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Hey folks!
I got back last night from Electromagnetic Field Camp, which marks the end of an incredible 2 months of research, travelling and exhibiting.
It was a genuine privilege to work with the DARC team to bring MORSE to Friedrichshafen.
I've toured MORSE around Germany, Scotland and England and met amateur radio enthusiasts from all around the world. HAM RADIO 2026 was fantastic and I'll be doing a write up soon discussing my highlights from Europe's largest amateur radio event. Massive thanks to Matthias and the DARC team for having the game along and making us feel so welcome.
MORSE was swamped for the majority of the event and well received!
I also successfully built 4 installations, tested them with people living locally with dementia and gave them the opportunity to design games controllers that reflected their interests. A massive thanks to the research team and local partners and of course those who attended the sessions for their contributions and time.
Some of the functional games controllers crafted by people living locally with dementia.
I also showed MORSE at Glasgow Indie Festival and EMF within a week, which were two incredible festivals filled with passionate, creative people. I got to deliver a talk at EMF advocating for designing games for pensioners to an audience of around 300, the talk was recorded so will share when it becomes available for those of you who are interested.
I got to demonstrate my LED watering can controller on stage!
I've had such a wonderful time but it's been a pretty exhausting period (particularly with the heat!), so I'm going to take the rest of the month off to recover and reflect on what I've achieved. Rest assured that I will be back on with MORSE soon with an exciting announcement for the project!
73, Alex
Hey folks!
Just a reminder that I'll be attending HAM RADIO at Messe Friedrichshafen with MORSE this week! I've braved blistering heat over the last 3 days of travel to attend the event, arrived in one piece and so stoked for the days to come.
2 taxis, 2 planes, 4 trains, 2 hotels and a bus later, we arrived earlier today!
I'll be showing MORSE in the 50 Ohm area of the exhibition, which is hosted by DARC, or Deutschen Amateur-Radio-Club. They're the national organisation for Germany doing amateur radio outreach and advocacy for the hobby, they're a passionate bunch and were incredibly helpful with some last minute hitches with the booth! 50 Ohm itself is a learning platform for learning Amateur Radio, so if you're local and considering getting your license, that's a good place to look!
The red area marks the 50 Ohm section and the crosshair marks roughly where MORSE is!
If you happen to be in attendance, please come say hello! I'll be showing the game with my LED setup and a version of the game tailored for DARC. As a nice coincidence, the Steam Summer Sale overlaps with the event so the game will be 20% off for the event and through till 9th of July.
It's such a dream to get to show the game at this event, for such a long time I didn't think I'd get to finish the game so getting to show the project with national organisations is a real privilege.
I've improved the outreach page layout to include a QR code for easier connection.
Only other update I wanted to give is I successfully delivered my workshops for people living with dementia as part of my local research project, was a joy getting lots of older folks who'd never interacted with games before building controllers out of craft materials and trying out some unusual installations. Had some wonderful interactions and stories and I'll be delivering a talk about my experience at EMF Camp in the next couple of weeks which I believe will be recorded if that's of interest for any of you.
That's all for now! Enjoy your weekend and ... . . / -.-- --- ..- / .. .-. .-..
73, Alex
Hey folks, thank you for your patience the last month in awaiting an update! Got some wonderful things to share this month:
MORSE is going to be exhibited at the International Amateur Radio Exhibition next month in Friedrichshafen, Germany! It's such a privilege to be collaborating with the Deutschen Amateur-Radio-Club (DARC) for this event, it'll be the biggest amateur radio event the game has reached so far and thrilled to be on the German booth.
Germany has a thriving amateur radio scene, in particular a strong youth outreach programme so I'm looking forward to spending time with Matthias and the team to learn more about their efforts. The event itself last year had over 11,000 attendees, which is the biggest Amateur Radio festival in Europe.
Given the broad European presence at the event, I'm looking to get the MORSE help sheet translated to as many languages as possible. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated.
MORSE will be exhibited in Glasgow on July 11th as part of the weekend Indie festival happening in the city, I've also spotted that there's the local Friday ham meetup, so going to reach out to the organisers to see if there's an opportunity for a chance to show the project!
MORSE will be in the arcade area at Electromagnetic Field Camp in July, I've wanted to attend the event for years now so very hyped to show the project off, particularly given the large contingent of amateur radio enthusiasts that frequent the event. If you're making it along, come and say hello! I'll be stopping by the booth throughout the weekend to wire up different telegraphs for players to try out. I'll also be exhibiting my other installation Glow Golf and doing a talk about my new research project designing play for people living with dementia.
As some of you may have observed from MORSE's credits, I've been using the success of the game to help support my recent move into dementia research, specifically, designing interactive play (and lots of unusual controllers) for people living with the condition. My interest in this area stems from several places:
- Whilst gaming is commonly perceived as a hobby for the young, gamers are already starting to develop dementia and are even dying of old age. In the next 20 years, a lot more people who dedicated their lives to games will lose the ability to engage with their favourite past-time when they will likely need it most.
- Games have an ability to create a sense of purpose, agency, stimulation and communal connection, all important traits for those living in care homes or in isolated communities. They can even provide respite to chronic pain, common amongst elderly populations.
- Sensory equipment for care homes is cost prohibitive, uses complex tech and is often non-interactive, on that last point that makes it hard to tell if people living with dementia are actually enjoying/engaged with the experience!
Photo from delivering a craft based custom controller workshop at the V&A last year.
- For families/friends visiting people living with dementia, that experience can be quite difficult for both parties if entirely focused around conversation, so providing non-verbal means of play/interaction can give opportunity for bonding and fun.
- There's also a lot of people in older age who've never considered playing games who I'm particularly interested to engage, be that giving them their first experience of games or co-designing alternative controllers that are more approachable.
I've designed 3 installations and a craft workshop format that next month I'm going to be going around local care centres in the area in collaboration with seasoned dementia researchers at Sheffield University. We'll be testing the installations with people living with dementia and then getting participants to design their own games controllers made out of craft materials! I am eager to see how the session is going to be received. You can watch a demo of the Teapot installation here: Singing Teapots early demonstration
The combination of this dementia research and Friedrichshafen falling on the same month has meant stepping away from development for May and June. I don't however want this to be taken as a signal that the project is abandoned, just that I need time to focus on these important milestones!
With that in mind, Here's what I want to achieve for MORSE over the next 6 months: - Settings Page Upgrade: Whilst the current settings menu is perfectly functional, I want to add more granular controls/calibration for operators. This would include settings such as being able to isolate/disable the sidetone of the player, dedicated save settings for the different telegraphs and as requested in the feedback/suggestions section, a low contrast mode.
- Re-work of Listening Mode: I want to improve the current setup as it's more mimicking input rather than listening and interpreting the sound. In the planned overhauled version, you'll have letters listed with numbers as coordinates such as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 - Numbered coordinates to move to
I G N O R E - Different letters being sounded
So if the player hears the sound "dit dah dit", they'd enter ..... or 5 to target R.
This gives the player an opportunity to practice numbers and a clear distinction between movement and listening. Let me know if you can think of any other improvements or suggestions on this!
A Vibroplex Semi-Automatic Telegraph and the MORSE stylised design.
- Semi-Auto Telegraph Integration: This is the remaining historical telegraph I would like to integrate into MORSE, it's a peculiar input as dot entry is automatic whilst dash entry is manual, hence the semi-auto labelling. It's relatively similar to Iambic in structure, but I specifically want to have a go with one (or preferably buy!) to get a proper feel for how it operates (Hopefully whilst at Friedrichshafen).
- Build Localisation Infrastructure: I have ambitions long term to get MORSE translated to multiple languages, but first the game needs a structural overhaul in how the game handles text. In a perfect world, the translated text is loaded into a file which populates throughout the game, so I'll need to convert all in-game text to be stored in a list to be easily changed. A lengthy task upfront but one that hopefully makes translation easier.
- A Wider Defensive Arsenal: This is likely the biggest deviation of the original games' mechanics, but one that I'm particularly looking forward to integrating. I want to implement allied ships that help with holding the back line, shooting at approaching enemy ships. I don't want these units to be dominant enough as to detract from player skill/learning, so they won't fire on hidden enemy ships till you've revealed them for targeting. I am open to suggestions from players on what they'd like to see from this new mechanic.
MORSE displayed at Lake County Museum, South Dakota.
- Get MORSE in a second museum: I was so chuffed for the MORSE installation in South Dakota, getting the game exhibited in another museum (long or short term installation) would be wonderful. I have got a couple of sites in mind to approach, but if you're interested, please do get in touch!
- Run a telegraph making workshop: I have another hamfest in the calendar later this year (TBA) that I'm hoping to run a educational session where we'll be building telegraphs out of craft materials such as clothes pegs. I'd then like to formalise this into a classroom activity that can be sent to schools or clubs for outreach.
That's all for now, thank you again for your patience with the project!
73, Alex
Hey folks,
For Morse Code week, I've overhauled the demo for MORSE! This adds a year of polish, refinement and features to MORSE, a fresh face to the Steam Summer Next Fest build. On reflection, it's wonderful seeing how far the game has come in the 11 months since, lets run through some of the additions to the demo:
+ Letters on the Y axis: Easily the most common feedback of the demo page was the slowness of entering numbers to move up and down the Y axis. I agree with player sentiment here so I've switched the demo over to having letters to navigate the Y axis as the default. You can fully read up more about the rationale for this in this article here. MORSE - MORSE Update #1: Modifiers, refined tutorial and vertical letters! - Steam News
+ More in depth manual: The final in game manual is much more expansive, covering topics such as activities in the hobby, national organisations, common phrases and useful websites. Perfect for someone curious about Amateur Radio.
+ Improved tutorials: The tutorials now have animations paired with each section of tutorial text and the printout is placed in a less intrusive location of the user interface.
+ Added Calibration Mode: Speaking of tutorials, the recently added calibration tutorial shows players how to tune their telegraph. They can also practice entering PARIS in Morse Code to get their WPM (words per minute). You can read more about this here: MORSE - Morse Mastery: 3 new training modes in spring update! - Steam News
+ Modifiers for Outreach: Outreach mode is available for enthusiasts to use at rallies or ham fests with features such as the attract mode, instructions on how to get involved with Amateur Radio, automatic reset on idle. You can read more about this here: MORSE - UPDATE FOR OUTREACH: Tailoring MORSE to better support Amateur Radio. - Steam News
+ Extravagant explosions: Courtesy of the skilful hand of Sinclair Strange, MORSE now has some tasty explosion animations to give your artillery extra punch.
+ Plenty of bug fixing and polish! Since the June demo release, MORSE has gone through a lot of playtesting and refinement, so a lot of the previous bugs present in the demo (for example buggy mine placement logic) have been fixed. You can have a look at previous news posts on here as well as my dev log which documented the process of building the game: MORSE - Minimalist strategy game that teaches you the lost skill of telegraphy.
I hope players find this a positive addition and in particular that it aids the efforts of Amateur Radio clubs to bring more people into the fold.
For showing MORSE at an event, you'll need a computer, a monitor and a desk and two chairs. MORSE can be demonstrated either with the full game or with the demo, I've specifically designed a "Modifier" to compliment an exhibition setting, such as timed resets, an attract mode and directly promoting amateur radio clubs. If you navigate to Start then look in the bottom left, there's a button labelled "Modifiers", if you scroll through the various modifiers to "Outreach Mode", that should help that process. Look at the animated gif above for a visual guide on how to find the outreach modifier.
The number one piece of advice I'd give for installations is to avoid regular games interfaces, such as keyboards or mice to control MORSE with. Using a telegraph key to operate the game with is more novel for those familiar with video games and less intimidating for those unfamiliar with video games. When I showed MORSE at National Hamfest, there were many people that came up to inspect my telegraph collection before even looking at the game! It may be a challenging prospect to wire up a key if you're not familiar with electronics, but venture onto this thread for MORSE and you'll see there's a variety of low cost, simple methods of wiring a key up to a computer. HOW TO GET SET UP WITH A TELEGRAPH! Suggestions, support and showcase. :: MORSE General Discussions
Whilst MORSE does have an expansive tutorial, often at events folks just want to get stuck in, so having a quick explanation to get people started is really useful. Further, having a summary of what to do and someone to hand if they get stuck can help players get over that initial hurdle. Supplementary help sheets showing the Morse alphabet, local clubs and how to get licensed. On the Steam discussions, we have helpsheets in English, French and Korean so far. Steam Community :: :: How to Play MORSE - English
Whilst I haven't done this directly myself (yet), I had Iona run a radio station on the MORSE booth a couple of months back for attendees to try out. What's nice with this method is if you've already been made familiar an actual telegraph to play the game with, you can move them over seamlessly using the same interface. Remember of course that if you're planning to let someone transmit, you need someone on the booth with an Amateur Radio License to monitor participants. You could even use the game on a Parks on the Air site (or a similar OTA activity) to add some additional novelty to hunting.
If someone is intimidated by operating a telegraph and artillery, splitting the controls between two people can help lower the difficulty level. For example, if you have someone who is inexperienced with telegraphy or who has accessibility requirements can use the launch button to fire on ships and to verbally call out coordinates whilst the other player focused primarily on Morse Code input.
Educational organisations I've found are keen to collaborate, particularly using games as a tool to engage younger audiences with hands on enrichment. A perfect example of this is Magnus, who collaborated with his local museum to design and install a custom exhibition of MORSE in their communications section. He also opted for a very durable wooden box to house the installation and the computer, ideal for museum settings. The game went down very well with visiting school groups and Magnus has since been working with his local radio club to make portable units to show around schools. You can read more about his efforts here: MORSE - What have people been building with MORSE? - Steam News
If you have any other questions about using the game for educational outreach, don't hesitate to get in touch. Further, if you spot any hitches or issues with the new demo, reach out here: Feedback/Suggestions/Bugs/Support! :: MORSE General Discussions
That's all for now, if you do use the game to engage local people or have any further questions about Morse Code/Amateur Radio outreach, don't hesitate to get in touch.
73, Alex
Hey Folks,
\
As promised, here's the updated build! I've added a couple of small but meaningful changes to MORSE: + Iambic Fixed: There was a subtle but fiddly timing issue with the Iambic key that has persisted since launch that I've finally managed to solve! Means that Iambic feels much more fluid and reliable. Thank you for your patience in awaiting this fix. + Update revisions: The UI update in the last build I had some complaints about one of the notifications displays obscuring the grid, so I've made that integrate more subtly in the game, popping up only when necessary rather than constantly on screen. + Tutorial Disabled for Exercises: Under modifiers, there's the option to disable tutorials, in the last update that didn't turn them off for the learning exercises. That way, you can quickly tweak your telegraph or practice without having to see the whole tutorial on each page. + Cursor Toggle: In a previous update I added a cursor for players who were using mouse, but when using keyboard you would see the cursor sitting on the screen. When you press keys, the cursor disappears, when you press either mouse button, the cursor appears. That's all for now, stay tuned for the demo update dropping in the next few hours! 73, Alex
Hey Folks,
Today is a very special date for the world of Amateur Radio...
The 27th of April marks the birthday of Samuel Morse, who alongside Alfred Vail devised the system of dots and dashes that bear his name. More broadly, Morse Code day celebrates how hundreds of years on from its inception, Morse Code is still used today to connect people across the globe and provides an approachable entry point to Amateur Radio.
By strange coincidence, it's also my birthday! For the occasion, MORSE is on sale from today till the 10th of May and I have several things lined up this week:
+ This Wednesday I'll be releasing a significant update to the MORSE demo, this includes many features from the full game that will hopefully help the game better serve the Amateur Radio community. There's also a hefty amount of polish and refinement gone in since the previous demo released for Summer Next Fest last year, so to those of you who've previously Wishlisted there's plenty new to sink your teeth into. Alongside the release on the 29th, I'll be sharing suggestions on how to put together an installation for MORSE for exhibition/outreach.
+ An extremely exciting update to share: MORSE was featured in the May edition of Radcom, the UK Amateur Radio magazine! I really appreciated Ed and the RSGB team for showcasing the project, since the feature I've already been asked to deliver a talk to a local amateur radio club to chat about the project and had interest to show MORSE at rallies later this year. I've also noticed an uptick of people in the Steam discussions asking for a higher WPM limit which I suspect might be an indicator that more Amateur Radio folks are finding the project : )
You can get the publication here: RadCom - Radio Society of Great Britain : Radio Society of Great Britain – Main Site
+ Alongside the demo update, I've added a couple of small but meaningful changes to MORSE that will be published on Wednesday:
Iambic Fixed: There was a subtle but fiddly timing issue with the Iambic key that has persisted since launch that I've finally managed to solve! Means that Iambic feels much more fluid and reliable. Thank you for your patience in awaiting this fix.
Update revisions: The UI update in the last build I had some complaints about one of the notifications displays obscuring the grid, so I've made that integrate more subtly in the game, popping up only when necessary rather than constantly on screen.
Tutorial Disabled for Exercises: Under modifiers, there's the option to disable tutorials, in the last update that didn't turn them off for the learning exercises. That way, you can quickly tweak your telegraph or practice without having to see the whole tutorial on each page.
+ I'll be doing a Stream of MORSE (finally!) on Friday with my various telegraph keys and my glowing LED rope. Would be great for you to join me! I'm also looking for Amateur Radio Discords to do streams in, had a great time previously doing sessions in VAIL and OARC before, learnt a lot of useful things and I've updated my LED setup since then and bought more telegraphs!
That's all for now, going to switch off and enjoy the rest of my birthday. Check back Wednesday for the new demo and thank you all again for your support over the last 6 months, I'm amazed how quickly time has flown!
73, Alex
Hey folks,
Just a very quick update on the MORSE training update: The white transmission frame in the bottom left has been narrowed slightly to take up less space than before.
Further, I'm going to look into improving the listening mode to be a higher challenge, which I'll get to next week (making it harder to not just lean on mimicking, read my idea for a prototype in this discussion).
Thanks to Cyan for the suggestions, if anyone has any more feedback, bugs or suggestions feel free to reach out! Hope training is going well so far.
Also just wanted to acknowledge the lovely messages from folks about the update and that MORSE is on the cusp of crossing 100 reviews! Very grateful for all your support.
73, Alex
Hey folks!
I am very excited to share the latest update to MORSE, let's get stuck in!
The number one request for MORSE has been to add a training mode to allow players to pursue mastery of Morse Code. With that, I've created a dedicated suite of educational tools in MORSE. This is to allow people to specialise in 3 areas; Calibration, Speed and Listening.
This is a dedicated mode that explains and shows in detail how to calibrate your telegraph to your skill level. This is set up for each of the different telegraph types, you tweak your cooldown and dot/dash threshold and can test in-game on beacons to see how your settings handle. There's also a visualiser that shows how your dots and dashes are translating as you adjust in real time.
Another commonly requested feature was being able to calibrate your telegraph in real time and see how your input of dots and dashes change, but I much prefer players getting to have that tactile ritual of tweaking and refining those settings by hand and chose to keep things manual.
A final feature that I'm very happy with for calibration once you've tuned your key: A words per minute speed test. Words per minute in amateur radio is the unit measurement for how quickly you can enter Morse Code. There's also a degree of competition around it, for example the High Speed Telegraphy championships that happen nationally and internationally. The word PARIS is used as a standard to measure WPM against, so you can keep practicing entering that word to gauge your skill. I may add a mode where you can change the word in question to practice entry with different letters, let me know if that's something folks would be interested in! I have plans in the coming months to expand the settings menu to something more granular so there'll likely be some more settings to follow that will be integrated in a similar manner.
Or more accurately, speed training allows you to practice against enemies approaching from the right, where each kill increases the speed and rate of the enemy advance. This gets extremely frantic when you get above a score of 30 and really lets you hone your skills navigating the grid. If a ship gets by and you've sunk more than one ship, the X Y grid words change, allowing you to try out other letters and words. I'm curious to see how high a score folks can reach!
The third training mode is a "guess the letter" challenge for identifying the sounds of different letters. A submarine is hidden on the grid, you hear the sound of the letter where the submarine is located e.g. (dit dah dit) then you mimic the sound pattern to locate and destroy the submarine (R). After entering each letter of the word, a new word is chosen, so you can get a wide comprehension of letters.
What I like about all 3 of these exercises is each of them tie to the mechanics of the game seamlessly and strengthen both your proficiency of play and also of the skill. It's worth mentioning that these training tools work with all 3 telegraph types, so feel free to experiment and try each out.
It's great being able to expand MORSE as an educational tool and I am very open to suggestions for different training modes folks would like to see in there or how these training tools could be improved.
Also of note, this is a pretty substantial addition to the game and with that, there comes increased risk of bugs. Please drop any issues you come across here and I'll try to respond promptly and address any problems that may arise.
A recurring point of feedback for MORSE has been the "ticker tape" notification printout blocking the bottom of the the grid/gameplay. In-keeping with the season, I've refined the placement of the interface to make it less cluttered:
The ticker tape printout has been moved up to the top left.
The "enemies left" tab has been moved to the bottom left of the screen.
The lives have been tucked in the top right.
These 3 changes create a big chunk of screen space along the top for notifications in a non-intrusive manner. An additional benefit allows longer strings of text (nearly double the room), making the tutorials more concise with text in larger clusters. It also fixes the issue of the Morse Output printout being blocked by the ticker tape printout.
One other addition I'm quite happy with is integrating a cursor to the game, which in game displays your dots and dashes (and works with the different telegraph types). This means for folks who are playing with a mouse who have dual monitors they don't accidentally click out of the screen and generally to have another visualisation of dots and dashes and adds a nice design flourish.
The last thing I wanted to mention that I am proper stoked about is I've officially started training for my foundation Amateur Radio License. Shortly after the game launch, I had a trip to the Cairngorms planned and wanted to rush to get my license in time, but the more I dug through Essex Ham's incredible free course on the fundamentals of UK Amateur Radio, the more I realised these were really fascinating and useful skills to learn for my career doing electronics and hardware. So, I waited till last month to sign up (now that things have calmed down a little) and I am currently halfway through the course. I'm hoping to get my license in the next couple of months so soon I'll potentially have my own callsign and I'll finally get to transmit my first Morse Code, well overdue!
That's all for now, thanks again to everyone who has enjoyed and learned about the project so far, I have some very interesting updates coming down the pipe around outreach that I'm eager to share, so stay tuned for that soon.
73, Alex
Hey Folks,
Just a quick update after posting the build yesterday:
Fixed the display of an achievement which had the wrong totals associated with it.
Whilst fixing the last mentioned bug, based on Seaman Sneed's suggestion, I've added a "ongoing stats" display now so rather than just getting 15/15 after completing an achievement, you'll get the ongoing figure after a second or so delay. This is particularly exciting for "Perfectionist", which now will record your accuracy all the way up to 100%, I am very curious to see if anyone is capable of achieving that!
Fixed a bug which turned off the printout text (got the bool the wrong way around for the minimalist mode).
That's all for now, got some exciting features to work on over the next month, stay tuned for more and let me know if you have any other requests or suggestions!!
73, Alex
Hey folks,
Thank you all so much for your patience in awaiting an update to MORSE! It's been a very busy month for me. Now that MORSE is post launch, I've gone back to just me maintaining the game solo which means a slower pace of development (though this does not mean I am not enthusiastic to continue work on the project).
First, I wanted to say hello and thank you to everyone who picked up MORSE in the Steam Typing sale, I was taken aback by the swell in interest in the project and am very grateful for your support.
My main focus since the new year has been doing more structural groundwork for MORSE to serve as an educational tool for outreach for Amateur Radio throughout 2026 and beyond. That's reflected in this update in a variety of ways. You can listen to me demonstrating and discussing these topics in this video: MORSE Update: VBand, Ham Radio Outreach Mode and Minimalist Mode! - YouTube
This is by far the most requested feature for MORSE and after some wrestling with the engine, I have successfully solved the issue of the two ctrl buttons not registering as separate inputs. With thanks to folks on the Stencyl Discord and my own perseverance, you can bind the Left and Right ctrl buttons separately, meaning Vband can be used out of the box without any adjustments/plug ins. I personally don't have a Vband adapter so can't say for sure, so please let me know if it works!
I really really appreciate those who've waited, I'm excited that this may help more people get keys wired up and connect the game to one of the go-to adapters in Ham Radio.
The latest version of MORSE now has a clear line that indicates where ships will become visible. When showing the game at expos, players will often just stare at the blank map not really understanding when or why enemies become visible. By having an explicit line that shows where they become visible, that hopefully makes things clearer.
This has been another requested feature, most recently by player Luniya, who highlighted that the UI blocks a lot of vertical space of the grid which is critical on later levels. They wished the UI could be hidden to create more visual space.
In response, I've added a Minimalist Modifier which cuts out the Morse Code interface along the bottom, freeing up that space to sight ships further down the screen. I really love this new feature for two reasons:
- If you as a player have reached a level of proficiency at MORSE as to not need this UI, that gives you an edge in gameplay in having a wider sightline for enemies, similar to the help sheet that can be collapsed once you've memorised the Morse letters for a wider field of view.
- Within Amateur Radio, it is widely considered more effective to learn Morse Code through sound rather than visuals (and that visual learning can actually slow/incorrectly teach the process) so this provides a non-visual version of Morse input for those keen to learn though audio only and opens up the game to more people.
Investigating this also made me realise as well that the red flash for the dot/dash indicator wasn't correctly synchronising with the beeps, therefore potentially confusing players, should now be much more snappy and visually responsive.
This is a pretty straightforward addition to the project but hopefully has some useful cultural impact: This is a modifier of MORSE that tailors the game to be suitable for exhibition, it's what I use when I show the game off at events. it includes the following functions:
- Timed reset/Button reset: If the game is left idle for too long, it resets back to the main menu and defaults to straight key, Novice Mode and Campaign. Holding both the launch and Morse key for 5 seconds resets the game, which is useful if someone wants to navigate back to the start without having to use the mouse/keyboard.
- Lower number of waves: When I was testing the game in Strasbourg a lot of people were struggling to last to wave 10, so providing a more achievable target that also lowers the chance of someone hogging the game. With museums, this is commonly described as a pinch point, where realistically you don't want a museum interaction to last more than 2 minutes lest it create congestion. 6 waves is definitely longer than that, but still a comfortable amount to see the elements of the project.
- Attract Mode: When the game is left idle for a prolonged period, it resets and if left on the main menu goes into attract mode, where enemy ships cross the map under the hail of artillery and background sounds of dots and dashes. I'm particularly happy with this because of...
As part of the Outreach mode, I now have dedicated pages for encouraging people to find their local amateur radio group: This is a developing feature, but currently upon either beating/losing the demo or watching the attract mode, a message displays encouraging players to find their local club via the IARU. Right now it's a little clunky in that it's a lot of text on screen, but where it'll become more elegant is working directly with Amateur Radio clubs, where I can provide them with a tailored version of the project.
Case in point, MORSE is currently exhibiting in Strasbourg for 3 weeks as part of Random Bazar, a festival filled with strange and wonderful Alt Ctrl games installations. As part of that, I have added on-screen promotions for local and national Amateur Radio communities, namely Strasbourg club REF67 and the French National Society Réseau des Émetteurs Français. I've reached out to both organisations to put it on their radar and hopefully REF67 get chance to visit whilst the game visits the city and failing that, the project hopefully sends potential local amateur radio enthusiasts their direction.
I'll likely be doing a writeup for delivering the project in Strasbourg in the coming month, I am very excited for MORSE to be there and am grateful to Henri and the team for hosting the game! Find out the details of the event below if you fancy visiting it over the next month. The setup they provided for MORSE is absolutely wonderful: Festival 2026 – Random Bazar
Finally, connected to MORSE's use as a tool for outreach, a number of community members contacted me about a "Cheat sheet" to onboard players quickly with the project in communal, arcade or educational settings. In response, I've put together a help sheet in English and French, I'll be hopefully expanding this help sheet to more languages in the coming months as the game tours more international events and reaches more clubs around the world. The French translation in the middle was used at Random Bazar and proved effective in giving French residents a language tether to engage with the project for those unfamiliar with English. Steam user Alpha has also very kindly translated this sheet to Korean, which I really appreciated.
That's all for now, thank you all again for your posts over the last month, I enjoy reading and responding to them. Do let me know if there's any other future ways I can tailor the project or if your club is interested in a custom demo for local outreach.
73, Alex
Hey folks,
With MORSE launched and a new year beginning, I thought I'd start 2026 off sharing a different perspective; Highlighting the amazing projects you've been building inspired by the project!
First, I want to talk about Iona, an amateur radio enthusiast based in the UK, who shared her Arduino tutorial on coding a telegraph USB adapter.
This was personally very helpful to me as I have a couple of R4 Minimas that I had lying around gathering dust that I was able to wire up without issue using her guide. I actually sent my completed telegraph setup for exhibition at Good Game Fest!
What made this even better was because Iona was based in London, she very kindly offered to cover the MORSE booth at the event (as I was unavailable to attend).
She even set up a radio station on the booth (pictured above) which I was completely blindsided and delighted by! Once I've got my license, I'd love to make a radio setup a booth staple so that players can translate their learned knowledge of Morse Code directly to radio.
Contacting her to approve the draft of this post, she mentioned that the experience and exhibiting MORSE has inspired her to delve further into electronic prototyping with ESP32's. A huge thanks to Iona again for all her help, excited to see what she comes up with next!
You can view her project here: http://cmd.pm/morse_connector/ You can see my implementation of her logic here: https://bsky.app/profile/alexvscoding.bsky.social/post/3m65t6zblb222
Next, we have this absolutely incredible 3D printed Iambic key design from TimeDiver997!
When I first saw this, I was honestly gobsmacked by the sophistication of this design and its inner workings. When I was exhibiting MORSE at EGX in Birmingham late November I kept showing this controller to every person who played the game! Just look at that engineering.
Matching filament to the game palette and including MORSE iconography was a really nice touch as well. Amazing work.
Here's Time Diver's project to check out and build for yourself: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7215115
Finally, we go stateside for an especially wonderful story.
Last year Magnus, a teenager from South Dakota reached out about a homebrew installation he'd built to operate MORSE, that he had some very interesting plans for.
His installation consisted of a wired telegraph, launch button and computer housed within a wooden briefcase. It was tested initially with his local ham radio club (pictured above showing older hams waiting for their turn to play) before the setup was installed in the communication section of the local county museum.
Here's Magnus describing in his own words how the opening went:
"I have been told that the museum loves the box. On the first day, a group of 30 kids attended and loved the setup so much that they had to turn it off to keep the kids on their tour. My club president even learned a bit of Morse code from it."
As the cherry on top, Magnus also shared a document featuring an in depth discussion of the code and hardware of the project. As an educator this was such a treat to read (his wiring solutions were much neater than mine are). In his last email, he mentioned plans to make more installations with his radio club for further outreach regionally.
There was also an interest from the local school/museums for a short curriculum to accompany the installation (A request I've had from other institutions), which I'll be drafting and publishing in the coming months.
I fully endorse Magnus for his efforts and hope that he inspires others to craft installations of the game for their local museums and clubs. If you follow in his footsteps, please get in touch as I'd love to hear about it.
The fact that all 3 of these solutions were realised BEFORE we announced the Teaspoon Telegraph was a pleasant surprise. It shows the breadth of creative expression can be fostered when the question of how control your game is left open to interpretation.
There's so many other similar innovations that I'm looking forward to sharing in future posts, if you've developed something inspired by the project, please share it on the Steam Discussions and reach out! I'd love the forums to function as a library, both showcasing and documenting alternative controllers for use with the game and more broadly amateur radio.
That's all for now, thanks to everyone who bought MORSE over the Steam Sale and continue to support the project.
73, Alex
Hey folks,
Just thought I'd sneak in just one more small update in 2025 that's fitting for the end of the imminent end of year festivities:
I commissioned my good friend and talented pixel artist Sinclair Strange to do a bunch of VFX for the project, overhauling the explosions in MORSE. Instead of featuring just a static circle (and basic water animation), explosions now have a bunch of animated variations, splash variants have been added (with more to come) and smoke clouds emerge from the blast. The smoke and water plumes also have variance of frame rate, which creates a bit more dynamism.
I'm very happy with how they've turned out, the new VFX brings more spectacle to combat with explosions visually packing more punch. It's even more cathartic blowing up cruisers.
Bug-wise, I fixed an issue of duplicated letters on one axis (K) on one of the later levels, (thanks to those who helped me track it down) and I've added some more entries to the manual, looking forward to populating this further next year.
Just wanted to give one more signoff before the New Year to thank everyone who's supported MORSE so far, I'm hyped for what 2026 will bring for myself and the project and I'm eager to share some of the new features coming down the pipe!
Happy New Year to all, stay tuned for more soon.
73, Alex
Hey Folks!
Thank you for your patience in awaiting updates on MORSE, I've taken the last few weeks to rest after launch. I have much to share.
If you've been waiting, now is the time to get it for yourself or as a last minute Christmas gift (possibly with a telegraph key) for a loved one curious about amateur radio.
Novice Mode is now 5 waves shorter than the standard campaign (reaching 7 vertical rows).
The trickier blackout mode and the larger U-Boat are saved for Telegraphist and Expert.
I think this creates a nicer flow to the difficulty, with Telegraphist having partial blackout and Expert having full, unbroken blackout. This should hopefully make MORSE more approachable to folks less familiar with video games. Modifiers can also set all ships to be visible and move slower).
MORSE now has Steam Cloud Support for PC and Steamdeck, thanks for your patience whilst this feature was added, clearing this roadblock should make updates easier.
One of my most cherished outcomes from MORSE over the last month has been seeing the incredible homebrew telegraphs many of you have been contributing, as an educator it's such a joy to see all these different innovations and experiments manifest.
That's why I am so excited to announce the Teaspoon Telegraph, a beautiful 3D printed telegraph designed by my producer and good friend David Hayward, featuring a metal teaspoon at it's heart. It blend of traditional telegraphy, industrial manufacturing and modern, amateur fabrication.
David has lovingly crafted and documented extensively how to print, assemble and care for your own. The print and guide together are truly a staggering achievement and a perfect pairing for MORSE.
As an installation designer, I've long dreamed of finding a way for independent artists to distribute "Alternative Controllers" in a way that isn't massively wasteful or cost prohibitive. We hope the Teaspoon Telegraph will encourage more people to engage with engineering and electronics, foster interest in tactile, interactive design, create an affordable yet stylish telegraph design which is customisable (I am very excited to see custom designs with various novelty teaspoons) and for it to exist as a cultural artefact that permeates ham radio and far outlasts the legacy of MORSE.
Consider it an early Christmas present to the Amateur Radio Community and a heartfelt thank you to those who've supported MORSE so far.
Learn more about the Teaspoon Telegraph here: https://ympt.co.uk/teaspoontx.html
Here's some footage of the Teaspoon Telegraph in action: MORSE - A strategy game playable with a glowing telegraph!
You can share your telegraph designs and ask questions in the Steam Discussions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1976860/discussions/0/689741058327776126/
+ Overhaul of Modifiers: Now only some modifiers disable achievements.
+ Letters are now the default for the Y axis (instead of numbers).
+ Added a modifier to turn off tutorials (requested).
+ Added a modifier to enable using Morse to fire with = (-...-), so the game can be entirely controlled fully with a telegraph. (requested)
+ Telegraphist starts with 2 rows unlocked rather than one (requested).
+ Death Flash Improvement: The screen flash on losing a life now reveals the silhouettes of hidden ships (pictured above).
+ Fixed issue around Y row not spawning in (reported bug)
+ Achievement graphics display fixed.
This is the last major update before the end of the year, other than bug fixing for the new update.
I'm very proud to have finished MORSE before the end of the year and I'm so excited for what is to come.
Thanks again and to sign off, I want to share the footage from MORSE at EGX with the words of Ross Keniston (pictured above) of the Finger Guns podcast with some very nice words about the project when he saw it at the event. This is particularly poignant because his grandfather who was proficient in telegraphy used to write him Christmas cards in Morse Code.
-- . .-. .-. -.-- / -.-. .-. .. … - -- .- … 73, Alex
Hello folks,
First and foremost, wanted to apologise again for the cancellation of the MORSE stream on Sunday, thankfully my laptop appears to have recovered, I've got new components on their way so hopefully in the clear!
MORSE is going to be on the road the next two weeks, showcased in three different events:
EGX aka MCM Birmingham is going to be including MORSE as part of the Rezzed Zone with help from Game Republic, a fantastic organisation supporting developers in the north of England. Really looking forward to showcasing the project, I'll have MORSE set up with my glowing telegraph this coming weekend, so should be good fun finally showing the game at launch! I'll be having a revolving selection of keys on display each day, so make sure to swing by for a different play style each day.
Good Game Dev Fest is a day event in London focused around industry speakers, installations and games on the 29th of November, 4-10pm. Happy for MORSE to be included in this collection, alas it falls on the same weekend as MCM so I'll be getting some help to run the booth in my absence with a telegraph I've shipped down for the event, more details to follow on that front.
Playtopia is an indie game and immersive art festival hosted in Cape Town on the 5th-6th of December. Whilst I sadly can't attend in person, I'm hoping to send a telegraph to play the game with. I'm actually looking for folks involved in ham radio/the game who might be interested in helping exhibit the project at the event, please get in touch in the comments if you're interested!
As part of these events, I'm going to be adding a modifier to the game to make the game easier to exhibit at events, such as an auto-timer, quick reset button and instructions in the tutorial relevant to operating with a telegraph. This ties into lovely development that I'll be sharing next week, so stay tuned for that.
Finally, I wanted to highlight an exciting development! MORSE got a two page feature in Addict Magazine, sharing a cover with Prince of Persia's designer, Jordan Mencher. Whilst a small feature on the front page, it's the first time that's happened in my career which I'm was humbled to have happen and getting it in print there's something really special about it. Was lovely chatting to Paul and really appreciated him taking the time to check out the project. Whilst the game is a modern game, the use of hardware pre-dating the game industry for input really drew him in. We had a broader chat about my career making weird games controllers. If you're interested in a copy, you can grab that here: https://www.addict.media/pixel-addict/pixel-addict-magazine
That's all for now, thanks again for your interest in the project, it's been so wonderful seeing the response from the community and seeing it nudge people down the path of amateur radio, hoping in the new year to grow that outreach and help more people into the hobby.
Hopefully meet some of you this weekend! Remember to bring your telegraph keys if you fancy playing the game with your own telegraph, I have support for Sideswipers, Iabmic and Straight key.
73, Alex
Responding through the backup account, had a mishap today whilst setting up for the stream where i shorted my laptop port which sent my laptop into emergency shutdown. I appear to have gotten it out of that state but it’s out of action for 24 hours and to order the replacement ports could take up to a week to arrive.
Obviously I’m disappointed that the Stream didn’t go ahead, would have messaged sooner but i’ve been scrambling to make sure my laptop (and MORSE) is safe.
Hope you understand, apologies again for the mishap and the lack of communication, I’ll let you know when the next one is.
73, Alex
Hey folks!
So this patch ended up being a lot bigger than expected, got some fun stuff implemented. Lets dig in:
+ Tutorial update: I've had a number of people express frustration with missing information in the in-game tutorial, so now, all the text of the tutorial has now been implemented into the manual. Additionally, at any point during the tutorial you can press the ? key (PC) or the back/select button (Steamdeck) to view what was just shared and scroll through the surrounding tutorials. In time I want to add a little ? button that flashes in the corner when something new appears which shows the appropriate page in the manual, but this should do for now!
+ Game modifiers: This additional page that can be found on the new "Modifiers" menu, accessed via the bottom left of the screen (pictured above). Modifiers offer variants to the conventional game, be that additional challenges such as "No Peeking" (Helpsheet locked) and accessibility options such as "Drop Anchor" (ships 50% speed) or "Lights On" (All ships visible).
These modifiers disable achievements when active, the primary reason for this is they're new features and experiments that need time for testing with players before fully integrating in the final game. Further, the speed and visibility modifiers function as accessibility options, which is an area that I am actively looking to expand.
I would like your input on how you find the current modifiers and what other ones you'd be interested in or accessible features to help make the game suit your needs, please let me know in the Steam discussions.
Of the new modifiers added, there is one in particular that I'm very excited to share with you...
+ S.O.S Mode: Words on both axes was something I explored previously, but this proved troublesome, as the possibility of clashing letters was very high (without a massive pool of isograms, which is harder to vet). Instead, I've used a scramble of unused letters (letters not used the x axis isogram) to fill the Y grid and it honestly feels really satisfying to operate, possibly more-so than the original number based solution.
Navigation feels quicker as vertical movement doesn't require 5 inputs to change row (which helps a lot speed-wise with the later missions) and the variance of input length adds tactical depth to mine placement. I'll be doing a proper writeup about how it changes play once I've had some rest.
For a demonstration of the speeds you can now reach with letter mode, here's a video of me managing to hold off an 8 row naval assault with the S.O.S modifier active!
+ Your Telegraph type, difficulty and mode have been added to the end state, means folks who are wanting to do speed runs/accuracy runs can have the receipts of what run they're doing.
+ Telegraph carrying on beeping on the end screen/menu fixed. Thanks to those who waited a bit longer for this, I was intending to push this out quickly but got drawn into the vertical letters update!
As a disclaimer, upon updating the game, it appears that ongoing, saved playthroughs may break (the Y axis may be empty on load). Sadly, I don't currently have an immediate fix for this other than restarting your run, I hope the offer of these additional features will take the edge off any loss of progress and provide assurance that I am doing the best I can to support the game through my first Steam launch. Please let me know if you come across any more bugs via this form and in the forums.
With the above in mind, my priority next for MORSE is getting cloud save working and then digging through the rest of that list mentioned in the previous post. thank you for your patience and let me know what you think of the new modifiers!
73, Alex
Hey folks!
If you want to grab the game at 20% off, now is the chance!
I'm doing a MORSE Stream on here Sunday 23rd at 7:30pm UK time, where I'll be playing the game with various telegraph types and my glowing LED telegraph wire! I'll be able to answer your questions about development, tips for the game, talk about amateur radio and telegraphy. See you there!
I'll also have another patch through today, keep an eye out for that. Going to try get Cloud Storage working as a priority so pardon my dust.
For those of you wanting to learn more about gameplay tips and tricks, "The Programming M16A4" has started putting together a guide for MORSE! I'm so pleased about this, as the developer, it's very fun watching the nuances of combat slowly excavated and documented.
My main input to the guide section for MORSE is a bit different: Rather than purely focusing on the game itself, I want to populate it with information about amateur radio, telegraph assembly and setup guides to encourage exploration into the hobby.
Within the game itself, there's a manual with a bunch of different knowledge about amateur radio, so documenting that in an expanded format in the guides I think would give folks an additional incentive to learn, ask questions and share knowledge.
That's all for now, thanks for your interest and stay tuned! I'll be doing another post soon about homebrew telegraphs and a couple of different projects to try!
73, Alex
Wow, what a whirlwind! I can't believe MORSE has been out for nearly a week, it's been a hectic but pleasant time since launch, listening to people's experiences of playing the game and real sense of relief that the game has gone down well.
I'm very excited to announce that MORSE has passed 1000 copies sold within the first week! That's a lot of folks learning Morse Code.
I feel significantly better for some rest in this weekend and a real sense of achievement for getting the game over the line. I'm so glad people are enjoying MORSE, in particular I am absolutely loving the images of different telegraph keys emerging to operate the game. As someone who's spent most of their career teaching people how to build their own game controllers and being creative with simple hardware, seeing the game seeding that kind of creativity around the world really is a dream come true. I'm going to try feature telegraphs made by players in these updates, so stay tuned for more of that.
Here's a pair of homebrew telegraphs shared with me online ^
On that subject, I've created a dedicated thread for folks to share tips on wiring up their telegraphs. I'll be updating the top of the thread with a collection of different homebrew telegraph solutions and adapters, if you have any suggestions please do share them and If you've fashioned your own telegraph (or purchased one) to play the game with, please share those as well!
The last week been mostly about getting through launch and stabilising the build, that appears to have been successful, I appreciate the help and patience of those who've decided to play the game so far. Here's the full list of what's been fixed:
Mouse issues on platform select: Mouse input was disabled for the platform selection page, that has been re-enabled. I really appreciate folks in the Steam discussions highlighting this issue to me quickly. I've added some supporting text on the platform selection screen explaining what controls to push to control the game at that point.
Expert and skirmish unlock fixed: There was a fringe bug that if you closed the game after unlocking these modes (but before the game was saved) it wouldn't restore the unlock on the next load. This has been sorted.
Ability to turn off Morse references: In the previous build, the Morse translations for the letters/numbers were only turned off in expert mode. These can now be fully disabled using H on PC or Y on Steamdeck. I'm very happy with this, particularly playing on Skirmish mode where more unusual letters come up.
Collapsible version of helpsheet: Previously, MORSE had no helpsheet in expert mode, which meant on later levels if submarines rows out of view it was hard to tell. Now, the helpsheet isn't gone, it just collapses smalls and displays the characters on either axis. You can also hold H to fully close the helpsheet if you want. I am looking into adding some extra achievements tied to leaving the help sheet closed to encourage folks to try beat the game by memorising the letters rather than relying on the patterns.
Fixed the telegraph beep not stopping on the end screen.
Minor text correction "Plant 3 mines to start the wave", adjusted to 2.
All in all, it seemed like the QA we had done and hard work squashing bugs before launch paid off, I've also got used to submitting patches, so I'll try and keep the game updated whenever something comes up.
Now that the game is shipped, what is next in the pipe?
Cloud Save Functionality: I think this one should hopefully be an easy fix, I was in the process of implementing cloud saves ahead of launch but decided it was too risky adding that it without proper testing.
Differentiating between Novice and Telegraphist Mode: Currently, the only difference between the modes is one the tutorial being enabled on one and not the other. I'm thinking of making Novice an easier mode to beat so that those familiar with telegraphy but unfamiliar with games don't find the game too punishing on later levels. There'll likely be other adjustments, but the first two that make the most sense is slowing ship speeds down and lowering the number of waves.
Improving the tutorial: Whilst the tutorial works for most players, I've had in the feedback a suggestion that the auto-scroll is too fast for reading, so my plan is to integrate the text/images from the tutorials into the manual, so the player can review them at their own pace. I also need to add the option to skip the tutorial if it's already been beaten.
Advanced settings menu: To give people more options for calibration, I'll be expanding the main menu settings menu to accommodate more configurations as informed by feedback given so far. Additions include the ability to invert mouse input, setting the in-game telegraph key tone (so players using adapters can use a dedicated sidetone without them clashing) and individual saved settings for each telegraph type. I'm also researching whether I can find a way to differentiate between the two ctrl keys on keyboards as that will unlock vBand support. If you have any other requests or nice to haves settings-wise, please let me know.
These aren't particularly flashy updates, but these points have come up in feedback so I wanted to prioritise sorting these issues out as fundamentals to show my support for those who have supported the project rather than expanding the scope of the project/adding new features.
That's all for now, thanks again all for your support so far and stay tuned for more soon!
73,
Alex
The game is now available for purchase on Steam, there’s a 20% launch discount for the next 7 days, so grab that while you can.
I can't quite describe the sense of deep relief I feel for completing this project after ten years working on it. It's great to see already people taking the plunge into ordering a telegraph and seeking ham radio communities. A dream come true : )
Whilst the hardest part of the project is out of the way, I'm not putting my feet up just yet. The next week is fully blocked out for any new bugs that come up, and I'll be keeping an eye out for any issues in future too. We put MORSE through several rounds of QA over the past few months, squashing some major bugs before release, but there may still be small ones in there. If you do find any, the main menu in-game has a "report a bug" link, at the bottom left. Using that is by far the best and quickest way to bring any issues to my attention. I've already got some minor bugs to dig into, will be patching shortly. I greatly appreciate your patience with this, it is just me patching the game.
You can find the bug form here: MORSE Bug Reporting Form
So now that MORSE is finished, my plan is to use MORSE as a tool for outreach and enrichment for the amateur radio community, helping bring new people to the hobby. My experience of amateur radio so far has been wonderful, folks have been so welcoming and it's staggering the scale of infrastructure and community that exists out there, it's like being part of a secret society! Even in the last few weeks, I've had contact from clubs, museums and organisations from Norway, Scotland and as far as South Dakota, excited to use MORSE for engaging young people and the broader public. More about that soon.
I'm going to take December as an opportunity for rest, but also to get my foundation license and callsign. When I signed up as a member of the Radio Society of Great Britain, I got a free handheld radio and I am determined to do some CW transmission by the end of the year, preferably from the top of a big hill. I'll let you know how I get on with that, if anyone has any suggestions for learning tools for exam prep let me know.
I'll be posting a bit more about this soon, but mouse and keyboard aren't the only peripherals you can play MORSE with. You can use actual morse telegraphy keys too! I have a few I've been using to demo the game at events like Hamfest and Megacon, and as part of that I thought it'd be fun to rig up some LEDs to also display the morse code as it's entered. Here's a quick video showing it in use: MORSE - A strategy game playable with a glowing telegraph!
I'm really looking forward to telling you all more about the hardware behind this, and so glad that MORSE is finally out there for everyone to enjoy. Please let me know how you get on, your adventures into telegraphy and amateur radio!
Thank you to everyone who have waited for MORSE over the years and the many people who helped me get the game over the line. I am incredibly grateful for your support.
.... .- ...- . / ..-. ..- -. -.-.--
73, Alex
The time has come! MORSE has a release date...
You can check out the launch trailer here: MORSE - Official Release Date Announcement Trailer
Here are some of the features of the final game:
A frantic campaign mode featuring a midnight breach of the Blockade of Germany.
A skirmish mode to hone your telegraphy skills on a breadth of different words.
40 different characters to learn in Morse Code.
3 different telegraph types and calibration settings to tune to your needs.
Put your knowledge and skill to the test with Expert Mode.
Connect up a homebrew or commercial telegraph key for the authentic MORSE experience.
Explore the manual to learn more about MORSE but also how to apply and expand your knowledge of Amateur Radio.
It's the final push for the project so if you haven't done so already, give MORSE a Wishlist and tell your friends and communities about the project!
I'm so excited to finally be getting the game out of the door, MORSE has been a long time coming since the Flash origins of the project back in 2015. It's gone through numerous iterations and settled on on a form that's deliverable but still true to the original's vision. I can't quite believe it's finally complete.
I got thoroughly burnt out from MORSE a couple of years ago and had to come to terms with the fact the game may never see release. But, at the start of this year I realised 2025 marked the 10th year of MORSE's existence, and decided that it had to be finished. Through a lot of hard work and the support of good friends, the goal has been reached.
This achievement is however bittersweet; MORSE represents my swan song for my time in games development. Whilst I love the medium of games and have thoroughly enjoyed my career in the industry, this will be my last major commercial games project before I focus on my research and advocacy around designing play for the elderly and people with dementia.
It is rare for developers (particularly during this difficult industry landscape) to end their career in games on their terms and on a high. Regardless of how MORSE does on launch, I'm very happy with the game I've built, proud of myself for committing to completion and am so eager to see if the game can help bring new people into amateur radio. The engagement with the ham radio community has been deeply enriching so far, I hope MORSE can inspire others to consider designing tailored experiences to engage other passionate communities in need of support.
Having said all this, my departure from games doesn't mean I'll be ditching MORSE. I have update plans for the project which I'll elaborate on once launch is out of the way. At the very least, I want to continue touring the game around Hamfests and events dedicated to preserving and growing Amateur Radio, MORSE serving as a tool for outreach and education. There's also still one major reveal that we're yet to share.
If you've found MORSE interesting, please consider reaching out to friends, community groups or streamers to tell them about the project. Whilst I feel confident about the quality of the game, I am very aware in the current climate, there's no guarantee of quality translating to success.
Thank you again to everyone who has been patient in awaiting the release, in particular those who have followed MORSE for years now. I truly hope the game meets your expectations.
73, Alex
Hello folks!
Thanks for your patience the last few weeks, it's been a very busy time for me. I'm developing this whilst juggling other jobs, so doing these writeups requires a moment of quiet. Without further ado, lets get stuck in!
I've had a big push for the 24th of last month to get a version of the game that is effectively feature complete and ready for playtesting, something that I've successfully achieved. There's been a substantial number of additions, here are some of the things I've added:
+ Cruisers: These were great fun to implement, first pass involved adjusting the graphics I previously had for the Cruiser, as they were too far removed from the rest of the ships. Second task was differentiating it enough from the Dreadnought and Minesweeper. Minesweepers now attack at higher speed at close range, Dreadnoughts do high damage at very long range, the Cruiser sits between the two as a mid ranged ship that fires a volley of two artillery shells per salvo. The Cruiser is heavily armoured, numerous and explode violently when destroyed. The game really kicks up a notch once they enter the fray. Only tweak is there's maybe too many of them at the moment, so I'll be decreasing their frequency slightly to not overload the player, particularly on the higher levels.
+ Achievements: MORSE now has over 20 different achievements to unlock, testing speed, accuracy and ability to beat the game with different keys! Adds a nice cumulative feel to the game and gives players some extra challenges beyond the campaign.
+ Umlauts and Dynamic help sheet! In keeping with the presence of German, MORSE now features Umlauts (ä, ö, ü) which are different German letters that have their own Morse variants:
1. Ä: .-.-
2. Ö ---.
3. Ü ..--
These throw a little bit of variance in there and mean German words can be accommodated. Leading on from this feature, the help sheet will update based on if your coordinates get scrambled, avoiding situations where you don't know the grid you need to move to (because it's off screen).
+ Skirmish Mode: As you might remember, the game previously was just randomised words for the maps rather than a "Campaign" of curated ones, so I re-added that mode in for people to experiment/practice with. After playing the Campaign over and over again in playtesting, it's refreshing to beat a bunch of new levels/words again. The start menu has been updated to add an additional option to alternate easily between the modes and leaves the door open to more mode types being added.
+ More tutorials and expansion of manual: Through playtesting, it became clear that elements of the game weren't explained in depth enough for players to grasp, so I've added a dedicated tutorial explaining the receiver and I've added some supporting tutorial images/text for explaining submarine functionality. I've expanded the enemy sections in the manual and added new areas such as ARDF and BOTA, I hope that it's going to be a growing document with more updates.
+ Campaign Implemented: Very excited to confirm that the bulk of work to add a Campaign for the game has been implemented! Given the narrative richness of the UKGF version of the game, I wanted there to be some narrative grounding for the setting, though doing it in a way that didn't bloat scope. In summary, each mission starts with a Naval Signal giving you some narrative that ties to the word you're using in gameplay. For example in the image above.
The format uses Naval Signals, which include a location, time, who it's from, date and message, all of which gives subtle bits of worldbuilding. The waves play out over the course of a midnight raid of the Kaiser's fleet and I've tied the widening of the grid to an increasing breach in the naval blockade. What I'm particularly pleased with is I've used a black highlight for the word that's being used in the grid so you know what you're in for.
All in all, it's a simple enough implementation that adds a sprinkle of narrative and ties the plot to the words in the level like the previous version. To give the levels more of a distinct form to them, I've added a "Blackout" mode to the Campaign with limited visibility (mirroring the expert mode) and made the spawning more curated. Find out more below:
+ Blackout: On expert mode, the game is played in "Blackout", meaning enemy ships unless directly hit will remain hidden, decreasing your visibility. The problem I had was how to visualise the mode change, so the grid is now blacked out, the fog of war significantly further forward and the letter colours flipped, which differentiates it from the regular mode. In the Campaign, this mode is also added in intervals to mix up combat and provide extra tension.
+ Spawning refinement: Previously, MORSE would throw every ship unlocked by that point at you, which got a bit repetitive and challenging towards the end of the campaign, so I added some logic that means you're much more likely to get certain ships on certain maps. This worked well as it ties the narrative and word choice in with the enemy spawning, makes the game feel more cohesive and a bit easier to predict in the Campaign (and plan accordingly).
I've also spread the ship spawning out a bit more, adding logic to limit bunching of ships. Further, the ships previously had a currency associated with them (1-5) to take from the spawn budget, the budget increases with each successive wave. I've increased the values for the high end ships to balance out the distribution of enemies. It's dropped the number of enemies but means you're not getting an unbeatable concentration of enemies at once.
+ Accuracy Scale Overhaul, Enhanced Upgrades and Accuracy Threshold: I've taken a hatchet to the accuracy scale, previously it was far too punitive where if you missed ONE shot, you'd lose your "combo" fully, which with the multi-shot shell types was a point of frustration that came up again and again in the feedback. So, this is what's changed:
The scale does decrease when you miss, but the amount it decreases starts low and rises with each successive missed hit. Means the odd miss won't hurt too bad, but fully missing with a salvo you're punished for. This allows players to shoot in the dark more without feeling like they're going to be punished for trying to do reconnaissance.
There is however now motivation to avoid missing where possible: Accuracy Threshold checks if you manage to maintain a level of accuracy above a certain amount, giving you both faster reload (as was the case before) but also unlocking more powerful upgrades. This means you can be a bit a more tactical with your choice of upgrade, sometimes it'll be better to let the scale sit below the threshold to unlock basics whilst otherwise you'll want to unlock the most powerful stuff.
As for what I have left to do:
- Balancing: I can beat MORSE, but after a recent playtest it's clear that the skill curve is too steep with too much introduced between waves. Having too much substance isn't a bad thing necessarily, but I need to do some further refinement to smoothen out that curve. This will most likely mean reducing the wave "Budget" increase and spreading it across more waves, I'm thinking 20 would be sufficient. Cruisers currently are too much of a dominant force so I'll be dialling them back and certain levels have huge difficulty spikes, hopefully there's enough time to get these all ironed out.
- Full Save Function: I was particularly dreading implementing the save function for this game, mainly because there's so many interconnected systems that it could play havoc with. Thankfully I have been able to get everything reliably loading/saving achievements and unlocks, but full save functionality remains a major task. The core 3 things that need sorting:
Preserving upgrades: If a player quits the game and rejoins, their upgrade stats should be retained, such as shell type unlocks.
Mine spawning: This is definitely the biggest of the 3 tasks: Storing the mines in several lists with 3 data points; upgrade level and X and Y position and making sure they reliably spawn in on load.
Maintaining consistency: General rigor to make sure that level sequences load correctly, such as the state, word choice and grid length.
- Finish implementing achievements: The achievements should (hopefully) be easy to implement, just a case of getting on with it and making sure they strike the balance of ambitious whilst not being too challenging.
- Steamdeck Compatibility: I really need to get MORSE so the controller loads automatically with the handset, just a bunch of admin faff but hopefully can be figured out in time, the game feels a really good fit on handheld.
- Playtesting: I'm going to be doing some last minute playtesting with various groups to really nail down last issues.
All in all, I'm very excited that the project is coming close to being done, it's bee a long time coming with the project but it's almost over the line, it's going to be great to see what people think of the game.
Finally, I just wanted to say how excited I was to see MORSE featured on the "Ham Radio Crash Course" afterchat, it's exciting to see the game slowly finding its place in the ham radio community!
That's all for now, stay tuned for more soon, got some more fun things coming down the pipe.
73, Alex
Hey folks!
Very exciting announcement - MORSE received a two page feature in EDGE Magazine's November Edition! I am absolutely over the moon about this. I was visited by the EDGE team last year at my local hackspace. We discussed everything from interactive LED installations, designing games to help people in care homes, approachable games design and of course, giving them a hands on preview of MORSE.
There was a big emphasis in the article about my goal of getting folks to use telegraphs to operate the game and introducing more people to Morse Code. Hopefully inspires more people to give it a try building their own and means more ham radio folks find it.
Regardless of how the game does on launch, this is a lovely artefact to have for my career, I'm very grateful for the feature. I'd love to be able to share with you what was said, but you can get a copy of the magazine here and check it out for yourself!
Also wanted to highlight this Lets Play by the channel N7KOM Mountaintop Portable Radio who did a playthrough using a Naval Flameproof Key, was very cathartic to watch. I've also been increasingly hearing from folks trying to find technical solutions to wire up their keys with MORSE, it's so exciting that folks are going that extra mile!
I'd really appreciate you Wishlisting MORSE, but if you're still not convinced, I'll be doing an update soon showing all the wonderful new features that will be making it into the release build.
Thanks!
73, Alex
Hello folks!
Just an apology for the lack of posts since August, it has been a thoroughly busy time but I can assure you I've been working hard on MORSE and will have some major announcements coming soon! Your patience, as always, is greatly appreciated.
In the meantime, I wanted to share some exciting news! I recently had the privilege of showing MORSE as a guest of the Radio Society of Great Britain at National Hamfest, the UK's largest ham radio event. It was such a wonderful weekend, got to meet lots of new people, proper immerse myself in the culture of the hobby and get a deeper understanding of how the organisations that support Amateur Radio operate. Check out the video I did around the event:
One of the things that's motivated me a lot in the last few years is how games can serve as a tool to enrich cultural spaces and community groups, particularly those underserved by play (such as the elderly). MORSE has been designed with this in mind, the game is intended not as an endpoint for curiosity into ham radio, but a potential diving board down the rabbit hole. Further, my hopes are for it to serve as a way for encouraging intergenerational play between younger audiences (enthusiastic about games) and older audiences (enthusiastic about ham radio) to help bring new folks into the fold.
Whilst my enthusiasm for Telegraphy has been ongoing for a decade, I'm relatively new to that broader Ham Radio hobby. But, over the 6 months really delving into it, I've become increasingly fascinated and immersed in different communities. The group I became a member of recently was the Radio Society of Great Britain or RSGB, they're a century old organisation that does outreach, education and advocacy for Amateur Radio in the UK. I got in touch with them directly earlier this year and they expressed a keen interest in doing more hands on, practical installations at their booth at National Hamfest, so seemed a natural fit for MORSE and I was absolutely stoked to get involved.
For the event I had two versions of MORSE, one with my Iambic Key and my Straight Key. The Iambic Key was running on a Steamdeck, whilst the other was connected to my LED rope installation that outputs dots and dashes along the LED strip. The idea was to have the Straight Key as an approachable interface for those unfamiliar with Morse Code and an Iambic Key as an approachable interface for those familiar with Morse (a majority of folks that still do CW use Paddles for input).
We got a really good placement right in the middle of the RSGB area who had a sizeable footprint for the event, National Hamfest itself was hosted in a big hall on Newark Showground, an old RAF site. The LED rope I mounted up the side of a girder so it really stood out as a beacon to draw folks over. I was quite nervous going into Hamfest, whilst I did have a positive response from the online Ham Radio community for MORSE, there wasn't a guarantee that it'd translate into a conventional setting, but sure enough, MORSE went down really well!
We had a number of players come say hello who'd been following MORSE online who expressed their enthusiasm about the project, I got to give several seasoned hams their first experience of sending Morse (licenses haven't required Morse proficiency in over 20 years) and watch telegraphists demolish the game. I was particularly fond of was getting older Hams to give the game a go who were able to operate the game because of the familiar controller (Iambic and Straight keys) and were drawn in by the various keys I had lining the table. Even the small interactions were appreciated, several just enjoyed entering messages with the LED rope linked Straight Key which was fun to watch. I'm looking at designing games for older audiences (including those with dementia) once I've finished MORSE, so it was great to have another case study.
I also got interviewed by several Ham Radio journalists and got to spend time with the folks of the RSGB and get to know them. Sam, their Youth Activities and Engagement Champion was really generous with his time in discussing and playing MORSE, he gave so many different insights to explore, particularly helping me refine the controls for the Iambic key.
Easily my highlight was that ahead of the event, I had decided to put some minijack sockets on the back of the MORSE controllers for different telegraph keys to be plugged into. I'd theorised that attendees might have their telegraphs with them and would want to try the game with that personal touch. Sure enough, several attendees connected up their personal telegraphs, my favourite was a homebrew Iambic telegraph made out of a plug socket (below) which was very satisfying to use.
All in all, it was such a fantastic event to be involved in and cathartic to see that there is an appetite for the project. I am eager to bring MORSE to other Hamfests and festivals, particularly ones abroad next year! MORSE aside, I had a really great time, I got to meet lots of interesting people, learn more about the hobby such as ARDF and BOTA and I got myself a single paddle key and a tiny homebrew Iambic key from the markets. As mentioned earlier, I rounded off the event by registering as a member of the RSGB, getting my first radio and I hope to get my foundation license by the end of the year. Will definitely be back next year.
If you have any suggestions for any events coming up in the UK or elsewhere you think MORSE would be a good fit, please let me know! Thanks again for reading this and your interest in the project, I'll be following up shortly with an update on MORSE, got lots of things to discuss!
73, Alex
Hey folks!
Just dropping a chunky update for where MORSE is at, thanks for your patience. It's been just over a month since I last posted but wanted to give reassurance that I am still beavering away at the project, here's some of the recent updates:
+ MEGACON and Sheffield Games Market: Had such a wonderful time showing off the game at these events, the installation was very well received by the public and got lots of useful feedback. Here's some photos from the events!
We had quite a few people play cooperative on the game which I love, one person operates the telegraph, the other the launch button.
My highlight was getting to see a young boy who was partially sighted and partially deaf play the game and absolutely smash the game, his father mentioned the fact the game was high contrast helped him play. Was very sweet to see, I think the youngest we had playing was 4!
Here's some footage of the demo being beaten at Megacon:
+ Submarines: The latest enemy type, I've been trying to figure out for a while to implement them and finally found a satisfying manner of doing so. Submarines are permanently hidden, even shooting them directly will not reveal them as they're beneath the water. They are effectively jammers, scrambling your letter selection as they move. They're really hard to spot but because they're scrambling letters on the X and Y axis local to them, you can zero in on their location as they scramble more of the letters and numbers around them. They add a fresh spin on gameplay whilst still being cohesive. Here's some extended gameplay showing the submarines in action:
+ Expanded Manual: This bit I'm particularly proud of, I've expanded the manual to have a tonne of information about Morse Code. It discusses the different activities available, how to get started with ham radio, common terms/shorthand and national organisations that folks can join if they want to find their local clubs or national events. I'm planning to expand this as the game develops and I come across more events, groups and activities. I have very fond memories from Age of Empires 2 of vast collections of information and history about the different factions/historical events of the time and I'd like MORSE to be a launch point for people to discover the hobby of ham radio rather than an end point.
+ Receiving Morse Code: Speaking of giving people an entry point into ham radio, this is a small update but with a significant change to the game! A common critique from folks learning Morse Code (and hams more generally) is the dominance of visual Morse Code in my game. So, I've added the ability to receive Morse Code through sound, specifically the coordinates of ships! When you fire, you receive the position of the first ship hidden in the dark on that row audio. You can see this in the video below.
I'm undecided on whether this will be an ability or something just available for players throughout, but it it's fun mimicking the audio and seeing the crosshair reach the corresponding letter. Means you build an association between the letter and the sound in a way that it wasn't before (if you can copy the sound and rhythm of the sound, you can create the letter). Any suggestions for implementation would be appreciated! I've also added a blinking light for those hard of hearing to use as reference.
Here's a video demonstrating the receiver:
Morse Transmissions now added to my WW1 telegraphy game!
+ Key binding for Iambic/Sideswiper: This was a huge faff, but getting key binding sorted for the multi-paddle keys has been sorted! Means that folks can wire up their telegraphs proper to play the game with like their straight keys.
+ Detail and polish: I've been adding as much polish to the project and detail to the project as possible, things like a backing for the deck cards with dots and dashes, adding a subtle bit of red to the mines when placed, tweaking the probability of ships exploding, fixing issues with mine spawning and softening the penalty for missing a shell on your accuracy scale.
The launch is coming relatively soon (to be announced soon!) so I'm trying to limit new features/additions so close to launch. Having said that, here's what I have left to do:
- Save system: This is going to be a real messy element to integrate for mid-run saves, so to begin with I'm going to get the baseline working for saving base game data (E.g. Achievements and unlocks) then expand from there.
- Refinement of the accuracy scale: I'm not happy with it currently, it does enhance the gameplay but is too punitive and lacks a defined purpose.
- Tutorial implementation: Whilst I do have a functional tutorial, I have LOADS of lovely visuals in the manual that aren't being properly utilised.
- Implement the Cruiser: This enemy is designed but hasn't been properly added to the game yet,
- Refinement of Iambic/Semi-Auto: Whilst I'm happy with the Iambic key mapping function, both Iambic and Semi auto need further refinement.
Hey folks!
So this is a slightly niche but exciting update, hope you find it interesting!
Which means (in theory) folks should be able to connect up their telegraphs easier via third party software. It's still a work in progress feature but wanted to get it out there to see how people got on with it. I'd love to hear from you and how you got on (and would LOVE to see videos of people playing it with their telegraphs), feel free to post feedback/suggestions/experiences in here: Rebind keys to use commercially available USB interface for morse keys / iambic paddles :: MORSE General Discussions
So MORSE has had a website on itch for years now, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it till now. Hosting a web version of the game should hopefully lower the barrier to folks accessing the game and hopefully mean more people who don't necessarily have Steam might be willing to give it a go! The game is nice and small in size so loads quick and because it's built in Stencyl runs pretty smoothly in browser. I've also built a pretty nice site for the game, give it a look: MORSE by Alex Johansson
As a fun experiment, I recently took out a banner advert on popular ham radio website QRZ to reach folks in the ham radio community. The catch? the ad had to be less than 48kb. It was really fun designing something to fit within that constraint, definitely helped by MORSE having a very limited palette. Definitely has a Web 1.0 feel to the design and squeaked in at 44.6kb, I'll be curious to see how it does! Here's what it looks like:
Finally, MORSE is going to be exhibited at Manchester Megacon Live at the end of the month! I'll be taking my full setup along to the conference on the 26th-27th of July. I'll be bringing different key types for the event and letting people try out expert mode if they fancy the challenge! For a reminder of what the MORSE expo setup looks like, check it out below!
That's all for now, give the new demo a try and let me know how you get on with the new key binding setup. Thanks again and stay tuned!
Hey folks!
After a little rest, I got so much useful feedback from the festival and have been working to integrate suggestions and solve bugs, which I'm very happy with! Here's a list of some of the features added:
Game Manual: This took a good while to put together, but on the pause menu the player can browse through pages of information about the game and explore some of the more subtler mechanics. Paired with the pages is a 4 frame animation that captures the essence of the topic being discussed. My favourite thing added to the manual was the last page which highlights the next step to potentially find ham radio communities in your local area or nationally and as part of the animation, I included the crests of different national ham radio organisations in a way that was consistent. Have a browse through and let me know if I've missed any information and I'll include it.
More information: Watching a lot of playthroughs people seemed to struggle to pick upgrades as they didn't have sufficient information to make an informed decision. I've now added descriptions that elaborate when options are selected as well as longer descriptions on the card deck screen. I've also better labelled menus to have less ambiguity and added much more supporting text to give context.
New Launch System: So I alluded to this in a previous post, MORSE now has dynamic controls for firing ammunition. I've had more time with this mechanic and I honestly feel like it's the missing piece of the project clicking into place. When playing the demo, I've now been able to get over 95% accuracy utilising the ammo select to not waste shells which feels incredibly good. As part of this, the accuracy scale is much more filled up for me on the regular which has led me to do some re-balancing of the ammo feed. I'm considering some kind of bonus unlocked perk if you max out the accuracy scale, but need to do more experiments around it to see if it's unnecessary bloat. Related to accuracy, on the end screen stats I've now added your highest chained combo, my highest chained combo is 45 hits on enemies without missing!
Ships that blow up: I recently watched a documentary about the battle of Jutland, the biggest naval battle of the First World War as inspiration for the project and there was an interesting discussion about a major cause of lost ships on the British side. When German shells hit British ships, the stocks of cordite, a propellant commonly used for launching shells ignited inside the hull which burned the ships from the inside out. The documentary is worth a watch if you've got an hour spare! With this in mind, I've added a chance that munitions can explode, certain ships with more armaments' are more vulnerable to detonating, such as the dreadnoughts. What's nice is the resulting blast can both damage nearby ships and give you an extra bit of illumination as it explodes. As a subtle mechanic, I'm considering making the percentage chance of a ship exploding more likely if you land a direct hit on its centre.
Narrative Implemented: On the subject of Jutland, I've figured out a very subtle narrative grounding for the game. There was never a serious effort by the German Empire to attempt a naval invasion of the British Isles, but there was attempts such as the Battle of Jutland to break what was known at the time as the Blockade of Europe. This blockade was a unified effort by the Allied powers to stop supplies from reaching Germany. MORSE will focus around a fictional night time breach of the blockade in early 1916, which narratively fits with the use of sea mines and naval warfare.
General polish: I've added in a lot of subtle visual additions to add a bit more spectacle to the game. Generally I want to keep the game as minimalist as possible but things like dithering out the "Fog of war" to the right of the map or adding a smoke plume when ship cannons fire really adds an extra bit of detail to the project.
Whilst most of the changes/updates are for the demo, here are a couple of additions for the full game:
Iambic Function: I alluded to it in a previous post, but the previous version of the Iabmic keys were focused on tapping left and right to alternate, but Iambic keys involve a large amount of holding or squeezing the paddles. I worked with the subreddit "Amateur Radio" to figure out how to make it feel right and now I'm very happy with the controls.
Battlecruisers: These are midsized ships with medium speed and significant firepower that explode violently when destroyed. I'm considering changing the minesweeper slightly to be closer range with higher shooting speed, whilst battlecruisers would have ranged artillery.
This will likely be the last update to the demo for a while now (unless some major bugs come up!) so I can focus on delivering the final game. Priorities include:
Implementing save functionality: This is a well overdue job that is unfortunately a real pig to get working and to not break, the game has A LOT of variables to keep track of, reset and log.
Getting controls working properly: Whilst MORSE does work on the Steamdeck, it requires players to manually choose an community input from the default settings is automatically assigned. The main barrier to getting this figured out is the tool that I'm building the game in, Stencyl. It doesn't have a clean easy method for integrating the Steam Input API and key binding is technically complicated to setup. This is particularly important as I've had A LOT of ham radio enthusiasts reach out requesting key rebinding to work with their telegraphs and they software they use to convert input.
Enemy ship types: There's at least one other ship type that want to add to the game before launch: The submarine or U-Boat is a staple of the era which would be great to implement. They do function differently to other ships in the game so it's requiring a lot of unique design such as its state below and above the waterline.
Get Semi-Auto feeling better: The Iambic Key is now working but Semi-Auto is still based on a previous configuration that doesn't feel very good and is quite buggy. Most likely it'll involve adapting a new version from the Iambic key for consistency.
Steam Achievements: I've got the variables set up for achievements in game but haven't actually integrated them into Steam. Got some pretty ambitious achievements to for players to go at which I'm curious to how people get on with!
I've been pouring a lot of effort over the last month into MORSE and with that I've let a lot of my other career obligations slide so I'll likely be quieter on here the next few weeks whilst I catch back up! This will also likely be the last update to the demo before launch (unless some major mechanic like the ammo switch emerges). All in all though, the game is getting pretty close to release, I'll be announcing the release date in the next month so stay tuned for that!
Thanks and stay tuned!
.-
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This page aggregates Steam news feeds, patch notes, and developer announcements for MORSE, sourced from official Steam community posts.
Major updates, balance changes, and seasonal events often correlate with player-count spikes — cross-reference announcements here with the live charts on the main MORSE statistics page.
Articles link back to Steam for full changelogs. SteamScope refreshes news entries as new posts are published to the game's Steam hub.