Mycelium: The Silent Contract News

[h3]Hey, Contractors, [/h3][h3]Lex here.[/h3][p][/p][p]It’s been a hot minute since the last proper update, but I’ve finally finished gutting and rebuilding huge parts of the demo. Being a solo dev means some days I’m a coder, other days I’m a lighting artist, and most days I’m just confused by my own math.[/p][p]Anyway, v 0.47.01 is live. Here is the breakdown of what's actually changed.[/p][p][/p][h3]The "New" Demo Experience[/h3][p]I already gave you some details on the reasoning behind why I want to change the demo. I realized the old tutorial was—to put it mildly—a bit of a drag. So, I scrapped it. It’s gone. In its place, I’ve added Mission 0. It’s a dedicated training mission that feels like part of the world rather than a pop-up checklist.[/p][p]While I was at it, I also:[/p]

• [p]Nuked the Intro: You can jump straight into multiplayer now. No more waiting around.[/p]
• [p]Simplified Saves: I removed the multiple save slots. You get one slot now, and if you want a fresh start, you can just reset it.[/p]
• [p]The Lobby Glow-up: I reworked the lighting in the lobby (it’s much moodier now) and finally got the room binding system working properly.[/p]
• [p]Free Drip: Since I took away the tutorial, I moved some equipment and the new Outfit system into the lobby for you to mess around with.[/p]
• [p][/p]

[h3]Mechanics & Polish[/h3][p]The "4-cycle" limit always felt a little arbitrary to me. I’ve changed the demo limitation to 5+1 missions, each lasting 15 minutes. On average, you’re looking at about 2 hours of playtime now.[/p][p]Other "quality of life" (if you can call it that in a horror game) tweaks:[/p]

• [p]Audio: Proximity voice chat is much tighter now, and I added a noise gate setting so we don't hear your breathing.[/p]
• [p]The Bestiary: The Codex and Bestiary have been completely reworked with unlockable entries.[/p]
• [p]Visuals: Added a volume meter to the UI and fixed about a thousand bugs that were crawling around the missions.[/p]
• [p]Lobby Secrets: There’s a working shower now. Why? Why not. Also, there’s a new riddle hiding in there and some Christmas decorations to keep the existential dread festive.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]The Schedule Shift (A.K.A. The "Tough" News)[/h3][p]I have to push the release date back. I was aiming for January, but realistically, we're looking at late February or early March. As much as I want to get this out, I need that extra month to actually listen to your feedback and polish the edges. Shipping a half-baked Early Access experience is the last thing I would like to do. I want my Early Access as playable as I would expect as a player, myself.[/p][p][/p][h3]A New Partnership[/h3][p]On a much bigger note, I’m no longer flying entirely solo on the publishing side of things. I’ve teamed up with Proteus Interactive, a new indie publishing label. They’re taking over the heavy lifting for the promotional side of things, as well as Steam release management, which lets me focus 100% of my brain on making the game actually good.[/p][p]Go check out the update on Steam, and let me know if I broke anything else in the process.[/p][p]Stay safe in the forest. Or don't. It's more interesting that way.[/p][h3]— Po Kolu[/h3][p][/p][p]PS. Please remember to wishlist the game![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]

[/p]

[h3]Hey, contractors,[/h3][h3]Lex here.[/h3][p][/p][p]It's been a while since I made a meaningful post, so I guess it's time to keep y'all updated on Mycelium's current state.[/p][p][/p][p]Based on your feedback and impressions on the demo, I'm postponing new stuff and instead am fixing the problems and improving/reworking the existing features to make them better and clearer by the time of Early Access release.[/p][p][/p][h3]Here is a small sneak peek on what I'm doing:[/h3][p][/p]

• [p]Tutorial removed. Erased. Annihilated. Non-existent. Instead, I'm making a Mission 0 for new players to learn things. Hilarious, isn't it?[/p]
• [p]Terminal reworked. No more confusing arrows that were the reason you couldn't find the map. The new interface will confuse you even more![/p]
• [p]Lighting reworked in the lobby. Still working on that but I swear - if you keep setting your brightness to 3.2, I'm going to remove that setting from game. Unless it's a joke. However, this rework should fix occasional game crashes I know some people had when loading into the lobby.[/p]
• [p]Voice Chat improved. Noise suppression and other tweaks that should make it even better. Unfortunately, the streamers I've seen don't use in-game voice, so I haven't received much feedback on that matter.[/p]
• [p]Game UI rework. More control hints and other stuff so that you won't have to wander in darkness because you didn't know how to switch on the flashlight.[/p]
• [p]Numerous fixes and improvements. Visuals, physics, bugs, etc. Your life will never be the same.[/p]

[p][/p][p]I'm sure there is more but I don't remember. So stay tuned and get ready to be lost in the forest. Soon.[/p]

[h3]Hey, contractors,[/h3][h3]Lex here[/h3][p][/p][p]Steam Next Fest is over, I had a couple days to catch my breath, but now it's time to share my plans for Mycelium.[/p][p][/p][p]First of all, thank you all for trying out the demo! Your feedback, streams, videos, emails, and bug reports have been extremely helpful. I made numerous mistakes, and with your help I saw them.[/p][p][/p][p]The demo, despite the fact I don't really like it as a demo, will stay on Steam until further notice and until I make a new one just before the release of the game to Early Access.[/p][p][/p][p]The game is still scheduled to be released for early access in January. However, there might be delays, that's why I'm not ready to give you a specific date just now. I guess, it'll become clearer in December. Anyway, I'll keep you updated.[/p][p][/p][p]Meanwhile, I'll concentrate on work. And if you have any comments and feedback, don't hesitate to click that Discord button somewhere below this text.[/p][p][/p][p]Have a good one.[/p]

[p]Hey Contractors,[/p][p]Lex here[/p][p][/p][p]Just adding a small patch to make your life easier in the forest.[/p][p][/p][p]Changes:[/p]

• [p]Extraction portals now deal only 1 damage if you stand near them when they open (used to kill you instantly)[/p]
• [p]Touching the Extraction sphere while it's activating now deals only 1 damage (instead of 10)[/p]
• [p]Default inventory/objectives button is now \[ I ] (can be changed in Settings)[/p]

[p][/p][p]Hope you're having fun![/p]

[p]Hello contractors,[/p][p]Lex here[/p][p][/p][p]This patch is the second part of the big patch I announced. It's mainly about speeding up players progression, some more lobby changes for your convenience as well as minor bug fixes.[/p][p][/p][p]Changes:[/p]

• [p]Flare Guns are now available on Cycle 1, Radars available on Cycle 2[/p]
• [p]Starting Chambers are now more obvious in the Lobby[/p]
• [p]It's now easier to see if a room is occupied or vacant[/p]
• [p]The Green Door has been moved to the main hallway[/p]
• [p]The long corridor will now be locked after the intro[/p]
• [p]Extraction Orb can no longer be thrown before you have enough Mycelium[/p]
• [p]The doors in the lobby shouldn't double-open now[/p]

[p][/p][h2]IMPORTANT: If you're a returning player, make sure to delete the old saves and start a new one for progression changes to be applied.[/h2][p][/p][h3]I cannot guarantee that the old saves will work.[/h3][p][/p][p]Have fun![/p]