#pc game development services

[knickglobal01]

By 2025, 3D game app development will achieve remarkable advancements, offering hyper-realistic graphics, AI-powered gameplay, and seamless cross-platform functionality. Smarter AI and dynamic storytelling will elevate gaming experiences, while integration with the metaverse will create immersive social and economic worlds. Multiplayer gaming will reach new levels with real-time voice and gesture recognition, and advanced AR will seamlessly blend the virtual and real. With 5G and cloud gaming, low-latency performance will eliminate hardware barriers. Additionally, energy-efficient engines will promote sustainability, driving the future of eco-friendly gaming. The next era of gaming is bold, immersive, and transformative! For more details visit our website: www.knickckglobal.com

[macrobiangames]

unity 3d game development agencies

Among the Unity 3D game development agencies, Macrobian Games is exceptional. They are conversant with how to use Unity 3D in developing good games. Their team is aware of how to design games that are aesthetically pleasing and functional. If you have a game idea and wish to get it done at Unity 3D, then Macrobian Games can be a good option. They can assist you in doing that and ensure that the game is fun for the players.

[gamixlabs]

PC Game Development Services in India

We deliver PC game development solutions for all sorts of games. We have a team of passionate developers specialized in PC game development. We made every kind of games for pc.

[knick-global]

In the field of interior design, visualization plays a crucial role in bringing ideas to life. With the advent of advanced rendering software like V-Ray, designers can now create stunningly realistic visual representations of their concepts. In this blog post, we will explore the transformative impact of V-Ray on interior design, unlocking a new era of photorealistic possibilities.

The Power of V-Ray in Interior Design V-Ray has emerged as a game-changer and development in the world of interior design, enabling designers to go beyond traditional 2D representations and immerse clients in virtual spaces that mirror reality. With its robust features and unparalleled rendering capabilities, V-Ray empowers designers to achieve breathtaking levels of detail, lighting, and material accuracy.

[astrocafecoffee]

Astro observation ( part 1)

🔹For entertainment purposes only, enjoy🔹

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

✨ Uranus in the first house individuals may reject authority or traditions that feels restrictive to them.others may seem them as trendsetters or avant -garde in their approach to life.

✨ Venus in the 10th house of natal chart peoples are so workaholic that they prioritise their career, success over personal relationships or self care.

✨ your spouse's name asteroid could fall in your natal 7th house. ( Not necessarily, but it can be).

✨ mercury in the 5th house can indicate a communicative and involved parenting style. This individuals may encourage their children's intellectual development, creativity, and curiosity, fostering a supportive environment that values self expression and learning.

✨ Scorpio mars individuals have a strong sense of loyalty and protectiveness towards their loved ones. They can be fiercely protective of those they care about and may go to great lengths to defend and support them.

✨ regulus in 7th house of Composite chart - your relationship with your person may bring some fame/ recognition.

✨ Astrocartography mc lines - indicates which place may have a significant impact on your career or public life.

✨ Astrocartography Dc lines - you may meet your spouse/ long term partner there.

✨ Saturn in the 4th house individuals are very traditional 🙂

✨ solar return Jupiter/ mercury in 3rd house/ 10th house may indicate favorable year for cracking competitive exams.

✨ Earth dominate individuals may admire partners who take their commitments seriously whether it's in personal relationships ,career or other areas of life.

✨ juno in 1st house of groom persona chart means your spouse may influence how you present yourself to others or how you are perceived in social settings. they could bring out certain qualities in you or play a significant role in shaping your public image.

✨ South node lines in your Astrocartography chart indicates where you lived in your past lives.

✨ Briede conjunct Devine asteroid in synastry - divine/ fated relationship.

✨ Union asteroid in your groom / briede pc can indicate where you will meet your potential life partner/ spouse :

♾️ Union in Aries - dynamic / stimulating environments suggest adventurous activities, sports events, or places that involved risk taking and exploration. Gyms, fitness classes, martial art studios, organizing events , can meet through social gatherings / casual meet ups where people gather for fun or socializing. , Business conferences/ academic competitions.

♾️ Union in Taurus -

Fine dining restaurants , art galleries/ elegant social events. Settings related to finance, banking, investments , or business networking events., Exhibitions , concerts, musical performance, through mutual friends, wellness workshops.

♾️ Union in gemini -

Intellectual or educational events, workshops, seminars, book clubs , social gatherings , parties , online platforms, social media, dating apps, local festivals , neighborhood gatherings , during travel, airport, train station, writing workshop, media production, related to communication and journalism.

♾️ Union in cancer -

Family gatherings , reunions, hospitals , caregiving facilities, charity events , volunteering activities, through mutual friends, at historical sites, museums, art galleries, cultural events, small town festivals, near Lake, river, beaches, cafe , restaurant.

♾️ Union in leo -

Theatres , music venues, art galleries, or during performances and artistic events, parties , weddings, festivals , or grand gathering, acting class, outdoor festival, sports event , amusement park, related to child's education, youth organization, casinos, comedy clubs , gaming centre etc.

♾️ Union in Virgo -

Office , workplaces, professional conferences, networking events, volunteer activities, community service projects, charitable organisations, gyms, fitness classes health food store, wellness center, university, school , educational seminars, pet adoption events, parks , botanical garden.

♾️ Union in Libra -

Social getherings, parties, networking events, through mutual friends, concerts, cultural events, museums, theatre performance, settings related to law, mediation or during discussions that involve finding mutual agreements or resolutions., Teamwork, collaboration, relationship focused workshop,fashion shows, design exhibition, cocktail party, formal gatherings, courtroom, law office.

♾️ Union in scorpio -

Psychotherapy session, support groups, detective work, reasearch fields or in setting that require deep analysis and understanding., Spiritual retreats, metaphysical shops, astrology or tarot classes, tantra workshop, relationship councilling, setting related to investment, joint ventures, estate planning, holistic health centres , transformational workshop, place focused on healing practices.

♾️ Union in Sagittarius -

Travel, airport, train station, in foreign countries, or while participating in adventures such as hiking, backpacking, or exploring new cultures, University, libraries, seminars, religious gatherings, philosophy group, outdoor activities, sports events, camping trips, cultural festival, international events, language exchange program, law, publishing house, that promotes justice.

♾️ Union in Capricorn -

Office, corporate events, buisness conference, while pursuing ambitious projects, leadership roles, ceremony, cultural events, context related to banking, investments, Financial setting, teaching activities , prestigious club , organization, or during events where recognition and achievements are celebrated., Formal dinner etc.

♾️ Union in Aquarius -

Activism, volunteer work, community organization, seminars, conferences, discussion groups, online platforms, social media, tech startups, through mutual friends, social circles, online communities, music festival, Charity work.

♾️ Union in Pisces -

May meet in spiritual retreats, meditation centre, yoga studio, art galleries, theatre, music concert, poetry reading,film screening , volunteer work, charitable organisations, near Lake , beaches , hospital, clinic, wellness center, music festival, dance class, spiritual chants or ceremonies, book clubs focused on fiction on fantasy genres.

✨ Saturn in 1st house people often have RBF / Serious demeanor 👺

✨ Moon opposite/ square Saturn in solar return chart indicates emotional heaviness, feeling of loneliness or responsibilities weighing heavily on the emotions 😭.

✨ Jupiter/ Venus in 2nd house of Groom/ Briede pc indicates rich spouse.

✨ South node conjunct karma in synastry might suggest past life conflicts, power struggles or intense experiences that need healing or resolution in the current lifetime.

My other posts :

🔮 your future spouse's career.

🔮 your past life.

🔮 marriage placement in synastry and composite.

And many more on my page-

See you soon ~

- Piko ✨

[felassan]

New Dragon Age: The Veilguard Journal entry:

"Journal #9 Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe Co-Composers Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Composers Announcement"

"Hey everyone! Today, we’re so happy to announce that two-time Oscar-winner Hans Zimmer and Grammy-winner Lorne Balfe have co-composed the Official Soundtrack (OST) for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the new single-player fantasy RPG experience coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam, EA App, and Epic Games Store on October 31, 2024. The legendary composers have collaborated on dozens of projects throughout their careers and have worked closely with the development team at BioWare to create a score celebrating the world of Thedas and its heroes. Fans will be able to pre-order the Official Soundtrack album beginning October 18th on iTunes and Amazon Music, with the formal release to follow on November 1st via Lakeshore Records. Moreover, in celebration of the announcement, Dragon Age: The Veilguard Main Theme, has been released as the first single from the official soundtrack, and can be downloaded and streamed now on all major music services such as Spotify, iTunes, and more. “One of our goals with the music for Dragon Age: The Veilguard was to provide a strong anchor between the world of Thedas and the diverse characters that inhabit that world,” said Cody Behiel, Audio Director for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. “We wanted to ensure that throughout the game's story, whether at its most epic or its most intimate, players were able to feel their actions connect to the personal relationships they have been fostering. Working with Hans and Lorne took these ideas to greater emotional heights than we thought possible and I am so excited for players to experience it.” Oscar-winner Zimmer, one of the world’s most renowned composers, has won numerous awards and honors for his scores in such films as Dune, Dunkirk, Interstellar, Inception, and many more. With over 100 film scores to his credit, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the first video game soundtrack composed by Zimmer in nearly 10 years. Speaking about his work on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Hans Zimmer said, “Epic stories lend themselves to epic scores, and the narrative tapestry BioWare has woven in The Veilguard never left me wanting for inspiration, be it during the game’s moments of shining heroism or darkest emotional pitfalls. I’m proud to have shared the journey of creating the musical backdrop for the latest Dragon Age adventure with Lorne and the entire design team.” GRAMMY Award-winner Balfe has over 170 composer credits across movies, TV and games, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Beyond: Two Souls, all of which received nominations for Best Original Music from the BAFTA Games Awards. “The world of Dragon Age is an unprecedented immersive experience, and never more so than in Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” said Lorne Balfe. “Crafting this score alongside Hans Zimmer has allowed us to bring an epic new majesty to the realm of Thedas, bringing these characters and their stories to the next level. I cannot wait for people to play this game.” Players can pre-order Dragon Age: The Veilguard now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. We still have a few more things to talk about before release, and we hope you enjoy our main theme in the meantime!             — The Dragon Age Team"

[source]

(emphasis mine)

[gloomlet]

Gloomlet’s TS4 Script, Gameplay & Replacement Mods

So I decided to compile a list of all the script/gameplay mods that i use or have used in my game. This was mainly made for my personal use, but i’m sure it could be helpful to other people too!

UPDATE! PLEASE READ!! This list is no longer up to date - use the Google Doc! - 04/25/24

Basic & Recommended!

TS4 Mod Manager ui cheats extension mc command center Carl's Sims 4 Gameplay Overhaul Relationship & Pregnancy Overhaul Wonderful Whims The Mood Pack Mod First Impressions Contextual Social Interactions Simulation Lag Fix Teleport Any Sim Better Exceptions

CAS Mods

Stand still in CAS More Traits in CAS Tidy details in CAS More CAS columns Lifetime Aspirations Child Aspirations Set Housewife - Aspiration Unlimited Likes + Dislikes Preferences Plus Homebody - Preferences 100+ CAS Traits Resized Facial Piercings

Replacements & Retextures

Fan Art Maps Map Replacements Overhaul Clean UI Sims 1 & 2 Font LIS Fonts Fluffy Clouds (Ghibli Clouds) Feet replacement Hand replacement Bra + Panty Default Replacement better babies + bottle replacement Another baby bottle replacement Default Cutlery! Cute Kitchenware Replacement Boxing Gloves Aquarium Fish Recolor Ceiling replacement paint it up mod A brighter mop Selfie Override

Objects Phone Replacement Smaller dollhouses Switch Controller + console Game controller PS1 console pc game override Remote control sponge & spray override Another Sponge & Spray override

Electric Toothbrush Razor Bassinet override infant rug +  infant tub child drawing replacement weather controller Cats & Dogs Fireplace Headphone/earbud override Old-fashioned Suitcase The slightly nicer Tree House Fireplace Lil Campers Light

Replaced + more Interactions Bed Cuddles Better Woohoo Reactions Realistic Reactions Brush Teeth From Toothbrush Holders Wake-up animation Greetings

Visuals & effects No overhead effects No zzz No object highlight no plumbob please Smaller Mosaic Minimalist CC Icon More Holiday icons

Gameplay!

Playable Pets Slower infant needs Expanded Mermaids Who's Knocking More Visitors No Bad Microwave Buffs Memory Panel Smarter Pie Menu: Searchable Smart Sim Randomizer Play Chess on any computer Strangerville Story toggle

Careers & Jobs Career Overhaul New Careers Simdeed Recruitment Services Flex Part-Time Recruitment Agency Game Developer Career Ultimate Nursing Career Modeling Career Tumbling Tots Daycare Career Shear Brilliance - Cosmetology Seasonal Odd Jobs - Autumn Odd Job Overhaul Modeling and Makeup Odd Jobs Babysitting Gigs Freelance Chef

Education Uni Tweaks Education Overhaul Uni Application Overhaul University costs more Choose Your Roommate Long Distance Learning No Uni Housing Restrictions Uni Aspirations School Lunch Override Longer or Shorter Degree Requirements

Cooking + Food Food Retexture Pack 1, Pack 2, Pack 3 Breakfast Retextures Pizza Retexture Grannies Cookbook Chef Buffet S’more Options Srsly's Complete Cooking Overhaul Dine Out Reloaded Delivery Services Sims Eat and Drink Faster Porto Luminoso Market Cutouts Buyable Cakes Functional Mixer HCH Mixer & Cookbook Functional Air fryer Functional Blender Functional Cookie jar Another Cookie Jar Functional Toaster Functional Cake Stand Functional Rice cooker Functional Pressure Cooker Boba Tea Add-ons Functional Beer Functional Frozen Ice Cart

Pregnancy Realistic Pregnancy Cherished Moments - Pregnancy Science Baby Tweak

Services & Apps Sim National Bank “SimDa” Dating App Exchange Store

Interactions Meaningful Stories Cute Romance Drama Mod Autonomous Go Steady and Propose Autonomous Break Up and Divorce Dynamic Teen Life Parent-Child Relationships Let's Get Fit Modpack Sumba Fitness

Functional Items Playful Toddler Pack Toddler Play Telephone Little Chef’s Toy Kitchen Void Critter Tablet Functional Pool Slide

Functional Toy Bin Functional Hopscotch Functional Broom Functional Paper Sketchpad Functional Drumkit Functional Spiral Staircases In Your Safe Piggy Banks Film Reaper Movie Theater Left End Counter Dishwaser

Random Small mods

Loading and CAS screens

Free Sims 4, Free Loading Screen Bonehilda Loading Screen Custom Color loading screens Lights Out Loading Screen The Blues Collection Loading Screen Lin Sims Loading Screens San Sequoia Loading Screens Abstract Art + Landscape Loading Screens H-O-B & Sulani Loading Screens Autumn Loading Screens Pink Kitten Animated Loading Screen Life is Strange Loading Screens Cloudy TS2 CAS Background Ocean Waves CAS Room Old School - CAS Room Modern Minimalism CAS Room Plumbob replacements Crystal Loading Screens

lighting mods

sunblind lighting + installation Milk Thistle Better in-game lighting Gentle CAS lighting

[acealistair]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard GameInformer Article Transcribed

I saw some people lamenting that they had no way to read the GameInformer article, and while MVP dalishious posted screenshots of the article here, I figured that might be a little difficult to read, plus people with screen readers can't read it of course. So I've gone ahead and transcribed it! Full thing below the cut!

As a note, I transcribed it without correcting any typos, capitalization errors, etc. that the article itself had (as much as it pained me, omg the author capitalizes so many things that shouldn't be and vice versa). There may be some typos on my part as I did this as quickly as I could, so apologies in advance for any you might encounter.

I have also created a plot-spoiler-free version of the article for those who would like to learn more about the mechanics of the game without learning more plot info than they want!

Throughout my research and preparation for a trip to BioWare’s Edmonton, Canada, office for this cover story, I kept returning to the idea that its next game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard (formerly subtitled Dreadwolf) is releasing at a critical moment for the storied developer. The previous installment, Dragon Age: Inquisition, hit PlayStation, Xbox, and PC a decade ago. It was the win BioWare needed, following the 2012 release of Mass Effect 3 with its highly controversial and (for many) disappointing ending. Inquisition launched two years later, in 2014, to rave reviews and, eventually, various Gameo the Year awards, almost as if a reminder of what the studio was capable of.

Now, in 2024, coincidentally, the next Dragon Age finds itself in a similar position. BioWare attempted a soft reboot of Mass Effect with Andromeda in 2017, largely seen as a letdown among the community, and saw its first live-service multiplayer attempt in 2019’s Anthem flounder in the tricky waters of the genre; it aimed for a No Man’s Sky-like turnaround with Anthem Next, but that rework was canceled in 2021. Like its predecessor, BioWare’s next Dragon Age installment is not only a new release in a beloved franchise, but is another launch with the pressure of BioWare’s prior misses; a game fans hope will remind them the old BioWare is still alive today.

“Having been in this industry for 25 years, you see hits and misses, and it’s all about building off of those hits and learning from those misses,” BioWare general manager Gary McKay, who’s been with the studio since January 2020, tells me.

As McKay gives me a tour of the office, I can’t help but notice how much Anthem is scattered around it. More than Mass Effect, more than Dragon Age, there’s a lot of Anthem - posters, real-life replicas of its various Javelins, wallpaper, and more. Recent BioWare news stories tell of leads and longtime studio veterans laid off and others departing voluntarily. Veilguard’s development practically began with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When I ask McKay about the tumultuousness of BioWare and how he, as the studio manager, makes the team feel safe in the product it’s developing, he says it’s about centering on the creative vision. “[When] we have that relentless pursuit for quality, and we have passion and people in the right roles, a lot of the other stuff you’re talking about just fades into the background.”

That’s a sentiment echoed throughout the team I speak to: Focus on what makes a BioWare game great and let Veilguard speak for itself. Though I had no expectations going in - it’s been 10 years since the last Drag Age, after all, and BioWare has been cagey about showing this game publicly - my expectations have been surpassed. This return to Thedas, the singular continent of the franchise, feels like both a warm welcome for returning fans and an impressive entry point for first-time players.

New Age, New Name

At the start of each interview, I address a dragon-sized elephant in the room with the game’s leads. What was Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is now Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Why?

“These games are reflections of the teams that make them, and as part of that, it means we learn a lot about what the heart and soul of the game really is as we’re developing it,” Veilguard game director Corinne Busche tells me. “We quickly learned and realized that the absolute beating heart of this game is these authentic, diverse companions. And when we took a step back, as we always do, we always check our decisions and make sure they still represent the game we’re trying to build.”

Dreadwolf no longer did that, but each member of BioWare I speak to tells me The Veilguard does. And while I was initially abrasive to the change - lore aside, Dreadwolf is simply a cool name - I warmed up to The Veilguard.

Solas, a Loki-esque trickster member of the Elven pantheon of gods known as the Dread Wolf, created the Veil long ago while attempting to free the elves from their slave-like status in Thedas. This Veil is a barrier between the magical Fade and Thedas, banishing Elven gods and removing Elven immortality from the world. But players didn’t know that in Inquisition, where he is introduced as a mage ally and companion. However, at the end of Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC, which sets the stage for Veilguard, we learn in a shocking twist that Solas wants to destroy the Veil and restore Elves to their former glory. However, doing so would bring chaos to Thedas, and those who call it home, the people who eventually become The Veilguard, want to stop him.

“There’s an analogy I like to use, which is, ‘If you want to carve an elephant out of marble, you just take a piece of marble and remove everything that doesn’t look like an elephant,’” Veilguard creative director John Epler says. “As we were building this game, it became really clear that it was less that we were trying to make The Veilguard and more like The Veilguard was taking shape as we built the game. Solas is still a central figure in it. He’s still a significant character. But really, the focus shifts to the team.

“[We] realized Dreadwolf suggests a title focused on a specific individual, whereas The Veilguard, much like Inquisition, focuses more on the team.”

Creating Your Rook

Veilguard’s character creator is staggeringly rich, with a dizzying number of customizable options. Busche tells me that inclusivity is at the heart of it, noting that she believes everyone can create someone who represents them on-screen.

There are four races to choose from when customizing Rook, the new playable lead - Elves, Qunari, Humans, and Dwarves - and hundreds of options to customize your character beyond that. You can select pronouns separately from gender and adjust physical characteristics like height, shoulder width, chest size, glute and bulge size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, how crooked your nose is, and so much more. There must be hundreds of sliders to customize these body proportions and features like skin hue, tone, melanin, and just about anything else you might adjust on a character. Oh, and there’s nudity in Veilguard, too, which I learn firsthand while customizing my Rook.

“The technology has finally caught up to our ambition,” Dragon Age series art director Matt Rhodes tells me as we decide on my warrior-class Qunari’s backstory, which affects faction allegiance, in-game dialogue, and reputation standing - we choose the pirate-themed Lords of Fortune.

Notably, instead of a warrior class, we could have chosen mage or rogue. All three classes have unique specializations, bespoke skill trees, and special armors, too. And though our Rook is aligned with the Lords of Fortune faction, there are others to choose from including the Grey Wardens, Shadow Dragons, The Mourn Watch, and more. There is some flexibility in playstyle thanks to specializations, but your class largely determines the kind of actions you can perform in combat.

“Rook ascends because of competency, not because of a magical McGuffin,” BioWare core lead and Mass effect executive producer Michael Gamble tells me in contrast to Inquisition’s destiny-has-chosen-you-characterization.

“Rook is here because they choose to be, and that speaks to the kind of character that we’ve built.” Busche adds, “Someone needs to stop this, and Rook says, ‘I guess that’s me.’”

Beyond the on-paper greatness of this character creator, its customizability speaks to something repeated throughout my BioWare visit: Veilguard is a single-player, story-driven RPG. Or in other words, the type of game that made BioWare as storied as it is. McKay tells me the team explored a multiplayer concept early in development before scratching it to get back to BioWare basics. The final game will feature zero multiplayer and no microtransactions.

Happy to hear that, I pick our first and last name, then one of four voices, with a pitch shifter for each, too, and we’re off to Minrathous.

Exploring Tevinter For The First Time

Throughout the Dragon Age series, parts of Thedas are discussed by characters and referenced by lore material but left to the imagination of players as they can’t visit them. Veilguard immediately eschews this, setting its opening prologue mission in Minrathous, the capital of the  Tevinter Empire. Frankly, I’m blown away by how good it looks. It’s my first time seeing Veilguard in action and my first look at a Dragon Age game in nearly a decade. Time has treated this series well, and so has technology.

Epler, who’s coming up on 17 years at BioWare, acknowledges that the franchise has always been at the will of its engine. Dragon Age: Origins and II’s Eclipse Engine worked well for the time, but today, they show their age. Inquisition was BioWare’s first go at Ea’s proprietary Frostbite engine - mind you, an engine designed for first-person shooters and decidedly not multi-character RPGs - and the team struggled there, too. Epler and Busche agree Veilguard is the first RPG where BioWare feels fully in command of Frostbite and, more generally, its vision for this world.

We begin inside a bar. Rook and Varric are looking for Neve Gallus, a detective mage somewhere in Minrathous. The first thing players will do once Veilguard begins is select a dialogue option, something the team says speaks to their vision of a story-forward, choice-driven adventure. After a quick bar brawl cutscene that demonstrates Rook’s capabilities, there’s another dialogue choice, and different symbols here indicate the type of tone you can roll with. There’s a friendly, snarky, and rough-and-tough direct choice, and I later learn of a more romantically inclined “emotional” response. These are the replies that will build relationships with characters, romantic and platonic alike, but you’re welcome to ignore this option. However, your companions can romance each other, so giving someone the cold shoulder might nudge them into the warm embrace of another. We learn Neve is in Dumat Plaza and head into the heart of Minrathous.

Rhodes explains BioWare’s philosophy for designing this city harkens back to a quick dialogue from Inquisition’s Dorian Pavus. Upon entering Halamshiral’s Winter Palace, the largest venue in Dragon Age history at that point, Dorian notes that it’s cute, adorable even, alluding to his Tevinter heritage. If Dorian thinks the largest venue in Dragon Age history is cute and adorable, what must the place he’s from be like? “It’s like this,” Rhodes says as we enter Minrathous proper in-game.

Minrathous is huge, painted in magical insignia that looks like cyberpunk-inspired neon city signs and brimming with detail. Knowing it’s a city run by mages and built entirely upon magic, Rhodes says the team let its imagination run wild. The result is the most stunning and unique city in the series. Down a wide, winding pathway, there’s a pub with a dozen NPCs - Busche says BioWare used Veilguard’s character creator to make each in-world NPC except for specific characters like recruitable companions - and a smart use of verticality, scaling, and wayfinding to push us toward the main attraction: Solas, attempting to tear down the Veil.

All hell is breaking loose. Pride Demons are rampaging through the city. Considering Pride Demons were bosses in prior games, seeing them roaming freely in the prologue of Veilguard speaks to the stakes of this opener. Something I appreciate throughout our short journey through Minrathous to its center below is the cinematography at play. As a Qunari, my character stands tall, and Rhodes says the camera adjusts to ensure larger characters loom over those below. On the flip side, the camera adjusts for dwarves to demonstrate their smaller stature compared to those around them.

This, coupled with movie-liked movement through the city as BioWare showcases the chaos happening at the hands of Solas’ Veil-break ritual, creates a cinematic start that excited me, and I’m not even hands-on with the game.

Eventually, we reach Neve, who has angered some murderous blood mages, and rescue her from danger. Or rather, help… barely. Neve is quite capable, and her well-acted dialogue highlights that. Together, Varric, returning character Lace Harding, who is helping us stop Solas and is now a companion, Rook, and Neve defeat some demons. They then take on some Venatori Cultists seizing this chaotic opportunity to take over the city and other enemies before making it to Solas’ hideout. As we traverse deeper and deeper into this hideout, more of Solas’ murals appear on the walls, and things get more Elven. Rhodes says this is because you’re symbolically going back in time, as Minrathous is a city built by mages on the bones of what was originally the home of Elves.

At the heart of his hideout, we discover Solas’ personal Eluvian. This magical mirror-like structure allows the gang to teleport (and mechanically fast-travel) to Arlathan Forest, where Solas is secretly performing the ritual (while its effects pour out into Minrathous).

Here, we encounter a dozen or so demons, which BioWare has fully redesigned on the original premise of these monstrous creatures. Rhodes says they’re creatures of feeling and live and die off the emotions around them. As such, they are just a floating nervous system, push into this world from the Fade, rapidly assembled into bodies out of whatever scraps they find.

I won’t spoil the sequence of events here, but we stop Solas’ ritual and seemingly save the world… for now. Rook passes out moments later and wakes up in a dream-like landscape to the voice of none  other than Solas. He explains a few drops of Rook’s blood interacted with the ritual, connecting them to the Fade forever. He also says he was attempting to move the Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain, part of the Evanuris or Elven gods of ancient times, to a new prison because the one he had previously constructed was failing. Unfortunately, Solas is trapped in the Fade by our doing, and these gods are now free. It’s up to Rook to stop them; thus, the stage for our adventure is set.

The Veilguard Who’s Who

While we learned a lot about returning character but first-time companion Lace Harding, ice mage private detective Neve Gallus, and veil jumper Bellara Lutara, BioWare shared some additional details about other companions Rook will meet later in the game. Davrin is a charming Grey Warden who is also an excellent monster hunter; Emmrich is a member of Nevarra’s Mourn Watch and a necromancer with a skeleton assistant named Manfred; Lucanis is a pragmatic assassin whose bloodline descends from the criminal House of Crows organization; And Taash is a dragon hunter allied with the piratic Lords of Fortune. All seven of these characters adorn this Game Informer issue, with Bellara up front and center in the spotlight.

The Lighthouse

After their encounter with Solas, Rook wakes up with Harding and Neve in the lair of the Dread Wolf himself, a special magical realm in the Fade called the Lighthouse. It’s a towering structure centered amongst various floating islands. Epler says, much like Skyhold in Inquisition, the Lighthouse is where your team bonds, grows, and prepares for its adventures throughout the campaign. It also becomes more functional and homier as you do. Already, though, it’s a beautifully distraught headquarters for the Veilguard, although they aren’t quite referring to themselves as that just yet.

Because it was Solas’ home base of operations, it’s gaudy, with his fresco murals adorning various walls, greenery hanging from above, and hues of purple and touches of gold everywhere. Since it’s in the Fade, a realm of dreams that responds to your world state and emotion, the Lighthouse reflects the chaos and disrepair of the Thedas you were in moments ago. I see a clock symbol over a dialogue icon in the distance, which signals an optional dialogue option. We head there, talk to Neve, select a response to try our hand at flirting, and then head to the dining hall.

A plate, a fork and knife, and a drinking chalice are at the end of a massive table. Rhodes says this is both a funny (and sad) look at Solas’ isolated existence and an example of the detail BioWare’s art team has put into Veilguard. “It’s a case of letting you see the story,” he says. “It’s like when you go to a friend's house and see their bedroom for the first time; you get to learn more about them.” From the dining hall, we gather the not-quite-Veilguard in the library, which Busche says in the central area of the Lighthouse and where your party will often regroup and prepare for what’s next. The team decides it must reach the ritual site back in Arlathan Forest, and Busche says I’m missing unique dialogue options here because I’m Qunari; an Elf would have more to say about the Fade due to their connection to it. The same goes for my backstory earlier in Minrathous. If I had picked the Shadow Dragons background, Neve would have recognized me immediately, with unique dialogue.

With our next move decided, we head to Solas’ Eluvian to return to Arlathan Forest and the ritual site. However, it’s not fully functional without Solas, and while it returns us to Arlathan Forest, it’s not exactly where we want to go. A few moments later, we’re back in the Arlathan Forest, and just before a demon-infested suit of mechanized armor known as a Sentinel can attack, two new NPCs appear to save us: Strife and Irelin. Harding recognizes them, something Dragon Age comic readers might know about. They’re experts in ancient elven magic and part of the new Veil Jumpers faction. The ensuing cutscene, where we learn Strife and Irelin need help finding someone named Bellara Lutara, is long, with multiple dialogue options. That’s something I’m noticing with Veilguard, too - there’s a heavy emphasis on storytelling and dialogue, and it feels deep and meaty, like a good fantasy novel. BioWare doesn’t shy away from minutes-long cutscenes.

Busche says that’s intentional, too. “For Rook, [this story’s about] what does it meant to be a leader,” she says. “You’re defining their leadership style with your choices.” Knowing that Rook is the leader of the Veilguard, I’m excited to see how far this goes. From the sound of it, my team will react to my chosen leadership style in how my relationships play out. That’s demonstrated within the game’s dialogue and a special relationship meter on each companion’s character screen.

Redefining Combat Once More

Bellara is deep within Arlathan Forest, and following the prolgoue’s events, something is up here. Three rings of massive rocks fly through the air, protecting what appears to be a central fortress. Demon Sentinels plague the surrounding lands, and after loading up a new save, we’re in control of a human mage.

Following the trend of prior Dragon Age games, Veilguard has completed the series’ shift from tactical strategy to real-time action, but fret not: a tactical pause-and-play mechanic returns to satiate fans who remember the series’ origins (pun intended). Though I got a taste of combat in the prologue, Veilguard’s drastic departure from all that came before it is even more apparent here.

Busche says player complete every swing in real-time, with special care taken to animation swing-through and canceling. There's a dash, a parry, the ability to charge moves, and a completely revamped healing system that allows you to use potions at your discretion by hitting right on the d-pad. You can combo attacks and even “bookmark” combos with a quick dash, which means you can pause a combo’s status with a dash to safety and continue the rest of the combo afterward. It looks even cooler than it sounds.

Like any good action game, there is a handful of abilities to customize your kit. And, if you want to maintain that real-time action feel, you can use them on the fly, so long as you take cooldowns into effect. But Veilguard’s pause-and-play gameplay mechanic, similar to Inquisition’s without the floating camera view, lets you bring things to halt for a healthy but optional dose of strategy.

In this screen, which essentially pauses the camera and pulls up a flashy combat wheel that highlights you and your companions’ skills, you can choose abilities, queue them up, and strategize with synergies and combos, all while targeting specific enemies. Do what you need to here, let go of the combat wheel, and watch your selections play out. Busche says she uses the combat wheel to dole out her companions’ attacks and abilities while sticking to the real-time action for her player-controlled Rook. On the other hand, Epler says he almost exclusively uses the combat wheel to dish out every ability and combo.

Busche says each character will play the same, in that you execute light and heavy attacks with hte same buttons, use abilities with the same buttons, and interact with the combo wheel in the same way, regardless of which class you select. But a sword-and-shield warrior, like we used in the prolgoue, can hip-fire or aim their shield to throw it like Captain America, whereas our human mage uses that same button to throw out magical ranged attacks. The warrior can parry incoming attacks, which can stagger enemies. The rogue gets a larger parry window. Our mage, however, can’t parry at all. Instead, they throw up a shield that blocks incoming attacks automatically so long as you have the mana to sustain it.

“What I see from Veilguard is a game that finally bridges the gap,” former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah, who left BioWare in 2021 before joining the Veilguard team last year as a consultant, tells me. “Uncharitably, previous Dragon Age games got to the realm of ‘combat wasn’t too bad.’ In this game, the combat’s actually fun, but it does keep that thread that’s always been there. You have the focus on Rook, on your character, but still have that control and character coming into the combat experience from the other people in the party.”

“This is really the best Dragon Age game that I’ve ever played,” he adds, noting his bias. “This is the one where we get back to our roots of character-driven storytelling, have really fun combat, and aren’t making compromises.”

Watching Busche take down sentinels and legions of darkspawn on-screen, I can already sense Veilguard’s combat will likely end up my favorite in the series, although admittedly, as a fan of action games, I’m an easy sell here. It’s flashy, quick, and thanks to different types of health bars, like a greenish-blue one that represents barrier and is taken down most effectively with ranged attacks, a decent amount of strategy, even if you don’t use the pause-and-play combo wheel. Like the rest of the game, too, it’s gorgeous, with sprinkles, droplets, and splashes of magic in each attack our mage unleashes. Though I’m seeing the game run on a powerful PC, which is sure to be the best showcase of Veilguard, Epler tells me the game looks amazing on consoles - he’s been playing it on PlayStation 5 and enjoying it in both its fidelity and performance modes, but I’ll have to take his word for it.

Pressing Start

The start or pause screen is as important to a good RPG as the game outside the menus. Veilguard’s contains your map, journal, character sheets, skill tree, and a library for lore information. You can cross-compare equipment and equip new gear here for Rook and your companions, build weapon loadouts for quick change-ups mid-combat, and customize you and your party’s abilities and builds via an easy-to-understand skill tree. You won’t find minutiae here, “just real numbers,” Busche says. That means a new unlocked trait might increase damage by 25 percent against armor, but that’s as in-depth as the numbers get. Passive abilities unlock jump attacks and guarantee critical hit opportunities, while abilities add moves like a Wall of Fire to your arsenal (if you’re a mage). As you spec out this skill tree, which is 100 percent bespoke to each class, you’ll work closer to unlocking a specialization, of which there are three for each class, complete with a unique ultimate ability. Busche says BioWare’s philosophy here is “about changing the way you play, not statistical minutiae.”

Companion Customization

You can advance your bonds by helping companions on their own personal quests and by including them in your party for main quests. Every Relationship Level you rank up, shown on their character sheet, nets you a skill point to spend on them. Busche says the choices you make, what you say to companions, how you help them, and more all matter to their development as characters and party members. And with seven companions, there’s plenty to customize, from bespoke gear to abilities and more. Though each companion has access to five abilities, you can only take three into combat, so it’s important to strategize different combos and synergies within your party. Rhodes says beyond  this kind of customizable characterization, each companion has issues, problems, and personal quests to complete. “Bellara has her own story arc that runs parallel to and informs the story path you’re on,” Rhodes says.

In Entropy’s Grasp

As we progress through the forest and the current “In Entropy’s Grasp” mission, we finally find Bellara. She’s a veil jumper, the first companion you meet and recruit in-game (unlike Neve, who automatically joins), and the centerpiece of this issue’s cover image. Because our mage’s background is Veil Jumper, we get some unique dialogue. Bellara explains we’re all trapped in a Veil Bubble, and there’s no way out once you pass through it. Despite the dire situation, Bellara is bubbly, witty, and charming.

“When designing companions, they’re the load-bearing pillars for everything,” Rhodes says. “They’re the face of their faction, and in this case [with Bellara], their entire area of the world. She’s your window into Arlathan Forest.” Rhodes describes her as a sweetheart and nerd for ancient elven artifacts. As such ,she’s dressed more like an academic than a combat expert, although her special arm gauntlet is useful both for tinkering with her environment and taking down enemies.

Unlike Neve, who uses ice magic like our Rook and can slow down time with a special ability, Bellara specializes in electricity, and she can also use magic to heal you, something Busche says Dragon Age fans have been desperate to have in a game. Busche says if you don’t direct Neve and Bellara, they’re fully independent and will attack on their own. But synergizing your team will add to the fun and strategy of combat. Bellara’s electric magic is effective against Sentinels, which is great because we currently only have access to ice. However, without Bellara, we could also equip a rune that converts my ice magic, for a brief duration, into electricity to counter the Sentinels.

As we progress through Arlathan Forest, we encounter more and more darkspawn. Bellara mentions the darkspawn have never been this far before because the underground Deep Roads, where they usually escape from, aren’t nearby. However, with blighted Elven gods roaming the world, and thanks to Blight’s radiation-like spread, it’s a much bigger threat in Veilguard than in any Dragon Age before it.

I continue to soak in the visuals of Veilguard with Arlathan Forest’s elven ruins, dense greenery, and disgusting Blight tentacles and pustules; it’s perhaps the most impressive aspect of my time seeing the game, although everything else is making a strong impression, too. I am frustrated about having to watch the game rather than play it, to be honest. I’m in love with the art style, which is more high fantasy than anything in the series thus far and almost reminiscent of the whimsy of Fable, a welcome reprieve from the recent gritty Game of Thrones trend in fantasy games. Rhodes says that’s the result of the game’s newfound dose of magic.

“The use of magic has been an evolution as the series has gone on,” he says. “It’s something we’ve been planning for a while because Solas has been planning all this for a while. In the past, you could hint at cooler magical things in the corner because you couldn’t actually go there, but now we actually can, and it’s fun to showcase that.”

Busche, Epler, and Rhodes warn me that Arlathan Forest’s whimsy will starkly contrast to other areas. They promise some grim locations and even grimmer story moments because, without that contrast, everything falls flat. Busche likens it to a “thread of optimism” pulled through otherworldly chaos ravaging Thedas. For now, the spunky and effervescent Bellara is that thread.

As we progress deeper into the forest, Bellara spots a floating fortress and thinks the artifact needed to destroy the Veil Bubble is in there. To reach it, though, wem ust remove the floating rock rings, and Bellara’s unique ability, Tinker, can do just that by interacting with a piece of ancient elven technology nearby. Busche says Rook can acquire abilities like Tinker later to complete such tasks in instances where Bellara, for example, isn’t in the party.

Bellara must activate three of these in Arlathan Forest to reach the floating castle, and each one we activate brings forth a slew of sentinels, demons, and darkspawn to defeat. Busche does so with ease, showcasing high-level gameplay by adding three stacks of arcane build-up to create an Arcane Bomb on an enemy, which does devastating damage after being hit by a heavy attack. Now, she begins charging a heavy attack on her magical staff, then switches to magical daggers in a second loadout accessed with a quick tap of down on the d-pad to unleash some quick attacks, then back to the staff to charge it some more and unleash a heavy attack.

After a few more combat encounters, including one against a sentinel that’s “Frenzied,” which means it hits harder, moves faster, and has more health, we finally reach the center of the temple. Within is a particular artifact known as the Nadas Dirthalen, which Bellara says means “the inevitability of knowledge.” Before we can advance with it, a darkspawn Ogre boss attacks. It hits hard, has plenty of unblockable, red-coded attacks, and a massive shield we must take down first. However, it’s weak to fire, and our new fire staff is perfect for the situation.

After taking down this boss in a climactic arena fight, Bellara uses a special crystal to power the artifact and remove it from a pedestal, destroying the Veil Bubble. Then, the Nadas Dirthalen comes alive as an Archive Spirit, but because the crystal used to power it breaks, we learn little about this spirit before it disappears. Fortunately, Bellara thinks she can fix it - fixing broken stuff is kind of her thing, Epler says - so the group heads back to the Veil Jumper camp and, as interested as I am in learning what happens next, the demo ends. It’s clear that even after a few hours with the game’s opening, I’ve seen a nigh negligible amount of game; frustrating but equally as exciting.

Don’t Call It An Open World

Veilguard is not an open world, even if some of its explorable areas might fee like one. Gamble describes Veilguard’s Thedas as a hub-and-spoke design where “the needs of the story are served by the level design.” A version of Inquisition’s Crossroads, a network of teleporting Eluvians, returns, and it’s how players will traverse across northern Thedas. Instead of a connected open world, players will travel from Eluvian to Eluvian to different stretches of this part of the continent. This allows BioWare to go from places like Minrathous to tropical beaches to Arlathan Forest to grim and gothic areas and elsewhere. Some of these areas are larger and full of secrets and treasures. Others are smaller and more focused on linear storytelling. Arlathan Forest is an example of this, but there are still optional paths and offshoots to explore for loot, healing potion refreshes, and other things. There’s a minimap in each location, though linear levels like “In Entropy’s Grasp” won’t have the fog of war that disappears as you explore like some of Veilguard’s bigger locations. Regardless, BioWare says Veilguard has the largest number of diverse biomes in series history.

Dragon’s Delight

With a 10-hour day at BioWare behind me after hours of demo gameplay and interviews with the leads, I’m acutely aware of my favorite part of video games: the surprises. I dabbled with Origins and II and put nearly 50 hours into Inquisition, but any familiarity with the series the latter gave me had long since subsided over the past decade. I wanted to be excited about the next Dragon Age as I viewed each teaser and trailer, but other than seeing the words “Dragon Age,” I felt little. Without gameplay, without a proper look at the actual game we’ll all be playing this fall, I struggled to remember why Inquisition sucked me in 10 years ago.

This trip reminded me.

Dragon Age, much like the Thedas of Veilguard, lives in the uncertainty: The turbulence of BioWare’s recent release history and the lessons learned from it, the drastic changes to each Dragon Age’s combat, the mystery of its narrative, and the implications of its lore. It’s all a part of the wider Dragon Age story and why this studio keeps returning to this world. It’s been a fertile franchise for experimentation. While Veilguard is attempting to branch out in unique ways, it feels less like new soil and more like the harvest BioWare has been trying to cultivate since 2009, and I’m surprised by that.

I’m additionally surprised, in retrospect, how numb I’ve been to the game before this. I’m surprised by BioWare’s command over EA’s notoriously difficult Frostbite engine to create its prettiest game yet. I’m surprised by this series’ 15-year transition from tactical strategy to action-forward combat. I’m surprised by how much narrative thought the team has poured into these characters, even for BioWare. Perhaps having no expectations will do that to you. But most of all, with proper acknowledgement that I reserve additional judgment until I actually play the game, I’m surprised that Veilguard might just be the RPG I’m looking forward to most this year.

[genshin-impact-updates]

"Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn" Version 5.0 Update Details

Dear Traveler,

Below are the details of the Version 5.0 update "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn" and the update compensation.

〓Compensation Details〓

Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300 (60 Primogems for every hour the servers are down.)

Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300 (Please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)

〓Scope of Compensation〓

Maintenance Compensation: Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2024/08/28 06:00 (UTC+8).

Compensation must be claimed before the end of Version 5.0.

Issue Fix Compensation: Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2024/08/28 06:00 (UTC+8).

Please log in and claim your compensation before 2024/08/31 06:00 (UTC+8).

Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attached compensation in time.

〓Update Schedule〓

Update maintenance begins 2024/08/28 06:00 (UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.

〓How to Update Game Client〓

PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.

iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.

Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen.

PS5™ and PS4™: Highlight Genshin Impact from the Home Screen, press the OPTIONS button and select "Check for Update."

Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue.

〓Update Details〓

I. New Region

New Region - Natlan

The warriors of the mountains lead the path unto flowers splendorous, and the swimming Saurians of the springs bring news all night. On the far shore from sand and sea, the blazing epic hymn echoes through the land where the Sacred Flame blazes eternal.

Beyond the fiery altars and the mysterious realm of night, an unprecedented adventure is about to unfold in the land where humans and Saurians dwell together.

◇ New Areas: In Version 5.0, the following areas in Natlan will become available: Tequemecan Valley, Coatepec Mountain, Toyac Springs, and Basin of Unnumbered Flames.

※ Completing Archon Quest Prologue: Act III "Song of the Dragon and Freedom" will automatically unlock a Teleport Waypoint to the right of Tequemecan Valley in Natlan (If you have already completed this Archon Quest, the Teleport Waypoint will be unlocked after the update). You can use this Teleport Waypoint to head over to Natlan. You'll also receive the Primogem reward for this Teleport Waypoint when it unlocks automatically.

▌New Mechanic in Natlan

"Saurian Indwelling"

Natlan's Saurians are unique life forms that can enter a "Spiritsconce" state under specific circumstances.

Indwell your spirit onto Spiritsconces to activate their power, transforming into and controlling the Saurian's original form.

▌New System in Natlan

"Tona's Flame"

You can obtain Pyro Sigils during your adventures in Natlan. Offer them up to the Tablet of Tona at the Temple of Pax to increase its level and obtain valuable rewards.

Satisfy any one of the criteria below to unlock "Tona's Flame":

• Enter within a certain radius of the Tablet of Tona

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

Reputation System in Natlan

◇ Natlan Reputation Unlock Criteria:

• Complete "Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame" in Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

Each tribe in Natlan has its own Reputation System. Visit each tribe's "Obsidian Totem Pole" to undertake the quests and earn Reputation EXP. Upon increasing Reputation Levels, you can claim corresponding rewards. Once a tribe's Reputation Level is maxed out, you can also receive additional rewards from the "Speaker's Chamber."

Expeditions, Daily Commissions, and other new content will also be added in Natlan. In Natlan's new commissions, if related achievements of a Commission Quest are not unlocked yet, the probability of that Commission Quest appearing will increase.

◇ Natlan Daily Commissions Unlock Criteria:

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

• Complete the World Quest "Toward Red-Hot Adventure!"

In addition, there will be new "Radiant Spincrystals" in Natlan.

II. New Characters

5-Star Character "Splish-Splash Wavechaser" Mualani (Hydro)

◇ Vision: Hydro

◇ Weapon: Catalyst

◇ A well-known guide in Natlan who owns a watersports shop, and expert in all forms of wave-chasing.

◆ Elemental Skill: Surfshark Wavebreaker

◆ Mualani enters a surfing stance, and can move on land, water and liquid Phlogiston swiftly. While in this state, Mualani applies "Marked as Prey" to opponents upon coming into contact with them and gains Wave Momentum. In this state, Mualani's Normal Attacks will be converted to Sharky's Bites, and consumes Wave Momentum to increase the DMG dealt by Sharky's Bites. When she has 3 stacks of Wave Momentum, when Sharky's Bite hits an opponent, she will fire Shark Missiles at nearby opponents Marked as Prey.

◆ Elemental Burst: Boomsharka-laka

◆ Fires a Super Shark Missile that can deal AoE Hydro DMG.

5-Star Character "Turnfire Hunt" Kinich (Dendro)

◇ Vision: Dendro

◇ Weapon: Claymore

◇ A Huitztlan Saurian Hunter skilled at counting costs.

◆ Elemental Skill: Canopy Hunter: Riding High

◆ Kinich can swing in mid-air using a grappling hook. When the grappling hook hits an enemy, it attaches to enemies and Kinich will fire Loop Shots. When Nightsoul points are at max, he can use the Elemental Skill to fire a powerful "Scalespiker Cannon" and deal Dendro DMG to enemies.

◆ Elemental Burst: Hail to the Almighty Dragonlord

◆ Unleashes the power of the Almighty Dragonlord, K'uhul Ajaw. Ajaw will unleash his Dragon Breath at intervals, dealing AoE Dendro DMG.

4-Star Character "Mottled Gold Yet Unsmelted" Kachina (Geo)

◇ Vision: Geo

◇ Weapon: Polearm

◇ A young warrior of the Nanatzcayan, given the Ancient Name of "Uthabiti." Kind-hearted and insatiably persistent, she grows stronger and more capable with each setback she faces.

◆ Elemental Skill: Go, Go Turbo Twirly!

◆ Fight alongside Turbo Twirly. Kachina can ride Turbo Twirly to move swiftly, climb, and slam enemies, and also summon it independently to deal continuous DMG.

◆ Elemental Burst: Time to Get Serious!

◆ Creates a Turbo Drill Field that increases Turbo Twirly's attack AoE and its Movement SPD when Kachina is riding it.

III. New Domain

Domain of Forgery: Ancient Watchtower

◇ Legend has it that in ancient times, the colossal beasts that roamed the land had a civilization of their own. After exploring the entirety of the land and surrounding sea, they built these structures in an attempt to cast their gaze upon the even wider world beyond. But these wise beasts have long since vanished, and in the present, no one now knows the true purpose of this place.

◇ Unlock Criteria (satisfy any one of the criteria below to unlock):

• Adventure Rank 10 or above

• Complete "Knights of Favonius" in Archon Quest Prologue: Act I "The Outlander Who Caught the Wind"

◆ Challenge the Domain to obtain Weapon Ascension Materials.

Domain of Mastery: Blazing Ruins

◇ In that era, when people had yet to attain true mastery of the flames, there were sages in all corners of the world who pondered the fire and sought to fathom its mysteries. It is said that these ruins are all that is left of what was once a ring-shaped ceremonial site. Here, these sages attempted to perfect the rituals required to transform phlogiston. Among the heroes who later followed the mighty one into the belly of the volcano, there were several who once trained in this place.

◇ Unlock Criteria (satisfy any one of the criteria below to unlock):

• Adventure Rank 10 or above

• Complete "Knights of Favonius" in Archon Quest Prologue: Act I "The Outlander Who Caught the Wind"

◆ Challenge the Domain to obtain Character Talent Materials.

Domain of Blessing: Sanctum of Rainbow Spirits

◇ It is said that the first sage to learn how to use phlogiston created a place of great purity, and that within this place, warriors were taught to wield the power of prismatic flames and flowing light. Later, even before they were used to resist common enemies, these powers were employed as weapons in conflicts between the tribes. Disheartened by this state of affairs, the Sage of the Stolen Flame withdrew from the world, vanishing from the pages of many tales. Devoid of their original purpose, these empty trial grounds were left behind, along with all those stories that came to be forgotten...

◇ Unlock Criteria (satisfy any one of the criteria below to unlock):

• Adventure Rank 10 or above

• Complete "Knights of Favonius" in Archon Quest Prologue: Act I "The Outlander Who Caught the Wind"

◆ Challenge the Domain to obtain Artifacts in the "Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City" and "Obsidian Codex" sets.

IV. New Equipment

1. New Weapons (Examples based on Refinement Rank 1)

Surf's Up (5-Star Catalyst)

Max HP increased by 20%. Once every 15s, for the 14s after using an Elemental Skill: Gain 4 Scorching Summer stacks. Each stack increases Normal Attack DMG by 12%. For the duration of the effect, once every 1.5s, lose 1 stack after a Normal Attack hits an opponent; once every 1.5s, gain 1 stack after triggering a Vaporize reaction on an opponent. Max 4 Scorching Summer stacks.

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 5-star weapon Surf's Up (Catalyst) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Fang of the Mountain King (5-Star Claymore)

Gain 1 stack of Canopy's Favor after hitting an opponent with an Elemental Skill. This can be triggered once every 0.5s. After a nearby party member triggers a Burning or Burgeon reaction, the equipping character will gain 3 stacks. This effect can be triggered once every 2s and can be triggered even when the triggering party member is off-field. Canopy's Favor: Elemental Skill and Burst DMG is increased by 10% for 6s. Max 6 stacks. Each stack is counted independently.

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 5-star weapon Fang of the Mountain King (Claymore) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Ash-Graven Drinking Horn (4-Star Catalyst)

When an attack hits an opponent, deal AoE DMG equal to 40% of Max HP at the target location. This effect can be triggered once every 15s.

◆ Ash-Graven Drinking Horn (Catalyst) and its refinement materials can be redeemed in the "Traces of Artistry" event.

▌Forgeable Weapons

Flute of Ezpitzal (4-Star Sword)

Using an Elemental Skill increases DEF by 16% for 15s.

Earth Shaker (4-Star Claymore)

After a party member triggers a Pyro-related reaction, the equipping character's Elemental Skill DMG is increased by 16% for 8s. This effect can be triggered even when the triggering party member is not on the field.

Footprint of the Rainbow (4-Star Polearm)

Using an Elemental Skill increases DEF by 16% for 15s.

Ring of Yaxche (4-Star Catalyst)

Using an Elemental Skill grants the Jade-Forged Crown effect: Every 1,000 Max HP will increase the Normal Attack DMG dealt by the equipping character by 0.6% for 10s. Normal Attack DMG can be increased this way by a maximum of 16%.

Chain Breaker (4-Star Bow)

For every party member from Natlan or who has a different Elemental Type from the equipping character, the equipping character gains 4.8% increased ATK. When there are no less than 3 of the aforementioned characters, the equipping character gains 24 Elemental Mastery.

◆ You can exchange for Weapon Forging Blueprints from Alom in the Stadium of the Sacred Flame: Temple of Pax by consuming certain amounts and types of materials.

2. New Artifacts

Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City (4–5 Stars)

◇ 2-Piece Set: When a nearby party member triggers a "Nightsoul Burst," the equipping character regenerates 6 Energy.

◇ 4-Piece Set: After the equipping character triggers a reaction related to their Elemental Type, all nearby party members gain a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus for the Elemental Types involved in the elemental reaction for 15s. If the equipping character is in the Nightsoul's Blessing state when triggering this effect, all nearby party members gain an additional 28% Elemental DMG Bonus for the Elemental Types involved in the elemental reaction for 20s. The equipping character can trigger this effect while off-field, and the DMG bonus from Artifact Sets with the same name do not stack.

Obsidian Codex (4–5 Stars)

◇ 2-Piece Set: While the equipping character is in Nightsoul's Blessing and is on the field, their DMG dealt is increased by 15%.

◇ 4-Piece Set: After the equipping character consumes 1 Nightsoul point while on the field, CRIT Rate increases by 40% for 6s. This effect can trigger once every second.

V. New Main Story

1. New Archon Quests

Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

Permanently available after the Version 5.0 update

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act VI "Bedtime Story"

• The "Focused Experience Mode" function is available for this quest.

Adds the "Quick Start" function:

(1) Once unlocked, you can maintain your current Archon Quest progress, while accepting and progressing through Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn." This function will be available until the Version 6.0 update.

(2) Unlock Criteria: Reach Adventure Rank 28 or above, and complete Archon Quest Chapter I: Act III "A New Star Approaches."

Archon Quest Chapter V: Act II "Black Stone Under a White Stone"

Permanently available after the Version 5.0 update

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

• The "Focused Experience Mode" function is available for this quest.

2. New Tribal Chronicles

"Where the Springs Return"

Act I – Act III of "Where the Springs Return" will be permanently available after the Version 5.0 update

◆ Act I and Act II Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete "Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame" in Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

◆ Act III Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete "Into Eternal Night" in Archon Quest Chapter V: Act II "Black Stone Under a White Stone"

The three acts must be experienced in sequence. You can only unlock the next act after completing the previous one and meeting the corresponding unlock criteria.

"Yupanqui's Turnfire"

Act I and Act II of "Yupanqui's Turnfire" will be permanently available after the Version 5.0 update

Act III of "Yupanqui's Turnfire" will be permanently available after 2024/09/17 18:00

◆ Act I – Act III Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete "Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame" in Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

The three acts must be experienced in sequence. You can only unlock the next act after completing the previous one and meeting the corresponding unlock criteria.

"A Prayer for Blessings, Told to Crested Peaks"

Act I and Act II of "A Prayer for Blessings, Told to Crested Peaks" will be permanently available after the Version 5.0 update

◆ Act I and Act II Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete "Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame" in Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

The two acts must be experienced in sequence. You can only unlock the next act after completing the previous one and meeting the corresponding unlock criteria.

If you use the "Quick Start" function to experience Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn," you can accept the Tribal Chronicles once you meet the criteria for completing the corresponding Archon Quest (you are not restricted by the Adventure Rank 40 or above requirement).

3. New World Quests

New World Quests

"In the Footsteps of the Chosen of Dragons" Quest Chain, "Shadows of the Mountains" Quest Chain, "Tale of Dreams Plucked From Fire" Quest Chain, "Between Pledge and Forgettance" Quest Chain, "To the Night, What is the Night's," "Ripe For Trouble," "To Wish Upon a Star," "Stride on Rainbows, Split the Waves," "The Case of the Crafting Bench," "The Call of Mystical Martial Arts," etc.

VI. New Enemies

Goldflame Qucusaur Tyrant

◇ A Qucusaurus whose extraordinary form is a result of being unable to withstand the great power it has been granted.

It will fly into the air during combat and enter the "Golden Flame" energy-gathering form, creating a shield around itself and launching a Flamewind Feather towards the ground that summons a flamewind. If you cannot destroy the Flamewind Feather before the Qucusaurus dives down into it, the creature will use a Phlogiston Current to return to the skies. This will persist until it is exhausted and returns to its original form.

Located at Basin of Unnumbered Flames

Gluttonous Yumkasaur Mountain King

◇ A powerful Yumkasaurus that has experienced numerous impressive battles.

It will collect Flamegranates during combat and spit them out as bombs. However, if you can use Pyro to ignite the Flamegranates before the Gluttonous Yumkasaur Mountain King can swallow them, who knows what might happen...

Located at Tequemecan Valley

Wayob Manifestation

"Rock-Cavernous Wayob Manifestation," "Flow-Inverted Wayob Manifestation," and "Foliar-Swift Wayob Manifestation"

◇ The Wayob worshipped by the various tribes of Natlan manifest themselves in the form of these obsidian totems.

In battle, the Wayob Manifestation will deploy its Arena: Moment of Trial, creating a shield for itself and absorbing the Elemental Energy of all characters in the Arena. Characters in the Arena deal greatly increased DMG. If the shield is broken before the Arena expires, they will also regain a large amount of Energy. However, if they fail to break the shield, the Manifestation will generate a barrier based on the value of the remaining Elemental Shield.

Secret Source Automaton: Hunter-Seeker

"Secret Source Automaton: Hunter-Seeker"

◇ An ancient mechanical creation that wanders Natlan to this day, though its function is not known.

When characters enter and maintain the Nightsoul's Blessing state, the Secret Source Automaton: Hunter-Seeker will start progressing through its Adaptive Countermeasures. Once those are complete, the Hunter-Seeker will unleash its special cluster laser. Still, risk and opportunity go hand-in-hand, so perhaps you might take this opportunity to deal immense damage to it...

Avatars of Lava

"Fluid Avatar of Lava" and "Eroding Avatar of Lava"

◇ A strange monster that must continually absorb heat to stay in an active state.

However, it seems to damage itself should it absorb too much. After you use Pyro attacks to cause it to fully enter an Overburn state, it will rapidly disintegrate.

Natlan Saurians

"Koholasaurus," "Tepetlisaurus," "Yumkasaurus," "Koholasaur Whelp," "Tepetlisaur Whelp," and "Yumkasaur Whelp."

◇ The Saurians that inhabit the land of Natlan.

Special dragons that were better able to adapt to their environments, taking on different shapes and forms based on their surroundings.

Sauroform Tribal Warriors

"Flowing Blade Skirmisher," "Flowing Blade Grease-Saw," "Flowing Blade Harpoon-Thrower," "Koholasaurus Warrior: Waveshuttler," "Koholasaurus Warrior: Reefsplitter," "Forged Sand Interrogator," "Forged Sand Shieldbreaker," "Forged Sand Javelineer," "Tepetlisaurus Warrior: Shard Striker," "Tepetlisaurus Warrior: Rockbreaker Blade," "Swiftstep Seeker," "Swiftstep Storm Scout," "Swiftstep Armed Courier," "Yumkasaurus Warrior: Whirling Leaves," and "Yumkasaurus Warrior: Flowing Skyfire"

◇ The warriors of Natlan's great tribes who fight for the honor and glory of their people.

Over long years of living and fighting alongside their Saurian companions, these tribal warriors have gradually acquired their traits and learned how to apply them on the field of battle.

VII. Other Update Details

New Recipes:

○ Monstadt "Good Hunter": Meatnado and Apple Roly Poly

○ Cipac (NPC): Grainfruit Chips and Grilled Fish in Mint Sauce

○ Chanca (NPC): Grainfruit Meat Soup and Cup O' Grainfruit

○ Obtained from talking to Chanca (NPC): Tatacos

○ Exploration Rewards: Saurus Crackers, Stuffed N' Mashed Potatoes, Chocolate, Blazed Meat Stew, and Fried Shrimp Beanballs

○ World Quest Rewards: Sour Sauce Kipper and Forest of Color

○ Natlan Reputation System Rewards: Glittering Gemstones, Hot Spring O'Clock, and Puff Pops

○ Event Reward: Delights of Wondrous Wonderings

New Character Specialty Dishes:

○ Mualani's specialty: Pass the Luck

○ Kinich's specialty: Saurian Hunter's Reward

○ Kachina's specialty: Impeccably Organized

Adds new "Meetings in Outrealm: Series V," "Imaginarium Theater: The Second Folio," "Natlan: The Land of Fire and Competition (I)," and "Duelist: Series I" Achievement categories, and adds new Achievements to the "Wonders of the World" category.

Adds Set 34 of "Paimon's Paintings" chat emojis.

Adds some prompts for loading screens.

New Namecards:

"Mualani: Sharky": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Mualani

"Kinich: Ajaw": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Kinich

"Kachina: Twirly": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Kachina

"Natlan: Divine Army": Reward for reaching the highest Reputation Level with 1 tribe

"Natlan: Fiery Dragon": Reward for reaching the highest Reputation Level with 4 tribes

"Achievement: Endpoint": Reward for completing all achievements under "Meetings in Outrealm: Series V"

"Achievement: Feline Fortune": Reward for completing all achievements under "Imaginarium Theater: The Second Folio"

"Natlan: Return of the Flame": Reward for completing all achievements under "Natlan: The Land of Fire and Competition (I)"

"Achievement: Lord of the Night": Reward for completing all achievements under "Duelist: Series I"

"Travel Notes: Primal Fire": Reward obtained via the BP system

Adds new Character Event Wish mechanic "Capturing Radiance." For more information, please visit the "Wish" interface in the game.

Reduces the maximum amount of Fate Points required from 2 to 1 in the Weapon Event Wish "Epitomized Path."

Adds new Artifact Salvage function. Artifacts that have not been enhanced and leveled up can be salvaged into Sanctifying Unction and Sanctifying Essence in Inventory > Artifacts.

Adds some new adjustments to the Artifacts system:

(1) Adds the gadget "Artifact Transmuter," which can be obtained by completing the quests in "Adventurer Handbook > Experience" and can be used to extract and redeem Artifacts.

(2) Adds new Consumable "Sanctifying Elixir": Use the "Artifact Transmuter" to extract a certain number of 5-star Artifacts that have been enhanced to "+4" or above, and convert them into "Sanctifying Elixir" (You can convert Artifacts into 1 "Sanctifying Elixir" per version). You can also obtain "Sanctifying Elixir" by exploring the open world.

(3) You can exchange for certain components of certain Artifact sets by using the "Sanctifying Elixir" in the "Artifact Transmuter." Apart from that, you can also determine the Main Affix and two Minor Affixes (Different Artifact components require different amounts of "Sanctifying Elixir." The same set of Artifacts can only be exchanged once in each version).

Adds new event "Turbo Twirly!": Progress through Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn" and invite the character "Mottled Gold Yet Unsmelted" Kachina (Geo).

Adds World Level 9. Upon reaching Adventure Rank 58, Travelers can complete corresponding World Level Ascension Quests to increase their World Level. After the World Level increases, the levels of monsters and bosses will increase, the challenge difficulty and the rewards dropped will also be increased (Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 58 before the version update can complete Ascension Quests to increase their World Level after the version update).

Adds the Borderland Billet series.

Adds Borderland Billet Conversion for various Weapon types in "Crafting Bench > Conversion": Use Dream Solvent to convert Billets of other types to Borderland Billets for the same Weapon type, or change Borderland Billets to Billets of other types for the same Weapon type.

Adds another 8 sets of Artifacts available to exchange in the Mystic Offering system: Artifact Strongbox: Deepwood Memories, Artifact Strongbox: Gilded Dreams, Artifact Strongbox: Desert Pavilion Chronicle, Artifact Strongbox: Flower of Paradise Lost, Artifact Strongbox: Nymph's Dream, Artifact Strongbox: Vourukasha's Glow, Artifact Strongbox: Marechaussee Hunter, and Artifact Strongbox: Golden Troupe.

Adds new Gadgets: Firstborn Firesprite and Kaboom Box.

Adds new Natlan Reward Gadgets: Pyroculus Resonance Stone and Pyro Treasure Compass.

Adds some of the Harvestable seeds from Natlan to the Seed Dispensary.

Adds new Wildlife: Red Flamingo, Halberd-Crest Bird, Thick-Feathered Ruffed Pheasant, Flowcurrent Bird, Alpaca, Brown Deer, Flying Squirrel, Capybara, Pyro Crystalfly, Blue Mountain Spoonbill, Flowfire Bird, Phlogiston Aphid, Crystal Beetle, and Long-Necked Rhino. You can use the Omni-Ubiquity Net to capture certain Natlan creatures.

"Genius Invokation TCG" Gameplay Update:

New Character Cards: Xianyun, Freminet, and their corresponding Talent cards. Corresponding invitation duels and guest challenges have been added to the Player List.

New Character Card: Hydro Hilichurl Rogue and the corresponding Talent card. The Tavern Challenge has also been added.

New Action Cards: "Xenochromatic Hunter's Ray," "Yumkasaurus," "Koholasaurus," "Stadium of the Sacred Flame," "Atea," "Edict of Absolution," and "Saurian Dining Buddies" can be purchased from Prince at The Cat's Tail.

The Forge Realm's Temper is once again available. The theme of this edition is "The Forge Realm's Temper: Game of Wits":

(1) During The Forge Realm's Temper: Game of Wits, some stages will have special victory and defeat conditions. Adeptly adapt your tactics to complete the challenge and avoid the conditions for defeat!

(2) Within The Forge Realm's Temper: Game of Wits event stages, there will also be special rules that can easily exert influence on the tempo of the match. Fully utilizing these special rules will contribute greatly to your success.

Imaginarium Theater

After the Version 5.0 update, the two Imaginarium Theater seasons will be as follows:

The first season of "Imaginarium Theater" will be available on 2024/09/01 04:00.

Required Elemental Types: Pyro, Hydro, and Dendro

Opening Characters: Dehya, Xiangling, Mualani, Candace, Emilie, and Yaoyao

When Imaginarium Theater is open, the corresponding Opening Characters will obtain Fantastical Blessings.

Special Guest Stars: Kaedehara Kazuha, Kachina, Clorinde, and Raiden Shogun

After the first season of Imaginarium Theater begins, the characters Collei, Cyno, Neuvillette, and Amber will each gain a new "Thespian Trick" that can be exchanged from the NPC Wolfy.

The second season of "Imaginarium Theater" will be available on 2024/10/01 04:00.

Required Elemental Types: Pyro, Electro, and Geo

Opening Characters: Dehya, Chevreuse, Keqing, Fischl, Chiori, and Ningguang

When Imaginarium Theater is open, the corresponding Opening Characters will obtain Fantastical Blessings.

Special Guest Stars: Kinich, Yelan, Venti, and Sucrose

After the second season of Imaginarium Theater begins, the characters Venti, Thoma, Mika, and Navia will each gain a new "Thespian Trick" that can be exchanged from the NPC Wolfy.

After the first season of Imaginarium Theater begins, the following adjustments will be made:

(1) In the new gameplay phase, Wondrous Boons will be updated to "Brilliant Blessings" focused on the current season's three-element reactions. You can continuously upgrade the Blessing level to enhance the effects of the corresponding Elemental Reactions. Based on the new Brilliant Blessings, the refresh mechanic of Performance Events has also been adjusted.

(2) Reduces the number of characters required for each difficulty level, and additional characters included can receive buffs:

a. The number of characters required for Easy mode has been reduced to 8, and you can include an additional 2 characters.

b. The number of characters required for Normal mode has been reduced to 12, and you can include an additional 2 characters.

c. The number of characters required for Hard mode has been reduced to 16, and you can include an additional 4 characters.

Each extra Alternate Cast included will receive additional Fantasia Flowers and increase the Blessing Level (the Blessing Level provides attribute buffs to characters) when the performance begins. Making full use of the special rules can help you better complete the challenge.

(3) Visionary Mode is now available, which can be unlocked after clearing Hard Mode previously. The required number of characters for participation is 22 and 4 additional characters can be added. Both the Debut Performance Gift and Performance Tour Rewards will be increased to 10 acts. Additionally, by completing 10 acts of combat performances in each season of "Imaginarium Theater," you can receive 1 Key of Echoes in the "Envisaged Echoes" gameplay.

(4) The number of "Fantasia Flowers" obtained from completing "Battle: Normal" and "Battle: Defense Sequence" in performances has been increased to 90, and the additional challenges in "Combat Events" have been removed.

(5) The usage limit for the Rewind function has been increased to 2 (on any difficulty mode except Easy mode).

In future updates, the development team will continue to optimize "Imaginarium Theater" based on your feedback and actual data from the gameplay.

Spiral Abyss

The "Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy" and "Unfinished Reverie" Artifact set rewards in "Domain Reliquary: Tier I" and "Domain Reliquary: Tier II" for Spiral Abyss Floors 9–12 will be replaced with the "Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City" and the "Obsidian Codex" sets.

Floor 9 Ley Line Disorder changed to:

• All party members gain a 50% Pyro DMG Bonus.

Floor 10 Ley Line Disorder changed to:

• DMG dealt by characters is increased by 50% when in Nightsoul's Blessing.

Floor 11 Ley Line Disorder changed to:

• All party members gain a 60% Dendro DMG Bonus.

• All party members receive a 60% Hydro DMG Bonus.

Updated the monster lineup on Floors 9 – 12 of the Spiral Abyss.

Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 5.0, the Lunar Phases will be as follows:

Contending Moon

After the active character uses an Elemental Skill, Normal Attack and Elemental Skill DMG is increased by 40% for 12s. For characters in Nightsoul's Blessing, this effect is enhanced: Normal Attack and Elemental Skill DMG is increased by 80%.

※ The above updates to Spiral Abyss will take effect after the Spiral Abyss update on September 16.

〓Adjustments & Optimizations〓

● Quests

Adds pop-up notifications for some newly-added quests before long quest sequences or before battles.

Adjusts the placement of some enemies in the Archon Quest "We Will Be Reunited" to reduce the difficulty of combat.

● Enemies

Reduces the damage dealt by the enemy "Fatui Skirmisher - Cryogunner Legionnaire" when multiple hits of Frost Blast continuously hit a character.

● Serenitea Pot

Increases the load limits for both indoor and outdoor areas in the Serenitea Pot due to stricter performance optimization strategies.

● Exploration

Clicking "Go to collect" under the "Source" of regional specialties now directs to the open world map and displays the areas where you can collect the corresponding specialty.

Now, before reaching the maximum Stamina limit, Travelers can increase Stamina by leveling up any region's Statue of The Seven (meaning Travelers no longer need to fully level up the Statues of The Seven in Mondstadt and Liyue to reach the maximum Stamina limit). After the version update, if a Traveler has already leveled up the Statues of The Seven in regions other than Mondstadt and Liyue, they will receive the corresponding Stamina increase.

Adjusts the difficulty of battling "Ruin Hunters" in the World Quest "Nine Pillars of Peace," and significantly reduces the difficulty at World Levels 1 and 2.

Increases the material drop rates of enemies "Nobushi," "Kairagi," "Specters," "Abyss Mages," "Ruin Guards," "Ruin Hunters," and "Ruin Graders."

Increases the total pin limit on the map from 200 to 250.

● Food

Adds new icons to some foods with special effects.

When using certain specialty foods (such as character specialties), secondary confirmation pop-ups or prompts will appear.

Adds filtering and sorting functions on the Inventory > Food interface.

Optimizes the sorting rules on the "Cook" interface.

Optimizes the filter function on the "Cook" interface, adding filter options related to Proficiency.

Adjusts the order of using food to revive characters: Low-rarity basic food will appear first.

● Shop

Adds the "Crown of Insight" as an exchangeable item in the "Shop" > "Paimon's Bargains" > "Starglitter Exchange," priced at Starglitter ×50, with a monthly refresh.

"Mystic Enhancement Ore" is now available for unlimited exchange in the "Shop" > "Paimon's Bargains" > "Stardust Exchange," and can be unlocked after exchanging existing "Mystic Enhancement Ore."

● Crafting and Forging

In the "Forging" interface, the number of items that can be forged in a single queue for Weapon Enhancement Materials has been doubled. For example, a single queue can now forge Mystic Enhancement Ore ×10 instead of ×5 (the daily crafting limit remains unchanged).

In the "Forging" interface, when selecting Weapon Enhancement Materials to forge, the maximum quantity will be selected by default.

When crafting "Condensed Resin" at the Crafting Bench, the maximum number of crafting attempts will now be automatically selected based on the remaining amount of "Original Resin" and "Condensed Resin," and the confirmation pop-up has been removed.

When selecting to craft "Condensed Resin" at the Crafting Bench, the number of "Condensed Resin" in the Inventory will now be displayed in the top-right corner of the interface.

● Enhancement

Reduces the frequency of the EXP overflow prompt during character leveling: when the EXP overflow is less than 1,000 (non-refundable), the prompt will no longer appear.

The EXP overflow prompt during weapon enhancement has been changed to a text notification and will no longer appear as a pop-up.

● Stellar Reunion

Updates the "Stellar Reunion" interface.

During the "Stellar Reunion" event, Domain of Mastery and Domain of Forgery rewards from different days will be available at the same time, allowing Travelers to freely choose the material drops they need.

Adds new exploration-related quests.

Adds new character and weapon enhancement-related quests.

Adjusts the daily double drop opportunities in "Reunion Blessing" to 3 times.

Adds new version highlight videos, with rewards available after viewing: Primogems ×40.

Reduces the number of quest objectives related to Archon Quests, and the related rewards have been transferred to that of other quests.

Adds "Reunion Gifts": Starting from Version 5.0, if returning Travelers activate the "Stellar Reunion" and meet the following criteria, "Reunion Gifts" will be unlocked, allowing them to obtain Intertwined Fate ×10 by completing the related quests:

a. Adventure Rank 30 or above

b. Haven't logged into the game for at least 45 consecutive days

c. At least 60 days since the last time they activated "Reunion Gifts."

If a Traveler logs into the game during the Version 4.8 "Stellar Reunion" maintenance period and meets the following conditions, both "Stellar Reunion" and "Reunion Gifts" will be unlocked with the Version 5.0 update:

a. Adventure Rank 30 or above

b. Over 45 days since last activating the "Stellar Reunion" event

c. Haven't logged into the game for at least 45 consecutive days

● Other Systems

After the version update, the characters that appear in the "Theater Lobby" will no longer have quest progress requirements.

Updates the layout of the Account "Profile" interface, adding the number of characters in the Character Showcase and namecards displayed.

In the "Party Setup" > "Configure Team" interface, Travelers can now hold and drag to adjust the party order.

Increases the Inventory limit of Furnishings from 2,000 to 2,200.

When the Reputation Level of a certain region reaches the maximum, the weekly Reputation Quests for that region will no longer be available.

● Battle Pass

Starting from Version 5.0, some Battle Pass missions will be adjusted.

a. In Daily Missions, the Battle Pass EXP for completing "Claim Daily Commission Rewards 4 times" will be increased from 150 to 200.

b. The Missions "Complete 3 Requests" and "Complete 3 Bounties" will be removed from Weekly Missions.

c. New missions will be added in Battle Pass > This BP Period: "Enhance 5-star artifacts a total of 30 levels," "Enhance 5-star artifacts a total of 60 levels," and "Enhance 5-star artifacts a total of 100 levels." Completing these missions will grant Battle Pass EXP x3,600, Primogems x60, and Sanctifying Unction x60 each period.

d. A new mission will be added in Battle Pass > This BP Period: "Complete the Act 8 Performance Challenge in Imaginarium Theater and finalize," which will grant Battle Pass EXP x2,250.

Starting from Version 5.0, Travelers can select 3 out of 4 types of Battle Pass rewards (Mora, Character EXP Materials, Mystic Enhancement Ore, and Artifact Enhancement Materials). Details can be viewed in the Battle Pass interface.

Starting from Version 5.0, the Talent Level-Up Material bundles "Guide to the Original Current" and "Guidance of the Land of Verdure" will be replaced by "Guides of a Journey," and "Philosophies of the Original Current" and "Philosophies of the Land of Verdure" will be replaced by "Philosophies of a Journey," allowing Travelers to choose any Talent Level-Up Material from all regions and types.

Starting from Version 5.0, Travelers will receive "Sanctifying Elixir" upon reaching BP Level 26 in the Gnostic Hymn (information about "Sanctifying Elixir" can be found in the "Other Update Details" section of this notice).

Optimizes the Battle Pass system interface.

Updates the skip function for the Battle Pass animation. Viewing history will be recorded starting from Version 5.0, meaning that from Version 5.1 onwards, if Travelers have already watched the Battle Pass cutscene, it will not be replayed the first time the Battle Pass interface is opened after the version update.

● Other

Regarding the adjustments to the Reputation System and Battle Pass Reputation quests, after the Version 5.0 update is completed, the development team will send the following rewards via in-game mail: Mora ×1,000,000. Travelers who reach Adventure Rank 5 or above before 2024/08/28 06:00 (UTC+8) will be eligible to claim this reward. Compensation must be claimed before the end of Version 5.0, so please remember to log into the game to claim it. The mail will be valid for 30 days.

Adjusts some of the terrain in the adjacent "Desert of Hadramaveth" area due to the release of a new area.

In "Envisaged Echoes," adjusts the collision size of some parts of the scenery in Jean's challenge stage to prevent enemies from being abnormally stuck in the walls when knocked back.

〓Bug Fixes〓

● Enemies

Fixes an issue whereby when challenging the enemy "Hydro Tulpa," the character's attacks would incorrectly lock onto the "Half-Tulpa" that appear instead of the "Hydro Tulpa" itself under certain circumstances.

Fixes an issue whereby the enemy "Fatui Skirmisher" would not re-enter combat for a long time after disengaging in certain circumstances.

Fixes an issue whereby the combat difficulty of some enemies did not adjust dynamically at different World Levels. Once this issue is fixed, the DMG dealt by some enemies may change.

● Character

Fixes an issue on certain Android devices whereby Clorinde's Elemental Burst animation would be delayed when she casts her Elemental Burst.

Fixes an issue on certain Android devices whereby the model of the character Gaming could not be displayed properly.

Fixes an issue whereby the effect of Emilie's Lv. 6 Constellation would abnormally fail to take effect when revived at a "Statue of The Seven" after being defeated by certain enemies.

Fixes an issue whereby the direction of the attack effects would be abnormal when Emilie performs a Plunging Attack under certain circumstances.

● Genius Invokation TCG

Fixes an issue whereby there were errors in the description or text display of some cards.

Fixes an issue whereby some "companion" cards generated by "Puca's Support" had effects inconsistent with those played from the Hand and adjusts the list of possible "companion" cards that can be generated.

● Audio

Fixes an issue whereby the game music would be abnormal in the domain of Nahida's Story Quest "Lingering Warmth."

Fixes an issue whereby there is a chance that the sound effects of character movement would be missing when Sigewinne moves in the water.

Fixes an issue whereby in the "Character" > "Profile" > "Voice-Over" interface, there was an error in Arlecchino's Chinese voice line for "When the Wind Is Blowing."

Fixes an issue in the "Genius Invokation TCG" gameplay mode whereby some of the voice lines for Navia did not match the actual in-game actions. After the fix, the corresponding relationship between certain voice lines and in-game actions will be adjusted.

● Other

In the Simplified Chinese "Tutorial" and other interfaces, some descriptions incorrectly refer to the effect as "Shield," and has been adjusted to "Ward" (this issue also exists in other language interfaces and will be fixed in a future update).

Fixes an issue whereby the book model of the Furnishing "Hardcover Storybook: 'Simulanka'" would disappear abnormally under certain circumstances.

Fixes an issue whereby after completing a performance in "Imaginarium Theater," the "Performance Cast" would display abnormally during the finalization screen if all characters in the team were defeated.

Fixes an issue whereby the game would not pause on the finalization screen after failing a performance in "Imaginarium Theater."

Fixes an issue whereby there was an image error in the artwork background of Kirara's outfit "Phantom in Boots."

Fixes an issue whereby in certain situations, the character would incorrectly retain some expressions after exiting "Photo Mode."

Fixes an issue whereby there was a chance that the achievement "Melting... Away..." could not be completed.

Fixes some text errors in certain languages and optimizes text. (Note: Related in-game functions have not changed. Travelers can view the changes in different languages by going to the Paimon Menu > Settings > Language and changing the Game Language.)

◆ Optimizes inconsistencies between certain voice-overs and the corresponding lines.

◆ Optimizes certain English translations.

〓Genius Invokation TCG Balance Adjustment〓

Adjusts the effect of the Talent Card "Featherfall Judgment" of the Character Card "Cyno": Adjusts "... uses Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer while having at least 2 levels of Pactsworn Pathclearer's Indwelling effect, deal +2 DMG. (Once per Round)" to "... uses Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer while having at least 2 levels of Pactsworn Pathclearer's Indwelling effect, DMG dealt by Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer +1. (Max twice per Round)."

Adjusts the effect of the Elemental Skill of the Character Card "All-Devouring Narwhal": The effect "Deals 1 Hydro DMG. This character deals +1 DMG for every 3 extra max HP provided by Insatiable Appetite (Max +4)" will be adjusted to "(Max +3)."

Adjusts the "Deep Devourer's Domain" effect of the Character Card "All-Devouring Narwhal": Adjusts the "increases in Max HP" effect from taking effect immediately to taking effect at the end of the Round.

Adjusts the number of times the damage negation effect triggered by "When the character to which this is attached takes DMG" occurs per Round for the Equipment Card "Prospector's Drill": Adjusted from "Twice per Round" to "Once per Round."

Adjusts the effect of "Bond of Life" state: The Bond of Life can now negate healing effects associated to the "increases in Max HP" effect.

After the version update is completed, the rewards for the web event "Off We Go to the Nation of Pyro!" will be issued officially: "Ring of Yaxche," "Footprint of the Rainbow," and "Earth Shaker," along with their corresponding Ascension Materials: Delirious Decadence of the Sacred Lord ×6, Blazing Sacrificial Heart's Terror ×3, Axis of the Secret Source ×3, Shard of a Shattered Will ×3, Ignited Stone ×3, Sentry's Wooden Whistle ×4, and Damaged Mask ×2. These rewards will be sent to Travelers via in-game mail.

a. Travelers who logged into the web event "Off We Go to the Nation of Pyro!" and cheered for the Sacred Flame Pilgrimage before the version update will receive an in-game mail approximately 2–12 hours after the update is complete. The mail will be valid for 30 days, so Travelers should log in to the game and claim the attachment within 30 days from receiving the mail.

b. Travelers who log into the web event "Off We Go to the Nation of Pyro!" and cheer for the Sacred Flame Pilgrimage after the version update will receive the reward mail within 5–10 minutes after completing the relevant reward objectives. The mail will be valid for 30 days, so Travelers should log in to the game and claim the attachment within 30 days from receiving the mail.

*This is a work of fiction and is not related to any actual people, events, groups, or organizations.

"PlayStation", "PS5", "PS4", "DualSense", "DUALSHOCK" are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

[hpowellsmith]

Honor Bound: Recruitment Day

It's Honor Bound week! The game will be out on 5th December!

While you wait, you can play this mini prequel about a day in the life of the Honor Bound PC, age 17.

Today, the Teranese Service recruiters are coming to Elene's Prospect. You'll work in the military for years after your mandatory service ends - but you don't know that yet.

-

More things to do before 5th December comes around:

Play Honor Bound Chapters 1-3 for free

Wishlist Honor Bound on Steam

Read more about Honor Bound on the forum developer thread

Play Five Months Ago: a mini prologue in which the PC is given their new assignment

And if you're still keen for more before the release comes around, here are a plethora of blogposts to read:

The Honor Bound setting and culture

Building your Honor Bound MC and how I wrote the game to be super responsive to your MC's personality, background, emotions, injury, and trauma responses

How I wrote each of the romanceable characters, plus excerpts from some of their moments in game

Enjoy!

[blacktabbygames]

Hi, I admit I dont really know what the process for this looks like, but would you ever consider adding Slay the Princess to the Playstation Plus subscription service, or to Xbox GamePass? Even temporary, with a time limit?

This might be something we do towards the very end of Slay the Princess' life cycle, but subscription services are a pretty hard sell for us in general. I don't think they're sustainable for the games industry as a whole, and they're a contributor to some of the race-to-the-bottom mentality. (Absolutely zero judgment for folks who use these services, btw. *I* use these services, but then I also know that I never actually buy a game after getting it on Game Pass or PS+; this is really just about the corporate side of things)

A big news item in the industry over the past month was the closure of Tango Gameworks, the Microsoft-owned studio that made Hi-Fi Rush last year, a wonderful game that got a bunch of awards and scored an 87 on Metacritic.

There's been a lot of speculation around this closure, and to add to that speculation, I believe that at the end of the day, Hi Fi Rush lost a lot of money, at least on paper.

It was shadow-dropped as a day 1 gamepass exclusive, which meant that there was no marketing done in advance, and sales were immediately cannibalized. (Side note— Hi-Fi Rush is maybe the only game I've picked up on Game Pass that I turned around and bought a Steam copy of, mostly because I wanted to play it on my Steam Deck.)

Since Tango was owned by MS, this was almost certainly a deliberate choice to make Game Pass seem more appealing, and even then, the studio behind a *hit* game was closed for financial reasons. So we're not sure that's a part of the industry we want to dance with.

I know this probably seems at odds with our stance on piracy, but at the end of the day, I think they're different beasts, and it's the scale, perceived legitimacy, and corporatization of subscription services that gives me a lot of pause, especially with Game Pass, which tends to double-release for PC and console. And on the flipside, I legitimately don't think piracy hurts developers.

So again, I think if we were to do something like this, it would be towards the end of the game's life, or it would be something tied more to an isolated ecosystem (i.e. if we do mobile, something like Apple Arcade, since people don't really *buy* mobile games, and the overlap with console + PC is very small.)

[askagamedev]

From past responses you clearly have some experience with the console cert process. I was wondering: why do so few games offer cross platform play? Does the cert process become disproportionately more difficult when communicating to other systems becomes involved? Or is it just a difficult feature from a purely engineering pov? Thank you!

There are two major groups of hurdles to crossplay - technical and political. Both of these issues were primarily ironed out by Epic in late 2018, and then they opened up the doors for everybody else by releasing their set of crossplay tools and tech to the public for free.

On the technical side, the various walled garden networks - PSN, XBL, Nintendo Online - each have their own set of protocols, ports, technology, etc. They do not talk to each other or transfer information in the same way. There's a good reason for this - they weren't built by the same people or using the same technology, so their internal workings are all different. In order to solve this, the any third party developer needs to build a system that can take data from any supported service and translate it in real time so all players on other platforms understand what's happening in the game. This requires a fairly hefty engineering effort.

On the political side, console platform networks are walled gardens that generate a lot of revenue for the platforms. Every sale within that walled garden typically earns the platform owner a 30% cut. This is why they can afford to sell game consoles at a loss, they hope to make it back from their users. Allowing other players on other platforms to play with their users takes away from their exclusivity. This attitude permeates their certification rules, which are then enforced on all third party developers. Even now that crossplay is allowed, there are a lot of rules in place about things like communication between platforms (e.g. Rocket League was not allowed to let Playstation players communicate with PC players because of potential content ratings).

In 2018, Epic pushed to allow crossplay for their lifestyle game juggernaut Fortnite. Microsoft had already been dabbling in that arena by allowing Xbox to play with PC players (since most players ran on Windows anyway, so they were both Microsoft platforms), but Sony refused. Epic smoothed this over by paying Sony a significant sum of money to 'make up for lost revenue' and developing their own tools and technology to handle the technical issues of allowing crossplay. Sony begrudgingly agreed, so Fortnite went crossplay. Then, in typical fashion, Epic released their entire suite of crossplay tools to the public for free. Games like Dauntless and Rocket League soon followed to crossplay, and by 2019 Sony had changed their stance to accept crossplay.

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[knick-global]

The Rising Trend of Play-to-Earn Games and Innovative Development Companies in the USA

In recent years, the gaming industry has witnessed a revolutionary shift with the emergence of play-to-earn games. These games allow players to earn real-world rewards and even make a living through their in-game achievements. Alongside this trend, various innovative game development companies in the USA have been leading the charge in creating immersive experiences through procedural animation and web-based augmented reality (AR) development. In this blog, we will explore the growing significance of play-to-earn games USA and highlight some prominent USA-based companies driving the advancements in procedural animation and web AR development.

Play-to-Earn Games: A Gamechanger in the Industry:

Play-to-earn games, also known as blockchain-based games or decentralized gaming, have disrupted the traditional gaming landscape. These games leverage blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to create unique ecosystems where players can earn digital assets, tokens, or even real-world currencies. By participating in gameplay, completing tasks, and achieving in-game milestones, players can unlock valuable rewards that can be traded or monetized outside the game.

The concept of play-to-earn has gained immense popularity due to its potential to provide financial independence and create new economic opportunities for players. With the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which enable the ownership of unique digital assets, play-to-earn games have seen explosive growth. Players can buy, sell, and trade these digital assets, allowing for a vibrant virtual economy that transcends traditional gaming boundaries.

Prominent Play-to-Earn Game Development Companies in the USA:

Forte: Based in San Francisco, Forte is a leading play-to-earn game development company that focuses on building blockchain-based ecosystems for game developers and players. Their platform enables the creation of in-game economies and facilitates secure and transparent transactions using blockchain technology.

Immutable: Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with a strong presence in the USA, Immutable has developed the popular play-to-earn game "Gods Unchained." This blockchain-based trading card game allows players to earn digital assets that hold real-world value, creating a thriving marketplace for collectors and players alike.

Procedural Animation: Breathing Life into Virtual Worlds:

Procedural animation is a technique that empowers developers to create lifelike and dynamic movements within virtual environments. By using algorithms and mathematical functions, developers can generate animations that respond intelligently to in-game interactions, enhancing immersion and realism.

Several game development companies in the USA specialize in procedural animation, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in virtual worlds:

SideFX: Based in Santa Monica, California, SideFX develops Houdini, a powerful software widely used in the entertainment industry for procedural animation, visual effects, and game development. Houdini's procedural workflow empowers developers to create complex animations and simulations efficiently.

Giant Sparrow: Known for their critically acclaimed game "What Remains of Edith Finch," Giant Sparrow is a game development studio located in Santa Monica, California. They excel in combining procedural animation techniques with compelling storytelling, creating emotionally engaging experiences for players.

Web AR Development: Augmenting Reality through the Browser:

Web-based augmented reality (AR) development has opened up new avenues for creating interactive and immersive experiences accessible through web browsers.

By leveraging web technologies such as WebGL and WebXR, developers can deliver AR content directly to users' devices without the need for installing additional apps.

Prominent Web AR Development Companies in the USA: 8th Wall: Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, 8th Wall specializes in developing tools and platforms that enable web-based AR experiences.

Their technology allows developers to build and deploy AR content easily across a wide range of devices, empowering them to create engaging and interactive web AR.

[stanwixbuster]

jynx absolutely fascinates me as a game dev because they're like. inspiration but in the opposite way of literally everything they've ever done

jynx decided they want to make touhou-like shmups, and decided to approach this by building most patterns around extremely fast bullets relying entirely on player reaction or having already seen a pattern before, infamously the most disliked and player-antagonistic way of approaching bullet hells

jynx added a great iteration on touhou-like shmups with flash bombing, an infinitely regenerating way to clear bullets if you put yourself in active danger in contrast to the use of bombs as a safe but finite resource, and then made sure you could only use it if you aren't focusing your shots, which you spend over 90% of a touhou-like doing

jynx created "absurdly extra" stages just as a complete fuck you to the player. half of them are humanly impossible to complete

jynx's version of character development is to add more characters. jynx will drop one of the most fascinating backstories you've ever heard that has groundbreaking and sweeping impacts on len'en lore, yet somehow being entirely consistent with it, and then proceed to do literally nothing and minutes later introduce another character with one of the most fascinating backstories you've ever heard. len'en has 40+ characters and all of them have been in perpetual Big Things Are Coming hell for over half a decade

jynx has spent over an alledged 15 years working on the world and lore in mugenri and the outside world, desperately wants to share this and continually mentions the short stories and lore dumps they write, which we never see, because they have somehow convinced themself the only way to show this story is through touhou-likes, which are notable for showing "story" as an excuse for people to shoot bullets at each other

jynx treats feature creep like an arms race. there isn't a single idea they come up with that doesn't end up in a game or is planned to at a later date. len'en 4 is still technically unfinished despite it having enough paths to dwarf all the previous len'en games combined thrice over and featuring the entire cast of the series in it (i will stress again, 40+ characters), and they've promised a dlc with even more stuff to do

jynx wanted to make a mobile cafe management simulator after having made nothing but bullet hell shmups on pc, just because it sounded fun, realised their previous tools couldn't make mobile games well, realised they'd be going in entirely blind on a new tech stack, realised they'd be going in blind on a genre they have no experience with, decided to tag on a second entire game to the cafe management with a turn-based rpg, realised they also have no experience with that genre, continued anyway, learnt how to use unity from the ground up, realised the multitude of issues unity development brings, decided every single character also needed to be in this one with unique boss battles, realised the problems of having 40+ character assets and 5min+ music themes in a mobile game that very infamously is a platform you need to stick to strict asset and tech limitations, decided to stream in assets from a server, made it a live service game because it would be online and that was an obvious next step, stuck through it, totalling in five years of dev time to make a full "gacha" game that is generous beyond belief and makes them a net zero in ad revenue vs server costs

jynx iterates nothing. literally everything you see in their games is the first go and if it sucks, too bad

jynx creates all their music with default fl studio sounds and the touhou trumpet. everything's unmixed. they earnestly believe that loud = better

jynx, allegedly, "blacks out" when making music after hitting some kind of flow state, and wakes up with a complete track. like everything else, these are never iterated on

jynx wrote the entirety of len'en 4's 100,000+ word script in one week. i don't even have a funny comment for this one

jynx doesn't think len'en would fit the format of a visual novel despite the fact len'en 4 has a 100,000+ word script

jynx refuses to collab with anyone for any reason. motives unclear

jynx did three 12 hour back-to-back livestreams crunching to finish book of the cafe. literally no part of this is a good idea

jynx is like the quintessential representation of everything you shouldn't do as a game dev. they should have burnt out years ago and been remembered as nothing but a random quirky touhou ripoff that was an interesting yet janky interpretation but ultimately went nowhere and YET here we are coming in to len'ens decade anniversary

how the fuck is jynx a real person. why am i so obsessed with everything they've ever made