There isn’t a day that goes by where a member of the Pugstorm team, or a member of our publisher’s team, doesn’t pop up on Discord with an amazing Core Keeper video they wanted to share. We love watching all of your creations across YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and beyond. Some are funny, some are helpful, some are dramatic, but all of them are awesome.
We wish we could share every single one of your clips here on Steam, but then we’d have no time to actually develop the game! So, with that in mind, we’ve rounded up a couple of our favourites to share with you today.
You ever just jump into a friend’s world and accidentally choose violence? Well that’s what 8bitDee did when she joined this multiplayer game and immediately began blowing up the base!
Can you remember how you felt the first time you encountered Ghorm the Devourer? Jadziax reacts the same way we imagine most people do when they feel their screen shaking and a giant insect appears.
Kson gives an appropriate reaction to being presented with a salad described as “gooey”!
These are just a couple of our favourites, but we’re always keen to see more of your Core Keeper clips! In fact, why not share them with us over in the official Core Keeper Discord or tag us (@CoreKeeperGame) in your Tweets? Let us know which of the clips we shared was your favourite in the comments!
Creature Compendium Part 3
Did you know that we added six new enemies to the game as part of our first major content update, The Sunken Sea? And that’s not including bosses! With so many new mobs joining the Core Keeper roster, we thought it was time to expand our Creature Compendium. You can read parts one and two first if you fancy it, for a detailed overview of the enemies you know and love, or you can start right here and find out about the…
The Bubble Crab is probably one of the first enemies you’ll encounter in the Sunken Sea biome, but don’t expect a warm welcome. This naughty crustacean is quick to attack any Explorers that cross its path. Keeping your distance can help, but the Bubble Crab does boast a ranged attack that you’ll want to watch out for – as the name suggests, it shoots a flurry of bubbles from its mouth. Not only do these bubbles deal damage, but they also apply the slippery effect to the player, making your movement much less manageable!
Here’s a fun fact, the Bubble Crab was inspired by one of Julian, our Lead Artist’s, concepts for a four-legged insect that could have appeared in Azeos’ Wilderness. This design eventually got repurposed for the Sunken Sea biome, but you can see the concept art for the early design below.
Tentacle
Location: Sunken Sea Biome (water only) Attacks: Uses jellyfish as projectiles, and will strike the player if you get too close
By now, you’ll probably be familiar with the Mold Tentacles in the Mold Dungeon, and we’re sure you’ve enjoyed their pesky attacks. Well, we’re pleased to report that there’s another species of Tentacle native to the Sunken Sea biome, and it is just as friendly and fun to deal with (we really hope that our sarcasm is coming through here).
The Tentacles within the Sunken Sea biome can be found in the water only…but that doesn’t mean that you’re entirely safe once you’re on land, as these naughty creatures have been known to hug the shores and shoot jellyfish for a frustrating ranged attack. They’re also prepared to strike Explorers that get a little too close for comfort, and will take a whack even when you’re just passing by in your boat! While they’re not particularly hardy, they are a nuisance, and they can be a real problem when several band together in the same area.
Blue Slime
Location: Sunken Sea Biome Attacks: Melee only
Like the passive Orange Slime, the aggressive Red Slime, and the poison Purple Slime, the Blue Slime has one primary method of attack: tackling any Explorers that get too close. These Slimes are native to the Sunken Sea Biome and will attack on sight, dealing damage and applying the slippery effect on its enemies for roughly 10 seconds. They also leave behind Slippery Ground Slime that has the same effect on the player’s movement. While they’re not too difficult to defeat, as they’re relatively easy to dodge, we advise you to watch out for groups of Blue Slimes and make sure you don’t find yourselves backed into any corners.
Caveling Scholar
Location: Forlorn Metropolis Attacks: Melee and ranged using a staff
Caveling Scholars are a much more advanced version of the Cavelings you may have encountered in the past. They dwell in the Forlorn Metropolis and provide a slightly more accurate representation of Caveling society than the isolated and primitive Cavelings you can find in the Forgotten Ruins.
Much like the Caveling Shaman, Caveling Scholars use a staff as their weapon of choice, and they can make both a melee and ranged attack with this. While the Shaman shoots a ball of fire, the Scholar shoots a ball of pure energy at the player, and this attack packs a serious punch. It’s not just the Scholar’s attacks you need to be wary of, though, as this Caveling also has the ability to heal other Scholars and its Core Sentry companions.
Core Sentry
Location: Forlorn Metropolis Attacks: Energy shockwaves (ranged) and a nasty kick!
You wouldn’t be blamed for mistaking the Core Sentry for a statue at first, as these giant golems fit in nicely with the décor of the Forlorn Metropolis. In fact, you may even come across an inactive Sentry first and let your guard down, only to be spooked when one of these statues suddenly springs to life further into the Metropolis.
Core Sentries were built as powerful guards, designed to protect the Forlorn Metropolis and all who dwelled within it. These stone automatons have continued with their duties long after the collapse of the Caveling society. They typically shoot three energy balls at a time – and these can break through any destructibles that an Explorer may be taking cover behind – making dodging their attacks a lot more challenging. Taking them on in melee combat is also dangerous, as a Core Sentry won’t think twice before kicking you!
Shrooman
Location: The Dirt Biome Attacks: With an adorable charge
Have you come across any patches of Fungal Soil in the Dirt Biome lately? You might be thinking you’ve hit a mushroom gold mine here, but watch out. If you go mushroom picking, a mushroom might just try to pick a fight with you! The Shrooman is a brand-new enemy introduced to the Dirt biome following The Sunken Sea Update. This enemy wasn’t originally planned, but after we created the Fungal Soil Ground Cover to help players farm mushrooms, we thought it would be fun for this terrain to also spawn little mushroom people too!
Shrooman are possibly one of the cutest enemies in Core Keeper, and their clumsy charge attacks make it hard to find them particularly threatening. These critters are aggressive and will attack you the minute you cross their paths, but they find it difficult to change their trajectory once they start moving, so a well-timed dodge makes them easy to avoid. They’ll crop up wherever there’s Fungal Soil, so you may want to dig it up if you find there are too many Shrooman spawning near your base in the Dirt biome.
And there you have it, Explorers! A whole new batch of baddies for you to tackle. Of course, there are also two new bosses hidden away in the Sunken Sea biome, and we may touch upon Morpha and Omoroth in another boss-exclusive Steam post later on. Until then, why not discuss your enemy defeating strategies over on the Core Keeper Discord?
We’re Going on Vacation!
It feels like it was only yesterday that we released The Sunken Sea Update! Time really flies, doesn’t it, Explorers? With all the excitement of our first major content update, we jumped straight into working on the next one. While we can’t share any details with you at the moment, we can say that we’ve had plenty to show off in our weekly meetings with our publisher.
However, it can’t be all work and no play for the Pugstorm team, which is why we’re going on vacation to give us a chance to rest, recuperate, and come back fresher than ever! In Sweden, it’s customary to take four weeks of vacation time in the summer, and we’re going to take full advantage of this now that we’re on track for our next major update.
We want to say a big thank you for your ongoing support – we’ve got such an amazing and positive community, and it’s because of you that we feel as though we can enjoy a little time off so that we’re feeling our best when working towards future updates. We’ve got a great team supporting us at Fireshine, so you’ll still be seeing plenty of Core Keeper activity on Twitter and Discord while we’re away.
How Are We Spending Our Vacation?
We’ll each be spending our vacation time a little differently, taking the opportunity to be with our families and play some games.
COO, Pixel Artist, and Lead Animator, Sven is keeping the start of his vacation free so that he can plan activities as he goes, but he is very keen to relax, enjoy the sun, and go swimming in Lake Sommen. He’s also set aside some time to play games like Darkest Dungeon and Escape from Tarkov, and he’s got a gritty post-apocalyptic book called "The Road" on his to-read list! Later in the vacation, he’s going to travel to Greece with his brothers to enjoy even more sunshine and to experience the food and culture.
Programmer and Designer, David, will be spending his vacation enjoying the company of his brand-new puppy! And now seems like a good opportunity to introduce everybody to Harry, who is an eight-week old Cockapoo. Harry will need plenty of love and training, and this vacation seemed like the perfect opportunity to provide it!
Our programmer, Max, is also keeping his plans fairly loose for the vacation, though he intends to spend plenty of time enjoying the nature of Sweden. He’s also got plans to visit his good friend David, a visit he has assured us is definitely social and nothing to do with seeing the new puppy at all. Whatever you say, Max! He’s also thinking about channelling his inner Explorer and visiting mainland Europe for a little adventure.
In true Lead Artist fashion, Julian has informed us that he’s going to be spending his vacation drawing and painting miniatures. You can take the artist away from the studio, but you can never stop him from creating!
Finally, our CEO Fredrik and his partner have just welcomed a baby boy into the world, and they will be spending their summer vacation enjoying some wholesome family time with the little lad.
All in all, it’s shaping up to be an eventful vacation for the Pugstorm team, wouldn’t you say?
Core Keeper - Patch Notes - 0.4.3
BUG FIXES
NPCs
Enemies no longer start to regenerate health when stunned.
Enemies are no longer stuck in the stunned state after being stunned.
Fixed an issue where The Hive Mother could be stunned.
Fixed an issue with the boss health bars showing the wrong value on hard difficulty.
Azeos and Omoroth no longer spawn from Ground Acid Slime or other similar environmental-damaging sources being placed in their spawn locations.
Items
Fixed an issue where the Blow Pipe would give more range skill points than intended.
Table Saws no longer can be placed on top of Electrical Wires (which was causing them to not function properly).
Menu / UI
Fixed an issue where map sync would stop working, causing certain areas in the world to be black.
Fixed an issue where the pause menu could not be opened after trying to exit the game while the game was still loading.
Lighting / Render
Fixed a visual bug in the reflections of the Ground Slime (which caused it to jitter while moving).
Fixed the lighting on the player teleport effect to appear correctly.
Fixed the render order of the Robot Arm base to be displayed on top of bridges.
Networking / Dedicated Servers
Fixed an issue where certain characters were unable to join a world.
Collision and Systems
Fixed an issue where closed doors and gates would sometimes not block the player from moving through them.
Fixed crash in automation system due to invalid access.
OTHER
Ghorm now destroys any Ore Boulders in its path. Ore Boulders destroyed by Ghorm will not drop any ore.
Reduced the amount of particles spawned by Sprinklers when particle quality in video settings is set to low.
We’re Looking for Moderators!
Hey there Explorers, we’re pleased to affirm that, following our Sunken Sea Update, Core Keeper is now playable in English, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, and German.
With the game now being available in so many languages, we’ve seen lots of new Explorers from lots of different territories join the official Core Keeper Discord server and say hello in the Core Keeper Steam Discussions. We’re delighted that our social channels are places where multilingual discussions can take place, and we’re very committed to moderating discussions in all languages (where possible), so that we can keep these spaces safe and enjoyable for everyone.
To that end, we are looking out for new moderators to join our existing mod team! If you read and write in both English and one (or more!) of the following languages and are interested in becoming a moderator, we’d love to hear from you. The languages we’re currently looking for are Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, and German.
What do Moderators do?
Moderators work with us on the Core Keeper Discord server and the Core Keeper Steam Discussion Forums to keep things safe, friendly, and enjoyable for all server members. We provide all our moderators with a written guidelines document to help them deal with all kinds of situations. Safety is our number-one priority, and we have a list of rules on our Discord server that all members must abide by. Our current moderation team is a group of friendly individuals from across Europe, Australia, and Canada, and they’re very welcoming of new members.
How to Apply:
If you are over the age of 18 and think you’d make a good addition to our moderation team, feel free to apply using our official application form here.
Thank you for ONE MILLION Sales!
We’re delighted to announce that, shortly after the launch of The Sunken Sea Update - our first major content update - Core Keeper hit 1,000,000 sales. This is a momentous occasion for us as developers and for our publisher, Fireshine Games. In fact, Core Keeper previously set the record for being Fireshine Games’ fastest-selling digital game of all time by selling 100,000 copies within its first two days of Early-Access launch.
We’re truly overwhelmed by the fantastic community response that Core Keeper has had, and we’re thrilled to have hit this milestone so early on in the games’ development. Launching in Early Access has given us a unique opportunity to involve the community in major game decisions and collaborate with them on improvements and optimisations.
That’s why we want to express our gratitude to our amazing community now that we’ve hit 1,000,000 sales. From our vibrant Twitter followers to our colourful Discord members, the fine folk in the Steam Discussions, and all our other community members across the world, we wouldn’t be where we are today without your support, enthusiasm, and feedback!
We hope you have an amazing time exploring the Sunken Sea Biome. With every step on your Core Keeper journeys, you’re one step closer to uncovering the secrets of The Core!
Sharing More of Your Core Keeper Creations!
We can’t believe it’s been two whole weeks since we released The Sunken Sea Update! Since then, we’ve seen lots and lots of amazing streams, videos, and pieces of art from our talented community, and we thought now would be a great time to share even more of our favourites with you.
You might also remember that we shared some of your amazing Core Keeper content not long after our Early Access update. If you’ve not seen it already, we definitely recommend checking it out here.
We thought we’d start with a little bit of fanart again…
Next, we’ve got this wonderful and adorable commission, created by the talented Jorunna.
There’s also this incredibly detailed piece from Lil’ Pink Teeth that we can’t stop staring at!
We’ve also spotted some great screenshots on our social media channels…
Including this beautiful glowing base from MrRedClown.
This very impressive museum from Mntyx3!
And this Rainbow Road homage from DoUbLeStAkKeD!
We also saw CraftingCrystal get ambushed by a gang of Cavelings!
And watched TomFawkes and co learn how to cope with the darkness of the underground!
The Yogscast kindly streamed part #17 of their Core Keeper journey and built a boat in the Sunken Sea Biome!
Schyushi also took the first steps on his Core Keeper adventure!
Chinese streamer, Onityan, showed us an impressive Omoroth battle!
And we got to see Thai streamer, Stag Flation’s, impressive base.
As always, we’re keeping an eye out for creations from our amazing community, so why not share them with us on the official Core Keeper Discord?
Core Keeper - Patch Notes - 0.4.2
GAMEPLAY CHANGES
Quality-of-life
Player character is immune to damage while the game is loading to avoid unfair deaths.
Dedicated Servers
Added support for direct connections to dedicated servers.
Add missing hard mode setting for dedicated servers.
BUG FIXES
Mechanics
Fixed an issue with Acid Larva not having increased damage in hard mode.
Fixed the duration of the melee damage and attack speed buffs from cooked Pinegrapples to be 5 minutes as intended.
Fixed an issue where portals far away from any player would not continue to activate.
Fixed an issue where players could teleport to portals that were not yet activated.
Fixed an issue where electronic circuits being turned off/on would sometimes affect nearby other circuits.
Fixed an issue where players could leave their boat while connecting to the world.
Items
Fixed spelling issues on some items.
Fixed an issue with the Polished Scarlet Chunk Necklace disappearing when crafted.
Fixed an issue with the talent that makes Anvil items less expensive not working correctly.
Loot
Bubble Crab no longer drops the Tentacle Trophy.
The chest found in the Forlorn Metropolis sewers scene now contains loot.
Added 6 missing valuables to the Sunken Sea biome.
Networking / Dedicated Servers
Fixed an issue where players could get connection errors with internet servers while running another server on the local network.
We've Expanded the Core Keeper OST
In celebration of World Music Day yesterday, we uploaded the latest version of the Core Keeper soundtrack to our YouTube channel. This includes all the existing music from our Early Access launch, all the new tracks composed for the Sunken Sea Biome, and new music for the Dirt Biome, The Forgotten Ruins, The Clay Caves, Azeos’ Wilderness, and The Mold Dungeon. Listen to the most up-to-date version of the OST below…
We’ve been working with talented video-game composer, Jonathan Geer – who has previously worked on titles such as Owl Boy, Neon Chrome, and Undead Horde – to create a unique and enchanting soundtrack for Core Keeper. Our Early Access launch boasted 13 original songs, and this has expanded even more with The Sunken Sea update, giving you 21 individual tracks to enjoy as you explore the underground. You can find a full list of these tracks at the bottom of this post.
An Interview with Jonathan Geer
We spoke to Jonathan to get an idea of his inspirations and processes when creating the Core Keeper soundtrack, and this is what he had to say!
What were your main inspirations when crafting the music for Core Keeper?
Well, when Sven approached me and I met the rest of the team, they were all huge fans of the music I had written for Owlboy; and that was really the reason that they got in touch with me about creating a soundtrack for Core Keeper.
So that was a starting point, but obviously the music for Core Keeper would have to be pretty different. The team really wanted that lush, organic sound of Owlboy though, and that has been a guiding principle for the soundtrack. We didn't want anything overly synthetic or artificial sounding.
Apart from that, I didn't have too many specific inspirations while composing the music. Though I have to say, for the "Living Walls" track, I definitely had this one little riff from Castlevania's "Vampire Killer" going through my head when I wrote the groovy section at the beginning. I'm sure that seeped into the music a bit!
What has your favourite track been to compose so far?
Oh gosh, I don't know...I've had such a blast working on all this music, so it's really hard to say, and I'm always terrible at picking favorites or ranking things, haha! I'd say maybe "Light Traveling" from the Nature Biome just because I feel like it has a bit of a different sound from the rest of the soundtrack.
It's very guitar heavy, and that was fun to do, but to me, it also feels much more open and spacious than the other tracks. I had been really focused on keeping this "underground" vibe for the music, and I just let it open up more with "Light Traveling". It really feels like you could be going above ground and riding your horse through the plains and forests, exploring the natural world. Maybe that's just what nature does to you? It opens you up.
Is there a biome that you particularly enjoyed crafting the music for?
Are you asking me to pick favorites again? Don't make me do it!! I might say the Nature Biome, for a lot of the same reasons I listed in the last question. It felt good to have that more open, adventurous feeling in the music. It's also been really fun to create the new music for the Sunken Sea biome. It's so hard to choose!!
What challenges have you faced when creating the soundtrack for Core Keeper?
Honestly, I think the biggest challenge was just honing in on the sound at the very beginning of our whole process working together. Sven and the rest of the team have been great to work with and helped me find the sound after experimenting with a few different ideas. Sometimes you can hit on a sound that works right away and, other times, it takes a bit of experimenting and back and forth. It did take me some time to find the right vibe, but once I found it, we were off and running, and it's been pretty smooth sailing since then!
Was there anything you specifically wanted to accomplish with the Sunken Sea tracks? Were you trying to craft a specific sound or invoke a certain feeling when designing them?
I definitely wanted this biome to have a different feel than the others. I wanted something a little more ethereal and mysterious, but obviously it still needed to fit within the soundtrack as a whole. I think you can hear that different mood immediately in the beginning of "Glowing Waters" with those elongated swelling chords.
I also introduce a choral element into both of the tracks, so that becomes a defining trait of the music for this biome. At first, I was looking at using a Theremin to play some of the melodies, but a whistling sample ended up working beautifully, and I really like it as a unique sound for the Sunken Sea. It gives you that mysteriousness of the Theremin without going too sci-fi and over the top.
Core Keeper Tracklist:
#1 Echo of the Past: Main Menu #2 Curiosity: Intro #3 Mysteries Uncovered: Dirt Biome 1 #4 Ancient Blue: Dirt Biome 2 #5 Light from Above: Dirt Biome 3 #6 Unlit Caves: Dirt Biome 4 #7 Notes from the Underground: Dirt Biome 5 #8 Uncanny: Clay Caves 1 #9 Creeping & Crawling: Clay Caves 2 #10 Living Walls: Clay Caves 3 #11 Exploring Ruins: Forgotten Ruins 1 #12 Cavelings: Forgotten Ruins 2 #13 Simple Lives: Forgotten Ruins 3 #14 Thriving Habitat: Azeos’ Wilderness 1 #15 My Growing Home: Azeos’ Wilderness 2 #16 Light Traveling: Azeos’ Wilderness 3 #17 Infection: Mold Sub-Biome #18 Glowing Waters: The Sunken Sea 1 #19 Statues by the Sea: The Sunken Sea 2 #20 Forlorn Metropolis: Forlorn Metropolis Sub-Biome #21 Colossal Predators: Boss 1
We hope you’re enjoying our soundtrack so far, and we’d love to know which tracks are your favourites! You can let us know by commenting on this post, by tagging us in a post on Twitter, or directly in the official Core Keeper Discord server.
Hotfix Patch - 0.4.1
Fixed Merchant inventory being able to be picked up by Robot Arms.
Fixed an issue causing some worlds to crash on startup.
Fixed an issue where empty loot would sometimes float around showing only its shadow.
