Hey Tamers!
We at Crema HQ are buzzing with excitement to unleash the chaotic mayhem of Temtem: Swarm onto the Steam Deck! But why the Deck, you ask? Why not just sit at a desk with your favorite gaming PC? Well, buckle up, because we're about to delve into the electrifying world of swarm-surviving co-op carnage, and why the Steam Deck is the perfect Temtem Swarmer’s companion!
(Puppy Tax included!)
Swarm Co-op Reigns Supreme on the Steam Deck
Temtem: Swarm's heart and soul lies in its 3-player co-op. We didn't just shove co-op in as an afterthought: we built the entire experience around the joy of battling alongside your best friends or those strangers on the internet that our parents warned us against. Imagine you and your fellow Tamers, chilling on the couch, Steam Decks in hand, strategizing how to take down a crazed Nessla or a hulking Yowlar. No need to be tethered to a desk – the Steam Deck lets you unleash co-op chaos anywhere, anytime!
(Double the Puppy Tax - aren't you lucky!?)
Temtem Tech for All Those Tiny Titans
Our clever little monkeys have been working tirelessly to make sure the game feels great in your hands. The game's interface scales beautifully to the Deck's screen, so you can keep track of your Temtem squad and the incoming enemy hordes with ease. And of course, full controller support lets you unleash your inner swarm-battling master without ever needing to touch a keyboard.
You might be asking yourself how we got hundreds of detailed Temtem models to show on the screen without making the system crash and burn. For that we relied on the amazing TechArt and Programming teams to find ways to make the magic happen.
Normally, Temtem are animated using skeletons, but with so many animated characters on screen at once this can really slow things down. So, we used a special technique to bake animations into textures which allowed us to have the graphics card (GPU) handle those animations. This frees up the processor (CPU) for other tasks, like enemy behavior and executing your attacks, dashes, and movements.
The VFX teams were also responsible for making a ton of beautiful animations with eye-catching particle effects for the pick-up items. There can be a lot of those items on the screen at once - especially after Platypet’s Tsunami goes off! Those animations and particles were being handled by the CPU, but using a similar technique, they made it so that the process could be handled by the GPU instead.
On the programming side of things, we noticed the game was chugging a bit when players were going wild at the same time, especially when the host of a co-op game was on the Steam Deck. Turns out, one of the plugins we were using wasn't built for such chaotic fun! The team cooked up some special tweaks just for the Steam Deck, and voila! The game runs like a dream, even with a whole crew of players causing mayhem.
All of this means that the swarm can be larger, drop more items, and chase you harder all while the Steam Deck runs like a dream. We have even more we can optimize, so we’ll keep pushing to have the best experience possible!
Let's Face It, Armchair Battle Stations Are So 2005
We all know that sometimes you just gotta relax in your favorite gaming chair with a giant bag of chips, keyboard in hand, and feel the breeze of your computer fans on your face. But for those of you who know what’s up, you know epic Temtem battles don’t require a sedentary lifestyle. The Steam Deck's portability lets you conquer the swarm from anywhere! Park, plane, or that weird uncle's house with the surprisingly comfy beanbag chairs – Temtem: Swarm is a blast on the go and its quick-burst gameplay is perfect for a short commute or an extended monster-bashing marathon.
Stay Tuned, Tamers!
We’re only a few months away from getting Temtem: Swarm into your hands so you can play it yourself! We’ve got a lot of plans cooking, including playtests, demos, fests, and so much more. So make sure to Follow and Wishlist Temtem: Swarm here on Steam, so that you get updated on all the latest details.
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Until next time…