October Bulletin: State of the Upcoming Patch

Space Cadets o7

Today, we bring you a short message from our core dev team- who, after having their fair share of fun during the fest, have now devoted themselves enthusiastically developing the next chapter of Caly's journey into the unknown.

Without adieu, over to them:

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a good day. We just wanted to put out a short statement regarding VoidBound's pace for the remainder of October, and immediate beyond.

Unfortunately, we fell a bit short on our monthly "to do" goals and are regretful to report that despite our best efforts trying to navigate and balance conflicting event schedules, we will not be able to put out a content update this month.

We tried. We really did! But, after analyzing the backlogs, we had to make peace with the fact that haste under the current conditions will only lead to waste and the overall quality loss just to make a date, is only going to end up doing a disservice do our beloved fans. That, is far more unacceptable than suffering your negative sentiments for a delay.

Thus, we are now working consistently on the update with the objective of a November release.

As for what is in the works? Currently, the team has been crunching hard since the end of Summer, with getting the game and a demo out onto Steam, **new writing for quest materials and planning out additions to Tripteen, and of course the big bad Quest Log.* We've got many spinning plates going around and want to be sure none of them fall and crash.*

On the plus side however, the extra delay means we should have more Bounty Hunter content to give out and perhaps even the reforged version of the introduction for Tripteen might just make it in as well*fingers and toes crossed.

The current plan for the planet is to take what works from the first section and expand it. We're even looking to make it into a small hub area to make sure the characters there aren't just met once and then left behind as the story unfolds.

Naturally, our following Progress Reports will show even more of what we're cooking so, stay tuned for those dripping updates.

Till then however, please accept our sincerest apologies, and regret for the delay caused.

We will do our best to make up to you!

Stay safe and have a great weekend(s).

And that, is all they wrote. Of-course be assured, we'll leave no stones un-turned to bug the core team to share more eye candies with us, so we can in turn share them with you! After-all, no release should be without a proper breakdown presentation of its contents.

For now though, while we wait with you, be well and take care.

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

Progress Report #87: October 2023

Hi everyone,

How's it going? We hope this week is treating you well. Let's try and make it even better by giving you a rundown on what we have been upto this past week itself.

We've already established how deeply Caly cares about her spacesuit. But the first outfit she received from Haar is something she genuinely treasures as well. To make it extra special, we took this "casual outfit" and made some markedly visual updates to it- to the point that some might even call it a full revamp*(refer to the image alongside)*.

The point of this new art is to close the gap and the difference between how her sprite looks in comparison to her casual standing art looks.

Hope you like the new changes as we cannot wait to make this update live and have you take Caly's new outlook, out for a spin- something we will be making an announcement about fairly soon.

Additionally, the first bounty target has a face, a weapon, and foot tentacles. The design came together very nicely. The next stage will be creating their combat sprite and pixel sprite before moving onto a new environmental asset for the mission.

Onward, to some tale telling!

Work has officially begun on the second Bounty Hunter Quest. With majority of the time spent on concepting the pieces, this time our writers are playing the details close to their heart, though we remain unsure if it is intended as a surprise unveil or simply too early to divulge the deets. Either way, we're glad things are coming together nicely for some more game-play content.

More details however, have been shared regarding Tripteen- the first planetary introduction area. The goal decided is to take what we already have and expand it, turning the location into a hub that will be attached to additional side quests so that Caly has reasons to return to interact with the NPCs on our first planet. And yes indeed, rebuilding of the entire dungeon itself might be on the agenda as well!

More on this soon but, for now, the zeros and ones transmission incoming.

With Bounty Quests finished on paper, it's time to start spinning the code to make it a virtual reality. Specifically, work has started on creating a new enemy with a unique skill of their own to make sure bounty hunting is no cakewalk. After-all, where is the fun if the hunt is devoid of challenge?

Meanwhile, trial Testing has also begun on implementation and animations of the new standing arts. Currently mock models are being run to hunt for any induction issues or unintended bugs. But, we relatively speculate a seamless integration and replacement of older models without many, or any, issues whatsoever. Stay tuned as we bring you a more expression rich Caly to make your reading experience much more immersive!

And that is all for this one folks. We'll be making a short announcement regarding the state of the next patch in a day or so.

Till then however, take care and be well!

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

Progress Report #86: October 2023

Salutations Spacefarers,

What a week! STEAM's NextFest just culminated and had us drowning in so many great projects, it was riveting, to say the least. We explored so much and truly re-experienced how there is a big world of talent out there. Already looking forward to 2024 expo!

That being said, it's time to visit the familiar shores of VoidBound once more and talk about the latest news so, lets get going:

New concept assets were created this week for the upcoming Bounty Hunter quests, chief amongst them, Caly's target of interest: a Garumite(refer to the image attached). Inspired by a design of something humanoid but still distinctively alien, and not super friendly either, these guys are the very definition of "menacing".

Now, are they all bad to the bone or just misunderstood beings? Guess we'll find out more as the story develops further, including more design variations. Oh yea, they all look different with an array of "unique" packages down there ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

From the story side of things, major progress has been reported with the First Bounty Hunting Quest now tagged as written, edited and approved. With that, the writers have diverted their attention towards the next hunt's design, making sure this second hunt explores more of the city and the actual 'hunting' part of being a bounty hunter.

More on this in the coming few weeks.

Finally, the big one we've all been looking forward to: Quest log is now Fully Operational!!! Yes, no longer shall you be lost or blinded about what to do next. One click and all the useful information with regards to quests you have, quests you did, where to find the objective marker and so forth will be available to you immediately.

Unfortunately, deployment of the system in the near future is still out of the question as more optimization efforts are needed in regards to its navigation capability. Currently, thanks in large part due to the engine’s limitations, cycling through quests is inducing confusing effects, jumping randomly to unintended menu options. On the plus side though, we're already troubleshooting the root cause and are confident we'll solve the underlying issues by the time of our next patch gets released. So all we request is a bit more patience ;)

And that is all for this one. To all our fans who visited us during the fest, new and current, you have our infinite appreciation.

Thank you all for being with us and thank you more for reading thus far. We'll be back next week with more updates so, till then, take care and stay awesome.

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

Progress Report #85: October 2023

Hi everyone,

October hath arrived, and with it the first of our weekly reports. It has been an interesting few days with the team working on a variety of things so, without adieu, lets roll in.

We start off with the STEAM NextFest! The artist swamped himself making a variety of assets for the event preparation. As it was our first time participating in a STEAM related expo, we went in extra hard, and of-course since it's the infamous Spooktoober month, we even came up with some haunted art works. But that is for later. For now, if you missed it, check out our special article about the entire thing here: STEAM NEXT FEST, 2023

We also managed to finish the final round of Caly’s standing concept art:

Have to say, Caly is looking fine as hell!

This marks the end of Caly's standing emote revamp- at least for now. If story direction demands, we might explore more variations later down the line.

On the other end of the developmental scale, our story lead continued keeping himself busy with the First Bounty Hunting Mission. Caly will now meet Moak, the bounty manager and if she's interested, can set to work bringing a murderer to justice. For a small fee of course.

Concepting of the second bounty hunting mission is now underway as well. Beyond just a simple "go there-kill that" mission, the writers are looking for dynamic story beats while also making sure they bring in some sci-fi elements into the hunts as well.

Additionally, some plans are being outlined for the next couple months with regards to the main story. Tripteen especially is being re-evaluated for story/dungeon adjustments in order to bring it more in line with the developing lore.

We expect more updates on these in the coming few weeks.

Finally, our coder released a major reworked Android build- addressing a key issue with the previous builds that was making the game crash for a lot of players. Specifically, animated menu elements were swapped in with static ones making the game less demanding on mobile hardware. The build is available on our Discord and if it interests you, feel free to swing by as we're currently monitoring feedback for additional troubleshooting down the line.

Speaking of builds, a special STEAM Next Fest Demo build, with all the latest content, was also built. We hope you pay us a visit at the fest and enjoy playing both VoidBound and many other cool games that will be making an appearance there. Head to:

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

And that covers it all! We've a special presentation lined up in the coming few days, turning the spotlight on another interesting project.

Till then though, thank you for reading and your time.

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

VoidBound Blasts off to Steam Next Fest, 2023!

Salutations Space-farers ⸝₍̗⁽ˆ⁰ˆ⁾₎͕⸍∘˚˳°✧

We have some exciting news today! For the last two years, we've been making regular appearances at the HExpo presenting our game to audiences far and wide. And we're about to take that initiative WIDER!!

We're thrilled to announce that from this year, we'll be also be showcasing VoidBound at the upcoming Steam Next Fest! We invite you to come around and pay us a visit there AND while you're at it, take a specially tailored demo of the game out for a spin! We'll be there all through the event's run schedule, which is going to be between October 9th to 16th, 2023!

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

For those who are unaware of this event, Steam Next Fest is a sort of collective gathering of upcoming games on Steam. Like old school gaming, where players were able to sample a demo before the launch of a big studio game, Steam NexFes allows hundreds of upcoming developers a golden chance to offer the same opportunity under one roof!

Imagine a festive market if you will, with countless merchants displaying out their wares! Try demos, watch streamers, discuss status of Work-In-Progress games and more! It's a fun filled week for any gamer from all walks of life!

We're especially looking forward to sharing VoidBound with all of you, because there is a reason this demo is special. We've been working hard to bring you the latest story content for this event and yes, that includes the revamped intro and more as well! So if you haven't sampled the PatronSupporter version of the game, here is a rare opportunity to get in on the action!

And, be sure to wishlist the game on Steam so you don't miss out on the demo release!

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

As always, thank you for your continued support and we'll see you at the fest!

Kind Regards,

Cursed-Atelier Team

PS: Regrettably, despite our best efforts, we couldn't make the Quest Log work in time. We really tried but, the engine is being a stubborn hard-ass and won't yield to optimization efforts... yet-

We, won't give up! One way or the other, we will deliver what you all chose. Just give us a patch or more. In the mean-while, inconvenience is deeply regretted.