We've just pushed a new Community Test update to update a few things and hopefully iron out the last few showstoppers before the official V1034 release.

Before we go over the changes, you might be happy to read that…

Until March 21st @ 10am PST, you can grab a copy (and indeed as many copies as you want) of GROUND BRANCH with a sweet 30% discount. You know the drill: spread the word and maybe even get a few extra keys to get yourself and your gaming buds in on the action just in time for the new update and the inevitable uptick in player numbers.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/16900/GROUND_BRANCH/

Valve takes a 30% cut from sales on their store, so if you have a PayPal account and would love us to get the full cut from your purchase, head over to {LINK REMOVED}our official store and use code Spring2024 at the checkout to apply the same 30% discount! You'll get a key to redeem at the Steam Store and be ready to play in no time.

💵 Please note that our store operates in USD only, so this might not be a great deal if you're paying in a different currency as we use regional pricing on Steam.

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With that out of the way, patch notes start right after the beta instructions below:

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click 'BETAS' on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu
  (no password required)

Steam will begin downloading the files for the testing branch. Patching may take a while.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press Esc once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

🚧 These issues are known to still be present:

• Hostage Rescue has a few new quirks with the hostage sack, hostage leading functionality and flex cuffs, which we are currently working to fix for the final release
  
• Enemy AI may be unresponsive/idle/stuck in various contexts — if you see it, please make note of whether it was online (dedicated server? Listen server?) or offline, which game mode was being played, as well as map and location etc.
  
• Weapon movement, poses and animations in general are still being put back together after the prone overhaul — please bear with us
  
• The prone stance does not conform to terrain angle
  
• AI bots are not fully functional in Deathmatch

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• Fixed audio issues in City, Arena and Arena, Paintball and The Farm

• Reworked the spiral staircases for better AI flow
  
• Various lighting and bug fixes
  
• Generator should now stop sound when shot out

• Cleaned up a few missions with navigation/collision validator
  
• Fixed some navmesh issues

• Smoothed out collision on a few staircases

• Various lighting and bug fixes
  
• News helicopter respond to being shot again
  
• Fixed collision issues for crouching with some of the scaffolding

• Fixed bulletproof curtains

• Painted out leaves coming through shooting range floor

• Cleaned up collision on mesh causing some issues
  
• Fixed up wrong minimap

• Did a pass on all missions with collision/navmesh validator
  
• Fixed out-of-level exploit in Deck 3 missions (Deathmatch, Team Elimination)
  
• Changed material on vending machine so it looked better in dark areas

• Various collision, LOD and lighting bugs fixed

• Fixed stretched UVs on a rock
  
• Expanded nav bounds and cleaned up navmesh
  
• Fixed up various missions, hopefully clearing AI traffic jam on C building upper floor
  
• Cleaned up collision on cinderblock piles
  
• Fixed virtual texture rock blending
  
• Rebuilt navmesh

• Various collision, LOD and lighting bugs fixed

• Removed problematic ladder outside of green barn

• Reduced AI agent height for nav mesh generation to 185 cm (opens up more places to navmesh)
  
• Reworked dead body callouts: now a dead body will only ever trigger one call out in total
  
• Subsequent discoveries by other AI will not trigger additional callouts (they will still go investigate and go into combat ready mode, e.g. draw their weapon)
  
• Fixed up bugs with AI failing to reload
  
• Team handling fixed up in new Kythera AI systems
  
• Rejigged AI character/controller setup
  
• Changes to how AI processes multiple audio signals to avoid prioritizing far away gunshots over close-up footsteps
  
• Fixed DebugFreeze not working for AI

• Fixed hover foot (one leg lifted off ground)
  
• Added generic item lean animations
  
• Added prone grenade unequip animation
  
• Rejig of animation instance systems (to make it easier to layer animations)
  
• New equipment locomotion
  
• Adding a generic Item move set and with aims
  
• Fixed M110 fire selector animations
  
• Updated PMM-related (pistol) animations to be additive and bring them in line with the rest of the handgun animations
  
• Updated PMM compressed to match the base handgun
  
• Added sprint check to SDASS and M24 to prevent working the action if fired while sprinting
  
• Updated rig to prevent aiming-through-hand issue
  
• Hooked up lean poses (updated a number of animations designed to be used in this layer to be based on generic item base pose instead of rifle base pose)
  
• Updated rig to prevent sights being offset when prone (especially an issue with handgun)
  
• Switched base reload prone animations for AR-15 and handguns to use non-prone versions
  
• Breaching Charge attachment fixed (was at 90 degrees to door)
  
• Fix to allow montage originating from server to be forced to owning client (should make detonator and breaching charge animations play properly in multiplayer)
  
• A lot of big under-the-hood changes to correctly support animations for all items in all stances

• Big pass on collision to simplify and debug
  
• Updated various vehicles to ensure sections that are shown or hidden use block-all or no-collision collision profiles instead of just enabling/disabling collision
  
• Stopped names appearing for enemies in Deathmatch
  
• A lot of under-the-hood game mode script fixes
  
• Added further restrictions to interacting while prone (should now be impossible for all actors)
  
• Bug fixes to laptop blueprint
  
• Added anti-spam checks to leaning, running and sprinting to remove some speed hacks
  
• Sprint blending times and effects changed
  
• Fixed server roster player list lag
  
• Fixed up DTAS, Hostage Rescue, Team Elimination and Uplink game modes to improve handling of AI kills and killers
  
• Internal tweaks and fixes relating to arm changes and gender identification of assets
  
• Disabled warning about missing eyebrows if none were defined so that they can be used with AI without causing log spam
  
• Character updated to change handling of head types/genders
  
• Cleared all meshes using character physics asset that do not need to — which is most of them
  
• Changed bomb explosion (Defuse) to fade to black after explosion
  
• Improved logging for failed kit loads
  
• Updated handling of failed kits to allow replacing child items and skins
  
• Disabled Ray Tracing in config to fix crash on exiting in DX12 mode
  
• Updated Tablet to use alternate new method to fill screen (instead of FOV and POV change, it will shift the tablet up to fill the screen — doesn't care if prone, crouched, standing or leaning) (WIP — hands may be visible, especially in prone etc.)
  
• Fixed volunteer function in Hostage Rescue
  
• Fixed flag placement issues in DTAS
  
• Tentative fixes for Hostage Rescue issues: should stop leading hostage when leader goes prone, and now clears BeingLeadAsHostage gameplay tag when cuffs are unequipped (should stop movement getting blocked in various ways) or when leading is otherwise stopped
  
• New restriction added so you can't use objects if underwater (may be a redundant check)
  
• Added new ServerExecute command, usable by superadmins only (to run console commands remotely on the server)
  
• Fixed picking up item in left hand attempting to keep it equipped in left hand instead of putting it away

• Added entries for backup skin substitutions
  
• Cleaned up a few hairstyles that were still showing the scalp with Ball Cap and Beanie
  
• Updated dump pouch and radio assets to properly set their skin
  
• Changed skins for main menu guys
  
• SA58 OSW now supports suppressor
  
• Back-end changes to improve handling of restricted skins and kit validation
  
• Added LODs and adjusted existing LODs for player heads, beards, hair and a few weapons and weapon attachments
  
• Converted eyelashes to static meshes for efficiency
  
• Big change under the hood to change internal kit handling to be always monolithic: keeps kit data consistent no matter what is parsing it, and removes issues caused by presets or item builds being deleted
  
• Added dialogs for handling kit validation issues and converting all user kits
  
• Removed unneeded failed kit validation widgets
  
• Cleared physics assets from all hairstyles
  
• General inventory tweaks/fixes
  
• Fixed goggles being too bright compared to other character assets
  
• Added new arm meshes in place of masking system
  
• Cleared simple collision from MP5 stocks that were in wrong orientation
  
• Removed physics from all balaclava versions of heads
  
• Cleaned up new head/balaclava meshes
  
• Fixed arm mesh poking through with male rolled sleeves and gloves
  
• Cleaned up some weighting on the male heads that make them poke through some shirts
  
• Changed arms to remove reliance on mesh updating to choose skin
  
• Cleaned up more issues with heads intersecting various shirts

• City Bank audio fix (slight reverb adjustment)
  
• Rundown tail fix
  
• Small reverb change, small bug fixes
  
• Fixed portals and occlusion issues
  
• Fixed missing ADS sound effects
  
• Fixed drop audio not playing for weapons
  
• Fixed missing Galil ARM third-person sounds
  
• Added missing voice lines in female character Comms Menu (G key)

• Big pass on checking emitters are parented to existing emitter assets.
  
• Distance culling set to 50 m for distant impacts
  
• Created 10 new blood spatter decals
  
• VFX emitter cleanup

• Tweaks to Customize Operator screen colors
  
• A few text changes to Customize Operator screen messages
  
• Visual update to "Game Paused" overlay
  
• Dialog boxes now have a fade-in and fade-out animation
  
• Updated loading screen hints: cleaned up appearance, edited existing hints for clarity and formatting, and added a new hint
  
• Updated visuals for color picker pop-up in Settings > HUD (is now limited to color wheel, e.g. hue selection)
  
• Fixed color picker buttons being slightly rectangular rather than perfect squares
  
• Minor copy edit and rearranging of Settings > HUD
  
• Fixed inconsistent padding between columns in Setting > Gameplay
  
• Updated wording and formatting for F4/F6 dialog prompts
  
• Updated mag check HUD: repositioned red cross and changed icon color (to red) for "no ammo"
  
• Minor update to hover effects in Keybinds column (Settings > Controls)
  
• Increased width of all setting selections: drop-downs, sliders, spinboxes etc. to allow for longer text strings, finer control in sliders, and close the gap between selections and their descriptions
  
• Added a few more settings tooltips
  
• Slightly more descriptive text in Sight Priority options
  
• Updated credits
  
• Made highlight for various tabs/buttons more evident
  
• Updated icon/swatch for Brown and Olive Drab skin selections
  
• Updated DLSS tooltips to hopefully display correctly for RTX 40-series when in DX12 mode and minor changes to copy as well
  
• Updated DLSS setting text and tooltips
  
• Various minor style, copy and formatting tweaks

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See you next time!

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Hey everyone!

Thank you all so much for playing the demo, the response has been amazing so far! We've received a ton of feedback and we are beyond ecstatic about it!!!

We've been hard at work improving the demo since your feedback started rolling in, so here's some changes implemented so far!

Improvements:

• Visual tweaks for frying completion step, and audio fixes
  
• Ferry now arrives Noto at 08:00 in the morning

Fixes:

• Frying is a lot more stable
  
• Fixed severe errors on computers using Thai calendar
  
• Fixed master volume slider not working well, and several sounds that weren't affected by _any_ volume sliders.
  
• Fixed some customer orders always giving 5 coins reward, regardless of ingredients.
  
• Fixed serving window snap slot breaking food composition
  
• Fixed ferry captain giving generic dialogue if player skipped tutorial
  
• Fixed mechanic quest not being registered as complete

We hope you all continue to send us your feedback, and most importantly, enjoy Fruitbus <3

Hey there!

Wow, what a week!

Our second playtest has officially ended, and we are blown away by the response we received. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who participated.

As with all playtests, we're still learning and evolving from all of you. Our team has been working hard to ensure that we continue to iterate on what makes Riftstorm fun, what keeps players coming back, and what keeps you up late at night.

We're excited to share that over 22k players joined us during this playtest—a milestone we couldn't have achieved without each and every one of you.



The past week has been a rollercoaster of excitement, exhaustion, and above all, satisfaction. Watching so many players experience this playtest and engage with our game has filled us with immense positivity about Riftstorm’s future.

With the playtest now over, we will be spending the next few weeks thoroughly going through your feedback. Your insights are very important to us, and we're keen on using them to improve Riftstorm.

But the excitement doesn't stop there! We're thrilled to announce that we'll be attending both the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and PAX this year. If you are in the area and want to meet up, hit us up on our socials!

A short prelude will be teased out over the coming days and weeks that tells the story of our mysterious new mythic: the Shade, and we will follow that story up next month with a recap on the actions taken by all our players in Operation Tombstone.

So, once again, thank you for your incredible support during the playtest. We can't wait to continue this journey with you all as we work to make Riftstorm an even more amazing experience.

And if you haven't already, please take a moment to complete the feedback form by clicking on the following link: Form



Thanks, and catch you later! 👻

- Mongki and The Riftstorm Team

This update is also only accessible by switching to our Experimental branches (instructions on how to do so here) - although note they have slower load times and worse performance than normal builds due to the extra logging they contain!

Another quick batch of fixes for Milestone 3 while we continue to work on Milestone 4.

• Mentarch can now be suppressed again. However, it now has 80 Bravery instead of 50 Bravery so it is harder to suppress than it was in Milestone 2.
  
• Added correct white silhouette images for the MARS vehicle weapons (used in the unit minitabs at the top of the tactical UI).

• Fixed a crash that could occur when quickly switching between the aircraft screen and another strategy screen.
  
• Fixed the player being able to hire more engineers / scientists than their workshop / lab capacity should allow if you have excess lab capacity free at a secondary base.
  
• Fixed the soldier portraits on the Soldier Equip screen sometimes disappearing.
  
• Fixed the aircraft transfer duration repeating after completion and taking twice as long as intended.
  
• Fixed an issue when completing an engineering project on the 5th or 6th base, which would take you to the workshop screen for the 4th base instead.
  
• Fixed the heal animation not displaying properly.

Hello everyone

Currently the Steam Spring Sale is going on and Brotato is participating with a 25% discount!

Additionally we have quiet a few bundles, which add another 10% discount on top, check them out!
If you already own Brotato, these bundles allow you to save on the other included games too and vice versa.


Our own bundle with all of our games:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/15884/Blobfish_Complete/


Backpack Battles and Brotato:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/39017/Backpack_Battles__Brotato/


20 Minutes Till Dawn and Brotato:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/28163/Pew_Pew/


Halls of Torment and Brotato:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/34876/HoT_Potatoes/


Death Must Die and Brotato:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/36886/Brotato_Must_Die/


We're still working on Brotato and will have some awesome news in a few weeks for you! In the meantime, feel free to follow our new X/Twitter Account or join us on Discord.

- Marco from Blobfish Games

It took bit longer than expected but it's finally ready: The unified import/export dialog!

You can now export blueprints, AI scripts, AI windows and even tower styles using a single export code. It also features a preview of the data you want to import together which any requirements you have to fulfill (like RAM requirements in the case of AI scripts or modules in the case of blueprints). You can freely select which one of the things contained inside the code you want to import and which you don't.
Similar on the export side you can now simply select what you want to export and it will instantly generate a shareable export-code for you.

The new dialog still accepts the old format so it doesn't break compatibility with existing codes but we still recommend to update any guides of yours by packaging all your AI scripts and blueprints into a single code.

Thanks to all our supporters who helped us testing this feature. It was quite a technical challenge to make it work with new and old export codes so it's very likely that there are still some issues here and there. Please let us know if you encounter any issues.

• added unified Import/Export dialog
  
• added upgrade to lava pump in Power Plant
  
• added upgrade to plasma pipe in Power Plant
  
• added upgrade to fusion generator in Power Plant
  
• added upgrades to plasma turbine in Power Plant

• replaced blueprint export/import with new system
  
• replaced AI script export/import with new system
  
• replaced tower design export/import with new system

• fixed AI scripts allowing arbitrary arguments for actions/functions when importing a script
  
• fixed worker not refreshing 'Construct Drone' button in Power Plant

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Follow us on social media to not miss out on any news!
Discord: https://discord.gg/fireswordstudios
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FireSwordStudio
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/fireswordstudios
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDV-wwiAAic-OESAayfUz_Q
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PerfectTower

• Fix EMP home tower / support tower radar not rotating properly at idle
  
• Fix cases where tower weapons would return the weapon itself's position, not the projectile spawn point

• Tweak most tower prices; will see if higher tiers are too expensive

• Add Energy IV (Beam) and Energy V (Black Hole) towers
  
• Polish pass on Energy tree
  
• Add Explosive IV (Proton) and Explosive V (Robomber) towers
  
• Polish pass on Explosive tree
  
• All 25 towers are now in the game! Next up is finishing the Spells and clarifying progression. Almost to demo!

Greetings friends, today we're excited to let you know that we're at the finish line in the development of Day 2 of the Destitute Chapter and are ready to announce a release date! Here are the key points we'd like to highlight right now:

• The update will be available on March 29th and will contain around 4-5 hours of reading time, increasing all of the currently available Destitute Chapter content to 6-7 hours of reading time.
  
• Russian, English, and Chinese languages will be available at the time of release, with Spanish, Portuguese, and French translations to be added within a few weeks of release.
  
• Once the DLC is released, the first day of the Destitute Chapter will no longer be free.
  
• You will be able to purchase Destitute Chapter for 9.99 USD (regional prices may be different) as DLC for the main game, which will remain free and will only contain the Prologue. Keep in mind that by purchasing the DLC you get access to the WHOLE chapter at once, which includes all future updates as well.
  
• People who purchased the DLC key using Patreon will receive it to their account-linked mail.

You can add Destitute Chapter to your wishlist now, so you definitely won't miss the moment of release!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2865880/Touhou_Fading_Illusion__Destitute_Chapter/

Hey all! 2024 is off to a great start here at Flippfly. We've been hard at work reading your feedback and planning out some awesome new features.

Enjoy a discount on Flippfly games this week! Also good on DLC, so now's the perfect chance to complete your collection or grab a copy of Survivor for your friend!

Those awesome new features mentioned above intrigue you? Be the first to get a sneak peek at them! You can join our Beta Testing community here and select that you'd like to join our private Steam Beta channel!



Want to learn more about the characters and lore of the universe? You can now follow the whole Whisker Squadron on Instagram! Our artist, Jin, is posting her original sketches and posting teasers about the surrounding universe, and you can be the first to see it.



As always - we thank you for your feedback and support! We're so excited to keep sharing updates with you all.

Minor UI updates.