Snow Scout
PS Parity Patch on the Horizon
As you may have heard, Snow Scout launched on the PSVR2 two days ago, after we spent another five months porting it to the Sony system. Aside of doing the porting work itself, we did of course all we could to improve and expand the game, and we were able to make really good progress. In the last couple of weeks, things got extremely hectic, because we started receiving feedback from content creators who had early access to the PSVR2 version, so we had to do a lot more fixing of things that Sony's own quality assurance process, which took about 15 days for the game, had missed.
Since there really wasn't any time to waste, we focussed 100% on what needed to be done to deliver the best possible experience for PSVR2 – but that means we pushed the SteamVR compatibility aside for a moment. Of course, we'll bring all the new improvements back into the PCVR version, but it will unfortunately take a bit longer. On the plus side, there is now more player feedback coming in, so we can include that as well – as a result, the next Steam Update for the game will be really impactful.
In short; sorry for the delay, but at least there is something to look forward to, and hopefully, it won't take us more than 2-3 weeks - so the patch should arrive just in time for the chillier season where playing VR games will be much more fun again than in the heat of summer :D
All the best,
Kalle from Tunermaxx
Another Patch Arrives
We just launched Build #155, which fixes some small issues with the new localization options, as well as some other small bugs that have been there a while longer.
And while we were at it, we also put in some more graphical tidbits. In some way, level design is like having a huge model railroad set. You can always build new stuff and add it … no matter how big or small, it will always make the set more interesting :D
All the best,
Kalle from Tunermaxx
Willkommen, Bienvenu, Welcome!
Summer isn’t exactly the best time for skiing - unless you do it in virtual reality of course! So we’ve kept busy and tackled the topic of localization. That always takes quite a bit of logistic effort, but we have now managed to add subtitles to the game and even add three additional text languages: French, Italian and Spanish! Due to our non-existent budget, we had to go with machine translations though. So if you are a native speaker and notice something odd, don’t hesitate to tell us here in the Steam discussions or on our Discord. There, we also have a list of SteamVR game keys for other games that we’re offering up to people who help us out improving the game. If you’re interested, head over there and take a look!
https://discord.gg/qwpkpeAdXu
From our experience, longer sentences of flowing text are mostly translated okay, because some context can be gathered by the AI. But when it comes to short phrases or even single words, like what you see in user interfaces, it can be completely off, sometimes with hilarious results. Again, if you spot anything like that, please let us know.
Other than that, work on a game never seems to be done - there is always something to improve. So in order to make the game look even better, we started placing some grass and reeds in the levels, and again added more lighting and environmental effects like ground fog.
Have fun and stay cool,
Kalle from Tunermaxx
Big Interactivity Update!
As usual, we have been busy and now it’s time to share with you the results of our endeavors. As some of you may have heard, we have begun porting Snow Scout to the PlayStation VR2 and of course, that gave us some new ideas how to improve the game. So aside from the usual polishing of little details and minor bug fixes, we have now made almost all interior objects interactable, so you can now put all the objects in your ski huts exactly where you want them … or, you can simply throw them around to let off some steam, hehhe.
We've nicely summed up these changes in a little trailer:
https://youtu.be/_WtQhXbBWLk
As you can see there, we have expanded on the possibilities of the recently introduced realtime lighting, and added working light switches as well as an actual light source to the lighter. And while we were busy dealing with lighting, we also re-lit all exterior locations to make them look even nicer, and added some visual effects like lens flares for our hand-drawn sun, volumetric light shafts as well as some nice ground fog.
And last but not least, we even added a weather system, so the vegetation is now moving a bit depending on the weather conditions, and there even is some actual snow falling here and there. While this is a kind of subtle effect at first, the showdown of the story benefits greatly from it. So if you haven’t played the game to the end, it’s time to get to work now. And if you have, just do it again - I’m sure there are some achievements left to pick up :D
Of course, big additions such as these always run the risk of introducing new bugs - So if you should come across any issues, don't hesitate to report them here or on our Discord. As always, we reward players who find some issues or bugs or contribute to the game in other ways with Steam keys for games from other studios. Visit our Discord for details & the list of games we have currently available:
https://discord.gg/qwpkpeAdXu
But now, have fun playing and stay frosty!
Kalle from Tunermaxx
The Big Spring Update is here!
It was quite a lot of unexpected work to get past issues arising from a neccessary Unity update, but finally, we can present another huge update for Snow Scout. You've probably noticed already that the game uses a stylized low-poly look, but that doesn't mean the graphics have to be simple. So we quadrupled all texture sizes and added bump maps and other effects to a lot of surfaces. Also, there is real-time lighting now, the water system has completely been replaced and there are much more life-like skiing particles.
If you've played the game before, it's really important to know that we have overhauled the entire saving system too, in order to make it more reliable. That means previous saves will not be compatible with the current version. In case you want to finish an old game you started, you can switch to the beta branch of the game and continue with the previous build there. Trying the new version will not touch your old saves though, they exist in parallel, so it doesn't hurt to give the new version a try and start with a fresh game.
In terms of game content, we have once again fixed a lot of issues, and polished all the mechanics - in some cases to the point of completely re-doing them. Still, the complex overhaul of the Unity version could have unforeseen consequences in the form of new bugs we have not found yet. As we have learned the hard way, the game has really become too complex for our small team to handle thorough testing, so once again, it would really be a huge help if you'd report any issues you come across. You can use the discussion forum here on Steam, or visit our Discord. There, we also offer keys to other SteamVR games to people who help us out with bug reports, so have a look if you're interested!
https://discord.gg/qwpkpeAdXu
As far as we're concerned, this update delivers Snow Scout Version 1.00 - So aside from possible service updates that will fix any found issues, the development of the game is now complete. Finally, all features are implemented and working the way they should, at least to our knowledge ;-)
If you glance over some of those past news posts, the process wasn't easy and we were a bit blindsided because the Early Access phase of the game didn't work in the way we had expected at all. As a result, the game ended up being a huge financial disaster for us, with development costs of about $200,000 on one side, and a payout from Steam of about $2,000 on the other. Well, indie game development isn't easy, and making games in the VR niche is even harder - but that's life. Still, we hope that some of you can appreciate the unusual (and hopefully unique) game we have created here. If some people really like it at least, I guess it has been worth making!
So that's it for today... oh, and Vreni said to give her regards!
All the Best,
Kalle from Tunermaxx
Pimp My Slide!
We're still working to further improve Snow Scout's visual fidelity - at the moment, we're upgrading some materials and shaders. Among other things, this results in a completely new look for the water in our resort - be it the small stream pictured here, lakes or waterfalls. Also the terrain gets a bit of an overhaul and we're re-lighting all outdoor areas.
However, all these changes went hand-in-hand with an huge upgrade to the underlying Unity version, which means a lot of stuff has to be cleaned up after, and we won't be able to publish all these updates before it's all done.
So stay tuned while we pimp this slide, and if you haven't bought the game yet, now could be the best time, as Steam's Spring Sale comes with a 67% discount … and once we're really satisfied with the games look & feel, we won't discount it as highly anymore. A very special tip for people in the know is that we're also offering the Tunermaxx VR Bundle here on Steam, which is a combo of our games Rainbow Reactor and Snow Scout. This bundle actually costs less than Snow Scout alone, so an even bigger saving is possible - Two games for the price of less-than-one :D
Stay Frosty,
The Tunermaxx Team.
New Year's Update
Now you can fire Bertha with even more verve than ever before - just don't drop those shells, okay?
And in case you should come across any more issues, don't hestitate to report them here or on our Discord. As always, we reward players who find some issues or bugs or contribute to the game in other ways with Steam keys for games from other studios. Visit our Discord for details & the list of games we have currently available:
https://discord.gg/qwpkpeAdXu
Last but not least, we'd like to wish everyone a fantasic new year 2024 - thank you for your support!
All the best,
Kalle from Tunermaxx
The Big Holiday Update Is Here
It's that time of the year and someone has decorated one of the trees on beginner's hill with some nice, shiny baubles.
But that's not all of course; a huge load of game data has also arrived and as usual, it improves some of the games visuals, sounds and mechanic and gets rid of a lot of bugs that were reported by the community - as recently as yesterday, actually! So if you come across any issues, just let us know and we'll have our code elves fix it at once!
For people who have played already, one change that is definitely noteworthy is that the "sharp turn" function on skis is now done with the trigger button instead of grip. After someone suggested it and we tried it out, we immediately felt it makes more sense that way, as it makes handling objects much easier, while holding the ski sticks.
Other than that, I'm happy to report that finally, my list of things I wanted to add or change is finally done. That means, after a short break to collect our thoughts, we will start to work on ports of the game. Of course, during that time, we will surely make further improvements, that will ultimately find their way back into the PC version. And if you guys find more issues, as always, contact us here or on our Discord to benefit doubly: For one, bugs will get fixed, which is great for everyone, and secondly, we have a bunch of keys for other VR games to give away. So everyone who helps us out can look forward to a little extra present from Santa … err no, from us! Visit our Discord for details & the list of games we have currently available:
https://discord.gg/qwpkpeAdXu
Also, Snow Scout is currently available with the biggest discount ever, so if you like it, please tell your friends. Any money we make will of course be re-invested into our next project.
So here's hoping all wishes come true this Christmas,
All the best,
Kalle from Tunermaxx.
Another Small Update
A player had the interesting idea of eating all the available food on the first day, thus soft-locking the game progress. I must admit it never occured to me someone could do that, but that is exactly why it's so important to have other people test your game. For a small studio, this can be a very time-consuming and expensive process - it's not by accident that my own playing time of Snow Scout on Steam is over a thousand hours, testing only.
But again, since we know the game so well, the "real" players out there, like yourself, surely will always come up with ideas we haven't thought of. And this is why we reward players who find some issues or bugs or contribute to the game in other ways with Steam keys for games from other studios. Visit our Discord for details & the list of games we have currently available:
https://discord.gg/qwpkpeAdXu
At any rate, the game now has a solution for really hungry players, and while we were at it, we put in some subtle improvements in the graphics and narration departments as well. Let's see if anyone will spot them ;-)
Stay Frosty,
Kalle from Tunermaxx.
Black Friday Update
Autumn is upon us and that can only mean one thing: Winter Is Coming.
But before that, there is of course always Black Friday. We here in Alpine Europe don't even know what this is about exactly, except there are a lot of sales. So this is an opportunity as good as any other for us to release another update for Snow Scout, featuring the latest improvements.
Most notably, based on player feedback, we have once again expanded the tutorial to provide you with some more insights how to best go about your new job as a Snow Scout. This little extension is optional though, so Vreni will ask you if you want to do it or not after the regular tutorial is done. If you're starting an additional playthrough of the game, you can skip the whole introduction by the way by simply switching to skiing mode once you have picked up your equipment.
Other than that, all of Vrenis additional dialogue options, where she tells you more about herself, have now been unlocked. You can get to hear those by testing lots of ski routes and completing other optional tasks, like recycling trash and photographing birds.
No matter how much stuff we add to the game or how many bugs we remove - our offer still stands that if you help us out with bug reports or reviews, we have some keys for other SteamVR games to give away! Visit our Discord for details & the list of games we have currently available:
https://discord.gg/qwpkpeAdXu
Stay Frosty,
Kalle from Tunermaxx.
