Hi All,
Firstly I need to extend a huge thank you to everyone. The Inkshade launch is going exceedingly well, and I’m truly touched by all the kind things people have been saying. I’m also ecstatic that so many people are enjoying the game. The whole point was to make something that brings even a little bit of delight to others, and Inkshade seems to be doing that with great success.
I especially want to thank the people who have helped get the word out by sharing Inkshade online, mentioning it to your favorite creators, or even just telling your friends about the game. I’m just some random person making stuff, and so I have neither a publisher nor a giant corporate budget for things like promotional campaigns. The fact that the game is reaching so far on its own is really, really awesome.
And even more awesome still is the growing fanbase–I appreciate how patient and chill everyone is, and I am genuinely excited to continue making games for all of you.
Anyway, the main reason for this post is to talk about a new update that I think a lot of people will appreciate, so here’s the scoop on that:
The Lantern Update
v1.1.010
Perhaps the most requested feature across every channel has been the ability to use the lantern at-will. With a few exceptions, this update lets you use the lantern whenever you want!
At-Will Lantern
Long story short, I have gone through the entire game, the entire lighting system, and the existing lantern system, and revamped everything to work with a togglable lantern. This included a lot of reprogramming of certain things, and also fixing up a lot of stuff hiding in crevasses that were never meant to be illuminated (I was hiding a lot of shame in those shadows).
Things will also work as they did before if you want to keep playing with the old lantern. All the automatic lantern triggers are still in place, so the manual lantern isn’t required. Well, except for some new spooky events, that is…
Note: if your keyboard only has one control key, you may have to go set the lantern toggle keybinding in the settings.
New Events
I’ve added a couple new events, sequences, and game master interactions related to this new lantern system. Also a couple little hidden details depending on how these events intersect with existing cinematic sequences. You should encounter them in a normal playthrough, and most of them will trigger on existing saves too.
Brightness Bump
You’ll now find a “Contrast” slider in the graphical settings, right below “Gamma”. A lot of players tend to crank up the gamma, which has the tragic effect of making everything desaturated, so the contrast can be used to counteract that.
However, since it’s a little annoying to fiddle around with graphics sliders for long periods of time, I’ve also added a “Brightness Bump” button right below these sliders. This button will automatically adjust the exposure, gamma, and contrast settings to values that will give you a relatively balanced, but ultimately brighter experience. (Please note that you may still need to tweak the settings to get the best experience on your monitor.)
Other News
Inkshade OST
I almost forgot to mention that the Inkshade OST is now fully uploaded to the Official YouTube Channel! You can find the complete playlist here. I am not exactly a crack composer, but a surprising number of people have asked about getting their hands on the OST, so here it is if anyone wants to give the tracks a listen. It may also come to Steam as a downloadable soundtrack one day, but exactly when is to be determined.
Anyway, that’s all for now!
As always, thanks for playing.
–Vezelle