Hope you all are keeping well during these difficult times.
It's heart-warming to see the number of people doing wonderful things to help us through this difficult time and I've been thinking about how to help as well. I want to offer Playne to any 'Key Worker' supporting our communities in the front lines. If you are a key worker, and want to start meditating using Playne, just drop me an email (from your work email address) to krish@playne.co.
Work here at Playne is carrying on as normal (since it's just me working from home :)
Playne has come a long way over the year with over 10 updates, many of them significant. I'm excited to announce that this release will be the final significant update before Playne comes out of Early Access. To mark the occasion, I wanted to save the best for the last: A whole new game mode where you can create your own Playne!
CREATE YOUR OWN PLAYNE — New First Person Game Mode
Preview Release Sandbox Mode
Hello Friends,
There is a big update coming very soon for Playne that brings a whole new game mode where you can create your own Playne.
If you would like to try this update before its released (and to help me test it) then you can load the preview of the update via Steam. To do this:
Right click Playne in your steam library > Properties > BETAS > select '09990-Preview'
You can send feedback / suggestions / bug reports via Playne's discord channel: https://discord.gg/kTwVyPq
Thank you :) Krish
Update Released - Fox in Evolve Mode
Hello :)
This update includes:
Fox now accompanies you in evolve mode. Hurrah!
Redesigned dialogue interface.
Meditation level GPU utilisation has been improved.
Various optimisations across the board.
Changing your screen setting will no longer crash the game with DXGI error.
Various minor bug fixes
As some of you probably know, I work mostly alone on Playne, so its difficult to get it tested as much as I would like on different machines. So your feedback would be very much appreciated. Any issues/bugs, let me know here https://steamcommunity.com/app/865540/discussions/1/.
You can catch Playne (and me) on Discord: https://discord.gg/4Cjxcuy
Joe "Ey, Stu, what you doin' tonight?!?" Stu "Ey, Joe, I'm Playning" Joe "Who with?" Stu "My self"
Thank you :) Krish.
Acceptance is the most profound meditation
When we try to meditate, what is it that we are trying to change?
Meditation can be an ego-driven practise. There is nothing wrong with this, but it should be realised. We all want to better ourselves, and bettering ourselves, mostly means to be happier. But happiness, to a lot of us, is to avoid pain and suffering. We want to run away from what brings us discomfort, and we want to run towards what brings us comfort.
To distil this further, it's our sensations and feelings that drive us towards action. Our sensations and feelings express themselves as thoughts. So in essence, we experience our existence through thought. For instance, when we feel cold, that feeling is expressed as a thought 'I am cold'. So does that mean that without that thought you are not cold. Maybe, but without the mind, there is no concept of cold. You can sleep through worse and not realise it.
Fear/suffering is like a monster that only exists when you look away from it. The more you try to push away at its force, the stronger it gets. The paradox is that it only exists in the force that it expresses and it only has force when you look away from it. In other words, you will feel its strength, but when you look at it, there will be nothing there. When that realisation trickles through, the force dissipates. When you look at suffering, without trying to get rid of it, you see suffering for what it actually is.
When people say, love yourself, this is probably what it means. To allow yourself to be open to all aspects of yourself. When you are open, you are meditating.
Whenever we want 'do' something, we are trying to change something. Next time you can't meditate, allow that moment to be there. Next time you are frustrated with something, allow it to be there. Allowing itself can end up being an action, and if it does, then allow that to be there as well.
Engine Optimisations and Fixes
Hello Friends,
The game engine for Playne has been updated.
Graphics optimisations which should make the game run a little faster for some of you
The 'Fatal Error' crash should now be resolved. If you have experienced this, then you might need to reinstall the game completely for it to work.
Thank you all for your continued support :) Krish.
Hotfix Released
Hello Friends,
This fixes some issues related to the last update:
- Seeds now get added to inventory correctly - Seeds now get empowered correctly - Notifications now work correctly
Thanks, Krish,
Update Released : Evolve Meditation & Other Significant Improvements
Hello Friends,
In this update, I've made some significant improvements 'under the hood'. There are also some new features and a lot of bug fixes/improvements. Here is a summary:
New features
Steam Award Nomination Request
Hello Friends,
Would you like to nominate Playne for the Labour of Love award?
I really(!) doubt that Playne will win, but if you make the effort to vote then I am grateful.
Thank you, Krish.
Patch Released - Minor UI fixes
Hello Friends,
A small patch to fix some minor issues.
- 'Meditate' button should be clearer - Removed tooltip appearing in wrong area - Auroa Borealis should now work correctly - other minor bug fixes
Thanks, Krish.
Guided Meditations Update Released
Hello Friends,
This is the full release of the preview update released a few weeks ago.
This update brings a range of new meditation and improvements. Details attached below:
New Guided Meditations and exercises
Audio Guided Meditations: Three meditations to help you better understand and realise your emotions/feelings/sensations.
Breathing exercises: Learn breathing exercises to help achieve clarity and calm.
Meditative Journaling: An exercises that allow you to openly express your thoughts and encourages you to remain in silence.
Fundamental Meditation Improvements: The core meditation in Playne now has audio guidance.
Breathing System Improvements:
Breath Warm-up: All meditation now consist of a breath warm-up.
Customise breathing speed and pattern: Each meditation now allows you to select your preferred breathing pattern.
New breathing exercises: designed to teach you breathing that I hope will leave a lasting positive impact on your life.
Better Breathing Interface: Breathing HUD and interface has been improved.
Other Fixes and Improvements:
New dialogue strand to explore books/resources on happiness, building healthy habits and easing suffering.
German now shows up (but check note below)
Better loading screens.
Better meditation summary.
Better meditation menu that has more customisation options.
Better pause menu.
Birds should no longer appear at night time.
Various bug fixes
Note about translations
Localisation in Playne is unofficial and its only possible thanks to individuals who are gracious enough to help me translate the massive amount of text voluntarily.
This update has a lot of new text and the translations will be getting added as and when the they are completed. This means you could experience untranslated text in the game if you are not using English. If you would like to help with localisation then please drop me an email to krish (at) playne.co.
Thank you all, hope you find this update beneficial. Krish.
