Vaporum news & patch notes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/1c09352c9205371bafc37e60c5589112d4a27591.png Hi, fellow dungeon crawlers! We've been silent for a long time, but it's about to change! We will finally announce a new game soon! If you want to follow our road to the announcement, building up to the release, the best way is to subscribe to our NEWSLETTER! You will get access to newest posts about gameplay and other juicy stuff one week early before they go public. Check the posts we've posted so far: - Comic Book Part 1 - Comic Book Part 2 - FPS Movement - Combat Preview Thank you!

What's next for Fatbot Games?

Dear fans!

On behalf of the whole team, let me wish you all good health and stability in this unstable and dangerous time. We highly appreciate the effort and sacrifice of the people fighting the virus, and we also feel for those whose health and/or living have been compromised by the pandemic. The situation in the last few months has been very serious, including in our own country which is in the top 10 most deaths per capita in the world among countries with a population of over a million people, and so we are very grateful that no one in the team nor any close relative of ours has fallen ill. Thanks to that, we could work more or less undisturbed and release our second game in September of last year (2020).

Our Second Game is Out!

Vaporum: Lockdown, released on September 15, 2020 on Steam, GOG, and Humble (Windows, Mac, Linux), is the second game of our small indie studio. Much like the first Vaporum, Lockdown is also enjoying positive reception in the community. We have received a great response in the form of forum feedback, reviews, and also direct personal correspondence. We are very humbled and thankful for all that! https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33018907/121b2bb400a3b4212450dd7a65f48379bd845529.jpg Matej and I, trying to come up with cool RPG mechanics. Both games are a labor of love and so we really appreciate any kind of feedback — be it praise or constructive critique. We have learned a lot in making both games, and apart from being able to make ends meet doing what you love, the experience itself is the most valuable thing we have gained. Lockdown also released on Switch on March 22, 2021, and we are happy to say that the port has turned out well! Our decision to port the game ourselves proved to be correct. We had to overcome heaps of issues in the obstacle-ridden publishing process of Nintendo, but it paid off! https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33018907/e20c897a218b58ea209fa1199d5573c99004258c.png When designing levels for Vaporum: Lockdown, we built upon what we had learned in Vaporum, using the best parts and avoiding the mistakes. At least that was the plan. We had full control over every aspect of the port the whole time and were able to pack in more quality than before (when previously using a 3rd party to do the job). Apart from the obvious font size increase, there are plenty of quality-of-life improvements in the port, most notably a heavily streamlined control scheme. The game is a breeze to play on Switch now, and we all enjoy it even more than on PC, which is a big claim for us “PC dinosaurs”. (Well, one member still prefers playing on PC, but he's a “PC protomolecule”, so that doesn't really count.) We were able to improve the performance significantly, which allowed us to get more high-end effects & visuals into the port for those eye-candy treats. We are thankful for any feedback you give us on Vaporum: Lockdown, be it the desktop or the Switch version. Whether it's a praise-talk or an earful, be sure to give it to us on any of our social channels or e-mail. We know all too well it sounds like cliche, but those of you who have had direct contact with us know that we actually do take your feedback into account.

An End of an Era…

"The Age of Vaporum", as I like to call it, was a time filled with hardship and trials, but also of some success. You could call the founding of the studio itself a success, which would not have been possible without our investors, today close friends, Richard and Oto, who never doubted the abilities of the team. The way we got to know each other is pretty curious and I tend to mention it in every interview about the studio. https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33018907/c2d9b25cf007a927f562fc59230b9392cf5d78d6.jpg Our game was even played at the North Pole! Mateusz Mandat, our friend stationed at the tip of the world, sent this unique photo to us. Although the journey was often hard and tricky, we always treated all the slip-ups and failures with introspection, even though sometimes we had no control over the situation. Today, we see ourselves at the start line, naive dreamers who, on the one hand, had some skill, willing to learn and adapt, and on the other hand, had a lot of luck above all. Thanks to this luck, our failures didn't cost us our heads, and we are still here. https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33018907/bd071beef8650aaee433bd8f8ccb69d32a16226e.jpg Game dev is demanding, especially indie game dev. We were always hard at work, and it drained us quite a lot – especially during holidays. We set out on this indie-dev adventure thinking we knew what we were doing, but there was soooo much still to learn. Since all the ups and downs and experiences are so numerous, we might rather share them in a separate series of blog posts someday.

What's Next for Fatbot Games?

Now, we have to consider our future with sober eyes. Sure, we could just keep making dungeon crawlers for the small group of hardcore fans of the genre, and port the games to all the platforms, but unfortunately, that is not sustainable. Our beloved DC genre is too niche and we would be too reliant on the “buying discipline” of the fans, which would still not ensure paying for the costs of the production — trust me, we learned our lesson with both games on this. The production of Vaporum, with all the goals we had set for it, was a Herculean feat. The number of things that interact and affect each other in a game like that is simply too large to tackle in such a small team without cutting a lot of edges and thus lowering the final quality. https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33018907/31f40bc85e34033b7ba2404ebc1e447ddf6e4da3.jpg This is what indie gamedev is to us. No fancy offices or buffet three times a day; it's just hard work, but in a team we wouldn't trade for anything! Still, to fans it might seem that despite the miniscule team, the result was pretty good in the end. Maybe, but at what cost… Vaporum cost us a lot of overtime, mainly for level makers and level designers. Every part of the game was more demanding than our team was able to handle in an optimal and timely fashion. We went into an oxygen debt, not only in the amount of overtime, but also in the extra resources that it took. And of course, every debt has to be paid off. But we did not. Was it not for Richard and Oto, our more than fair and amiable investors, we would not be here today. It was high time to change the course. We dusted off an old idea that had lingered around since the early days. The idea crystallized into a concrete concept in 2019. In the form of a video and pitch deck, we confirmed the viability of the project by pitching it to various parties at various events. Since the feedback was 100% positive, it was pretty clear what the next major project of our studio was going to be. Right after releasing Lockdown in September, while still making patches for it and doing post-release PR, we started working on the prototype. Along actively porting Lockdown to Switch, we were able to create a final prototype in early March, and then we put it to the test — the focus-test. These days are all about important decisions. In what form will we release the game, how will we finance it, and when is the best time to officially announce it… All this amid working on the remaining ports of Lockdown (PS4 & 5 and Xbox) and shifting our full production to the new game. It's a very strange time. And very exciting! We can't wait to announce the game to the public and see the reaction from you, our fans! We will appreciate any kind of support, sharing, commenting, or even just liking the post. As a small hint, the name of the protagonist of our upcoming project is hinted at in the super secret room in Vaporum: Lockdown. Can you find it? 🙂 Thank you! Tibor Repta TeamLead@FatbotGames

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/53c47ffa871a2041722901c0d6fa7e5f6e623d05.png Vaporum: Lockdown, prequel to critically acclaimed Vaporum, is out now! Get it here on Steam and also be sure to check out the Vaporum Loyalty Bundle! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161880/Vaporum_Lockdown/ For a tiny indie team such as ours, it’s a great privilege to be able to release our second game. We’re super grateful for all of you, the fans who supported us throughout the development of this game. We hope you will enjoy this labor of sweat & tears, but also much love! What started as an idea for a datadisk that would bring a few new levels and maybe 1 or 2 new minor features, has grown into a fully fledged standalone game that is as big as the original game, if not bigger. Lockdown brings many improvements on almost everything that made Vaporum good, plus a host of new features and quality of life upgrades. Just to name a few:

• New storyline following a female protagonist, Ellie Teller.
• Brand new levels.
• New enemy types with unconvential attack patterns that will challenge your wits & reflexes.
• New weapon & armor types for even more build options.
• Lots of synergies to find. We created many new unique weapons & armor pieces and a few new circuits, all with synergy-building in mind.
• A host of new puzzles and a special optional level with extra-tough puzzles to challenge your brainpower.
• More voice-overs and a deeper look into the lore and story of the world of Vaporum.
• Much streamlined controls (including much improved controller support).

Even though the game takes place in the same tower, the storyline is completely new. Follow a new protagonist and find out what happened before the events in Vaporum. Ellie Teller, a teleporter scientist, must face her own past and find a way to escape the place. As a side note, we came up with the final name of the game mere weeks before the global pandemic broke out. It also hit us hard, where we had to work from home for several weeks, so you can say that Lockdown was being made during a lockdown. 🙂 Thankfully, none of us got infected. We would also like to thank all the people on the frontline who have been working to keep us safe! Share, comment, and enjoy the game!

Hey, fellow dungeoneers! I hope you’re healthy and safe, following the instructions to protect yourself and the others in these troubled times. A big shout-out to everyone who’s fighting the disease or helping to overcome the whole situation! Each member of our little studio works from home now, and despite it being a lot less effective and slower, we still tirelessly work for Vaporum: Lockdown to be the title that you’ll love. Today, I’d like to talk about how we want to tackle the difficulty and categorization of puzzles, based on your feedback from the original game. Some of you welcomed the hardcore challenge of the tougher puzzles, but the rest mostly preferred and enjoyed the other mechanics so typical for the genre, not so much puzzles. It’s a big challenge to please both crowds without making it all just “meh”, while still keeping the game balanced and consistent. Thanks to some new puzzle-making mechanics we added to Lockdown, we came up with quite some elaborate, tough, and varied puzzles over time. We sorted these puzzles according to the feedback gathered in a few rounds of internal playtesting, giving us a good idea on the order in which they should appear in the game, graduating in difficulty. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/719fd58a2649b3027fc195bf35a5d166319c0333.png (A partial view of our puzzle prototyping scene. Puzzles … Puzzles everywhere!) But, a few questions popped up right here. What would be the difficulty ceiling for the puzzles? How many should we put in the whole game? If hard optional puzzles provide hefty rewards for beating them, how do we prevent casual players feeling left out and weaker for skipping them? And at the same time, how do we keep it challenging and rewarding enough for the so-called “puzzle heads :)” among you? We came up with a solution. Enter the Supreme Puzzles Floor! The toughest, most hardcore puzzles will reside in a special, separate floor in the tower, having a bit of lore tied to them to make it interesting. Each puzzle will be locked by a special key. You will need to find these keys, scattered across the game (mostly in secrets), to gain access to the supreme puzzles. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/044aaa7e45baffe16e264ac2f96d000a09074a85.png (An excerpt from the floors cross section map that is being implemented in the game.) Although we decided to make all these puzzles 100% optional, there still was a problem. How would these tough puzzles reward players who make the effort to crack them? Maybe put in some of the best unique items? But if we do that, will it be fair to casual players who will likely not even want to touch the supreme floor at all? Because that’s a sure-fire way to force them to tackle the puzzles anyway; it’s something that they really don’t want to do, but probably will — out of “fear of missing out”! And that was against our original intention. After some thought, we came up with a solution. We will not separate players by rewarding them with different loot, but by rewarding them with achievements / trophies! Casual players don’t usually hunt for every single last achievement; they’re much more interested in exploration, progress, and story. So they should not feel like they’re missing out on anything essential. On the other hand, people who crave to achieve everything the game has to offer also tend to put in a lot more effort, achievements themselves being the reward. We believe beating these demanding puzzles and getting achievements for them will be adequate in itself. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/b963190a83e5ef9a9e63edec5d4a40529a78c60a.png As some of you might know, we held a Level Design Contest some months ago. The goal was to create an independent level of up to 20×20 tiles in size. The winning design, made by Lukas Kusnier, is actually a rather large & tough puzzle, and so we decided to include it in the Supreme Puzzle Floor. We hope we will please both camps this way, giving you hard puzzles to beat, if you’re up to the challenge, but without making it too tedious for those who don’t necessarily enjoy them. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Is there something we haven’t quite thought of? Do you have ideas on how to make it better? Feel free to comment here on social media or drop us an e-mail at [email protected]! Thank you! – Tibor

Check out our new short webcomic! A small story snippet from the history of the Arx Vaporum, its universe and protagonists! Be sure to leave some feedback and don't forget to wishlist Vaporum: Lockdown on Steam! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/110a2b195b4602b9571fd783c85adfd213978745.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/165f0d73a208c89dfaa813eb5f854e4c80e4823d.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/68f49e8ca4d698924443c6a66199494ac1350a96.png

First of all, we'd like to thank you all for your continuous support! We really appreciate every bit of it! The first reason for postponing the release is quite typical for gamedev. Even though we originally planned to make something smaller, we think that you, our community, deserve a little more than just a short "level pack". The project has grown into a fully fledged, standalone game that expands on everything that made Vaporum good, and also brings a lot of new, fresh ideas. Since we're a small team of enthusiasts, the desire to enrich and "fatten" the experience has won over releasing it too early without a lot of "meat". On the other hand, of course, such a decision costs time. You can be certain of one thing though -- we will use all this added time to make sure the game is as fun and enjoyable to play as we can make it! The second, more sinister reason is obvious, currently affecting the lives of all people around the world. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, causing an infectious disease, has already hit our country as well. Since Friday 13, our game studio has been on "lockdown". Yes, we're well aware of the irony in the game's name and the date, and we also feel quite cringy about what takes place in the planned storyline of Vaporum: Lockdown and what is taking place in the world right now. It's quite eerie. By lockdown, we mean that all team members now work from home. This is quite ineffective and slow compared to being together in the studio and being able to discuss things live, face to face. We also want to express a great deal of respect and gratitude to people who make extra selfless effort to help the infected and prevent the spread of the disease, every day. We'd also like to appeal to you to be responsible and follow the directions of your local health organizations. Don’t forget to wishlist Vaporum: Lockdown and share the information we post. That's the best you can do to help us. Thank you for your support! On behalf of the whole team: Tibor Repta (Co-founder) & Matej Zajačik (Co-founder)

Wishlist Vaporum: Lockdown on Steam {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/2a2178617278a0814075bcc749dc3a006cb4fe4b.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/ed5ccc1434ec2633f210062e510a85022d005ffc.jpg https://steamcommunity.com/app/1161880

Visit the damp pits and gloomy tunnels of the sewage system of the Arx Vaporum in a new batch of screenshots from Vaporum: Lockdown. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/141e74819207a70a905e4de77030d62bec6dc83f.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/01ad9007e804b3a03008b5b458009a56fd3acf65.jpg https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161880/

Here are some new visuals from the new levels in Vaporum: Lockdown. Gaze upon the dark technical corridors of Arx Vaporum and don’t forget to wishlist it on Steam now! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/3d9a9342bbcb598dfec0a5eaf5e43992d8733c51.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/d00ec12379dc575d3196c3608ea136d44a96e7d0.png https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161880/Vaporum_Lockdown/

Hey there, everyone! By the end of last year, we announced a level design contest, giving you guys a chance for your ideas to get into our upcoming game Vaporum: Lockdown, a prequel to Vaporum. The author of the winning submission is Lukáš Kušnier. Congratulations! From all the submissions we’ve received, his design clearly stands out, in both visual & textual presentation and the core idea it revolves around. The clever combination of existing mechanics and interactive elements makes it an ideal candidate as a part of our special level in Lockdown. You will find a special floor filled with the toughest puzzles and unique rewards. All these will be purely optional, so if you don’t feel like it, you can skip them altogether. Lukáš will: - Have his puzzle included in Vaporum: Lockdown. - Be credited in Vaporum: Lockdown. - Receive a signed Vaporum Signature Edition for the Nintendo Switch. - Receive a key for Vaporum: Lockdown for the platform of his choice. We are very happy to be able to include at least some of the community’s ideas directly into our upcoming game! We’re also happy to continually receive support and feedback from you guys. Thank you! 🙂 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161880/

Hey there, fellow crawlers! We have a small Christmas present for you, a glimpse into an area you will get to explore in Vaporum: Lockdown. We know we’re a little quiet, but that’s because we are tirelessly working on the prequel. More specifically, building individual levels, iterating on puzzles, and tuning combat zones for the best possible fun experience. Take a look at one of the levels (and their inhabitants) that was supposed to serve the whole tower with food, the Hydroponics Lab. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/f46cf826837f249cec9c6a7e70875e9d158b6a30.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/a626aa24f97b28f8b9f4133f0f712637da94701d.jpg One of the very first endeavors of the Arx should be to establish permanent food independence. Based on the Supreme Bureau’s Security Regulation for Scientific Research in Long-Term Isolation, commissary Rowan Rogers (#241191) has issued an order to build a hydroponic bay in one of the first finished parts of the tower. Representatives of the Research Board hope that the installation will not only secure basic food supply for the scientists, but also allow to observe and research the interaction between the new substance and known flora. Memo – Scientific Research Board (21. 4. 116 SBR)

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/36095331/b9d708e9f1dbd3ae4cdf2044027abea4d6743e35.png As you know from our annoucement, we're working on Vaporum: Lockdown (a prequel to Vaporum), due to release in 2020. The community has received Vaporum very well, but has also given us a lot of suggestions on how to improve the game, or even add original situations and gameplay elements. Based on that, we decided to call upon you, Vaporum and dungeon crawler fans, to join forces in the creative process in making Vaporum: Lockdown! We're announcing the Lockdown Level Design Contest! The goal:

• Design a single, self-contained level for Vaporum: Lockdown.
• Maximum size: 20x20 squares.

Reward for the winner:

• A physical Vaporum Signature Edition for Nintendo Switch, signed by Vaporum's devs (if the author wishes so).
• A free Vaporum: Lockdown key for any platform.
• An exceptionally well-made design may make it into the final game. If it does:
  • The author will be credited in the game's Credits screen (by their real name, nickname, or anonymously).
  • Backstory lore using the author's (nick)name and story is also possible.

Read more here!

Also follow our contest channels:

• Fatbot Discord Server - Contest Channel
• Contest coordinator e-mail: [email protected]
• Constantly updated contest FAQ

One of the great designing tools that might help you, and which we used throughout the development of Vaporum, is Grid Cartographer, currently at 40% off on Steam! We can't wait to see what kind of ingenious ideas the community harbors, and to lay our hands on your submissions! So, let your creative juices flow and, above all, have fun! :) P. S.: By the way, if you don't already own it, now is a great time to get Vaporum at 50% off on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161880

Hey, guys! We are excited and proud to announce our new game in the making! Vaporum: Lockdown is a prequel to our first game Vaporum and it's coming out in early 2020, and will be available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161880/Vaporum_Lockdown/ The game expands on everything that made the first game good, including more menacing enemy types, broadened skill trees, new gadgets, plenty of new unique items, and original puzzles and mechanics. Vaporum: Lockdown follows the story of Lisa Teller, a teleport operator & scientist, who struggles to survive the aftermath of a terrible event. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30583326/9457f1f55ae154a4dbf5cb1f0a1ce00389de21ac.png You will encounter even nastier enemies with unique strengths and attack patterns. To beat them, you will have to employ a broad array of weapons, gadgets, upgrades, and smart tactics. Fortunately, there’s plenty of new powerful toys to play with. Brand new weapon types, each with a specific use, many new unique weapons, synergistic armor pieces, gadgets that allow you to raise your own army of underlings or to manipulate the battlefield, boosters, and more. Prepare to solve new kinds of puzzles and hazards, using new interactive elements, which will test both your wits and reflexes. The overall storyline will have you piecing together a solution to the main obstacle, where the individual pieces are spread over several levels. You will learn a lot more about the world and its inhabitants through voiced dialogs, phonodiaries, and written notes. Don’t forget to add the game to your Wishlist and SIGN UP for our newsletter to follow the development and all the news! Stay tuned for more info!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/ae32e10a7fbda7d082fddfa87d872a2912604404.png Hey, guys! Our company has a brand new official website! Check out what's going on in our studio and what you can expect from us in the near future. Including our next project from the Vaporum universe! Thank you for your support!

Hey, guys! We picked another bit of lore from the world of Vaporum, a piece of newspapers that dates 95 years after the last entry. In the article, the Supreme Bureau celebrates a hundred years of existence and iron rule over most of the known world. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/d47c52f7de40e7017534d78bf44f1f2a77c6d6fd.png

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/f8d2f0991761f432cd7da0069e334efd57928f2a.png Hey, guys! Win a Signature Edition copy of Vaporum and a fantastic steampunk customised Nintendo Switch to play it on HERE! Enjoy! :)

Vaporum is on a pre-order sale right now on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One (20% discount)! For those of you who want to play Vaporum on the consoles, or maybe tell your console-only friends about it, now is the time! https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/51f8111820a1509e6d7623083b4020642533bcc9.png You can pre-order the XB1 version here. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/c14cc05e613fce4fa6e122c76654e6c18e6e0fbe.png You can pre-order the Switch version here. Physical, boxed versions are also available now for Nintendo Switch: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/f1f81e556c3010b84023fe4af1190bf7af18299f.png Standard Edition for €34.99 https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/2369f23def9759e1881212c9dddc29d52aa231de.png Signature Edition for €49.99 Here's the official release timeline for Vaporum on each console:

• Nintendo Switch: April 11th, 2019 ($24.99 / €24.99 / £19.99)
• Xbox One: April 10th, 2019 ($24.99 / €24.99 / £19.99)
• PlayStation 4 EU: April 10th, 2019 (€24.99 / £19.99)
• PlayStation 4 NA: April 9th, 2019 ($24.99)

Enjoy! :)

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/a553c5511794d69aab9fd32971e38eb7b59dc443.png Hey, guys! It's hard these days to get through to our existing and potential future fans. Let's build a closer relationship! SIGN UP for our newsletter to receive direct exclusive content and news about our company right in your inbox! We'll send you first-hand information on our upcoming dungeon crawler in development and even some exclusive content (soundtracks, concept art, screenshots, etc.) before the official channels. Thank you!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/26c956bb882375f83e45ad2315d21f53ce57f2f1.png Hey, guys! We finally smashed the bug that caused some of you not to get the Loremaster achievement even when you found every single note and phonodiary in the game. It can only happen in pretty rare circumstances, so that's why most people who found all notes got the achievement, and why we were unable to find the culprit for so long. It's a Steam-only fix, so there is no patch. To unlock the achievement, you need to read (or re-read) these two notes: - Agatha Chertsey, Sophie's Big Friend. - Unknown, Teleportation Test Subject #42. If you already read them in your playthrough, you will have to play again and re-read them, unfortunately. Loading an autosave from the beginning of level 10 (Arx Vaporum) should suffice though. Enjoy! :)

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/cae90be77a1dc64c40cab0f7332533d185d10551.png Hey, guys! Patch time! A big one this time! We've been silent for a long time now because we've been hard at work on porting Vaporum to Xbox One, PS4, and Switch. As that work is mostly done, we were able to put our attention back to the desktop version again. Apart from smaller bugfixes that we found ourselves or that you guys reported to us, there is a whole host of optimizations and improvements going in with this patch. For the game to work on the consoles at our expected standards, we had to dive deep under the hood and optimize lots of stuff. While some of these changes are specific to specific console targets, most are universal and will bring performance benefits to desktop targets as well. As a result, the game should perform better on any hardware, on any OS, and takes about 40% less space on your disk. As always, we've been listening to all the feedback on our forums, and so we added new game options you guys asked for, and fixed issues you reported to us. Here's the full list of changes:

• Added an option to toggle head bobbing while moving. Motion sickness no more!
• Added an option to toggle Stop Time Mode sounds.
• Added options to toggle audiovisual indicators when you're low on health.
• Added an option to set the type of your controller. This should fix, hopefully, all issues with controllers. If your controller doesn't work the way you'd expect, this setting will force the game to make the controller behave. :)
• Improved the performance when reapplying the same skill to the player over and over (acid pool and such effects).
• Improved the performance of the auto-map and the GUI overall.
• Improved the performance of animations, some visual effects, and post-processes.
• Improved culling to increase performance.
• Improved overall rendering performance.
• Reduced the disk space the game takes by about 40%.
• Fixed: Tooltips hide when you move items between containers and your inventory.
• Fixed the cursor misbehavior when the supersampling setting is not set to 1.0.
• Fixed a few issues in localization.
• Fixed: The button after the flame turret in L05 (The Riddle of Steel) can sometimes get you stuck, closing the door behind you, with no way to open the door again.
• Fixed: Some controllers may crash the game.
• Fixed: When you move into a hole in the Stop Time Mode, you don't fall. :D
• Fixed: Some "bloody" effects still show up when the Gore setting is set to off.
• Fixed: Shock Spider's light shines through walls.

Enjoy! :)

Today, we bring you another piece from the world Vaporum takes place in. It's about how the Supreme Bureau strengthened its position five years after usurping power over the Great Island Union. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/fcbd7c4a4cd52ca775a9efc48eeadb98d1a43d0a.png

The world of Vaporum is not only comprised of the mysterious tower somewhere in the middle of an ocean. The Arx Vaporum (the Tower) is just one part of a larger world, and various bits and hints on this world lie hidden in the tower’s depths, in the form of readable notes and audio phonodiaries, waiting to be found by the players. In an unexplained way, we just received a scrap book filled with snippets of newspapers from that world. Maybe a teleportation system malfunction…?! There’s no explanation of that in the snippets. However, thanks to them, we can take a peek into this world. A world ruled by a strictly bureaucratic, science-powered government of the Supreme Bureau. The oldest snippet comes from almost 120 years before the events of Vaporum, from the time when the Supreme Bureau just assumed power. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/f2efde512c717300a13b3bc17c1c72a211d0c5a7.png

Hey, guys! Just a small patch for Linux only this time. Some controllers on Linux could crash the game, as reported here. This is a Unity bug, which we can't fix ourselves, but we created a workaround. If you happen to have such a controller, the game will not crash anymore, but if you wish to use the controller, you will have to change one setting by hand. The game should warn you about the issue on start. If so, go to the Vaporum/Settings/GameSettings.yaml file and change the ControllerType to either XboxOne or PS4, according to your preferences. The controller should work as expected. In case you want to know, the valid values for the setting are: - None: Disables the controller support. - Autodetect: The game will try to detect what controller type you have. This is the default setting. - XboxOne: Enables the Xbox One & Xbox 360 controller support and scheme. - PS4: Enables the PlayStation 4 controller support and scheme. Note: The XboxOne and PS4 settings should work fine with most other controllers. Enjoy! :)

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/37e3cf4a71f5e1e69abf2e751753d2fa6bf33dfa.png TLDR: - Vaporum has been out for a year! - -40% week-long sale (starting today at 19:00 CET) here on Steam. - We're releasing an early prototype of Vaporum from late 2014 (Windows only). Download here! - We're working on a prequel to Vaporum! - Thank you all for the support!

One Year of Vaporum

Time flies. It's been a year since we launched the debut game of our small studio -- Vaporum. We've managed to do quite a lot during this time. The game has won several awards: Best Graphics at Game Access 2017, Best Game Design and Best Debut at Slovak Game of the Year 2017. It's doing good in terms of ratings, with 90% here on Steam, 4.5/5 on GOG, and 78 points on Metacritics. It's been localized into 11 languages and ported to both Linux and Mac. And currently, we're working on ports for Xbox One, PS4, and Switch. We've released 12 updates, including the extensive Accessibility Update, which was our attempt to make the game a lot more accessible to people with disabilities. One of the major parts of the update was the Stop Time Mode, mostly aimed at players who found the combat and the timed puzzles too hectic, or outright impossible due to a physical disability. In another big update, we enhanced the RPG system with a new exo-rig and three new circuits. This greatly increased the number of possible combinations of rigs and circuits, which allowed our players to replay the game with fresh ideas on how to build the character. We're quite proud of the game and we're very happy players receive it so well. It's a great feeling of satisfaction when the game is well received by the people for whom you're making it. The journey to releasing Vaporum was not easy, and that's why this anniversary is not only a celebration of the release, but also the path to it.

Sale & Prototype

On this occasion, we decided to run a **-40% week-long sale** (starting today at 19:00 CET) here on Steam, and also release an early game prototype that we used in our search for funding for full development. The prototype represents a single level, showing our rough vision of how the game could work, what types of gameplay situations the player was to experience, and the general atmosphere. Download here! The prototype also served to see if the mechanics the game was built on worked or not. A small group of about 8 friends and relatives, quite spread all across the spectrum of gaming genres, focus-tested the game and gave us lots of invaluable feedback on things that weren't working, but also gave us a signal that the game had good potential. Of course, the prototype is buggy and rough around the edges, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Multiple systems are provisional (RPG, AI, etc...), implemented only up to a state of being able to present our vision. Therefore, we don't guarantee anything; it very well may not even run on your machine. It's not a full game or a demo. Please take the prototype as is. It's just a curiosity from the history of development of Vaporum, for you, the fans.

Next Game

It's you, our players and fans who we make games for. We'd like to thank all of you for all the support you've given us. We'd also like to announce that we're working on a game that will bring you back into the depths of Arx Vaporum, this time with a different protagonist, new levels and toys to play with, and a few new nasty enemies. ;) PS: Feel free to tell us what you think about Vaporum, either by writing a review on Steam, joining our Discord server, or by following us on Twitter or Facebook.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33018907/f3936b546db3091cd02b3a52eead363f3082a96b.png Hey guys, we have another update for you today! Vaporum now natively supports controllers, so you can enjoy the game from the comfort of your couch. And we also squashed some nasty bugs still roaming the tower of Vaporum. Patch Notes: - Added controller support. - Fixed: When you quit to the main menu while the automap is out of order, it will remain so even when you start a new game. - Fixed: The unique sword Lithe Blade's burning effect (DOT) does not deal damage to other nearby enemies. - Fixed: Return damage from some shields and the Heavy Rig resets the behavior of an enemy affected by the Manipulator gadget. This is inconvenient, as sometimes the enemy resets right after you use the Manipulator on it. - Fixed: Some specific values of FOV (graphical setting) can cause visual glitches when being pulled by a Magnet Golem. Enjoy! :)

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/adf608cfec929e53e209d25a16813cfbd555eeb1.png Hey guys, we have a big update for you today! Vaporum is now available on Mac! We have also added a few game tips to clarify some game mechanics and fixed quite a few bugs. Patch Notes:

• Added Mac support.
• Added a few game tips to clarify some mechanics & interactions. This is also due to the upcoming controller support.
• Added a "Toggle HUD" button (default: F4). You can use this to make HUD-less screenshots.
• Fixed issues in Slovak, Japanese, and Chinese localization.
• Fixed: While you're in the process of dying and a game tip shows up, the game crashes.
• Fixed item container size.
• Fixed tooltips for Fumium Capacitor, Combat Fuse, Tech Fuse, Toughness Fuse, and Cicruit Upgrade.
• Fixed other minor bugs.

Enjoy! :)

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/4df4834d06c1b9ff9a9772b4f255332100691778.png Hey guys and gals! We have started our Discord server and you are welcome there to discuss our game Vaporum, possible future games from Fatbot Games, but also dungeon crawlers and games in general! Click here to join!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30583326/b1290e5987510d05d6d6361b50c213d0b9285ff8.jpg Hey, guys! We're excited to let you know that Vaporum won two awards at the Slovak Game of the Year 2017 event, for the Best Game Design and Best Debut Game. We want to thank all our fans, the event organizers and judges. We also hope to bring you more enjoyable games in the future! Thank you!