This is a bit of a different one from usual. I spent a lot of time updating and improving this game over the first half of the year, and we were entering the content phase of production. As many of you are aware, Unity had a critical engine flaw discovered that affected nearly all versions of the engine that aren't the newest (convenient for the contract you sign, but that's another story). This includes the version we have been building Push & Plunder on for some time now. This version was already outdated, to make things just a little worse.
What this means, in effect, is that Push & Plunder needs yet another core overhaul. This would be the third core overhaul of the project. This project has suffered far too many setbacks as it is. The cost of overhauling this project would cause the cost of the development to rise ever higher.
Estimated value of time invested in the development of P&P: $28,000
Estimated time & value required to overhaul: 160hrs-320hrs | $5,600-$11,200
And it looks like the game needs another month, maybe two, of core engine improvement and reimagining.
Here is a breakdown of my projected workload for this cost prediction.
Push & Plunder is built on an extremely old version of Unity. There are many, many problems this causes. And a lot of strange quirks of P&P are due to engine bugs that I cannot solve, and have been solved since. This includes many security upgrades. It also comes with some negatives that I won't get into here, in regards to data privacy and the contract I sign when I use it.
Two years ago, I was determined to make everything myself. I built a custom serializer, and a custom save system. It was efficient, and worked for my needs. As the game grew, the save system became quite the limitation.
When I took a break to develop Fungal Colony Sim 2, I decided to invest in some plugins for Unity to improve my development. The first one was EasySave3. The save system I had previously was retired and adapted to fit ES3. Now, adding new save data is effortless, and I no longer have to clear player progression when making changes to the save file structure. If P&P wants to succeed, it needs to be updated to use the same system.
Again, for FCS2, I created a system that tracks game progress that is more efficient than the original version I had created for P&P. The core of the game is driven by this unlock system, and the badges are more stable and easier to add new challenges with than the old implementation.
I custom built a shader for all of my games, and P&P is the pinnacle of that shader. But it too has many limits. Another plugin I purchased for FCS2, was this shader. It can do everything my shader did, and more. It has more integration with Unity, and a better interface in the editor. It is superior to my custom implementation in every way.
When I started this project, Havok Physics was too expensive to use. Since then, they have made changes to the pricing and now it is reasonable to use. Switching Physics engines would mean a complete reimagining of the core systems of the game. All the coin shooting, bauble bouncing, chest wiggling action would need to be re-engineered and tested.
This would be a radical and extreme investment.
It would, however, allow for better coin stacking and more "real" feeling bounces. A Higher quality final game would result, if the proper time and effort was spent.
For FCS2, I learned how to properly use a string translation system, and localizing my games is as easy as paying someone to translate the sheet of text. P&P has a barebones translation system that doesn't work correctly and was not finished. This would need to be removed and replaced with the working version previously mentioned.
and then the rest of the development can continue as planned. Enemies can be made, tables can be put together, and content can be added and expanded.
There are a lot of things to repair and fix, and the cost of the time required has the potential to be larger than the sales of the game could hope to be. It may already have cost more than it could ever hope to sell. All of the above stuff could be done in Early Access, but I am uncertain if I want to go that route. Early Access could cause this game to die in an unfinished state just as easily as it could save the game.
Unless the wishlist number explode, Early Access will not be considered.
There is... another way... A risky one... With all the work that needs to be done, it could be just as easy to start the project over entirely with all the knowledge we have and implement all the correct systems from the get go. This would probably cause several major overhauls and a complete design doc rewrite. FCS2 and Grammar Grind were developed for ~$5000 each. There is a way to rescope, redesign, and rebuild the entire game for the same cost as it would be to upgrade and fix the old build on the new engine.
So that's where I am at. I am working on other projects that have better futures ahead of them. And I don't know what to do here. Let me know your thoughts here, or on Bluesky, or on Threads. I'm back on Threads btw.
We’re happy to announce that Pudding: Lyre Knight, the English version of Katatema’s latest work, will be released on November 11, 2025.
It invites you into a strange and beautiful new story filled with unforgettable music and emotion!
We sincerely apologize to all our dear players.
When creating the game's store page, I mistakenly selected the "Free to Play" tag, as I thought it was a demo page. Today is November 2nd, 2025, and I will be requesting the revocation of the "Free to Play" option and changing the game itself to a paid version.
This will not affect any players at this time, as the full game has not yet been officially released.
Again, we sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding, our dear players.
All levels should generate faster and never fail (With fast generation on)
Fixed locked doors appearing on the main path, preventing you from continuing
Added more items to locked loot rooms
Story Mode Janitor/Elevator keys have separate icons now
Fixed footsteps in ArcLab
Fixed Cyan Key/Door symbol
Sped up Rewind level load
Fixed getting stuck in Non-Linear Library Pool Slide
Fixed slides sticking through other parts of the level
Added Non-Linear Kidrooms Loot Room
Fixed Non-Linear Poolrooms Vending Machine room
First, we want to thank you all for your incredible patience. We were pushing hard to get this update out for the game's anniversary, but unfortunately, our day jobs (yes, it's sad 😢) got in the way and we couldn't make that deadline.
But the wait is almost over! We are incredibly excited to announce that we are officially targeting a November release for the massive v0.6 PROPHUNT update.
We're calling this a "whole new era" for the game, and for good reason. We've been reworking the game's core, and we can't wait for you to play it. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming:
We've completely reworked the systems for both the Hunter and the Prop from the ground up, including movement, animations, and weapons.
For the Hunter: Get ready for a new first-person view! This comes with an all-new tactical arsenal: an AK-47-type weapon, a shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, a frag grenade, and a claymore. Melee combat is also in!
For the Prop: You can now transform and detransform (return to your robot form) at will! In your robotic form, you can attack in close combat, which can be very effective against a low-health Hunter.
For Everyone: We've added a "walk" function for both sides, allowing you to move more slowly but completely silently.
New Hunter Agents: Once a valiant robot soldier, Kovatek Corporation now employs new human agents for its Hunters.
Skill System: Going hand-in-hand with the new visuals is the introduction of Skills. You can select these to customize your Hunter's play style.
First Skill Available: “Resilience,” which allows you to take less damage for a short period of time. (Other skills will be coming soon, allowing you to create customizable classes!)
This is one of the pillars of this new update. The host of a game can now fill in the empty Props player slots with AIs. This is perfect for filling up a lobby or even playing solo as a Hunter. (Hunter AIs will be available later.)
New Map: Rooftop: A brand new map set on the rooftops of an abandoned American city. It is also the first map to introduce the concept of the void, where both Props and Hunters can fall to their deaths.
Map Rework: Warehouse: The game’s very first map, Warehouse, has also been significantly modified and improved, notably with the addition of new interiors and vegetation.
NVIDIA Technology: We're excited to introduce support for NVIDIA DLSS, DLAA, and Multi Frame Generation to boost your performance and visual quality.
PC Crossplay: That's right! Steam and Epic Games players can now play together!
New Main Menu: It was high time to put an end to the old, austere menus. The new main menu is finally here and looks beautiful.
We're in the final stages of polishing and bug-squashing. We are so excited to get this update into your hands.
Thank you again for your support. Get ready, and we’ll see you in November!
Venalith
Thanks to everyone that played the demo so far! I'm really happy with the results and got a lot of good feedback so far.
I want to bring up something while the demo is still available and keep an eye on how it evolves: level length consistency.
I’ve seen different playthroughs; some where players took quite a while to find all the keys and the exit, and others where they completed both main levels in under 10 minutes.
This amount of variation between playthrough lengths was not nice so I improved a bit the algorithm placing keys and the door in Level 0 (and its sublevels) to take spacing better into account.
There are more things I want to do, also I would like to improve Level 0 puzzle further (instead of just finding 3 keys) to something more engaging, but for now this improvement should help.
There were many changes to difficulty and how it changes gameplay to list them, but there is a new difficulty selector when you start a new game so you can read all the details there.
Improved consistency of Level 0 (and sublevels) keys and exit spacing.
Difficulty rework
Added Difficulty selector to starting new game flows
Revive hints, lowered revive time, improved player kill seen post processing effect
Phone ring now attracts entitiies
Added subtle sound cue to hidden Level 0 exit.
Various small bug fixes and stability improvements
Remember that the demo will be available until November 25th, a day before the game releases in Early Access.
If you got feedback or want to share a bug report, you can do so and get more info on how to help with log files in the following thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2419010/discussions/0/597413522044021445/
There are some issues with Multiplayer on China, I added a text on the multiplayer lobby regarding this that links to this discussion thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2419010/discussions/0/597413522044018193/
Hey guys,
wow, it's been a while since the last game update.
Fortunately, I've got great news for you: A new update is in the making!
The next update will contain a feature which will enable a new level of enjoyable gameplay sessions:
The Blueprint feature
With blueprints you can save all current spawned entities as well as the current selected background. This way you can create cool scenes that you can save and load whenever you want. There will be a special menu section "Blueprints" that allows you to load or remove blueprints. If you want to save a current blueprint state, you can just press S on your keyboard. Also blueprints consist of simple INI files, so you can share them easily.
Another thing that I'm adding is the "entity pause" button. Just press P on your keyboard and all spawned entities stop processing until you press P again. This allows to create better screenshots or simply enjoy a frozen view of your destructive desktop madness.
I've also planned to add two more fireworks tools, given we're heading closer and closer to new years eve.
The update is planned for release somewhere around december, 2025!
Stay tuned!