2024 is ending and this year we have accomplished A LOT with Strange Seed. Playtest, demo release, updates, and even finding ourselves a publisher! Let’s do a quick recap of the year!

On September 26, 2024, the Strange Seed demo went online. A massive thanks to our amazing playtester group. We’ve made many substantial changes to the game based on all the feedback in the playtest, with new content, new features, bug fixes, more bug fixes, optimizations, and… did I mention bug fixes?

Of course, a demo is just the beginning, and we are continuously updating the game with new feedback coming in every day (a shoutout to everyone who checked out our demo and gave us even more helpful feedback). In November, we had 2 demo build updates which introduced a myriad of optimizations in gameplay, UI and performance, as well as more bug fixes and new content.

If you run into any new issues in Strange Seed, do let us know via the in-game feedback form or our Discord feedback channel so we can get it fixed asap!





We are really happy to join up with Slug Disco as our publisher this year. With their support, we are taking more time to polish Strange Seed and evolve it a little more before going into a full launch. Here’s a sizzle reel on their YouTube channel and we are in there too!


We are currently aiming for a 2025 release, as we are looking to expand the game with more creature parts, more abilities and more areas. We will be looking for playtesters around early 2025 for areas not included in the demo version. If you want to get a sneak peek of our content early, join our Discord to get updates on our playtest!

We hope everyone had an awesome 2024 and is enjoying Strange Seed’s demo. We are super grateful for such a dedicated and supportive community to our game and our game would not be the same without all your help. Every demo download, every wishlist and every piece of feedback helps our little pink blob evolve into something better.

With 2025 closing in, there’s more content around the corner so please look forward to our new evolutions! Make sure you follow us on Twitter, YouTube and TikTok as well for the latest Strange Seed news (and memes)!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2743010/Index_Purger_Soundtrack/

We present you our game's soundtrack! If you wish to support the developer, this is the perfect way to do it! Besides the developer support, you can hear unique tracks right from our game.

It is worth mentioning that you can listen to these tracks for free, in our game's demo, which represents current state of development.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2989940/Index_Purger_Demo_v10/

Hi everyone,

So here is the latest!



Workshop support is entering polishing phase, there is a beta you can try out if you'd like, but unless you enjoy helping bug test and providing feedback I'd wait a few weeks for the final polish! [Instructions to join at bottom of post.]

So what will be in the workshop update?

• Support for workshop levels, levels are added to overworld and can be travelled to seamlessly.
  
• Verified Levels. Workshop editors can run an automatic test on their levels to make sure they are properly setup, and levels that pass get tagged as so in the workshop browser. So, you can filter the workshop browser to show only levels that have passed this test.
  
  

• Sticker shop! Find workshop orbs hidden in the workshop levels to buy stickers. Scale, rotate, and place them wherever you'd like on your board.
  
  

• I'd also like to squeeze in some small requests, such as changing color of hoverboard platform and giving more options for customizing your suit.

I'm going to try hard to launch this thing by end of January, then the goal is for New Game Plus mode in March (which will also probably go through a beta phase.

So that's that! Thanks for reading, and instructions to join the beta for those interested:

1) You will need to be on the workshopbeta branch (password: workshopbeta ) and be in the Workshop Beta group.

Link to group: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/EPNWS

Link to workshop page (not visible unless in above group): https://steamcommunity.com/app/1836730/workshop/

2) To download just subscribe to items on the workshop page, when you load the campaign you should see the workshop zones on your map.

-MattWLA

Hello, friends.

It's been a little over one year since the release of (the) Gnorp Apologue.

I hope 2024 has been a good year for you — that you have made progress in life, whatever that might mean for you. For me, 2024 was a year of relative tumult and honestly personal failure: My primary goal at the end of last year, was to deliver lots more Gnorp. We're now at the end of this year, and the goal remains the same.

The headlines of 2025:

• (the) New Gnorp Times (what you are currently reading) will be published at a regular cadence
  
• The Epilogue Update will be released
  
• A new game announcement and, ambitiously, release

[/b]
[/list]I would love to highlight a recently released game, a game which had (the) Gnorp Apologue as one of its primary inspirations. Idle Colony is, like (the) Gnorp Apologue an explosively visual incremental game. If the game looks interesting to you, I hope that you will support the developer. Together we have made a bundle featuring the two games at a discount.

It's an incredibly cool feeling to have the gnorps be a small part of the journey of the development of Idle Colony.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/48656/Explosively_Visual_Incrementals/


What started as a numerically harder game mode, has now morphed into something more distinct. I want to share with you a little teaser which features a new core gameplay feature of the Epilogue Mode — a different kind of firework.


I hope you'll enjoy the update when it releases, and I hope it will deliver on the idea of (the) Gnorp Apologue with a different flavor, and new mechanics to explore (and abuse).


And finally...

Look at all these bullies ganging up on a single gnorp, just to get a shard.




Take care of those you care about (a list which should ideally include yourself), and have a great 2025. Thank you for reading, and thank you for playing Gnorp. You're the best.

Happy New Year!



The Greys

The new year is here—why not add 'Build a Journaling Practice' to your 2025 bingo card? If you have 'more self-awareness', 'less stress', or 'better sleep' on your vision board for the year, journaling with Writeway is for you! This update improves the visibility of our New Year's promo - check the Profile > Subscription page before Jan 9th for a surprise!

Hotfix 1.0.2

-The "max reached stats" indicator was not displaying correctly.

-When fusing tier 2 and 3 crests in the battlefield, these were not unlocking in the library.

-Some words were missing in the in-game texts.

-When changing the language within the library, the language was not updating.

-In the shop, the reward menu did not support numbers greater than 3 digits.

-When returning through the portal, the reward value was calculating incorrectly.

-Tree upgrades were not resetting between saved files.

诸位朗读者，久疏问候。

我是“崎托”，一直以来都担任着各位与科莉娅沟通的桥梁。这次与各位相见自然也将带来图书馆的新消息，但同时也有与图书馆无关的“新作品”将带给各位。



那么，让我们从图书馆的更新开始说起吧。



《恋~一些小清新的猎奇故事~》将于2025年1月6日结束对Unity版的公开测试，转作为正式版与各位玩家见面。游戏也将于1月6日开始以最长半月的间隔连续进行更新。

这一些列更新会修复现有bug，同时也会为游戏带来以下新内容。

原定的涨价将在完成以下所有更新后推行。



1. Encyclopedia （世界之书/图鉴）



书中出现过的固有概念、人物和故事线等都将被收录进世界之书中展现给各位朗读者。

从中也将透露更多有关图书馆主线的故事内容，对故事之外的故事感到好奇的各位朗读者们……现在正是探索的时候。


2. 科莉娅闲聊内容扩充+触发方式修正



图书馆的UI将被重新设置，变为更类似于手游主界面的方式方便玩家选择阅读故事。

借此，玩家可以更轻松地与科莉娅攀谈各种话题。

根据日期的不同、玩家的选择等……科莉娅会回应的话将会有所不同。


3. 《被诱拐的魔女》朗读



正如之前介绍的，《被诱拐的魔女》朗读部分预定于1月6日上线。

以目前的进度来看这个工期有点危险，但我会竭尽全力……

4. 科莉娅配音



科莉娅的声音终于将传达到各位朗读者的耳边。

悄悄告诉各位，我录下了科莉娅闲时哼唱的小曲并配上了视频……希望各位喜欢。

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12b6XYNEJ9



而在完成以上内容之后，游戏将继续推进《地狱依存症》和《现实》的故事内容。

详细计划会在完成上一个阶段后列出计划表供各位朗读者参考，

包括之前提到的桌宠也会在完成《被诱拐的魔女》后为各位送出。



除此以外，我们还为各位朗读者准备了一个小小惊喜。






都给我玩小清新的猎奇故事


都给我玩《恋~一些小清新的猎奇故事~》.gif



以科莉娅为原型制作的动态表情包，由春也Haruya老师负责制作。

之后会免费上架至QQ表情商城，等不及的朗读者也可以加入玩家群在群文件领取。



以上，祝各位朗读者度过知性的一夜，我本打算这么说……

但请稍等，here is one more thing！



正如开头所述，我将为各位朗读者介绍新作品。

为了维持图书馆的开支，也为了满足我自己的创作欲……我为各位带来了3部新作品。



只要您热爱着故事……就请务必不要错过。

否则，您肯定会为此后悔一生。



那么，就让我从这一本书开始吧……

这是讲述了以新闻记述事件……建立起迥然不同【真实】的故事。



《沈鸣大学新闻部：怪奇事件录》

魑魅魍魉千奇百怪。

被掩埋的一切，终将通过“新闻”昭然于世。



在这部游戏中您将扮演沈鸣大学新闻部的成员们，探寻一件又一件怪奇事件背后的……真相？不，您并不需要找到真相。无论是科学、灵异抑或混杂两种观点都无所谓。您唯一需要做的只有写出令人信服的报道，至于真相……谁在乎呢？只管让在乎的人去找就好。



无论您的选择如何，您写下的“新闻”都将将会改变自身、改变周遭乃至改变世界。




沈鸣大学新闻部部长 李志真
这个故事将会于2025年6月中推出试玩版，

接下来的开发进程……且看我一个人尚能走多远吧？


全新的故事是否有撩拨起您的心弦呢？别着急，我还要向各位介绍更多故事。

那么，从这一本书继续吧。

这是讲述了魔王与逻辑……以推理击破幻想的故事。



幻想、推理……看似难以耦合的元素。

若将他们都接入名为“游戏”的框架，又是否能组合出有趣的作品呢？

“JRPG中的本格推理”，这是我给这部游戏所下的定义。

越是熟悉JRPG的朗读者想必越会感到《循环||魔王》的有趣之处。

说是如此，一切都还言之无物。

2025年春季《循环||魔王》作为体量更小的作品将率先推出试玩DEMO

对幻想与推理都感兴趣的朗读者……或许没有那么多吧？

但即使只对一边感兴趣也无所谓，因为我会写出让你们都满足的有趣故事。

敬请期待。



最后，我想向向各位介绍的是我与他人合作的作品——《群星之盛宴》（暂定名）



女主人公 徐月鸣
这是一部建立在以COC为原型重新构建的魔幻世界观下，以剧情驱动的RPG游戏。

现阶段能够向各位透露的内容并不多，但我们预计会在2025年春季推出游戏的试玩DEMO。

日后，【崎托】这一身份也将分别作为【个人】和【制作组的一员】同时存在。

考虑到作品风格的不同，日后《群星》的制作组会单独分离于该账号存在。



那么……今天的演出到此结束。

再次，祝各位朗读者度过充满期待的一夜。

We have a small update with a big impact for you:

• The Enemy Spawner of buildings with Safe Rooms now saves the killed terrorists. There are sometimes only a few terrorists that respawn after you kill them in buildings with Safe Rooms
  
• Death Crates are now getting saved and loaded after restart the game
  
• Increased life span of dead humans from 3 to 15 second
  
• Fixed mouse controls are getting resetted back to default on a game restart

Hello all, happy new year! This is obviously the last devlog before the end of the year. I’ll try to keep it short. I think there probably won’t be too much to discuss anyhow. Lots of work happening, but this has been one of those months where all the effort goes into one system so there isn’t a wide variety of things to talk about. Admittedly, December is also one of those months where things are a bit touch and go because of all the holidays.

So, to get into it this month was about combat, as I believe I talked about last time. Good progress has been made, but there is still plenty to do. As a basic refresher the combat is going to be turn based. Below is an image of what the general battle screen will look like. As usual, you’ll have to ignore the temporary sprites. My drawing skills peak at using the fill tool to color in a box. Even the sprites that look completed may have another pass, so its all a work in progress.

Each turn the player will have a few points (AP) to work with. You can have two active classes giving you a total of 10 spells (5 from each class). Each turn you select the spells you want to cast and then select a target. Enemies will always perform one action per turn in response. To account for enemy speed however there is also a round based system in play. If you look in the top right it shows the turn order for every combatant in the round. Depending on how fast a unit is they may only get one turn, or they may get several during the round. Bar buffs the player will likely always go once per round.

You also have your familiar (which currently looks like a red box) which you will also control. The familiar attunes elements and has a more simplified set of commands per element. In addition, you can flee obviously and use items.

To touch on items I think they will be restricted to alchemy items for the most part. The idea here is that using items will either have a cooldown rate or you’ll only be able to take so many into a fight. This is mostly just to prevent item spam. The general idea though is that alchemy will have some damage or status items as well as basic things like healing potions. So if you want to go hard into alchemy to boost your combat performance you can.

Outside of that the other thing, that maybe doesn’t need to be said given the temporary assets, I’d like for there to be more info at a glance than what you currently see. Currently all you see are spell names to pick from. If you hover them you get a description but I’d like to add things onto the buttons like AP cost at the very least and perhaps other things like what buffs/debuffs they apply, etc. As I believe I said last time, the less you have to dig through menus or hover buttons and read tooltips the better. Aside from buttons, status effects should be visible as well so you can easily look and see what you or an enemy has applied at any time. I’m debating on showing enemy HP at any given time, so that might show up as well.

So there is obviously still a lot to do. The end of this month has been overtaken by the holidays, but prior to that I was at the point of implementing combat calculations. Without going into detail that basically means the math that calculates damage or other effects when you cast a spell. That’s a very large task, but once an algorithm is set it should come together pretty fast. I already know how damage is calculated via a spreadsheet I just have to make the code actually handle various effects and modifiers so it calculates correctly.

At this point a good chunk of combat is actually implemented. All the UI that you see in that image is functioning properly. I’ve also already figured out enemy stats and balancing for the first segment of combat. To explain that combat is effectively split into 5 levels (or 6 for the player). Depending on where you are in the world enemies will be at a certain combat level. This means if you wander around at night you may run into dangerous enemies depending on where you are. Outside of the mines though you can only be attacked at night so if you want to avoid combat ideally, you’d just sleep at night. That said the overworld sticks mostly to low level enemies, the more dangerous ones are deep in the mines or locked to a few specific areas.

Aside from all that, loot still needs to be set. Fighting enemies will yield items that you can use. Mostly stuff for alchemy, but some of the items have wider uses as I recall. I think one example was tailoring. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that, but where in the current version of the game you can just make cloth in the new version there will be a fairly simple tailoring system where you can turn cloth and other items into clothes which you can sell. Sort of just a way to flesh out those items and make them more profitable if you want to go that route. In terms of complexity it will likely be similar to something like smelting ore where you just click a button to craft the item assuming you have the materials.

That is mostly it for combat however. I’ve still got a ton of work to do, but once the holidays are done I should be able to focus more fully on it. I’m really hoping that by the end of January it is done or at least done in the capacity of the first combat tier. I’ll likely be adding combat in tiers as I add levels to the mine. The current plan is that the initial version of this that goes live will only have the first mine level. Which as a reminder there are only going to be 5 mine levels but they will be large and laid out more like dungeons to explore.

Aside from combat I’ve been working to get sprites added back into the game. I didn’t realize how many art assets there were until I had to start moving them all over. I’ve also been working on fleshing out characters and writing stories. I also just started working with my artists to look at the character portraits. Most if not all of them are getting a minor makeover. Something to make the characters more unique looking so they don’t all blend together as much.

I think that covers basically everything for now. Apologies that there isn’t really anything new to talk about. Combat was always going to be one of those big systems that was going to take some time to complete. I’m hoping that by the end of January I’ll have it basically done but we’ll see what happens. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me through this year. With any luck it will all be worth the wait. I hope you all had a good holiday if you celebrate. I wish you all a happy new year, and I’ll see you all in a month as usual.