Demo update #1

Releasing the demo was wild! We have a playtest version of the game that you can get on our discord, that's a version of the game where we push updates first, and only then do they make it into the demo. We've been busy improving the game from the get go, at first pushing daily updates, and afterwards (once things stabilized, and critical issues were fixed) moved on to weekly updates. This update article looks at what's been happening behind the closed doors, although they're pretty open, our discord is a place where you can chat with us any time!

Enough preface, let's dive right into it!

Youtube videos

We've been super fortunate, and people have created youtube content playing Fogpiercer. To all of you, but also to our Discord community, we owe a massive thanks! The videos and feedback we're receiving are a source of inspiration and data, helping us make Fogpiercer into an even better game. Here's a couple of those!

https://youtu.be/3iAVF2ozeR8?si=h8N9Dkr-bRLMRPEE https://youtu.be/hP1dtB_iWSI?si=sDxmQ9pQHN6fYXq5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPOEnlLhpGM

Speedrunning

Never thought this was going to happen, honestly. In terms of spotaneous combustion theories, this is pretty close. If you visit youtube you can find numerous videos from our speedrunners already, and in addition to that there's an official Speedrun.com page for Fogpiercer Demo now as well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubhymOBZgiE

Fogpiercer Demo on Speedrun.com

Changelog

The changelog is fairly extensive, but also shows just how much we've done since launching the demo, if you want a more detailed look into the changelog, feel free to visit our discord (and the #Changelog channel).

Most notable of these changes is going to be the rework of the tutorial system. We've noticed that few players come to grasp the coolest strategies of the game, and we've aimed at making them more obvious right from the get go, in the tutorial!

Added

• different colour for enemy turn intent that has an effect

  • this also adds a colour setting under the accessibility tab

  • i.e. Lojzo's carriage disable attack

• unit side panel can now be turned off by pressing a grid cell that does not have a unit

• a couple of missing translation strings that were still hardcoded

• "Magenta" colour to accessibility settings

  • it was just purple, but then it started looking a little different 😅

• "Speedrun Statistics" which appear in the pause menu

  • time of the run (excluding game pauses and initial screen)

  • number of turns taken

• loading screen

  • also a setting for auto accepting the end state of the loading screen

  • this implements asynchronous loading

• new shortcuts!

  • Z/C move the train back and forward

  • F to end turn / F to choose

  • M to toggle the map

• number of copies of a card in the Unit Side Panel

• number of player turns taken in the "Run Over" screen

• Weighted random when modules are being offered to the player

• Each boss will now have a station right after it

• Stronger buggies have burn resist

• Cannon heavy has stun resist

• top panel for train overview now also has buttons as shortcuts for moving the train

• top panel for train overview shows an icon when a carriage can be upgraded in a station

• steam wishlist and "Discussions" links to the top right corner in the main menu and pause menu

• returning back to a station from the map view is now possible

• warning label to the "main menu" return option in the pause menu that warns the player of losing run progress

• ability to change animation speed

• a lower default for 3D scaling on the steam deck

• overall number of activated modules in the modules screen

• overall number of activated cards in the cards screen

• chop shop cards now also show the number of copies that will be added to the deck

• Demo / Playtest windows now have their correct respective names

• Malfunction does not trigger if disabled

• animation speed also influences the slow-mo amount

• save slots!

• minigun to the main menu!

• "missions" system

  • at the moment only used in the tutorial, we'll expand on it in the future

  • enemy waves?

• setting to turn off shadows

Changed

• improved the settings popup

  • added a super quick animation when it's turned on and off

• further tweaks of fight progression for the first part of the map, mainly focusing on probabilities

  • weighted random of enemy kinds and support unit chances

• tweaked probabilities of enemies in the second map fights

• malfunction cards now wait for env hazards to resolve

• enemy turn now waits for malfunction cards to resolve

• Game Over screen uses the game scene loading as the rest of the game (the async loader)

• Player XP amounts got lowered, enjoy slightly faster levelling!

• Modules in Tier 1 are unlocked by default for new players

  • can be disabled

• Cards in Tier 1 are unlocked by default for new player

  • can be disabled

• Meta progression Modules and Cards got a face-lift

• Chop shop - shop UI got a face lift too!

  • station bonuses no longer overlay shop UI

• Animation speed has been changed to having 5 pre-set options

  • SLOWEST, SLOW, NORMAL, FAST, FASTEST

• Fight Back

  • the enemy that destroyed the carriage, is insta-killed

• Silver Tongue

  • 30% discount!

• Shield Carriage

  • Shield Trick

    • 1x in deck

  • Panzer Dome

    • Cost Up + AP Cost 1

  • Shield Revenge

    • new pattern and AP Cost 1

  • Sheild Siphon

    • the same but +1 shield

• Artillery Carriage

  • Iron Rain - Exhaust

• card text and effect position

• camera animation when leaving the map is faster

• shop items leave an empty border when bought

• unavailable shop items (no more modules/cards) are visualised

• revamped visual style

  • stronger colours, some may need tweaking, let us know!

  • lots of colours changes all around, we'll be iterating

• train travel speed is BACK!

  • though with saner limits

• "Money" -> "Scraps"

• reworded most cards and modules, to ensure a same style of writing

• Hand Throw

  • discard hand, draw as many cards as were discarded

• The title below the game's logo now aligns with the version of the game (Playtest, Demo)

• Loading screen has a game logo progress texture instead of Coal Pusher illustration

  • and it always reaches 100% now too!

• hide AP cost and number of copies of cards that are locked

• redesigned the enemy list panel on the right of the screen

• trees and rocks no longer float above the ground

• improved visuals of stations

• Tutorial redesigned

• Improved performance by selectively casting shadows only where necessary

• Changed the icon on negative module of Extra Move Cost

• The player gets free scraps in the tutorial to ensure that upgrades and a new carriage can be bought

Fixed

• Right Mouse Button (RMB) no longer shows intent details and it's also used to cancel an active card

• Station UI not appearing when it should if the player is in map preview when entering a station

• Underlying system for bonuses, this fixes the "Mirage Mystery" module and prevent similar issues in the future

• Final damage that destroys a carriage not being registered in run stats

• Choosing a module after a "Module Van" fight before all modules have initialised, no longer crashes the game

• multiples of the same module can no longer appear

• visual of the unit position didn't always correctly update

• pressing enter when choosing upgrade cards no longer breaks UI / crashes the game

  • a better fix is incoming! we need to add the ability for cards to be focused

• one cannot endlessly reroll modules anymore

• upgrading a carriage and picking a card no longer crashes the game

• map can only be toggled using the M shortcut when it's available, preventing a softlock

• hitting enter after choosing a reward no longer triggers it again

• card arrow line should no longer be "red"

• previously used malfunction cards are no longer hidden

• a missing card in the chop shop when the player no longer has any rare/epics available

• grid annotations render over cards no more!

• max health card wording

• default unit movement speed is back to its original value

• instant cards can no longer be spam activated

• brake and move forward sounds were flipped

• choppy particles have been tweaked, likely an engine error

• translations for new effects

• grid annotations only turn on when set so in the settings

• all default modules now turn on properly

• preview map no longer has a button to return to the station (broke things)

• audio low-health is now correctly reset even when Malfunction is in hand when the fight ends

• Station should now always be spawned at a correct location, so regardless of the train and animation speed the train will stop at the right place

• Malfunction can now be always removed

• Colours now get initialised properly

• correct info text for spikes

• pause menu now renders above everything else at all times

• stations no longer randomly spawn as props

That's it for this update! The build is now live, let us know what you thought of the changes, cheers!