Progress Report #80: August 2023

Hi everyone,

We apologize right off the bat for keeping this report short and to the point. Currently, all available hands on board are occupied with fixing some scripting issues that were detected during last minute testing, including the hands of the guy who writes these updates.

Now, to the topic at hand:

Tank Scene CGs have now been fully remastered. The new renders turn an already great scene into an incredible encounter for new and current Space Cadets. We cannot wait for you to see it.

Additionally, multiple new assets have been marked for creation/re-creation replacing older designs and other default RPG Maker ones. These new pieces will rejuvenate the design of early parts of the game primarily including, but not limited to, downed states, dungeon levers, balloon icons, etc.

Tank Scene story-line, the first scene in VoidBound players will see, has been completed. We are excited for your feedback to make sure the writing is up to the grade of the fantastic asset-work created for the scene. The first 'Loss scene' has been written as well. It's not as long as the Tank Scene, but it is certainly explosive.

Finally, the Quest Log work continues. We have made some good progress with the code which will help makes thing compatible with the engine. New plugin rework initiated as well for better optimization.

This will assist us in the upcoming content coming to VoidBound. Speaking of which, time to dive back into the game code again. We're absolutely not giving up on our August release commitment without a fight!

Thank you for reading and your patience.

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

Right click and open in a new tab to enlarge

Progress Report #79: August 2023

Hi everyone,

With the next release inching closer by the day, the team is ramping up their efforts to put the finishing touches on the technical aspects of the patch. While the CG work is largely finished, we however fished up some unexpected coding goofs during the implementation phase- but more on that in a bit.

From the beginning: The Art

Patch work being a major hurdle no longer has freed up our artist to pick up and continue work on the upcoming gladiator world. Of course, it is going to be far more than just a Colosseum for players to have Caly face off against powerful enemies. The world will have it's own story, including a new alien species for Caly to interact with in whatever way players see fit.

So far we have two main maps, with one requiring more attention to the city architectural design since it was built by a new species. The other planned map will offer some puzzle encounters while also catering to those that like sneaking around.

Work continues on Gen's Bad End with draft work finalized and now going through one more round of edits. Bad Ends always have to play a balance between Caly trying to overcome the situation and then Caly being overcome by the pleasure of the situation. Between us though, there seem to be rumors swirling around that Gen is so smitten with Caly, there might be more than one plan he has for her! A second bad end route, perhaps? Perhaps! Stay tuned for more info!

Now for a bit of cheerless news. Our coder reported coming across some technical issues during patch’s initial testing. An event was found having meshing issues due to desynced trigger timings and had to undergo re-scripting, while a handful of plugins had to be re-tuned. Though a minor issue, he remains wary of a possible ripple effect that might have affected the entire patch, and thus has decided to take a deep dive through the programming sequence again.

To put it short, the patch has been delayed a bit in order to polish certain sections to improve the quality and stability of the update. Rest assured, bar any major hiccups, we still remain on schedule for release in August!

And that is all for this one. As always, thank you for reading and we'll see you in the next one!

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

Small Update regarding the Doplik debacle: 0.5.x.d

Greetings everyone,

In the last few days, we started observing a strange rise in reports from some of our playerbase who claimed that their VoidBound copies were being flagged by their Anti-Virus software being infected by the Doplik virus. They also added that they were playing the game fine one day, but couldn't anymore the next after their AVs updated their virus definitions, forcefully quarantining the Game.exe file.

On pursuing the issue further we found that all the reports that were being submitted had one common theme- that they were ALL coming from users who were using Microsoft's Windows Defender AV as their protection software.

Eventually, after thorough investigation, we concluded this to be a false positive instance as no other Anti-Virus, apart from the aforementioned one, was detecting any sort of malware whatsoever. In-fact we came across multiple instances of different developers around who were experiencing the same exact issue as the detection seems to be not targeting a particular game, but the RPGM game engine itself.

If you're interested, you can read on it further here:

Github Issue 8054

Github Issue 280

Unfortunately, all our efforts to get Microsoft to remedy the situation urgently has amounted to little progress as they seem to be dragging their feet on this one. As such, rather than waiting for MS to fix the issue in their own good time, we've decided to get ahead of this ourselves and have issued an updated build swapping out the problematic Game.exe file with an older variant. We also ran multiple scans on the substituted file and came back with no detection results anymore so, with renewed confidence, we offer it to you now.

Please note, as there are no content updates in this one, the version ID itself remains the very same. We just advanced the trailing tag from "c" to "d"

For our Patrons, the build can be found here: VoidBound 0.5.4d

For fans outside of Patrondom, build can be found here: VoidBound 0.5.3d

We understand that making an older build so close to the release of a new patch might seem odd to some, but it just didn't feel right to us to ignore an issue that was causing wariness among players, so here we are.

Hope this closes the chapter on this unfortunate event. Thank you Microsoft for that, btw!

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

Right click and open in a new tab to enlarge

Progress Report #78: August 2023

Hi everyone,

Whew, that was one hell of a past week. A major milestone was crossed with our game's recent STEAM page release and the whole thing had our team on edge with excitement. We thank you all who came together with us(erm- no pun intended) for this event and graced us with their well wishes!

With that out of the way, lets talk development!

Gen's Bad End route is coming along nicely. We've done a round of feedback and some delays have unfortunately crept in. However, we anticipate making up lost time during the line art phase and once cleared, will start pouring the colors on. With events and map work already finished, once ready, the finalized CG work will be inserted quite swiftly.

Separately, all of the maps and related artwork for the new Introduction has been completed! Once Gen's route assets are done, the artist plans to go over the entire thing one last time to make sure no graphical goofs remain.

Drafting of the nitty gritty for Gen's bad end. In this scene, our heroine Caly realizes that while Gen is kind of the shy type, he has many ideas on how to show a girl a 'good' time when they cross him. Though the definition of the word "good" might be vastly different for Gen, and Caly might not appreciate it in the same sentiment.

Short Bounty Hunt Concept: Henosis is an amazing place with many different people. The problem is, sometimes these people turn to a criminal lifestyle. The good news for Caly is that means easy (or hard) jobs for easy credits. Maybe enough to get some new mods for her blaster. Side activities are a fun way to blow off the steam and the pressure of the main quest to avail your planet.

Our coder reports all finished maps are now in the game engine alongside their respective events. He still awaits the finalized CG works, but we have begun interim quality checks to make sure all fixes noted in previous weeks have been implemented. This means we can kick off internal testing of the entire patch soonish as we want to hunt down all the bugs to make sure when people get their hands on the new content, everything runs smoothly.

And that is our weekly highlights for this one! The patch is shaping up nicely as the team burns the candle on both ends to bring it to your hands as soon as its ready!

Till then though, take care and we'll see you in the next one!

Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

Right click on the image and open in a new tab to enlarge.

VoidBound is now STEAMBound!

No, no! No plans to change the title!

Hi everyone!

We finally did it! After years of staunch perseveration and countless tribulations, VoidBound has reached a development point where we can confidently project a finale timeline of Caly's saga- which is a full release in 2024!

To commemorate the occasion, we have finally launched the game's page on STEAM and wish to take you on a short introduction of what VoidBound is all about and how far it has come from its early days!

Enjoy~

VoidBound is a Sci-Fi/Erotictactics RPG where you play as Caly, an unlikely hero who might be Earth's last chance after her world is plunged into an intergalactic alien war. Go on an odyssey across a universe that spans intricately designed planets and dangerous dungeons. Explore Henosis, a huge city planet with six unique districts for Caly to play around in. Make new friends and face down villains, many of which come from a host of alien species mankind has only dreamed of seeing.

Dialogue Choices: Players will encounter dialogue choices that allow them to shape the story and the relationship of Caly with the supporting cast. Some quests will put you squarely between two competing factions, and you must decide where you stand on the issues dividing them. Do you back the emerging government fighting against a legacy of fascism with harsh measures, or do you side with the mysterious shape-shifting slime people who have been living in the sewers for centuries?

Scenes: Many choices in VoidBound can lead Caly to scintillating moments. Just because she's on a mission to save Earth doesn't mean she can't spare a little time to take care of her own needs right? Currently, there are over 30 scenes in the game, each a bounty of hand-drawn 2d Lewd Bonanza.

VoidBound scenes don't just have one single image with a single pose and that's it. Not at all. Caly almost always has her hands full with scenes that include tons of naughty variations, multiple angles, and even different positions. If there is one reason to save the universe, it's to make sure Caly can have as much fun as possible with men, women, and everything else the Voidverse has to offer.

Finally, Caly's voice will be brought to life by the talented PixieWillow. This voice-over work is still in its infancy, but it will feature in the Adult Content to add that extra spice to our already enchanting visuals.

Erotic scenes are one of the pillars of VoidBound, but there are two others we want to focus on.

Play the game how you want to play, by blasting or sneaking:

Tactical Turn-based Combat: Our combat system goes above the traditions of your average RPGmaker game with grid-based destruction. Every move must be measured and every ability from both the player and enemies must be considered. Help Caly figure out the strengths and weaknesses to claim victory on her adventure, or face the consequences!

Stealth: A good blaster at your side is always a plus, but combat is not the only way to get through VoidBound. Caly learns early on that there is no honor in defeat, and she can use her nimbleness and initiative to bypass entire squads of enemies by sneaking around them.

As of today, we can proudly say that you can WISHLIST VOIDBOUND on Steam.

And we hope you do! It's not only free, but also helps us tremendously by building rapport with our growing community!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2500710/VoidBound/

To sum it up, we are entering a new stage in our development and we're beyond excited to let even more people join us for this adventure. In the meanwhile, we'll continue laboring away at the upcoming content, and when ready, we'll announce the exact release date of the game in the future.

Till then though, stay safe, stay awesome and as always thank you for being with us :)

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team