Hello everyone, With Christmas just around the corner, it seems that someone inside POOLS has been feeling the holiday spirit.
Apart from decorations, it seems that the certain someone has also left a few gift boxes scattered around the levels. Whats inside? That we do not know (or maybe we dont want to tell). Youll need to go down and see whats been left behind.
Enjoy the festive season in POOLS and well see you all next year. Full changelog:

• Fix rare bug in chapter 3 where it was possible to get stuck to toilet
• Fix light leaking at tunnel at the end of chapter 2
• Add right shift and right control as alternative keys for running / crouching
• Chapter 2: adjusted the position of one [spoiler] missing art piece [/spoiler] for better visibility
• Add input rebindings setting menu
• Add optional winter holiday mode, available during december

We're pleased to report that owners of the game now have access to every chapter in VR Beta! The full release of PC VR mode is scheduled for early 2025. If you want to jump in early, you can do so through our special VR testing branch on Steam. Thanks to everyone who has already tried the VR Beta and left us immensely valuable feedback.

How to access the VR beta in Steam

Hello everyone! Thank you some much for all the incredible support. To see that our game has over 3,000 reviews, with a 94% positive rating is mind-blowing. If you enjoyed POOLS, it would be a blast if you could nominate it for a Steam Award in the Outstanding Visual Style category.
Once again, thank you for all the support. Until next time, Your Tensori team

Full changelog:

• Fix issue with the lighting, where lighting looked bad especially from the distance
• Fix falling / ground hit sound constantly playing on stairs with high movement speed
• Add missing electric/buzzing sounds to some lights
• Added Steam Community Items (collect trading cards by playing, combine cards for profile images etc)

The beta version includes Chapter #1 of the game and is available in the Windows version for all owners of the full game on Steam. The beta testing will also be available for the Demo version of the game later today or tomorrow so everyone interested has an opportunity to dive in. Well post an update and edit this post when the Open Beta can be accessed through the Demo version.

How to access the VR beta in Steam

Apart from new settings and features, this update includes a lot of internal changes for VR, such as improving on how the game looks on lowest graphics settings and adding underwater effects for every pool. There's now crouching (control key) so feel free to dive underwater where ever you see fit! VR-beta will begin later this week (hopefully) on our Discord server. Full changelog:

• Ensure cursor is always visible when its moved
• Add bubbles effect when going underwater
• Add lens wet effects after exiting underwater
• Mac: Fix issue with Steam achievements
• Fix issue with alt-tab sometimes crashing the game
• Add new audio setting called footstep panning, to adjust distance of left/right footsteps from player
• Add console commands for manual saving: "save" and "load"
• Automatically lower resolution and graphics quality if poor performance (for new installs only)
• Update translations
• Add language selection to accessibility settings
• Add "move with mouse click" setting
• Add crouching
• Add walking and running speed sliders to settings
• Unlock post-processing effects to settings after completing the game
• Add "delete" console command to delete spawned objects
• Add underwater view to every pool in game
• Fix rare issue where achievements are not unlocked

Hello everyone, Yes, youve read the heading right - POOLS is coming soon to your PC VR headset. This has been something that a lot of you have requested from us, ever since we released our demo. Being able to bring this to you is a blast and an honour. So, lets make it official. Watch our POOLS VR trailer below: [previewyoutube=ZxVa_19UnY0;full][/previewyoutube] Our work on this mode is all possible thanks to your support. We never dreamt that our little experience would be so well received by you all. So this VR update thats coming, is a gift from us to you. Itll be available for free to everyone who already has, or will buy POOLS in the future. We hope youll enjoy it. And for those of you without a VR headset - don't worry. We haven't forgotten about you either. We'll tell you more in our next updates. Thanks so much for all your support and well give you all the details on when the update is coming real soon. Until next time, - Team Tensori

Hello there, The POOLS Weeklong Steam Sale has just kicked off! Dive in and grab the game at a 20% discount. The sale ends on July 29th. See you next time and dont get lost Your Tensori Team https://store.steampowered.com/app/2663530/POOLS/

Another batch of bug fixes and improvements is here! We recently got our hands on a Steam Deck and we have been testing and improving the play experience on the device.

Collaboration with UNIKAT

General changes

• Added graphical presets dropdown to settings menu
• Fixed a bug where chapter 6 autosave would not get deleted when finishing the chapter
• Adjusted glass material
• Updated localizations
• Changed controller trigger inputs from sprint action to camera zoom in/out actions
• Added camera look sensitivity multiplier to zoom action. Zooming in reduces the look sensitivity linearly depending on the level of zoom.
• Fixed a bug where settings menu dropdown elements would not scroll vertically when using a controller
• Fixed a bug where UI navigation would drop inputs when using a controller's directional pad at low frame rates
• Fixed positions of some spawned objects using "spawn" command from dev console
• Fixed a rare bug where water dripping got stuck in a loop when exiting water
• Loading screen now automatically skips the play button after player has finished chapter 1
• Adjusted camera behavior in water slides:
  • In bends, the camera now adapts more strongly to the shape of the slide and anticipates the player's future movement path. This improves the visual presentation of those spots where the camera would look straight ahead at a wall instead of the incoming path.
• Added bloom lens dirt effect toggle to the graphics settings menu
• Fixed incorrect controller button icons in settings menu when using certain Xbox controllers
• Fixed a bug where player could get stuck in air when walking on a ledge

Steam Deck

• Steam Deck has these custom graphical presets:
  • Performance (60fps)
  • Balanced (40fps)
  • Quality (30fps)
• Added Steam Deck input icons to settings screen

Linux

• Fixed missing audio output on some Linux devices
• Fixed video file playback (.mp4 format was not supported)

You can now sink into the sounds and ambience of POOLS no matter where you are, where you go, and what youre doing. These soundscapes were created by four amazing artists: Erik Nyholm, Mikko Tarmia, Sjellos & tohmei, Jackson Derby. Without their work, POOLS would not be the experience that it is today. You can buy the soundtrack right here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976480/POOLS_Soundtrack/ And as always, thank you for your support. Your Tensori Team

New additions

• Rebuilt the settings menu with categories, reset to default functionality and more
• Added a volume slider for player character's breathing sounds
• Added a slider for player movement acceleration / smoothing
• Added an experimental setting for barefoot footstep sounds - feedback is appreciated :)
• Added toilet flush sound as a rare event

Bug fixes and improvements

• Adjusted lighting in chapter 6
• Fixed a bug where autosave would not load correctly in chapter 6
• Fixed multiple issues with occlusion culling, mesh LODs and asset placement throughout the game
• Fixed a rare bug where player could get stuck on a chair
• Improved chair enter / exit logic
• Fixed a visual glitch when sitting on some chairs
• Fixed a bug where water splash effects would not trigger when entering a water body at a high speed
• Fixed a player gaze detection related bug in chapter 6
• Adjusted player camera near clipping plane -> fixes a bug where players could see through geometry when playing with a high FOV or ultrawide aspect ratio

First week after launch is now behind us, and what can we say - the launch was successful, beyond all our expectations. The amount of positive reviews and feedback we've received so far is absolutely overwhelming. We are really grateful to all contributors, Beta testers, Patreon supporters, content creators, journalists, reviewers, everyone in our discord and everyone who have bought the game. We will continue development of POOLS and post updates. Thank you everyone for your support. To celebrate, let's enjoy cake with these distinguished gentlemen. There is a cake, it's just behind the camera. We promise.
PS. The thumbnail screenshot for this Steam announcement was by our dedicated fan - JANITOR. Here is the original: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237987385

• Added dynamic ambient water surface movement / wave sounds
• Updated the activation conditions of some achievements making them less annoying to unlock
• Slight adjustments to audio mixing for some environmental sounds in chapter 2 and chapter 6
• Fixed a bug where saved screen resolution setting would not load correctly when starting the game application
• Fixed a bug where screen resolution would change to the highest supported refresh rate of the selected resolution when loading into a chapter
• Fixed a bug in chapter 3 where the player could climb and get stuck on the slide at the start
• Fixed a bug in chapter 6 where the player could get stuck behind a safety railing

• Fixed a bug where "Invert y-axis" setting would be ignored when starting a new chapter
• Fixed a bug where frame rate limit selection would not be saved when modifying the setting from main menu screen
• Fixed a bug in chapter 2 where players could walk up inside a yellow slide and get stuck
• Enabled V-sync by default for new players
• Default lighting quality setting updated from "High" to "Medium" for new players
• Frame rate limit dropdown menu is now not interactable if V-sync is enabled
• Adjusted objects positions in chapter 6 to prevent clipping

Notes about V-sync and target frame rate:

• Fullscreen: target frame rate is current display resolution selection's maximum refresh rate
• Borderless windowed and windowed: target frame rate is the maximum supported refresh rate of your display regardless of the resolution selection

• Adjusted German translation
• Fixed a bug where player could climb along the edge of the double spiral slide and get stuck in Chapter 2
• Fixed a situation where player would teleport back to a ladder after camera rewind sequence ends in Chapter 4
• Fixed a possible way to go out of bounds and get stuck in Chapter 5
• Fixed a bug where "Error In Production" achievement was practically impossible to unlock

• fixed an issue where English language selection would be ignored and the game would default to system language

• removed one potential cause for false positives in malware detections - removed all Application.OpenURL calls from game code
• fixed two locations in chapter 2 where the player could get stuck

Hello there, Today, our little team has released our very first game. POOLS is now available to play on Steam. To be able to say those words is an absolute blast. [previewyoutube=o19nypbKJGM;full][/previewyoutube] To all of you who have supported us throughout this time, our friends, family and you, beautiful online people, thank you so much for your words of encouragement, comments, and feedback. Without you all, this wouldve been a very lonesome development. We hope youll have a wonderfully eerie time in POOLS. Yours, The whole Tensori Team https://store.steampowered.com/app/2663530/POOLS/

As POOLS is releasing very soon, we want to stream the first 2 chapters for you to see what our game is all about. Come and experience it together with us. Tensori

This Friday, 26th April 2024, POOLS will be released on Steam. We are excited to invite you to a live event on the same day, starting around 19:30 which will be held in Moi restaurant in Beijing, China. Giveaway and limited edition gifts will be hand out at the same time. Restaurant will be closed for the duration for the event, 19:30 - 22:00 Beijing time. Game will be released after the event, around 22:00-23:00 Beijing time. Event is free to attend, food and drinks can be bought the restaurant during the event. Big thank you to Jiayi Li for generously organizing the event, and Vesa Niskanen from Moi restaurant for generously providing the restaurant for the event.

Here are the changes from yesterdays update (and from 2 previous ones we forgot to mention here) March 29th Changelog:

• Added teaser video to Demo (spoilers from chapters 2-6)
• Player leaves puddles of water behind after exiting pool
• Dropping water makes sounds after exiting pool
• Slower movement speed on stairs
• Added subtle camera shaking
• Made head bobbing into a slider instead of toggle
• Added DLSS upscaling support
• Added collision audio to floating rubber ducks
• Added far depth of field distance dynamic adjustment
• Added some translations to settings / credits menus
• Updated settings menu dropdown styling

• Added "route number signs" around the level (we'd appreciate feedback on this)
• Fixed a bug where you could clip through map behind the red slide
• Added automatic rewind as a backup if player ever falls through map
• Fixed clipping through walls
• Limited framerate to 30 during MainMenu and LoadingScene
• No footstep sounds / bobbing when moving against wall
• Added "None" to lighting settings for very low end computers
• Disabled spawning exit signs

• interactable water (can be set off for performance)
• brightness setting
• chromatic aberration setting
• lens distortion setting
• vhs film grain setting
• anti-aliasing setting
• ambient occlusion setting
• lighting adjustments

Wohoo let's have a POOL-party ! All 6 chapters are now ready and we are now busy doing a lot of polishing and finishing touches. POOLS will be released after 30 days - on 26th April. Exact time: 17:00 / 5pm EET / Eastern European Time / Helsinki, Finland 11:00 / 11am EDT / Eastern Daylight Time / New York, USA 23:00 / 11pm Beijing, China 00:37 / 12:37am Tokyo, Japan / Seoul, South Korea PS. We made a countdown on the games website: poolsthegame.com

Yesterday we made a quick update, main reason was that it was possible to get stuck on some areas. It's frustrating to get stuck steamfacepalm This should hopefully fix it! Changelog:

• Fixed a bug where player can get stuck in the bottom of the large hole
• Add air vents around the level
• Spawn exit signs after a while to help navigate if lost
• Unusable ladders get visually broken now
• Ducks in labyrinth floating, previously stationary
• Added "back" button to in-game settings menu
• Added colliders to prevent player from going out of bounds

Chapters 1-4 are ready and Chapter 5 is nearing completion. For the full release we are still aiming for April 2024 Changelog:

• Fixed VSYNC setting
• Added camera bobbing setting
• Added invert Y axis setting
• Added FOV setting
• Player can now sit on chairs

Changelog:

• New audio system including dynamic reverb & sound occlusion: echoes are dependent on room size and sounds from other rooms bounce realistically
• New footstep and water sounds
• Water sounds are dependent on water depth
• Small updates to the demo level design
• Character controller updates
• Improved stair mechanics
• Added camera sway when player is running
• Added camera & sound effects if player falls to ground or water
• Completely new ladder climbing mechanics
• Updated main menu visuals
• Improved main menu navigation with a gamepad
• Added low / medium / high settings for lighting quality
• Fixed known bugs

Chapter 2 is ready and we are currently working on Chapter 3. Here is our latest devlog from 2 weeks ago (minor spoiler): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LhD4lESI-8 For the full release we are aiming for April 2024 Patch 1 / 10th November 2023:

• Added colliders to prevent player from falling in areas they can get stuck in
• Fixed Menu & Settings brightness to be more readable
• Updated the Discord-invite link found in game to permanent one

• Full gamepad support added (tested with Xbox One -controller on Windows 10)
• Player can now fall in the large hole with a springboard in one of the rooms
• Improved main menu & settings page readability

• Updated Discord-invite link
• Sound effects synchronized in the end of the demo
• Player can now climb the short ladders in one of the rooms

• Now available on macOS
• New graphics settings in the settings menu, including FSR which can improve performance
• Adjusted camera depth of field near walls to create camera focus effect
• Adjusted move speed based on camera direction
• If users language not english, remove english text from the end of the Level 1
• Updated some ladders in Level 1
• Moved misleading exit signs at the end
• Fixed bug at the end of Level 1 which caused re-trigger of an certain event
• Fixed minor bug at the end of Level 1 that would occur if player would pause in the middle of the fall
• Included version number

• Fixed some bugs that occurred after the last update
• New "rewind" mechanic when player falls in the large hole mid level
• Player can now climb into any pool with ladders
• New scary ladders effect