This update was originally meant for October 15th, however since Itch.io was down I postponed the update until the website was up and running. It made things less complicated. Without any further adieu, today's update is to discuss the long-term plans for the new Roadmap, along with longer wait times between monthly updates to maintain more interesting content worth reading.

 As of today, according to the old map our progress looks like this:

We're over a month ahead of the original schedule, and on track to completing the story writings by 2026!!! After some careful consideration, below is our NEW updated list for the remaining 2025 Season!

The closer we get to the new year approaching rapidly, the more I'll discuss the plans of development once Act 3 has been completed. However the writing doesn't stop there. Epilogue segment, Character Sheets, Enemy Galleries, Item's, and Ability List will need to be created. This won't be much of a time consumer initially as, some tasks here might be revisited at a future point. But, this is the simple outline of our next steps once the story is finished.

- Lance Leeder (DevLanket)

Hey everyone! 🌲
We’re excited to share some big news about Whispers in the Forest!

Over the past few months, we’ve been deeply focused on redesigning our characters from the ground up. We’ve gone through multiple design iterations to ensure every character looks, moves, and feels exactly as we envisioned — and that process took longer than expected.

To achieve the quality we’re aiming for, we’ve been building a professional design team dedicated to improving both the visuals and gameplay experience. Every character is now fully animated, and we’ve invested a great deal of time and resources to make sure the animation quality truly stands out.

• The Farmer will now automatically gather resources.

• Builder and Gatherer characters will also perform their tasks automatically.

• Other characters remain commandable, with a new aiming & defense system added to enhance gameplay control and strategy.

We’re still working on our protagonist, as every character in Whispers in the Forest holds special value for us.

The new version featuring all redesigned characters and animations will be released at the beginning of January.

We’re also expanding our design team to deliver even better updates in the future. Since our visual designs are now finalized, we’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes content on X (Twitter) and YouTube — so stay tuned!

✨ Exciting updates are on the way — thank you for your patience and support!

Strap in.



This is probably one of the biggest balance updates I’ve ever worked on. All of the changes below are based on data showing which skills people use the most and which ones tend to get ignored. My goal this time was to make things feel a bit more balanced and enjoyable overall. Some skills have received some pretty major buffs, and I’ve also added five new base skills that everyone starts with. I felt Katanaut could use a few more interesting options right from the beginning, so this should give players some new tools and hopefully some new fun to experiment with.

New Skills:
- Introduced new base skill -- Volt Shear: Releases a burst of electricity from your katana when swinging your katana.
- Introduced new base skill -- Spectral Cleave: Your melee attacks leave a cutting field that damages enemies over time.
- Introduced new base skill -- Aether Volley: Swinging your katana fires projectiles at nearby enemies.
- Introduced new base skill -- Warp Storm: Periodically calls down warp energy to strike a nearby enemy.
- Introduced new base skill -- Orbital Blades: Summons spinning blades that orbit you and damage nearby enemies.

Balance:
- Ground Stab, 10% damage buff.
- Kinetic Repulse, 10% damage buff.
- Stealth cooldown reduced by 45%.
- Uppercut, 15% damage buff.
- Shockwave Roll, 15% damage buff.
- Impulse Wave, 15% damage buff, doubled AoE explosion radius.
- Gravity Slam damage doubled, and cooldown halved.
- Overcharge damage doubled, and cooldown halved. The skill will now follow you through the explosion effect.
- Rolling Thunder damage is doubled, AoE radius is enhanced, cooldown reduced by 20%.
- Blast Mines damage doubled. Amount of mines dropped by player scales with the skills level.
- Rolling Vault initial damage buff doubled.
- Reactive Armor cooldown reduced by 60%.
- Slinger Vault description is simplified, and cooldown is standardized.
- Blink damage is buffed by 10%
- Emergency cloak damage buffed by 15%, is reworked to activate whenever you take damage.
- Inferno Ring initial hit damage is buffed by 300%, DoT damage is left the same.
- Time Dilation cooldown reduced by 40%.
- Overdrive stamina consumption reduced by 80%.
- Kinetic Reflection cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Eldritch Grasp cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Void Legion cooldown reduced by 50%. Enemy and combat detection improved.
- Encroaching Doom cooldown reduced by 50%. Enemy and combat detection improved.
- Reality Rift damage increased by 35% and cooldown reduced by 35%.
- Cosmic Pact cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Ritual of Decay initial damage ceiling increased by 300%. Cooldown reduced by 35%.
- Frostbite Blast damage is doubled, and cooldown is cut by 50%.
- Bullet Storm damage buffed by 100%, cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Cursed Aura cooldown reduced by 35%.
- Shadow cut stamina reduced by 20%.
- Void Impalement damage buffed by 80%, cooldown reduced by 25%.
- Executioners Strike cooldown reduced by 25%.
- Vacuum Slash damage buffed by 35%, cooldown reduced by 50%.

More Balance:
- Increased how much hp enemies have in later biomes.

Bugs:
- Improved FPS when using drones.

Hi there! Since the start of Next Fest, we’ve been releasing updates almost every day, sometimes even multiple times a day to meet your expectations and implement your suggestions. Alongside numerous fixes, we’ve also focused on improving QoL features and overall readability so here is summary of what we added so far! Future updates will include proper patch notes, instead of the way we’ve handled them so this time.

We’ve seen a few reports about the game running unusually slow despite having stable FPS, that was indeed a bug, and the game should no longer play in slowmotion. We’ve also implemented several performance improvements for smoother gameplay. Please let us know right away if you encounter any performance issues even though the game isn’t graphically demanding, smooth performance is one of our top priorities!

Mortem the Cat will now appear during puzzle sections to offer hints on what to do. Each subsequent hint will become more direct until, eventually, Mortem disappears once his patience runs out.

You pointed out that some items required for progression were too hard to spot and didn’t stand out enough from the environment. While this was partially intentional, since game has Hidden Object elements we realized the visibility needed improvement. Previously, the crosshair would fill white when looking at an interactable item, but that alone wasn’t enough. We’ve now added a small star icon that appears when the player is close to an item they can pick up. We’ll continue experimenting with this mechanic to find right balance between keeping the sense of searching intact, but without turning it into frustrating pixel hunting.

Some of you mentioned being confused about what’s going on with the left hand. To make it clearer and give better context, we’ve added new visual and audio effects to the ritual drawing process.

This update was actually implemented just before Next Fest, but we’re including it in this patch notes since it wasn’t mentioned previously.
The previous version of the level start was fairly dull, featuring only a single Drowned enemy that couldn’t be avoided. The current version makes the encounter optional and, if you choose to fight directly, allows for more shooting opportunities.The Drowned enemies themselves have also been updated. Their attacks can now be dodged by crouching just before they strike.

We’ve added torches to the catacombs that can be set on fire using Fire Bullet. They can help indicate whether the player has already been in a certain area. Of course, they can also burn out after being ignited.

Due to the retro visual style, we noticed that some of you had to disable post-processing to properly see items during inspection. To make the experience smoother, the retro effect will now automatically turn off when inspecting an item and turn on when get out of inspect (if it's turned ON in settings).

You pointed out that movement in the game felt like pushing a shopping cart (lol). We’ve improved it by enhancing the effects that contribute to the sprint feel.
We’ll continue monitoring both the actual speed and the overall feeling of movement. Additionally, we plan to add an option in the settings so each player can adjust headbobbing to their personal preference.

We’re currently focusing on improving existing systems, such as enemy AI (a top priority), and preparing new levels for early access. The demo will also receive updates when significant progress will be made.
Here’s a small preview of what we’re working on:

Lake level on it's early enviroMushroom Forest level on it's blockout phase

Official concept of the boss for the Mushroom level

Early concept of an enemy for the Fields level

Thank you everyone who participated in the Mall of Tomorrow challenge by submitting and voting on their favorites in the Dystopika Discord.

This week's selected highlights were submissions by: rogler, Xtal.Math, and Avrahm (Matt's Pick)

Introducing the Parade of the Undead challenge. When the sun starts to set, and the sky glows with an orange tint, the dead make their return. Towering high above your city, the skeletal remains of those who are no longer with us move throughout your city. Their eyes glow through the fog, lit up by the street lights and decorations constructed by the city to honor their fallen loved ones. Every Halloween season, City Officials decorate the city in preparation for what has been named the "Parade of the Undead".

In this challenge, your task is to transform your city into a haunting celebration of the undead. Fill your streets, rooftops, and plazas with eerie lights, festive displays, and a spooky aesthetic to honor those who walk with us once more. Decorate your city for Halloween and the Parade of the Undead.

We recommend using Dystopika version 1.6.1 with the limited-time “Spooky” weather setting for the full effect.

Photo Credit to Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

We've moved the Approved Mods list to a Workshop Collection, making it easier to download all the mods that are approved to be used in the current and future community challenges! Check it out here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3565026841

To learn more about the challenges and how to submit, please swing by our Discord. Submissions will be open until the night of October 31st in the #challenges channel.

Past Highlights can be found in the Hall of Fame

Hi everyone,

We’ve passed 15,000 wishlists for A Game About Feeding A Black Hole!

The wishlists have successfully levelled up the black hole. We are no longer a baby black hole. ❤️

When we started, we never imagined this level of enthusiasm.
We’ve seen your playtime. Seek help (or keep feeding the black hole because we’re not judging).

We can’t wait to show you what’s next when the full game launches 👀

If you haven’t yet, you can join the Discord to help test future builds and give feedback right here 💬

The black hole must grow.

~Thornity from Team Black Hole

We have a big announcement!

Next month, November 2025, there will be a major Poker Warlords drop! We can't say exactly what it is, but keep your eyes peeled and get your chips ready! 👀 It's going to be a big one!

• Must be the Spooky Season

• Probably just until the end of the spooky month

• Wow, spooky.

• Fixed a bug where Billboards props would become farther away from their placement surface when scaled.

• Fixed a mousewheel scrolling sensitivity bug with the District list

• Fixed an issue where props would flicker when moved and have incorrect rotations if moves between horizontal and vertical surfaces.

• Fixed minor issues with grid snapping for props

Hello everyone.
Let me say this right away for those who doubt — the whole game is ready! But it has a lot of bugs, or at least it had a lot. Right now, I’m actively testing and fixing issues. Every single quest and the entire story are already in the game — coded, voiced, and fully playable, from the very beginning to the end credits.

But I’ll be releasing the update in parts — to properly test and polish everything. Please, show a little more patience. I’ll try to release the update before the end of the month, and if that doesn’t happen, don’t think the game’s abandoned or anything like that — it’ll come out during the first week of next month. There’s really not much left now. I’ve got 140 tasks of varying difficulty left — mostly simple ones, but some are tough.

After that, I’ll hand the game to a few close people, watch their playthroughs, fix any critical issues they encounter, and then release the update. Don’t forget that the game isn’t small — it’s much, much bigger than what was in Early Access, and testing it is hard and time-consuming, but also rewarding :)

I’m working non-stop, cut my sleep to 6 hours, and don’t bother telling me to “take care of my health” or whatever — I don’t care anymore. I’m just done with all the haters, doubters, trolls, and random people who’ve been pestering me for a year and still can’t understand that big open-world RPGs made by one person aren’t built easily or quickly — and that if the foundation changes, you can’t just patch it without breaking everything else.

But it’s okay. The time will soon come when they’ll all feel ashamed — if they have at least a drop of conscience left. Everyone who turned away, betrayed, unfollowed, removed the game from their wishlist, doubted, accused me for no reason, or spread hate — I hope you’ll feel really ashamed. And if you don’t — then leave and never come back. We’ll build a community of sane, decent people.

Thank you to everyone who still believes and stays with me. If not for you, I honestly don’t know where I’d find the strength to keep going. Steam shows I’ve lost 20,000 wishlists — that’s a lot, and it really hurts. But what can I say — farewell to those who left. I won’t give up. My goal is to finish this game no matter what — even though it’s obvious it probably won’t pay back the time and effort, and if the wishlist keeps falling, it might just fail completely. But even that doesn’t matter anymore. I just want to make the best Slavic open-world RPG ever made.

I never stopped, never took a break, and if I rested — it was maybe once a month since the last update. And honestly, I’ve worked like this for years — not only on this game. That’s just how I am.

Overall, the game is in great shape. There are minor bugs — sure, but that’s inevitable when you don’t have enough testers or time.

By the way — I’ve added full gamepad support, except for building (which isn’t mandatory) and the card game (though if you’re using DualSense or Steam Deck, you can do those too).

I don’t even know how I’ll write the next dev update when the release comes — how to describe everything new without people getting tired of reading it. Honestly, it’s like a book’s worth of new stuff — mechanics, quests, everything you could imagine in an RPG.

The update’s coming soon — and then you’ll understand why it took so long.

That’s it. Peace to everyone.
Wishing you all the best, patience, and understanding.
Now I’m going back to polishing the update :)

Based on the feedback and reports we’ve received from everyone on Discord and Steam,

we’ve made the following fixes: