Let’s get the big news out of the way first and the reason you’re all here – when the hell is Elaisha releasing?
I’m here to tell you we’re aiming to release the next update in early October! This update will contain all the features I talked about in the last blog, including the 50+ Pandora scenes, Cinematics, Elaisha waifu, the Kloi faction and a ton of new planets.
I completely understand the frustration of some players that it took us 6 months to release this update. Obviously going forward, this kind of pace is not going to be acceptable for future content update releases. We want to be releasing these at 3-4 month increments not 6 month increments. We have high expectations of ourselves internally, and I know you guys have high expectations as well so I want to make sure everyone understands that we are not getting complacent.
The good news is that the new animators have integrated really well into our workflow and they’re already powering through the update after Elaisha’s! The software side is more complicated – integrating new remote working developers into a behemoth of a project like this in the middle of production has proven to be a challenge, but we have brought a new project manager on board to assist with the process. Combined with our redoubled recruitment effort via agencies, this will help us increase the speed of production for the next major update after Ela as it’s both lighter in features and shorter in length. Our lead developer is also off on paternity leave for the birth of their first child (congratulations to them!), so we’ve had our fair share of unavoidable delays.
THREE STRIKE SYSTEM
I understand there have been some concerns about the difficulty of some upcoming missions, most notably the Battletoads style SHMUP map. In order to help out some of the casual players, we’ve installed a three-strike-system into the missions which means that you can skip the level if you’ve died three times on it. This method helps out our balancing workload, since we can maintain an entertaining level of difficulty while still giving a get-out-of-jail card for some of the players who are not experienced in SHMUPs. Looking forward to seeing how many of you guys end up using it! (but really, that level is not as hard as people are meme’ing it to be)
TRISHA AND JAWZ
We’ve got two new mantics to discover in this update! The enigmatic test-tube baby known only as “Trisha” is a robust front-liner with a new transformation mechanic that lets you switch up your tactics on the fly. We want to begin introducing a bit more tactical depth to the combat this time around, so I can’t wait to see how you guys end up using this mean step-child. Also, obligatory dick pic:
Jawz is what happens when Lily splices the DNA of an extinct animal from Earth with some freaky Prodigium alien DNA. He uses a life-stealing mechanic in grid combat, and is perfect for assassinating your enemies’ squishies. Use him to turn the tide of battle by taking out a key target. Here’s the good doctor testing out its capabilities before battle. Does it check out?
DIRECTIONAL DAMAGE AND EXPLOSIONS
We’ve implemented directional damage in Grid Combat which will add some more tactical depth to the system – the beta testers will soon get their hands on it and then it’ll be ready for prime-time. Surrounding enemies confers significant bonuses, but it works both ways so make sure you protect your waifus at the same time! Everyone loves explosions, so the devs have added some hazardous barrels that you can use to your advantage on certain maps. I don’t know what’s inside these barrels but they sure as hell pack a punch. These are just the first steps towards improving grid combat, and we’re going to be incrementally roll out some features with the drop of each block, until hopefully the 1.0 version of grid combat becomes something we can be really proud of.
GOG RELEASE
And last but not least, I’m delighted to announce that we are finally partnering with GOG to bring Subverse onto their platform along with this update! It’s amazing to see that other platforms are opening up to adult games and Subverse having a positive impact on the industry. I have a deep love of the Witcher games ever since I stumbled upon a second-hand copy of Witcher 1 Enhanced Edition in a store in Cardiff many years ago. I remember being blown away by The Beast quest and from then on CDPR were one of my favorite devs so I’m stoked to be part of the GOG family and so is the rest of the team. But mostly I’m happy that our fans who have been region-locked out of buying the game will finally get to experience the Prodigium galaxy! Thank you to everyone at GOG who worked with us to make this happen.
