Audio Improvements:

• Expanded and fixed issues with Labs music.
  
• Addressed bugs in Lietmotives and corrected voice stealing behavior in non-looped events.
  
• Implemented fixes for sound emitters and optimized the mix of events.
  
• Added Stress Room Music.

Visual and Gameplay Fixes:

• Corrected Cargo-bot shockwave particles and living room visuals.
  
• Enhanced the elevator sprite and reactor visuals.
  
• Updated room fixes for Warehouses and Labs.
  
• Fixed issue with the water collector visuals.

Gameplay Mechanics:

• Polished mix and events for a more cohesive audio-visual experience.
  
• Updated coordinates for GMOs in the Catching objective.
  
• Fixed collision and grabbing mechanics.

Bug Fixes and Optimizations:

• Resolved issues with Toxi catch and save sounds.
  
• Addressed game object activation/deactivation bugs.

Miscellaneous:

• Adjusted normal levels for the L mainframe.
  
• Implemented various patches and minor fixes across the game environment.

Marine! Are you enjoying the work our art team has put into crafting this breathtaking universe? Then go ahead and Nominate Iron Marines Invasion for Outstanding Visual Style in the Steam Awards 2023! 🌌

Welcome back to Galacticare Wednesday!

This week, we asked our friends over at Zimmer Audio to give us some insight into the magic behind Galacticare's sound design.

A game with so many moving parts like Galacticare meant the sound effects were something that really had to be hand crafted, so as to make each aspect of the game have it's own individual vibe. In this blog post, Zimmer takes us through their thought processes with example clips for your auditory pleasure.


PJ

Working with the talented team at Brightrock, we designed a dynamic mixing system that prioritised audio depending on its distance to the camera and severity level. For example, a room breaking down should call attention to the player from quite a far distance, whereas the electronic beat of Laser Surgery can only be heard when zoomed right in. We were also careful to ensure that the different zoom levels created a sense of space and environment as the player peers at the vastness of space with its distant planets, stars, and rock concerts.



Each of the assorted species, conditions, and strange treatment methods in Galacticare allowed our imagination and creativity to flourish as we set about bring these aural palettes to life.
For the audio direction, we drew inspiration from TV shows that share a similar vibe to the game, focusing on wacky and hyper-realistic sound design to immerse the player in the world. We wanted to ensure that the clicky exoskeleton of the Xil species is audible as they are thrown around the mechanical pooch in the Boning Chamber. Certain events such as a patient vomiting or dying needed to be clear and grab the player’s attention. - This is achieved by ensuring the sounds are larger than life (and pretty gross).



Granularity was key to achieving our sound design goals, ensuring each individual servo of a machine and every contextual click within the UI and the environment was crafted so that at close-up zoom levels, it would feel to the player that they’d been dropped straight into this crazy space hospital.


Ismael

I wanted to make Brian (our name for the, er, Brain) and the Dreamarium Room squidgy, gruesome, and give it its own voice (although the little guy doesn’t have a mouth, at least, that we know of). It was a great opportunity to dig out sounds from my personal library of damp cloths, food manipulation and destruction, and toy noises! I wanted the hospital doors, vending machines, and toilets to reflect these hydraulic mechanisms triggering but without making them too overwhelming - slightly “over the top” but still bearable for our patients' daily routines.



The moon explosion in Burning Moon (the 2nd level of the campaign) required a massive sound, which was the perfect opportunity to throw everything at it: gunshots, earthquake rumbles, rocks, and debris rolling, etc. This was a tricky design challenge, as it doesn’t work to simply drag and drop a bunch of explosions in line; that would create a horrible mess. It needs careful attention to the placement of the transients so the “pops” clearly cut through while the rumble and destruction evolve to completely envelop the listener.


Kyle

My role within the unique world of Galacticare was primarily to create sound effects for the UI, such as notifications, objectives, in-game actions, and recruitment. These ranged from positive or negative alerts, like earning money or successfully completing objectives, to events like staff termination or patients requiring priority treatment. A player of the game typically receives numerous ongoing alerts, so I ensured each sound category was concise yet distinct, contributing to a better player experience by aiding in differentiating UI events and their significance in-game.

Several sounds stand out to me, namely the hospital zone purchase, staff level-up, and merchant sounds. For the hospital purchase, I combined drills, hammers, cash registers chimes, hydraulics, and hospital equipment beeps, creating a unique sound identifying the zone being purchased. The staff level-up involved cheering, clapping, and fireworks to distinguish it from other positive alerts. The merchant sound comprised cash registers, bells, and glass bottles to set it apart from other purchase notifications. To differentiate positive and negative notifications, I adjusted pitch layers for negative sounds and incorporated stereo delay for the cheerful success sounds so the sound of success would ring out in the player's ears.



For the appetising task of creating a sound for the Medibot cleaning up vomit, I used a combination of a hose, bubbles, shaving gel, squeezed fruit, and hydraulics, resulting in a squelchy, squirting, and satisfyingly repulsive sound that I hope will either cause the curling of toes or laughter from players. Ensuring every sound had its distinct place amid the bustling space medical facility and accommodating weird and wonderful beings undergoing the most advanced intergalactic procedures in the universe was a huge amount of fun!


Paul

Designing UI sounds is an unsung but immensely satisfying art and one that is particularly important in a simulation game like Galacticare. The sweet spot between "overly detailed in order to be interesting" and "simplistic to the point of being dull" is quite narrow! The menus and buttons in Galacticare have as much visual detail and consideration applied as the rest of the game, so the audio needed the same degree of care and attention to match.

To fit with Galacticare's style, the UI SFX needed to be detailed and high tech. Many other sounds in the game already tapped into the visual humour of the game, so I played it straight with these. The key to making nice, techie UI sounds is to use lots of layers, but with most of them mixed subtly, just enough to act as a subliminal “style cue”.

Handily, there are plenty of tactile buttons and switches dotted around the studio, so I recorded myself hammering a bunch of these and also made a trip to the garden shed to record a few sounds of clippers and secateurs snapping shut - when shortened, these work nicely when placed just before before a button click, to give a subtle sense of something “leading into” the sound - adding these small, barely noticeable touches adds a sense of polish. To flavour the sounds with the appropriate sci-fi vibe, the UI SFX are peppered with short excerpts of sounds such as data telemetry readouts, synths, night vision goggle activations and deactivations, printer servo motors, and various other weird and wonderful layers.


James

The majority of the audio that I designed is exactly what you expect from a futuristic setting, featuring an array of lasers, rays, servos, machinery sounds, and ethereal spacey drones that immerse players in the cosmic environment.

However, the unique challenge with Galacticare arose from the task of injecting humour into the sound design without it sounding too cartoony - in other words - how much we exaggerate a sound and how much we keep it centred in the realm of "realism". Finding an equilibrium between the two was a trial and error process, but after some experimentation, we found a nice balance.. We were keen to pinpoint this line during the design process, and we eventually managed to attain a balance that satisfies us, Brightrock, and hopefully the players.


And that's all for this week's Galacticare Wednesday!

We hope you enjoyed delving into the stories and meeting the talent behind Galacticare's sound design.

Don’t forget we regularly publish blog post and videos, usually about development, across our TikTok, Twitter, and Discord.
See you next week!

Fix：
1. Fixed partial localization errors (Japanese, Korean, Russian)
2. Fixed a bug where in-battle mechs' quality tag is displayed incorrectly.
3. Fixed a bug where Leaderboard displays incorrect personal tag.
4. Fixed a bug where Hangar TAA is ineffective.
5. Fixed a bug in the Hangar interface when you hide UI and open Settings, upon returning to the interface it will display error.
6. Fixed Find Match 6900 error.
Improved:
1. Skill tips added energy consumption display.
2. Match Found interface now hides opponent name display.
3. PvP Loading interface added mech quality display.
4. New Blueprint scene resources updated.

Hello gamers and thank you for checking out the Conviction Demo, I've been made aware that there's a few bugs and other issues currently plaguing the overall experience of the game and I plan on working on that as soon as possible. I'm taking as much criticism as I can to improve the overall experience to make a HOPEFULLY awesome game, also for those who are unaware the demo is pretty much a early access version of the game so I plan on revamping and improving a lot of things in the game for a smoother experience!

In the meantime there's not really to much to say on my end aside that I'm gonna work on creating social media accounts so I can boost the amount of people seeing my game and get more criticism other then that I'm extremely grateful to everyone who has supported me getting to this stage and I hope I can meet your expectations of my game when the full release comes out.

Let's get it Event is now open! Purchase track now and draw random rewards.

You will have a chance to get awesome rare items!

Event Period:

2023/11/22 00:00 ~ 12/05 23:59 (PST)



Event Mechanics:

1. Purchase Track and use it to draw your desired items. You can click
"Reposition" to change your rewards until you get the items you want.



2. Use the Track you purchased to perform 1 or 5 draws. You can acquire random
products placed on the record plate.



3. By continuously drawing, you can perform only 2 draw actions of 1 or 5 draws.
If the number of items on the plate is reduced, you will be more likely to
acquire them.

4. If you've completed 1 or more draws, the next reposition is free. We hope you get
the product you want in the next item placement.



Reward List:



Black Arm Accessory Selection Box (R/L)



White Arm Accessory Selection Box (R/L)



Modern Pilot Outfit Selection Box



Sand Army Dog Outfit Selection Box



Thank you for your continued support!


- Freestyle 2 Team

Attention, Dirgelings! Gather 'round for a spine-chilling announcement! Brace yourselves for the arrival of our newest nightmare-inducing feature in Dirge: the AI-controlled Wraith Monster! Now you can face the lurking shadows even when your friends are too scared to join in.

Picture this: you, alone in the eerie corridors of Hillview Manor, frantically completing tasks while the AI Wraith lurks in the shadows. It's like having a ghostly companion, always there to keep you on your toes. Forget about a cozy single-player experience; this is a solo nightmare expedition!

The AI Wraith is no slouch—it'll randomly spawn, set traps, and if you dare to claim its bones, well, get ready for a cat-and-mouse game where you're the mouse. Immune to physical damage and with the added bonus of depleting your battery, this Wraith means business. Running is your only escape until it exhausts its spectral energy.

But hold onto your sanity, Dirgelings, because the real terror is just beginning. Once all the bones are snug in the sarcophagus, the Wraith awakens in a supercharged state. It's showdown time! Now vulnerable to physical damage, defeat the Wraith in an epic battle to claim victory.

So, solo investigators, get ready to face the ghostly stalker, and remember to check out this spine-tingling update on Steam. We're stalking... I mean, waiting for you, Dirgelings!

• Wraith Monster given AI for games with no player monster.
  
• Christmas decor added to all levels for December.
  
• Navigation links added so minions can transverse vertically where it makes sense.
  
• Added Tesla achievement art.
  
• Added scrolling to task menu.
  
• Added bodybags to asylum.

• Upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.3
  
• Minions now have variable wait times for roaming or starting of attacks.
  
• Disabled ping in solo play throughs as it has no use.
  
• Damage amount on minion attacks dropped a little.
  
• Reduced spawn rate of health items.
  
• Increased task counts on Hard and Death Wish difficulties.

• Minions no longer try to repeatedly open a locked door
  
• Fixing bug with display settings showing wrong value on first load
  
• Removed blue glasses on James.
  
• Secret bookcase backside switch is now only usable from the back.

Version: 0.6
Build: branches/Dirge_v0.6-DirgeSteam-UE_5.3-Shipping-387-8274

It's time to get amped for our birthday update! 🗓️

🦘 Get Ready for Hard Mode: Kangaroo Mayhem!
Things are going wild! Hard mode is turning up the kangaroo chaos. Defend your brews from these crazy kangaroos – it's a boomerang showdown like never before!

🌴 Chill Out in Zen Mode: BBQ and Relax!
Need a breather? Zen mode is your jam. Take it easy, cook up some grub for your mates, and practice your boomerang skills on laid-back cardboard kangaroos. It's like target practice, Aussie style.

🎥 Peek at the Fun!
Check out the sneak peek to see what's in store:


And there's more good news! We've slashed the price of the game to just $4.99. Thanks for an incredible year of boomerangs, beers, and roo chaos! Dive into the fun, and here's to another year of thrilling boomerang battles! 🍻

Greetings to all the gifted blacksmiths!

Thank you to everyone who supports our team by submitting bug reports for Anvil Saga. It helps us to fix things quickly and create the perfect blacksmithing game for you.

After reading the feedback, we realized that the game is very difficult for some people; we have decided to add an easy mode. The gold reward for items and bulk orders is increased by 150%. Bulk orders also provide a 175% boost to reputation, and regular orders grant 2 prestige points. Food in easy mode heals workers to half of their maximum health. Also, the food spoils 1.5 times slower in both modes.



The following bugs have been fixed:

• Displaying the incorrect lines for Doan if the player made a frying pan for her;
  
• A bug with the timer before the fair;
  
• Bug where the builder would not arrive to build a room;
  
• Interface blinking on 4K monitors;
  
• Locking buttons on the keyboard after selling a bookcase;
  
• Appearance of empty event windows;
  
• Northener and Finley become stuck during the third fair;
  
• Bug causing an item to still be purchased for a complex order after a customer refused the order and left;
  
• A bug causing progress to reset to zero on day 20;
  
• Bug causing England's order to remain in the order feed in Chapter 3 when accepting a Bandit's order;
  
• Bug causing mixed orders at the fair to bring 0 points;
  
• Bug that caused plank-paid orders to show up as food-paid orders in the order feed;
  
• Ability to hire an extra worker while the current worker was on a task outside the forge;
  
• Displaying a bed instead of a French merchant's order;
  
• Disappearance of the first monk order from the order feed;
  
• Bug causing Vlad's wife to arrive on day 55 after successfully completing all quests on day 53;
  
• Bug with the size of the log rack collider;
  
• Incorrect tooltips in the tutorial;
  
• Bug that caused the religious holidays modifier to start in seasons other than summer;
  
• Bug that caused the stall at the second fair to depend on the results of the preparation for the first fair;
  
• A bug that caused the transition between the two far rooms on the lower level of the mine to not be displayed;
  
• Characters get stuck on the way to the sawmill if it is below ground level.
  
• Bug that caused customers with carving orders to come only in the absence of any modifiers;
  
• Appearance of a black screen instead of a list of completed orders in the Order journal;
  
• Disappearance of the interface in the tutorial after a Baron's order;
  
• Out-of-bounds text in Antonio's first order;
  
• Bug sometimes causing the courier to not bring tools after purchase;
  
• A bug causing a sleep animation on the bed even if the blacksmith is currently awake;
  
• A bug causing a bandit stealing furniture to get stuck after reloading;
  
• Bug that caused the spawn frequency of customers for different modifiers to not be saved;
  
• Bug, because of which, after the completion of Olivia's order in the Order journal entered a record that the order had failed;
  
• Bug with the roof displaying when double-clicking on the design menu;
  
• Fixed several bugs in the Chinese localization.

In addition, we have added:

• Korean language;
  
• Ability to refuse Antonio's bulk order on the select tab;
  
• Camera speed settings and edge scrolling, plus the ability to disable them;
  
• Lines about the bells so that players do not assume that blacksmiths not falling asleep during this debuff is a bug.
  
• Indicators displaying the level when blacksmiths start to require sleep and food;
  
• A display of the current reputation level with the faction in story choices;
  
• A button to open the pause menu;
  
• Dialogues with the bandit stealing furniture when he first arrives;
  
• Narrator phrases explaining faction mechanics;
  
• Tooltip for orders requiring books.

And, finally, we changed the inscription on the fairs. Instead of "Save and Exit" it now says "Exit" to avoid the misconception that you can save at fairs.

We hope that, despite all of the flaws, you are enjoying Anvil Saga. Thanks again for your help with bugs, support on the release, and feedback on the game.

Regards,
Anvil Saga Team

Hi, Captains of Fortune!

Here I am back after the flood! :D
I want to fix the main bugs remaining in the battle so that we can move on to the development of the story mode soon.



- I modified the first map (the green one) because sometimes the shops were created at points that were unreachable to the player.
Now all the rock groups have been opened and the player is free to enter them.
It is also possible to exploit these small passages to carry out a sort of Thermopylae tactic, but enemy projectiles must be taken into account.

- The minimap of the previously mentioned map has been updated.

- I finally fixed the bug that didn't allow you to stack multiple consumable resources of the same type in the same slot!

- I added the functionality of being able to withdraw 3 different types of quantities from a slot:
1) click - get everything
2) LeftAlt + click - pick up only one unit
3) LeftShift + click - takes only half of the present quantity (approximated by default).

- Fixed the bug that prevented the healing skill from being usable.
Now, the higher a mercenary's healing skill, the more he will heal his companions.

- I also finally solved the formation orientation problem in Formation Mode.
Now, you can build your formation taking into account that the front part will be the one towards the left.
Consequently, when you move into battle, the formation will automatically orient itself based on the direction of travel.
Remember that you can "block" the rotation of the formation by pressing the relevant button (there is a list of commands in Settings/Controls).

- I changed the background colors of Formation mode to have a more pleasant and intuitive perception.


I will still need at least 1-2 updates before moving on to developing the Story mode.

That's all from my humid studio :D
See you in the next update, my friends!