It's been a while since the last progress report. That's because on top of working on content for Days of Defiance, we're currently in the process of moving our offices to a new city. This is exciting for a number of reasons, but one of them is that the additional space allows us to upgrade our mocap setup. That's going to improve our animation pipeline tremendously, not just for future games but for Days of Defiance as well.

Moving is going to take us a couple more weeks, though, so expect a few more gaps in the progress report schedule until we're done.


In other news, we're getting ready for Steam Next Fest, which starts October 14th. That's also when we're going to release the Days of Defiance demo! That's right, starting next week, you can check out the game for yourself.

The demo will be limited to a small part of the game world and a small subset of all recruitable characters that are going to be available in the final release. Apart from that, you can explore the demo area freely, complete some quests, and fight some bad guys.


Most of the dev time was spent on new quests and coordinating voice actors. About half of all the voiced characters are done, so get ready for some snark coming your way!

We're also busy fixing bugs in order to make the demo as stable as it can be. For the longest time, we've had two show stoppers on the Linux build that are gone now. They were minor annoyances, but just enough to make the game basically unplayable. If all goes well, we can get the demo out on Linux platforms, too.

And that's it for this time. See you next week for Steam Next Fest!

• 3 new secret levels for Overture: Purgatory
  
• 2 new weapons
  
• Enemy rebalancing
  
• Rework of 0-1 and 0-2

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We just released a new video to help you dive deeper into the world of Trade Conquest! If you're curious about how to choose your nation, manage your economy, or understand how trade impacts your rise to power, this video has you covered. We explore everything from inflation and taxes to resource management and industry creation.

We also touch on politics and research, showing how they fit into your strategy as you grow your influence. Whether you're new to the game or looking for a better understanding of its systems, this video should clear up a lot of questions.

Watch the full intro here:



I hope it helps give a better understanding of the mechanics.

Best,
GrandPaw Games

[Fixes]

1. Fixed a bug where the boss “Uneven” incorrectly corrupted the hand tiles being played.
   
2. Fixed a bug where free augment disappeared in Howling Mountain.
   
3. Fixed a bug in English version where the description of the Guzheng was not fully translated.
   
4. Corrected the descriptions for "Medusa's Eye" and "Bamboo Wine" in the English version.
   
5. Fixed a bug that caused the game to freeze if the reward was clicked before the Well Entrance animation finished playing.

Attention Knights! ⚔️

A fresh patch has arrived, and with it, some exciting updates! Plus, an enhanced demo is just around the corner! Check out the latest changes:

🔥 Merror's new ability: When you take damage, the enemy does too! Time to turn the tides.
🖼️ Updated UI: A brand-new interface for smoother gameplay is now ready.
🎁 New Reward Mode: Dodge to get Attack, Shield, and HP Boosts!
⚖️ Game Balance: Fine-tuned for a better challenge.
🎨 Stage Recoloring: New color filter added to smoothen visuals.
📖 Tutorial Resequenced: Learn the ropes in a smoother order.
♾️ Endless Mode: Rarities have been adjusted for endless fun.
👹 Relic Tweaks: Ambush, Knight Guard, and more were buffed!
🎉 Level-Up Notifications: Never miss out on that sweet power-up moment.

Good luck becoming the DodgeKing with the new set of challenges that await!

You can now enjoy playing the game in Chinese & Russian Languages.
From the General Settings you can choose the language.

Dungeons of Blood and Dream now has achievements!

Ahoy! I am Captain Marek and I’m thrilled to introduce a game-changing feature in the upcoming Update 3 – a brand-new, innovative train traffic system! This system is designed to handle even complex rail networks effortlessly, all without requiring you to build explicit signals. Simply lay down your tracks, and the trains will run smoothly without any hiccups or delays.

This post contains lots of embedded videos showcasing our new system, so head over to our website to read it: Captain's Diary #46: Innovation in train signaling



Tomorrow, on October 13th, I'll be live-streaming the new Signal-Free system on YouTube and Twitch! Come by to see it in action!



Finally, we are also celebrating the Ada Lovelace Day to commemorate the first programmer in the world along with other games that are not only fun to play, but can teach you to think like a true engineer and feel like a tech wizard! If that sounds like your niche, head over to the event page, you can get some great discounts too!

Looking to help us test the upcoming update to Project Sparrow? Come and take part in the latest playtest for the Project Sparrow rework on October 19th 7:00PM - 8:00PM BST. See below for more information on how to access the rework.

How do I access the rework?
Right click Project Sparrow in your steam library > go to properties > betas > then in the 'Beta Participation' dropdown, select 'rework - rework'.

Note: If you want to swap between playing the live version of the game and the rework, you'll have to come back here and change from 'rework - rework' to 'none'.

You can check out the latest YouTube video for a full in-depth display of features and game updates!


Patch Notes for this test:

Spirit Bombs: New Spirit Bombs added around maps, these can be shot to explode and deal damage to nearby players, they also provide a small knockback and give you 1 ammo. You can use these to launch yourself or damage other players. Great for comboing with other movement.


Ziplines are back! With some improvements, your look direction will now influence launch velocity when exiting the zipline. Getting knocked back or stunned by anything will cause you to fall off the zipline.


Streams: These push the character through them, depending on the direction they are facing, some are vertical/diagonal/horizontal (if you have a better name for these, please let me know :D)


General Gameplay:
- Projectile whizby sounds added
- Added a short impulse if jumping out of a roll
- Can now look around during the loadout phase
- Added current round below the clock on the UI
- Added an Ultimate Orb in the middle of the map (standing in the vicinity displayed around the orb will decrease your current ultimate cooldown percent by -50% and give you 10 ammo)
- Arrows now stay in the hit location for 30 seconds and can be picked up to increase ammo count
- Arrows now dissolve after start dissolving at 27 seconds
- Ammo & Infinite ammo indication shows on ammo count near your crosshair
- Reduced blink cooldown from 12 > 8
- Base ammo is 12/20
- Shadowform resets whatever movement ability you are using
- Added back the UI indicator above ammo packs
- Added ammo packs to the tutorial
- Wallbounce now directional to the player instead of camera, can keep looking at an enemy whilst you want to wallbounce. When you jump near a wall/object and press space + input key (W/A/S/D) you'll go that direction. For example, Jump + A to jump off a wall to the left
- stunned/status text no longer shows in round start
- Fixed first person animations not working sometimes when spectating other players
- Fixed a bug where you could kick bots into the orbs to go to the next level in the tutorial and spawn all bots at that position
- New keybind for interacting (with ziplines etc..)
- Increased collision size of special arrow types
- Reduced special arrow type speeds from 8000 > 5000
- Map changes
- Collision fixes
- Matchmaking fixes
- Climbing/mantle accuracy adjustments and increased climb speed

UI/UX:
- No longer show blocked/ignored friends in the in-game friends list
- Party invites are no longer spammable
- Can no longer join a party you are already in
- Fixed a bug where the party members UI wouldn't update if someone left the party
- Loading screen images depending on the map you are loading into + updated style
- New font added
- Added new UI to show when you unable to connect to our online services (this will disable matchmaking and other online functionality)
- Able to go into the training range and tutorial levels whilst in a matchmaking queue
- Added a 'Cancel Search' button to cancel matchmaking in the ESC menu when in-game and not in the menu
- When someone in your party starts finding a match it should now show for all party members
- New modal for connecting to a game and sound fixed

Added the function of resetting archives (unlocked CGs will be retained)
Fixed some Chinese voice playback errors that caused the process to get stuck.