As the creator behind CAMPS, I am thrilled to announce the launch of our demo on Steam today.
This game is the culmination of intense dedication to crafting a deeply engaging military sandbox experience that blends strategic decision-making with immersive team-oriented gameplay.

I invite you, the community, to participate in OBT and dive into various operations that require sharp teamwork.


The demo includes all the features that the original game will offer. The only difference is that in the demo, you cannot save your in-game progress and looted items. However, before the game becomes available in early access, the demo version will allow you to save your progress and items. Once the game reaches the early access stage, the demo will revert to its original functionality as intended.


In this demo, you can try out all in-game mechanics as well as play deathmatch and team deathmatch with others. The game allows you to host your own servers, join your Steam friends' sessions, or invite them.
New game modes, maps and content will be added in the nearest future.

Please share your gameplay experiences, and suggestions in Steam Community Hub.
For support and bug reports, visit the Discord or contact us directly through Community Hub.

Our From Concept to Cosmetic series has a somewhat storied history when it comes to talking about lanterns that capture the imagination of players. Indeed, the very first instalment covered the creation of the original lantern MVP: the mighty Orb. Since that first step into the world of cosmetic design, we’ve branched out into all kinds of wonders, from punk fashion and Plunder Pass picks to ship signage and pirates’ most loyal companions.

We had a fine old time hearing about how these other cosmetics came together, but in Season 11, the time has come once again to admit that we’ll never fully escape the simple joy of a funny lantern. So this time it’s the round, ribbiting Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern that has stolen our hearts and, presumably, hidden them in a swamp somewhere. It really is lanterns all the way down. Who’d have thought?

Looking at this round boy, we just had to find out where he came from, so we called upon some the folks involved and recorded their responses in this neat little article. Enjoy!

Unlike many of the other items on offer to players who earn enough Renown throughout Season 11, the Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern isn’t part of a wider cosmetic set. Without the need to conform to an overarching theme, standalone items often enable the design team to spread the wings of their imagination, as Senior Concept Artist Tom Mahon explains:

“In general, I think it’s much easier to come up with a single one-off item, as the theme or unique element of the design only has to fit that item. It can be tricky when we have cool ideas for a collection that then have to be applied to every item type we have, getting those to sit well together and feel cohesive.

“Over time, of course, we’ve gotten better at it, so now when we’re pitching new themes, we have a good sense of which elements should be shared and which can be unique. With a music-inspired set, for example, we would try to incorporate different instruments into the designs rather than saying ‘let’s put drums on everything!’ – that would change the tone, and probably read a lot more like a war set (not a bad idea actually!)

“We try to carry materials and colours across a set as much as possible, but with motifs and symbols I think it’s good to have some restraint. We don’t want to be overly reliant on slapping a logo on everything to make it look cohesive. A set should feel tonally consistent, like the items were made by the same crew or craftsmen or coming from the same place. They need to be visually appealing and interesting by themselves, but still make sense in a larger context.”


Season 11 sees three standalone items included in the Renown rewards: the Musketeer Eye of Reach at level 51, everyone’s favourite frog at level 70, and the Banded Chaperon Hat at a lofty level 96. While we’d never pick favourites, and all three are rewarding in and of themselves, it’s safe to say that the Frog Lantern has captured players’ interest in a way almost unheard of for standalone cosmetics.

How, then, did this surprisingly simple yet endlessly entertaining little guy come to be? What is it about the lantern’s design that has made it so captivating? As Tom tells us:

“It was designed by an artist who no longer works with us (shout out to Artur Zima!), but as pirates in general have a connection with exploration and nature, drawing inspiration from animals is something we do often.

“This one was actually designed a few years ago during a cosmetic concept jam. That’s when our artists all get together and come up with fresh ideas for cosmetics with no set brief, we just brainstorm and throw ideas around. After we’re done, the work gets reviewed by our directors and producers and certain concepts are selected. Sometimes an item just works better as a single one-off cosmetic, while in other instances it can turn into a brief for an entire set.

“As for the Frog Lantern, every now and then we're asked to check out our previous jam work to see if anything pops out, and that one stood out as a fun one-off item. I don’t think any of us knew just how popular it would be!”


The lantern’s intense popularity also raises the question of how it should be obtained in-game. More popular or more elaborate cosmetics are typically tied to harder Commendations or are more expensive to buy, providing a suitably enticing reward for players who put in the work. Does this mean, then, that the Art team try to keep the end use in mind during the creation process, or does that decision come later? Tom tells us that reward allocation is often a different process entirely:

“Sometimes we know where something will be used. Work can come from concept jams with no set brief, so at that initial stage we just try to make something unique and appealing. Later on it’s decided where those concepts fit best, and sometimes we’ll go back to a concept and adapt it. However, we have a pretty regular cadence when it comes to releasing items, so the Concept team will receive briefs to design those. The brief for a Seasonal Renown cosmetic set would be tied to what’s going on during that Season, or as a reward for beating a specific Event.

“In the beginning of Sea of Thieves we had a fairly flat hierarchy in terms of designs, so usually the more shiny and golden something was, the ‘better’. But because the game is all about self-expression, we didn't want anyone to think less of themselves for rocking that Bilge Rat Shirt. We do give a sense of progression with some of our cosmetics though, so players feel like they have something to strive for, particularly when it comes to advancing with Trading Companies and becoming a Pirate Legend.

“As for our Emporium cosmetics, we like to think of them as belonging to pirates who have travelled far to the Sea of Thieves, so it’s okay if they’re a little out there, and most of our Emporium sets aren’t tied to in-game lore.”


In comparison to the intricate animations of Collector’s Pets or the many and varied models required to build a complete ship set, modelling and programming a lantern seems like it should be a relatively simple process. As Senior Level Artist Joachim Coppens tells us:

“A lantern is actually one of the more straightforward props to bring into the game. From a modelling point of view, we have our template models so we know exactly where the player’s hand will be and how large the lantern should be. We just have to make sure to stick to those guidelines and do a visual check that there’s no clipping of the player’s hand with the lantern, and that it works properly with our swinging animation shader.

“Once we bring it into the game, we manually set a specific point from which it will be casting its light (marked SPOTLIGHT__Socket in the image below).”


That’s not to say bringing a lantern to life is an easy task – by their nature as sources of light and vessels for the Flames of Fate, they can present a complex challenge when it comes to effects. Fortunately, with many years of lantern wrangling behind them, even a design as powerful as this frog wasn’t enough to throw the team off their game. Joachim explains:

“There have definitely been discussions about the Flames of Fate for various lanterns. Some designs that our Concept team come up with would be nice to do but wouldn’t play well with the way our lanterns work, because you need to be able to read their colour clearly.

“We always look at all our props on a case-by-case basis and try to find the coolest-looking, best-feeling compromise for gameplay and visuals. We do try to push it sometimes, by developing a new bit of technology for a specific lantern and carrying that forward to future designs. If I’m not misremembering, our very first lanterns didn’t tend to have open flames, that came later – and once we’d done one, it became easier to do more.”


And push the limits the team did with this lantern, designing a unique addition in the form of a little swarm of glowing insects that buzz around its face. A cute touch they might be, but as Technical Artist Emmett Green explains, it took a lot of careful work to get just right:

“The Frog Lantern definitely posed a fun challenge for the Tech Art team in terms of adding firefly effects! We aren’t able to add particles to sets or uniques due to performance constraints, so it’s been a personal challenge of mine recently to make them with billboard shaders instead.

“Luckily, I’d already created a similar effect for the Labyrinth Looter ship’s fake embers rising from flames, so I reused and improved the material to support our firefly flipbook animations. This included tilting them in the direction they’re moving, figuring out how bright they should be when the lantern is turned on or off, and adding the Flames of Fate colour shift. As for the internal effect, we reused a material previously made in Season Four for the Firefly Lantern.

“Of course, this came with a new issue where the external fireflies were moving upwards with the lantern when raised, so I tried to carefully balance whether they were following the lantern or the player’s height to hide it as much as possible. I even made custom LOD stages to hold off deleting the poor fireflies when the player walks away, isolating them to prevent a jarring transition in the level of detail and stop them vanishing too soon.”

Fortunately, Emmett didn’t mind the challenge one bit: “All in all, it was a fantastic lantern to work on, and I’m glad it’s become as popular as its predecessor!”


Prior to the Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern’s reveal, its concept art had made the rounds within the studio, so the community-facing teams already had some idea of how popular it was likely to be. And upon its release with Season 11, players across the globe became instantly enamoured as they raised their Renown to claim a vibrant amphibian of their very own.

Twitter began to fill up with exclamations like “FRORB OBTAINED!” from spikee_j and PostOfSouls realising their dreams with the statement “I finally got the FRORB”. Underlining this community-wide desire to share the moment they joined the ranks of frog-flaunting freebooters, HeSlashThem simply proclaimed “Obligatory I have the FRORB lantern now post”. Nice.

This lantern’s instant appeal could also be measured beyond mere in-game excitement. Pieces of art from regular names like Hull Lariash and Zookie, real-world props from ChloeSauras, ColourMeFun and SwordLordStu, memes like this one from CheeckiBreecki and even proclamations of forming a cult dedicated to this adorable lighting device (starting with Nomezilla) meant that it was easy to see its impact at a glance.


So powerful was the Frorb that it ensnared our own Community team too. As anyone who follows official Sea of Thieves social media accounts will know, the release of Season 11 was accompanied by a slew of frog-based festivities. We even hosted a themed Community Hub update celebrating a multitude of amphibian artworks in all their froggy glory. There was also… this, but perhaps the less said about that, the better. Even if he did inspire some even wilder fan art.

And that, dear readers, is how the phenomenal Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern came to be: a little guy that captured imaginations in a way you probably wouldn’t expect from a roughly carved block of wood. Remember, if you want to get your hands on this fine froggy friend, all you have to do is reach Renown level 70 before Season 11 comes to an end. After that, who knows when we might see it again?

Well, fortunately, Producer Louise Roberts does know, and she was kind enough to tell us:

“The lantern will be returning after Season 11! We are cycling Seasonal progression track cosmetic items back in, currently with a gap of around seven Seasons. When it does come back, it will likely be priced in Doubloons.”


Which brings us to the end of another From Concept to Cosmetic article. Season 11 is packed with exciting rewards to get your hands on before it ends, including a whole host of Trading Company costumes for players dedicated enough to raise their reputation to new, loftier heights. If you want more of an idea of what’s up for grabs, check out the Season 11 Content Update video for all the highlights!

In the meantime, let us know what you think of our beloved Frorb (and perhaps the rest of Season 11 while you’re at it). Find us in all the usual places on social media – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and Tiktok, as well as on our official Forums and Discord server. If you’re hankering for more behind-the-scenes glimpses at how Sea of Thieves cosmetics come together, you can read some of the previous entries in this series in our News archive.

Now we really need to stop thinking about frogs for a while to preserve our sanity, so get sailing! Season 11’s rewards are only available for a couple more weeks, and that lantern’s not going to unlock itself…

Masters of the Book,

We have identified an issue where players receive more rewards than intended when claiming rewards using Hero's Shoes after clearing dungeons in co-op play.
This issue was addressed without downtime through a patch implemented on 4/16 at 12:11 AM (PDT)/4/16 07:11 AM (UTC). Given the urgency, we proceeded with the fix as quickly as possible.

Here's what happened:

- When clearing dungeons in co-op play, rewards were recognized as dropped for each party member, and using Hero's Shoes in this state resulted in receiving additional rewards proportional to the number of party members.
- This issue occurred only after clearing in co-op play and using Hero's Shoes.
- Only 'drop rewards' were affected; 'clear rewards' were not.

- If two players cleared a dungeon in co-op and then used Hero's Shoes, each player received an additional reward based on 'rewards for two people.'
- If three players did so, each player received additional rewards based on 'rewards for three people.'

We apologize for the oversight and the inconvenience caused. Recognizing that no compensation can fully rectify the experience, yet we believe it is fair to equalize the opportunity without causing disappointment.
Therefore, we consider it most reasonable to provide Hero's Shoes to those who did not use them during co-op play.

- We will compensate those who played solo, rather than in co-op, by providing them with Hero’s Shoes, to offset any potential disadvantage from not participating in co-op play.
- Those who used Hero's Shoes in solo sessions instead of co-op will be compensated as if they had played solo.
- For users who participated in both solo and co-op, we will adjust the compensation by deducting co-op plays from solo session rewards.

Lastly, to express our apologies, we will give 10 Crystals of Fate to all affected users.

We sincerely regret any inconvenience or dissatisfaction caused by this issue and will announce the detailed compensation and distribution dates as soon as data extraction is complete.



We would like to provide additional clarification regarding the compensation for co-op play that we previously discussed.

We plan to compensate all Masters of the Book, regardless of whether you participated in co-op play, by calculating any potential losses and awarding Hero's Shoes as compensation. Thus, compensation will be given not only for those who used Hero's Shoes but also for those who used regular shoes, regardless of whether you played in co-op or solo mode.

I apologize for any confusion caused by our previous explanations.
We will swiftly determine the exact number of instances and the level of compensation and provide further updates soon.

Once again, we apologize for any sense of loss or inconvenience caused by the game error.

Thank you for your understanding.

We're celebrating FPS-Fest on Steam!

Just about every single one of our DLC are on discounts for up to 65% off. This is also a great time to get your friends in, with the base game 70% off!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/518790/theHunter_Call_of_the_Wild/

Check out the store page to see all of the discounts on bundles and DLC, but act fast because these deals end on Monday, April 22nd!

Good day Survivors!
The Resistance has gathered some concerning reports on Machine activity all around Östertörn. They have issued an order for all Resistance members to gather as many weapons and equipment as they can.
Luckily, GZ is participating in the FPS Sale here on Steam, meaning it's the perfect time for you to stock up on your arsenal.

Our two story DLCs are 70% off for the duration of the sale!
Travel to snowy Himfjäll Island, answer a call for help, and fight against a regiment of Apocalypse class machines.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1157550/Generation_Zero__Alpine_Unrest

Return to Östertörn and help the newly formed Resistance lead an attack against an important machine facility.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1301740/Generation_Zero__FNIX_Rising

Hop on one of three new types of Motorbikes to make getting around and away easier. They're now 50% off!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2144761/Generation_Zero__Motorbikes_Pack

Reinforced Flakmopeds are available at 25% off, letting you go offroad, craft on the go, or ram machines at will.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2689180/Generation_Zero__Reinforced_Flakmoped_Pack

Here are some curated weapon and equipment packs to make sure you and your companion are ready for what's coming:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1610690/Generation_Zero__US_Weapons_Pack_2

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1580920/Generation_Zero__Soviet_Weapons_Pack

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2200740/Generation_Zero__Eastern_European_Weapons_Pack

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2473770/Generation_Zero__Companion_Accessories_Pack

Join the Cyber Hobbit Event now to get a FREE skin!

Log in every day for 7 days to receive a FREE skin and freshen up Hobbit's looks! Don't forget to claim your daily rewards, as well as do the weekly quests.

Every weekly event you can get:

• 10 Purple Runes for a GUARANTEED Heroic character in the weekly rune summon!
  
• 10 Magic Spheres to upgrade your characters and spells!
  
• 700 Crystals to spend on potions or summons!

Join the Cyber Hobbit Event now and receive tons of valuable resources!

1.保存优化避免停电丢失

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2651520/_/

To become an excellent witch, Sophia decides to revive the legendary lost magic, and to do this you will have to gather ingredients from different regions and try out different recipes, encountering explosions in the mixing room, aphrodisiac tentacles and all sorts of magical creatures.




♥In addition to the main characters, there are also endings that belong to important characters.
♥Be prepared for an unexpected and special ending, and the unexpected is, of course, fraught with danger.Please be prepared at all times.
♥Rich game content, varied but not complicated, easy to experience the other world.
♥All kinds of sexual interests are available to satisfy the xenogenic interests in you.
♥A truly functional dress-up system is more than just a costume change.
♥The female protagonist is dubbed in Japanese.

We have just released a new version (13.1.2) to bring some improvements concerning frames, comments and nodes creation or positionning, and to improve AxF worflows. Look at the detailled release notes for more information.


Improvements:

• [Graph] Do not place duplicated nodes on top of the original node
  
• [Graph] Improve alignment of comments attached to nodes
  
• [Graph] Improve comments move
  
• [Graph] Snap pasted/duplicated frames and comments to the grid
  
• [Graph] Snap new frames and comments to the grid
  
• [Content] 'Curvature smooth': Add a note about tiling support in the description
  
• [3DView][IRay] Allow int output to be assigned to enum parameter
  
• [AxF] Add properties about the clear coat model
  
• [AxF] Improve errors management during export
  
• [AxF] Improve GLSLFX and MDL materials for "SVBRDF" representation as stored in a AXF file
  
• [AxF] Remove 'CC No Refraction' property from 'AxF to AxF' template
  
• [AxF] Rename properties "properties.has_xxx" to "characteristics.has_xxx"
  
• [AxF] Update template to include all properties used by our SVBRDF shaders

Fixed issues:

• [3D View] Crash when resetting an Int MDL parameter mapped to an MDL enum
  
• [3D View] Incorrect widgets for SVBRDF shader properties when material is reset after changing 3D scene
  
• [3D View] Incorrect widgets for SVBRDF shader properties when no graph is applied
  
• [3D View] 'Show environment' button is disabled for new views with no default SBSSCN file
  
• [3D View] Switching from Iray to OpenGL renderer disconnects a graph output
  
• [AxF] Fresnel variant is not updated by graph output
  
• [AxF] Labels of AxF shader properties are formatted inconsistently
  
• [AxF] Warning about unchanged resources only appears in Console
  
• [Content] 'Non-Uniform' is not written consistently in all nodes
  
• [Content] Scatter on spline: Missing patterns on bridge splines
  
• [Content] Spline Mapper: Freeze when setting a negative 'Segment Amount' value
  
• [Content] 'Symmetry': Labels are missing and inconsistent
  
• [Graph] Existing comments are slightly offset
  
• [Security] RAS File Parsing Out-Of-Bounds Read Vulnerability

Hello from the team at CFK.

There's only two days left until the official release of Shikhondo: Youkai Rampage!

On April 17th (Wednesday), starting from 7:30 PM Korea Standard Time, RULIWEB V-tuber NGRuli will unveil the official version of Shikhondo: Youkai Rampage during her broadcast.

Be sure not to miss out on the early playthrough and the behind-the-scenes glimpses from developer Deerfarm!
*Please note that the broadcast will be held only in Korean.

◎ Broadcast information

Date/Time - May 17th, 2024 (Wednesday) 7:30 PM KST

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2712480/Shikhondo_Youkai_Rampage/

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

◎ Shikhondo: Youkai Rampage Official Launch Trailer


－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

◎ Information on the special player appreciation discount for owners of Shikhondo(食魂徒) - Soul Eater

As a special thank you to the players who purchased Shikhondo(食魂徒) - Soul Eater, we're planning to offer an additional 40% discount on Shikhondo: Youkai Rampage. If you purchase during the first two weeks after release, add that to the 10% discount to get a whopping 50% discount on this new game!

In addition, if holders of the original title purchase the digital deluxe version of Shikhondo: Youkai Rampage, they'll get up to a 55% discount.

Player appreciation discount period: April 18th, 2024 (Thurs.) – October 14,2024 (Mon.)
* Discount will be applied automatically for players with Shikhondo(食魂徒) - Soul Eater in their libraries.

We hope to drum up lots of interest, and thank you!

Best wishes,
CFK