Hail, soldiers of Genua! The Scorian War rages on, and we're here with a brand-new patch to help you navigate its battlefields :)

Patch Notes

• Fixed Directional Inputs for UI + Grid Cell Selection

• Fixed bugs preventing you from being able to use potions/items outside of combat

• Sped Up Battle Start Transition

• Updated Grailand Sprite

Thank you for your continued support in squashing bugs! Please continue reporting any issues you find to us.

- The Aegis Force Team

🦊Howdy! Coming at you today with Blobun v1.1! Honestly, we shoulda been using the bigger number for big stuff like mod io integration and whatnot, oh well.

There's a number of small things that were added and changed in this update, but I'll highlight the big stuff here. As always, you can check the patch notes for the rest! Also, thank you guys for the patience with this update, we've been pretty busy with other stuff.

By the way, if you didn't know, you can get Blobun in a bundle with its OST, or with two other games: "Buck Up and Drive" and "Wordscoop with Gelato the Otter!" Check out the store page for more details about that.

We promised that input remapping would come in a future update, and that future update is right now. You can now remap the keyboard, as well as any gamepad that you've got hooked up to the game. Gamepad requirements have also been made stricter, which should prevent issues in Linux where the game can pick up things that are decidedly *not* gamepads.

Pretty much the entire rendering pipeline has been optimized in all puzzles! If you ran Blobun on your computer, got into a puzzle, and went "wow this is running a lot worse than I would have expected" then please know that this update optimizes this. We can now get a near solid 1080p60fps on our laptop, even in the final puzzle. Before, it would lag heavily there.

In addition to the optimizations above, we've smoothed out a lot of rough edges when it comes to the visual polish of the game. It already looked nice, but now it looks even nicer.

Now you can configure how long you need to hold down the button to skip or restart the puzzle in the new "Accessibility Options" menu. There's also an option to reduce animations, if you find all the slime animations distracting.

Additionally, you may now toggle the Speedrun timers on and off during gameplay, instead of having to go all the way back to the title screen menu to do it.

The demo version of the game has also been updated, which means you can make sure the game will run on your computer and will work with your gamepad before you buy the game. If you tried out the game before and it had issues, please feel free to try it again!

Note: No additional content has been added to the demo. It's simply updated with all the bug fixes that have happened since launch, as well as the additions above.

We got one and have been able to update the game to take advantage of it. It would be a ton of work to refactor the game to allow for a 16:10 aspect ratio, so what we did instead is that the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen will now change color to match what's going on in the game. It's a simple fix, but it's pretty elegant. This also applies to if you're playing it in 4:3, so you can fill out your oh-so-retro CRT display (if you're playing it on there!) However, if the game detects that there's way too much vertical space, it won't do this, so don't expect to play it in Tiktok portrait mode and have it do this.

There's still stuff we'd like to do with the game, and we'd like to come back and add new puzzles and puzzle elements to the game, but for now, we have to move on and work on something else. Therefore, any updates after this will primarily be focused on bug fixes and small adjustments.

By the way, did you know that we released a sequel to the game? Blobun Mini is a pico8 rendition of Blobun, for that oh-so-retro feel. This game features 60 brand new puzzles, so if you haven't checked it out yet, feel free to! (it's free!)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3827340/Blobun_Mini/

As always, here are the full patch notes. Note: If you were following the beta updates, these patch notes will differ slightly from those, as these are in relation to the last full update and not any of the beta ones. Thank you again everyone who helped us test it out!

• Much of the game has been optimized to run a lot better. If you played the game before but it didn't run well, feel free to try it again! (Don't forget that there's a Quality toggle in the Video options that'll help as well.)
  
• The internal checks for what is a "valid" gamepad have been made a lot more strict. This should keep out almost all non-gamepad things, but may also exclude some legitimate gamepads.
  
• If your gamepad isn't working and you think it should, you can open the Debug menu using Shift+F1 and disable "Strict Gamepad Checking." Please also let us know about the gamepad you're trying!
  
• Note: We already know it wont work with some of the more "out there" controllers like the Taiko Drum, since it wont be able to pass the new checks.

• You may now remap inputs on the keyboard, as well as on any detected gamepads. Go to the "Input" options and you'll be able to click on the device you want to configure.
  
• A new "Accessibility Options" submenu has been added to the Options menu.
  
• You may now configure how long you need to hold down the shortcut button when restarting/skipping a puzzle, with the option to make it instantly restart/skip the puzzle.
  
• You may also configure how long you need to hold down the "Undo" button before it starts repeating Undos automatically.
  
• A "Reduced Motion" option has been added. This will reduce or remove various animations throughout the game, making it overall less visually noisy.
  
• You may press Shift+F8 to toggle the FPS display. (Really just put this in to test out something but, might as well keep it.)
  
• When the game has letterboxing (ie, black bars at the top and bottom of the screen) it'll now fill that area in with a solid color to fill out the screen. This should look nice on the Steam Deck's screen, as well as if you're playing the game on a CRT.
  
• The above feature wont work if the black bars at the top and bottom are too big. It also wont work if you're playing on an ultra wide monitor and have pillarboxing (ie, black bars on the left and right.)
  
• The stage's author will now show up on the stage select screen.

• Stephanie's animation when going through Electric Wires has been improved, and is now really spiky.
  
• Hint arrows will no longer be drawn on tiles Stephanie has touched already, unless the editor is open.
  
• Optimized drawing in dark room puzzles.
  
• Optimized drawing of heat distortions in puzzles with lava tiles/fire state.
  
• Slight optimizations to stages with lava/water floor tiles.
  
• Optimized drawing when menus are open.
  
• Automatic frame skipping has been added for if you're playing the game on a low end computer, to help it run at a good speed instead of like molasses.

• The "Challenges" submenu has been removed from the title screen.
  
• The Speedrun Timer options that were under that menu have been moved to the "Gameplay Options" submenu.
  
• Removed blur from the background of the pause screen and popup messages.
  
• The visual styling on popup messages has been updated.
  
• Fixed an oversight where pushing Warehouse Boxes was not in stereo.
  
• Removed the "Contact" menu from the game since it had outdated information.
  
• Removed some unnecessary variables from the worldpak file format.
  
• The initial loading animation has been made smoother, as it could look pretty janky in certain situations as the game got ready.
  
• [Steam Deck] "Exit to Desktop" was changed to "End Game" in Gamescope mode
  
• [Steam] When Steam is in Big Picture mode (or you're in Gamescope mode) Fullscreen will be enforced, since windowed options don't really do anything anyways.
  
• The game will no longer minimize when opening URLs.

• [Steam] Fixed game hitches that could happen when solving the puzzle due to updating the save file on the Steam Cloud.
  
• Fixed gamepads not vibrating when picking up a Laser Toggle.
  
• Fixed gamepad vibration on picking up floating puzzle keys to not be so harsh on older gamepads.
  
• Fixed mipmaps being disabled in low-quality drawing mode. This should help speed up drawing and also improve the visual quality of low-quality mode.
  
• Fixed various audio balancing issues. Everything should be more balanced now without things being too loud for no reason. (Basically, your neighbors will no longer know when you're doing an Octogem puzzle.)
  
• Did some logic changes to prevent some race conditions with async operations on load in case you have the fastest SSD on earth.
  
• [Editor] Fixed where, in rare instances, the game could make a stage ID that already existed in the same worldpak.

• There are still some remaining bugs with the hint arrow renderer, especially in regards to moves where you have to go on a conveyer tile that can't actually move you. To fix this would require building a full-on simulation of the entire playfield and would be way too much work to fix one edge case.
  
• There's a bug where you can path-draw with the mouse on an Electric Wire which is attached to a neighboring part of the puzzle, but is close enough to your part of the puzzle. To fix this would add a lot of checking that would cause path drawing to be very slow. Instead, please be mindful of where you place Electric Wires, and don't place them too close to parts of the puzzle the player can't reach them.
  
• There's a quirk with long menus where the mouse doesn't work on them. However, this only affects the Achievements menu, and it would take a big refactor to fix it properly, so we've elected not to do it at this time.

Thank you everyone who has played Blobun and shared it with your friends. We really appreciate all of you and how many people this game has touched. We hope that you enjoy the game for many years to come, and we'll see you again one day down the road!

If you want to keep in touch, we have a new Discord server that we recently launched. Check it out here:
https://discord.gg/CC5S58Xt5D

We also have Bluesky and Mastodon. Keep an eye out for us in the future!

• Fixed an issue where your Royals and Citizens could be removed from your deck depending on the reward chosen.

• Fixed an issue where the Banishing Effect was not applied to keys being utilized in the Stockpile.

Smaller patch focusing on fixes and improvements

• Chat input text persists when changing maps

• Reduced smoke duration from 30s to 15s

• Smoke will dissipate faster

• Improved bot AI

  • Bots try to avoid walking off of deadly edges

  • Bots try to keep their distance a bit more and are less likely to get right up in your face

  • If more than one player is visible bots will switch their focus to the closest player

  • Reduced the probability that bots will use melee and throwable items

• Electric unicycle is visible through other players in selfie camera

• Control tips don’t localize when changing your language mid-game

• Player character animation state issues

• Capture point states are not correct when joining mid-game

• Bots are able to see through smoke if they’re standing in it

• New player connecting does not always join the team with the most bots (Least real players)

• Reduced excessive bouncing/swaying of portable items in the vehicle bed due to physics.
• Fixed an issue where building materials could remain floating on invisible collision in construction areas.
• After collecting enough trash, bagged trash can now be properly thrown into dumpsters and bins.
• Fixed cases where placed structures could fail to appear.

• You can now close the Map with the ESC key while it is open.
• The chainsaw feel and responsiveness have been slightly softened for a more comfortable user experience.
• Added an “Unstuck” option for both the player and vehicle to recover from wedged or stuck situations. • The player’s look-around mechanics are now smoother.
• Improved the reliability of Inventory → Hotbar transfers and added right-click quick transfer.

We’ve updated the demo to address the recently announced Unity security vulnerability.
This update includes the necessary engine fix to ensure the game runs safely and securely.

Thank you for your understanding and support!

All girls have one or two secondary jobs in addition to their primary job.

To make it easier to change jobs, it is possible to change a girl's job through Staff Manager without having to resign and re-interview for another job.

A small but very important change concerns changing jobs for dancers and hookers. Namely, these two jobs require the girl to pass an entrance exam, and it has now been made so that before changing jobs, the girl must pass the entrance exam for a specific job.

This change only applies to girls who have not yet passed the entrance exam for a specific job. Once they have passed the entrance exam, later career changes are possible directly through Staff Manager without the need for an additional entrance exam.

Another important change: Job Market and Staff Manager cannot have a job interview and/or entrance exam scheduled at the same time. If you schedule a job interview through Job Market, then it is not possible to use the job change option and schedule an entrance exam through Staff Manager. The same applies the other way around: if you schedule an entrance exam through Staff Manager, then it is not possible to use Job Market. In both cases, the job interview or entrance exam will take place on the first following business day. Changing jobs that do not require an entrance exam, or girls who have already passed the entrance exam, is still possible through Staff Manager, regardless of Job Market.

Examples of Staff Manager changes...

Big thanks to everyone who has played the game, left reviews, and shared their feedback on Discord — your input has been invaluable.

I’ve listened carefully to all your suggestions and tried to incorporate as many as possible into this big update. This version focuses heavily on readability and visibility, giving players more information at a glance and improving the overall user interface.

Version 0.2.0 – Game Update (Demo Coming Soon)

The game update is ready now, and the demo will be available in a few hours.

• Overall fixes and improvements across the game to make everything run smoother.

• Battle Preparation UI: Completely overhauled — now shows each general’s perks, stats, and starting army equipment clearly.

• Inventory, Unit Management, and War Doctrine: Combined into a single panel with tab buttons for easier navigation.

• Stats Panel: Improved equipment display — each slot now clearly shows its dedicated placement (head, primary weapon, secondary weapon, etc.).

• Items that cannot be equipped by specific units are now dimmed for clarity.

• Added outliner for damage text output for better readability in battle.

• Improved overall UI layout for smoother, more intuitive interactions.

• Horse units can now equip shields and two-handed weapons, increasing their versatility in battle.

Hey Word Warriors,

We love how much everyone has enjoyed Bumbly's Rockin' Adventure. So we have decided to keep it around just a little longer at least until we can release all of these upcoming common themes.

B.R.A. will hang out until November 10th at 5pm EST.

We have also cleared up our "Join Discord" Button on the main menu and added a very simple bug reporting feature to the escape menu. PLEASE use this or Discord to report any bugs you may be encountering and we will fix them ASAP.

Thanks gang!

~Boltz Entertainment

As promised, here's another post regarding the development of AVROPOLIS. This time I'll talk a bit about how the project originated, back in 2021. It all started after Future Immersive, the studio I was working at before starting this project, closed its doors in July 2021, after we finished releasing Furious Seas.

After developing for a while in VR, I decided to buy my own VR headset (Rift S - which abandoned me not too long after). I was already working remotely during the last months of development, so it just made sense.

When Alyx was announced, I remember feeling something magical, a new Half Life game? In VR? That's crazy! And indeed that experience felt like nothing I've ever played before, but it did feel like Half Life.

This was the spark I was waiting for, I wanted to make my own VR game, inspired by industry giants that I highly respect.

So, in August 2021, I started writing and sketching in a little notebook I had received as a welcome package gift in College in 2016, and let me tell you, I had a general idea of what I wanted to achieve but not even close to what it ended up becoming.

---

Originally, the game was supposed to be about an angry man that demolishes old buildings and houses to calm his nerves, and the prototype I had quickly made was fun, but lacked depth, and I knew I also wanted to have a deep story, which was hard to achieve with this type of game.

Because of this, I slowly started to change the setting, adding more interactivity, and moving towards a more adventure based game, with some action. Mainly still with just a sledgehammer to break through obstacles, and some light environmental puzzles.

So it ended up being closer to a small adventure surrounded by a forest, where you had to find a way to enter a hidden temple.
After reaching the temple, the player would have to figure out how to get past the wall gate, and survive the traps protecting the temple.

This last part actually ended up being the start of Chapter 3 in the game, the forest area before the temple got scrapped and was replaced with a jungle island environment which became Chapter 2.

At this point, while moving from Canada back home to Sicily, I spent more time thinking about the game I wanted to make.

I've always liked action-adventure games with good narrative, and maybe a couple of puzzles along the way, so why not in VR? I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel but deliver a solid experience players will hopefully remember one day, and adding some character to it.

I've spent months after that working in parallel between the design, technical side and the game's narrative, as well as making some prototypes of the environments I had envisioned.

This is how I came up with the protagonists, and from there the Narrative started growing and taking shape.

If you have any questions, or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment!

Until next time!

- Marco