Hello again!

A new demo version just dropped on Steam and Itch. It's version 0.8.2.1, and it contains many quality of life updates, and even some new content as well. See, during some playtests I've noticed people are starting to doze off during the intro cutscene. I had to do something about it! 

And eventually, I did. I did have a nagging feeling that besides being rambling and technical in nature, the intro didn't really serve its main purpose, that is, give a clear goal for the player. I liked the general geeking-outery in the old intro, but after all, I had written much, but said a little. Or like Aki from LGIN said,

Sometimes the writing gets in the way of the story you're trying to tell.

I had to think about how to approach overhauling the intro. I didn't like the thought of rewriting everything, but it seemed more and more inevitable by the minute...

Then, one day, when I was taking a shower (somehow, that's where these kind of ideas usually come to me), everything just clicked. I understood immediately what the intro needed! It was dialogue - and not just any dialogue, but dialogue with...  

Oops, let's not spoil everything! You get to experience it yourself!

But wait, before you jump into the new demo, some announcements are due...

About that world domination

I kinda went overboard and applied for multiple events this fall. You know, so I would get accepted to even one?! 

As the image above already tells, I did get accepted. And not to just one: EMUUROM will be featured in all these upcoming events...

• Cerebral Puzzle Showcase - August 3-7: A Steam event showcasing "thinky" games old and new. EMUUROM certainly is one, and is here in prestigious company!
• DreamHack Beyond Summer Indie Showcase  - August 18-27: A Steam event showcasing indie games, organized by DreamHack - Sweden's biggest gaming festival.
• Games Gathering 2023 Kyiv - August 3-6: An Ukrainian conference for game developers, where people from abroad can participate virtually.
• Busan Indie Connect 2023 - August 25-27: The apparent world's biggest indie game festival, BIC, is held in Busan, South Korea. I'll be attending BICfest on-site.

That's right, I'm travelling to Korea later this summer! Thanks to Suvi from LGIN for giving a heads-up about this opportunity, and for Solip Park for translating a few promotional sentences to Korean. Google Translate wouldn't cut it...!

Let's learn Korean with EMUUROM! The sentence

EMUUROM is a nonviolent creature-scanning exploration game where secrets are hidden in plain sight

is in Korean as follows:

EMUUROM (에무롬)은 평화로운 분위기의 생물 탐색 겸 탐험 게임입니다. 게임 곳곳에 숨겨져 있는 비밀을 찾아 보세요.

See, easy as ㅏㅂㅊ!

Btw, Go check out Solip's webcomic about gamedev expats.

I felt here should be a heading but didn't know what to write in it

So, big events are underway. Thankfully, I don't have to travel into the wide blue yonder alone, as my dear partner/producer is travelling with me. I'm using the opportunity to visit Japan as well, so don't expect many updates from me later this summer, haha!

(Btw, if you happen to be a Korean or Japanese game developer and want to get in touch, email me!)

One more thing before the changelog... For the BIC festival, I had to create a picture for the HUGE booth back wall. My partner had an idea for a custom pixelart scene, so instead of reusing the same Steam assets for 1001th time, I created something new. And it was such a good idea! I'm pretty happy how the artwork turned out - here it is:

The subtle gradient in the water gave such depth to the underwater world, that I ended up applying a similar effect in the game as well. TIC-80 has a support for over 16 colours, after all - you can change the palette every scanline . 

By the way, can you find my signature from the image?

Changelog

So.

As EMUUROM is featured in so many events big and small, I decided to create a new demo build. So let's see what's included!

• New intro cutscene with all-new dialogue!
• Multiple new & revised EMUUDEX entries
• Kaakana is a long boi now. They're fun and bouncy, and most importantly, easier to jump on!
• Once again, boss is easier (and has a new phase) (and the phases are signposted better)
• Stones are not scannable after the first scan
• Level design changes
• Numerous bugfixes

Ungh, I'm getting lazier and lazier with these changelogs.... but not with the game, mind you! Now that I'm done with the demo updates, I can once again try to stop procrastinating with my main quest - finishing the god damn endgame.

I want to finish EMUUROM during this century, after all!

Wishlist EMUUROM
Borb