Anniversary Update!

It's hard to believe, but it's already been a year! Wow! I still remember this very day last year, sweating bullets while coding every tiny detail of Beyond the Storm to release it on Steam!

Clearly, the launch didn't go as planned, requiring numerous, and I mean numerous, bug fixes and adjustments. But I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Beyond the Storm community:

From the depths of my little game developer heart, I appreciate how hard you've worked to keep the game alive, even during my "absence" on Steam. A lot has happened in this past year, and I thought I'd have more time to work on the game, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

On the flip side, I've seen community members helping each other, folks writing fantastic (truly fantastic!!) reviews about the game, praising it on podcasts, and even kids without computers at home exclaiming at expos, "This game is so powerful; too bad you won't be here forever." And all I can say is thank you for this incredible reception! I just wanted to make the game of my dreams and hoped you'd like it just a little... But oh, how you've liked it! And how much! I love you all! <3

And many of you liked it so much that you noticed some little hiccups in the game, especially in terms of Quality of Life. So, here's my birthday present to you:

• Engine Update

• Dynamic Preloading: No more freezing when loading levels, and it loads faster now. (Sometimes there are artifacts for a few seconds)

• QoL - Compass: Lights in menus indicate where the player should go next.

• AddedQoL - New Datacube IndicatorA light in the main menu indicates when there are new datacubes you haven't read.

• QoL - Completion Percentage: The game now shows how much you've completed it.

I believe the game has learned a lot from you about Quality of Life improvements, and there are more in the pipeline (but they involve tinkering with saves. I want to make sure your saves are preserved when transitioning to a new version!). I THINK the game knows how to count up to 100%, but please let us know if anything strange happens... You never know if games might end up going over 100%, right...?

A "small" big update that paves the way for future Beyond the Storm updates. I know it's still version 0.9.0.0, but I promise you: When it reaches 1.0.0.0, the game will have so much content that you'll be asking to make it smaller (laughs)!