Subverse News

Hi everyone! Here is our April 2022 update. Let’s hear what the team have to say about their daily struggle of working on titties and ass for a living.

[h2]ANIMATION[/h2]
[h3]Moneyshot[/h3]
I have worked on two extremes of Sova’s sex scenes this month which has a nice contrast to the way you animate. From the softer foreplay to showing off her race’s stretchy anatomy. No Sovas were hurt during this process.

Idles and cinematics have also been one of my priorities. The idles have been my favorite ones to animate to date, I really must like the color blue I guess..
And the Captain takes a literal spin in the F3N1X in an obligatory space battle cinematic.



[h3]Manski[/h3]
I've been working on a cinematic of Elaisha's. Like with other cinematics, I began by sketching a storyboard. Once the storyboard got approved, I posed characters (i.e. blocking) to test how it all looks in practice. More angles and scenes were added when I miscalculated timings or had to better sync overall momentum to Elaisha's theme song. Towards the end, I also added lights to the scene. Since Elaisha is an upbeat character with a darker edge, I tried to use shadows to elicit suspense.



[h3]Massimo Decimo Meridio[/h3]
In this wonderful month I have been put through the ringer known as Sova's Pandora animations, and actually I’m really enjoying animating her. Her different proportions are a new challenge! I have also finished one of the most difficult animations, which was a kissing one.



[h3]Yagskie[/h3]
Lately I've been thinking, most of my siblings are already professional lawyers, architects, and doctors... and look at me... a 3D porn animator! But hey! If my work helps make Subverse better, and our wonderful community enjoy the content, I am happy to be a 3D porn animator.
Anyway, as of this April, I just finished animating this Sova scene that’s waiting for approval. I call it “Sitting on Cap's Lap and Taking a Huge Dump on Him.”



[h3]Mendez[/h3]
Apart from getting to know Sova in a few Pandora scenes, I'm also being brought into the flow of creating animations for in-game dialogue scenes. It's a bit of a different workflow since parts of the character movements are driven by code but I'm really getting the hang of it!



[h3]Brunka[/h3]
Lately, I've been working on a bunch of Pandora animations with our small and blue waifu, Sova. Ever since I started working with her, my mind has been corrupted. I see an adorable blueberry and nothing else.
Oh, I've also been introduced to fluids and now I know how to make people squirt.



[h3]Attila von Fock[/h3]
I'm having more tentacle time this month, there is no limitation in terms of ideas with tentacles. Dealing with tentacles is very challenging for an animator yet interesting at the same time.



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

Just like last time, after each story section release, the main goal is to sequence the next set of gameplay events to take place during Sova’s story quest. It is a collaborative effort dissecting the script and turning into a playable experience for the user.

In addition to this I have also started working on the next Space Combat bossfight. Not sure if I can say this but it involves a character that you may have encountered already that rhymes with the word funtress. 😊



[h3]Prof. Bang Dev[/h3]
Alcohol consumption will take a big role in one of our upcoming experiences, so I did what I must, and made a liquid in bottle shader.

I think it was Half Life Alyx that popularized it, but overall, it's a basic and fun little thing that can help users understand exactly how much liquid is in those beer bottles.

It's more important to know than you think!



[h3]Mrs. Mankrik[/h3]
I have been working on creating a minigame for the next block. In the minigame, the player will have to attempt to outdrink Sova in the form of a rhythm game. It was a challenge to get the difficulty right, since I'm used to playing rhythm games at high difficulties, but we hope players of any skill level will be able to enjoy this minigame.



[h3]Timmeh[/h3]
With the start of this new block I've been going over some more quality of life changes within grid combat. It will now be possible to see chain reaction effects within the preview damage, it will also be easier to see how some AOE's will affect the ground around them even if no enemies are on those tiles to preview the damage itself. With this comes some minor optimizations when targeting.

I've also been looking into reworking out level scaling as currently some characters scale so poorly at the later levels that they simply become unusable, this will require some extensive testing for balancing which will likely lead to some more changes in later blocks.



[h3]HentaiKouhai[/h3]
Hi all. Since the start of the block, I've been working mostly on the grid combat stuff, along with our internal testing team to iron out some of the bugs that we found. I've also started to contribute to some of the space combat missions and a little bit on navigation. Recently, I've been working closely with our game designer for the grid combat implementation of a certain blueberry shortstack that'll bonk the living daylights out of her enemies



[h3]Samantha Flowers[/h3]
A very important criticism I saw amidst the release of the Taron block was concerning the lack of participation from previously recruited crew members, and lack of group oriented interaction in general. Well, I'm very pleased to report that is not the case for the Sova block! This patch is going to be jam packed with characters, new and old, a bit more akin to the writing found in the Elaisha patch.
I've also been hard at work rehearsing and doing retakes for Sova from 2020 to 2022 to try to get things RIGHT and earn my place in walking alongside the absolute powerhouse that is our cast. I hated my performance before, but I'm feeling much more confident about it now, so the experience and practice is paying off!



[h2]ART & MODELING[/h2]
[h3]WTX[/h3]
This month I had the opportunity of putting together the Teelee Arena (or Teerena, for close friends). It's your standard MMA style octagon, but with a sci-fi twist! Here I was able to put Erin's sponsor logos to good use and have Professor Bang's crowd asset give the map a bit more life.



[h3]Portsman[/h3]
I've been bullying Blythe telling her she looks cute in a bunny costume.



[h3]ErinTheSketchy[/h3]
Hi guys! First of all, thank you for the great response to the previous update! It means a lot for all creatives to receive good vibes on their work and it helps reinvigorate them to keep going.
Along with my work as a graphic designer, I've recently been focused towards collecting your feedback. This has resulted in quite a few sleepless nights but its worth it to implement it into the game!
A lot of new things are going on in the game and it's exciting working on them! People, places, plot, adventure and... well... pleasure of course. Stay tuned :D



[h2]Maturing Juniors[/h2]
[h3]Tibor[/h3]



Since I did not want to spam this Dev Diary with a wall of text, if you are interested what I am up to there are more details in my latest blog at tibor.blog - https://tibor.blog/2022/04/27/three-steps-forward-once-step-back/. Take care of yourselves!

[hr][/hr]

See you next month!

Bis bald,
Till Eulenspiegel

• DEVA activation tutorial is now always available if DEVA mode can be activated.
  
• Updated life bars & adrenaline markers over characters' heads in Grid Combat.
  
• Added fade animation when switching outfits on PANDORA’s selection screen.
  
• Added separators between different stats when viewing mantic/waifu stats on the Mary Celeste.
  
• Updated DEMI’s red outfit name to Code Red.
  
• Replaced Temple of Defilement anomaly with a planet in navigation.
  

• Fixed an issue causing a small gap to appear below and to the sides of the new Grid Combat UI.
  
• Fixed an issue when item names were too long in the inventory.
  
• Fixed inconsistencies on PANDORA cards where the border color did not match the tag Premium/Space whale and vice versa.
  
• Fixed several typos.
  
• Fixed an issue where some trophies didn’t have descriptions.
  
• Fixed issue with hovering tool-tip text getting covered by the Subverse cursor. The UI for this tool-tip was also updated.
  
• Fixed issue where EMP would not fire on Dallick’s mission if his station was not in view for a period of time.
  
• Fixed issue where changing outfits on PANDORA character selection screen caused low res textures to be displayed on selected outfit until user clicked the Launch Pandora button. Initial pop-in may be seen but should not hang with low textures. 
  
• Fixed an issue where on turn passives and status effects would activate again when using wait.
  
• Ela’s Explosive Arrow and Killi’s Vanneran Rage now properly hit barrels.
  
• Status effects are no longer applied before damage is dealt, this was causing preview damage issues with Ela.
  
• Fixed issue where there was an unlit active tile on one of the desert maps in Grid Combat.
  
• Added missing Act 3 Transition cinematic.
  
• Fixed several warnings throughout the project that can potentially cause some noticeable slow down on some machines when loading areas for the first time.
  

• Exclamation marker is still visible after completing one section of a quest that spans more than one anomaly.
  
• Some users reported odd textures when loading Ela and Taron in PANDORA and Gallery.
  
• Enemies can pass through walls in Grid Combat on one of the boat maps.
  
• 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 with the addition of Hydra and Kraken Nebula.
  
• Physics on dangling pieces such as tentacles or hair (i.e. Huntress or Killi) may clip through the character's body or rapidly vibrate.
  
• 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.
  
• Elaisha has some weightpaint-related issues in some of her Dialogue Scene idles.
  
• Animation in You’re Mine Now scene needs finalizing.
  
• Subtitles for cinematics are disabled for this release. They will be re-enabled for 0.5.
  
• Replay icons and navigation icon concepts are a work in progress, inconsistencies are known.
  
• Animation clipping on several Pandora scenes. These will be fixed in 0.5.
  

Greetings, fellow pervs!

Now that the catgirl is out in the wild we’d like to take a moment to update you on the state of the game and what to expect going forward.

Without further ado, it is our pleasure to introduce our new designer, Bangkok!

My name’s Bangkok( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), and I’m the Lead Game Designer on Subverse. It is an absolute pleasure to have been given the opportunity to work on this title. First and foremost, I am an avid gamer and hentai enthusiast, much like you, and so I will strive to make Subverse the incredible experience it was originally envisioned to be. I hope I can make all of you proud and happy.

During my first two months, I familiarized myself with every nook and cranny of Subverse's design and finalized certain areas within March's patch. I can confidently say that this project has enormous potential to leave a long-lasting footprint as an authentic AAA adult experience. I am currently working on establishing the way in which to achieve this. We all know that we’re in the middle of early access, so the fans are not seeing the full picture coming together yet and there is some concern over where it's all heading. Hopefully DC and I can allay some of those concerns in this blog.



With Bangkok onboard the FOW train, we’re stoked to talk about some of the design philosophies of Subverse moving forward.

[h3]BUILDUP AND FOREPLAY[/h3]
We as a team recognize that the build up to the critical recruitment sex scenes is lacking in eroticism and are too abrupt. They definitely need more fleshing out. For starters, we will be going through all the previous content and adding in foreplay videos to tie it in with what is happening. These short videos should establish some atmosphere and bridge the gap between the novel sections and the abruptness of the initial sex scenes.

The current dating sequences in the bar are also very limited with only barebones gifting being currently available. Dating your crew members is supposed to be a more intimate experience compared to the Pandora framework and it is in the process of a major overhaul. The connection between waifu and Captain is not really present in the current iteration of dating, and we are aiming to gradually implement some more interesting interactive features to help alleviate this.



[h3]SEX[/h3]
The payoff for all your hard work needs to be porn. Lots and lots of porn. Titties, ass, splooge and big fat meaty balls all coming together in unholy unison. As of now, there is indeed not enough porn. But fear not, the porn is coming.

1. Sidequests not ending with some kind of porn is a crime. Luckily with the help of our inspirational artists we are going to try and remedy this in an exciting way.
   
2. Part of the overhaul of the Dating module means that it must be intertwined with sex in some way. To complete the intimate, one-on-one experience requires some intimate, one-on-one POV scenes. More on this soon.
   
3. The aforementioned foreplay videos tying the recruitment together and introducing more buildup.
   
4. The interactive scene in Taron hasn’t landed quite the way we hoped considering the amount of effort required to make it work, but we will reuse its components to give existing animations some more variety and shelf-life
   
5. The main storyline starts getting darker in a couple blocks time, so its extremely difficult to intertwine random sex scenes into it without it feeling completely jarring. Sex for the sake of sex is just going to exacerbate the problem of it not meshing with the story. Having said that, once the drama is resolved we are looking into giving the player and the waifus some much-needed downtime via supplementary story beats.
   
6. One of these beats is the Devotion Quest rewards (more on this below) which sees the return of StudioFOW’s famed cinematic eroticism within the context of a tightly-waifu-focused epic questline.
   

[h3]CLIMAX[/h3]
For those of you that have been talking to the ladies on the ship (you HAVE been talking to them, right?) you’ll notice that they’ve been gradually revealing more about their backstories. These stories will be carried through to their glorious conclusion with a Devotion Quest for each Waifu.

Devotion Quests are inspired by the Loyalty Missions in Mass Effect 2, where you buddy up with a specific party member and help them out of a bind. Since the Devotion Quests are the culmination of a lot of invested hours into a waifu we want to make sure they are amazing. We want to do this by

1. Giving you ample opportunity to interact with the waifu during her quest. This means talking with them, discussing the quest problems and their environments (each quest will take you to a place special to that particular waifu)
   
2. Creating an environment that immerses you both romantically and contextually. The performances of the voice talent are incredible throughout these sections. The atmosphere must match their intensity and do them justice
   
3. ROMANCE ROMANCE ROMANCE
   
4. The payoff at the end of the quest has to be amazing and cinematic, as well as feel like a seamless part of the story - something StudioFOW will no doubt deliver
   
5. Give you some cool rewards at the end thematic to the waifu for investing all that time into the romance
   

We are actively developing DEMI and Lily’s devotion quests at the moment and as soon as one of them is ready, we will make an announcement about the release dates.



[h3]BREATHING LIFE INTO PRODIGIUM[/h3]

World-renowned gameplay designer and shortstack-butt-afficionado Halfpint had some great ideas on this topic, which we are totally going to steal. In a December 12 video, he suggested that the galaxy should be reacting to the revolution in some way. Right now everything feels too static, too dead, you don’t feel like the disruptive force of change that the Mary Celeste is supposed to represent. A great idea he came up with was a simple reputation system, that keeps a track of all the battles you’ve fought against a particular faction. When you’ve killed enough Fuccbotts for example, a reward depicting a short 30 second cinematic would unlock showing Fuccbotts mobilizing to hunt you. If you slay enough Kloi, Landervoo and the council could react in some way to your extermination of their forces. Introducing reactive elements such as this will make Prodigium feel much more impacted by your actions. This is but one of the improvements we are aiming to make to Prodigium feeling more immersive.



[h3]STICKY GLUE[/h3]
The main problem right now (and this is a common part of narrative games in Early Access phase) is that the story is still being released and therefore the connective glue is not live yet... So what is this glue we are talking about?

1. Devotion levels being a meaningful part of multiple modules
   
2. Having a Dating system that makes use of the galaxy
   
3. Resources playing a bigger part in collectibles/upgrades
   
4. More waifu interactions with each other and the Captain across all modules
   
5. 
   

These elements working together in harmony will make the experience of managing your own crew feel more cohesive. But as we keep saying, our focus right now is on delivering the story first and foremost and then leaving the glue elements for later releases to tie everything together once the building blocks are in place.



[h3]SUBVERSE IS NOT A MOBILE GAME[/h3]
Things like gold stars and meaningless grinding have no place in a supposed top-end story driven product like this. The original philosophy of the Kickstarter and the no-bullshit stance of the StudioFOW OG’s were successful in capturing the imagination of the gaming public. Introducing artificial progression elements and psychological tricks at this stage would be a mistake for the brand. Our design philosophy for avoiding the mobile trap is as follows:

1. Retool the way player performance is measured by utilizing more of the waifus and less gold stars and badges
   
2. Remove replayable story missions. Do you replay Virmire in ME1, do you replay Ostagar in DA:O? No, these are climactic story set pieces, so why would you replay Temple of Defilement, especially after what happened there? Not only does this make no sense from a narrative design standpoint but it’s a huge resource sink on the dev team
   
3. Reduce the sheer quantity of same-y missions and focus on making them memorable by increasing their quality
   
4. Introduce elements that facilitate replayability through dynamic design, instead of mobile-like repetition
   
5. Make upgrades and collectibles feel part of the world. Having to help someone or find a rare component to make your ship better should be an essential part of an RPG dealing with space exploration. We will have more on this in a later blog.
   

[h3]SUBVERSE IS NOT A SIMULATOR[/h3]
The original vision for Subverse was that it is not a sex simulator. It was not designed from the ground up to be a sandbox style sex simulator. There appears to be some misconceptions out there that this game is supposed to be the next big thing to supplant Honey Select. This will never be the case because Subverse is a story driven narrative RPG with sex. There are plenty of well-designed sex simulation games out there like Honey Select and Koikatsu that focus on endless customizability, sandbox elements and interchangeable parts. These games have mastered the art of being a simulator and have years of experience and much bigger budgets than ours. There is no point in competing with them. Our design philosophy has always been the complete polar opposite of that, and while the introduction of some interactive elements and things like outfits are planned, they will never be the lynchpin of the game.



[h3]CONCLUDING THOUGHTS[/h3]
We understand the game is not in an acceptable state for many of you currently. Quite frankly, Subverse (in its current state) is so far away from our personal standards that it’s not even funny, so there is a lot of hands-on work to be done here. This is a long marathon process and it will take time. We are not promising every single thing listed above will make it in. Subverse has a lot riding on it so we have to test every design decision internally. A lot of people are looking up to the game and we have to make sure we are delivering the absolute best product we can. Thank you to the fans for sticking with us and for reading!

DC
Creative Lead

Bangkok
Design Lead

NEW WAIFU – TARON KRAASK
The star of this release is the nimble thief Taron, who has a very unique mission for the Captain. If you help her get her toys back, she just might join your crew!


NEW NEBULA – KRAKEN
Another portion of the galaxy opens with the release of 0.4, with more than 90 new anomalies and 8 sidequests to explore. As part of our ongoing Planets revamp, we are putting in a new UI for the planets, reducing the Tiers to eliminate backtracking and pave the way for more meaningful content starting from the next release.  NOTE: The Events that are part of 0.4 are also placeholders, and will start getting replaced from 0.5 onwards.


NEW UI
We are in the process of making the UI feel more intuitive, especially in modules like grid combat where it was sorely needed. As part of 0.4 you will see numerous UI improvements and additions, and you can expect this to continue in 0.5 with even more tweaks.


NEW GRID COMBAT EVENT
A special form for Taron can be unlocked as you progress through the story for this release. We look forward to seeing what you guys think of it! If the reception is positive then we will enable these forms for the other ladies as well in Patch 0.5!


NEW – RED DEMI OUTFIT
As part of testing for early access, we have given DEMI a skin for Pandora that you can play around with. This is a very simple reskin, and the goal is to collect data before we start implementing the outfit system in earnest. You can enable DEMI’s red skin by going to her Pandora select menu and clicking the outfit tab at the top.


NEW – EXPERIMENTAL NSFW SCENE
One scene with Taron is enabled for interactivity. It happens during the story, so you don’t have to worry about missing it. You can move the camera around and interact with Taron’s body parts. This is a prototype so we are looking for feedback from you guys on this!


NEW FACTION – THE IMPERIUM
Players will finally be able to face off against the might of Empress Celestina’s forces! The new units consisting of ground and space forces can be encountered from the Kraken nebula onwards.


NEW SPACE COMBAT MODES
We’ve added two new experimental game modes (one instance of each); a Stealth style mission where you have to sneak past patrols while unlocking doors, and another one based around Resource collection. Both modes need feedback from the players on how to improve them


NEW SPACE UPGRADES
Space Combat tier 2 upgrades are now purchasable in the Hangar. Note: As of now, a speech bubble prompt will display once available sometime during Taron’s quest. In Space Combat, level 2 Waifu attack upgrades are now available. Note: As of now, these will unlock at level 12, 24 and 36.


NEW PANDORA SCENES
New Pandora scenes have been added for all existing waifus as well as Taron.


NEW ONBOARD DIALOGUES
Be sure to talk to your crewmates on the ship, they may have new things to talk about!


GENERAL
The Save Game Button is enabled when on board Mary Celeste and during dialogue sequences. Note game currently still autosaves frequently.

• Added the ability to skip cinematics again (default input Spacebar) during dialogue sequences.
  
• Anomalies now only have one encounter instead of three. Note: Tier 2 missions have been removed.
  
• When selecting a solar system from the nebula screen in Navigation, the previously visited solar system star will glow a bit brighter indicating that the user has just left the system.
  
• Added warpgate offscreen indicator in Navigation.
  
• Added a new cursor in Navigation.
  
• Anomaly screen redesigned in Navigation.
  
• Shortened description on the Nebulast and Pararaiha anomaly in Navigation.
  
• Added SFX when clicking on the Archive or Mission Replay hologram folder when inside the Captain’s Quarters on board the Mary Celeste.
  
• Added SFX when opening the inventory when on board the Mary Celeste.
  
• Added SFX on several items when poking interactable objects on board the Mary Celeste.
  
• Added a clear button to PANDORA UI. This allows the user to clear all the cards selected in one go instead of manually removing each one.
  
• PANDORA Card image updates.
  
• Added generic description to locked pandora cards that cannot be purchased (i.e. “Requires A Specific Waifu” and or “Requires A Specific Mantic”)
  
• Added new star badge icons on the endscreen UI–it can also be seen when selecting replayable missions.
  
• Added icons to distinguish between grid & space combat when replaying missions.
  
• Returning from a replayable mission or dialogue sequence now re-opens the selection screen UI automatically in the event users would like to continue replaying segments of the game.
  
• Updated Speech Bubble prompt UI design.
  
• Added indication stating last time save was updated when exiting Main Menu. Note: Currently doesn’t specify seconds so will return as 0 minutes ago if the user exits the session within a minute.
  
• Removed character level from character selection screen when entering the gifting sequence.
  
• Added a new enter screen when entering PANDORA and Gallery.
  
• Added new bobblehead icons.
  
• Added background icon preview when purchasing backgrounds in the Gallery.
  
• Updated Kloi Turret and Tibold mine turn queue icons in Grid Combat.
  
• Rebalanced Space Combat random scenario waves across the Hydra system.
  
• Updated the Scoundrel’s boss ship tri-laser attack so that it connects instead of having a gap between the lasers in Space Combat.
  
• Updated text line in Space Combat tutorial specifying that the user should continue through the rings.
  
• Reduced Ela’s DPS slightly in Space Combat.
  
• Jawz no longer heals when hitting enemies with damage negating shields in Grid Combat.
  
• Jawz ultimate now heals him when backstabbing and the preview is now showing correctly based on where Jawz will end up rather than his current position in Grid Combat.
  
• Hovering over incoming waves now shows their deployment area in Grid Combat.
  
• Fixed several issues when replaying story & tutorial missions in Grid Combat.
  
• Damage previews now show if an attack is effective, ineffective or kills the target in Grid Combat.
  
• Updated resolution setting under the Graphics setting tab so that it defaults to 100% instead of automatically downscaling the screen resolution when changing to High, Medium or Low. This can still be adjusted manually if needed.
  

• Fixed issue where some users reported that if you delete an image that was posted in Captains Quarters, it defaults to the UV placeholder image instead of updating the pictures on the wall.
  
• Numerous audio related fixes related to grid combat.
  
• Fixed issue where Tibold’s grid combat banter was ducking music volume when it shouldn’t.
  
• Added additional failsafes to the end screen continue button. (A specific sequence of skipping during the end screen can cause the continue button to not show up. Possibly when the rank medal is spinning.)
  
• Fixed issue in Grid Combat where damage previews did not display the skull icon over their health bars when they should.
  
• Fixed potential crash on Grid Combat Kurkle anomaly mission.
  
• Fixed issue in dialogue sequences where in some cases fast-forwarding caused the background or characters to not change when required.
  
• Fixed issue during dialogue sequences where the scene would render darker during Hangar scenes if “Use Background Images” was enabled from the graphic settings.
  
• Fixed issue on PANDORA UI that caused the card purchase window to still be visible if the user clicked on next or previous character before purchasing or exiting.
  
• Fixed issue where text could overlap when viewing the Trophies menu UI.
  
• Fixed issue with Lily’s toes during the Full Throttle PANDORA scene.
  
• Fixed animation blending in Robotic Supremacy PANDORA scene
  
• Fixed issue with anomalies not receiving any light in navigation depending on distance and color.
  
• Fixed issue where some planets' rings were rendered without color.
  
• Fixed typo on Tiny Invader PANDORA card description.
  
• Fixed issue in Grid Combat where units could spawn on detached tiles and get stuck.
  
• Fixed several smaller issues in Grid Combat related to the maps.
  
• Fixed issue in Grid Combat where Trisha’s ultimate would activate immediately upon selection.
  
• Fixed issue in Grid Combat causing Napholeon’s ultimate damage prediction to not show AOE.
  
• Fixed issue in Grid Combat where the holograms on some maps appear slightly off the ground.
  
• Fixed issue in Grid Combat where Ela’s ultimate AOE did not trigger an explosive energy barrel but the damage preview indicated that it did.
  
• Fixed descriptions for Hydra nebula CODEX entry.
  
• Fixed typos in the descriptions of the following anomalies: Uggo, Kloi Naval Command & Marmani.
  
• Fixed typo on anomaly label Bastion of Ignominious Exile.
  
• Fixed issue where DEMI’s trophies were no longer dropping. These should be restored if any were missing in this patch.
  
• Fixed issue in Space Combat where the Pirates' mortar ship would have lingering mortars in mid-air if destroyed.
  
• Fixed issue where the deny SFX could be heard when on a PANDORA screen if the skip button was clicked. Also could be heard during the PANDORA tutorial when clicking continue.
  
• Fixed issue where Killi’s recruitment scene could play back once reaching the end of the dialogue sequences when not intended.
  
• Optimizations made to characters to improve textures loading on characters during dialogue sequences and Space combat ships.
  
• Fixed tool-tip description when hovering “Use Background Images”.
  

• 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 with the addition of Hydra and Kraken Nebula.
  
• Physics on dangling pieces such as tentacles or hair (i.e. Huntress or Killi) may clip through the character's body or rapidly vibrate.
  
• 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.
  
• Hovering tool-tip text is covered by Subverse cursor.
  
• Elaisha has some weightpaint-related issues in some of her Dialogue Scene idles.
  
• Animation in You’re Mine Now scene needs finalizing.
  
• Subtitles for cinematics are disabled for this release. They will be re-enabled for 0.5.
  
• Elaisha does more damage than what the preview damage UI element states  in Grid Combat.
  
• Replay icons and navigation icon concepts are a work in progress, inconsistencies are known.
  
• Animation clipping on several Pandora scenes. These will be fixed in 0.5. 
  

• More details will be provided regarding the additions and changes to the game’s overall design in an upcoming dev diary.
  
• Optimizations: The goal is to continue making improvements with each release. The focus was on characters during the dialogue sequences in this block. 
  
• UI to provide navigation progress is on hold until the next release. This is due to navigation system rework.
  
• Music will start receiving the proper treatment in later patches starting with the dialogue sections. Combat themes will also receive some variety.
  

Hi everyone! The Taron release is currently in testing and we're on track for the projected release of early March. We will communicate the exact release date after the team is comfortable with the state of the build. Obviously we would've loved to get it out in January for you guys but the holidays brought with them several management changes and a team restructuring, which slowed down our progress more than we would like.

The new lead designer and our game director DC will have a separate dev diary coming soon where they outline the revamps going on and where the game philosophy is heading towards, but in the meantime the team is back with a progress update as they put the finishing touches on Taron!

[h2]ANIMATION[/h2]

[h3]Moneyshot[/h3]
I dipped my toes into lighting last time around with Ela’s set, and this time I was tasked with adding lights and postprocessing to all of the Pandora scenes included in the upcoming release.

It is an ever growing skill to produce a nicely lit scene and to keep it well optimized at the same time, great fun!



[h3]Manski[/h3]
Right now I'm working on Taron's dating animations. Professional animator that I am, I began by filming my method acting of a catgirl's glee to (purportedly) obtain body language references. Since the deadline is tight, I've been working in stages. First I tackled the Idle animation. With that as an established foundation, I focused on the lip sync of all her reactions. The remaining time I dedicated to animating her expressions and body as she reacts to dating gifts. Compared to the other girls, Taron has bouts of shyness, so the VA's performance was a helpful guide in animating that characteristic.



[h3]Massimo Decimo Meridio[/h3]
After diving into spaceship and lip sync animations, I had the chance to work on a special scene for a future content patch involving DEMI! All I can say is that Demi is extremely sexy and she knows how to tease the Captain!



[h3]Yagskie[/h3]
I’m working on some NSFW content for next block involving DEMI. We’re trying out some new, more flexible poses for her to take advantage of her excellent rigging by Rocky.



[h3]Mendez[/h3]
Been working on cutscenes since last we spoke. The Taron patch has less of them than Ela’s block, but they are a lot more meaningful. There's a few shots that I'm pretty excited for you all to see since I think they're some of the best ones I've done for Subverse so far.

Also, here's Killi's butt…



[h3]Brunka[/h3]
Lately, I've been given the task of lighting some cinematic shots. As Taron is about to get her hands on a very powerful artifact, I am focusing on bringing a golden light shaft on her. The good thing with cinematic is that I don't have to care about optimization at all so I can go crazy with the lights. It's a lot of fun!



[h3]Attila von Fock[/h3]
I’m working on combat animation design for some upcoming waifus. The main thing the director wanted was a more anime-feel to the moves and a lot more dynamism so I am trying to deliver that.



[h2]PROGRAMMING[/h2]

[h3]Hungry JJ[/h3]
Hello,

Since the last dev diary, I have finished up the Taron Stealth Mission, worked on lots of backend data tables and made some UI updates. Lately I have been assisting with audio integration where various sounds need to be triggered in PANDORA, Space Combat & Grid Combat.



[h3]Prof. Bang Dev[/h3]
I've worked on lots of particle effects over the last month, some of them for pre-rendered content, and some for actual gameplay.
There’s an important scene that needs finalizing and giving it a more striking look.
On the cinematic side I had to add a lot of flashy effects, because in this release you'll see some pretty complex scenes!



[h3]Mrs. Mankrik[/h3]
I've mostly been working on PANDORA fluids and integration this month, but I've also been finishing up Taron's poses and physics in the Gallery.




[h3]Timmeh[/h3]
This month I've been working on a UI overhaul for grid combat, as well as a few other minor UI changes (gallery backgrounds now have a buy preview for example)
With the new lead designer onboard, there’s also been some changes to the tactical combat and we've been hatching up plans to improve upon it even more on the next block.



[h3]HentaiKouhai[/h3]
For this month, I've been working on the implementation of the reworked UI, specifically for the Grid Combat and the balancing of the random scenarios. Lots of updated assets are also rolling in so I also do the integration and testing for some of those.



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

I've been hard at work chipping away at the sound design for the new Imperium units you'll be facing off against in this upcoming Taron update. The theme I was given was "They are righteous and utilize holy magic, but also have sticks up their asses".

More importantly, I've been having fun getting to lay down quite a few tracks for this update's story cinematics. Can't wait for you all to see how they unfold!



[h2]ART & MODELING[/h2]

[h3]WTX[/h3]
Further expanding on the locations the crew will be visiting in the future, I got to work on this mysterious facility set on a snowy hillside. If only you knew what lurks within its frosty metal walls.
I'm also putting together this very unusual alien palace, packed to the brim with gaudy sci-fi decor and lots and lots of Neon.



[h3]Portsman[/h3]
It's been mostly a month of working on grid combat and space combat models, some of which are part of the chapter after Taron, plus side quest models.



[h3]ErinTheSketchy[/h3]
Hi guys! So here we are, about to release some new content that we already love and we're sure you will, too!
As I've only been a member of this team for a few months, this was the first chapter I've worked on and I want to say it's been a creative and fun experience. Finishing the work for the first chapter you're part of conveys a unique kind of joy, made stronger especially if you happen to look forward to the next one! I'm really thankful for all the good vibes I received from both you and the Subverse team about the new UI, and I can't wait to work on more of the game!



[h2]Juniors[/h2]

[h3]Tibor[/h3]
My transformation from junior dev to an expert porn game developer is almost complete.
I didn't want to make wall of text here so I created a blog to talk about my Unreal Engine software endeavour. Please read if you are interested at tibor.blog.

[hr][/hr]

See you next month!

Bis bald,
Till Eulenspiegel