Block Block Block News

[p]Hello there, it's been a while since the last devlog last January. A lot of things have been changing for this little sandbox, at least 40+ updates have been applied and 40+ bugs solved, but this count is only for the ones I have been reporting to playtesters, so there is probably a lot more.[/p][p]We can also celebrate that we reached 12k whislist!🥳[/p][p]When I started the playtest I knew the biggest issue would come from the new Group items features and the History for it, and I was not wrong, there has been a lot of fixes for it and other parts of the games that js making the experience more stable than ever.[/p][p]Here is a list of the main biggest changes:[/p][p]New menu when editing an item (Grab, Rotate, Scale and Others)[/p][p]One of the newest additions to reduce the amount "Hold Control/Alt" to execute some features of the tool, also to communicate better what is available, and is open to include new options easily. Some of the advantages include that we can now toggle the amount of snap values instead of just turning it On/Off[/p][p][/p][p]Folder in Items Catalog[/p][p]There are a lot of new items additions that also include extra objects inside of them that are useful as unique items. To organize it a little and prevent overload of icons that don't feel like "Main Items", some items now work like a folder. You can also turn off this and show all the items in the catalog if you like.[/p][p][/p][p]Saving Puzzle Progress[/p][p]Completed Puzzles are now saved and used to color the big diorama where you select them.[/p][p][/p][p]Actions that requires constant Hold accessibility setting[/p][p]Some players mentioned that holding down the mouse button constantly to do something was painful, a new option that allows players to release the button and confirm with a second click the action is now available in the game settings.[/p][p][/p][p]Little details when opening windows[/p][p]In my way to make your spaces feel more alive, opening windows now let some woodchips enter like leaves blown by the wind.[/p][p]This also brings a funny bug to the game when I was setting the perfect value.[/p][p][/p][p]Keyboard and Gamepad[/p][p]Gamepad support is slowly coming together but still not available. I have been integrating all the parts of the game in the best way possible to prevent the gamepad from just being a way to control the mouse cursor.[/p][p][/p][p]This update also brings some advantages for the keyboard to control the game menu that was not available before.[/p][p][/p][p]Settings Categories[/p][p]The amount of options in settings is not getting lower and having all of them in a big list to scroll was not making it easy to explore, now we have different categories for settings.[/p][p][/p][p]Loading Bar[/p][p]Kind of technical and boring update, but the game now takes its time to load when you open it, instead of loading everything in the first frame.[/p][p][/p][p]Background Color Setting[/p][p]You can now change the menu background color and the background pattern color[/p][p][/p][p]Regarding release, I am still expecting for a release close to June, but I still have no date for you, but, I am already putting together a new demo.[/p][p]I hope you’ve you can join us in this essential part of the development journey. If you're excited about Block Block Block, don’t forget to:[/p][p][/p][p]👉 Wishlist the game on Steam[/p][p]👉 Join the community on Discord[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for following along![/p][p]— Aender Lara[/p]

[p]Hello everyone! Today I want to share with you what I been working the last months.[/p][p]We're adding puzzles to Block Block Block. A calm, simple experience for when you just want to build and relax.[/p][p]In this new mode you can choose a pre-defined Diorama to put together by following interactions that remind the player of a creative process to bring ideas to life before dragging the items to their final position.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]I would also mention again that you can join the upcoming playtest by filling this form:[/p][p]https://forms.gle/fdkLGWaeTA3FthHz9[/p][p][/p][p]I hope you’ve you can join us in this essential part of the development journey. If you're excited about Block Block Block, don’t forget to:[/p][p][/p][p]👉 Wishlist the game on Steam[/p][p]👉 Join the community on Discord[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for following along![/p][p]— Aender Lara[/p]

[p]Hello everyone! Are you looking to embrace your creativity and break a game on purpose again?[/p][p]A head of upcoming Block Block Block release we are giving keys to playtest the game in the coming weeks, if you want to be part of the final stage of this adventure please fill the form in the link.🪵👀💖[/p][p][/p][p]https://forms.gle/fdkLGWaeTA3FthHz9[/p][p][/p][p]I hope you’ve you can join us in this essential part of the development journey. If you're excited about Block Block Block, don’t forget to:[/p][p][/p][p]👉 Wishlist the game on Steam[/p][p]👉 Join the community on Discord[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for following along![/p][p]— Aender Lara[/p]

[p]It's been just over a month since the demo, so where are we? When will it launch? What's missing?[/p][p]I actually do these questions every day. I want to be in that release day as much as everybody, so why the game is not out yet? The short answer is, some features are still missing, or they were missing. We could playtest with a couple of bugs and fix them on the run, but some features needed to be defined or redefined, with future maintenance and updates in mind that don't totally break the experience, and honestly, for the first time in months, I think I am reaching this goal.[/p][p]Block Block Block right now is in a polishing/refining state, focusing on all the feedback from the playtest/demo to give the best and most relaxing experience possible, and of course there is a constant addition of items. So, let's check some of the new boring integrations and changes around that are preventing you from playing right now:[/p][p]Groups[/p][p]The biggest addition, the one that could break anything, and it did.[/p][p]How does it work? Select an item, press Group, tap over items you want to include and Confim, that's it, you created a group that works exactly like any other item. You can grab it, rotate it, scale it, or even duplicate it, and you can just ungroup it whenever you want.[/p][p]Big missing? Not totally working with Undo/Redo but is almost there.[/p][p][/p][p]Placement Assist[/p][p]Smarter grab, basically. The current grab lets you place everything everywhere, but some players found frustrating the way items also rotate when you move something from the floor to a wall, especially coming from other builder and decoration experiences. [/p][p][/p][p]The new grabbing does a lot more for you, preventing items from going through walls when possible and rotating them when moving between floor, wall, or even roof.[/p][p]The old system is still around in case you need that extra control in your hands by holding Control while grabbing the item. But also it is going to be possible to invert this shortcut to make the old system default and more like the Demo experience in case that is more your style.[/p][p]Roll[/p][p]Previous Roll was extra confusing. You could hold Control to roll in one direction, but then you also had to hold Alt to make the item spin on itself with a circle that looked too close to the main rotation one, and a lot of players wondered if there was a difference just by looking at it.[/p][p]With the new version, Roll works the same in 2 different directions, something that was kind of available before, but depending of the item one roll forward and other items roll to a side direction, now they are both going to be available at the same time when you hold Control.[/p][p][/p][p]At the moment both UI rings are separate, but they are going to be in the same place for the final version[/p][p]Materials[/p][p]For you to bring that 2000s looking transparent tech, now you have available new options like glass to replace any wood looking parts, and also there is a new sketch looking material.[/p][p][/p][p]Lock and interactions[/p][p]It is now easier to interact with items if they are locked.[/p][p][/p][p]Help Text Removed[/p][p]If you played the demo, you probably remember the little text with advice in the lower left corner of the screen. It was hard to read in some cases, some players did not even know it was there, so I totally removed it, and I am replacing it with the Icons + Shortcuts version for the main instructions players could need.[/p][p][/p][p]Localization[/p][p] The system is there, working with Spanish, and just needs more languages to put together now.[/p][p][/p][p]Puzzles[/p][p]The newest addition, and I am not going to give too many details of the progress since I am working on a better introduction on this. But, I can tell you this small and simple experience is created for players looking for a more guided experience when creating little dioramas without having to come up with new ideas every time they open the game.[/p][p]Writing this made me realize there has been a lot of progress I was not aware of.[/p][p]I'm still looking to release in the next months, starting with a new playtest as soon as possible.[/p][p]What do you think of this progress? Does it cover some issue you experienced before? What do you consider is still missing around, and what else would you like to see in the release?[/p][p]Once again I would like to thank everyone who has been following, playing, and helping to improve this little game over the last few months. It has been a great adventure to watch it grow little by little, and it is a little terrifying and exciting to know that its final version is close. ❤️[/p][p]I hope you've enjoyed this little progress toward the release. If you're excited about Block Block Block, don’t forget to share it around, and also:[/p][p]👉 Wishlist the game on Steam[/p][p]👉 Join the community on Discord[/p][p]Thanks for following along![/p][p]— Aender Lara[/p]

[p]Hello again, Demo is coming to an end tomorrow Monday and I want to talk a little about what is next moving forward to a release of the 1.0 version.[/p][p]It has been 2 crazy months since the playtest release and I can say the game is not the same as it was before the playtest, there have been a lot of bug fixes and also a lot of the experience improvement, and is also thanks to you.[/p][p]The game has the main tools already in place, but there are still things that need improvements and some extra additions. We also have to improve one of the weakest points of the experience and that is communicate better to the players the tools available. Some of you are amazingly good, but some players get frustrated about things they can't do that are actually part of the current game experience and we need to show that better.[/p][p]Here are some of the points ahead of the launch that are on the priority list:[/p][p]Group Items[/p][p]One of the most asked features and probably the biggest, group items could not just open the door to merge items into a big one, but also could work to create your own custom items for you to add in the catalog.[/p][p]More game less building(kind of experience)[/p][p]Some players are looking for a more guided experience to put together little diroramas.[/p][p]Light and Studio[/p][p]Merging these two sections from the Scene to work lights directly in the Studio mode.[/p][p]Snap or grid while moving an item[/p][p]One of the big missing features.[/p][p]Solid Color Background [/p][p]Change the current workshop background to a solid color of your preference[/p][p]Items[/p][p]A lot more variety of items available for you to put your scene together.[/p][p]3D Export(Tentative)[/p][p]We all want this one, but it is something I have not fully explored yet and prefer not to promise it for the launch at the moment.[/p][p]Gamepad Support[/p][p]Yes, why not.[/p][p]Roll/Spin improvement[/p][p]There is an idea to make it even more simple.[/p][p]Localization[/p][p]Even when the game has not that many text around this feature still kind of expensive for us at the moment, but the system is going to be in place and our goal is to include English and Spanish in the release.[/p][p]Other Systems[/p][p]We are aiming to release it on Windows, and there's a possibility that we might also release it on Linux(We already develop the game in Linux too). Mac is still a possibility but we need to test before confirming we can release it there.[/p][p]Release Date[/p][p]Hopefully, the first half of 2026[/p][p][/p][p]I would like to use this space to answer questions and especially to read what you would like to see in the future release of the game.[/p][p]Once again I would like to thank everyone who has been playing and helping to improve this little game over the last few months. It has been a great adventure to watch it grow little by little, and it is a little terrifying and exciting to know that its final version is close.❤️[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks so much for playing and until next time![/p][p]— Aender Lara[/p][p]
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