Dec 21, 2023

CONSORTIUM Remastered Playtest - iDGi

iDGi development update

Greet1ng2 Seekers,

Wit2 th1s year’s massive solstice iDGi-1 signal boost, the CONSORTIUM VR / Remastered project is now juuuust about complete. Brand new Consortium King convo, finished briefing, tutorials. Major fixes, completely finished choreography, new music.

We just released V0.1.24! Now available to all players of CVR Beta Early Access and CONSORTIUM Remastered Playtest. Here is the complete changelist: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2403840/view/3884982211371316980

The release of this Beta playtest update (CVR Beta Early Access and CONSORTIUM Remastered Playtest) is basically the signal of the start of the FINAL Beta Test phase. Further patches will largely be only for last minute tweaks, fixe2, music 1mprovements and finishing the very very ending. We can now confidently say that –

CONSORTIUM Remastered v1.0 will be launching at the same time that CONSORTIUM VR emerges from Early Access, in Q1 2024.

For 14 years or so since it originally came on-line, iDGi-1 has been revealing more and more of a world that is, in some ways, a bright mirror to our own; an aspirational world, but some terrifying events have been chronicled in the CONSORTIUM and TOWER streams. How does it all end? It may still take awhile longer, but we simply will not stop until the TOWER stream is completed.

We once again thank everyone that reads this who continues to be patient with our long and drawn out project timelines. We sincerely wish each and every one of you a relaxing and peaceful holiday season.

Can we ALL somehow find a way to make it collectively through 2024 in one piece?!

Namaste,

–iDGi

–iDGi on Discord

“Sometimes you can find peace of mind by transferring yourself to different situations. They're just reminders to stay ... calm.”
—Yves Behar

"It's one world, pal. We're all neighbors"
—Frank Sinatra

Dec 21, 2023

More News and Development Progress

Gastova: The Witches of Arkana - RayaneFLX

Hello Everyone!

We're here once more. A couple of months ago we made an update to tell you of more news about the game. Now, let's start with a few things of notice:

Regarding our original plan of sharing news and updates in mid to late November, we're significantly delayed in delivering that commitment and that is entirely on us, but we actually do have way more things to divulge now thanks to the delay.
The control scheme survey release also got delayed. We will likely postpone it until after we can have everyone test the new default scheme via the upcoming update and in order to have accurate feedbacks due to the myriad of gameplay changes.

For all the constant delays, please allow us to offer once again, our sincerest apologies.

Release of Endgame Patch Date Changes

A couple of weeks ago we were presented with a rather difficult choice. Continue with the already divulged plans of releasing the game on January 6th, or do what we believe to be the best thing for the game and postpone the update once more.

If we released the game as is in the coming weeks, there is a chance some things wouldn't work as we intend it, and we feel like that would be a massive letdown. For that purpose, we're going to suspend the EA patch release for now. The only thing we can say at this point now is that we're working hard and trying our best, and we hope this update will help reassure our players of that, even if only partially.

For now we are unsure what the next best release date would be. We'll do our best to give another heads up as soon as we are firmly in just beta testing territory. We apologize for the disappointing news.

Game Progress: The Overhauls

Now, let us move on to slightly more positive news! We believe it's time to discuss what has been happening to the game behind the scenes and what really changes with the upcoming update. Here we go!

Game Difficulty Rebalance

We have been working to make sure that enemies and bosses would have a more balanced approach as far as damage and placement goes. Our primary objective is to make sure that the easy and normal modes are enjoyable to casual and regular players, while the hard mode would be truly hellish.

The first thing that will contribute to that effect would be to rework the math behind the enemies and their elemental resistances. We're also tweaking and testing the staves to make sure the difficulty is proportionate, but that will also depend on Gastova herself (more about Gastova below).

New Mechanic: Enemy Enchantments

This is a Hard Mode exclusive mechanic. We decided that the enemies are not giving the players enough of a hard time in that mode, so why not make it more chaotic?

This system will place a random elemental enchantment on almost every regular enemy in the game. Depending on the element of the enchantment, the enemy will receive an extra ability that'll make them far more threatening than their regular counterparts.

They will also look different thanks to a visual effect that will be placed on them. Here are the visuals of the enchantments!

Overhaul of Character and Element Progression

In our current build, the game's progression system is based off of collecting money and material drops from enemies and utilizing those currencies in the shop to buy upgrades. The problem with this system is that drop rates for money is high while drop rates for mats is too low, making the actual late stage upgrades much harder to obtain. Another problem is that players would also accumulate a high amount of money but have very few items to spend it on afterwards. Overall, it was a balancing nightmare that is very difficult due to how everyone plays the game differently.

So we decided to completely change that system to a different approach. The changes will be as follows:

We have completely removed the game's economy: Currency no longer exists, and shop upgrades are no longer available as buyable items. In its place, Money Drops will be converted into EXP Drops, and Gastova levels up automatically. This means the player doesn't have to go back and forth just to buy a new upgrade, and can benefit from it automatically to improve her stats such as HP, Mana, and Critical Chance/Damage.
Materials such as Essence Orbs and Crystallized Animals and others that can be found as drops and in chests, will be converted into Element EXP Drop. This EXP will provide a different set of level upgrades to the elemental powers, and we'll call this system "Elemental Talents". To increase the chance of a element specific EXP Drop, you can use more of that element's power when defeating enemies (via things such as staves, summons and busters).
Consumable items that could be obtained via shop purchases becomes rechargeable items instead. This is what happens to Goddess Stone, and potion usage will be replaced by a new mechanic called "Grimoire".

In general, while seemingly a bit drastic, we hope these changes will finally streamline the gameplay and progression while also making the level system a bit more intuitive and accessible to players, while also dealing with the issues created by the previous empty economy. Mr. Piggy's Pawn Shop will not be completely removed despite the changes, and will instead be retooled into a new system. More on that to come in future updates.

New Mechanic: Grimoires

We have received feedback mentioning that potion abuse was making the game too easy. We also reflected on the lack of consumable options as well as the lack of good passive abilities, so we decided to combine these issues to solve them all in one go.

With this, we introduce the Grimoire System. In the place of potions, you now have access to 8 new spells, with varying effects. Each Grimoire needs to spend a charge, which is just the existing potion slots, but will also have a cooldown to avoid unnecessary spamming. The slots will increase as Gastova levels up.

Here's a sneak peek of a Grimoire in action: The Boon of the Queen Bee, a healing Grimoire!

To unlock new Grimoires, you need to defeat the subbosses. Here is the splash visuals for the grimoires:

Overhaul of Game Menus

In addition to gameplay changes, we also decided to fix issues with existing menus. We added new functionalities while also making sure the QoL for existing menus was improved, to make sure the game experience feels better for you all.

Let's quickly showcase how some of the menus look:

The State of Boss Fights

We're still working on improving the Boss Fights, but we cannot go into much details of endgame fights without spoiling the plot. But one fight we can quickly mention is the Mansion bosses, Isabelle&Isadora. Their animations were limited in the old version, so we have finally decided to give them an upgrade!

We're also gonna change the attacks and dynamics of their fight. Hopefully that will make things more interesting!

Preview of Voice Overs

We thought it would be fun to showcase some v.o previews for you guys! Shoutout to the amazing Miss Shellah and Monica Flatley, voicing Gastova and Tenebrea respectively!

Final Words

That's it from us for now. Right now we are taking part in Steam's Winter sale. We encourage people to try out the game if they wish to compare the differences of current build vs the future patch update!

Also, don't forget to grab the Festive Witch DLC!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2224100

This is a paid DLC that will continue to be free during the period of EA, so we really encourage everyone to get it while they can!

As usual, we'll continue to troubleshoot the current version of the game, but bear in mind we won't be able to make a minor patch of fixes just yet thanks to the game being under the mentioned overhauls. Please let us know what you think about this update, we're always happy to hear feedback from you guys!

Thank you and stay safe and sound, everyone. Until next time!

Dec 21, 2023

12월 업데이트 안내 (버전 0.6.7)

X Invader - ALLAF GAMES

Hello, Invaders!

I'd like to inform you about the content of the December update that took place today.

If you experience any issues running the game after the update,
please prioritize performing a file integrity check.

■ Guide to Conducting a File Integrity Check:
https://help.steampowered.com/faqs/view/0C48-FCBD-DA71-93EB

■ Update Version: v 0.6.7

■ Patch Notes:

1. Major Updates

● Vaccine Crasher Revamp
- The attack mode of the Vaccine Crasher has been changed from a curved trajectory to a direct shot method. Additionally, some values have been adjusted for balance improvement of this weapon.

2. 2. Improvements

● Modifications to random penalty effects at Security System Level 5
- Removal of the penalty where certain hacker's add-ons do not appear
- Changed to an effect that increases the probability of appearance of certain hacker's Rare Add-ons.
● Enhanced auto-aiming performance for E-Laser
● Corrections to English and Chinese translations for character encyclopedia and challenge tasks.

3. Balance Adjustments
● Adjustment of appearance probability values for Dodo's Hacking Tools enhancement add-ons
- Base value: 33%
- When upgraded with ‘Treasure Trove’: 35%
● Removal of the 'Water Rocket' Fixed Max Magazine effect from the Vaccine Crasher add-on
● Adjustment of effect values for Ooparts 'Infinity Bandana'
- Max Magazine +10 → +3
● Adjustment of effect values for Ooparts 'Speed Loader'
- Reload Speed 150% → 70%
● The 'Flame Rocket' SOUL CODE effect has been changed.
- When the Flame Rocket SOUL CODE is equipped, a Flame effect is added to the basic Gas Blast.

If you encounter any issues during gameplay,
please report them to our Discord for a prompt response.

X Invader Discord:
https://discord.gg/Jz6DnKKBke

We are always grateful to everyone who plays X Invader.

Enjoy your gameplay!

Dec 21, 2023

CONSORTIUM Remastered Playtest : Final Beta 1: v0.1.34 is live.

CONSORTIUM Remastered Playtest - iDGi

With this year’s solstice iDGi-1 signal boost, CONSORTIUM Remastered is now juuuust about complete. Brand new Consortium King convo, finished briefing, tutorials. Major fixes, completed updated choreography.

MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS:

-New Consortium King conversation

-Tutorial videos now in, with custom versions made for Remastered and VR.

-General lighting improvements. Lightmaps now used exclusively, but with dynamic shadows (PC only - possibly Quest 3 in future)

-Final choreography polish done for: Pawn 4 near the end, Pawns in barracks, important hangar bay three-character ensemble convo, Pawn 64 encounter, Pawn 64 first convo in beginning,

-Many brand new Information Console articles can now be found, and many more articles polished and improved for accuracy.

FIXES:

-Fixed characters in chairs not rotating to face the player in a lot of cases
-Fixed crash that happaned on plane destruction
-General fixes and improvements for traitor fight
-Fixed being able to knock down the traitor with the shotgun
-If traitor was somehow incapped during the unknown traitor fight when the game is loaded, it is now corrected.
-Fixed bug where the bishops cabin virus state wasn't reverted after all possible paths out of the P64 encounter. The virus state would keep running even after the virus was fixed.
-Fixed bad B bug that could occur if XXXX died juuust before the player's healing nanites completed, erroneously causing both states to be true at the same time (XXXX could die but *also* get up and walk to a chair ;-P)
-Fixed XXXX not thanking the Bishop for being saved due to old rotten Hammer script based around button pressing.
-Fixed VT turning back on no matter what after player chooses traitor, causing ISSUES - fixed so that now the VT turning on will now only turn on if the player's bed (Dream 2) is turning back on as well.
-Added NPC body pose value interpolation
-NPCs which are in convo limbo with the player now stay in their choreo animation state so there should be no more “snaps” when NPCs are in-between sequences.
-Fixed issue with time slowing down while in menus during the intro before Kiril
-Fixed the menu button not working when in left handed mode
-Fixed all instances of “NPC arms going through furniture” in the first half of the game. (second half developing…)
-Now cancelling broken Zenlil core sound when mission is complete
-Fixed repeating music that could be triggered endlessly in the Lounge (!). Now triggered in briefing room.
-Save / restore now works correctly during the briefing
-Fixed non-progression bug (!) that could happen if players sat down in the briefing room too early.
-Fixed bug in the ISS global conditions when if a global had never been set before it would be evaluated incorrectly
-Fixed door sound bugs on deck 3 in general.
-Fixed the lightmapping bugs in zenlil_dynamic (objects having lightmaps applied but incorrect shader so checkerboard)
-Fixed light stuck in the detail mesh in upper avionics
-Fixed the XXXX fight lighting on areas and characters
-Fixed the blinky light in the galley during the murder sequence not changing the rooms lightmap state
-Fixed some light meshes not being turned to the off skin when the light is also off
-Fixed alignment changes not always showing correctly if that option is on. This fixes a ton of erroneous and missing changes.
-Fixed instance of Pawn 32 in the hangar bay erroneously teleporting across the room.
-Changed 'SkipSerialization' to 'Transient' UPROPERTY param so the property is zero'd. I get a feeling this was causing memory bleed between saves for the chip minigame.
-Fixed the tutorial window sometimes showing on top of the bishop HUD in VR because of timings
-Fixed getting into quantum limbo and improved a couple more things there

TWEAKS:

-Player can no longer use the flashlight with no armor equipped.
-Tweaked runtime of a critical path cmc convo to address super long pause
-Further reduced pause until XXXX stops and turns around when confronted - is now 1- 3 seconds.
-Upped background opacity on the info console from .4 to .8

IMPROVEMENTS:

-Clean up for heal and repair indication. Now it tells you if you can't repair/heal because of low utility.
-Intro dream sound/music polish
-Localization: German, Spanish and Russian completed.
-Zenlil Defense Minigame:
-FX Zenlil damage particles polished
-Added Zenlil health and energy to the arm HUD
-Virtual Trainer:
-New iDGi VT user scenario “Death Gauntlet” added to pool.
-Other than some additional polish and tweaks, the VT is now content complete for v1.0.
-Final-ish level design and FX pass made to VT Combat 1. Ceilings, multi-sized walls, added two
heavy shielded AIs that stay in one spot (the retreat zone for AIs) and will only stir if they detect
the player.
-VT Combat 2 - vastly simplified level. Players must shut down all spawners to open ending.
Finalized loadouts, spawn counts/patrols, level completion logic, animated ending squar.,
-The VT now unlocks after the briefing.
-Fixed XXXX disintegration sequence having animation spazzes due to unnecessary anims in level sequences. Also polished up final XXXX scene choreo before XXXX dies to reveal more emotion.
-Updated HUD visuals for Health and Armor.
-Added the repairing wrench over the Armor HUD indicator when repairing (animated)
-Updated fonts
-Updated/finished front-end iDGi logo animation sheet
-A.I tuning polish pass: AI health/stamina related Confidence values tuned to change more often based on combat conditions, more fleeing behaviour if everyone's stamina is super low they may all "regroup" before re-engaging. Sped up recovery times from combatants downed by CEAR sonic blasts considerably for much better pacing.
-NEW ENDING (developing…)
-Objectives for post briefing finalized.
-Final “EPILOGUE” Chapter save now happens after first King convo
-iDGi-1 stream degradation now starts to kick in after final convo of stream.
-Original soundscape in ending Quantum Limbo restored
-New ending Quantum Limbo video window
-Setup the teleportation sequence logic from the freefall into the new dream sequence approach.
- All ending teleports fixed up and working.
-Music Finalizing ( developing… )
-removed unnecessary big orchestral hit with player death
-brand new music for briefing