Hi everyone,

I’m Nick Wiswell, Audio Director at Turn 10 Studios, and today I want to give you all some details on the audio changes you will hear in Forza Motorsport with the release of Update 13, Mustang Month, and our plans for future updates.

With this blog, I will personally address some of the feedback you have been sending us since we released the game last October. We hear you, and the plans that we are sharing today are in direct response to this – thank you for sharing your honest thoughts.



First, I’d like to give you some insights into the team we have assembled, and some important changes we have made to deliver the best audio experience possible when racing.

I’ve been at Turn 10 Studios since 2010, and I worked directly as Audio Director on Forza Motorsport 4 through Forza Motorsport 6. After that I moved into publishing focused roles working on Forza Horizon and Forza Street, and then into a more technical role before returning to Forza Motorsport full time in March 2023.

When I rejoined the team last year, most of the game’s audio content was already complete, so our efforts were focused on refining the assets we already had. After closely listening to your feedback, we have started incorporating new tools and processes into our audio workflow so we can deliver great sounding, authentic content moving forward. To ensure we have the best people we can leading these efforts, Turn 10 Studios rehired one of our former Sound Designers this past spring to help deliver these new plans.



To give you some context, this sound designer worked on Forza Motorsport (2005) through Forza Motorsport 3, as well as both Forza Motorsport 4 and Forza Motorsport 5 from a central Xbox audio team role. He then joined Polyphony Digital to work on GT Sport and Gran Turismo 7. I first met him when I was at Bizarre Creations working on the Project Gotham Racing games – Xbox’s premier racing game before the days of Forza – and I’m excited to work with him again. Between us, we have made a lot of great sounding racing games – and from some of the posts I’ve seen online, some of you would agree with this!

So, with a new audio leadership team, which includes another lead for our technology and development investments, we are set for the future.

To the state of audio in Forza Motorsport: I will admit that from an authenticity perspective, the game is not where we would like it to be. There are many factors that led to this, but we hope we can set things right going forward. Our goal is to fix these audio issues and ensure that all new cars added to the game are built authentically and uniquely. To achieve this, we have been overhauling our authoring techniques and pipelines so that we can update as many of the most egregious car audio issues as possible.



The initial work on this is now complete, and from Update 13 onwards, all cars added to Forza Motorsport will be built to this newer specification. In addition, a number of cars that have been flagged as inauthentic, both internally at the studio and by the community, will be updated over time.

The cars we are initially updating are with the release of Update 13 include the following:

• 2022 Pagani Huayra R
  
• 2014 Chevrolet #3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R
  
• 2001 Acura Integra Type R

We have also made changes to the cockpit audio on the 2010 Lexus LFA, following its update in a previous release.



As we look forward to future updates, we will weigh factors such as community feedback, internal priority, upcoming featured cars in game and the availability of suitable recordings.

I’d also like to add that there is a lot of speculation about how the car audio is made and where it is sourced. It is all created from recordings of real cars, either captured on a track or on a dyno. Our library contains over 750 vehicle recordings, and more are being sourced and added every month. The changes we are making are built around how these recordings are being processed and edited, and the way we assemble the recordings back together at runtime to be controlled by the in-game physics engine.

I’m not going to give too much of our secret sauce away, but it’s based on the combined experience of our audio team and software engineers, and we are very happy with the changes we are making.



We hope you like them too, and as always, we look forward to feedback from the community. Also, I’ll be speaking with you all next month – November 7 at 3pm PT – on the official Forza Discord server to go into more detail on our audio development workflows as part of the next “In the Garage” AMA. I hope to see you there.

Hello!
Time for a dev stream!
Today we're working on an... attraction. Come and see!

https://www.twitch.tv/wishdream



As per usual, you can watch the stream right here on this post and Fech's Steam page while it's live!

Hello Survival Typists!

We're here with a small balancing and bugfixes update before the bigger update we promised at the end of the month.

Differing DIfficulties
We've been obvserving your concerns about the difficulty of the game, both those who are struggling with the game's current difficulty and those who think it is just too easy because we don't force you to type spaces and punctuation during the Boss fights.

We're working on longer term solutions but for now we've come up with a compromise. You can toggle spacing and punctuation on or off in the settings menu if you want additional difficulty.

In addition, to lower the difficulty for the first boss, we've removed it's power to "lock" words with a shield when you first meet him. But when he comes back the second time he will have regained this power.

You can find the rest of the bugfixes and balance changes below.

That's all for now, and we'll be back with another update at the end of the month!

BUGFIXES
--------
- Fixed Endless mode sometimes becoming inaccessible after beating Omen VI
- Fixed crash that happens in very late game when there is insufficient viable loot.
- Slight improve in performance from not generating cyphered strings when not in Trial II
- Prevent pickups (e.g. Shield and Re-roll) from spawning if total amount may exceed maximum allowable.
- Accept base alphabet as input for special characters. (e.g. "a" for "å")
- Added option to include uppercase characters, spaces and punctuation in boss fight.
- Moved level up, evolution and re-roll from Space to Ctrl in preparation of the above.
- Moved weapon details from F1 to Tab so that 60% or less keyboards can access them easily.

BALANCE
-------
- Stopped Trial 1 Boss (Poet) from locking words during boss fight (it will start locking words again when you meet him at Trial 3)

FEATURES
--------
- Steam overlay announcement system on game start-up.

It's the middle of October, Halloween is closing in, and it's time for another community wrap up. Have you got any terrifying weekend plans, Explorers? The Hive Mother could always use a little company!

Our Halloween seasonal event starts on October 25th, or whenever you want it to if you fancy toggling it early in the gameplay settings! Expect an eerie underground with creepy creatures and lots of fun decorative items!



Speaking of Halloween, we've heard black cats are a sign of bad luck, but we love Embertails in all shades.



In Creative Mode, the only limit is your imagination! What wonderful creations have you built with the freedom?



Do you remember the first time you saw Azeos' shadow fly overhead?




One of our wonderful community members, Rivulet Nil, created this adorable #CoreKeeper fan art! Look how fluffy the Embertail is, just look at it 😍



Our awesome Ambassador, Dakon, has got a great guide for newbies just starting out in Core Keeper!



Follow us on X: http://www.twitter.com/corekeepergame
Join the Conversation on Discord: http://discord.gg/corekeeper

Corn Update #5 has arrived.

[h5]Changes[/h5]

• New crafting recipe: Obese Mexicorn
  
• New option added to auto-stack newly acquired Corn (enabled by default).
  
• New pop-up window for item drops (default: only show Rare, Mythic, Legendary rarity drops. Can change in options).
  
• New Extreme Low Power Mode. Disables pretty much everything but drops. For when you really need to free up system resources.
  
• Added "Delete Kernels" button for that one guy who was having a meltdown.
  
• New achievement: Precious

[h5]Drops, Explained[/h5]
Every 7-11 days, one Corn of each rarity will be permanently removed from the drop pool (except Mythical). A new corn will be added in it's place. Mythical corn will stay in the drop pool longer, but will rotate out eventually. That means 5 new Corn each week - 4 new drops and 1 in the store.

[h5]Newly Added Drops[/h5]
Spooky Halloween themed Corn (Part 2) has arrived.



[h5]Current Drop Pool[/h5]
Common (82.8%)
‣ Corn, Red Corn, Candy Corn, Bone Corn

⁃ Added: Bone Corn
⁃ Removed: Rocket Corn

Uncommon (15%)
‣ Mexicorn, Pumpkorn, Zombie Corn

⁃ Added: Zombie Corn
⁃ Removed: Neon Corn

Rare (2%)
‣ Bloody Corn, Mummified Corn

⁃ Added: Mummified Corn
⁃ Removed: Ethereal Corn

Legendary (0.2%)
‣ Cannibal Corn

⁃ Added: Cannibal Corn
⁃ Removed: Ghostly Corn

Mythical (0.01%)
‣ Memories of Corn

Special (Item Store)
‣ Initial Corn Offering, Alien Corn, Vaporwave Corn

⁃ Added: Vaporwave Corn
⁃ Removed: Lunar Coin

[h5]Other[/h5]
Reminder, if a Corn that you submit to the Workshop/Discord is added to the game, I will send you a highly sought after Sneed Corn.

Please visit our Discord server to discuss this build with the developer and other players: https://discord.com/invite/V8N4SgptPy

Build changes:

- Limited multiplayer support implemented for the built-in campaign only, future builds will add multiplayer support to custom campaigns
- Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements


Build Status:

This build is simply a reference point when discussing new features, or for prioritizing critical bug fixes (only critical bugs that are blocking the creation of interesting content will be addressed at this stage).

This build is not suitable for you unless you see yourself potentially interested in creating your own single player or multiplayer space RTS campaigns. It is not meant to be a preview of any sort of the final game. The build will be unstable, with obvious usability issues, bugs and missing features.

Major known issues:

- On the Play Campaign screen, only single player levels in the campaign are available (access them from the leftmost tab). To make a level single player, mark all Battleship Entry points as Force AI, except one (the one that will be assigned to the human player)

- Deleting any type of asset (level, battleship, fighter etc) that have been used before in a Campaign is very unstable and can lead to all types of problems. For now, prefer to replace assets instead of deleting them. If you need a clean start, download and clone the Minimal Campaign from Steam Workshop.

- After uploading an update for a Campaign to Steam Workshop, you will need to unsubscribe and re-subscribe to the Item (from the Steam UI) for the update to apply in the game.

Over the past few months, we've been hard at work enhancing the game experience, fixing bugs, and adding new elements to the tutorial. Let's break down the key updates:




We've completely revamped the tutorial, breaking it down into short, easy-to-follow steps with visual aids. The learning process is now more intuitive and accessible. Here are some key additions:

Food and Morale: The tutorial now explains how to properly feed your squad and maintain their morale. Morale directly affects combat performance, so keeping an eye on this stat is crucial.



Character Abilities: We've added detailed explanations for using character abilities. This knowledge will help you plan your battle tactics more effectively.



Armor and Tool Restrictions Removed: We've lifted the strict limitations on who can use what armor and tools. Now, any character can equip any gear, but their effectiveness will depend on their skills.

Automatic Food Distribution: Your squad now automatically distributes food among themselves, allowing you to focus more on the strategic aspects of the game.



New Hunger and Thirst Icons: We've added hunger and thirst indicators to help you keep track of your squad’s status at all times. This makes the interface more user-friendly and intuitive.



Loot Optimization: We’ve reduced the number of dropped items, as playtests revealed that squads often became overloaded with too much loot. You’ll now find it easier to manage your inventory and spend less time clearing out excess items.

Overload Indicator: The inventory screen now shows an overload status, which simplifies managing your squad's load.

• You can now move characters by clicking directly on them during trading.
  
• Updated crafting recipes for better balance.
  
• Trees become transparent when your squad enters the forest, improving visibility.
  
• Map scrolling added by moving the mouse to the edges of the screen for easier navigation.
  
• Characters on the battlefield can now be selected by clicking directly on them, not just on their portraits.
  
• During trading, you can click on a character to get detailed information about them, making it easier to form the squads you need.

Add the full game to your wishlist and follow us on social media!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2616100/Plague_Lords/

Ready to absolutely obliterate the ASCENDANT universe this weekend? Good, because the Total Overload event is here, and we’re cranking up the insanity to max levels for the Steam Next Fest finale. This isn’t your average Sunday stroll - this is biopunk bedlam on steroids.

It’s chaos. It’s mayhem. It’s a strategic, wild ride where the entire map is flipping upside down (not literally… but close). Think more Gorlizard mindlinking than ever before, and events firing off faster than you can say “Snail tiddies.”

• The Underground? Oh yeah, you’re getting full access. No more secret spots, no more lucky few. We’re keeping this bad boy always open so you can get lost in its twisted halls.
  
• Game events are dialled up to 11: Lightning strikes, drones flying everywhere, locked rooms springing up out of nowhere, and hoards of Burrowers that just won’t quit. It's the kind of unpredictability that’ll have you sweating bullets while you strategize your next move. Good luck with that.

Oh, we’re not just stopping at in-game chaos. We’ve got special guests and creators dropping in all weekend to spice things up. And, guess what? On Friday at 8 PM ET / Saturday at 9 AM Japan time, we’re hosting a VTuber event that’s gonna take things to a whole other level. So, if watching your favorite VTuber blow stuff up while mindlinked to a Gorlizard sounds like your vibe, you know where to be.

This weekend is your last chance to get in on the free demo before it disappears next week. Seriously, don’t be that person who waits and misses out. Download the game, log back in, and get in on the action. We want as many players as possible to break our servers and leave nothing but Gorlizard guts and Biocores in their wake.

So, what are you waiting for? Wishlist and download ASCENDANT! It’s time to squad up, bring your A-game, and blow this weekend wide open. Total Overload is waiting… and it’s not holding back.

Don’t forget to join our community Discord for all the latest chaos updates and follow us on Twitter to stay in the loop for epic drops, events, and more.

See you in Harmony!

• Map wide events are now much more likely to be active in a match.
  
• The burrower is now more likely to be active in a match.

• The underground will no longer be automatically sealed off if there are new players in the match.
  
• For the weekend only, the Gorlizard Control event will always be active. However, during this time, we have also lowered its health a bit.

• A number of changes have been made to battle rifles in regards to reducing the effectiveness of rapid fire builds, especially at longer ranges.
  
  • All battle rifles now have slightly more side-to-side shifts in their recoil. Some modules increase this even further than they used to, and many modules that could counter this effect now do so by less. More details below.
    
  • The ‘Light - Round Nose’ battle rifle ammo now has a -20% Fall-Off mod (down from -10%).
    
  • The ‘Auto - Rapid’, ‘Auto - Ultra Rapid’, and ‘Auto - Rapid Stabilizer’ battle rifle triggers have had their damage mods reduced further and their side-to-side recoil variance modifiers increased.
    
  • The following battle rifle barrel modules now reduce the side-to-side recoil variance by less: ‘Medium - Dampener’, ’Medium - Toxin Amplifier’, ’Long - Standard’, ’Long - Dampener’, ’Long - Gyro-Bore’, and ’Long - Toxin Amplifier’. These have all been made a bit cheaper to equip as a result.
    
  • The ‘Heavy’ battle rifle stock now reduces side-to-side recoil variance by less but has been given a higher melee damage modifier.
    
  • The ‘Damper Frame’ battle rifle stock now reduces side-to-side recoil variance by less but has instead had its pitch variance dampening effect strengthened.
• The ‘Light - Large’ battle rifle magazine now costs a bit more to equip.
  
• Due to the above changes, the V-Tech 12 has had its ammo changed from ‘Light - Stabilizer’ to ‘Light - Round Nose’ in order to avoid sacrificing too much damage output.

• The match intro video should now be less loud.

• Removed some expensive audio that could result in certain CPUs getting crackling audio effects.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause players to be unable to access their loadout if they played their first match in a party instead of doing the tutorial.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when going off ladders.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when vehicles took damage.
  
• Fixed an issue that could occasionally result in the network connection timing out and kicking players from a match.
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause some Steam achievements not to unlock properly.
  
• Text chat should now always properly display [Party] when talking in party chat.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain interfaces could lose focus if you tabbed out and back into the game.

Hi everyone!

Since NEVA’s launch last Tuesday, it feels like we’ve been living in a dream. You can’t imagine how much it means to us to receive so much love from the players and such positive reviews from the critics. The final stretch of development was a rollercoaster of emotions, and we truly didn’t know if NEVA would capture people’s attention and earn their praise, especially after the huge success and impact of GRIS.

Now, NEVA is standing at 96% positive reviews on Steam, and all our fears and doubts have vanished. Seeing you all enjoy the game and share your love with us makes us feel incredibly happy and grateful.



Thank you so much, from all of us at Nomada Studio, for playing our game and for your support throughout this journey.

Now that NEVA is out, we’d love to share a glimpse of how it was made, exploring its creative journey and the weight of expectations at launch, with insights from team members. We hope you can see the love, passion, and hard work that went into it.


On top of that, we’re thrilled to share that official NEVA merchandise is now on sale! Designed in-house with love🤍, you can purchase it at the Devolver Shop: http://merch.devolverdigital.com




That’s all for now! Thank you again for your support, and we hope that NEVA brings you joy forever🤍

Hello Survivor!

We’re thrilled to announce that Permafrost was one of the top 10 demos on Steam during Next Fest this week! A huge thank you to our incredible community for your feedback and support. In response to your input, we’ve released a series of hotfixes to improve performance, stability, and gameplay. Your feedback helps us make Permafrost even better—keep it coming!

The Hotfixes are as follows…

• Steam friend invite - Invite players from your Steam friends list to join your game
  
• New campfire visuals - Campfires look much better and cosier now

• Fixed a common video memory crash and reduced performance drops and stuttering
  
• Fixed issues with flickering inventory slots
  
• Game world now resets properly when starting a new game within a session
  
• Minor localization fixes
  
• Mouse sensitivity and other settings are now saved properly when restarting the game
  
• Control options are now updating properly in the settings menu when changed
  
• Deer are no longer disappearing in a certain distance from player
  
• Fixed an issue with crafting items on a full inventory
  
• Fixed an issue in multiplayer where clients or host didn't see weapon projectiles
  
• Fixed an issue with display of clothes on players in multiplayer

If you liked the demo be sure to leave us a message on Discord or here on Steam.


Play the demo!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3197110/Permafrost_Demo/