Swarm Grinder News

Hello everyone,

In this update, I’ve added new features to the modding menu:

• Trigger Range: Customize the activation range for cells.
  
• Cooldown: Adjust skill cooldown durations.
  
• Random Skill: Begin the game with 5 random abilities.
  
• Enemy Speed: Alter enemy movement speed.
  
• Back Button: Changed "

Yes, the "

Since my last post, I’ve been focused on developing a new game mode and making steady progress toward its release. This is the most critical step for me, as it will allow me to fully understand and refine the game’s flow. My goal is to deliver a new game mode within this month or the next.

Separately, I’m working on expanding the roster with new characters and skills. This brings its own challenges, especially on the art side. (Spoiler: I’m not a pixel artist!) I’ve been sketching character concepts and exploring ways to ensure the art remains high-quality while overcoming this hurdle.

If you’re wondering how you can help, I’d love to hear your ideas for new characters and skills. Don’t hesitate to share—what kind of skills would you like to see next in Swarm Grinder?


Also, Swarm Grinder is featured in Bullet Heaven Fest 2.0, and Steam is exploring the addition of a new tag, "Bullet Heaven." We’ve been asked to support this effort by adding the custom tag to Swarm Grinder.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of adding a new tag to Steam and helping define a genre for games like ours.



If you’d like to help, simply head to Steam and add the “Bullet Heaven” tag to Swarm Grinder!

Don’t forget to share your skill ideas with me. I’m eager to hear what you have in mind!

Take care,
Kağan.

Fixed localization issues in the modding menu.
Fixed some UI text issues in the main menu.
Optimization Fixes.

Hey everyone, Kağan here.

I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to share some updates about Swarm Grinder and what's been happening behind the scenes.

Recently, our team went through some big changes, and I'm now the only developer working on Swarm Grinder. It's been a lot to manage since my last post, but I'm commited to continuing to improve and expand Swarm Grinder.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team is carrying on with Tears Apart. If you're looking for news on that end, don't worry, they'll also be in touch.

Initially, the Swarm Grinder team was made up of nine incredibly passionate and talented individuals. As the founder of Last Bite Games, I loved the energy and creativity they brought to the project, and I think that their work is a testament to their dedication. This was our first game to bring to you all, and despite the challenges, the team created something truly special. I'm honored to continue building on their foundation.

Over the past three weeks, I’ve been diving deep into Swarm Grinder and its systems, tackling optimization challenges to improve the gameplay experience.

As a result, today I’ve delivered some performance improvements and a few smaller changes to enhance the overall experience. Don’t forget, I’ll quickly add to these changes—this is just getting started.

Here what’s included in the update:

• Fixed localization issues in the modding menu.
  
• Fixed some UI text issues in the main menu.
  
• Most importantly, I tackled a major optimization issue. The ProcessCellMatrix method alone took 102ms on a low-end CPU. After the fix, it’s down to just 32ms!
  

I’m confident updates on this month addresses optimization problems on macOS 100%, and now I’m focusing players with low-end CPUs on Windows. My main goal, though, is making Swarm Grinder run smoothly on Steam Deck. Having access to a MacBook Air with M1 chip really helped with macOS optimizations, and I’ll find a way to get a Steam Deck to ensure I can focus on that too!

I’ve also been reading your recent reviews and comments—just as I was getting ready to write this post, I saw how positive the response has been. Honestly, it took me by surprise! I’ve been fixing things quietly without much communication, but seeing so many of you see these changes and mention on comments made me realize I should’ve shared more updates. I’ll be replying to as many of you as I can, so let’s keep the discussions going—I’m here and listening.

Lastly, let me tell you a bit about the kind of developer I am.

I’m the kind of developer who gets called in when the project is almost done, and suddenly—bam!—something critical goes wrong. Maybe it’s a compiler error buried in some obscure third-party code sitting at the heart of your game’s systems. That’s when I step in, fueled by determination (and a lot of coffee), and work tirelessly until it’s fixed—no matter how long it takes. And yes, I’ll find that one line of code buried deep that nobody bothered to document.

I’ve got 141 Git repositories and a stack of Unity projects under my belt. Some have been sold, others are still running with publishers. Before Last Bite Games, I worked on nearly 50 game projects for other companies. A lot of you probably get it—I’ve got a dark side in my past.

But that’s what I do. I’ll dive into the madness, fix the impossible, and keep pushing forward.

With all that out of my mind.

For future updates, yes—I’ll constantly be rolling out UX fixes and optimization updates. But I know you’re looking for content. So, I’m planning to allocate time from optimization to developing new game modes that don't have the same optimization challenges. This way, I can give you fresh experiences while still improving the core of the game.

Thank you again for all your comments and feedbacks.

Hey everyone!

We want to apologize to our Linux and Steam Deck players for the issues you encountered, but we're happy to share that the problem with the Linux version has now been fixed!

We've also heard your concerns about optimization loud and clear. We're shifting our focus to improving performance to give you the best experience possible.

On a brighter note, the demo for our next title, Tears Apart, is now live! Give it a try and let us know your thoughts.

Thanks for your continued support!

-K

Hey everyone!

We’re super excited to share that Modding is officially live! Have you had a chance to try it out? We’d love to hear what you think. It's just the first version and we plan to extend it a good amount. Got any feedback or ideas? We’re all ears, so let us know!

Note: That player who gave the recommendation of infinite rerolls mod in the comments, thanks man! We already put it there.

Also, holy f$*&%! We hit 50,000 sales! Wooooo!!!! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

Seriously, thank you all so much for your amazing support. It means the world to our little team. Our players are really the best. Plus, a big welcome to people who grabbed a copy during Daily Deal! Feel free to say hi at our Discord channel too. All our devs are there, so don't be a stranger.

Thanks for being a part of our journey. Sometimes it feels like everything is on fire but a positive comment or a cool recommendation from you all changes everything. So really, thank you.

MANDATORY GIF:


-S