Guys and gals, a new game from our publisher is here!

Beyond Sunset a cyberpunk pixel carnage by Vaporware. The game, inspired by Doom and Deus Ex, masterfully mixes frantic combat with strong RPG elements. There’s shooting, there’s puzzles, there’s swinging your katana around and a lot of immersing story to discover!



Beyond Sunset is now out in Early Access with a 10% release discount. And if you like the genre, the release is accompanied by the Ultimate Retro Shooter Sale, where you can find more great games like this one! Bundles too.

Give it a look!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1665260/Beyond_Sunset/

Arrakis.

You can hear it: the rising hiss of a sandworm; a canyon echoing the deep buzz of a low-flying ornithopter; a Coriolis storm murmuring on the horizon.

To capture the feeling of setting foot on Arrakis, there are countless sounds which must be imagined and crafted. Today, we are pleased to show you the work going into the audio of Dune: Awakening. First, we will delve into how we capture the Dune feel through sounds, then delve into the tools and methods we use to create them. After that, we’ll listen to some sounds that stand out, like sandworms, ornithopters, and weapons, and look at the creative process that has led us to where we are now.

It is important to mention that everything discussed here is a work in progress, and subject to change. Our purpose here is to share our process and direction, not the result. As with our previous blog on the art of Arrakis, we have invited a developer to talk about the work they’re producing with their team. Here to guide you through this aural journey is Arild Iversen, Audio Director on Dune: Awakening.



Hello everyone, I’m Arild, here to give you a look behind the scenes of the audio in Dune: Awakening. It’s a big topic that is constantly evolving, which makes it all the more exciting. The first question we should answer is: how do we capture the feeling of living on Arrakis? This is our biggest challenge.


We must follow a consistent tone, and that tone must be defined. While the movie by Denis Villeneuve is a great guide (more on that later), we follow three foundational design pillars for our audio: Evoke, Advise, and Flow.

Evoke - This pillar is all about nailing the Dune feeling. It’s strange, yet familiar, nostalgic, yet mystical. The Dune soundscape feels grounded, raw, warm, and mechanical; analogue as opposed to digital. The sounds have texture and feel real. Music is also essential to evoking Arrakis. It’s melancholy and meditative and should deliver a deep sense of history and vast gulfs of time.


Advise - Through this pillar, we guide and inform the player. It's how we let you know where the threat is, or isn’t. The audio must ease the chaos around you, filtering it so that you can prioritize and make the right tactical decisions based on the situation.

Audio supports gameplay both directly and indirectly. It reacts when there’s an immediate event, but it can also build up to a situation. Combat is a great example. We’re exploring a system where there are several threat levels that inform what kind of music and sounds you hear, intensifying as the threat grows.

It may seem simple, but in practice it quickly becomes complicated. How do you define combat? What happens if an ally shoots you, or near you? Or an enemy shoots at you but misses. There are also environmental threats such as dehydration to consider.

Flow – Another priority for us is that in-game SFX must be unobtrusive and designed to support long-term gameplay. Repetitive and continuous sounds blend and fade into the world over time.

Take ornithopters: when you start the engine, the sound will be loud and give a sense of its power, but as you fly, it subtly fades into background noise. The same goes for survival, crafting, or atmospheric sounds. After a time, they fade somewhat, making space for potential external sounds to enter and be heard in the mix. A phrase often heard here is: The sound may be dirty, but the mix must be clean.


So where do our sounds actually come from and how are they produced? We use a combination of synthesizers, a wide variety of software plugins, real-life recordings known as foley (both in-house and outsourced), and curated pre-recorded sound libraries. Pre-recorded sounds come with a big stipulation: we never lift a sound as is, instead using fragments to be reprocessed into layers that create what should feel like endless variations.

With all this, we develop a language for various sounds such as that of a weapon or a footstep on a sandy pathway. We'll get back to what we mean by a language later.


As our team has grown, so has our capacity to record our own sounds. It's an incredibly fun and rewarding method where you sometimes stumble into the perfect sound by accident. For example, I once spent half a day trying to find the right swishy-swoosh sound for a cinematic but ended up simply recording myself going schhhhiew into a microphone. It took five seconds and the sound worked perfectly. It’s a good reminder of how simple solutions can be the best.

This brings us to the 2021 movie by Denis Villeneuve, which of course plays a huge role in our work. While we do have access to all the sounds from the movie, we are not obliged to use them. The movie’s sound design by Mark Mangini and his crew is nothing short of incredible, and in my humble opinion, perhaps the best sound design one can find in the known universe. Listening to it is both inspirational and a little daunting.


Although Dune is one of the most beloved and influential franchises within sci-fi, it’s a very different IP compared to the likes of Star Wars or Marvel, where the audience has clear expectations of what something should sound like, such as a lightsaber. That sound is set in stone, and a major departure would cause confusion or even outrage. We don’t have the same pressure, but due to our admiration for the film’s sound design, we often look to it for inspiration.

We decided that we would align with the movie for the sounds that we think have already become iconic for the universe, such as Ornithopters, The Voice, or that deadly and intricate little Hunter-Seeker. Yet even where we align with the movie, we have a rule that we recreate every sound ourselves, sometimes reverse engineering what we have from the sound library to truly understand it, put our own spin on it, and most importantly, know how to expand upon it.



The sounds in the movie are designed to work in a linear picture. It’s a language but - if we continue the same metaphor – its vocabulary is only designed to say specific things. Our ornithopters, however, must react immediately to players’ behavior. All the potential transitions and states; speeding up, slowing down, rising, descending, crashing, damaged, flying through a storm or a valley. Our language must be dynamic.

The sound language must account not only for the player’s perspective, but also that of other players. For example, the way the sound of an ornithopter gets somewhat muffled when it flies behind an obstacle. This is why we talk about a sound language. As an open world survival game with multiplayer and a lot of sandbox elements, the design is very systems-based. It’s classic game audio design, but the challenge is to keep the feel grounded and consistent with Dune.



Let’s take a look at how we’re approaching a number of important sounds in the game.


The sandworms are probably the most recognizable element of the Dune universe, so we’re keenly aware of the importance of getting them right. They are the divine symbol of Arrakis, a force of nature and balance. They are no mere monsters. We don’t want the stereotypical dinosaur roar with pig squeals in the middle. No offence to dinosaurs. Or pigs.


In the movies, they have a rhythmic language, and while this approach is fascinating, it does not translate very well to our game, as most situations where the player is close to a sandworm is the instant before being consumed.

For Dune: Awakening’s sandworms, we expanded on the feeling of a force of nature. It should feel like the gaze of the planet itself has fallen upon you. You must feel that weight. We used reactive environmental sounds, like shaking and the hiss of sand.



We studied the film carefully when looking at the ornithopter, and eventually came up with our own variations that have the same feel. It’s the same grounded, insect-like sound, reflecting its dragonfly visual design. As mentioned, our sounds are considerably expanded due to all variations the sound needs, and other aspects of flying which I can’t talk about just yet.



We had a lot of fun with the groundcar, a nimble and fun little vehicle. We tried a number of different sounds for it, even some we didn’t expect to work. At first, we explored the sounds of offroad bikes, golf carts, lawnmower engines, and even insect buzzing. We then realized we needed more weight, so we added extra buzzy analog layers from a synth.


After tinkering with the balance between these sounds, we still weren’t satisfied, and thought we had failed completely. On a whim, we removed the initial bike engine sound, and suddenly, it worked! The additional layers we had packed around that core engine sound held up by themselves. Overall, the vehicles of Dune sound somewhat gritty, analog, and buzzy, but still with the feel of a diesel driven machine.



These massive explosions of spice erupting from the surface are of extreme importance to players. As with the sandworms, we started by looking into more organic sounds, as if the planet is giving in, releasing a groan before the surface breaks and explodes.

These explosions can be seen from huge distances, creating a plume of spice in the sky, so we explored having a delay on the explosion to give a sense of distance and realism. Testing revealed that this didn’t feel great though, so we abandoned the idea. However, you then have the shockwave hit you after a short delay, which does deliver that feeling of distance, scale, and grounded realism.



We’re crafting a shared language for all Holtzman tech, which is found most notably in the various kinds of shields and suspensors. Although they may sound different, they will all be threaded with the “Holtzman sound” to identify it for what it is.


For shields, we’re taking inspiration from the movie, using all these weirdly organic popping sounds. We’re developing our own expanded language for this using synth patches, analog distortion, and maybe a cat.


Weapons have been a very interesting journey, and we’ve just about landed on the kind of language we want to use for them. Ranged weaponry is a major aspect of combat in Dune: Awakening, and there are a variety of weapons that use different technologies.


We’ve veered away from explosive gunpowder-type sounds, instead looking at spring and gas-based sounds that propel darts. The challenge here is in doing so while still giving a strong sense of danger and power. We also want them to sound somewhat exotic. You expect some kind of boom and thump with guns, so we’ve leaned into having a satisfying rhythm to firing and reloading using synths and mechanical clicking and hissing.



This is currently one of the most challenging aspects of the sound design. Players are free to build their own bases almost anywhere they want, piece by piece, meaning they can take pretty much any shape. There are also different materials, causing further complexity and different ways to mute the outside world.

The inside of a base should make you feel safe, while simultaneously sounding interesting and active, and also reacting to the player’s crafting activities. Outside, you have the sound of the wind, storms, and sand. Inside, you should hear all that interacting with your base, sand hitting the walls, muted wind, etc. All of this will depend on how and where you’ve built your base, so the audio design must be dynamic and reactive.


We hope hearing these sound snippets has made you feel, just for a moment, like you were on Arrakis. When everything comes together, that’s our goal. And we hope you found this peek behind the development curtain interesting.

It is an unmitigated privilege to work on Dune. With the novels and the movie’s soundtrack as guides, inspiration is never far. We are in the midst of delving ever deeper into Arrakis in Dune: Awakening, capturing its essence, all while discovering new sounds we hadn’t previously imagined.

What sounds did you enjoy the most? Did you want to hear one that wasn’t showcased? Let us know in the comments! Join the rest of us on the official Discord server to chat about the latest news, and don’t forget to add Dune: Awakening to your Steam wishlist!

Until next time, Sleepers.

We have just a small hotfix for you today!

* Fixed an issue where text would not load correctly if computer name uses non-english characters
* Fixed an issue with the player list having no background graphic
* Fixed an issue with click sounds in the build menu
* Fixed an issue with sleeping Ulvs would fill the player log with warnings

Hey there!

We’re finally here! It’s an exciting and touching moment for all of us. We can finally share the fruit of years of our work.

Thank you for supporting us, have fun, and after you play - please leave your Steam review. We want (and need!) to know what you think to improve what we can and deliver even better episodes later on.

Oh yeah, about later on - here’s the plan!

• This Early Access version contains 3 out of 5 planned episodes.
  
• It should take you around 4 to 8 hours to complete, depending on your skills.
  
• New episodes will be published in approx. 3-month intervals.
  
• Early Access is $9.99, the full price after completion will be $19.99
  
• You won’t have to buy it again. Early Access will unlock the full version.
  
• Since it’s $9.99 and 10% off, you’re saving more than 50% on the full game. :)

We reckoned this would be a fair way to reward our Early Access supporters for helping us make the game the best it can be.


We’re using the GZDoom engine, which means that every update in the future may disable your past saves. This is what the engine does.

To mitigate the problem, we’ve made it possible to start from any episode you want. So even if you can’t use your old save, you can hop in from Episode 2 or 3.

Also, we will publish the updates on a separate Steam branch. This way you will be able to continue on your old save but without the update. We’ll post a guide to switching branches when an update comes out.


Beyond Sunset isn’t just a shooter. It’s also an RPG with storytelling, dialogue, side missions, and puzzles.

In case you need help with progressing, we’ve prepared an official walkthrough. Check it out here on Steam or here, in the Player’s Guide. But do it only if you must! We want to you try and overcome all the challenges yourself.:)


Finally, if you see a bug, you can help us by letting us know what it is, where it is, and what your PC specs are. Post in our Bug Reports Thread on Steam, ideally attaching a screenshot or a video to help us reproduce the problem.

We wish you all the fun in the world with Beyond Sunset. We’re open to suggestions and critique. You can talk with us here or on our Discord.

See ya in Sunset City!

Hello everyone!

We have some important news to share with you today about the ongoing development of the game.

The final gameplan and core game is now at a stage where we can work towards a full release of the game. All of the major features still to come are being worked on simultaneously and are in most cases intertwined. Due to the way these features are reliant on each other it no longer makes sense to continue with our previous plan of releasing smaller updates that ultimately won’t work well as standalone features.

Due to this we have decided that the next major release will be the full release. This will allow us to focus on integrating all remaining features into the game and delivering a more polished, higher quality game. It will also have the added benefit of reaching the full release sooner so that you can get the best gaming experience and enjoy Foundation to its fullest.

We know you will all want to know how soon, however, we don’t have a release date to announce at this time as we still have plenty of work to do, but do know that development is progressing well. Foundation is an ambitious game, and we will of course keep you updated with any news as soon as we have more to share.


For all our Early Access backers, this doesn't mean we won’t be releasing any updates before the full release. On the contrary, we will continue to work on bug fixes as well as Quality of Life (QOL) features and improvements, based on community feedback, so that we can improve on the core game experience in preparation for the final release. With this in mind, we will be announcing our next QOL update soon!



Foundation’s development journey has been an unbelievable experience made so much better by all of you, the fantastic community, that has helped us along the way. We would like to thank every Early Access adopter for supporting us and helping us deliver a high quality game that we wanted to create and also one that you want to play for many years to come. We continue to welcome all feedback from the community and we can’t wait to unveil the full release of the game for you all to enjoy!

The Polymorph Games Team

Prussian and Magenta have entered the world of FreeStyle2! Although they both have
different stories, we can say that they're both valuable members of Team Secreta.
Prussian was born with an extraordinary talent, while Magenta was just living an
ordinary life. However, everything changed when the sorcerer took Magenta to
team Secreta where her second life began as a sorceress.

If you want to know more about these two Secreta members, make sure to check
all the information below.





Event Duration:
2023/11/08 00:00 ~ 2023/11/21 23:59 (PST)



Event Mechanics:


Event Currency:


Reward List:


Mileage Exchange Shop:


Character Details:

*Prussian Unique Effects:
- SECRETA Prussian: Extended Attribute +10
- Talent in Sorcery: Buff Attributes
- training point + 30
- Talent in sorcery : motion selectable



*Magenta Unique Effects:
- SECRETA #Magenta: Extended Attribute +10
- Talent in Sorcery: Buff Attributes
- training point + 30
- flower chain : motion selectable



Abilities:





Abilities per Position:





Buff Details:
1. Press Space during a match to obtain a buff.
2. Buff effect lasts for 20 seconds.
3. There are no limits to how many times you can use the buff.
4. Once the buff ends, the buff gauge will slowly fill up over 30 seconds.
5. Different buffs will be obtained depending on offense/defense turns.
6. The personal buff ability will be applied



How to set buff attributes:
1. You can check and change the buff attributes from the “Player Info > Character Buff Settings” tab.
2. 3 attributes can be selected for offense and defense each.
3. Same offense/defense attributes will not stack when buff effect is applied.
* Buff attributes may be adjusted partially during balance updates.



Skills:




Illustrations:




Motions:


- Characters from Team Secreta can select motions through their special gear.
- Motions can be selected upon creating a character.
- Check selected motions from the “Player Info > Character Buff Settings” menu.

Character Motion Selection:
1. You can use Magic Points to select motions.
2. Selected motions will be set as default motions for the character.
3. If you don't have enough Magic Points, you won't be able to
select any more motions.
4. Selected motions can be changed anytime by using the
"PrussianXMagenta Motion Changer" item. (Go to Player Info > SPC Buff Settings)



Motion Details:


* [11] Magic points will be given when creating Prussian & magenta characters.

Prussian and Magenta Ceremony ~



Magenta Flower Chain Motion:


Magenta Sealed Old Tome Motion:


Prussian Flower Chain Motion:


Prussian Sealed Old Tome Motion:


For the Magenta & Prussian Special Discount Event,
you may check the link below:
Magenta & Prussian Sale


Don't miss the chance to add this amazing SPC to your collection!

- Freestyle 2 Team

Hi, i SMEK.
My indie game “M CITY” is coming out soon on STEAM!
Add it to your WISHLIST!!!!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2658330/M_City/

Hello everyone!

Patch 1.0.8 is out with even more fixes. We hope that we got resolved the biggest cases of blockers with Antoine and the misplacement of items. We are still on the lookout for those if they pop up, so please let us know!

• Fixed Antoine” Repair the forge” quest not working sometimes and Antoine disappearing from time to time.
  
• Fixed barrel that would accept wine and it would softlock it. If you have some wine in a barrel that goes in by accident, you can take it out from it by interacting with the barrel.
  
• Fixed a couple of cases where items would be misplaced.
  
• Fixed an issue where maple syrup put on a restaurant table would not give money if there were no clients. Now when a client sits down, it will give some money for that bottle of maple syrup.
  
• Fixed an issue where the cutting board would accept two people cutting food and it would break stations in some cases.

Please let us know of any bugs you run into in our Discord!

New characters join the battle!
- Ultraman
- Alien Baltan
- Ultraman Tiga
- Camearra

- Added new feature to record and replay local battle.

- Godzilla's and Ultraman's character can now beam clash with one another.

- Fixed a bug where titan falls infinitely through the ground.

- Fixed Confusion Attack not able to confuse its opponent.

- Added controller vibration during his ultimate attack.

- Deflect ability can now deflect beams.

- Minor adjustment and improvement to gameplay netcode.

- Xbox and Nintendo Switch can now crossplay with other platforms.

Hey everyone! For this month’s update I’m excited to announce an open beta for Tyrant’s Twilight!
The game will be playable from December 8th, 10am EST until December 11th.
You can subscribe now to the beta by clicking the Request Access button right under the game’s trailer.



See you there!