Hello! It's me, Stepford! I'm writing this newspost with good news! We are one of the top five nominated games for "Best Game" made using Gamemaker for 2024.
This is super awesome, and it's not something I could've imagined while making the game. I can't put into words how grateful I am for everyone who has played our game, I seriously couldn't ask for a better community. ːGunfireRebornloveː
The next stage of the Gamemaker Awards is all five of the games going against one another in a poll, which is where I need to ask for your help!Here you can see all of the entries, and there's three different categories. We are competing for the Best Game, and that's where you will find us.
You can click VOTE NOW! either on the bottom of that blog or right here and you'll be taken to a Google Form where all of the votes are being tallied. If you could head over there and chuck us a vote, it'd mean the world. ːSpRad_Rockː There's also other categories for the Most Anticipated Game and Best Gamemaker Tool, so if you recognize any of the entries in those you should def give them your support. ːsteamhappyː
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WHERE IS THE UPDATE!?
The update is still being worked on, but it's shaping up to be something I'm really happy with. There's a huge number of quality of life changes I can't wait for you all to get your hands on. - You can now see if your runs are 'flawless' by holding tab. - Quick Restart. - Save backups. - All bosses automatically reduce weapon visibility like the final boss. - A bunch of fixes to the canisters relating to their XP amounts and modifiers. - Adjusting dialog speed setting. - Borderless window mode. - Mute On Focus Loss setting. and a bunch more stuff that makes the game that much better.
Another cool change is all of the settings that would help with lag prevention (lowspec, lategame autopickup, etc) have all been REMOVED and now there is a universal [ANTILAG] variable that will increase or decrease to try and keep you at a stable framerate. That way you can start off every run with the game looking great and only have things get reduced/removed when the game requires it, instead of having to toggle them yourself when the time feels right. And the game has had a big optimization pass done on it.
You can also play Overdrive infinitely if you so wish, with the Max 5 cap being removed to allow you to continue earning more and more skillpoints. This means that people can compete with one another and really push the game to its limits, I did however put a 30 skillpoint cap on competing in Dailies, so that high ranking Daily players don't feel obligated to make it to Overdrive 74 or whatever just to keep up with one another.
Another cool feature is people who have seen the alternate ending will be rewarded with Freeplay Mode, which makes a bunch of the debug functions easily accessible.
And this isn't mentioning the new weapons, skills and bosses I'll be adding with the update. It's gonna be sweet, I just feel bad it's taken so long! If there's anything else you'd like to see added, you're welcome to post them in the comments down below. Fingers crossed the next time I am writing a newspost like this, it's a date for the update itself. Or you can all bury me.
Space Exploration Fest
Today kicks of Steam's Space Exploration Fest
Explore and infinity and beyond with a deep collection of spacing faring games of all sizes!
Picayune Dreams is running a 20% discount on it's own, while bundling up with Schism, another space-based bullet hell action roguelike that I believe will appeal to the same fanbase. Try out it's own demo, and grab the 2 games together if you like what you see!
Or if you REALLY like space-based bullet hell roguelikes, you can add Paper Planet as well! (Although it unfortunately isn't on sale during this event, as it is on a mandatory discount cooldown)
If you previously missed out announcement, Picayune Dreams has been nominated for the GameMaker "Best Game 2024". Voting is open until September 11th!
Go, vote now before you forget! There are only 3 categories to vote in, so it should only take a minute. Your support is so greatly appreciated!!
Steam Summer Sale 2024
The annual Steam Summer Sale is here!!
Thousands of games are on sale across Steam, including a 20% discount on Picayune Dreams! Consider grabbing the game bundled with 5 other unique and very positively received roguelikes for additional savings (or scope out one of the other bundles offered this sale).
The entire 2 Left Thumbs publishing catalog is on sale. Be sure to browser that selection to see what other quality games might tickle your fancy.
COMING SOON
A new roguelike published by 2 Left Thumbs is coming soon!
Keep an eye out for Gorgon Shield, from the creator of Swords and Sandals. It is a party-based RPG, arcade, roguelike. And I can guarantee you haven't played another quite like it!
There is large demo for you to play around in. And please be sure to add it to your Wishlist!
Progress on the next update!
ENDLESS REPLAYABILITY
Picayune Dreams is 20% for Steam's Endless Replayability Fest! You can grab Picayune Dreams alongside 2 other space-based roguelikes published by 2 Left Thumbs bundled together for additional discounts!
Hey! It's me, Stepford! I hope you all have been doing well! It's been a little while since I wrote an update like this, so I figured I'd pop my head out to update you all on how things are going on our end.
Since the last update, I took a long break to fully regain my energy from all the work that went into making the entire thing and the following month or two of post-release craziness. I struggled with motivation and focusing every time I'd go to work on the game so I kept putting it off over and over; but since the start of the month I've been working on it every single day. I feel a lot better and I'm having fun working on it!
Meanwhile, Andyl4nd has been busy working on Endacopia and I've been occasionally helping with programming on that. (Give it a wishlist to make him happy hehe :)) ) Milkypossum has been working on an album that you can see a teaser of HERE, it'll release on her Youtube, Spotify, etc. on June 7th!
WHAT can you expect from 1.0.1.0? The focus for the update is to address some of the late game issues. The whole looping mechanic isn't particularly well balanced and fighting the same bosses that you have already been able to defeat (just with more health now) isn't all that enticing. As well as that, the update will add a small amount of content to just about every other corner of the game. New skills, new weapons, new enemies, new modifiers, new optional bosses. I want an update that's worth getting reinvested into the game, not just like... a few new toys you'll get bored of in an hour - which is why it's taking so long.
WHEN can you expect 1.0.1.0? At this stage, it's hard to say! But the sooner I can get it out to you, the more happy both of us will be. I just want it to be BIG and tasty. What I will likely do is have the update release as a beta first, and then allow anyone to try it a week or two before it releases so that I can get some prerelease feedback and bugfixing done. I will probably do another announcement when that is ready, either here or in the Discord (which you can access in the main menu in the top left).
Thank you all so much for the love, the praise, the fanart; all of it! I couldn't've imagined the game would do this well and every interaction I've had with one of you has been awesome. Even if I sometimes go radio-silent, I'm always watching ... :catsack:
If you have any questions about the game, the update or about me, post them below and I'll do my best to respond!
RACK AND SLAY
Your friendly neighbourhood Publisher here, Graeme!
The next game from 2 Left Thumbs is the roguelike billiards-based dungeon crawler: Rack and Slay! The game will launch in just 2 weeks - and an extensive demo is available NOW.
Rack and Slay will launch for just $6 (before the planned launch discount!) So be sure to add it to your Wishlist so you don't miss out on a new banger roguelike!
Publisher Sale (Jan 19-22nd) || Up to 75% OFF
3 YEARS
A little over 3 years ago, I announced publicly that 2 Left Thumbs would be entering the indie game scene as a publisher, helping to bring Dead Estate to Steam! Never could I have guess what a smash hit that game would be.
Using that as a proper jumping off point, I worked hard to find promising new indies in need of some extra support. And as of today, there are 8 released titles in that catalog, with many more to come! It's my greatest privilege to be able to herald these great developers and their games, and to help them reach new audiences.
PUBLISHER SALE
To celebrate this amazing milestone, the entire 2 Left Thumbs catalog is discounted! Several games are running their deepest ever discounts, while Picayune Dreams is running it's first ever sale (our apologies that the intended Launch Discount didn't apply properly...)!
If you want to REALLY show your support, the Micro-Publisher Mega-Supporter Bundle offers ALL these games together with an additional25% off!!
If everything together is a bit much, I understand. There are a variety of bundles being run during this sale, designed to group together games I predict will have overlapping audiences.
Every bundle is a "Complete the bundle" style, meaning even if you own 1+ of the games, you can still buy the bundle for an additional discount without re-purchasing the game(s) you already own!!
Hello, Stepford again! ːNekoː Hope your week has been well. Here is a small patch to fix some of the issues the previous patch caused. This isn't the patch I was talking about prior to Christmas in the last patchnotes, but it is a little somethingsomething.
Added: You can now see how many hours until the Daily is refreshed.
Added: 100th achievement, for reaching level 25. (Since 20 was the maximum level on release.) All you need to do is go to the Main Menu, and it should unlock if you're already 25.
Added: You can go to the Credits and click a button to rebuild your save using your Steam achievements, in case it ever gets lost or broken.
Fix: Updated some Collection descriptions to reflect recent changes.
Fix: USBs in the collection would show up before killing the associated bosses.
Fix: Worm spawns two of the same brain hemispheres, instead of opposing sides.
Fix: There was a few issues brought on by the sound priority system of the last patch. I THINK I have fixed them all! Please tell me if any other
important* sounds have been drowned out/cut off for other less important sounds since the last patch.
Fix: Some spelling mistakes were cleaned up.
Fix: Holding down tab to slow down the game was only meant to happen when enemies were being actively spawned.
While I've got you looking here, we're (Andyl4nd, Milkypossum, I and Graeme (our publisher) if he can make it) gonna be doing a Twitch stream on Sunday 8 PM EST (thats Monday 11 AM for AEST auzzies like me). We're gonna be playing the game live, talking about development, answer questions and stuff. Hope to see some of you there! And thank you so much for all the kind words, bug reports and feedback so far. I can't wait to get some new juicy stuff in your hands.
Update 1.0.0.3
Hello! ːNekoː Stepford here again. This is the third update to the game I'm putting out, aimed at adding a few suggestions and fixing a few bugs in the game! Please keep leaving suggestions and bugs in the the Community forums, they have been really helpful and I read them all. ːGunfireRebornloveː
Added: X and Y coordinates to the HUD.
Added: You can now toggle XP combining into Canisters, if you preferred the XP Text growing enormous and filling the screen.
Added: If you want to play with both a controller AND a mouse at the same time, there is now an option in the Gamepad section to help with that.
Added: A unique sound to the XP Canister pickup.
Added: You now revisit memories from the Loadout menu directly, instead of having to kill the boss again. This does make the skill a bit redundant, I might have to make it do something else instead.
Added: You can now instantly pick one of the three upgrades with the directional pad. (Turn this off in the Gamepad settings if you don't like it.)
Added: You can now play with Autoaim Deadzone, a setting in the Gamepad settings, to toggle autoaim if you're moving the analog stick or not.
Change: Made levelling up your profile slightly faster.
Change: XP Cans are now influenced by Late Game Auto XP, instantly adding their stored XP to your XP pool the moment it starts getting sucked.
Change: Recolored XP Cannisters.
Change: Made it more obvious when your Curse has raised.
Change: Made it more obvious which statues will raise your Curse.
Change: Biker has stun/slow immunity during some attacks.
Change: Reverted Ghost Boss' blue bullets back to being red, like in the demo.
Change: Ghost Boss now forcibly lowers weapon alpha, just like the Final Boss.
Change: Holding Tab to see your current upgrades now slows down the game.
Change: Made explosive modifier less intensive.
Change: Modified Areas now have updated descriptions, to better inform the player that they also boost their stats.
Change: Increased how long destination text stays on the screen, so people have more time to read said descriptions.
Change: Dark Matter Overload will no longer trigger if you are immortal.
Change: Made it a lot more obvious when you are immortal/can't take damage.
Change: Made some more HUD elements have black outlines.
Change: Debris that spawn during the final Boss will have an outline, making them easier to find.
Change: Final Boss, Phase 1 teleports half as often.
Change: Several performance changes.
Change: Rainbowsplosion skill can no longer cause Statues to explode.
Change: Adjusted Yuki fight to be more like Gimmiko.
Fix: Banned items would draw over your selected upgrade stats, now it draws behind them.
Fix: Fixed a bug where the Biker would get stuck in place if the game paused/slowed down during their leaping phase.
Fix: Telecom would damage the enemy that spawned the AoE, basically making it a 50% damage buff on everything that spawned it. The initial hit enemy is excluded now from the AoE damage.
Fix: Some weapons didn't have hitsounds assigned.
Fix: Wibbler enemies were not having Peril speed applied to them properly.
Nerf: Statue of Gamble asks for +1 Reroll each time you use it. (1,2,3,4,etc.)
Buff: Demon Horns activate radius is now visible on the player.
Rework: Hunter's Bow no longer splits on contact, instead piercing through, homing to enemies near the cursor, able to hit the same enemy multiple times. Upgrading it now increases how long it stays around, instead of split count. This should help it stay relevant during bosses and late game.
Quite a lot of changes here. I will say, with this many changes, there is bound to be a few new bugs that flew under my radar while making this patch. Even after just releasing it, I had to fix and issue relating to the music stopping because I tried changing some of the sound priorities to make late game's audiospace feel more "balanced" so you hear the stuff you need to, and the pointless stuff gets drowned out, but some stuff slipped through the cracks so if there is any important audio that doesn't play or gets cut off, please tell me.
And then after I uploaded that build, I accidentally set the pitch to 10 making everything sound like chipmunks. So then I had to upload a new build. ːsteamhappyː fml this video game crap is hard.
I will probably end up taking some time to make a public beta branch so everyone can playtest the next patch. If you have any immediate issues or suggestions, you can also come join the Discord as well. Sorry for all the fuffing about, it's my fault.
There will probably be one more patch focused around fixes/balancing before Christmas, and then I'll basically be full steam ahead on the first actual meaty content update.
1.0.0.2
Hello! Stepford here again! I'm still crunching on some performance and game fixes. Be sure to tell me any of your thoughts on the balance or any glitches you find. I've also been toying with some stuff for future updates which I'm excited to get started on. ːSpRad_Rockː
Added: An option to enable "Late Game Auto XP", which instantly teleports XP to you once it's started to be sucked in (only past 25 Mortality.)
Added: The game will submit Daily and Friend highscores after killing a boss, so even if you push your game to the limit - Steam servers will remember your sacrifice.
Added: Steam Rich Presence (?) Hard to test until it's on live servers. We'll see. ;)
Change: XP will now combine into an XP Cannister when more than 1500 is accumulated into a single spot.
Change: AUTO UPGRADE AT FULL BUILD option raised up in the menu, to avoid having to scroll every time to toggle.
Change: Extended XP culling radius further than the border of the screen by a smidge.
Change: Lowspec Mode now disables more effects.
Change: Other assorted adjustments in hopes of making the game take up less performance.
Change: Updated the description on "Dark Matter Overload" to explain things a little better.
Change: Peril will increase the amount of XP required to level up, in addition to raising Enemy Speed and Enemy Count.
Fix: More spelling mistakes have been corrected.
Fix: The ending screen would show negative skillpoints if you had spent the points earned from beating Overdrive levels, fixed now.
Fix: Some weapons would go over the bottom of their lifetime and then stay around in memory. This has been fixed.
Fix: A Gamemaker update has fixed the issue where unplugging an audio device would render the game silent until restart. I can't test this because I couldn't get it to happen before, but hopefully its fixed for everyone who was having the issue.
Nerf: Spawned C4 Explosion will get 10% smaller if the enemy was killed by another C4 Explosion,
reoccurring.
Nerf: Spawned Shrapnel Shells will last 10% less time if the enemy was killed by another piece of Shrapnel, reoccurring.
* //These two items are being nerfed because of their ability to scale up simply as more enemies spawn. This is mainly to stop infinitely reoccurring instant wins with the items. I will be keeping a close eye on their performance after this update, and I might need to buff them in other ways if they fall behind!//
Hope you're all enjoying your Friday arvo! ːGunfireRebornloveː
Update 1.0.0.1
Hey, it's me Stepford! Thank you so much for the awesome reception to the game so far. Right now I'm looking to squash any bugs or glaring gameplay issues that pop up! I am looking to work on one or two 'content updates' so if there's something you'd specifically like to see added to the game, please tell me your ideas!
Added: Always show XP Radius option.
Fix: Steam Overlay Screenshot functionality.
Fix: Fixed a crash when using a Statue of Distribution.
Fix: Distant enemies will only be cycled out if the game isn't paused/levelling up.
Fix: A bunch of spelling mistakes have been corrected.
Change: Increased Level Cap to 25, up from 20.
Change: Everyone will start with 1 free skillpoint, meaning you have as many skillpoints as your actual Profile Level now.
Change: Beating an Overdrive level rewards you with an extra bonus skillpoint to spend.
Change: Statue of Distribution can no longer spawn before Bunny boss, as its effects are negligible at that stage of the game.
Change: You can now scroll menus using the right analog stick.
Change: While Looping, enemy spawns should increase more as Peril increases.
Change: Enemies have slightly longer spawn immunity, as to not be killed offscreen immediately.
Change: The size at which XP combines together now scales bigger with Mortality.
- The background on the final boss can cause some slowdown on some PCs. Try toggling the "Disable 3D Backgrounds" setting to see if things normalize! I'm still looking into this.
- Sometimes the game doesn't say it's closed, even after closing? I probably messed up the Steam API somewhere hehe :))
