Hello everyone!

We are thrilled to unveil the most colossal update in the history of Taboo University!

🚀 Major Highlights:

This update is not just big – it's monumental, surpassing any we've ever crafted for all our ViNovella games. Brace yourselves for an update that goes beyond the ordinary, not just in terms of renders, dialogues, and animations, but in the scale of EPIC events!

Step into the heart of action! Get ready for confrontations between factions and witness or participate in the mysterious rituals of enigmatic organizations. Take part in intense university competitions that add a competitive edge to the gameplay.

The quality of renders and animations has reached unprecedented heights – prepare to be awestruck!

Current update features:

• 4465 renders
  
• 385 of the spiciest, high-quality animations
  
• An abundance of tantalizing descriptions and exhilarating sounds

The events are getting more intriguing, the competition fiercer, and the characters hotter! We can't wait for you to dive into the world of Taboo University!

🎮 See you in the game!

🚨 Important Note:
As of now, the game is exclusively accessible on our official Patreon page.


As soon as the first book is fully completed, it will be available on Steam! Stay tuned for the exciting release and immerse yourself in the captivating world we've crafted for you. 📚✨
We appreciate the support!

Thank you!

Release - 1.1.0 Notes

Developer Notes
Small stocking stuffer this Christmas Eve.
Re-worked the Monk's unarmed damage. The initial values were very low for the higher levels.
Please note, the monk's damage and attack score won't be changed until they level. If max level or you don't want to wait until leveling, feel free to
send my your saved game file (support@blindmonkeygames.com) and I will adjust their scores to what they should be for their level.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

• Informational - Increased Monk unarmed damage to be inline with some weapon damages.
  
• Informational - Monk's Fists of Fury now apply the "fury" effect every hit instead of a percentage chance of being applied
  
• Informational - Monk's Attack score has been adjusted. Increase is higher than originally set.

SOLDIERS! Merry Christmas! It has been a while since the last update so I thought I’d check in and write up an end of year recap like I usually do.

2023 was a difficult but overall very productive year for the project. Here are some of the biggest things that happened over the past 12 months!




To kick off the year, I was lucky enough to be one of the few studios to recieve development funding from Screen Australia. This ensured I could keep developing the game throughout the year comfortably!




Biggest news of this year was signing with Team17, renown publisher of indie greats such as Blasphemous, Dredge and Overcooked.



Having some of the weight of being a one man team taken off my back has been a tremendous relief so far, and it has allowed me to purely focus on finishing the game. In the long run, this was the right decision for the game.



Balancing social media, getting Steam wishlists, making trailers, with making a fairly large indie game was becoming unmanageable for me. It was taking too much time away from making the game, but it’s unfortunately all stuff that you must do if you want to be successful and have longevity in this industry.



Knowing that the marketing is in good hands allowed me to focus on the part of the process that is most enjoyable - actually making the game!


Was lucky enough to showcase again this year at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany under the Australian pavilion.



Truth be told, the trip was a bit of a nightmare. My luggage was lost at Munich airport (thanks Lufthansa) and I received it 3 weeks after I was back home - so I had to spend quite a few days running around buying everything that was lost.



Regardless, I made it work and the actual convention went well. Did some media interviews, got to meet Team17 in person and once again got to represent the Australian games industry on the world stage.



No Verdun visit this year, as much as I love that place - I was low on time and had to get back home to work. I got most of what I needed back when I went in 2022 anyway, and it will be interesting to see if any eagle eyed fans will be able to pick up all the real life Verdun references that made it into the game.


Running the CONSCRIPT booth at PAX AUS this year was another highlight for me. Had an even bigger booth than last year. I remember in 2017 when my gamedev journey first started I went to PAX AUS as a consumer for the first time and told myself that one day I'd be there with my own booth, so to be able to turn that into reality over the past two years has been surreal!



Once again an amazing opportunity to meet with fans and showcase CONSCRIPT!



Overall, reception to the demo was overwhelmingly positive and everyone was incredibly supportive.

Check out this amazing poilu, who was one of the first to come past the booth:



Seeing people this passionate and dedicated to my project really lights a fire underneath me!



Thanks to everyone who came past and had a chat, always a pleasure meeting everyone at PAX! (Shoutout to Mick Gordon for coming past, too!)


A lot of you will be wondering what the state of the project is going into 2024, and the truth is - things are going very well!



2023 was the hardest year of work I’ve ever done in my life, no doubt about it. Countless 12-14 hour work days especially in the past few months. Many personal sacrifices had to be made for these sort of work hours.



(And to clarify, working these hours was my own choice. Nobody except myself forced me to do anything).



But, the hard work was worth it. I’m happy to say that CONSCRIPT is pretty much content complete. This is a huge milestone.



Now the focus is QA, polishing, localizing, refining and making sure the game is as great as it can be. So it lives up to all of your expectations. I cannot give away any specific dates or windows yet, but the game will be releasing in 2024.



Just want to say, thanks for sticking around for this long! Feels like yesterday I launched the Kickstarter campaign, but that was already more than 3 years ago. Embarrassingly, I genuinely thought I would be able to release the game in 2021! Unfortunately though, this IS my first rodeo and so I was quite naive to the realities of game development. Things take a long time and they cost a lot of money to make, this is just the harsh reality of making a game with the scope of CONSCRIPT.



Personally I’m very happy with the game in its near final state and I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish for my first ever game. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. No game is. But there comes a time in every game's development cycle where you need to call it a day, and ship it. The majority of my original vision is here, and the game is actually quite a bit longer than I thought it would end up being. I can’t wait for you all to finally be able to play it.



Next year it will be the final stretch, so I won’t have time for any sort of regular devlogs anymore. But, I’ll update you all on the big announcements as they come.

That’s all from me. Have a great holiday break, soldiers.
-Jordan

Added a new Mountain area with 3 levels!

Fixes and changes:

• New level completion screen
  
• Friends Leaderboard
  
• Fixed some bugs related to saving scores
  
• Fixed Desert level 4 going to an incomplete level by completing Desert level 5
  
• Fixed Player not being able to jump on some surfaces
  
• Fixed tokens not getting consumed via next level button when changing areas

This update adds the Christmas seasonal items, a few tiny new additions, and fixes to many known issues and glitches. Work on Stage 7 has begun and I hope to bring you it soon

Main Focus:

• Steam Overlay now works in game!
since launch I have been trying to get the steam overlay to work in game to which it finally works

•Christmas Seasonal Items
each season comes with an skin, item, or items for you to collect duing only that season every year the items are different so make sure you log on to claim your items.

•Stage 6 Boss Rush Issue
there was a major issue that didn't allow players to finish their boss rush trials as the final stage would encounter a bug and send you to the start of the stage. This is no longer a problem and Boss Rush can be completed

•Setups for Stage 7
The base preparations for Stage 7 have started and the new stage should be expected in update hopefully not that long in the future I hope to be able to get the next stage out for you all in early 2024

There are still many secrets in the game that have gone undiscovered so keep an eye out when playing.
Lucky for me nobody has gotten to beat the final stage yet so I still have time before I need to release the next stage

Discount
I haven't been able to add a discount at the start of the Winter Sale for Steam because the game is too new but the discount will instead just be delayed so expect 40% off on December 29th

The support thus far has been amazing and I thank all players and customers of Monkey Game I hope to bring more updates and games to you all in the future.

If you wish to talk with the community or get in touch with the Staff and Team of Monkey Game join the Monkey Game Discord.


Merry Christmas
-AlphaDucky

Overwatch is requesting all units refresh and resolve. Update is live. Acceptance is mandatory.

Version 1.6.3 is going live on the default branch of Entropy : Zero 2 today.

The 1.6 update mostly consists of small QOL improvements with NPC behavior. You can read the full changelog below or click on the individual version numbers to see the announcement for each build.

1.6 also adds some new NPCs that do not appear in the campaign. These are creations that the EZ2 team is working on for potential use in future projects that are made available for workshop addons and mods.

Finally, 1.6.3 makes a change to the way autosaving works in EZ2. You can set a "Save History Count" on the options menu which defaults to 10. The game will preserve up to this many saves. This is intended to prevent situations where you might not have an older save to go back to when you need to load an earlier save.


Changes

• Updated HEV zombie models ( https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2994012565 )
  
• Metrocops in Chapter Zero can now switch weapons to stunsticks if their target gets too close
  
• Fix Combine soldiers not attacking zombies up close

Unused Content

• Combine Assassin ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/207 )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKf37rZ7e1Q

Changes

• Fix antlion guard dynamic prop shoving/punting from stock HL2 ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/209 )
  
• Fix for squad members not following orders when there are more than 4 squadmates ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/211 )
  
• Hunters can be pet ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/216 )

Unused Content

• Combine Husks ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/217 )
  
• Lowered pulse pistol NPC damage from 12 to 6

Changes

• Fix Wilson not tipping or fidgeting after his introduction in c3_1 (i.e. removed some now-obsolete contexts)
  
• Fixed bug where developer overlay text could appear over beast home nodes

Unused Content

• Added a new feature for mods where health vials can be picked up and stored by the player (Does not effect EZ2) ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/223 )
  
• Added new Crab Synth NPC for mods and future content ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/226 )
  
• Added new Arbeit personality core NPC for mods and future content ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/227 )
  
• Added new Mortar Synth NPC for mods and future content ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/229 )
  
• Players can give friendly Combine assassins dual weapons
  
• Fix for bug with Combine assassin vantage points
  
• Added Manhack ammo type to EZ2

Changes

• New menu option "Save History Count" to change the number of quicksaves and autosaves the game will retain. Defaults to 10 instead of 1

Unused Content

• Updated metrocop view models in models/weapons/ez1 for mappers to use EZ2 animations
  
• Improvements to Husk NPC ( https://github.com/entropy-zero/source-sdk-2013/pull/235 )
  
• New input for mappers to change manhacks into Clone Cop manhacks (SetNemesisManhack)

The new NPCs added in the 1.6 update do not appear in the main campaign, but they are available for use and experimentation by modders. They stem from experiments for where we plan on taking the E:Z series going forward. However, for simplicity's sake, we've decided to release them publicly with the game so that the community can use them.

You can find a new "Combine Assassin Demo" map in the Bonus Maps menu demonstrating the new assassins. The other NPCs do not have their own demo map and must be created through the developer console.

Husk Soldier - npc_create npc_husk_soldier
Husk Cop - npc_create npc_husk_police
Crab Synth - npc_create npc_crabsynth
Mortar Synth - ent_create npc_mortarsynth
Personality Core - npc_create npc_arbeit_personality_core

Note that mortar synths may spawn in the floor when created in this way. Use the "ent_teleport !picker" command successively while facing one in order to get it out of the ground.

v0.9.0 - Unique Items with unique stats!

Full game release targeted for January 8th, 2024!

Added:
- Added a new item Rarity: Uniques - uniques will have stat mods that are not craftable.
- Added new Consumable "Stone of Uniques" - Rewarded when winning the run. On use, an unique rarity piece of equipment is given.
- Stats related rewards during runs are now affected by the wave count (+10% extra stats per Wave)
- New Unique Stats:
- Trigger Abilities On Movement: All equipped abilities are triggered when moving. Abilities do consume mana
- Trigger Abilities On Damaged: All equipped abilities are triggered when damaged.
- Trigger Abilities On Standing Still: All equipped abilities are triggered when Standing Still. Abilities do consume mana
- Trigger Abilities On Mana Spent: All equipped abilities are triggered when Mana Spent.
- Trigger Abilities On Block: All equipped abilities are triggered on Block.
- Trigger Abilities On Critical Hit: All equipped abilities are triggered when Critical Hit. Abilities do consume mana
- Quicker Win Condition: Reduce win condition time by number of seconds
- Sanity Time: Increase the base Sanity Time by number of seconds
- Sanity Time Gain: Increase the Sanity Time Gain per wave by number of seconds
- Blood Magic: Abilities use Life instead of Mana to cast

Changes:
- Non-unique items do not roll unique stat mods anymore
- Stat mods with the unique tags are no longer craftable
- Removed the unique craftable slots from the craft window

Bugs:
- Fixed a display bug on abilities duration

v0.9.0 - Unique Items with unique stats!

Full game release targeted for January 8th, 2024!

Added:
- Added a new item Rarity: Uniques - uniques will have stat mods that are not craftable.
- Added new Consumable "Stone of Uniques" - Rewarded when winning the run. On use, an unique rarity piece of equipment is given.
- Stats related rewards during runs are now affected by the wave count (+10% extra stats per Wave)
- New Unique Stats:
- Trigger Abilities On Movement: All equipped abilities are triggered when moving. Abilities do consume mana
- Trigger Abilities On Damaged: All equipped abilities are triggered when damaged.
- Trigger Abilities On Standing Still: All equipped abilities are triggered when Standing Still. Abilities do consume mana
- Trigger Abilities On Mana Spent: All equipped abilities are triggered when Mana Spent.
- Trigger Abilities On Block: All equipped abilities are triggered on Block.
- Trigger Abilities On Critical Hit: All equipped abilities are triggered when Critical Hit. Abilities do consume mana
- Quicker Win Condition: Reduce win condition time by number of seconds
- Sanity Time: Increase the base Sanity Time by number of seconds
- Sanity Time Gain: Increase the Sanity Time Gain per wave by number of seconds
- Blood Magic: Abilities use Life instead of Mana to cast

Changes:
- Non-unique items do not roll unique stat mods anymore
- Stat mods with the unique tags are no longer craftable
- Removed the unique craftable slots from the craft window

Bugs:
- Fixed a display bug on abilities duration

We're cooking up a big update over here, but in the meantime, we hope every is having a pleasant Christmas season. We've put our Skidoo vehicle into this Frompmas build, and cleaned up a few bugs.

This update contain art update and minor bug fixes,