Aug 29, 2024

Silence of the Siren - Oxymoron Games

In today's post we'd like to go just a tiny bit more technical than usually. Let's peek a bit behind the scenes and let's have a look at a few features we're particularly happy with how they turned out. And we'll of course also mention why they're interesting when you actually play the game! :)

The Day-night cycle

Matching a day-night cycle to the cycle that controls when the units get replenished at your bases works so well! Especially the bases themselves can look quite beautiful at night.

But we're not only talking about visual spice that adds to the atmosphere. We've already started enabling some gameplay features built on top of this, like monsters changing between day and night.

Different days (cycles) will also often trigger different global effects.
Some of these will give you a bonus, some will impede your production or limit your visibility range on the map.

Lights

In realtime graphics (unless you use the so-called deferred rendering, which is not suitable for our graphics style with a lot of transparency and hand-drawn sprites) there's usually a limit to how many dynamic lights the engine allows you to use - in Unity it's 4.

We use these for the main light that casts shadows and for an ambient light, but we needed much more. The solution? A custom 2D light map.

We render sprites that represent lights of different shapes to a texture, which is then accessed by shaders that draw all the different types of objects, monsters and terrain. And what are these lights actually used for?

There are colored lights to subtly highlight which player owns which structure.
There are directional lights from your commander's 'torchlights'.
And a lot of custom pointlights placed by the map designers to highlight objects or locations.

Fog of war

The Fog of War system has been one of the most complicated features to implement, as it affects almost everything else in the game.

There are three levels of the starry 'fog' as you explore the map: undiscovered, 'remembered' and of course areas currently visible to your commanders and structures.

As you leave an area, the game must remember the state of everything when you've seen it last and this is for example used when a path is planned for your commanders. The game will also give you a [!] notification and sometimes pause your commander's movement if you return to a discovered area and something has changed, like when the treasure you're going to pick up has been already taken or a monster already defeated.

Now, let's have a quick look at the graphical side.
A starry sky with some light nebulosity works well for the sci-fi settings.

To make things more complicated for ourselves, we also added a little paradox: Notice that the Fog of War texture looks like it is above the terrain (this is quite subtle, but look at some stars on the left or on the right next to the discovered area)!

One more little detail is that objects right at the edge of the undiscovered territory don't just pop up, but they get rendered as their silhouettes first, so they can nicely fade-in!

Let us know if you enjoyed this kind of a technical post! We might do one about scripting the campaign, if you're interested. The next post though should be a proper introduction of the Sovereign Fleet, the third playable faction included in the Early Access build coming in September!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2147380/Silence_of_the_Siren/

Aug 29, 2024

Keepers of the Stone DLC releases September 26!

Against the Storm - Leisurely Luke

Greetings, Viceroys!

Rebuild to last with the sturdy-as-stone Frogs and search for blueprints on the shores of the Coastal Grove! The Keepers of the Stone DLC launches on September 26!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3075500/

FEATURES

Keepers of the Stone brings a new layer of replayability and variance to Against the Storm – some of its most prominent features include:

Manage Frogs - new playable species - and incorporate their expertise in stonemasonry and rainpunk into your strategy.
Embark to the Coastal Grove - a new biome where every settlement begins on the shores of a bay and you can find treasures both inland and in the waters.
Launch expeditions to acquire blueprints and powerful perks. Despite the limited supply of blueprints from the Queen, you can finance Water Striders to search for blueprints from selectable categories of buildings.
Construct new buildings - Pantry, Cannery, and Frog House - each offered only to Frogs.
Use Frogs’ starting ability to locate nearby ruins and rebuild them to gain access to an extra building.
Assign a Frog firekeeper to increase the arrival speed of Newcomers.
Build and upgrade Frog Houses up to four levels, each providing two unique benefits to choose from. But beware! Frogs care about their living standards so much they refuse to live in shelters.
Grow more powerful and find new synergies with five new Cornerstones.
And more!

On the same day - September 26th - Update 1.4 (Fishing Update) will be released for free, introducing a new fishing system, new requirements, new goods, and many other changes for everyone who owns the base game. You can read more about it here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/4258802537449103612

STAY UP TO DATE

Add the DLC to your wishlist to get notified when it releases:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3075500/

Also, we’ll be sharing more previews in the days leading up to the release, so follow us to stay up-to-date with all the news:

FOLLOW EREMITE GAMES | FOLLOW HOODED HORSE

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

Aug 29, 2024

Gori: Cuddly Carnage is OUT NOW on PC & consoles!

Gori: Cuddly Carnage - kamil

IT'S RELEASE DAY!

After 5 years of hard work, slaying both unicorns and bugs, Gori: Cuddly Carnage is officially being released!! You have no idea how much we've been looking forward to you all getting your hands on Gori and seeing the twisted world we've created for you to shred through!

We are happy, we are nervous, but most of all, we are EXCITED! This is one of the most important days of our lives, and before we get into the heavy promotion of things, we just wanted to say THANK YOU! From everyone here at Angry Demon and our publishers at Wired - all of your feedback, bug reports, encouragement, fan art, cosplays, and just general enthusiasm and energy have got us to this point -and Gori wouldn't be the same without you all.

There's a lot going on over launch day, and a few things we'd like you to know about, here's a quick run down!

Our Launch Trailer

It wouldn't be a launch day without a new trailer, and we've created something a bit special for you ^_^ - showcasing the now familiar intensity and energy of Gori, as well as a few special things from later in the game you haven't seen before! But don't worry - no spoilers! Watch, enjoy and share with your friends!

Speaking of spoilers! There's a heartfelt and touching story in Gori (no, seriously, it's not just ALL violence! Just... mostly) Be sure to be considerate of your fellow gamers and lets be sure not to talk about specific story beats for a little while! Nobody wants to have endings spoiled for them on a random social post!

Bugs and Known Issues

We've worked REALLY HARD to make Gori as smooth and polishes as possible. BUT, we are a small team, and the wild combination of PC setups in the wild makes it so that there's always going to be something that pops up!

We've got a dedicated Bug forum now on Steam that means we can see everyones issues at a glance, please ensure you drop any bugs / problems in this forum, and we'll check it out ASAP and update our known issues thread with any solutions / info.

Bugs Submission Thread

Gori: Cuddly Carnage Merch

Folks have been asking us for a merch range for a while now - so we figured we'd officially launch some! We'll be adding to this as we come up with some more ideas and hear your own wishes - let us know what you'd like to see!

Gori Merchandise

Buy Gori: Cuddly Carnage now!

Don't forget, Gori is releasing on like, EVERYTHING. So if you prefer the couch style of gaming, wanna carry Gori in your pocket - or have a gamer friend who isn't in the PC eco system, - hit them with one of these links!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1299690/Gori_Cuddly_Carnage/

Buy Gori: Cuddly Carnage on PlayStation 4/5
Buy Gori: Cuddly Carnage on Nintendo Switch
Buy Gori: Cuddly Carnage on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Play Gori: Cuddly Carnage on Utomik
Buy Gori: Cuddly Carnage on GOG
Buy Gori: Cuddly Carnage on EGS
Pre-order physical edition

Win a Gori: Cuddly Carnage Xbox Series Meow Console!

Don't forget, we are still giving away a sweet custom Gori Xbox, only a few days left on this - so be sure to get your entries in!

We have teamed up with True Achievements to offer one lucky fan the Gori: Cuddly Carnage Xbox Series Meow! There are only a few days left to enter the competition to be in with a and have a chance to win this flawpawless beauty!

Rules, links and sign up via link below:

http://wired.gg/XboxSeriesMeow

THANK YOU!

Well, that does it for now. Once again, thank you all - this day has been 5 years in the making - and every wishlist, stream, screenshot and comment shared from you all has helped more than you can know.

Please be sure to contact us on Discord, socials and all over the internet to share your thoughts about your time with Gori - and most importantly, ENJOY THE GAME!

Wired Facebook | Wired Twitter | Wired Youtube | Wired Discord | Wired Instagram | Wired Twitch | Wired Tiktok | Wired Instagram

Aug 29, 2024

Tanks, Tutorial and push mission - Demo version 0.1.22

Unoffensible - Arnold

A new version of the demo is here

fixes

Crashes at the end of a mission are hopefully fixed. (these did not happen often)
- As a backup: games are saved at the end of level before possible crashes.

Unit changes

The non-animated mech enemy has been replaced with a tank unit. Now all units are wheel based.
Units are now able to cross most terrains. They turn around when they get stuck. They can right themselves if they are flipped on the back.
Turrets now turn with limited speed
Hitpoints have been increased on everything and defending without taking damage has been made more rare.
Distant enemies now transition into a white color for better contrast while overviewing the battlefield
Enemy tower against thrown towerblocks has been added.

UI changes

When the player is at big scale the interaction point becomes invisible to indicate this is not a good scale to interact with objects.
Available resources and item cost received a small improvement
Resource rocks now more clearly show their stored resources

Tutorial changes

step has been added to adjust the terrain height.
step has been added to comment on the benefits of scaling up to big size player.
step has been added to shrink back down to a size where you are able to more easily interact with object. Commenting on player scale selection being a skill to master in this game.
Failing the combat part of the tutorial now gives a more optimistic message. Indicating its alright to fail this part of the tutorial.

Third mission changes

The third mission has the objective of destroying the enemy base. There is no longer a timelimit.
This mission is supposed to be a big step up in difficulty, showing more of the late game skill level requirement.

What's next

Better visuals for the amount of power a turret has due to the connected tower blocks.
More information on how different towers increase firepower of different turrets
Better resource visuals

Aug 29, 2024

War Effort | Patch 1.14.8 Checksum 9d66

Hearts of Iron IV - PDX Chakerathe

Generals!

The latest War Effort update is here and with it arrives more bugfixes and balance changes, with a few changes to France, the Warlords in the east and some changes to certain spirits!

Check out all the changes below and let us know what you think, and what other changes you'd like to see~

################################################################
######## Patch 1.14.8 "Bolivar" #########
################################################################

##################################
# Balance
##################################

- Brazil: focus "Potenji River Conference" changed so that instead of having Brazil declare war on American major enemies, they now instead join the American war, thus not applying the Defensive War bonus on the Axis and Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere in the late-game.
- Brazil: now even more extra hyper-unlikely to reject unification with Portugal if their ideologies match
- Czechoslovakia: focus "United Population" now grants 10% stability and war support as well as 150 political power if the "Divided Nation" national spirit has already been removed by the focus "Czech Socialism".
- France: Fixed an issue where SOMUA S35 was previously called SOUMUA S35.
- France: focus ""Begin Rearmament"" will no longer be cancelled if you drop below the required war support.
- France: wargoals for the French focus ""Secure the Crown"" target all Spains.
- France: the Orleanist focuses Slum Clearing and Counter-Action are both now 35 days focuses, and added an extra building slot to the Slum Clearing focus.
- France: focus ""Diplomatic Freedom"" now takes 35 days and give 50 political power.
- France: fixed an issue with offsets in the tree when taking the focus ""Revive the National Bloc"".
- France: focus ""Defensive Focus"" now gives 30 command power.
- France: focuses ""Invite Yugoslavia"" and ""Invite Romania"" now are 35 day focuses.
- France: Trimmed down the decision tooltips in the focus "Reorganize Aviation Industry" and added 2 Military factories as an instant completion reward in the focus.
- United Kingdom: Fixed an issue with a duplicated available trigger in the British focus “Commonwealth Ties”. Also changed the focus to include British Malaya in its targets, as well as give the targeted nations 50 political power each. Also made it into a 35 day focus.
- Warlords: focus Industrial Investments now gives 2 civilian factories instead of one.
- Warlords: now start with the national spirit “Warlord State” which can be upgraded through 3 different new focuses, and which is removed upon becoming any other type of state.
- Warlords: national spirit “Long Term Economic Planning” now also gives a 10% construction bonus to Supply Hubs.
- China: national spirit “Public Works” now also gives a 5% construction bonus to Railways.
- Warlords: focus “Personal Leadership” now takes 35 days and additionally grants 30 command power.
- China: national spirit “Rapid Mobilization” now also gives a 10% bonus to mobilization speed.
- Warlords: focus “Opposition” now also grants 5% war support.
- Warlords: focus “Cooperation with the Nationalists” now also grants 5% stability.
- Warlords: focus “Cooperation with the Communists” now also grants 50 political power.
- Warlords: focus “Cult of Personality” now also grants 5% war support.
- Warlords: focus Local Arms Production now gives 2 military factories instead of one.
- Spirits: Professional Officer Corps now grants 15% division experience gain and 30 max command power in place of 5% land XP, -5% doctrine cost and 0.20 daily command power
- Spirits: Elevated Engineering Corps no longer grants a 25% engineer trait xp gain factor. Railway gun bombardment bonus is now 25%, from 20%
- Spirits: Proper Heritage no longer grants 5% cavalry attack, and instead grants 10% Leader Experience Gain
- Spirits: State Serves the Military now grants 10% offensive war stability, from 10% political power gain
- Spirits: Logistical Focus spirit now grants -10% fuel consumption instead of -5%
- Cavalry Recon now gains a 15% speed bonus from the Mass Assault doctrine "Pocket Defence".
- Horseback Infantry now have several early benefits in military doctrines. We would still like to see them phased out in favor of motorized infantry, but for countries with no real options in the early game they should lose their shine a little later then currently.
- The Dutch MIOs Fokker and DAF are now both available from game start, and instead of being unlocked, are granted 2 extra levels when taking each MIOs respective focus.
- Increased the spirit of the naval acadamy spirits chance to gain +skills on level up from 40% to 50% to be in line with the army spirits
- the AI will be significantly less likely to leave countries alive on tiny islands during peace conferences

##################################
# Gameplay
##################################

- Added decisions for Wales and Y Wladfa to core each-others states if they control them.
- The Free French focus “Refus Absurde” can now also be completed if at peace to remove the Defeatism spirit, and the focus “Form the Provisional Government” now also removes the spirit in case it hasn’t been removed earlier.
- Finland no longer cedes Petsamo to the Soviets when losing the Winter War.

##################################
# UI
##################################

- Added simple allow_branch and offset effects to the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian focus trees.

##################################
# Modding
##################################

- Can no longer unlock a severely broken form of intelligence agency without LaR; this will error appropriately to help you track down the issue.

##################################
# Bugfix
##################################

- Bulgaria: Players with BftB should no longer encounter Fatherland Front when going to war with the Soviet Union while wrong ideology
- The Request Expeditionaries feature works with size 0 armies once again
- corrected railways around lille and dunkirk
- All single category MIOs (naval, air, land) should now use the correct XP type
- Fixed a bug when if you had a spirit of the army (leftmost army spirits) would cause any spirit from spirit of the naval academy (leftmost navy spirit) to not work properly
- Fixed a wrong tooltip where the % chance to gain +attack/defense/manouver+coordination in the spirit of the naval academy would say you a way lower % chance to get the benefit that what it really was (it said 20% but it was in fact 40%)
- Fixed a number of Soviet CCP icons that were not appearing correctly when the pack is enabled.
- Fixed an issue where Argentina could core only Guatemala and no other central-american nations using their South-American unity decisions, as well as making them able to core Easter Island.
- Fixed an issue where the 30 day cooldown for the damage dealt by Paratroopers after taking the "Combat Insertion"doctrine wasn't working and could be done an infinite number of times in the same state.
- Fixed an issue where a Warlord state that had inherited Nationalist China's focus tree couldn't remove their version of the Ineffective Bureaucracy spirit through the Examination Yuan focus.
- Fixed an error where the British Plan R-4 couldn't be successfully completed.
- Land Doctrine: People's Army now correctly applies cavalry suppression buff to Military Police; buff reduced to 0.35 Suppression Per Honse from 0.5
- Unit supply consumption now correctly uses 2 decimal places in tooltips and UI (functionality remains unchanged)
- Fixed an issue where the "Blockade Venezuela" decision would still be visible when Venezuela didn't exist.
- Fixed an issue where the leader trait “Unbreakable” wasn’t properly granting attack and defense modifiers.
- Fixed an issue where the Spanish national spirit “The Anti-Fascist Crusade” wasn’t properly granting the attack it said it was.
- Fixed an issue where the Nordic national spirit “The Nordic March” wasn’t properly granting the attack it said it was.
- Fixed an issue where the Nordic national spirit “To Arms Against Tyranny” wasn’t properly granting the defense it said it was.
- Fixed an issue where the Latvian national spirit “Dievturība” wasn’t properly granting attack and defense modifiers.
- Fixed an issue where the various Italian Papal national spirits weren't properly granting attack and defense modifiers.
- Fixed an issue where the Spanish national spirit “Embrace the Spanish Destiny” wasn’t properly granting the attack it said it was.
- Fixed an issue where the Spanish “Crusade Against Democracy” national spirits weren’t properly granting the attack and they said they were.
- Gdynia is now also included among the states that Poland can return to a democratic Germany if they are close to capitulation.
- Fixed various issues with the requirements and effects of the Norwegian decisions to convert convoys into destroyers.
- Fixed an issue where Chile couldn't bypass the focus "Demand the Guyanas" when already controlling all three target states.
- Fixed an issue where the Portuguese focus "Portuguese Artillery" didn't grant funds to the correct MIO.
- Fixed an issue where the Brazilian focus "Bribe the Military" wouldn't grant a dockyard due to incorrect checks in the focus.
- Fixed various issues where the Japanese Zaibatsu national spirits could join the wrong side of a civil war.
- Fixed an issue where the Latvian focus "Renew the Constitution of Latvia" wouldn't correctly swap the trait of the political advisor Alberts Kvesis as it said it did.
- Fixed an issue where the French focus and decisions for "Arms Purchases in the US" could be completed despite the requirements not being properly fulfilled.
- Entrenchment Chief no longer refuses to follow naming consistency rules (Thanks Reddit, we hated it too)