Rusted Moss News

Hey everybody!

We've been working hard on the major (and final) content update of Rusted Moss.

While Rusted Moss will not have a sequel, it sometimes feels like this major content update might as well be one!

What you can expect from the major update:

• 2 new areas to explore
  
• 7-8 hours more content
  
• 300+ new rooms
  
• Boss rush
  
• Maya mode (How mysterious... Ok not so mysterious - you can play the whole game again as Maya after you beat it the first time. Speedrun mode rules apply so no new dialogue or ending stuff but you'll be introduced to some nifty new ways to play! )
  

*No new achievements planned

As you can see, we have probably enjoyed making this update a little too much... and will need more time to add in and polish all these new features.

On the plus side, this also coincides with some exciting news: We are going to have a console release!

With all this new code needing to be finalised and QA tested for consoles, we plan on releasing the major content update around the time Rusted Moss becomes available on consoles next year.

Thank you all for your patience and support.

In the meantime, enjoy this small teaser we've put together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jy4Ay_Xyfs

Don't forget to follow PLAYISM's accounts as well! PLAYISM Website PLAYISM Publisher Page Twitter Facebook

Since I was young, I've always been interested in traditional faerie stories. I think modern day tales tend to paint faeries as benevolent beings - blessing those down on their luck or providing magical items to the deserving. This kind of sanitation happened throughout the years to make these tales more palatable towards children. Did you know the original ending of "Snow White" involved the evil queen being forced to dance at Snow White's wedding while wearing red hot iron shoes? Most children nowadays would probably be more familiar with the Disney version of the tale.

Though to be honest, I think a lot of kids would be more than ok with the original gruesome tale too.

I've put together some information for those interested in knowing more about the faerie tales and superstition that inspired Rusted Moss and to pass the time before the exciting final major content update we have in store!

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[h3]IRON AND THE WORLD OF RUSTED MOSS[/h3]

Iron is a metal long steeped in superstition, being said to keep evil at bay. It is the reason why iron horseshoes were hung upon doors as protective charms. In many superstitions, faeries hate the touch of iron.

The setting of Rusted Moss takes place far into the future where humanity is on its last legs and fae-kind have started to return to the world. An unspecified catastrophic event that took place long before the game starts resulted in a world where humans are no longer as populous as they are now. With the population in decline, they have been unable to maintain infrastructure like iron railways. The rusting of iron in the world is what eventually lets the faeries back in.

Iron hurting fae is a popular superstition that can still be found in modern media! I found it amusing that in Pokemon, steel-type moves are super effective against fairy-types.

[h3]CHANGELINGS[/h3]

The main character of Rusted Moss, Fern, is a changeling.

Traditionally, changelings are a type of faerie left in the place of a baby that had been stolen by faeries. Depending on the tradition, some say that faeries kidnapped babies to make them into servants while others say the child is meant as a sacrifice - a tithe to hell that faeries must pay every seven years.

Changelings themselves are portrayed to be like very unpleasant children. In some tales they are so ravenous that parents struggle to keep them fed and the household afloat. In other tales, they would be fretful babies that won't stop crying much to the despair of parents at the end of their rope. They would also often be portrayed as sickly, often dying before they grew older.

Many solutions to these changeling children were cruel. One solution was to throw these children into the oven or treat the changeling cruelly like whipping them. In doing so, they believed the faeries would return their real child to them.

Nowadays, it is easy to speculate that these folktales were invented to explain children that were neurodivergent or unexpected in some way. Either way, it was a way to find something else to blame when a child was not what was "expected" or "wanted" and to justify the way these children were treated - themes that the Rusted Moss story explores.

With Fern, feedback on her character has ranged from people finding her annoying and evil to those that find her relatable and sympathetic. Due to the nature and interpretation of changeling stories, I suppose it is rather fitting to see her be polarising!

[h3]MORALITY OF FAE[/h3]

The morality of faeries changes a lot from story to story. Many don't have them as necessarily "evil" but more along the lines of amoral to the extreme. They're just as likely to do good or evil depending on their mood or whatever would amuse them. Faerie morality is just very different from humans that their values are not comparable.

There's different variations told about a story called "The Elves and the Shoemaker". A poor shoemaker discovered beautiful shoes being made overnight when he went to bed. He sold them and became very successful. One night, he stayed up to discover that it was tiny elves that were making these shoes. Noticing the elves were dressed in rags, he gifted them with clothes. The next day, they were never seen again and never again did they make shoes for the shoemaker. Some stories explain that the elves were offended by the gift while others claim the elves danced away joyfully and just never returned.

Though elves also possess amazing magic, many are appeased with an offering of milk by the hearth.

Dealing with faeries feels very much like dealing with nature - they're unpredictable and powerful, able to give great blessings and despair without understanding the good or malice behind their actions. They aren't a force reasoned with.

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Faerie tales change a lot with time and have resulted in so many different variations of the same tale. It's fun seeing the inventions and embellishments that get added over time carried over to the present. It's common nowadays to see "Titania, queen of the faeries" as an addition to modern tales though Titania herself appears in no faerie tales - she's an invention of Shakespeare and first appears in A Midsummer's Night Dream.

It's been fun putting together a post-apocalyptic modern spin on faerie folklore for Rusted Moss. Though we kept the story minimal, hope everybody enjoyed (or hated) their time with our faeries.

I'm planning on putting together a grappling hook guide next so feel free to let us know of anything you'd like us to cover (or just your favourite faerie tales too!).

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Thanks again everyone for all your support!

Our Discord is a great way to keep up to date with events we might run, stop by and say hi: DISCORD

Follow our TWITCH! Last time we streamed we did a giveaway for some Fern + Puck enamel pins, talked about some behind the scenes stuff, and showed some never seen before deleted content! We are thinking of doing more development streams so follow our Twitch to know when we go Live!

Don't forget to follow PLAYISM's accounts as well! PLAYISM Website PLAYISM Publisher Page Twitter Facebook

[h2][/h2]
Build ID: 12301650

Thank you all for playing Rusted Moss!
After hearing your feedback and bug reports, we have rolled out a hotfix which fixes several bugs that were affecting the playability of the game.

[h3]Bug fixes[/h3]

• Fixed inconsistent ichor sizes
  
• Fixed MP upgrades counter displaying incorrect count on the Upgrade tab in the Map
  
• Fixed death pits not activating properly in certain rooms
  

We truly appreciate everyone's support and we hear all of your feedback! We are currently working closely with the developer to try and squash more bugs and implement more QoL features to help you master the grapple! Stay tuned for more updates!

If you have any feedback or bugs to report, please post them on the forum:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1772830/discussions/0/3828664382481109031/

Visit the PLAYISM Website PLAYISM Publisher Page Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Join our Discord

Rusted Moss' initial scope did not include a level editor and we only started thinking about it when the challenge courses became part of the game's scope. While the plans had always been to have the level editor be more on the minimalist side, we're really happy that we are able to expand it a little more with this update! (And on a personal note, it's been great playing the custom levels you all have made. It's a strange and fun feeling to play a game we made on a level we've never seen before!)

[h3]OBJECTS[/h3]

• Grapple ring
  
• Moving grapple ring
  
• Moving grapple fae
  
• Simple buttons and doors
  
• Elfame elevators
  
• Ichor
  

[h3]PLATFORMS[/h3]

• Thin platforms
  

[h3]ENEMIES[/h3]

• Wheel enemy
  
• Sniper enemy
  

[h3]MISC[/h3]

• Decorative sprites
  

--------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again for all your support!

Our Discord is a great way to keep up to date with events we might run, stop by and say hi: DISCORD

Follow our TWITCH! Last time we streamed we did a giveaway for some Fern + Puck enamel pins, talked about some behind the scenes stuff, and showed some never seen before deleted content! We are thinking of doing more development streams so follow our Twitch to know when we go Live!

Have you played any of the player-made levels for Rusted Moss? We had a lot fun checking some of them out over the weekend. (We were unfortunately not able to play ALL the levels so it is very possible we might have left some excellent ones out of this list.)

Here's some that we recommend in no particular order:

SPEED TUNNEL

LINK TO LEVEL



I think it is no surprise to anybody that having a level editor in the game will result in players making the most brutal painful levels you can imagine.

We felt SPEED TUNNEL is one of the few exceptions to that rule and we really enjoyed its take on custom levels.

As the name suggests, the level itself is a long tunnel and the challenge comes from trying to get to the end of the tunnel as fast as you can. It's a nice change of pace to have a level where the challenge is more about breezy moment rather than precise platforming.

Fax got: 10.79 seconds! What time can you get?

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HOPS

LINK TO LEVEL



And speaking of levels that are approached creatively...

HOPS is another that encourages speed rather than navigation of perilous terrain and brutally hard platforming, We found the stage very fun and clean.

It's also deceptively easy. While it isn't hard to get through the level, it is hard to do it fast.

The real challenge is getting below 15 seconds.

The mapmaker has a video of himself doing this challenge and makes some impressive platforming look so easy.

Check out the video here (or on the level's workshop page.)

We were very impressed with Hop's design as some of the hardest levels to make are those that might be easy to complete but take much longer to master.

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WEAPON SWITCHING

LINK TO LEVEL



Another thing we particularly enjoyed when playing custom levels is when we learn some new synergies we weren't even aware of when making the game.

WEAPON SWITCHING explored a mechanic that showed the synergy behind the jump crystals and shotgun that we did not know about.

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LEDGER

LINK TO LEVEL



LEDGER on the other hand features a mechanic that we did know about but many players either do not know about it or thought it was a bug.

To be honest, it did come up as a bug in QA but we thought it was really funny and decided to leave it in. We even added in a visual effect to make it more "official".

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YOU ARE A PIRATE

LINK TO LEVEL



And speaking of other things that started off as bugs, this level shows an interesting mechanic that was initially a result of bad programming.

Though it was unintentional, we found out about it during our demo and designed later levels to have shortcuts that revolved around it as we thought it was quite cool.

Fun use of a “secret” Rusted Moss mechanic that allows for creative level design and challenges.

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SLINGSHOT

LINK TO LEVEL



And now, this is the level that we found the hardest (because we were not able to complete it).... we think we were not able to do the very last part of it so we'll recommend it to as far as we got to!

It was really fun, very smart, and well-made. The tech it features is the horizontal slingshot you can do with the grapple. It was really neat to see that be the main gimmick in the level. Throughout playing it, we wondered how good at the game the creator. The level design really seemed like it was made by someone with a very good grasp of the game's mechanics.

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TOWER OF MOSS

LINK TO LEVEL



TOWER OF MOSS is one of the player made levels that is deeper in difficulty. It's a pretty map that requires some puzzley thinking to proceed.

Though it starts off mellow, there's a jump in difficulty and it is quite punishing with respawn points so a little mistake can set you back pretty far.

It is a really fun map with shows how fun precise ledge jumps can be. There's just something so satisfying about them...

If it is something you enjoy, you should also check out the player's other maps that feature this kind of ledge jumping.

Something to check out for those interested in pushing their limits!

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AT's [rainbow]fUnfair [/rainbow]

LINK TO LEVEL



This was a really unusual level.

This was a really funny level with some creative level design. We had a great time playing it and lots of laughs were had.

Can't spell funfair without "unfair". ;)

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SENTINEL SHITTY ASS MAP

LINK TO LEVEL



Speaking of creative levels... this one had a really cool concept that we enjoyed. The puzzle jumps were also really interesting.

We'd recommend playing the level blind but also left a spoiler below for those that would rather get spoiled of its fun surprise.

Don’t be fooled by the first flag

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AT's PROCESS

LINK TO LEVEL



Straight up just a really fun map to move around in!

A lot of the jumps are very comfortable with the timing and range. Not really about precise jumps but more a smooth flow and chaining jumps that are just so very satisfying.

Map with some great flow - some jumps carried over to other rooms quite smoothly.

Good map to chill out on. The use of room transitions being more vertical is also interesting.

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FLICK BREAKER

LINK TO LEVEL



A map to be patient on. It is very chewy and explores a lot of Rusted Moss' depth of movement. It's fun and quite open-ended with mobility options and level design.

It's always fun to try something that has more than one solution or approach to it.

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GRENADE THROW!!

LINK TO LEVEL


This was the only map we played where the grenade was the main star. It is a fun, short, and relaxing level that lets you experiment with the trajectory of the grenade.

It's also the only map we played that didn't really focus on the platforming and is essentially more of a shooting range (or grenade range I guess!).

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ROCKET JUMP WALTZ

LINK TO LEVEL



A level that focuses a great deal on the intricacies of rocket jumping.

It also included this mid-air rocket jump trick where after awhile the rocket detonates and lets you jump without a floor. This kind of subtlety and focus on rocket jumping isn't something you see a lot of in the main game.

If you enjoy this level, definitely check out the level creator's other works like "LOVE IS SO FALL" - a creative level that requires the use of a precise grenade throw.

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PLATFORM TRAINING COURSE

LINK TO LEVEL



Finally, this is a fun level that is a nice starting stage.

Fun open-ended level. Nice relaxing contrast to the punishing ones.

Good starting stage to try out the different mechanics of Rusted Moss.

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ROCKET JUMP AND SHOTGUN CLIMB

LINK TO LEVEL

This level isn't actually made by a player.

But decided to mention this here for those unaware!

Faxdoc (our main dev) actually made this one herself. It's a painful finger exercise that utilises rocket and shotgun jumps. No grappling!

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If you didn't already know, the next major update for Rusted Moss is going to be.... a level editor update! (Check out what our last major update was HERE.)

So we are looking forward to seeing what new levels players come up with!!

Visit the PLAYISM Website PLAYISM Publisher Page Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Join our Discord