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Subverse DEV Diary #34

Dear Subverse and StudioFOW Fans,

We’re continuing development on version 1.0 of the game across all areas. Next month we will have some information to share about the projected release date. Exciting times!

Meanwhile we’re reaching into the mailbag to pull out some of your anticipated questions.

Q: Will there be any action for our best pal Dallick?
A: At the moment, we have no plans for a Dallick-specific sex scene. Let's wrap up everything due for the Captain, first!

Q: After the release of Subverse 1.0, do you have any plans to expand the game with DLC (like new Pandora or cosmetics)?
A: We definitely have ideas floating around for cosmetic-specific DLC, but actual development depends on if it's financially feasible. Hopefully, Subverse 1.0 will have enough sales that we can continue development on the game!

Q: What are the current plans for the merch store, can we expect to be able to buy fow and subverse merch this year? Will you ever sell figurines of the subverse waifus and any future costom IP characters?
A: We are presently very inexperienced in the world of merchandising. We'd like to offer some wearable designs in the future, but there aren't plans for figurines just yet. We want to start with the basics before we jump into something as complex as a sculpted figure!

Q: Are we gonna have a module to see DEMI's nips in their full glory in future updates?
A: Nipples? What nipples?

Q: Will there be waifu related DLC like Devotion quests? Can we expect to see a sequel to the game? Will you be doing any movies with the characters from Subverse?
A: We love the Mary Celeste crew, and we still want to create more sexy and fun scenarios with our IP! But this all depends on if we have the funds to keep the lights on after version 1.0 releases!

Q: Are there any plans for challenge modes for ground and space combat, like infinite waves of enemies for example?
A: Yes, if there's time, we'd like to include a challenge mode like this.

Q: Any plans for collabs with other lewd/R34/Hentai adjacent entities?
A: We've just been so swamped with the chaos of trying to finish the game, it's sort of given us tunnel vision, but we'd certainly love the opportunity. We had a lot of fun working with Butcha-u on the Subverse manga, and hope we can collab with more lewd creatives, as well! We actually have a goal on our Throne page currently for more content of this nature.


[h2]ANIMATION[/h2]
[h3]Moneyshot[/h3]
Remember that not all of us is an alien race capable of getting intoxicated without consequences.

If you are prone to negative side effects of alcohol or drugs, steer away. If not, PARTY ON!

Had a lovely time animating this cinematic with Sova, voiced by our queen, Samantha Flowers. It’s rare that two become one, but it happened, and it was beautiful.



[h3]Manski[/h3]
More cinematics, more spoilers I can’t talk about. As I animate this one in particular aboard Mary Celeste’s bridge, I gotta wonder, who’s leaving all this fucking trash all over the place? No way Demi’s this sloppy.



[h3]Massimo Decimo Meridio[/h3]
This was a very challenging month! Working on two different cinematics and switching into Grid combats to polish some content, I, once again, improved my skills in switching contexts! The cinematic I’m currently performing is without any doubt one of my favorite ones, for the level of difficulty and the feelings it emanates! Stay tuned, the big time is almost here!

[h3]Mendez[/h3]
Work continues on the last few cutscenes of the campaign! I’m getting to try doing a lot of new types of character motions that i haven’t done before which is a nice challenge and pretty exciting as I wrap up my Subverse duties.

Cinematic drama drives at full power!



[h2]PROGRAMMING[/h2]
[h3]Hungry JJ[/h3]
Hello there,

Just dropping a couple of quick lines regarding what I have been working on. Now that we have all the devotion quest wrapped up, I have been focusing on the remaining boss fights to complete the main quest. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about these fights other than the characters you encounter will be unique from everything else encountered in the game. Some big and some BIGGER.



[h3]Samantha Flowers[/h3]
Hello everyone,
For personal reasons, I decided it was necessary for me to take some time off this month. However, before leaving my station, I had some fun working on storyboarding for the upcoming cinematics in the next update for the game! How could I NOT make Dallick look as cute as possible?

Also, you can all look forward to an MVP performance by the ever-charming Tecsarc as Erark. I definitely got chills listening to his character’s grand finale (and quite literally final recordings for the character)!

As we try to get to the end of the game’s storyline, I’m frequently faced with the reminder of each of the cast’s final deliverables, or more literally, final words as their characters. I always thought I would be purely blissful to be free from the tasks that are coupled with casting direction, but I’m actually just a little sad. It’s kind of like saying goodbye to a loved one, even though I’m hopeful I’ll be collaborating with everyone again in some way.



[h3]Billy Grande[/h3]
With the Devotion Quests all done, it’s time to focus on BOSS FIGHTS! I’m putting my all to make sure the remaining Grid Combat and Space Combat encounters are exciting and fun.
I’m also excited for a few new things coming that I’ve had a hand in, looking forward to you enjoying those as well!


[h2]ART & MODELING[/h2]
[h3]WTX[/h3]
Work on the outfits continues as I take our already quite revealing outfits and make them EVEN MORE revealing.



[h3]ErinTheSketchy[/h3]
So, back to the main event and things are set in motion. Everybody is taking action... eeeeverybody. Fights and action and freefall in open space and... shhhh, don't say that out loud.




See you next month!

Bis bald,
Till Eulenspiegel

Version 0.9.0 DEVOTION QUEST UPDATE (3/29/24)

New Features
DEVOTION QUESTS
The remaining five devotion quests are now operational. If your devotion level is high enough, you can talk to the girls onboard the Mary Celeste to initiate their final quests to complete their romance arc.
DEVOTION QUEST – TARON
Help Taron achieve her dreams by creating the greatest museum of smut memorabilia in the galaxy. The jewel in the crown of her filthy collection requires some legwork, and breaking into a high-security Imperium vault.
DEVOTION QUEST – SOVA
Help Sova hunt down one of the last few remaining bottles of Rusty Rim’s Cornhole moonshine in the bowels of the infamous Gulag IV wreck. You’re not the only one who is after such a valuable token of alcoholism, however…
DEVOTION QUEST – HUNTRESS
Reclaim the homeworld of the Mawsus from corporate over-exploitation in this thrilling underwater adventure. Take on Hackdivision’s notorious CEO, Slobby Nodick as the hunter becomes the hunted.
DEVOTION QUEST – ELAISHA
Assist Elaisha in the filming of the dirtiest porno in Prodigium’s history, and help her get full control of her content as she splits from her asshole agent.
DEVOTION QUEST – BLYTHE
Go on a wild acid trip with General Blythe herself, and relive the history of the Solars.
Tweaks
  • Tweaked visual aesthetic of the F3N1X primary weapon for readability.
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed visual bug that caused unintended camera view to render for a few seconds after the F3N1X cockpit in-game cutscenes played.


Optimizations
  • Low textures loading during F3N1X cockpit in-game cutscenes.
Known Issues (Does not include all issues)

These issues are known and we will strive to fix them for the 1.0 release
  • Devotion Quest dialogue sections currently are listed under Sidequest with the Intro/Outro tags when replaying archives from the Captain’s Quarters.
  • Poiison VFX sometimes lingers after the unit who had it is destroyed in Grid Combat.
  • Some instances of speech bubble VO still playing during the end mission screen.
  • Not all anomalies in Navigation update visually after a specific event takes place. WIP.
  • Clipping issues during dialogue sections for some newly introduced characters in Fortune’s release.
  • Some characters' animation pose transitions are not in place yet during dialogue sections for this release.
  • If multiple enemies are stunned, when it is their turn, the arrow above their head still renders even after their turn has passed in Grid Combat.
  • Visual bug, when a mantic reaches max level of 40 a white icon will appear the first time you enter the lab, as if there were more levels but goes away after selecting another mantic.
  • Mission log filter inconsistency if you filter out finished missions, then filter out on Nebula’s, the filtered Finished missions will be in the list again.
  • Waifus active, passive and ultimate icons do not always render in the same order from Locker room to selection screen.
  • Visual bug, unlockable abilities/passives not showing up or showing as locked in the Laboratory or Selection screen after the character has reached required level (some known characters Napholeon & Chodestool passed level 30).
  • Character upgrades based on level are not fully implemented for all characters.
  • Imperium’s Shocktrooper Purify status remains on character after Shocktrooper is killed.
  • Visual bug, if a unit has shield and armor and receives damage while the preview damage animation is happening on the health bars, there’s a chance it will show shield or armor remaining on the bar when there is not after the attack (In most cases remaining shield but in the character info it will show zero shield as intended).
  • Alt-Tabbing potentially can cause the game to crash, especially during areas of the game where high loads take place.
  • Report stating Rekall's passive can cause a softlock if an enemy counters with low health and dies from Rekall’s passive.
  • Low texture resolution rendering for some users during dialogue sequences throughout the game.
  • Some users reported odd textures when loading Ela and Taron in PANDORA and Gallery.
  • Framerate drop can cause Mary Celeste to shoot out of the jump-gate in Navigation.
  • Bridge projector fails to update the color scheme throughout Mary Celeste consistently.
  • Physics on dangling pieces such as tentacles or hair (i.e. Huntress or Killi) may clip through the character's body or rapidly vibrate during dialog sequences.
  • Yellow/White screen flashing artifact during space combat when using the FXAA aliasing method. Most likely due to the lens flare and or high bloom values.
  • On rare occasions, an unintentional song plays during some areas of the game.
  • On rare occasions, clicking the ‘Help’ button in the dialogue section of the game can remove the help text but can't be re-enabled until restarting or starting a new scene.
  • Potential stuttering when playing back cinematics for some systems. Note there is an option to disable 4k videos from the graphics tab under settings. This has improved performance for some users.
  • Reports of performance issues on some Space Combat random scenario maps.
  • Animation in You’re Mine Now scene needs finalizing.
  • Replay icons and navigation icon concepts are a work in progress, inconsistencies are known.
  • Completion percentage counters in Navigation are a WIP and may have some inconsistencies.
Notes
  • Grid Combat equipables are currently disabled during devotion quest. There is a balance update as part of 1.0 and we will take another look at enabling equippables for these battles after that.

Subverse DEV Diary #33

Dear Subverse and StudioFOW Fans,

We are delighted to say we are releasing the next version of Early Access on the 29th of March, which will include the remaining devotion quests for Sova, Taron, Ela, Blythe and the Huntress.


[h2]ANIMATION[/h2]
[h3]Moneyshot[/h3]
Many ships means many VFX, many clicks, many animations. MANY!

Tedious repetitive work is necessary sometimes, and in this case, it paid off greatly.
This character also shares a great passion with me, once you see this cinematic, you will know what it is, and I am sure you also have it.

Let me know in the comments, like & subscribe!



[h3]Manski[/h3]
Weeks continue with animation, VFX and lighting tasks, primarily for cinematics as the plotline of Subverse wraps up in time for release. I can’t openly share much due to spoilers, so here’s a modern still life for your consideration.



[h3]Massimo Decimo Meridio[/h3]
Hello folks! This last month I’ve been diving full time into Cinematics! Many surprises are on the way as well as many gorgeous scenes seasoned with amazing environments! As always I throw up a piece of anticipation even though this round doesn’t show up as anything! Something gonna happen here, what exactly is still a mystery, so stay tuned!!


[h3]Mendez[/h3]
I’m taking a break from the dirty stuff to get some more narrative cutscenes animated. One of them is my longest cutscene at just over 3 minutes long, and tells a very key part of the story of Subverse and I’m pretty excited about it.



[h3]Yagskie[/h3]
NOTE: Yag has finished his Subverse animation tasks, and will be moving on to creating post-launch content and other works


[h2]PROGRAMMING[/h2]
[h3]Hungry JJ[/h3]
Hello,

We are in the testing phase for our next release. Most of my work now involves fixing issues, balancing gameplay and polishing the upcoming release. Just before the testing phase started, I was in the middle of wrapping up Blythe’s grid combat mission. The battle will be very colorful and the tiles will impact the outcome of the fight.



[h3]Samantha Flowers[/h3]
Hello everyone,

The month of march has quickly come and gone; I’ve officially wrapped cinematic sound duties for version 0.9.0 and whipped all those pesky subtitles into shape, as well (including all old ones across the game)

I’ve also been doing some game testing of older content, and squashing any sound-related bugs I find.

It feels like it’s been awhile since I’ve done a grid combat task, but I even got to work on some SFX for some upcoming bosses!

My most exciting task this month involved doing some video editing…I can’t say any specifics (yet?), but I hope you’ll all see it soon!



[h3]Billy Grande[/h3]
Super busy month, everyone! I've been working on the mechanics for all our new Devotion Quests, so that they fit the journey of each waifu and provide a fun buildup to what comes next. Which fight did you like best?


[h2]ART & MODELING[/h2]
[h3]WTX[/h3]
Still focusing on the outfits, I’ve spent the last few weeks preparing their models for integration by meticulously fitting this most recent batch of suits onto all the waifus, as well as developing their ‘undress’ variants.



[h3]ErinTheSketchy[/h3]
Hi again. So, Sova went somewhere with Ela and I'm out from under the desk now, working on more stuff. It's getting crowdy over here and I think big things are coming.






See you next month!

Bis bald,
Till Eulenspiegel

Subverse DEV Diary #32

Dear Subverse and StudioFOW Fans,

We’re happy to share some good news for you this month. As promised, development did ramp up and we started the year in good form. In fact, the next update for the game will have not 2, not 3, not 4 but all 5 remaining devotion quests going live at the same time!

HUNTRESS
Travel to the over-exploited homeworld of the mawsus which is currently experiencing an ecological disaster of sorts. Help the Huntress take revenge on Hackdivision Corp, led by their nefarious CEO Slobby Nodick. Partake in an underwater battle for the first time in Subverse’s history and save our beloved squidgirl’s planet!

TARON
Taron wants to open up the greatest museum of smutty artifacts in all of Prodigium – the Smithsbonian! Help Taron “extract” some rare sex toys from one of the most closely guarded Imperium vaults in all of the galaxy. Engage in a dogfight with her old squadmates as the fate of the Smithsbonian hangs in the balance!

SOVA
Sova’s on the hunt for one of the rarest forms of liquor in the universe – Rusty Rim’s Cornhole Moonshine! Join her on an epic adventure to track down one of the last few remaining bottles of this deadly concoction from the bowels of Nu Vegas.

ELA
Ela wants to reward all her fans with the greatest masterpiece of her career, and she enlists you to help organize (and participate) in the event! Join her across a nebula-trotting journey as she makes her way towards the infamous Hotel Clitz!

BLYTHE
This quest is just too crazy to even describe, and I don’t want to spoil anything. I will just say LOVERS OF LORE, HERE WE GO

Update 0.9.0 is scheduled for the end of March, so you don’t have to wait too long for all the goodness!

Here’s the specifics of what the team have been working on this month


[h2]ANIMATION[/h2]
[h3]Moneyshot[/h3]
I’m back channeling my inner dommy mommy, and she wants her revenge fuck badly..!

Sometimes ones specialty can help set the reference and pace of the rest of the shots for other animators to assist. So with my aid, they can also find their inner dommy mommies and create a spectacular cinematic for you to witness.



[h3]Manski[/h3]
Working on the 1.0 release cinematics continues on the animation front, lighting, VFX, fluids and even some emergency rendering.



[h3]Massimo Decimo Meridio[/h3]
This past month, I have been working on several cinematics and boss Space Combat animations! A surprise for all of you is ready to be released!
I enjoyed so much every task I have been assigned to and I am ready to pleasure you with a new great piece of animation regarding Taron ;)



[h3]Yagskie[/h3]
For this month, I’m working on some catgirl content! Enjoy this intimate moment with the Captain!



[h3]Mendez[/h3]
Hard at work on polishing up the devotion quest cinematics, so lots of lewd dirty work for you all to enjoy when it’s released. Here’s a little teaser for Ela’s latest shenanigans.




[h2]PROGRAMMING[/h2]
[h3]Hungry JJ[/h3]
Hello,

Since the last post, I have continued developing the remaining devotion quests. I managed to tackle a few combat missions and more interactive sequences. I enjoyed working on these devotion quests and the former as each quest has its own unique environment and gameplay. Usually there is something about each one that catches me off guard story wise that generate creative ways to develop the game. Getting 5 out at once is a big ask, but I’m glad we’re on track.


[h3]Samantha Flowers[/h3]
Hello everyone,

I’m reaching the final stretch of my tasks on the visual novel scenes for the devotion quests! Blythe’s quest has been a very fun creative challenge. Lots of new lighting effects, one in particular is rather psychedelic! Thanks, Dallick!

I also got to fulfill some casting director related tasks this month; it’s always a treat when the VA’s are eager to assist me in fulfilling the smaller side roles that appear throughout these quests. Making sure these bit parts sound great is an important part of the process of making the Mary Celeste crew shine.



[h3]Billy Grande[/h3]
This month my journey through revamping Prodigium’s hundreds of event planets has concluded, and I’ve been working on rebalancing some Grid Combat aspects that needed some extra care.


[h2]ART & MODELING[/h2]
[h3]WTX[/h3]
Though this month I mostly focused on the waifu outfits (which I don’t want to spoil just yet) I also go to set up a couple more cinematic environments, some of which were built earlier in development and needed a few touch up and tweaks before their in-game reveal.




[h3]ErinTheSketchy[/h3]
Hi guys!
So, I've made that cinematic and now Sova is ready to explode. I'm under the desk now, just in case. I think I'll stay here for a while hehe bye now.





See you next month!

Bis bald,
Till Eulenspiegel

Subverse DEV Diary #31

Dear Fans,

We enter a new year full of new challenges, and the team is eager and rested to take them on!

[h2]ANIMATION[/h2]

The animation team took some time out this month to do some much-needed promo work. We felt it was healthy for them to have a change of pace and work on something a bit more challenging on a creative level, after the constant grind of DQ scenes. They will return to finish off the remaining cinematics next month, and we anticipate them to complete all work on the game in the summer. There will be some exciting news in the future as we near this date, so please keep an eye on the studio’s discord!

-DC



[h2]PROGRAMMING[/h2]
[h3]Hungry JJ[/h3]
Hello,

Recently, I have been focusing on Sova’s final combat mission and Taron’s adventure sequence. Sova’s combat mission will have a unique enemy type to interact with and Taron’s sequence will showcase the environment more than the previous clickable sequences have.



[h3]Samantha Flowers[/h3]
Hello everyone,

As usual, it has been a busy month for me, but even more so than usual! As I steadily apply the SFX for the cinematics that roll in, I’ve also been working on polishing the visual novel segments of the upcoming devotion quests as much as I can. Small details, like making sure the characters' eyelines are pointed at one another, can go a long way!

Also, because I’ve wanted each devotion quest to feel more personal/unique to each character, I’ve still been carefully selecting new music tracks that would speak well to each storyline. By the end of it, I imagine the jukebox is going to look quite full…

Another interesting task, I got to write some fun new dialogue for my favorite nikith, Taron! (Milly, I apologize in advance!) You’ll all hear it once you complete her “heist”!

…Last but not least, SOVA HAS 14 MINUTES WORTH OF SPOKEN DIALOGUE FOR HER DQ!?





[h3]Billy Grande[/h3]

Wishing a Happy New Year to all, full of Subverse! Besides working out the combat mechanics for the upcoming Devotion Quests, I’m continuing my spaceship trip through the Nebulas, visiting the Event Planets and assessing what our crew could do to assist.



[h2]ART & MODELING[/h2]
[h3]WTX[/h3]

Starting off the new year by modelling yet another waifu outfit, this time using Taron as a base model.



[h3]ErinTheSketchy[/h3]

Hi everyone, happy new year!
This was another creative month, working on graphics, storytelling material and more. A lot of things are happening behind the scenes and, let me tell you, the team is all fired up!
Here is a glimpse of what's coming soon.



[h3]Tibor[/h3]
Hello, this is Tibor.

The last few months was a gradual intensifying and isolated work - isolated, as not in prison for creating obscene adult material for innocent computer users, but isolation from a task allocation viewpoint - the tasks are mainly related to the C++ source base.
  • Performed work that relates to users' experience, execution time, module loading, event management, video compression and many other more, relatively low level tasks.
  • Work on a massive game-play improvement by finalizing and integrating the Devotion Meter.
  • Added a new, well tested, industry standard event management library to decouple currently interconnected modules and fix several very problematic reference hell originated problems.
  • Fixing issues from the codebase that create bottlenecks both at development and runtime.
  • Ongoing work on scalability and extendibility that required further fixes. That means we shall have the ability to release free add-ons such as clothes, language packs, etc. following release 1.0.
  • Restructure the whole code base and refactor our Software Bus implementation, so all the above can happen in more efficient manner.
  • Fixing bugs.
  • Finally rolling out a frontend & backend system (Streemster) that will allow us to serve our less fortunate German, South Korean, etc. users who are unable to obtain Subverse via any other commercial channel.

We are entering the final phase of the software development and project. The work ahead of us is exciting and professionally fulfilling. Thanks again very much for your support that makes it possible we can deliver this project.

In the meantime, you can still buy or send as a gift the game for the reduced Early Access price. The final, 1.0 version of Subverse will be a greatly improved gaming experience and a transformed game compared to the current form. The price of 1.0 will be a lot higher. Early Access buyers will have access to that improved game too, by default. .

More info, design and technical content will be at my blog more frequently as we are entering the final phase of the project.

Take care all and talk soon!

Tibor


See you next month!

Bis bald,
Till Eulenspiegel