Hey everyone, Way of Rhea is currently 25% off for the Back To School Games Celebration! Thanks to everyone who already picked up a copy, you can always ask for hints in our Discord if you get stuck! Also, apologies for taking so long to get the OST out--should be ready by the next sale. :) Cheers, Mason

Hey everyone! Way of Rhea is 20% off for the Steam Summer Sale. If you haven't yet picked up a copy, or have been meaning to gift one to a puzzle loving friend, now's your chance. :) Since releasing in May I've:

• Fixed four alternate secret solutions
• Fixed two alternate puzzle solutions
• Fixed a physics bug that let persistent players clip through a specific wall
• Added polish to camera motion, UI, achievements, tutorials, and dialogue
• Fixed a bug that prevented the game from running on mac via Parallels
• Enabled support for GeForce NOW
• And more...

A few minor fixes...

• Fixes an alternate solution to the last puzzle in the first end game level (crabs + circuits.)
• Fixes weird camera motion in the last puzzle in the Hermie rescue puzzle.
• Fixes the "okay" button on the fast-forward tutorial screen being all the way off in the corner.
• Fixes typo in achievement text.

Fixes another alternate secret solution that was less interesting than the intended secret! [spoiler]It was previously possible to steal a green orb from the first ice level by bringing it through the entrance portal after having Snow Crab pick it up.[/spoiler] Find a way to cheese a puzzle? Have feedback? Just need a hint? The quickest way to get a hold of me is our Discord. Cheers, Mason

Fixes an alternate solution to the last secret, that would possibly result in the [spoiler]wrong orb color.[/spoiler] [spoiler]It was possible to bring an orb from a previous puzzle in a way that was not intended.[/spoiler] Find a way to cheese a puzzle? Have feedback? Just need a hint? The quickest way to get a hold of me is our Discord. Cheers, Mason

Fixes issue where you could bypass the second to last ice puzzle in the second ice level by: [olist]

• Fixes bug that caused the "mute when unfocused" option to be unreliable
• Fixed an alternate secret solution. [spoiler](In the looping secret, it was possible to choose which orb to leave with. As a result, you could solve this secret twice instead of finding all three secrets.)[/spoiler]
• Added dialogue to the second ice level making clear that this level gets difficult, and it's expected you'll have to leave and come back.

• Fixes an alternate solution to one of the secrets. [spoiler]If you solved a secret by landing on top of a gate while carrying an orb at the end of one of Rhea's levels, that solution was unintended and no longer works.[/spoiler]
• Fixed a minor physics glitch that let you clip through a wall in one of the Snow Crab puzzles if you were precise enough.
• Fixed a typo in Shrew's dialogue.
• Fixes a bug that caused the rain effect to display errors when running the game inside of the Windows virtual machine Parallels for macOS. (I can't guarantee compatibility with Parallels, but if you're running it please send me any issues you run into and I'll do my best to resolve them!)

Hey everyone--thanks so much for a great launch day. After having worked on this game for so long, it's an amazing feeling seeing so many folks enjoy it. :)
I wanted to let you know that we're going to be part of the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase running on Steam running from May 23rd to May 30th. If you haven't picked up Way of Rhea yet, I'm extending the launch discount to cover the full showcase. If you've already picked up WoR, the festival is gonna have a lot of other great puzzle and puzzle-adjacent games on discount or with free demos. I'm gonna try to take a break here and there throughout the festival to try out the featured games--if I have time I'll share cool games I find in the #gaming channel in my Discord server. If you find anything cool definitely share it with us there! I hope you all have a great week, and thanks again for all the support. As always if you have questions, concerns, issues with the game, or just need a hint on one of the puzzles hit me up on our Discord, or shoot me an email. Cheers, Mason

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who's helped in any way to make this happen, this is the culmination of years of hard work--I don't even wanna say how many years it's been here, if you know you know. As of posting this, Way of Rhea is out on Steam! I hope you all enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed making it. [previewyoutube=4wDiteWKQS4;full][/previewyoutube] If you want to support me, the best thing you can do is purchase a copy of the game. If you want to support me further, consider leaving a review or gifting a copy to a friend. In the meantime I'll continue to patch Way of Rhea in response to feedback, and get started on Game 2. If you wanna keep up to date with what I do next, here are some ways to stay in touch:

• Sign up for my newsletter
• Follow my Steam Developer page
• Join my Discord server

Way of Rhea is releasing TOMORROW! This blog series walks through some of the mechanics featured in the game. Be warned: mild spoilers ahead! This post covers The End Game.
For many players, the biomes up until this point will be sufficiently challenging, and some players may be happy to solve most of those puzzles and stop. However for avid puzzlers, everything we've seen so far is just set up for the real challenge: the end game. The end game combines everything we've learned so far into 4 levels of very challenging puzzles.

Snow Crab + Circuits

Staves + Circuits

Snow Crab + Staves

Snow Crab + Staves + Circuits

Other Features

And that's it!

Way of Rhea is releasing in 2 days! This blog series walks through some of the mechanics featured in the game. Be warned: mild spoilers ahead! This post covers The Professor's Biome.
The professor is kind of a jerk. This area introduces The Professor, and a new way to change colors using staves.

Staves

Colorless

With great power...

Way of Rhea is releasing in 3 days! This blog series walks through some of the mechanics featured in the game. Be warned: mild spoilers ahead! This post covers Rhea's Biome.
This area introduces Rhea, and color circuits.

Color Circuits

Multi Gate Circuits

Color Conflicts

Progression

Way of Rhea is releasing in 4 days! This blog series walks through some of the mechanics featured in the game. Be warned: mild spoilers ahead! This post covers The Overworld.

Skill Gates

Checkpoints

Jukebox

Way of Rhea releasing in 5 days! This blog series walks through some of the mechanics featured in the game. Be warned: mild spoilers ahead! This post covers the second area in the game, Snow Crab's Biome.
Hermie got lost in the Ice Caves trying to help his dad, you need to save him! This area introduces Snow Crab, and how you can use his behavior patterns to solve puzzles.

Working With Snow Crab

Time Controls

Teleporters

Progression

In celebration of Way of Rhea releasing on Steam in 6 days, I'm making a post a day about a different aspect of the game. Let's look at the first area of the game: Shrew's Biome. Be warned--this blog series features mild spoilers!
Shrew is your excitable friend who's very invested in you solving the forest puzzles tonight for some reason.

Color Changing

Teleportation

Interact with any other teleporter in the map to be sent back to this destination [/olist] As a result, you can only teleport to locations that you've already been.

Undo/Redo

This clip also shows off the undo/redo mechanic that is taught in this biome. As you progress through the game the puzzles become difficult to solve, but you're always free to explore different options without committing to them through use of undo/redo.

Orb/Tele Fields

As the puzzles increase in difficulty, orb and tele fields are introduced. Orb fields (right) prevent you from carrying orbs across them, whereas tele fields (left) disable the active teleport destination when they are crossed.

Difficulty

As you progress through the biome, the puzzles increase in difficulty as you're increasingly required to take advantage of edge cases of the mechanics to progress. That being said, this is still the intro area, and seasoned puzzle gamers likely won't have much trouble with it. I'll see you tomorrow in Snow Crabs's Biome... Cheers, Mason

[ 2024-05-14 22:20:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Way of Rhea releases in 7 days! In celebration, starting tomorrow I'm making a post a day, each about a new aspect of the game starting tomorrow. In the mean time, if you want to support me the best thing you can do is mark May 20th, 2024 on your calendar, and share the game with others who you think would enjoy it! Cheers, Mason

Hey everyone! This is likely the last closed beta release, unless we find any major issues. This release better mixes the audio, fixes a number of alternate solutions, greatly increases the difficulty of the last two crab + circuit puzzles, and more...

Full Release Notes

• Increases difficulty of the last staff+circuit puzzle
• Improves redundant sounding voice effects
• Removes in game "view log" button (no longer necessary), and mitigates related crash
• Tutorializes the fact that you can leave a level if you're stuck without losing progress
• Better tutorializes undo/redo/reset if not used
• Fixes annoying alternate solution for difficult crab puzzle
• Adds zones above some large professor puzzles where camera zooms out to reveal the entire area
• Fixed bug that affected the mouse cursor when the game is in the background on some setups
• Improved usability of the secret area, especially on Steam Deck. Added a m*****p, increased spacing, and zoomed in slightly.
• Made it clearer how to close the console
• Hides the fastforward icon when the save icon is present
• Improves audio mix, including turning down the select and elevator and Snow Crab voice sounds
• Fixed gate skill icons vanishing near edge of screen
• Improved visual cues in last puzzle in the game
• Fixed alternate solution in end game puzzle
• Fixed stars in the skybox looking repetitive when too far from origin
• Fixed an end game puzzle that had an extra orb leading to a slightly less interesting than intended solution
• Greatly increased difficulty of the last two crab + circuit puzzles in the end game
• Fixed red herring where it looked like the crab could enter an area that was not relevant
• Made navigable areas clearer in an end game puzzle
• Discovered that there is *not* a bug where the interact doublet triggers--my keyboard is just broken (:
• Improves fiddlyness on some of the ice puzzles
• Stops showing speed icons over cut scenes they don't affect
• Fixed a bug where under very specific setups, gates could press orbs through the floor
• Fixed an area where scenery was slightly blocking a puzzle element
• The UI showing the current song now stays around for a second after you start moving so you have time to read it
• Removes unnecessary logs
• Gives remaining untitled songs names
• Fixed toggle UI button not hiding dialogue controls
• Fixed alt solution to a puzzle in the last level
• Improved calculation of per-level completion percents, fixed bug where they'd be slightly off on some ice levels
• Adds UI explaining the various video options, and making clear what the recommended settings for most players are
• Fixed bug where saves from older versions of the game would load into the wrong checkpoint at launch

[previewyoutube=vFsO436r2Pw;full][/previewyoutube] Today I'm excited to announce: Way of Rhea is coming to Steam on May 20th, 2024! I want to thank everyone who've been patiently waiting for the game to come out--your support means a lot. If you're excited for the game, the best way to help is: [olist]

New beta release! We've gotten a lot of positive feedback about the music, so we added an in-game Jukebox so you can listen to the tracks without having to change to hunt down the level each track is from.
We also finished the dialogue sounds for The Professor, and the player.

Full Release Notes

• Added professor and player dialogue sounds
• Added a jukebox to the hub world
• Fixed a bug that resulted in circuit gates staying open even after the orb powering them was removed under specific circumstances
• Switched speed controls back to toggling on every press
• Fixed minor scenery/item/collider placement issues
• Increased size/visibility of elevator levers
• Removed rank from stats screen, but added indicator when you beat the dev time (rank is a bit odd since you may have just left the game running, been in menus, or revisited an old save and "hurt" your rank by spending more time in it)
• Added a stats screen tab that doesn't count time spent in menus
• Dialogue polish
• Added "close" button to various full screen menus that previously could only be exited via escape/B/etc
• Fixed issue where staff would pop in/out of view near edges of screen
• Fixed bug that resulted in stats screen layout being misaligned on old save files
• Fixed character names vanishing when speech bubble near edge of screen

This update got a bit delayed by GDC, but here it is! If you're interested in joining the beta, ping me on Discord. Notable changes this release include dialogue dialogue sounds for Snow Crab and Hermie, a number of puzzle tweaks, and an in game achievements UI:

Full Release Notes

• Added dialogue sounds for Hermie and Snow Crab (professor and Player remaining)
• Added presets for common types of colorblindness (colors can still be set to whatever you like by selecting "Custom")
• Added an in-game achievements menu
• Fixed a number of specific locations where the camera was configured in such a way that it would move oddly if moved via a teleport of save point load
• Fixed alternate solutions to a number of end game puzzles
• Modified the second puzzle in the second level o the Professor Biome to require what used to be an alternate solution because it was more interesting than the intended solution
• Fixed an alternate solution to the last puzzle in the second level of the Professor Biome
• Slightly increased the difficulty of the final puzzle
• Added missing entrance portals in some levels
• Increased size of elevator levers for better visibility
• Improved visibility of puzzle elements in some puzzles
• Fixed visual artifact that previously showed up when NPCs use portals
• Speed controls are no longer toggles on keyboard (experiment, may revert later)
• Visual polish
• Fixed alternate solutions to some puzzles in the second Ice Biome level
• Fixed a way to cheese the penultimate Ice Biome puzzle by messing with save points
• Slightly increased difficult of second puzzle in the first Ice Biome
• Fixed some physics glitches that affected some circuit puzzles
• Spaced out some crab puzzles to make them less fiddly
• Added some tele fields that aren't strictly necessary to prevent the annoying situation where a tele is left on from an old puzzle inadvertently
• Fixed a place Snow Crab could get stuck in the last puzzle
• Shows completion percent in the secret area
• Adds UI indicating you can take items from Snow Crab the first time it's possible
• Fixed a very difficult to execute timing sensitive alternate solution to an end game puzzle that was more "obvious" than the true solution which is easy to execute
• Only shows interesting checkpoints in checkpoint menu, resolves issue with how hidden checkpoints interact with this menu (they are shown if they are most recent)
• Fixes issue with text centering on speech bubbles
• Fixed objects that spawn just above the ground
• Improved load times (should be fairly fast anyway, but there was some low hanging fruit)
• Fixed open gates popping in and out when at edge of screen

You guys already found an alternate solution to the modified secret. This small patch resolves an ambiguity that solution created. :) If you're interested in joining the beta, ping me on Discord.

Release Notes

• Resolves an ambiguity caused by an unintended solution to a secret.

Another update to the closed beta! If you're interested in joining the beta, ping me on Discord. Notable changes in this release include... A built in timer (tracks total time per level as well as segmented runs.) You can turn the timer UI in Options > Game > Timer, and view the stats screen from the pause menu. Segmented runs are shown by switching tabs on the stats screen.

A number of inadvertent solutions to the secrets that were easier than the intended ones were also removed, and one of the intended secrets was made more difficult.

Full Release Notes

• Added timers for speed runners. The game now counts your total time in each level, as well as a segmented time when you play a level from beginning to end, and includes a stats screen and ranking that shows totals and best of.
• Fixed a problem where the hovered object could flicker back and forth between near objects (most recent hover now gets slight priority)
• Discovered an alternate, more challenging solution to one of the secrets, modified the secret to make that solution required & increased the difficulty (for those that want to replay it: [spoiler]it's the looped secret[/spoiler])
• Fixed an issue in some crab puzzles involving teleporters left on between puzzles
• Fixed a bug where secrets were not counted in a very specific situation
• Fixed a problem where an end game crab puzzle was easier than intended because the crab couldn't make the jump to a ledge it was supposed to be able to reach
• Removed a number of inadvertent solutions to the secrets that were much easier than the intended solutions
• Fixed a problem where an end game puzzle had an alternate solution that was very timing sensitive but easier to see than the "correct" solution
• Improved readability of the intro color/undo UI
• Fixed some camera glitches
• Fixed a puzzle that you could solve without getting Snowcrab out and then reset to get Snowcrab back
• Fixed a bug where solved secret items could move and become unreachable after exiting to the main menu then returning to the game
• Shows more controls in game, but also provides an option to turn them off

This is a small patch addressing a few issues that couldn't wait until next week's update that this week's closed beta testers ran into. If you're interested in joining the beta in a future week, ping me on Discord!

Release Notes

• Fixed incorrect configuration that prevented the game from running on older CPUs without AVX support
• Fixed incorrect configuration that lead to Steam offering to download the game on macOS, despite not supporting macOS
• Made slight adjustments to spacing of objects in an end game puzzle to make a crab mechanic clearer
• Removed an alternate solution from an end game puzzle that was significantly easier than the intended solution
• Fixed an inadvertent invisible wall
• Fixed a few instances of one-way scenery that weren't clear

Another round of addressing beta feedback! If you're interested in joining the beta, ping me on Discord. Notable changes from this release include... The addition of a reset button for when undo is tedious:
Better speech bubbles that identify the speaker:
Long elevators moving faster, speed being saved across level changes, and more.

Release Notes

• "X-Ray" of orbs drawn, so they can't get lost behind scenery
• Primary and secondary interact controls always show
• Revert to checkpoint button added, useful for when undoing through an entire puzzle is common and tedious, e.g. in the long crab puzzles
• Speed controls now stick across level changes
• Chat bubbles now show the name of the speaker, and have generally improved styling to make clearer who's speaking
• Reverse input buffering on crab interactions--if you're a little late interacting with a crab, it will succeed anyway. This is common since you're often moving in the opposite direction of a crab.
• Long elevators now move faster. Elevators also have damping applied so that their motion feels more natural.
• Weather magnitude dialed down in various levels and in hub world (aesthetic improvement.)
• Fog tweaked and opacity decreased.
• Added contextual info on "redo" since many players missed it
• Elevators in non puzzle areas now spawn in the most convenient positions by default
• Fixed an issue where the last puzzle in the forest biome had a "jump" that was inadvertently difficult to land
• Fixed an issue where speech bubbles were off screen in a cut scene
• Fixed a visual issue with the scenery in the last puzzle of the ice biome
• Added option to turn off insects

v0.4.0 addresses feedback from recent beta tests--in particular, some puzzle and achievement bugs were fixed, and it's now clearer how auto save works. If you'd like to be added to the waitlist for the closed beta, ping us on Discord! The next round of testers will be drawn early next week, if not sooner.

Release Notes

• Fixed bug where the "Left Behind" achievement could trigger when it shouldn't
• Fixed bug where opening the save point menu cleared undo/redo history even if you backed out of it
• Worked around a Steam Input bug that lead to controller glyphs to not show up if the controller is plugged in after the game starts (explanation: SDK docs incorrectly instruct users to cache `GetActionSetHandle` result at startup--it fails if controllers are not yet present)
• When the active controller is disconnected, the game now prioritizes showing glyphs from any other attached controller over the keyboard (doesn't make sense to fall back to keyboard as a default on Steam Deck)
• Fixed inconsistent spelling of "Hermie" in game and in achievements
• Fixed a bug that allowed bypassing the last ice world puzzle
• Minor all around perf improvement (explanation: disabled debug features in the scripting VM)
• Disabled some dev mode controls that were inadvertently present in normal mode
• Fixed a bug where undo would occasiionally take you back to just after you fell off a ledge instead of just before
• Made the meaning of the autosave icon clearer
• Shows the last auto save time on pause menu
• Only pops up an explanation of undo/redo the first time you try to load a checkpoint
• Improved on screen controls
• Improves UI copy
• Fixed bug where crash dialogue on Windows would successfully send me the log, but would not close afterwards, making it appear to have failed
• Focuses on crash reporter dialogue if it launches
• Updates crash reporter network dependency in attempt to resolve intermittent issue with sending feedback from Steamdeck
• Adds more checkpoints, especially in areas where you had to walk a bit after a puzzle to trigger a checkpoint
• Fixed an issue where orbs in a secret area would slowly slide down a slant and end up behind a plant, making them harder to find if you took a while to find the secret area

v0.3.0 addresses feedback from our recent beta tests--in particular, colliders are now well aligned on all levels. In addition, Rhea's voice is now in game! If you'd like to be added to the waitlist for the closed beta, ping us on Discord! The next round of testers will be drawn early next week, if not sooner.

Release Notes

• Adds voice for Rhea
• Improved the alignment of colliders and artwork on all levels, and the hub world
• Begins testing a bump up system, off by default but can be enabled in the debug menu
• Added missing ice crystals to some ice world puzzles
• Undo now cancels the currently playing voice
• Decreased perceived volume of the music in the last level
• Fixed some end game puzzles that could be bypassed

We've started beta testing Way of Rhea! We're only adding a couple people at a time so that we have time to address feedback between participants. If you're interested in beta testing, feel free to ping us on Discord and if we need more testers we'll let you know. Future beta updates will be announced here.

v0.2.0

• Ships debug symbols on Windows
• Fixed inadvertent red herring in second ice level, crystals now always indicate a path a crab could take
• Made navigable areas more visually consistent in the ice biome
• Fixed case sensitivity issue that lead to some missing textures on Linux and Steam Deck
• Fixed weather related performance issue
• Added graphics options to allow for toggling weather and distortion effects
• Fixed issue where the first puzzle in the last forest level could be bypassed
• Fixed issue where cloud saves wouldn't sync cross platform

v0.1.0

• All levels now have unique music
• Marked areas navigable by crabs with crystals
• Improved speed controls, speed controls (optionally) affect music
• Improved biome progress visuals
• Shows controls on screen in more cases
• Fixed performance problem with inactive NPCs
• Resolved issues connections between some puzzles in the end-game, polished end game puzzles
• Fixed problem where if you move slow enough you wouldn't trigger gates
• Added accel/decl to character controllers
• Adds more background art to various areas
• Makes paths in forest biome more visually readable
• Added input buffering
• Displays song titles in game
• Stops messing with Windows power schemes
• Warn instead of erroring when keys can't be mapped
• Improves music transitions and looping
• Hub world now less cramped
• Implemented all achievements and secrets
• Don't repeatedly warn on save point mismatches
• Makes first ice puzzle clearer. Previously it was possible to solve it by accident, and it would appear as if the outcome was "random" since the important interaction was happening off screen. Also causes the crab to walk right instead of left carrying the orb, making it visually clearer that they have picked it up since it is sorted in front of them.
• Named all levels
• Removes some puzzles from the forest biome that were redundant and/or didn't fit with the spirit of the game
• Starts adding character voices (gibberish)
• Improves undo/redo further, especially in crab levels
• Fixes problem where elevator visuals didn't align with interactivity
• Fixed minor dialogue glitches, improved dialogue
• Implements credits

Way of Rhea's demo now runs natively on Linux, and Steam Deck! The demo is available to try now, if you run into any issues please let me know. :) The new demo also has some quality of life improvementsnamely the ability to pause and fast-forward time. Please note that if youve ever run the game through Proton, Steam will default to Proton despite the presence of a native build. The UI does not always reflect this correctly, you need to toggle Proton on and back off. Unfortunately, this post is also announcing dropping of the planned macOS support. For more information about that, and some technical background on the port itself, you can read more on our blog. Cheers, Mason

I'll be playing through select parts of the game and answering any questions you have! :) Cheers, Mason

Way of Rhea is part of the Steam Puzzle Fest this week! If you're trying it out for the first time, feel free to leave any feedback or questions in discussions. If you're a returning player, apologies for not posting in a little while--I've been hard at work behind the scenes getting Way of Rhea to a state where I'll be able to announce a release date. If you want a chance to beta test the game before release make sure to sign up for our Discord server or mailing list. Cheers, Mason

This patch improves the first level tutorial for first time players--thanks to everyone who gave feedback! :)
Cheers, Mason

Hey everyone, We're gonna be at PAX West again this year! If you're gonna be there, stop by Booth #1426 and say hi. :) Cheers, Mason

Hey everyone! We just updated the demo for PAX. There's no new content in the demo itself, but we made some changes in response to your feedback, added some new visuals, and fixed a couple bugs. :)

• Dramatically improved performance of undo/redo and save point switching, especially on lower end machines
• Added a weather system with snow and rain and varied skies
• Visuals on the main menu now change throughout the game
• Reworked the first ice world puzzle to be less confusing
• All levels now exist in game (not included in demo)
• We've made more progress on the Linux port, though you won't see the effects of this outwardly in the demo yet. (Side note: our Steam Deck arrived today! Way of Rhea doesn't yet work on Steam Deck as far as we're aware, now that we have one that should change soon.)
• Minor polish throughout

Way of Rhea is going to be a part of PAX Rising Online alongside a bunch of other awesome games this weekend! I'll be a part of the Game Design Round Table at 2pm PT on the official PAX Twitch channel. Behind the scenes I've been making a lot of progress on the end game puzzles. I'm really excited for all of you to get to try them out when they're ready. :) Cheers, Mason

Stop by and watch me stream Way of Rhea, and talk puzzle design! Missed the first live stream? This one will cover a lot of the same territory!
Way of Rhea is a puzzle adventure with hard puzzles, but forgiving mechanics. Solve mind bending color puzzles, unlock new areas of a vibrant hub world, chat with townsfolk, and undo any mistake with the press of a button. Cheers, Mason Remaley

Stop by to watch me stream Way of Rhea, and talk puzzle design!
Way of Rhea is a puzzle adventure with hard puzzles, but forgiving mechanics. Solve mind bending color puzzles, unlock new areas of a vibrant hub world, chat with townsfolk, and undo any mistake with the press of a button. Cheers, Mason Remaley

Thanks to the folks who shared their crash reports, the startup crash affecting some players should be fixed now! If you continue having any problems definitely reach out and let me know. :) Cheers, Mason

A couple people sent in crash reports (thanks!)this update logs more information when things goes wrong to help me catch the problem. The game will always ask consent before sending me any logs. If you got a crash, running this update and sending me logs again will help me track it down! You can also enable debug mode after a crash by clicking the "restart in debug mode" option that appears which will gather even more info at the expense of performance. If you're a super fan and hit a crash and really wanna help out, you can also add "--force-mixer-fail" as a launch option (right click on the game in steam, properties, launch options) and see if that fixes it for you. If it does, let me know! Cheers, Mason

I'm gonna be streaming some of the unreleased levels of Way of Rhea for the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase shortly. :) Cheers, Mason

Way of Rhea is part of the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase! :) We've made a few updates to the demo since our last patch.

• Widened the trigger area on the lamp posts
• Fixed some depth sorting issues that would cause artwork to pop in and out as the camera moved in some spots
• Started work on a Linux port, more on this soon!
• Fixed an issue with loading saves from very old versions of the demo
• Minor dialogue/scenery fixes
• Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when unplugging the speaker the game is currently playing through
• Two thirds of Rhea's circuit biome now has artwork (not included in demo):

Minor post-PAX patch notes:

• Worked around an issue where the last puzzle in the third forest level was difficult to navigate with a controller
• Fixed colliders in the intro area to the Hermes puzzle (you could land on top of the gate if pressing left while falling)
• Merged the attract mode used at PAX (not in demo)
• More jungle biome scenery placed (not in demo)
• Fixed startup crash on CPUs that don't support the `andn` instruction (part of the BMI extension to x64)
• Improved debugging infrastructure

As part of PAX East, we've uploaded an update Way of Rhea demo! The new build contains a number of bug fixes, quality of life tweaks, and improvement to the narrative. On top of that, the full game has a lot of new content in it that isn't available in the demo build.

The Hub World

The Forest Biome

The Mushroom Biome

The Ice Biome

The Jungle Biome

Quality of Life & Bug FIxes

• Fixed a problem where the gate animations in the hub world would trigger unnecessarily
• Fixed some minor visual glitches
• Work began on a better sound backend, this will eventually allow for better music looping
• Adjusted time of day in a few levels to align better with the narrative
• Improved dialogue throughout
• Cut down on some unnecessary VRAM usage
• Added additional secrets (not available in demo)
• Fixed undo problem specific to controllers with analog sticks
• Fixed some Steam Input problems
• Fixed problem where staves could be thrown through gates just before they close (not in demo)
• Made dialogue system more flexible to address narrative needs, group conversations are now possible
• Changed some chapter names
• Improved the save point system allowing for more frequent autosaves in the ice world
• Fixed problem where undo/redo history wasn't cleared when loading a save point
• Fixed on screen controls not showing up when loading a level
• Added talking animations
• Fixed speech bubble drift on undo
• Fixed some inconsistencies in snowcrab behavior (technically included in the demo, but only affected later levels)
• Fixed problem where it wasn't obvious the snowcrab was carrying an orb while facing left

A number of minor improvements to the demo.

• Fixes problem where it was hard to tell if a snowcrab is holding an orb while walking left
• Fixes issue with final snowcrab puzzle Fixes problem where undo/redo could cause snowcrabs to double-trigger the elevator a single time, changing its direction unexpectedly
• Makes colors fully customizable, improvements to all menu UI
• Adds a UI for replaying old puzzles (esc -> load checkpoint now lets you visually pick a checkpoint)
• Added new hub world graphics, added new town hall, decorated biome areas to match their biomes
• Added new hub world animations to call attention to gates and portals that have been unlocked
• Added new portal graphics
• Added butterflies to forest
• Added butterfly tutorial for first puzzle
• Added undo redo tutorial
• Removed halo toggle
• Fixes visual problem with the new default controller glyphs from Steam
• Adds new color change spinner graphics and animations Cleaned up dialogue transition to the second biome, dialogue can now happen in the hub world, branching
• behind the scenes as needed
• Busy wait instead of sleep if below min stable frame time
• Some mild optimizations (stats not calcualted unless requested, some matrix math optimized)
• Improves the undo system debounce
• Flashes player brightness to call attention to color changes
• Fixes flash on game start up, especially in big picture mode
• More work on puzzles that aren't included in the demo
• More narrative work that isn't included in the demo

Fixed a few Proton compatibility problems in the demo. If you run into any others, feel free to let me know here or email me at mason@anthropicstudios.com! * Warns instead of crashing if WGL_FRAMEBUFFER_SRGB_CAPABLE_ARB is not supported (some setups incorrectly report not supporting it, despite supporting one of the relevant extensions) * The crash handler's "view report" button now functions properly when running through Proton * The crash handler's "send report" button now functions properly when running through Proton * Some drivers were incorrectly complaining about framebuffer initialization in debug mode, framebuffer initialization reorded to avoid the superfluous notification Cheers, Mason

We made a few small changes in response to issues we saw at PAX:

• Fixed the depth of lamps so that they no longer swim relative to the scenery.
• Reordered items and adjusts camera frame in first puzzle to improve tutorial. We're working on making the lamp more obviously interactive, but this will take more time.
• Added missing navmesh where orb could be thrown through floor in the broken elevator puzzle.

Hey everyone, the Way of Rhea demo just got a few updates for PAX + we just posted a new trailer! If you're gonna be at PAX in person, stop by and say hi! If not, you can still check out the demo on our store page. :) [previewyoutube=46ELQYaH0uw;full][/previewyoutube] Demo changes since the last patch: * Replaced the dialogue animation with one that's easier to read in response to feedback from Play NYC * Fixed bug where the game crash if started with no audio card * Improved controls tutorial (was previously suggesting arrow keys instead of WSAD even though both are bound by default) Demo changes since Play NYC: * Added support for adaptive vsync (hint is enabled by default) * Made dialogue interaction less finnicky (widened trigger area, got rid of the requirement to face the * character) * Fixed a bug that could cause infinite undo loops Cheers, Mason

Way of Rhea now has a new demo! You can download it from the game's store page for free. This demo contains new art, a first look at the game's narrative, and various polish and improvements. If you've played past demos, I recommend starting a new save as many of the changes are to existing levels you may have already completed.



Post Play NYC Patch Notes:

• Added support for adaptive vsync (hint is enabled by default)
• Made dialogue interaction less finnicky (widened trigger area, got rid of the requirement to face the character)
• Fixed a bug that could cause infinite undo loops

• Added artwork to all forest levels
• Added artwork to the snowcrab levels
• Added artwork to the hub world
• Added artwork to circuit puzzles
• Added NPCs you can talk to
• Added support for Steam Input
• Added tutorial to teach controls
• Both Steam Input and keyboard controls are now customizable
• Added day/night cycle to hub world (not visible in demo)
• Added completion percents
• Added portal art
• Added a new biome with more puzzles (not accessible in demo)
• Fixed performance problem (mainly affected circuits level which is not included in this demo)

• Some scenery pieces will pop forward/backward in depth as the camera moves, the cause is known and will be fixed soon!

While the focus of Way of Rhea will always be on the puzzles, visuals are important. Visuals are what build the world, they dictate entire vibe of the game. Without them the game loses its context, and the pieces of the puzzles lose their meaning. If you've played past demos, you've seen that most of the levels lack environmental artwe always block puzzles out before committing to them. This is also why the Steam trailer only shows off the first level! This past month, we've started work on a new process for getting art into the game that lets us add art to the puzzles before they "go gold". We no longer have to wait until we're certain we won't tweak a puzzle to get its visuals in place. Using this new process, we started adding artwork to the Ice Biome. These visuals aren't final yet, but they're close, so I wanted to share them with you!



If you want more frequent behind the scenes updates, or just to hang out and chat about your favorite puzzle games, you can join our Discord here! Until next time, Mason

Hey everyone! We just activated our new demo build for Indie Maker Syndicate. We threw in something special at the end for people who beat the demo--don't worry though, if you already beat the Boston FIG demo your save will still work automatically. You can just load up and walk over to the end area to retrieve it. You can check out the build on our store page, and participate in the event on Discord. Here's a non-exhaustive list of changes we've made since the Boston FIG demo:

• gameplay
  • the full extent of the hub world is now a little more obvious--if you've played a previous demo, but didn't solve any puzzles involving crabs or circuits, you missed out on 70% of the demo--your saves will carry over to this demo though!
  • we made new levels! you can drop the staff now :o ...but the demo is already too big, so they aren't included here, sorry!
    • ...that being said, if you beat the last demo you should load up your last save--we left something special for you at the end ;)
• visual improvements
  • updated teleporter art, added animation
  • replaced programmer art fields
  • added special effects when teleporting, pressing undo/redo, or hovering over an active teleporter
  • various minor tweaks
  • [new level art is still a work in progress, didn't make into the demo!]
• bug fixes
  • fixed one of the undo redo bugs
    • there may be more! if you hit any, definitely let us know! :)
• settings
  • video settings
    • added fullscreen toggle
    • added fullscreen exclusive hint (turn this off if you're having trouble streaminig or screenshotting)
    • added monitor picker
    • added more control over vsync (can choose off, every one vblank, or every 2 vblanks for slower machines)
    • added resolution picker
    • added window size controls
  • audio settings (by popular request--this was long overdue!)
    • added master volume slider
    • added music volume slider
    • added sound effects volume slider
    • added option to mute when unfocused
• misc
  • we changed up the colors a bit on the levels that don't yet have background art so they're not so monotonous
  • added a new song to the last crab level to replace a song that was repeated!
• known issues/upcoming improvements
  • most of the levels still have no background art or npcs! we've made some progress on background art, but we're not ready to show it yet (check the new steam screenshots for a sneak peak)
  • some people will still experience a slight stutter when pressing undo/redo, especially on the circuit levels
  • each gate on the circuit levels still plays its own open/close sound when a circuit is complete/broken, resulting in the sound being louder than usual. sorry, a few people reported this in the last demo--we'll get to it soon!
  • on high dpi monitors, the windowed size percentage shown while filling the monitor is not 100%
  • controls are not yet customizable
  • controllers are not yet supported

We just released a new Way of Rhea demo as part of the virtual Boston Festival of Indie Games! The event only runs today, but our demo will be up on Steam all week. The build has a bunch of new puzzles, some new mechanics, a first look at how the game's hub world will work, and a bunch of improvements to feel of the existing levels. If playtests are representative, it's about two hours of content, though I imagine many of you will be able to beat it more quickly having seen the game before. The demo is freely available via our Steam store page. You don't need to sign up for the main event to download the demo, but the event seems super cool so far--they built an entire 2D RPG-like environment linking all the booths together w/ video chat at each booth, so you if you wanna stop by and say hi you can sign up here!
I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks about the demo! :) Getting feedback after these demos is always super helpful, you can get in touch with us via the the feedback thread for this event or our Discord! Cheers, Mason

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• OS: Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS
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