For those that missed out on grabbing our Kickstarter merchandise, a few of the items are returning in our Pre-Order Merch Store for a limited time! This opening, and any conventions we attend, will be the last time we plan to make these items available.


Pre-Order Store Period: Monday April 15th - Tuesday April 30th, 2024

Store Link: https://diffraction-otome-visual-novel.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Where to find Store Updates/Notices: https://twitter.com/diffractionvn


Pre-Order Merch Shipping Timeline: As we will only be shipping the merchandise AFTER the release of the game, all shipments are projected to start in early 2025.


Only some of the Kickstarter merch items will make a return, including one that was not sold individually during the campaign. The returning merch will be:

• Sticker Sheets Version 1 and 2 (Non-transparent);
  
• April, Faine, and Hendric Acrylic Keychains;
  
• Faine and Hendric Transparent Photocards; and
  
• The Handmade Resin Teardrop Necklace (Very Limited Individual Item Sale).

Rain Droplet Atelier will be in Artist Alley of Dokomi 2024 from June 28-30th! For anyone attending Dokomi, there is a separate pre-order form where you can reserve your merch items, these will be paid for and picked up at the convention itself. Please fill in the form below to reserve your items as merch stock for the convention is very limited and stock cannot be guaranteed.

Dokomi Merchandise Reservation Form: https://forms.gle/P8tbHthuzqJRWwjA7

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For all of those that make a purchase or share our store opening, thank you for supporting our project!

'SUP folks!

Check out Elsie's Guardian Profile down below!

Our eponymous (ooh fancy word) hero is one of two playable Guardians, bringing all the running and gunning action.

She's a little quippy and ready to kick bot butt.



Stay tuned to find out more about that second playable character real soon!

And if you're ready for hyper-kinetic roguelike bullet-hell action (say that with a mouthful of Pan con Lechon) get Elsie on your Wishlist nowwww!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1515570/Elsie/

Explorers, Automators, and Spark-Petters

Now that there’s we're counting the days before our Early Access release (April 24th!!), let’s talk a bit about what has changed between the demo and the Early Access and also talk a little bit about the roadmap for the future! You know that we’re adding more content, but we’ve changed a lot more since the demo, and we want you to be updated so you know what to expect.

Something important to note is that we will be taking down the demo when we release!


Something really big and important is that we’ve changed how Sparks interact with buildings. Instead of being able to interact with buildings on their left- and right-hand side, we’ve changed it so that Sparks can now only interact with the right hand side of the path.



We’ve seen some of our players already talk about how to build The Perfect Base and this will change things a lot. The Spark Traffic system is not set in stone! We’ll continue balancing and figuring out what kind of late game builds we want to encourage and discourage.

With this change and other tools that you haven’t seen yet, we’re sure that it’ll change how you think about building. We can’t wait to see what you all come up with!


Previously, you could send us feedback via our Discord, the steam forums, or even by email at Feedback@massiveminiteam.com. We’ve added a new way, and now you can now send us feedback and bugs directly from the game! You can open it via the in-game menu, or directly by pressing F8.




We’ve ripped out a lot of the tutorial and streamlined it. We want to try out something a little less intrusive than our previous tutorial setup, so that means fewer tutorial quests and in general, leading you towards the gameplay glossary.


We’ve been squashing world generation bugs and making it better. We’ve changed how waypoints are placed so it should be always useful and there isn’t two that are too close to each other, and there’s more ancient bases and now they spawn in a grid!



It might sound like a small change, but this will make a difference on how you look at the map and how you build your bases! The aim is to create something that you can replay a lot without giving you bad seeds, and still have lots of very interesting challenges each time you start a new save.


The Spark Keys are out! So it was always a very temporary thing. We realized as we were finalizing the demo that the game wasn’t really telling you just how much future content we were thinking of having in the final game, or how we were planning to pace the game. That’s why we very quickly implemented the Spark Keys! We have a lot of content in mind and we wanted you to know that what you’ve seen in the demo is only a small amount of the game.

So now, they’ve been replaced with a new feature, Monument Quests! The monument now handles a lot of things related to the player and related to the shrines. So for example, instead of unlocking the Spark shrines individually, you’ll be unlocking them in the Monument. With the villager quests and the monument quests, we hope to create a more open ended progression that’s a lot of fun to go through and explore.




Instead of opening the build menu every single time, we’ve streamlined the build mode so that it’s much nicer to build the same type of building over and over. Basically, you now have a history of the 5 previously built buildings that you can quick access, and you open that history first before you open the buildings menu. It's not perfect, but it's better and we'll continue working on the UX to make sure it's as good as it can be.

The current changes are a bit hard to imagine via text, but we feel like it’s a lot smoother now to build things repeatedly! You’ll thank us when you explore the mountains.


We heard that some of you find the mouse & keyboard inventory shortcuts annoying, so we went back to the drawing board. To be honest, designing the controls for this game has been pretty difficult. As a genre mix, we have different conventions pushing and pulling us towards different directions. It’s very clear to see which genre people like when they give us feedback!

We’ve made inventory management easier by adding two more shortcuts and overhauling the design. We’ve also made the shortcuts a bit more obvious, so you can get used to it a little faster.




You asked for a minimap and we now have a minimap! We had a lot of internal discussions about it because we wanted navigating and exploring the world to be part of the game, but we ended up seeing that it was more annoying than we wanted it to be.



We also added a lot of quality of life features to the map itself. We changed the map controls to some player feedback and have made the map marker much better. You can now mark important landmarks on the map!


The callback has gotten a round of improvement so it’s easier to call back a single Spark. Maybe you accidentally threw a Crafty on a path when you didn’t mean to. Or you just want to micromanage combat more and call back a particular Stumpy before the Beelephant attacks it? Well, either way, it’s now much easier and smoother.




We’ve worked on the button remapping and have made more buttons available so you can play your own way. As we said before, juggling the genre mix of controls is not easy, so this way, you can set the controls to how you like it! This feature is definitely something that only gets better by player feedback, so if you have them, please reach out to us!


We already mentioned this, but yes, Oddsparks is being translated! Our Early Access release will have English, German, French, and Japanese. We’ll have all of our gameplay texts (e.g. Building and Item names, UI, quest instructions, tutorials) and our quest descriptions texts ready but likely not all of the dialogues will be completed at release.

That means that when you are playing in a language other than English, some quests will only have its description texts and no dialogue. We’ve tried to make sure that these are quests later in the game, so you will have a smooth early game experience, whichever language you’re playing in.

If you want to see the English dialogues in places where there isn’t a translation, there will be an option made available in the settings menu!


This list is getting too long! We’ve also worked on balancing and quest progression and have done some big changes from the the demo. We’ve added in-game achievements (no steam achievements until we’re 100% sure that the achievements are staying how they are) and a lot more customization options, that are unlocked by the in-game achievements! A multiplayer room code system for crossplay between Steam and Epic. We now have UI Scaling!

Okay, that’s enough. Let’s talk about the future.


We're sorting out our roadmap and will reveal to you very soon. We want to keep things a bit more secret for now - after all, you have the whole Woodlands and Mountains to explore first! We’re still planning to update you at least once a month with a devlog so you know what’s happening with the development.

In general, we're planning for lots of room to not just build what we want but to listen to feedback and work with the community to make the game the best it can be. We have a big list of features you've already requested, we're already sorting them by priority and figuring out where they fit into our production plan.

Of course, you can also get more frequent updates by joining us at our Discord!

We’re all looking forward to you finally joining us on this Oddsparks journey properly with the Early Access release. We can’t wait to see your sprawling bases, your cool outfits, your surprise and joy at what the game holds.

So please tell your friends about us and we’ll see you for the Early Access Release on April 24th!

Here is another insight into the different fields of work in Fix it - The Handyman Simulator. Become a professional with your own company in electrics, installation, gardening or renovation. What are you most looking forward to?🔧

We would like to thank you for your incredible support throughout the game's development. Your enthusiasm drove us forward, and we're grateful for your feedback and all your kind words. 🥰

If you get the game and play it today, you will receive a special outfit for your character! Go to Christie's to get the outfit. Hurry up cause it’s a limited-time offer only!⌛

See you at the Camp - today you will be able to meet our team members there!

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The zombie apocalypse happened. What caused it? Who's behind the plague? How do you contract it? All of these trivial questions have gone with the first bite, turning humans from Earth's apex predator to the new predators' most delicious prey. Join the Survival Nation, fight zombies, and keep what remains of the human civilization alive!

Each survivor is precious, potentially developing a unique set of skills and abilities. All of which may be of use to your group of survivors, spread across three distinct skill trees: Combat, Survival, and Endurance. Each also has needs that need to be met. Harness their potential and survive in a collapsed world: Scour derelict buildings for canned goods, hunt animals and fish, or try and keep your camp intact long enough to harvest fresh produce from the garden.

If you prefer online play and multiplayer, Survival Nation: Lost Horizon has you covered. Adventure across the post-apocalypse in groups and face challenges together in PVE. Prefer solitary pursuits without the threat of other players hanging over you? Set up your own server, where you can explore the open world and experience Survival Nation: Lost Horizon at your own pace!

---

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2504380/Survival_Nation_Lost_Horizon/

There are a few good ways in which you can show support to us and our game

• Once you buy the game, please do not hesitate to share your first impressions and leave an honest review on Steam. Your reviews are very valuable to us and we would love to see your remarks and first impressions through a review. That is why, we are looking forward to your feedback and suggestions. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
  
• Spreading the word about our game by talking about it with family and friends, or simply sharing it on social media can significantly help our promotion allowing others to experience new adventures.
  
• Join our amazing community in our Discord and follow us on Twitter to share your experience and get to know other zombie enthusiasts!

Enjoy the game!

Wenkly Studio Team

Adjusted the Extra Menu to suit the five languages the visual novel is in.

Hi folks! While this patch was mainly focused on quality of life improvements and bug fixes to make sure everything is working flawlessly before the release, I've also managed to add a few cool new features:

It's now much easier to swap the tools of the active passenger. Holding the action key will open a new menu listing the 3 equipment slots each passenger has. From there you can un-equip or replace tools in one click!




In order to give players more incentive to complete all ongoing quests and keep the train in a good shape before finishing a quickgame or a multiplayer run, there is now a star rating system. You get one star for reaching the terminus, 1 star for completing all quests, and 1 star if your train is 100% intact
Make a perfect run by getting all 3 stars! Good luck, it's really not that easy to achieve!

• Due to popular request, the health bar is now "inverted": the light color indicates the amount left and not the "loss"
  
• The map editor was improved to have a better UX. For example, right click allows you to pan, no matter which tool is active, the speed of the pan was also adjusted
  
• Blueprints added in the game display a more exhaustive list of the required resources
  
• Added a new character skin to choose in multiplayer mode
  
• Added new music for menu and map editor
  
• Added spectator mode during a multiplayer mode (press action key to switch between passengers when you are waiting to be revived)
  
• Fine-tuned the map generation algorithm for better performances and balancing
  
• Fixed typos and clarified some item descriptions
  
• Many other bug fixes!

Dont forget to join our discord to learn more about the game development!

Thank you for playing Infection Free Zone! We are introducing a number of changes based on your feedback to improve the game. Today we are releasing a new update to the Default branch. We have heard your feedback about the transmissions interrupting the gameplay too much, and for those of you, who want to focus on pure gameplay, we are introducing the No Story Mode.

• No Story Mode has been added to the game - you can play the game without transmissions interrupting your gameplay now,
  
• New Van cars have been added,
  
• Vehicle repair time has been unified,
  
• Vehicle movement logic and the way they turn back have been updated,
  
• The damage of the hordes in the water has been reduced by 50%,
  
• The building adaptation and repair time has been decreased by 50%,
  
• An issue with workers getting stuck in metal towers has been fixed,
  
• An issue with weather becoming wrongly calculated after longer sessions of gameplay has been fixed,
  
• An issue with Raiders going through the walls has been fixed,
  
• An issue with the Tank Truck moving faster than intended has been fixed,
  
• An issue with an error appearing after finishing deconstruction has been fixed.

• The biggest issue that we are currently aware of is the save files going corrupted after longer sessions of gameplay. We are extremely thankful for the huge number of Bug Reports with this issue, as it will make it easier for us to analyze them and find the source of this problem.
  
• Water - we are working on changing the Hordes' pathing prioritization to discourage them from moving through the water and encourage them to move through the nearby roads more.

Other than that, we track all the reviews and feedback to decide on the other changes that should come to the game first. Dealing with bug fixes and performance is of the highest importance for us right now. Thank you for playing Infection Free Zone. We appreciate such a huge interest, even though we just released the game in Early Access.

Best regards,
Jutsu Games Team

I embarked on the journey of creating ADA: Tainted Soil over three years ago as someone who had no prior experience in game development. Though I had a background in programming, gaming was simply a passion of mine since childhood.

I had to learn everything about game development from scratch. While my programming background provided a solid foundation, I soon realised that creating a good game involved much more than technical skills. Early on, I faced the choice of game design. Today, game developers have almost unlimited possibilities, but I opted for something akin to the "souls-like" genre. Before crafting my own gameplay mechanics, I spent countless hours playing other titles and researching to extract what I considered the best elements to incorporate into my project.



Equally important was the artistic style. I deliberated for a long time on which direction to take, ultimately deciding on pixel art. I've always been drawn to games in this style, and recent years have offered many gems that inspired me. However, it posed a challenge at the outset. I don't consider myself a standout artist, so I had to put in a lot of effort to learn how to create graphics in a similar style and then maintain a level of quality that I was satisfied with.



Creating my game has taught me many things, but perhaps most importantly, it has honed my ability to tackle unexpected problems that arise more often than I anticipated. A game is comprised of many aspects, and they often influence each other in unforeseen ways. I've lost count of how many times I've had to pause work to solve a sudden issue, but these moments have allowed me to grow as a creator.
In hindsight, "ADA: Tainted Soil" is not just a game I'm crafting; it's also been an incredible adventure that has enriched my life and allowed me to grow. With each passing day, the game improves thanks to what I've learned, and I'm confident you'll enjoy it immensely.

-Fix a few bugs