Venge News

[p]Hey all, its time for another stability update/patch! Here's whats included:[/p]

• [p]Added new story content to real world, more show don't tell (probably the coolest change)[/p]
• [p]Fixed the breaker puzzle in the real world, it should now enable properly[/p]
• [p]Improved the map design to assist in helping players find what they need to find in the real world[/p]
• [p]Fixed teleport issue during "something is in the dark", will now teleport the player properly[/p]
• [p]Added barriers into the real world to prevent confusion / getting lost[/p]
• [p]Removed various sticky notes overexplaining everything[/p]
• [p]Rewroked the first gear puzzle in the flipped world, should be faster, less annoying, and slightly more interesting[/p]
• [p]Improved the chances of seeing flustorian in the flipped world dramatically[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with climbing ladders, they will now function as expected[/p]
• [p]Various other improvements and fixes I forgot to write down[/p]
• [p]Remade a few areas in the real world to incorperate more "show dont tell"[/p]
• [p]Removed various redundant sticky notes[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the ladder in cartoonist death[/p]
• [p]Minorly improved VFX in the cartoonist vent[/p]
• [p]Fixed dragging items on linux not working[/p]
• [p]Fixed cursor size on Linux[/p]
• [p]Improved stability of internal systems (steam integration, discord integration, etc)[/p]
• [p]Discord embeds work on Mac/linux now[/p]
• [p]Made some of the other real world endings more obscure to avoid new players getting snagged on them[/p]
• [p]Fixed various issues in the house, including (but not limited to) clipping[/p]
• [p]Fixed a softlock in the path system[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug in the path system preventing you from selecting anything[/p]
• [p]Fixed a super rare issue where extras would redirect you to the path[/p]

[p][/p][p]Automation Update:[/p]

• [p]While not something you guys will necessarily see.. (unless you wanted to play around with it yourself)... Venge now has an automated test suite! This means more and more of the game gets automatically tested before each release, squashing those bugs with minimal effort! I cannot express how excited I am for this, Venge will be more stable than ever before![/p]

[p]Act 2 Updates:[/p]

• [p]Development is going strong! I'm currently in the process of prototyping a new mechanic, the minecart system. I'll share more details, stay tuned![/p]

[p][/p][p]Thanks, lmk if theres any other ways you'd like to see this game improve![/p][p]- Ethan[/p]

[p]Hello everyone! Update 2.24 is out now! Here's the changelog:[/p][h2]Player Overhaul[/h2][p]The player has been completely reprogrammed from scratch! As mentioned in the previous blog post, this clears up the biggest source of technical debt in Venge! This means theres nothing technical stopping me from powering through Act 2![/p]

[p]Nerd stuff: The old player controller was a MESS. It was written around 2019 and has not changed much... It was a few thousand lines long and made spaghetti jealous. Because of how horrible it was, it was preventing me from expanding and adding new functionality, which was really hurting Act 2.[/p]

• [p]The player speed has been increased throughout the entire game, in some places up to 2x. This helps so much with the pacing / boring-ness of the game, cannot believe I didn't do this sooner[/p]
• [p]A brand new "chase" mode has been implemented, this means whenever you enter a chase, your speed will increase, fov widen, head bob bobs faster, etc. This helps with making chases feel more intense![/p]
• [p]Increased the height of the player throughout the game, but especially in Act 0[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Other Improvements[/h2]

• [p]Renamed "extra" to "Extras" on the title screen[/p]
• [p]The path system will auto correct any buggy endings[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue killing helpsie before the garden, which gave the castle the kill ending, breaking everything[/p]
• [p]Redesigned the cartoonist gate chase area a tiny bit to be less "1.0"[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with cartoonist teleporting, should be way less buggy[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue during the cartoonist spare route where the pufferplate would sometimes fly off into the void[/p]
• [p]Added a new path tutorial for creating custom universes which is a very underutlized feature (try it out!)[/p]
• [p]Black Skull Hardcore universes now render correctly[/p]
• [p]Fixed a few graphical issues in the path[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the wolves would sometimes get stuck on the bike[/p]
• [p]Gave proper collision to about 50x more obstacles in the desert bike ride (not as bad as it sounds!)[/p]
• [p]Fixed mouse cursor issue with the inspectables + collections tab open[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Act 2 Updates[/h2][p]Act 2 has been in developement and I am now further in than ever before (despite restarting development last year)! I've made tons more progress on the script and finalizing all of my story beats. I want to make sure this act is as good as humanly possible, so I'm really taking my time. I'm currently in the process of ironing out all of my character details for Efix, Lucy, ????, and the cult... more on that in a bit! I'm hoping to start posting monthly updates soon, stay tuned![/p][p][/p][p]Thanks so much![/p][p]- Ethan[/p]

[p]Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well! Venge 2.23 is out now. I bet you're wondering about Act 2... here's an update:[/p][p][/p][h3]Huh, another Act 1 update? Just work on Act 2 already![/h3][p]TLDR - Old Venge code bad, lucy needs good code to work :)[/p][p]I know I know, work on Act 2... I am don't worry! But because this game is old (I started development in early highschool), Venge has a lot of tech debt. For those unfamiliar, my old code was badly written which made it hard to develop & expand for the future. This worked fine for Act 1, but as I continue working on Act 2, I'm running into tons of blockers preventing me from implementing features and awesome story moments! Like for example:[/p]

• [p]Act 2 has a lot of significantly more complex decision based moments. The old save system simply couldn't support this.[/p]
• [p]Act 2 has chests and more sophisticated item management, this plays an important role in the story. In the old save system, this was all basically impossible.[/p]
• [p]Act 2 requires way more fancy player controls (minecarts, swimming, etc)... lots of new stuff I've never done before! I'll need to rewrite the player controller to make these possible[/p]

[p]This unfortunately means during the period before Act 2's release I need to make some massive under-the-hood changes to keep Venge up to date and development speedy. These changes impact Act 0 and 1 too, so rather than sit on them, I'll be releasing these new systems as patches (like this one!). This means you can expect a few more updates such as this in the future:[/p]

• [p]Update 2.23 - New save system (this one!)[/p]

• [p]Update 2.24 - Completely new player controller. This controller will be modern, WAY more dynamic, and so much better for me to use. Act 2 relies on this change really bad...[/p]
• [p]MAYBE multi-language support soon??[/p]

[p]So while this sucks, it is ultimately really important to make sure Act 2 is as good as possible. If Act 2 is a big wonderful train, I am miles ahead and laying the tracks. Hopefully you can understand![/p][p][/p][p]Anyways, let's get into the patch notes:[/p][h3]Completely new save system![/h3]

• [p]The old save system was very old and was causing a lot of problems / blocking act 2 progress, so this new system will resolve that! This also means your save data is no longer pointlessly obfuscated from yourself, so you can edit it all you want!
  [/p]
• [p]Your save data will automatically transfer without issue. If something does manage to go wrong, don't worry! The game backs up everything and will not destroy your save. Please join the discord and ping me, we can get it all recovered and sorted![/p]

[p][/p][h3]Trophy Improvements:[/h3]

• [p]The bronze, silver, gold, and item trophies now check ALL universes, rather than just your active universe. This means they'll be slightly easier to get and and are consistent regardless of your universe.[/p]
• [p]The artifact trophy now requires ALL artifacts be discovered, not just collectables. Reminder you can check your progress in the artifact menu.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Path System Improvements:[/h3]

• [p]The path system has been improved with some improved UI, better stability, and more clarity. For example, if a previous scene invalidated your current scene, the game will now explain why:
  This will hopefully help make the game more clear and less confusing![/p]
• [p]Additionally, if a hardcore universe has been killed, it'll now show it in the universe menu.[/p]
• [p]Various other ui polish and fixes in the path[/p]

[h3]Extras Menu:[/h3]

• [p]You can now switch, create, and edit universes directly from the extras menu. If your minigames suddenly are locked, you can switch to a different universe where they are unlocked![/p]

[h3]Misc:[/h3]

• [p]Improved the bug report ui, fixing a bug that prevented some people's names from being properly credited (IM SO SORRY)[/p]
• [p]All flashlights will not bounce light near the camera! This means your flashlights will feel much more useful and bright![/p]
• [p]Improved the bike controller, specifically keeping the boring handlebars as off-screen as possible[/p]
• [p]Improved the bike ride minigame, it is now way more polished[/p]
• [p]Improved bike clipping, it should be way better now[/p]
• [p]Fixed footsteps appearing white[/p]
• [p]Slightly increased the player speed in various places (will rework this in a bit)[/p]
• [p]Fixed some text rendering issues with text on the task popup[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug causing a Helpsie death to incorrectly show Laserette's[/p]
• [p]Fixed a super rare bug which caused helpsie to ramble about the plant after the princess tower[/p]
• [p]Fixed an rare issue causing helpsie's running to be weird and break[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where sometimes the strawbelly monologue wouldnt start on time[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug preventing the cartoonist spare bridge from lowering[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug with the exit warning indicator, it will now correctly show the time and items you'll loose[/p]
• [p]Repositioned the items within the play selected ui, should feel more clean now[/p]
• [p]Tons of various bike scene fixes[/p]
• [p]Various other fixes and improvements I forgot to write down[/p]

[p][/p][p]Thank you all so much, let me know any issues you may have, or just feedback in general. Thanks![/p][p]- Ethan[/p]

[p]Hey everyone, happy new years! I wanted to let you all know that v2.22 is out![/p]

• [p]Fixed issue with volumetrics causing a black screen[/p]
• [p]Fixed potential softlock with Helpsie[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue with Helpsie repeatedly talking about that plant (sorry!)[/p]
• [p]Upgraded the internal engine, should hopefully see faster loading times, minor performance improvements, etc[/p]
• [p]Linux support (please allow some time to resolve any issues, this is my first time!)[/p]
• [p]Plenty of other super minor fixes and improvements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Act 2 (this year??)[/h3][p]Within a few weeks I'll begin working on Act 2 again! I took a break for the holiday, but I'm excited to get back into it. I'm hoping to get it out this year, but we'll see... I'll share more updates soon![/p][p][/p][h3]Stability[/h3][p]Another one of my goals for 2026 is stability, I'm working super hard on an extensive testing system which lets me build and maintain automated test pipelines, essentially gaurenteeing every element of the game works as it should. I'm really optimistic about this because testing this game manually is a PAIN. (Manual testing of each feature and scene easily takes 4-5 hours... this game has that much content)[/p][p][/p][h3]Official Wiki -- Coming Soon[/h3][p]I'm currently working on an official wiki for you all! We do currently have a fandom wiki, but its full of ads, hard to maintain, etc. I think its really important to have an active wiki to help new players catchup on things they perhaps missed, or to speedrun knowledge. As you hopefully know, all of the Costek games take place in the same universe, this new solution will allow us to have all of the costek games in the same place! I'm really excited about it, I'll share more in the future![/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for your patience and care for this game, I hope 2026 is just as productive as last year![/p][p]- Ethan[/p]

[p]Hello everyone and happy holidays! The newest update 2.20 is out now! This update includes tons of QOL improvements, performance updates, hundreds of bug fixes, and so much more.[/p][p]Biggest Features:[/p]

• [p]Reimplemented the inventory system from scratch, swapping out the last slot for an "accessory" slot, making it much easier to use accessories in game.[/p]
• [p]Major improvements to all UI across the board. UI is more responsive, animated, and consistent[/p]
• [p]Added more clear story beats to Act 1 real world[/p]
• [p]Act 1 real world now includes cutscenes for important set pieces (broken window, aes, ceo office, etc). This helps make sure players don't miss the story! [/p]
• [p]Rerouted Act 0 to make the phone scene optional. This is because it is long, sometimes boring, and not super necessary to new players who just want to get into the action[/p]

[p]Act 0:[/p]

• [p]Improvements to the house scene[/p]
• [p]Improvements to the bike scene (more vfx + scripted appearances)[/p]
• [p]Fixed a long standing issue with the bike which made movement weird[/p]

[p]Act 1 Real World: [/p]

• [p]Added more mold in the real world + mold puffs[/p]
• [p]Added more dynamic sfx in the real world[/p]

[p]General:[/p]

• [p]Improvements to culling, the game should now perform better, especially behind locked doors![/p]
• [p]Brand new bug reporting form, more responsive and more stable![/p]
• [p]You can now switch your active universe from the title screen[/p]
• [p]You can now choose which act to start a new game[/p]
• [p]You can now easily choose your difficulty + custom difficulty when starting a new game[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue causing the player to not be able to look around in some cases[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing the player from uncrouching in certian cases[/p]
• [p]THOUSANDS of bug fixes (im not kidding, thank you to everyone who reported them!)[/p]

[p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p]As some of you know, Act 2's development has been quite slow and difficult. I completely restarted development earlier this year, specifically on Lucy's AI. This is because to be frank, the old system was horribly designed. Since then, however, I've made substantial progress. Within the last few months, I've gotten to the point where I am now the furthest in development I've ever been! Which is huge for just a few months of work. I've had the act beta tested and the response was wonderful.[/p][p]I fully expect Act 2 to be released next year (2026). I really cannot wait for you all to see it, I am so proud.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][p]Venge used to cost $4.99 usd when first released, but I lowered it to $1.99 to reflect 1.0's poor quality. Since the release of 2.0, 2.1, and now 2.2, I feel as though the quality level now justifies a higher price tag, so in the coming days, Venge will be back at $4.99 usd. I hope this new price represents the quality of the game better to new players, as well as fund Act 2's development (it desperately needs it haha). So this is your last chance to get Venge for $1.99 before its return to $4.99![/p][p][/p][p]Next year is looking strong, I cannot wait for Act 2 to finally come out, Venge to be continuously improved, and whatever else the future has in store. I'm off to go make a new map for All She Wants For Christmas Is YOU! See you there![/p][p][/p][p]Thank you all so much, enjoy those brand new cutscenes, and send in any bugs / issues you can find ;)[/p][p]Ethan[/p]