Hard Chip News

Greetings, Hard Chip players!

I've got a fresh update for you, and this one is a bit special (and continental). Hard Chip is starting to learn new languages – oui, oui, you read that right! We're dipping our toes into localization, with French leading the charge (and more languages on the horizon). On top of that, I've continued our never-ending war on "cheese" (those sneaky unintended solutions you clever folks come up with) and added a few nice quality-of-life improvements – including a darker, moodier look for the editor. Now, let's dive in and break down what's new and improved from version 0.0.6.78 to 0.0.6.80!



[h2]1. NEW French localization[/h2]
This is the big piece. The French language is selectable from Settings! This update marks my first big push towards multi-language support. Making HC heavily hard-coded for English to handle those languages gracefully: French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Simplified Chinese are currently planned.



Obviously, the first localization run was to be my natural language: French! But everything is in place to handle other languages as well.



As this is still a big piece, many bugs and translation errors might have found their way into the current version. Do not hesitate to join our Discord server and to use Steam Discussions to report any weird things!

🧩 Changelog:

• - NEW Français (partiel) disponible dans les options;
  
• - NEW Logic for handling locale with non-Latin glyphs (ru and - Simplified Chinese);
  
• - MI Localization boilerplate logic;
  
• - MI Cyrillic font;
  
• - MI disclaimers for translation work;
  
• - MI Settings localized, loading logic for German, French, Russian, - Spanish and Simplified Chinese.
  
• - PERF removed unused font glyphs for terminals (not showing the full - maps while in the overworld);
  
• - TSL Component editor localization logic;
  
• - TSL Keys for End of Chapters, FPS phases other than terminals;
  
• - TSL Option screens localization logic;
  
• - TSL Chip maps translation keys;
  
• - TSL Demo campaign working with the localization;
  
• - TSL Languages German, Russian, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese for playtest only;
  
• - TSL Intro localization keys;
  
• - TSL Performance report translation keys;
  
• - TSL Special characters handling for in-world terminals;
  
• - TSL translation updated and cleaning old test translations;
  
• - TSL Updates partial de, es, ru, zh-hans;
  
• - TSL World entities translations keys added;
  
• - UX Settings screen sizing for French texts;
  

[h2]2. NEW Dark mode[/h2]
Some players require a lot, and there you go, an easy-to-eyes dark background:



✨ Changelog:
- NEW Dark background in editor;



[h2]3. UPDATED Puzzle Tuning & “Cheese” Warfare 🧀[/h2]
If you've been around Hard Chip for a while, you know I love seeing the creative solutions you come up with – but sometimes you're too creative and end up finding unintended shortcuts (affectionately known as "cheese"). This update continues the crusade against such exploits to keep challenges fair and square. We've identified and fixed several cheeses. The free lunch is getting harder to find!
Not only that but 2 new grade requirements were added for bonus challenges!

A proper cheese of one of the bonus stage

Special thanks to the community for finding and reporting them🙏. Especially one player!

🛠️ Changelog:

• - FIX Cheese MUX 41 and 81
  
• - FIX Cheese on transmitter 2-4-8;
  
• - FIX Mux21 cheese;
  
• - GRD 8bit full multiplier new grade;
  
• - GRD new grades for halfbitadder non-inverted one;
  

[h2]4. UPDATE English and copy rework[/h2]
Going through every single string of characters in HC and trying to translate them was an interesting exercise. A lot of copy wasn't optimal or just plainly wrong! For readability and for the translation itself, some work has been started. More to come in 0.0.6.81.

🎮 Changelog:

• - FIX "{0}/{1}: Flip Blueprint" not showing proper keybindings;
  
• - FIX Double click tooltip indicating left instead of right-click;
  
• - FIX Intro screen evaluating properly character sets;
  
• - UX Rename Readout to Probe for clarity;
  

[h2]Quality Of Life, Bug, and Crash fixes list[/h2]
I'm always trying to make Hard Chip more intuitive and pleasant to use, so this update brings some user experience improvements, interface tweaks, and fixes – some based on your feedback. An example is, for all you laptop warriors: touchpad side-scrolling now works for rotation in the editor. That means using a touchpad, you can finally rotate the view using two-finger horizontal scroll gestures!

🧮 Changelog:

• - NEW touchpad side-scrolling for rotating in the editor;
  
• - FIX Benchmark now runs full suit;
  
• - FIX "Select segment" assigned to 'T' and re-assignable;
  
• - FIX Root caused out the misfired keypresses on focusing on terminals;
  
• - FIX tentative crash on large block selections cursor;
  
• - FIX wrong status command after adder;
  
• - MI Debug overlays report render/s, uirender/s, and update/s (F9 console);
  
• - MI New chip from the library now starts with clock control;
  

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More and more quality of life improvement is on its way. Now, work for localization is still ongoing. If you wish to propose a new language, don't hesitate to reach out on our Discord server, Steam Discussion, or even in the Comments down below!

Your feedback, suggestions, and comments are not just important; they're the lifeblood of this game. We value your input and encourage you to join our Discord server to share your thoughts and ideas!

Thank you for playing Hard Chip, and stay tuned for more updates and new features!

• FIX Cheese MUX 41 and 81
  
• MI Debug overlays report render/s, uirender/s, and update/s;
  
• FIX Mux21 cheese;
  
• FIX Root caused out the misfired keypresses on enter in terminals;
  

Hidden changes, but if you want to test it, edit the setting to test out the work in progress on translation:

• TSL Missing intro localization keys;
  
• TSL Localization keys with fr & ru suggestions;
  
• TSL french progress;
  
• TSL Demo campaign working with the localization;
  
• TSL Demo ok;
  
• TSL Special characters handling for in world terminals;
  
• TSL World entities translations keys added;
  
• TSL Chip maps translation keys;
  
• TSL Updates partial de and es;
  
• TSL translation updated and cleaning old test translations;
  
• FIX "{0}/{1}: Flip Blueprint" not show keybindings; FIX Double click tooltip indicating left instead of right click;
  

A "bad" byte multiplier used to set the new grade for the 8bit Multiplier challenge

Greetings, Hard Chip players!

It's been 4 months since Hard Chip entered its Early Access phase. Since then, there have been no deals scheduled. Even though that might have hurt sales (you never know; there are a lot of theories about a game launch online and deals), fortunately, this selected naturally highly invested players who had a coup-de-foudre for Hard Chip.

People played for countless hours, optimizing their designs. HC servers have received scores for 58k submissions so far; some records have been broken multiple times. Even challenges that used to be out of reach (because they were too complicated?) were completed numerous times, multipliers specifically! Even one passionate player streamed his entire journey on YouTube, tens of hours of gameplay! (the best for a game dev wanting to improve the game; please stream your gameplay of the HC🙏)

[h2]First ever Sales, 20% off![/h2]

Let's try something else and see if deals will boost sales and make HC a more lasting game: now is the time to grab a copy of Hard Chip!

Now, back to the regular review of the changes made from versions 0.0.6.72 to 0.0.6.77. Over the past few weeks, I continued refining Hard Chip to make the logic-crafting smoother and more intuitive. Let's break down what's new and improved.



[h2]1. UPDATED Simulation cheese warfare[/h2]
HC has open-ended puzzles; for many, it is hard to predict how "creative" players can be. Sometimes, an ASIC-like (application-specific integrated circuit) solution can yield way better stats than the intended solution! Some work has been done in that direction! Random test validation phase and distinct powering up phase. Those will be covered in an upcoming update. However, some improvements are more immediately useful; see the changelog.

🛠️ Changelog:

• SIM input is now shorting next to channels in the opposite state;
  
• NEW DistinctPowerUp phase touch-ups (deactivated at the moment);
  
• CX Fix JKLatch, Dlatch Enable cheese; 
  
• CX Nibble multiplier minor cheese fix in truth table;
  
• CX SRLatch and DLatch anti-cheese steps and basic grades;
  
• CX anti cheese steps for MUX4-1 and 8-1;
  
• MI All latches challenges are with distinct powering-up phases;
  
• GRD 4bit adder/multiplier updates; 
  
• GRD new grades for half-bit adder noninverted one;
  
• GRD New grades for inverted half-bit adder;
  
• MI Show tick per step settings, deactivated during tuto;
  
• FIX inconsistent tick number when manually selecting steps;
  
• FIX moving output readouts on validate;
  
• FIX no ticks count per step on the detached Truth Table control;
  
• FIX Wrong input behavior;
  

[h2]1. UPDATED User Experience [/h2]
Some quality-of-life improvements, shortcuts, and some copy here and there to maximize clarity

🛠️ Changelog:

• NEW Hotkeys for faster/slower simulation speed with [/];
  
• NEW Keybindings for slots F1-F5;
  
• UX "Reset campaign only" label;
  
• UX Hints on how to proceed on the Merger level;
  
• UX change rotate/flip blueprint to flipX/flipZ with corresponding keybindings;
  
• UX Online charts copy clearer in Settings;
  
• UX Switch to select mode when alt tabing;
  
• MI Export HCDrive name with UTC date in the name;
  

[h2]Quality Of Life, Bug, and Crash fixes list[/h2]
Even more bugs fixed and rough edges smoothed out!
🛠️ Changelog:

• FIX Camera speed up/down movement was slow at steep angles;
  
• FIX discarded mouse input when build-up from layer 1 at specific points;
  
• FIX Export to clipboard exporting only first slot.
  
• FIX fast validation UI crash;
  
• FIX import copied HCdrive from file explorer;
  
• FIX no center camera when free cam;
  
• FIX soft UI crash in "grey UI";
  
• FIX tentative forever gray buttons;
  
• FIX Trim selected blocks from empty space from all sides;
  
• FIX Wrong fabricator status after material bank 2 repaired;
  
• MI Buckets minimum size for scores;
  
• MI Changing the ray precisions settings range to not degrade too much visuals, disclaimer adder in the updates;
  
• MI Completed challenges in the campaign are unlocked in the bonus;
  
• MI Localization boilerplate (work in progress);
  
• MI Validation process ++;
  
• NEW Airlock area and terminals to get there, only in playtest;
  

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More quality of life improvement is on its way. Now, we are exploring how new content would fit in and preparing work for localization (French would likely be the first to be translated as I'm fluent in it)!

Your feedback, suggestions, and comments are not just important; they're the lifeblood of this game. We value your input and encourage you to join our Discord server to share your thoughts and ideas!

Thank you for playing Hard Chip, and stay tuned for more updates and new features!