20 Jul 2026Developer post

Smoky Sails Announcement

Hey folks! As you might know, Omno changed my life in ways I could never have expected. After finishing it, I began working on Kibu as my next larger project. Kibu is still very much a work in progress (currently on hold), but for a long time I was trying to make it fill the enor

28 Sep 2021Developer post

Get it while it’s hot! Omno is 20% off in today’s Daily Deal!

Hey folks, Just a quick note to say that I’m running the first-ever Omno Steam discount for Omno right now (for the next 48 hours), as today’s Daily Deal! If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, or if you’ve got friends you think might be interested, now is a great time to jump in!

30 Jul 2021Developer post

Review Roundup

Hi everyone! The first full day of Omno being on sale is over, and wow - it’s been a real wild ride for me! So many lovely comments, amazing streams, and great reviews coming in! I wanted to share a little roundup of some of the Omno highlights so far: Escapist : “A gorgeous, met

03 Jun 2021Developer post

May Kickstarter Update

Hello Steam friends, June has arrived, things are finally starting to warm up, and Omno is heading ever closer to launch, so it’s time for a quick update! I’m really in the thick of things development-wise now, so will keep things a little shorter this month so I can get back to

Hello Steam friends,

June has arrived, things are finally starting to warm up, and Omno is heading ever closer to launch, so it’s time for a quick update! I’m really in the thick of things development-wise now, so will keep things a little shorter this month so I can get back to dev work! :D

BETA!

The closed beta test for all of you alpha & beta-level backers is almost upon us! I’m just a few days away from finalising everything on my side, so keep an eye on your emails and the Discord for details of how to access the beta - news will be coming very soon! The beta will be the first time an essentially feature complete version of Omno will be released into the wild, so I’m crazy excited/terrified about it all! As with the Alpha tests, I’ve set up a feedback system for you all to give me your thoughts (more on that in the invitation), so I’ll be really looking forward to seeing what you think! This beta is essentially the final big milestone before launch, so it’s a pretty huge moment for me personally. From here til launch the development work is largely going to be polishing, and fixing bugs that come up from this beta - wild times!

THE VERY END (of the game)!

This past week I’ve been finalising the credits for the game, which feels VERY exciting - really makes the upcoming launch feel sooo real now! Not only has it been a great reminder of just how many of you lovely people backed my little project in the first place, but it’s also been amazing seeing how many names I recognised from old friends and ex-colleagues from my animation days - people I had no idea had backed Omno! It’s really been a humbling and emotional experience working through these credits, and again I can’t thank you all enough for helping me to make my Omno dream a reality. The music that Benedict Nichols, the composer of Omno's OST, wrote for it really makes me tear up. Also, a fun fact about the credits: since there’s so many of you who believed in me making this game, just the backers section of the credits runs for 6 and a half minutes, even when split into 3 different columns, which is crazy to me! Also pretty funny when the development team is just me :D The internet really is a weird place but can make dreams come true.

NEW TRAILER!

As we’re ramping up for launch, I put together a new trailer for the game which will be showcased this Saturday during the Guerrilla Collective live stream event! Promotional opportunities like this don’t come around all that often, so I’m thrilled to be picked to be a part of it - it’s a really great way for Omno to find new fans! Check it out live in the stream, or keep your eyes on the Omno Discord/Twitter/YouTube channels to see it once the event ends.

Much love as always, and I’ll keep you updated on launch plans as soon as things start falling into place - won’t be long now!

-Jonas

Original post

11 May 2021Developer post

April Kickstarter Update

Hello Steam friends, April is over, so it’s time for another update! With everything getting close to the finish line now I wanted to focus on all of the things I’ve been working on over the past few weeks. Localisation! A big thing for me is making Omno available to as many peop

Hello Steam friends,

April is over, so it’s time for another update! With everything getting close to the finish line now I wanted to focus on all of the things I’ve been working on over the past few weeks.

Localisation!

A big thing for me is making Omno available to as many people as possible, so with the help of my co-publishers Future Friends Games, I’ve been working with a couple of great localisation agencies to translate the game into as many languages as we could. So at launch Omno will be fully playable in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese-Brazil, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (traditional and simplified)! It feels so crazy suddenly seeing Omno in languages other than German or English (as I work in both of those languages myself during development), but it’s a GREAT feeling and makes me very proud.

Here’s a look at the game in Japanese, which I think works really well with all the in-game glyphs I’ve created, somehow!

Final Sequence!

This is a big one for me personally (and I promise, no spoilers here!)

I’ve just finished off creating the first version of the final cutscene for the game! I’ve been animating day and night for pretty much the last 2-3 weeks on this one (and on and off before this, too). I’ve stuck closely to the storyboard I sketched out over 2 years ago, and was pretty surprised that I didn’t feel I needed to change much after all this time. In my past as an animator, I always just made the characters move, whilst dozens of other people took care of the layout, lighting, camera work, rendering etc… all under the watchful eye of a director. Doing everything myself for this sequence reminded me of just how much work it is to create even 10 seconds of animated footage, and how much I still have to learn in all of the different disciplines. Still, now that I’ve got this first draft of the full sequence together I feel I’m a BIG step closer to the finish line. There’s still lots more work to be done, but it’s a massive relief to finally see on screen everything that’s existed in my mind for so long!

Needless to say, the release is getting closer and closer and just thinking of that makes my heart skip a beat!

Much love, as always,

-Jonas

You can read the full April Kickstarter backer update here (includes console and backer beta test details).

PS: If you’ve not joined the official Omno Discord, you can do so here.

Original post

02 Mar 2021Developer post

February Kickstarter Update

Hey Steam fans, How is it March already?! With another month in the rearview mirror, it’s time for another update on all things Omno! February has been a super productive month for the game, which has felt really great. The feedback from the first alpha has given me so much energ

11 Feb 2021Developer post

January 2021 Kickstarter Update

Hey Steam fans, We’re already a good way into the second month 2021 - hope you’ve all managed to get back into the swing of things and are managing to keep some of your new year’s resolutions in these strange times we’re living in! January was a pretty huge month for me and Omno

03 Dec 2020Developer post

November Kickstarter Update

Hey Steam fans, I can’t believe it’s December already - time seems to just be going so fast lately, for me at least! It’s very cold here in Germany now, and everything’s still pretty much in lockdown with all the covid stuff going on, so it’s the perfect time to get warm and cozy

Hey Steam fans,

I can’t believe it’s December already - time seems to just be going so fast lately, for me at least! It’s very cold here in Germany now, and everything’s still pretty much in lockdown with all the covid stuff going on, so it’s the perfect time to get warm and cozy inside. But that isn’t making me any less busy - here’s an update on what’s been happening in Omno world:

Kickstarter Backer emails incoming!

As things are moving on with the project, I’m having to start thinking more about backer rewards recently. Depending on your pledge level, there may be some emails coming your way shortly from me and/or the friendly folks at Future Friends Games who are helping me out with this stuff so I can stay focused on development. These emails will be asking a few simple questions, just to gather any info we need to ensure we can deliver your backer rewards in the easiest way possible, and we’ll keep the number of emails we send to the absolute minimum so we’re not spamming you, of course! So keep your eyes on your emails and remember that official emails for Omno will ONLY ever come from @studioinkyfox.de or @futurefriendsgames.com domains!

Alpha Update

The first alpha test is getting closer, but given my experience in how long things take, I’m not putting a firm date on this just yet! I’ve spent a good chunk of time over the last month on performance adjustments, so I can roll out the alpha without turning your PCs into heaters! For the tech-interested among you: I’ve been improving on the level streaming system by breaking things up into smaller chunks, doing some sparring with Unreal’s Memory Manager and learning some valuable lessons about the so-called “garbage collector”! For the Alpha I’ll be using some pretty aggressive distance culling, so things like mountains in the background may pop in and out a bit, but rest assured this won’t be the case for the full game!

Music time!

One of the things I’ve been super excited about this month is the progress in the game’s music. The composer I’m working with, Benedict Nichols (he created the music for the Kickstarter demo back in the day) has been writing a TON of music for the game, so we’re slowly replacing the placeholder stuff that’s been there for months with the ACTUAL proper soundtrack, which is so exciting for me as a game dev! Kind of like watching a movie with the sound turned off, then turning it on - you realise just how important the sound is for portraying moods and emotions. So in the alpha what you’ll be hearing music-wise should be fairly close to the final feeling (though many of the sound effects and music tracks are still going to be work in progress)...but more on that later when it’s alpha time.

Bestiary Business!

Another new thing I’ve implemented this month that the completionists among you will be happy with is a brand new “Bestiary” feature, so you can keep track of all the creatures and critters you encounter in the world of Omno! Although it’s been planned from the beginning, it was pretty low on the priority list (HUD is not THAT much fun to work on from a developer perspective haha). It’s still very WIP and I’ve done nothing on the UI to make it look pretty yet, but it’s functioning properly which is always the first step! I’m also looking to use this feature to keep a “journal” of sorts, tracking the story fragments you’ll discover as you make your way through the world.

There’s LOTS more I’ve been adding, but for now, I’m going to focus on getting my head down and delivering the alpha to you alpha backers as soon as possible, so there will be plenty to talk about once that’s all ready to share!

In the meantime, wrap up warm and enjoy what you can of the festive season, even if it’s a bit of a different one this year!

-Jonas

PS: If you’ve not joined the official Omno Discord, you can do so here.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1375540/Omno_Prologue/

Original post

05 Nov 2020Developer post

October Kickstarter Update

Hey Steam Fans, Hope you’re doing well and had a suitably spooky Halloween! It’s November, so time for another little update on all things Omno :) October has actually been relatively distraction-free in terms of other things happening that I needed to deal with, so I’ve been in

Hey Steam Fans,

Hope you’re doing well and had a suitably spooky Halloween! It’s November, so time for another little update on all things Omno :) October has actually been relatively distraction-free in terms of other things happening that I needed to deal with, so I’ve been in “terminator mode”, just getting my head down and making lots of progress with development, which has felt amazing! Here are some of the things I’ve been up to:

New level streaming system

This might not sound like the most exciting thing, but to me this is one of the BIGGEST things I’ve added to Omno in recent times. As a first-time solo dev I was only a little familiar with how level streaming systems work, and to be honest was a little daunted by the idea of working on it, so I always found a way to get around it. But I finally took the time to tackle it, and I’m really glad I did! Adding a level streaming system is a necessary step to have actually working loading screens and a smooth gameplay experience, and I’m so happy it’s all working like a charm! It even opened up some new possibilities and resolved some performance bottlenecks that I otherwise could barely get over.

Main Menu screen!

Another cool thing I added this month is a Main Menu screen! Quite a small thing in some ways, but it does make things feel all quite “real”! I’m still working on details like the visuals of the Options Menu (yes, I've implemented Invert Mouse Axis and turn-off-HUD options)! There's still a lack of contrast from the text of the menu to its background, but I will find a way to improve on that before release…

Pet sounds

I also added some more creatures, because I just can’t help myself when it comes to adding more cute little critters that bring the world to life! I also added some fun sounds to some of these creatures, mostly because they really made me laugh, and I think a little fun and laughter is a good thing in these strange times we’re living in! Many of these sounds are recorded in with my VERY amateurish and cheap microphone setup, but I am also using sound libraries and the composer is occasionally helping me out with his wisdom when a bit more professionalism is called for!

Puzzling over puzzles

After a few tests with IRL friends (yes, I still know a few people in person ^^ ), I made some necessary adjustments to visual cues of some puzzles. I am always amazed by how small details like a certain perspective, aligning pillars, etc. make a huge impact on the 'readability' of a puzzle and the way people understand and approach them, so I think these changes should make all the game’s puzzles feel much better, more understandable and more satisfying.

You can read the full Kickstarter update here including more info on the game's story elements, what's next and full HD versions of the GIFs above.

Love as always,

-Jonas

PS: If you’ve not joined the official Omno Discord, you can do so here.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1375540/Omno_Prologue/

Original post

06 Oct 2020Developer post

September Kickstarter Update

Hey Steam Fans, A few weeks back I launched the Omno: Prologue that I was talking about in the last update. To be perfectly honest I didn’t really know what to expect from it, since it’s essentially the same demo I used for the Steam Summer Festival, based on the exact same conte

Hey Steam Fans,

A few weeks back I launched the Omno: Prologue that I was talking about in the last update. To be perfectly honest I didn’t really know what to expect from it, since it’s essentially the same demo I used for the Steam Summer Festival, based on the exact same content as the Kickstarter demo from way back. However, over 8,000 people have downloaded the demo, which is pretty awesome, and I’ve had some lovely and helpful feedback from people about it, the reviews on Steam are 97% positive, and a fair few extra wishlists for the main game, so it seems it was really worth doing after all! Thank you to all of you who have tried it (and an EXTRA thank you if you left a Steam review for it) - it always means so much to me that people want to try this thing I’m pouring my life into :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1375540/Omno_Prologue/

What have I been working on this month?

Puzzles, making things pretty, and lots of work on the game’s main collectable - the “explorer stones”. I’ve been experimenting with different ideas to make the system feel really rewarding - I’m toying with the idea of collecting a certain number of stones triggering a short speed increase that feels rewarding or something fun like that, but obviously making sure it doesn’t break any of the other game’s systems is very important too, so I’m still working on that :D

What’s next?

Alpha prep is very much underway, so I’m hoping to have some news on that really soon. I’m doing what should be one of the final passes on all the game’s puzzles, and a big chunk of work on the game’s big, mysterious “final temple” (that’s about as far as I can get without spoiling anything). I’m pausing work on the next trailer for another month as there’s some really exciting and very visual stuff I’ve got planned in my November dev schedule that could look AWESOME in a trailer, so more on that in the November update!

Big love as always, and as ever let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

[You can read the full, more detailed Kickstarter update here]

Original post

11 Sep 2020Developer post

Omno: Prologue is out now

Hey folks! As I mentioned before, today sees the launch of Omno: Prologue ! As a standalone demo, it’s a small, spoiler-free taste of what the main game is going to offer when it launches in a few months’ time :) Though there’s nothing really new for any of you Summer Festival/Ki

Omno

Updates & announcements

Smoky Sails Announcement

First full Kibu gameplay reveal, and update on development

I just revealed my new game - Kibu! 🍵

Get it while it’s hot! Omno is 20% off in today’s Daily Deal!

Minor Update Patch Notes

Minor Update Patch Notes

Review Roundup

Omno is OUT NOW!

One week until launch!

Omno is launching on 29th July!

Steam Next Fest

May Kickstarter Update

April Kickstarter Update

Localisation!

Final Sequence!

March Kickstarter Update

February Kickstarter Update

January 2021 Kickstarter Update

November Kickstarter Update

October Kickstarter Update

September Kickstarter Update

Omno: Prologue is out now