Gemporium News

Hello moles,

Thanks as always for your support of Gemporium!! We have a small update today including one frequently-requested feature.

[h3]Click to Move[/h3]
You can now use the mouse to move, allowing for mouse-only gameplay if you want! (Right-click also now works as an interact button; if you see any places where the button prompt still says 'E,' just use right-click and it should still work.)

You can find this option in the accessibility settings.

[h3]Other[/h3]
We've fixed a bug where if you paused and unpaused during a mining minigame, you'd be able to move Moel while still mining.

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That's all; we can't promise any major updates going forward due to our development scope, but this was one feature we really wanted to get in. We hope it helps more players enjoy the mines :)

- Merge Conflict Studio

[p]Hello Moles, we've reached another incredible milestone in just over a week![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We have been overjoyed and frankly blown away at the positive reception for our little game, so from the bottom of our hearts we want to thank you. It's only been a week since launch and we've surpassed all of our goals for this game by a long shot! It's very surreal to have this many people like what we made :)[/p][p][/p][p]We've pushed a few hotfixes and a patch to address some user feedback, but we know there are some greater questions being asked by the fans:[/p][p][/p][h2]Controller support?[/h2][p]We would love to add controller support, and know it is one of the most requested features! While we are still unsure of how long we want to continue working on Gemporium, this is something we would like to work on in the coming months.[/p][p][/p][h2]Steam Deck Verification?[/h2][p]This is also highly requested, and we would love to get Gemporium steam deck verified! We don't have a timeline as of now but stay tuned for more information.[/p][p][/p][h2]Localization?[/h2][p]Unfortunately due to our size and scope of the project, we didn't set out to localize the game and most likely won't be adding it in the future. [/p][p][/p][h2]More Content?[/h2][p]To be honest, we don't know! It's great to see so many people become invested in the game but don't want to make any promises that may or may not happen. If there are any plans for additional content or updates we will be sure to update the community![/p][p][/p][h2]What's Next?[/h2][p]We're taking a vacation! A much needed rest is in order for us to recharge and relax after shipping a game. We'll be back in 2 weeks but expect for us to be a bit silent while we get back into the swing of things. If you reeeeaally want a teaser though.....[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]

[p]Hello moles,[/p][p]We have a new patch, v1.0.7 available for Gemporium! We wanted to focus on some of the feedback we've been getting regarding loan shark frequency, as well as some other bug fixes and quality of life.[/p][p][/p][p]Check out the patch notes:[/p][p][/p][h2]New Features[/h2]

• [p]Reduced Debt Collection Mode[/p]
  • [p]This mode allows you to play with less stress than the base game, limiting the loan shark visits to once a week. The loan shark will now only visit on Saturdays as apposed to Saturdays and Wednesdays.[/p]
• [p]High Contrast Text[/p]
  • [p]New accessibility option is available for those who have a hard time reading certain text in the game[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Bug fixes / balance changes[/h2]

• [p]The loan shark now mentions the fact that Grandmole left you 1 million glimmer to pay off[/p]
• [p]$ signs across the game were replaced with the symbol for Glimmer[/p]
• [p]Reworded some of the upgrades to be clearer and more concise[/p]
• [p]Added a confirmation screen when starting a new game to avoid confusion with overriding saves[/p]
• [p]Added plaques to the artifact collections that hint toward their rewards + changes to display said reward once the collection is unlocked[/p]
• [p]Changed the trash icon in the gem bag to an actual trash can[/p]
• [p]The tutorial for “Uncool Customers” now plays if the first customer of the shop is an uncool customer[/p]
• [p]Slightly tweaked artifact generation to make it more consistent[/p]
• [p]Rewrote the loan repayment info screen to be more concise and descriptive[/p]
• [p]The letter description for early loan repayment will now automatically open the first time you access the early repayment table[/p]
• [p]
• your (dialogue typo fixed)[/p]
• [p]Replaced \[x] icon with a trash can in the gem bag for more clarity[/p]
• [p]Added SFX to gem bag trash can for player feedback[/p]
• [p]Moved some rocks in the mines that could softlock the player[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where mouse input would skip incomplete lines of dialogue[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where tooltips would sometimes get stuck on the cursor when starting a new game[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that caused chatter’s messages to not appear in the shop when using Twitch Integration[/p]
• [p]Fixed the resolution menu not accurately displaying all possible resolutions[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the early bird bonus not being accurately applied to the next loan payment & the total debt remaining[/p]
• [p]Music Balance[/p]
• [p]Fixed visual bug with the gem tumbler that caused it to replay the animation of the gems flying into your inventory[/p][p][/p]

[p]We hope that this new setting eases some of the stress that players have been feeling, without changing the base game for those who enjoy the current balance! [/p][p][/p][p]Thank you once again for a great launch week, and we are now sitting at almost 300 reviews! If you have played the game and feel like you have something to say, consider leaving a review! Not only does it help us see what people think, but it really helps our team by giving an accurate representation of the game to other steam users.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]With that being said, now it is time for Merge Conflict to take a much needed post-launch rest. We'll be back in a couple weeks, so see you then![/p][p][/p][p]

[p][/p][p]WE HIT 10K COPIES IN 3 DAYS.[/p][p][/p][p]What started as a month long project has evolved into so much more, and we couldn't be happier and more thankful for all of the players and fans who got us to this point. As a newer studio, the 5 of us wanted to try a new development style with Gemporium, something we could do quickly and sustainably as we transitioned into game development full time. Now Gemporium has exceeded all of our expectations and done so much better than we could have ever anticipated thanks to you

[h3]Hello Moles,[/h3][p][/p][p]Firstly, all of us here at Merge Conflict Studio want to say THANK YOU so much for your overwhelming support of Gemporium! It's been better than we ever imagined and means the world to us. YOU'RE THE BEST!

[p]Loan Shark visits being overwhelming[/p][p]We want to find a way to help players who feel overwhelmed by the Loan Shark's visits feel more equipped to keep up with them while not sacrificing the intended structure and experience of the game.
If you'd like a quick tip for this just for now: try completing an Artifact collection if you haven't![/p]

[p]Unclear details of Early Repayment Plan[/p][p]We've noticed that some players have been a bit confused by how the Early Repayment Plan works, especially with regards to why they still have to make payments on Loan Shark days after using it.

The TL;DR on it is that the Loan Shark will always ask for some minimum payment on scheduled days, but you can reduce this amount significantly with the Early Repayment Plan. Past this minimum, any payments you make will only reduce your total debt rather than your next payment.

We're hoping to increase clarity on this! There is a UI element that's meant to let you know when you've hit the minimum, but we've noticed some bugs with this and are hoping to fix this up.[/p]

[p]Lack of Controller Support[/p][p]This one will likely take longer to address because it's a fairly involved endeavor, but we've absolutely heard everyone asking for it and would like to add it at some point in the future.[/p]

[p]General Bugs[/p][p]We appreciate your bug reports and have a list of some we want to prioritize fixing first, including one with one of the Achievements.[/p][p][/p]

[p]There's more stuff on our list that we'd like to address, but we wanted to call these out specifically.[/p][p][/p][p]We really appreciate your patience as we work on all this! We are a small team of five and worked within a short development timeline to finish this game, but want to do our best to provide everyone with the best version of Gemporium possible.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks and as always, good luck in the Mines![/p][p][/p][p]The Merge Conflict Team[/p]