Soulfused devlog #5

Update: The new demo is now live!

Before diving into the game, I'd like to tell you a little about what I've been up to lately, why I've been so quiet, and why there hasn't really been any progress on the game.

Babies and airplanes

Summer is well underway, and so far it’s been a busy one! Me, my partner, and the newest addition to the family spent most of it visiting family. (In case you haven't heard, I became a dad last December!) Given that we’re both expats from different countries, that meant a lot of traveling.

But before we could even set foot out the door, we needed to sort out all the relevant paperwork and whatnot. It’s certainly been a bureaucratic adventure to ensure that everything is properly registered in all three countries involved. It's been a mess of paperwork and embassy visits, but we're starting to see the end of that tunnel. At least we're far enough into it that we can safely travel.

Then came the travel itself. We’ve all heard horror stories (Or even experienced them ourselves) of babies crying for hours on end while being stuck in an airplane with no way for anyone to escape. Noise cancelling earphones have certainly saved my sanity once or twice while traveling alone. This time though, we were the one with the baby and we were really worried on behalf of the other passengers on the flight. We did our very best to prepare for the many hours we’d be in the air in all the ways we could think of. We even made little goodie bags with candy and earplugs to hand out to nearby passengers, each containing a little note explaining the situation from the perspective of the baby. With way too many diapers, enough milk formula to last both ways twice, a couple of books, a bag full of distracting toys, and a few changes of clothes, we were ready for the absolute worst!

Turns out we had nothing to worry about! The baby was the most well behaved little traveler you could imagine! 14 hours on a plane with a teething baby? No problem! Sure, there was a little grumpiness at times, but nothing a walk up and down the aisle or a reading session with Clifford couldn’t handle.

It's been wonderful introducing our newest family member to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and old friends. I suppose most parents only see the best in their kids, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen a more social baby, always looking for new people to be held by. We've all had a blast!

Announcement time!

Now we're back home and I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. Family is still my first priority, but hopefully I’ll be able to take a few evenings out of the week to spend on the game too. Now, time for a quick announcement!

That's right, Soulfused will be part of the Steam Cyberpunk Fest from August 3 to August 10. It's the first event I'm participating in since Next Fest last year! The game has changed quite a bit since then, and I'm excited to see how people react. Soulfused will be featured on the event page in the demo section for upcoming games.

Now and forwards

Speaking of changes and demos, it’s a bit hard to see all the polish and fixes with an outdated demo, right? That’s why an updated demo will (hopefully) be released timed with the start of the fest! This demo doesn't feature any new content, but it does have a rather long changelog of stability fixes, bug fixes, and overall polish. A more complete changelog will be published closer to the update, but some of the more notable changes include:

• Cloud save support for Steam

• The audio in the final section of the demo should no longer blow you out of your chair

• A more consistent UI experience through the game

• Inventory and item overhaul which includes a new layout, upgradable size, and no more vanishing items

• Certain NPCs can now be attacked! (Strangely enough, this seems to be the most requested feature. Who knew text adventure players could be so violent...)

• QoL updates like log filtering, info messages, and more aliases/shortcuts for some commands

• A large amount of new “Examine” responses all over the game

• Added the “Use” action, which was previously baked into “Examine”

I still need to wrap up a few things, but the demo should be ready to go when the fest starts! (As always, "should"is the key word here)

If you're interested in trying it out, head over to the Steam page and give it a go once Cyberpunk fest goes live. And if you like what you see, don't forget to wishlist the game! If you have any questions or just want to chat about the game, you can find me on Bluesky or join us on Discord.