Major Updates and New Features

This patch has a ton of changes and additions so I'll be a bit less detailed than usual in these patch notes and won't cover every single change. This is part 1 of a 3 part loot/crafting update that will include swords, amulets, uprading/enchanting and two major new sword mechanics. A significant portion of the work for this patch went into adding new UI for things like vendors, loadout selection, quests, etc. You can duel any vendor in the game and get access to special items if you defeat them.

• Unequip: Added the ability to unequip and equip swords, this includes animations for running around with no weapon. The new animations use UE5s motion matching system which I didn't use before so I'll need to do some performance benchmarking on that, but I think it looks nice.
  
• Crouch: Added crouch, you cannot fight from crouched. The default key is Z. When crouched your footsteps are silent so you can use it to sneak up on people
  
  
  
  
• Loadout UI: Added a system for choosing your loadout when entering the tower so that you can change your ability loadout and chose what equipment to bring with you at the entrance portal.
  
  
  
  
• Vendors: Added a system for npc vendors / quest givers. You can buy stuff from them. You can also duel any of them. Right now there is just one, the tower quartermaster.
  
  
  
  
• The Mines: Added the a new beginner friendly zone called the mines. Right now there is just a small area where you can mine ore and the rest is closed off. It won't be fully ready for a while.
  
  
  
  
  
• Sword Stats: Added a sophisticated system for swords to have special effects. Right now each of the swords in the weapon rack has an example effect. You can mouse over to read them.
  
• Borrowed Items: Updated the weapon rack to give you "borrowed" swords that can be used but cannot be brought through portals or into the tower.
  
  
  
  
• Mouse Responsiveness: Added an option to disable the camera smoothing and made having it disabled the default. I think the mouse movement will feel more responsive.
  
• Animation Quality: changed the npcs to run at a higher tick rate locally but the same tick rate on the server. This should make npc animations a bit easier to read.
  
• Achievements: Added new achievements for blocks per minute that must be done on 6 direction + random mode. There is an achievement for 50 blocks per minute and 60. I've only gotten 57 so far but one player has already gotten to 60.
  
  
  
  
• Cleave: Fully charged attacks now cleave through multiple opponents, each hit opens a new combo window (or resets it if the previous has not expired).
  
• Crippling Kiai: Deleted "Cleaving Kiai" as it is now the default behavior. Replaced it with "Crippling Kiai" which makes your kiai attacks slow the person you hit.
  
• Entrance Instancing: Added support for multiple instances of the tower entrance within a region, this is part of a goal to make the entrance have a lot more stuff (quests, crafting, duels, trading, marketplace, etc.)
  
• Tower Tokens: Added a system for using "tower tokens" to enter the tower. Your "tower token" controls your start location within the tower (and in the future certain tokens will give buffs).
  
  
  
  
  Miscellaneous
• Added katas to the entrance
  
• A lot of UI QoL, eg you can click on an item to use it for crafting instead of dragging. Lots of little things like that
  
• Fixed crash issue with traversing red portals when being attacked
  
• A lot of minor bug fixes.

This is the first major chunk of what I have planned for adding meaningful loot and a quest/story progression. I won't get into the details of the quests, but loot wise, the next steps will be.

• Awakening: The next major mechanic for swords will be "awakening" conditions. A big challenge for extraction looters is balancing making gear feel meaningful without making it feel like vets are just gear checking new players. An idea I've had in mind for some time is to have the higher end swords start off very weak and "awaken" incrementally throughout a tower run when certain sword specific conditions are met. So a simple example would be a sword that gains base damage each time you go through a red portal. It would be weaker than a normal sword in the beginning areas but very strong against the puppeteer. Experienced players don't need a good sword in the early game anyways and this keeps them from running around 1-tapping noobs.
  
• Shields: And by that I mean magic shields not physical ones. Another area I want to improve is how health feels in the game. I've been having trouble finding the right balance of healing within the game so that getting hit every now and then doesn't feel terrible, while at the same time making your HP feel precious (so not resetting to full after each fight). I've decided to have the 3rd gear item (amulets) that will give you a "shield" which will absorb X damage, after which damage will start reducing your health. Your shield will automatically recharge if you are out of combat (and not sprinting) for a fairly short time. Then I will significantly reduce the amount of healing in the game. Better amulets will give bigger shields, or shields with special effects.
  
• Loot tables: After that I'll go through and add loot tables for swords / amulets to all NPCs and change their swords to match their play styles. Right now there are some significant mismatches (most notably with the Othari, where they are using a sword that favors riposte based offense, but they hardly ever block).

As always, your feedback is invaluable—thank you for being an integral part of this journey! Stay tuned for the next update, and I hope you enjoy exploring these new features and improvements.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2321890/Swordai/

Hey everyone,

Quick update to the game has been added as an experimental feature / option in the settings menu to enable a survivor-like control scheme with auto-aim and auto-fire.

We've received feedback from the community that it would be nice to have this as an option, and in an effort to support as many players as possible we definitely agree!

Full Game and Demo have both received this update!

The option has been added to the settings menu in an experimental fashion for now, and currently have it defaulted to off so if you're looking for this feature be sure to head over there turn it on to play around. Additionally there's also a "link fire mode" option as well, which combines primary and secondary fire into one button if you're looking to retain the manual aiming but want to reduce the button requirements. Options for everyone!

Of course, Cubed and Dangerous is still a challenging twin-stick shooter at it's core so there's very likely going to be some balance inconsistencies when playing with auto fire and auto aim. Some weapons will be much better than they used to be on manual aim and some other weapons will be worse. Energy weapons in particular are likely to be impacted the most, as you'll no longer be able to time your energy usage very well. But the option can be toggled off during gameplay, so you can also choose to switch back and forth between modes as much as you'd like while playing.

Thanks for your support so far, we've had a literal blast making this game and working with the feedback from the community. Keep the feedback coming, and if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to hit us up on the discord server.

(More to come from us very very soon as well)

Happy cubed destruction to all!

Hey everyone!

Patch 1.2.2 is here, bringing a variety of fixes and improvements based on your feedback. From crash and quest fixes to gameplay tweaks and UI updates, we’ve addressed several community-requested issues to make your experience even better.

As always, if you run into any other issues or have feedback, be sure to reach out—we appreciate your support!

• Updates to Equipment Tier difference feedback and penalties/bonuses:
  
  • Changed Tier penalty system from a hard tier to tier system and made it dynamic based on players equipment and the tier (and sub-tier) of the enemy. Tier difference rules now only apply when there is a +/- 4 level gap.
    
  • Tier II enemies will now play a small reaction animation when struck by lower-tier weapons, instead of not reacting at all.
    
  • Reduced damage reduction when player weapons are closer in tier to an enemy.
    
  • Significantly decreased how often companions comment about player needing better armor and/or weapons.
• Upgrade materials can no longer be sold to merchants to inadvertently make upgrading difficult. We have a longer-term fix involving buying back from merchants in the works.

• In specific situations, some NPCs weren’t where they should be. Saving the game, and re-loading will put them back where they should be. We will have a fix soon that fixes the situation completely and doesn’t require a save and load.

• The brambles in the Delemgan Glade will now vanish when the Adragan Heart is acquired, preventing players from getting stuck inside.
  
• Grysca (the apothecary) now correctly speaks with the player to advance An Untimely End, even if they previously encountered a bug with Thalla the Ogre spawning twice.
  
• Added a system to respawn key characters when loading a save if they were previously missing and blocking quest progression (including Ambassador Hylgard and The Watcher Runyd).

• Reviving companions in combat now restores them to 75% of their maximum health instead of 50%.
  
• Starting health of companions has been increased to help with their viability in combat.

• Merchants at the Dawnshore docks now offer 'Fine' gear in addition to 'Common' gear.

• Removed chance to crash when casting Corrosive Siphon on destructible objects.
  
• Optimized resource handling of VFX while the game is paused via radial menus to prevent rare leaks and crashes.

• Fixed invisible collision blocking the player in Strangleroot.
  
• Prevented players from charging into unintended areas in Strangleroot, avoiding quest progression issues.
  
• Enemies now navigate the bridges of the lava tubes more consistently.
  
• First Contact with the Enemy quest now progresses correctly if all badges are collected before speaking to Nauki.
  
• Players can now complete Steel Resolve after the main quest in Emerald Stair if they had completed enough objectives beforehand.
  
• Kowha now responds correctly if the player returns to them after starting One Last Drink.
  
• Dialog with Giatta upon leaving Naku Tedek now triggers consistently when loading saves before the conversation.
  
• Updated Mapping the Living Lands quest conditions to allow starting from future regions before talking to the quest giver in Dawnshore.
  
• Updated A Lady Never Tells quest flow so it correctly completes in the quest log when starting via the courtesan, getting the shipment, then speaking to Giuliana.
  
• Governor Ignasi’s option to turn in the spy can now only be triggered once instead of being repeatable.
  
• Conversations with leaders in the final area no longer end prematurely when choosing the Let me reconsider option.
  
• Made an additional ending option for the leadership conclave available to players who initially backed out but wish to reconsider.
  
• Adjusted environment art near the Trantons bounty in Emerald Stair to prevent bounty loot from becoming unobtainable.
  
• Previously missing voice-over lines in ambient content now play correctly.

• Seeds of Vengeance summons now scale correctly with health and damage.
  
• One-handed weapon Parry enchantments now function as intended.
  
• Party buffs from the player now correctly target companions only, instead of summoned creatures.
  
• Kai no longer gets stuck if using Unbending Defense while mid-air with Leap of Daring.
  
• Improved frame rate when rendering damage numbers on multiple enemies at once.
  
• Improved item randomization when restocking shops.
  
• Blast ability for wands now plays the correct visual and sound effects.
  
• Improved logic for animations on companions at the end of combat.
  
• Improved transitions on the top of Mt. Forja.
  
• Fixed interaction inconsistencies with objects and NPCs obscured by other characters.
  
• Controllers no longer rumble when loading a save before the final boss fight.
  
• Fixed issues with pond coin interactions.
  
• Added error codes for save game failures.
  
• Improved where characters are looking during certain conversations.

• Cutscene in Naku Kebel now properly plays sound effects.
  
• Eating food from the radial menu now provides audio feedback.
  
• Increased volume of Woedica’s voiceover audio.
  
• Player voice now plays more consistently for abilities with vocal components.
  
• Improved transitions between music intensity levels when exploring.
  
• Music during the end slides now plays at the intended volume.

• Updated Banner Dwarf’s outfit LODs to reduce clipping during animation.
  
• Captain Ngunu’s neck is now properly merged with his head.
  
• Steel Garrote Soldiers have re-grown their missing hands.
  
• Improved shadow quality on Xbox Series X Performance Mode.

• Cloud transfer prompt is now properly centered on ultrawide displays.
  
• Xbox cloud transfer dialog buttons no longer shake rapidly when hovering over the bottom part of the button.
  
• Initial splash screens now properly support Chinese characters.
  
• Interaction prompts pop up more reliably.
  
• Opening a radial menu after leaving and returning to the game no longer triggers the pause menu.
  
• Removed unintended English characters in the One Last Drink quest journal for non-English languages.
  
• Cloud save UI now defaults to selecting the recommended option.

HUGE Update everyone!!! Communite is now more social than ever!

We humbly present to you... the:


Buckle up:


WHAT?! Finally, you can create a world for YOUR community!

Open your own community with your friends, or hop between worlds to help different communities on their journey.

Currently, auto-verification requires a Twitch account, but we'll be expanding integrations soon!


The mushroom kingdom needs your help, and so does a particularly hotheaded mountain (names chosen by our wonderful Discord community)!


Public servers can now be featured in the main menu!

Streaming servers will appear as LIVE, and extremely active servers will appear as HOT!
Grow your community, meet new friends, and build together!


Create, join, and navigate between servers easier than ever!

----

That's all for now! Meanwhile, we've been working on a mysterious new feature, the World Brush (secret test in our Discord!)

EXPECT SOME BIG DEVELOPMENTS SOON!

Hopefully we've settled the problem in which users with non-English characters in their usernames are seeing a crash on startup. If you can confirm either way please let us know here! Thanks!

Good news! We just got approval from Steam to launch the special demo app for our Kickstarter backers. This means that tomorrow we can send over the keys to finally give you access to the demo and let you play the game's prologue.

Why did you have to wait a few days after the campaign finished? Well, the game is not publicly released on Steam (the Early Access starts next month), which implicates that we can't directly generate the access keys on Steam. We could only generate very small pack of keys to share with some media and influencers and we had to finish the campaign to get to know how many of you finally supported us. On top of it, we've been adding text translations to let you play with subtitles in your preferred language and adding some improvements based on initial media feedback. Then we kindly asked Steam support to generate special playtest keys for our 2377 backers. Just an hour ago we got confirmation that our request is approved and we can start sending over the keys.

We need to spend some time today preparing everything, but we should be ready by tomorrow. Then, we'll email you Steam access keys and post an update here to confirm that. Stay tuned and tomorrow will be our great day!

In the meantime, if you can't wait to check what to expect in the game (spoiler-free material), you can see the short video here:

---

And now for something completely different. A few days ago we launched a contest for your creative ideas on what Black Stalker would say seeing this picture:



You sent us numerous answers, and it was tough to select the best - all of them were either beautifully crazy, deeply intriguing, or simply fun. We love your immersion in our project and promise to do more contests very soon, giving you the next opportunities to win our precious merch.

We discussed them all, and picked the most touching for us, and here are the results:





Congratulations, winners! We will contact you within the next few days to get your addresses and prepare the packages to send to you.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/2075100/Chernobylite_2_Exclusion_Zone/

Good news! We just got approval from Steam to launch the special demo app for our Kickstarter backers. This means that tomorrow we can send over the keys to finally give you access to the demo and let you play the game's prologue.

Why did you have to wait a few days after the campaign finished? Well, the game is not publicly released on Steam (the Early Access starts next month), which implicates that we can't directly generate the access keys on Steam. We could only generate very small pack of keys to share with some media and influencers and we had to finish the campaign to get to know how many of you finally supported us. On top of it, we've been adding text translations to let you play with subtitles in your preferred language and adding some improvements based on initial media feedback. Then we kindly asked Steam support to generate special playtest keys for our 2377 backers. Just an hour ago we got confirmation that our request is approved and we can start sending over the keys.

We need to spend some time today preparing everything, but we should be ready by tomorrow. Then, we'll email you Steam access keys and post an update here to confirm that. Stay tuned and tomorrow will be our great day!

In the meantime, if you can't wait to check what to expect in the game (spoiler-free material), you can see the short video here:

---

And now for something completely different. A few days ago we launched a contest for your creative ideas on what Black Stalker would say seeing this picture:



You sent us numerous answers, and it was tough to select the best - all of them were either beautifully crazy, deeply intriguing, or simply fun. We love your immersion in our project and promise to do more contests very soon, giving you the next opportunities to win our precious merch.

We discussed them all, and picked the most touching for us, and here are the results:





Congratulations, winners! We will contact you within the next few days to get your addresses and prepare the packages to send to you.

---

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2075100/Chernobylite_2_Exclusion_Zone/

Hello again! My big messy games collection came out at the end of last week. I thought it was about time I announced it here!

A big shout out to Justo for coming on to this weird project with me and helping me make it a reality, and to Dav999 for helping me to localize everything into more than 20 languages. Putting this thing together has been a huge undertaking, and I am so happy with how it turned out.

One of the big inspirations for this project was the Calvin and Hobbes 10th Anniversary collection, which I read as a teenager, and which really made an impact on me. Here is this guy, you know, Bill, he makes so-called lowbrow art, comics for newspapers – but the book is full of little stories about what he was interested in, about what was going on with his career as he was making the comics, about experiments that didn’t work out and how he came up with his world and his different characters. I found that so inspiring, and still do.

I don’t know if I’ve succeeded, but I tried to put a little bit of that into this; less museum exhibition and more designer’s notebook. I hope there are some things in here that surprise and delight and inspire. <3

Right. Time to go make some new games!

Steam Authorization Added
Players can now log in using their Steam accounts, providing a more seamless authentication process and a unified gameplay experience across platforms.

Deckbuilder Upgrade
The deckbuilder interface has been redesigned for improved usability and efficiency.

Gauntlet Entry Restriction
Access to Gauntlet mode is now limited to players at level 10 or higher to maintain a fair competitive environment.

New Card: Access Key
A new legendary relic has been introduced with unique effects.

Daily Offers Price Update
The prices of all Daily Offers have been recalculated with an approximate 25% adjustment to ensure fair market balance.

• Standardized elemental icons for Light, Neutral, and Shadow affinities.
  
• Removed Foretold VFX from chest openings. These effects will now only appear on the game board.
  
• Improved visual effects for the Pattern keyword to enhance clarity.
  
• MMR adjustments:
  - Increased early surrender penalty from x2 to x5.
  - Increased minimum MMR gain per match, even in cases of significant rating disparity.

1. Fixed an issue where cards with Persistence would incorrectly retain Silence when returned to hand.
   
2. Resolved a tutorial freeze that could occur when right-clicking a card instead of following on-screen instructions.
   
3. Fixed an issue where the Gauntlet reward screen displayed incorrectly after logging out mid-match or switching to Ranked mode.
   
4. Fixed Morat’Raken incorrectly being returned to hand by Loial’s ability or Avalanche despite having Steadfast.
   
5. Supreme Council no longer performs two attacks while under the effects of Bloodlust.
   
6. Fixed a sync issue in the deckbuilder where decks could partially reset after returning from a match.
   
7. Resolved a targeting issue where Raken’s ability caused opponent card hitboxes to shrink.
   
8. Bleed is now properly removed from cards when returned to hand via Darkhound’s effect.
   
9. Fixed an issue where Belal’s summoning animation played without summoning a creature.

Shadowed Moon’s Spellbreak
Now grants Spellbreak once per turn instead of stacking multiple times.

Tormentor’s Flame
New stats: 0/1/3.

Tamed Waves
Now applies Shock to the opponent’s Adventurer for 1 round upon triggering Requiem.

Type: Relic
Rarity: Legendary
Stats: 0/2

Ability:
- Your spells cost 2 One Power less to cast.
- If no spell is played during your turn, your next spell on the following turn deals double damage.

We appreciate your continued support and feedback. These changes aim to refine the gameplay experience while maintaining balance. Please share your thoughts as we continue to improve the game.

This build should fix a launch issue that was reported yesterday preventing the game from properly launching through the Steam platform on Mac. Hopefully this hasn't affected too many users so far.

It may be necessary to uninstall and reinstall the game on Mac for the update to properly take effect, but the game should be able to launch through the Steam app on Mac platforms now.