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Rendezvous (Beta)

Heyho, handsomes! πŸ‘‹

In preparation for the big bang on December 28th, a preview build has just been pushed to the Public Beta Branch. Everything from Steam Stats to Achievements and Save Games should be fully compatible.

In other words: you can already get your hands on the Steam Inventory Items by launching ANARCHY's Beta Branch via Steam. The biggest changes have already been covered in the previous announcement, though you can also find a more comprehensive list in the changelog below.

If you run into any issues – even down to less than optimal performance – please leave a message after the beep in this thread.

ANARCHY 0.1.4

Major

Field Battles - ADDED Combatant Spawners that dynamically spawn enemies, effectively replacing Field Impostors. Respawns are still triggered via Monolith activation. - ADDED Auto Starting Battles firing whenever you approach an enemy. Combatants from either faction within a certain range automatically join the battle. - ADDED a Field Grid spanning the entire map so combat can happen anywhere. - ADDED Dynamic Deployment that allows spawning in Group Members in a range of two cells around Lorna at Battle Start.Variations - ADDED Steam Inventory Items (Princess, #801e1e, Erinys) as a requirement to equip variations. - ADDED Variation Equipment Slots unique to each character. These display all available Variations, regardless of whether you fulfil the requirements to equip them.#### Minor General - ADDED GameState "Conversation" to disable the "Combat" Submenu. - ADDED Achievement "Paratrooper", awarded for winning a battle in ParAdise. - ADJUSTED Main Menu BGM from "New Horizon" to "Strength". - ADJUSTED Dialogue Lines throughout ANARCHY.- FIXED VariAtion inconsistencies regarding Fragments. - FIXED MenuScreen (including Save- & LoadMenu) States to properly close when the Menu Button is pressed or the scene is changed.ParAdise - ADDED Ladders as interactable objects to ascend/descend Hills. - ADDED a SignPost as interactable object to receive the Quest "OrientAtion".- REWORKED Trees & Houses & (Lamp)Posts into Game Objects to solve sprite layering issues and improve collision. - REWORKED Collider behaviour in battles to fully Ignore Collisions between objects on the Combatant and Obstacle Layer. - REWORKED Pathfinding into a coroutine running on the individual combatant to reduce unexpected behaviour when dialogue is being skipped.- ADJUSTED Auto Save to occur whenever a game is started, a battle / Fragment ends or a monolith was triggered instead of blindly saving whenever the scene is loaded. - ADJUSTED Lorna's ImmigrAtion sprite from her 1918 version to a new set of 1913 sprites. - ADJUSTED the QuestBoard Interaction HUD message from generic ("Examine") to "ToDo". - ADJUSTED Water Hue to be a bit more blue.- DEBUG Fragment Objects are placed close to the Spawn Point for a more convenient testing experience. Big huggies to whoever scrolled through all of this. 😘

much love
nory

Rendezvous (Preview)

Hey party people! πŸ‘“

We're just about two weeks into December – halfway towards ANARCHY 0.1.4!

Rendezvous (previously VarietΓ©) transforms ParAdise into a battlefield and achievements into Steam Inventory Items. All of that – and more – because TRACHI's people can't wait to leave a good impression on you.

Loose Ends

In Marche's preview, I mentioned a desire to make ParAdise more dynamic. One way of achieving that was to have Battle Triggers (aka Field Impostors) roam the map.

Eventually, I settled for a barebone implementation moving enemies back and forth. Complex behaviours (fleeing / chasing) would require these entities to be actual combatants. At which point we might as well duke it out right there.

Battlefield

Starting with 0.1.4, field maps are populated by enemy combatants. Battles are triggered the same way, but the actual encounters take place where you meet your enemies. Every combatant in range (including Lorna) is placed on the grid and you get to deploy your people in a grid-shaped radius around you.

Structurally, battles follow the same rules as before. ParAdise's terrain however already has a big effect on strategic options. Fortunately, you'll now be able to see who you'll be fighting where.

TRAnsition

Following your victory, your friends despawn and you pick things up right where you left off. Compared to the old system, that's two loading screens we'll never have to see again. On the other hand, there's a whole new level of possible interactions between exploration and combat.

At some point, combatants passing by might be able to join a running battle. Throw both friendly and enemy patrols into the mix – and we're well on our way to breathe life into ParAdise.

Souvenir

If you'd like to take something with you, go right ahead! From December 28th this year, you'll have plenty of opportunities to add more Items to your Steam Inventory. What's more, the Items are also used to change your characters' appearance.

Every character will have their own equipment slot with a different set of Variations. To equip one of these, you need to have the corresponding Item on your Steam Account. The character's appearance reflects the piece you have equipped – outside of Fragments.

Dues

One of the items does exactly what Vanguard currently does. Both cover the same Variation of Daphne. Everybody who has unlocked the achievement automatically receives the Item on the 28th.

Similarly, people that achieved Broken Wings are rewarded with Ganymede's (long promised) first variation, too. It's no secret he likes dressing up – especially if he's got a date. 😏

Enter ParAdise

Naturally, 0.1.4 comes with another monthly challenge. A new achievement – ParAtrooper – is awarded for winning your first battle in ParAdise.

Contrary to previous iterations, this reward is shipped with the update itself. In other words: You'll receive your Item as soon as you get the achievement – until 0.1.5 goes live.

Bread and Roses

If you'd rather sit this one out, but are still eager to get your hands on any of the rewards – we've got your back! Rendezvous also launches ANARCHY's Item Store, where you can browse the current collection at your own convenience.

Barring that, we're also evaluating the ability to trade and or buy/sell these on the Steam's Community Market. The jury is still out on that one, so it would be great if you could let us know what you think.

In Sum

ANARCHY 0.1.4 puts the finishing touches on 2023 – with big ambitions for 2024. Not only is our own little spin on monetisation set up and ready to go, we've also made big leaps towards finding our stride in ParAdise.

The next two weeks will mostly be dedicated to troubleshooting both of these features extensively. However, I'll also work in the other feedback I've received (big thanks to (-_-!) and everyone else). πŸ€—

Either way, I hope all of you have a splendid couple of holidays. No matter where and in which kind of constellation – you can be sure I'll be thinking of you! πŸ₯°

much love
nory

Marche

Heyho friends! πŸ‘‹

Today is the 28th November. In other words: ANARCHY 0.1.3 is live! The update itself has been covered in this week's devlog, but we'll also have a proper look at the most important features right here.

En avant! πŸ±β€πŸ‘€

As mentioned in the preview, Marche aims to shake things up. It is all about movements involving characters, enemies and you.

In addition to a completely new Fragment and another quest segment for ParAdise, there's big improvements to ExcommunicAtion's dialogue, more abilities, patrolling Battle Triggers, interaction prompts – and last but not least – vastly improved camera systems.

A long time AGO

Ten years before the events of AUTONOMY, two sisters from the countryside moved into a city. Not just any city, though! We're talking about the capital of a continental great power known as Ionia. The city, going by the name of Aion, is home to almost a million people. You'd think it's comparatively easy to disappear in a city like that – if you can keep your mouth shut.

FAR away from home

Unfortunately for everybody involved, Lorna isn't good at keeping secrets. It takes a whopping two lines of dialogue for her to blurt out something she shouldn't have. Her older sister, Ekaterina, is understandably concerned.

She and her most trusted confidante – Cleopatra Antioka – moved mountains so the three of them could live a steady, quiet and seemingly comfortable life. Of course, there's bigger things at play. But it's at least a bit of slice-of-life before it all comes crashing down.

ExCommunity

If you ever wanted to step behind the curtain, you're not alone! Throughout TRACHI's history, there have been numerous attempts by people to see their world for what it really is. ExcommunicAtion marks the most daring adventure of that kind.

As the characters begin to understand the gravity of their circumstance, it's only fair that you should be in on it, too! To better reflect that, the dialogue has been polished comprehensively – including a couple of rewrites here and there.

Identity

Speaking of rewrites: There's a whole new chapter to the main story quest. In ParAdise, there's people. And when there's people, there's rules. Not everybody can go everywhere – at least not without giving something in return. Sometimes you have to pay a little toll, fill out a couple of forms – and sometimes you have to provide proof of who you are. Thankfully, Lorna has a service card. At least she used to have it, somewhere.

Atlantis

Between 1918 and 1919, there was a series of similar incidents. Lorna lost her service card, and so she asked someone for help. Fortunately for her, she had the right kind of questions for someone who knows a lot of things. Even though he himself might not always have all the answers, he's very good at pointing in the right direction. Hopefully, he can help her in this case, too.

InterAction

Just like Atlas helps Lorna, I'd like to help you learn more about the worldas well. There's approximately five to ten new interactions, ranging from triggering Fragments to making dog go woof. 🐢

Previous iterations of the Interaction HUD only provided you with context-insensitive information. Going forward, interactions will be further classified into the categories Read, Open, Talk and Examine. Some of these also already state the object you're about to interact with – aka individual Fragments and/or NPCs.

Catalyst

Depending on your situation, you might not want to interact with everything. However, you don't always have a choice. Battles in ParAdise – for example – trigger upon collision with a Field Impostor. The battles themselves are a lot more varied with 0.1.3, bumping up the amount of regular field encounters to a total number of ten.

As for the impostors: most of them remain static, but one of them has learned to move. It's a big step towards creating a dynamic world with enemies that patrol, flee – or even chase.

Manipulation

If you happen to trigger a battle, you'll find that you now have an extended range of tools at your disposal. A new ability named Knockback allows you to push an enemy back by one tile – or alternatively bump it into another enemy to cause 150% damage to both entities.

This particular ability marks the introduction to a set that hopefully at some point constitutes a full arsenal. The goal is both for your enemies and you to exert control not only over your own respective crews, but your targets as well.

MOVement

In regards to general status values, the movement range of combatants acting on a battle grid has been streamlined into an overarching stat called MOV. Each point of this value enables you to traverse the grid by one tile.

Next to already existing (de)buffs such as Slow or MonoFast(), certain equipment pieces also modify this particular value. One of these is Ganymede's pistol First Response, another example would be an accessory going by the name IONIA.

Viewport

Barring the occasional line of dialogue, the player (you) is mainly represented through the actions of the characters. But there is another, much more prevalent element connecting you to the world of TRACHI. Something that neither you nor the character's directly perceive. But whenever there's you, it is also there.

The camera is the primary component responsible for helping you keep track of things, and it's only right that you should in all cases get a proper view. To this end the camera system has been fully reworked, especially in regards to battle segments.

CRASHI

Around 2 1/2 weeks ago, a friend approached me with reports of regular crashes occurring in ANARCHY. Unfortunately, I couldn't reproduce them on my end, so me and my good Friend Sereon spent between 10-15 hours trying to isolate the issue.

In the midst of troubleshooting we also came across some inconsistencies regarding achievements. Most importantly, Broken Wings didn't fire correctly. We've applied a couple of fixes regarding the achievements and also managed to make the crashes disappear. If you should run into any issues regardless, please get in touch with me. 😊

Cotext

Marche was a first attempt to tie a patch together thematically. It was born out of necessity due to extraordinary day-job commitments forcing me into isolated development sprints. For all intents and purposes, it was the first time since February that I felt even remotely disconnected from TRACHI.

Given these circumstances, I'm incredibly relieved that 0.1.3 turned out so well. However, cuts had to be made somewhere. Contrary to what was announced in the preview, Marche will not feature a new achievement. Instead, we'll extend 0.1.2's challenge to 0.1.3 and ship both the upcoming challenge and the corresponding Variation with 0.1.4 on December 28th.

Conclusion

The previous month might not have been all sunshine and roses. However, Marche still doesn't shy away from a comparison with its predecessors. Having to put a bigger focus on content rather than infrastructure not only made me appreciate the fruits of the work done through September and October, but it also predesignated the primary goal for December.

As a little teaser, let me reveal to you the major system I want to work on for 0.1.4 (VarietΓ©). As the tagline suggests, I'll finally sit down and extend the existing character Variations to a full system incorporating Steam Inventory Items as a means to customise your party's visual appearances using a dedicated slot in the ingame Equipment menu.

Outlook

Hopefully, Variations will not only constitute one of ANARCHY's biggest features, but also serve as an incentive to participate in early-access playtesting – and last but not least: open up ways of monetisation so I can work on TRACHI while also keeping every other element of it 100% free.

Either way, I'll be back in two weeks with a little sitrep including a preview of Varieté. Until then, please enjoy ANARCHY 0.1.3 and all its additions to your heart's content. And of course, feel yourself hugged and appreciated for your gracious and irreplaceable support! 😊

Big hugs and kissies! πŸ₯°

much love
nory