger other skills.
  
• Cast on Crit: Skill is cast when another skill inflicts a critical strike. Skill does not auto cast, and cannot trigger other skills. Skill deals 40% Less Damage.
  
• Cast on Kill: Skill has a 10% chance to cast when another skill inflicts a killing blow. Skill does not auto cast, and cannot trigger other skills. Skill deals 30% More Damage.
  
• Volatility: Skill is cast when hitting an enemy with any non-triggered skill. Skill consumes a random number of Boons to deal 20% more damage for each consumed Boon. Must have at least one active boon to cast. Skill does not auto cast, and cannot trigger other skills. Skill deals 15% Less Damage.
  
• Precision Boon on Critical Strike: Skill has a 40% Chance to gain a Precision Boon when it Critically Strikes.

More Skill Supports are planned for upcoming patches.

Cosmetics

I've introduced support to customize the look of your character!



Passive Tree

A complete rebalance of the Passive Tree, and an expansion of it as well!



Gene Drop Improvements

Genes drop from enemies, and have a high chance of having at least one max-tier roll on them. In high tier zones (80+), new Drop-Only mods can roll on items, enabling further build varieties!

Low Tier Gene Drop:


Monster Changes

Monsters can now randomly spawn as a Magic Pack or with a Rare Monster, which are tougher enemies but provide more experience and higher chance of good loot!

A rare monster and some magic monsters:



New Stat Options

Alongside the changes to the skill system, I've introduced various new ways to scale damage and defenses. There are now 5 attributes on the Passive Tree, and as mods on items:

• Constitution: Grants 1 Maximum Life per Constitution
  
• Strength: Grants 1% Increased Armor per Strength
  
• Agility: Grants 1% Increased Evasion per Agility
  
• Wisdom: Grants 1% Increased Damage per 5 Wisdom
  
• Finesse: Grants 1% Increased Cast Speed per 5 Finesse

As well as the innate bonuses these stats provide, there are mods that let you use them as your main method to scale damage! Check out the mods in-game to see.

Boons

I've also introduced a Boon system to Mutagenic, which are temporary buffs which grant offensive and defensive power to your character. There are multiple ways to get these Boons, and ways to scale both offense and defense with them. There are some drop-only mods which interact with these in powerful ways.


Summary

This patch introduces a lot of change to Mutagenic. The game is vastly different that it was before, and I apologize if this is an unwanted change for some. I'm considering keeping the old version on a beta-only branch if there is demand. I promise this version will be much better, and I intend on improving it in the coming months.

Thank you, and good luck!

If anybody is interested in writing/theorycrafting some build guides for new players, please do so!

Cheers,
zediven

ver 1.0 build 290:
gif bug has been fixed

Thanks to the help of our AMAZING backers, Echoes of Plum Grove is already 100% funded!!!

Thanks to all of your help, we have fully funded our project!!! (In less than 90 minutes, at that!) We cannot tell you how excited and touched we are by all of your support. From the bottoms of our cozy little hearts, thank you all so much!!!

Our Kickstarter launched on October 31st and our community got it funded so quickly we completely forgot to ensure our Steam post was out in all the excitement! The Kickstarter will be live through December 4th so you haven't missed much. Make sure to check it out!




Because it was funded so quickly, we we're already offering stretch goals! Below are our current goals with the first one - Thunderstorms - already having been met! The second stretch goal is really close to being reached as well. 🤯

We were far from ready for the overwhelming support that we've received, so we'll be adding more to our stretch goals list over the next several weeks. Once again, thank you all so much! ❤️❤️❤️




And last but not least, we have a demo live on Steam! This demo gives you roughly 2-3 hours of play time and access to a special Character Creation mode where you can design your own tourist or ghost that could become part of the game if you back at one of those tiers or higher!

There are lots more updates to come so make sure to wishlist the game, join our Discord, and follow us on our socials to see even more!


                                                             


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                                                            Click the buttons above and below to find us off Steam!

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