Pro Philosopher 2: Governments & Grievances news & patch notes

Howdy Philosophers! We’re thrilled to announce that Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances will be part of TGAGWCAGA 2024! What is that you might ask? Is it a very long name with no vowels? If its an acronym, I still want to know why its so long? We know you, and we know you ask the important questions. And unlike the ultimate answer of morality, this one has an answer! TGAGWCAGA is indeed an acronym, and it stands for

The Game Awards for Games Who Can't Afford the Game Awards

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/3d978110e8a31106a7a2e397693fa9799819bb2a.png It's a one of a kind indie game showcase streaming this Friday, December 13th! TGAGWCAGA is a brand new showcase designed to spotlight incredible indie games that truly deserve more attention—while also poking a bit of fun at the exclusivity of The Game Awards. We are in a golden age of gaming, where players have almost endless choices of amazing titles to play. Unfortunately, that means that some really quality games can get pushed under the rug! Never to be seen again! So join us in restoring a little cosmic balance to the universe and check out these incredible (and criminally underrated) games! Subscribe to TGAGWCAGA's Youtube to watch! TGAGWCAGA 2024 Friday, December 13th 5:00 PM UTC / 6:00 PM CET / 12:00 PM ET Watch the stream here: https://www.youtube.com/@TGAGWCAGA We'll also be part of the Steam Event running from December 13th to December 22nd, featuring tons of amazing indie games, including ours. Make sure to join us this Friday, tell your friends and wishlist your favorite titles! We'll be hosting a watch party in our Discord, so be sure to hop in and join the fun!

Well, we did the final jiggering, pressed a couple more interface buttons, and it's really real: as of a few moments ago Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher AND Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances are playable on Macintosh computers! Go tell all your Mac friends! And if you ARE a Mac friend, welcome! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42832916/4cd28da91e1df6a9ba95160b5169042c481417c7.png

The Complete Collection is Also Live!

With today's Mac launch, and the release of the Soundtrack for Pro Philosopher 2, we are also creating a new Pro Philosopher Complete Collection Bundle: the sequel and both acclaimed soundtracks, for 10% off! Hey, if big AAA studios can do bundles, us small scrappy indies can, too. If you've enjoyed our strange philosophical venture of ours, it's certainly a good option. We appreciate each and every one of you: whether you are finding us now, have been with us since the steam launch, or way back since the first cult Flash release in 2013. Here's to many years of Philosophy to come!

CAPRA has been running a few secret tests behind the scenes (how unlike them) and can now confirm, scientifically, that the Pro Philosopher series is going to work on Mac! So, this next Wednesday, both Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher AND Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances will go live on Macintosh computers! And to whet your appetite, Apple-ites, the Mac version of the Demo for Pro Philosopher 2 is live RIGHT NOW! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/d4da80177cc6fab5e2af91eb93b4bc62c8821165.jpg BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! This Wednesday will also see the official release of the Soundtrack for Pro Philosopher 2, both in MP3 and high-quality WAV format. This soundtrack will also contain the notoriously catchy "Who's a Pro Philosopher?" track we made for the trailer of 2! We're incredibly proud of this series, and happy with how people have been receiving it. We're excited to be able to bring it to a new platform where, let's be honest, a lot of the word nerds live. Like the Philosophy Professor we worked with in making these games, Andy Norman. Your dream is coming true, Andy! You will be able to play the game again! Happy NONSENSEing, The Pro Philosopher 2 Team

Hey all! I want to once again thank everyone who picked up the game within these first weeks. Your comments and responses have been absolutely heartwarming! But a positive response does not mean there is no room for improvement! This patch includes some bigger changes and additions based on the feedback we've received:

Saves, Transitions, and Art Visibility

Some of you encountered an interesting edge case where, if you saved at the first line after a transition, when you reloaded the line would get grafted onto whatever was last on screen. Worst case, this could even stop you from advancing! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/4f59c3e51c420e14c6f80f32e8f8e933be274946.jpg TL;DR: THIS IS FIXED! But for those who want the longer version... This was because of the trick I implemented to clear the text box during fades: I fired an empty line, waited for the fade to end, and then attached the actual line the empty one to avoid weirdness in the log. If that sounds hacky, that's because it is. We decided to do it better! Those sequences now use a new command to clear and hide the text box, which has the added benefit of creating a few more moments where our art is fully visible! Going through and verifying these fixes also had me putting a bit more scrutiny on these transitions in general, so they've all gotten a bit of additional polish. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/1642e1ba067f6a24190684b7316b277c8dbe42ea.png Pythia, stop blinking during my screenshots. I also added this command to a few more non-transition sequences where seeing the whole scene felt nice! GOOD ART DESERVES TO BE SEEN! We've got legs for days.

Shortcuts and Sounds

We added a few more keyboard shortcuts for keyboard users!

• "I" will open the Idea slate!
• "L" will open the log!
• "1-4" will use the question moves, when available!

Implementing this, however, made us realize that our buttons were not always making noises when triggered with keyboard or controller... which led to the following changes:

• Sounds are always triggered when you activate a button with keys or controller! Yay, feedback!
• The next button sound now is toned down a little bit, and gets quieter when no music is playing

Marking up Marx

Attempting to abridge any of these philosophers is an undertaking-- and I knew Marx, as debated as he is, would be especially so. Overall response has been good, but those more online than I have made some valid points of where my words could have done a better job expressing our pointy-fingered philosopher. The first argument has thus seen a few small but notable changes to make sure it more accurately represents his vast body of work. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/6c3b55e582fbd1c042c57bae8a3ea8b0339d7556.png I'm sure this will not be the last time I want to go in and make tweaks to an argument to be a bit more accurate and representative! I did a ton of research in creating this game, but it's still very important I know what I don't know. Kinda, like, one of the main themes of the game. So! If you are up to your neck in any of these philosophers and feel something strikes you as off when playing, please always feel free to speak up. I won't take it personally! Unless you tell me I stink.

And that's all! ...For now...

There are some other minor line fixes, but those be the meaty things! Once again, thank you to everyone who has been giving your thoughts and feedback. We're clearly listening, and we have a few more things we're tinkering with as possibilities. Perhaps you'll hear about a big one tomorrow... (which those who watched our stream might already know!) Love, Connor and the Pro Philosopher Team

Thank you so much for such a positive response to Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances! We've been blown away by all your kind words and also all your amazing questions. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/082fe0d9bfb4984ee0b883cd8a1f385ebe2b7749.jpg Join us as we play through the Karl Marx chapter of the game and answer all of your burning questions about not only Marx's chapter, but also the game and its entire development. We will try not to spoil the ending of the game and will be hosting a spoiler stream later on. The stream will start at 11 am et, or 8 am pt on the Steam page and on PrinceMolder's Twitch page. We have a bunch of exciting updates and announcements coming out, so be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Tiktok, or our Discord, or just keep reading these Steam updates! You're already doing great. We've come a long way since launch and we are so glad to have you along for the ride. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/6fc0e8f784b6c9da50ab959d16111b42883fe8ea.png We hope to see you there to share the excitement of launch and finally put all your lingering questions to rest. See you this Thursday! Community Manager Morgan

• Fixed a bug where trying to call a certain chart fan a fascist during his first arguments would break reality and stop all the argument buttons from working. You are now properly able to nuke your credibility, if you please.
• Added a few more valid options in Finale 2 and Finale 3.
• Replaced the clarification for the final statement in Finale 3 with a slightly more flavorful one (which had been written initially for a cut statement but still works there.)

Keep the thoughts coming! Here and on Discord, we be gobbling them thoughts up.

Hey all, Games out. People seem to be liking it. WOO! Feels good. But! There are a few hiccups people pointed out that were quick and easy to fix, so we did so.

• In Chapter 4, the wording of a few lines made it sound like Lenin came up with the phrase "Dictatorship of the Proletariat." Enough people read them as attribution, so we changed them.
• In Chapter 5, the description of "Tribalism" was worded in an unnecessarily complex way. So the wording has been streamlined to be more clear, as you can't "Press for clarification" your own idea slate.

We are also investigating a bug where, when loading a save on certain lines, "New Text" will appear at the start of the line. This is a systematic edge case that we missed, so the best fix for this might take a little bit longer! Thank you everyone who has played the game so far. Keep the notes and feedback coming— we're keeping an eye both here and on the discord!

THE DAY IS HERE!! After 5 years of working nights and weekends, Pro Philosopher 2 is finally live. Anime Locke, Machiavelli, Confucius and Marx have been eager to challenge each and every one of you, as have all the other characters we have yet to reveal. I trust you'll give them a good (verbal) fight. To celebrate the big day, we've made a new trailer! And it's easily our most unique yet. When you publish your own indie game, no one can stop you from making a music video: We had a blast putting this together! And if you got the words "Pro Philosopher 2" stuck in your head, well, that's kinda the point. Thanks to our composer Matt Klingensmith, our sound designer Chris Burgess, and singer DNCrystal for helping us produce something special.

A Wild Soundtrack Approaches!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/d4da80177cc6fab5e2af91eb93b4bc62c8821165.jpg Speaking of music, this trailer track will serve as the final cherry on top of the official Pro Philosopher 2 Soundtrack. While it's not available just yet, the soundtrack will contain high-quality renders of every musical track in the game. And there is QUITE A BIT of music in Pro Philosopher 2; at least twice as much as the original game. Everything from character themes to tonal pieces; just what you need for a hard day of philosophizing. Keep an eye out for its release in the coming weeks! Check out the page here.

So... go play!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/9a072f55caa93de4508484d04f910a5aecc26f56.jpg I really cannot overemphasize just how excited and grateful we are that you all took an interest in this game. "Philosophy Debating Sim" isn't the most marketable of concepts, but if the original Socrates Jones showed us anything, it's that there are a bunch of wierdos, just like us, who are hungry to engage empathetically with fascinating ideas and with one another. We'll be paying close attention to feedback over the next few weeks, and we have a few more events planned where you'll be able to interact with the devs. So join the discussion on Discord or here on the Steam forums to stay in the loop! Happy Philosophizing, Connor

Wow! Can you believe Pro Philosopher 2 launches next week? We've been working on it for years and we still have to pinch ourselves sometimes. We've made a lot of significant changes to the game in the past months and weeks, finalizing everything so you can have the best experience possible when you enter the Intelligible Realm next Tuesday. But why wait?! We're launching a new demo that contains the ENTIRE FIRST CHAPTER of the game with all the bells and whistles that you can expect in the full game, including improved animations and sound effects! And yes, your progress will carry over when you play the full game! We're cool like that. ;) I have to warn you, it's going to be difficult. This is quite possibly the most difficult philosophical quandary ever faced by humankind. The question is posed by your roommate, Jennifer. It is...

Should

You

PARTYYYYYY!?!?!

It's up to you to survive Jenn-Ageddon and the intricacies of roommate relationships, but we trust in your reasoning capabilities. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2120070/Pro_Philosopher_2_Governments__Grievances/ We hope you'll enjoy sharing the world of Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances with us, and we can't wait to hear what you think! If you have any feedback or bug reports, feel free to post them on the Steam Forums or hop into our Discord to make new Philosophy friends! And most importantly, get ready to party!!! Or not. That's up to you. Philosophy Quote of the Day: "YOLO" - Unknown - Moderator Morgan

A game is many things. Words. Pictures. Sounds. Code… Mostly those four things. We are hard at work getting Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances ready to launch and we are psyched to bring you along for the ride! This week we’ll give you a look into the stuff that makes Pro Philosopher so fun to look at. Our art team knocked it out of the park and recently finished ALL the character sprites in the game! That was a tall order considering the number of characters in the game (no I won’t tell you how many), and the many animation frames necessary to make famous philosophers speak. Here’s Marx’s sprite components. You can see his beard, eyes, and body are all on three different layers. When we want him to speak, we switch out the eyes and beard super fast and voila! The communist, manifested! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/1a5bf23318496f67fb777701a596644592c5e9a6.png Going back in time a little, there were many steps before we got here. It all started with Marx’s character sketches After the sketches we refined the linework: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/6fc0e8f784b6c9da50ab959d16111b42883fe8ea.png Added color: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/959efd313c4bbc22503d933fb3349cf9deb6c6f9.png And finally layered in the animations! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/bca5a36c1be2389c3040544d450459d90b608a23.gif And there you have it, a single sprite for Pro Philosopher 2! Now imagine doing that fourteen times and you have an idea of how hard our artists’ are working to bring you shouting philosophers. …Ah, dang it. I said I wasn’t going to reveal how many characters there are in Pro Philosopher 2! Ah well, now that the cats out of the bag; there are fourteen characters in Pro Philosopher 2! That’s almost DOUBLE the amount of characters in Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher. (Which you should still go play.) In addition to the character art, we’re doing a final pass on our environment and settings. The Intelligible Realm will look a bit different than what we had in the demo — an adjusted style that we think works better with our other art! Now those floating pillars practically leap out of your computer screen. Out with the old. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/f90f55f4c2d4ba89524d26da749dc96ecb3866c6.gif In with the new! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/b5942fd924070815614ae5c8b4a250b7c7a11aae.gif The Intelligible Realm is one of a few different locations you’ll explore in the final game! But that’s actually all I’m saying on THAT matter. The last major component of our art is the cutscene stills — which some of you might have seen caught making an appearance here and there. Like everything else in 2, we’re super happy with how they are turning out, and looking forward to sharing more! Another incredibly important aspect of the Pro Philosopher franchise is yelling nonsense super loud. Since it's so important, we decided to make Ariadne’s NONSENSE shine with a custom animation. Check out this work in progress of her animation compared to her father’s. Maybe the two of them are more similar than Ari thinks? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/3b45e56d4a1f70df8308548d0b9c6d8f3d6ce74f.gif {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/63719c19056c55ec79de9da28c7ac727ec447231.gif We hope you’ve enjoyed this look into our art process! Expect more Dev Logs soon with insights into the writing process, code adjustments, and audio design we are finishing before launch. We recently hired an audio designer, Chris Burgess, who worked with Val and Connor on Guild Wars 2 making Charr Metal Concerts, so expect the sounds of Pro Philosopher to get a refresh too. I wonder what other kinds of audio delights they will cook up… Which of these topics would you like us to hit next? Let us know in our comments, or on our Twitter, Discord, or even Tumblr! It’s incredible what our artists have been able to accomplish, especially in the midst of some pretty rough stuff. As you may or may not know, we are a nights and weekends studio; all of us are also working for other big games companies. This month one of our artists was affected by the recent wave of game developer layoffs in addition to facing some difficult life circumstances. For that reason, we hope you’ll be flexible with us on our October 8th release date. While there are no plans to delay the game at present we will continue to keep you updated! So until next time, this is your community manager Morgan signing off. Be sure to show the artists in your life some love this week! Quote of the Dev Log: “Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake” -Kurt Vonnegut OH YEAH: If you still want more info and also happen to be heading to PAX west, you can catch our lead narrative designer Connor Fallon on the Micro-Indies panel Monday, September 2nd at 2:30 in the Firebird theater! We hope to see you there! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/c771b4e4f17c28b117eb71056f17a57944b42b88.png

You’ve been requesting him, and we are thrilled to finally deliver. It would be almost impossible to make a game about political philosophy without discussing Communism, and Karl Marx is here to passionately deliver his points! This weekend the Beard Signal was ignited, and our dear community almost INSTANTLY guessed that it was him. Sorry, Marx, you’re just too iconic to go incognito. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/175422d4f68cfe5f48aa09bbce4d3a620319f5e0.png But who else is joining the roster? Eagle eyed followers of our social media have been treated to her campaign ads, (and, more often, the attack ads levied against her,) and you might have met her in the secret ending of our Demo! Oops! I spoiled the surprise. It's Pythia Smith, a prominent senator from New York and also Ariadne’s Mother! How did our protagonist’s mother get trapped in the realm of philosophers? Well, you’re just going to have to wait for the full game’s release to solve that mystery. If you want to catch up on her campaign efforts, you can click the link below to head to our official TikTok! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/c3ac8707888b1419f6c6f46b518440eef9ad21c1.png They may be being introduced at the same time, but somehow, I doubt that they will agree on policy… {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/dee06a96893747c8544ee74bad7b3b04faf12542.png We also snuck a little surprise in there right at the end. Did you catch it? That's right! We have a release date! You'll be able to debate philosophers to your heart's content and unravel the mystery at the heart of Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances on October 8th! We know that feels like a long way away, but for a philosopher in the Intelligible Realm that's basically tomorrow. We still have many more characters on our roster to reveal, both before and after launch, but for now, let's give the welcome to the father of communism and the mother of Ari! If you want to join the conversation, hop into our Discord or follow us on Twitter (X) and insta! Feel free to share your excitement using the hashtag #philosopherhype!

Steam Next Fest has been wonderful, so we set up a second Stream for those of you who missed the first one! Come hang out with us and see our insights into the game and its development! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/79b2b10866cf6f8eceee535acedcb7f114089373.png

To celebrate the launch of the new Pro Philosopher Demo and Steam Next Fest, we will be streaming the game! Swing by and say hi, and learn a behind the scenes factoid or two :) {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/79b2b10866cf6f8eceee535acedcb7f114089373.png

IT'S HERE! The official demo for Pro Philosopher 2 is now LIVE. You can download it and play it, right now! AND YOU SHOULD! We're so excited for you all to finally get a taste of what we've been cooking... and Machiavelli has been just so eager to show you what he's made of. To celebrate the release of this new demo, we put together a new short teaser for you all: But the release of the Demo is just the START of the exciting things we have lined up for Steam Next Fest this week! We've got a docket of celebrations throughout the week: On Monday, 5:00 PM PST: we will stream the demo here on Steam! We'll be giving some behind the scenes insights and highlight a detail or two that you might have missed! On Wednesday, 5:00 PM PST: We will play a bit of the original Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher ON OUR DISCORD, similarly giving some behind the scenes facts. In general, our discord is a great place to get Pro Philosopher updates and news, so I hope to see you there! On Saturday, 2:00 PM PST We will do our last Pro Philosopher 2 stream of the fest on Steam! Figured this was a good way to wrap up the festivities and give people another chance to hang out and chat with us! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/79b2b10866cf6f8eceee535acedcb7f114089373.png Thank you all for joining us this week! And please let us know what you think on Discord, or here on the Steam Forums!

So many exciting things are coming Next! And when is next? Next Fest! If you’re unfamiliar, Next Fest will run on Steam from June 10th to the 17th and will highlight some excellent upcoming titles WITH DEMOS. One of our favorite games with an exceedingly cool Demo is, well, ours! Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances! I know, you’re surprised. Take a moment to compose yourself. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/1dbe38a2f1c01f22a90ebf6333e99171b6fdfbfa.png The demo will be launching with the ‘Fest on the 10th. You’ll get a sneak peak at the narrative and mechanics of the game guided by the delightful Machiavelli. However, if you find yourself unable to wait until June for a sneak peak, keep an alert eye on our social media for other announcements. 👀 We’ll also shout out some of our other favorite Demos from the fest! Twitter Instagram TikTok Tumblr Bluesky {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/ad01b9f5a83b579f7c6bb55802348975ba417ac5.gif In other news, we have a real website now! Bookmark it, save it, share it, do all the stuff you normally do with websites. It even has a funny button that lets you wishlist the game! Wonder what happens when you press it? And, oh wow, it wouldn't be next fest without a new trailer! We really buried the lede on that one huh? Check it out here, and don't forget to like and subscribe 😉 That's all we have for you right now. If you want to keep up with the Pro Philosopher Community, hop into our discord and follow our other social media! As always, we appreciate you wishlisting the game and telling your friends about it. That helps us more than you know. Hope you’ll join us June 10th at Next Fest to get a good look at what the final game will be like! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/aa9afc4dd646737ed376fb3268b3bccc015b5a50.png

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/482129015a783aab01747cc10f5767ef644df3ef.png Have you ever wondered how Pro Philosopher works? Well wonder no more! Pro Philosopher runs on a custom scripting language that allows us to deliver almost twice the amount of philosophy per statement compared to other leading brands. That's a completely made up statistic that you can trust! We want to share exactly how making Pro Philosopher 2 works! But this isn't a normal behind-the-scenes peek, oh no. We are going to be writing the greatest argument of all time, and YOU are going to decide who is doing the arguing and what they are arguing about! We will then record the entire scripting process, from writing dialogue to coding the argument itself, and share the entire journey with you on TikTok! Inspired by the incredibly humble legacy of John Locke, democracy shall rule the day. Make your vote count! Head over to Twitter to pick our first challenger from Confucius, Locke, and Jennifer! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/cb1ac5fb09d1c14b1a7b5f465b79ffacdcfb8823.png Then you get to join our Discord to choose our second contender between Machiavelli, The Arbiter, and Ari. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/18108ea7b9dcfb59ebe84f23264fa14ca0bc082d.png Finally, take a jaunt over to our Tumblr to choose the topic of debate. I could tell you the options, but I don't want to spoil it for you. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/5041e52be5a14c702a922b94f19e4e4e219336f4.png We're sure you already have some favorites among all these incredible candidates, so don't be afraid to campaign for your bias! Each of these polls is only going to last a day, so don't wait! Head over immediately to participate in...

THE GREAT EN-POLL-ENING

The scope of Pro Philosopher 2 is MUCH larger than the first game, but so far, we've only really shown two philosophers: Confucius and Machiavelli. So... where are all the others? Are they hiding under a bush? Well, one fellow could not be contained any longer... presenting the latest member of the Pro Philosopher 2 cast: (People keep telling us what philosophers they want in the game, which makes us feel a bit like we're working on philosophical Smash Bros. So we leaned into a bit!) As always, we're making steady progress towards the release of Pro Philosopher 2. Big updates will be shared here, but if you're interested seeing more of how the game develops over time, join our growing discord community!

Hey! Did you know we have a Discord where you can see all the latest updates and… wait, who is that hiding in the background? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44249403/87acc0416b6be06edc15acb4cefe5ec6ec29c707.png https://discord.gg/mtCyxYjFXZ Do you think if we can guess who it is, they might reveal themselves? 🤔🤔🤔

The Pro Philosopher team is going to be at PAX, at Seattle Indies Expo! Here are the event deets: Sun, Sept 3rd, 12pm - 9pm 3rd floor @ Motif Hotel, 1415 5th Ave, Seattle WA It's also completely free! You can swing by without a PAX badge! At the event, we'll have the FIRST PLAYABLE DEMO of Pro Philosopher 2, as well as some tidbits that will give you an early tease of some of the other philosophers featured in the game that we are not ready to share online just yet. Come meet us, say hi, and let us know what you think! We'd love to meet you! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42832916/509c12649f9949bd371680451feaab6ce93e8dce.png Check out the full list of awesome indies attending here: https://six.seattleindies.org/