Hello Commanders! 🫡
It has been two weeks since Deep Fringe launched in Early Access.
We have been overwhelmed by your enthusiastic support and the massive amount of feedback we've received.
In today's log, we want to address the most frequently discussed feedback and highlight the major content arriving in today's update.
💾 Difficulty Customization & Save System
Feedback: "Not being able to save mid-game is painful," or "I don't want to be tortured by a forced Ironman mode."
Response:
The previous settings were indeed a bit too strict. We don't want the game to feel like a prison sentence, so we have made the following changes:
Manual Saves (Outside Mission): We already implemented this last week. You can now safely save your campaign progress between missions.
New Difficulty Options (Live Today): In today's update, we added new "New Game" options to let you customize your experience:
Ironman Mode: Turn ON for the ultimate challenge, or OFF if you want multiple save slots.
Loot Rules: Choose between "Manual Pickup" or "Auto Pickup" for battle loot.
Equipment Loss: Decide whether a unit's equipment is destroyed upon death.
We will continue to add more difficulty and challenge options in the future. Whether you want a hardcore simulation or a relaxed story experience, the choice is now yours.
🎯 Mission Objectives Reworked
Feedback: "Failure conditions are too repetitive (always 'Allied units all Lost')."
Response:
We completely agree. Strategic depth comes from variety.
In today's update, we have reworked some existing levels to enrich gameplay diversity. Victory and defeat are no longer just about eliminating all hostiles. You will now face different tactical challenges:
Turn Limits: Complete objectives before time/turns run out.
Enemy Breakout: Stop enemies from reaching a target location.
Target Protection: Protect specific units or structures from destruction.
After this update, simple "brute force" tactics might not work anymore. You'll need to adapt.
⚔️ Neutral Unit Mechanics
Feedback: "Is this lizard helping me or hitting me?", "Why am I being chased across the map for no reason?"
Response:
The guidance here was indeed lacking. We are working on clearer overhead UI indicators so you can tell friend from foe at a glance.
Also, if you are about to do something "bad" (like attacking a neutral unit), there will be a clearer warning.
Additionally, the bug where neutral units would inexplicably chase players across the map has been fixed.
🎨 Statement on Art & AI
Question: "Is the game art AI-generated?"
Response:
To clarify: No. All illustrations, animations, and environments in the game are hand-drawn by our artists stroke by stroke.
The few rough-looking icons you might see are temporary placeholders used during development (due to limited budget and manpower, we haven't swapped them yet). They will definitely be replaced with proper hand-drawn versions in the future.
⏳ Progress, Length & Future Plans
Question: "How much content is there?", "Is there Multiplayer?", "Can I refresh the shop?", "When will the UI and fonts be updated?"
Response:
Progress: Currently, the game contains about 50% of the main storyline, with a typical run taking around 10 hours. We are on a weekly update schedule, adding new levels every week.
Shop Refresh: We will add a "Refresh Shop" function in the future to help you farm for specific gear.
PVP/Multiplayer: We have very limited manpower. Our current priority is the Single-Player Campaign, followed by Workshop support. Multiplayer may be possible down the road.
Unlimited Farming: Many players asked about grinding. Side missions are designed to be infinite. We will update the side mission refresh mechanism soon to give players more choices.
We will keep refining the UI for better usability, and fonts for certain languages will be unified and improved in future updates.
⏳ Achievements, Steam Deck & Console Support
Question: “Will there be achievements?”, “Steam Deck support?”, “Console versions?”
Response:
Achievements: After we finish stabilizing the difficulty and option systems, we will add achievements tied to those mechanics.
Steam Deck: Once the PC version is stable, we will officially work on Steam Deck support. That said, some players in our Discord have already reported that the game runs fine on Steam Deck. Feedback is very welcome.
Consoles: After the PC version reaches a stable full release, we will consider ports to other console platforms.
😄 Some Fun Questions from Steam Community
Question: “Will shorter units get higher dodge chance?”
Response:
No. Instead, they will get a passive that makes them always receive critical hits when attacked from higher ground.
Question: “Is there a mode where I just spend resources to buy units and let them fight the AI automatically?”
Response:
That was actually part of the original idea for Tungsteel. But for now, we’re focusing on stabilizing the current version and won’t touch the AI systems too much.
Question: “Add a hot anime-style assistant officer and no one will complain about side missions being boring.”
Response:
Other factions’ campaigns will have pretty assistant officers.
Question: “When will the Machine Cult get aircraft? (👀)”
Response:
This is actually doable within the current rule set. We may explore something like an air unit system in the future — but they would operate at low altitude, not full aerial combat.
The period after launch has been intense for us — processing large amounts of feedback while continuously fixing and refining the game. We’re glad to see the positive and thoughtful expectations many of you have for Deep Fringe, and the core systems are now gradually stabilizing.
Our team will enter the Chinese Spring Festival holiday after next weekend, lasting about two weeks. After we return, we’ll shift back into full production, with the goal of delivering a major new update around April.
Thank you for your patience and support. For the detailed list of today's adjustments, please check the simultaneously released Patch Notes.
Let's build the future of Deep Fringe together!
See you on the battlefield! 🪖