Our big Jan... well, February (almost March) Update is out!

Dear Unheimers, in our first big update we present you a chaotic mix of gameplay improvements, quality of life changes and audiovisual overhauls! First and foremost, we completely reworked the Hospital Entity, which we (and many of you as well) felt was lacking in terms of gameplay mechanics and overall scariness. We are much happier with the new version, and hope you feel the same way! Our other main focus was on improving our anomalies. We removed some of the less interesting ones, as well as those that felt duplicated, while adding scarier ones across all levels. Additionally, we allowed some of the more ambiguous anomalies to have more than one type, so finding out the correct code for reporting becomes less of a guessing game. We also made some changes to our difficulty settings: We turned Sanctuary into an easier version of Nightmare mode, where the entity can now appear as well. For unlocking new levels, beating Sanctuary mode is sufficient. To compensate, we added a new mode called Training, which replaces the old Sanctuary mode, allowing you to focus on anomaly reporting without fearing any intervention from our malevolent entities. Besides that, we added balancing changes, bugfixes and audiovisual improvements across the board. You can find the full list of changes below. As always we would love to hear about your feedback, either in the steam discussions or on our discord! Happy Anomaly Hunting!

Full list of changes

Entities

• Completely reworked the Hospital Entity, now called "Gramweberin", to match the overall vibe of the game
• Items stolen by the Smiling Man now appear inside the level as anomalies of type "Personal" and can be retrieved by reporting them
• Smiling Man now is less forgiving when being ignored and will no longer make himself audibly known before killing the player
• Smiling Man now generally grants less time to react to his presence
• The panic button now has interactions with the entities from Level 1, 2 and 3.
• Adjusted Journal entries related to the new Hospital Entity, the Gramweberin.

Anomalies

• Reworked all missed-activity-polaroids to show missed activities more clearly
• Anomalies can now have multiple valid types, making it easier to deduce the code for reporting them
• Replaced some of the less interesting anomalies, and added new anomalies across all levels
• Removed special anomaly types from each level (except "Personal" as it's gameplay relevant)
• Fixed or replaced some incorrectly or confusingly categorized anomalies

Observer Screen

• Updated magnifier icon to better reflect its function
• The P.A.I.M. button (1st enhancement) on the observer screen no longer blinks when the overall Paranormal Activity in the level has increased.

Audio

• Replaced and polished Ambient sound for all levels
• Reworked entity related sound effects
• Adjusted audio volumes across the board

Localization

• Updated some descriptions and localizations
• Replaced handwriting font for Simplified Chinese for better readability

Balancing

• Turned Sanctuary into an easier version of Nightmare mode, where the entity can now appear as well. To compensate, we added a new mode called "Training", which replaces the old sanctuary mode.
• New levels can now be unlocked by beating the current level in "Sanctuary" difficulty or above.
• All screens inside the van now need to go through a short boot sequence when turning on the power.
• Shortened each bible passage to just a single number to make finding the corresponding audio clip easier.
• Playing the wrong audio clip when the priest is around now is the best way to get yourself stabbed.
• Changed the arm waving behaviour of the Maneki Neko (waving cat)

Menu

• All settings can be reset to default now
• Added placeholder for Game-Won screen. Will be replaced again in our Story update later this year.

Tutorial

• Added additional explainers for newly unlocked gameplay elements.

Quality of Life

• In case of a power outage, the protagonist now does the reasonable thing and turns on their flashlight
• The journal has a new colour to stand out more from the background
• The Journal now has an indicator for unread entries
• Game Over/Game Won Screens can now be skipped
• Made it easier to click on the handles for the battery and the fuse box
• The Pizza is now edible

Twitch Integration

• The wildcard button now always fixes an anomaly if at least 1 correct vote has been cast by the viewers
• Voting chart is cleared completely after using the wildcard button.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where the smiling man just wouldn't stop laughing
• Twitch: Cooldowns now correctly apply to subscriber- and bit events
• Prevented Fusebox sound from playing when loading the Van scene for the first time
• Fixed several visual bugs related to the "Death by too many anomalies" event in the museum level
• Potentially fixed a rare issue that would lead to freeze frames every few seconds.

Known Issues

• Overall performance is not quite where we would like it to be yet, and we're still working on optimizing the game across the board for a stutter-free experience
• Some Steam Achievements have no description and will either be removed, adjusted or are still being worked on during Early Access
• Steam sometimes doesn't recognize the game as being closed after shutting it down. This leads to the impression that the game is still running even though it's not. (We're not mining crypto in the background on your machine, we promise!)

[ 2025-02-24 10:40:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Big January Update is in Beta!

We are bringing significant changes to UNHEIM: The third levels entity has been entirely reworked to better align with the games overall vibe, while key adjustments to the Smiling Man, level audio design, Anomaly types and balancing aim to deliver more fear with less frustration. By popular demand, weve also added a new Easy difficulty mode for a more relaxed but still spooky experience. Additionally, Streamers will find the improved Wildcard mechanic more rewarding and engaging. Now we really need your input: Are the scares hitting the mark? Is the new balancing working across all difficulties? How does the new Spider compare to her former self? If you want to help improve UNHEIM, try the Beta Branch and share your feedback with us! To access the BETA, please follow these steps: [olist]

Open Steam

Right-click on UNHEIM in your library

Select Properties

Go to the BETAS tab

Enter the password: pepperonipizza

Choose "community-beta" from the Beta participation drop-down list

Wait for the game to update the files (if nothing happens, restart the Steam client)

Launch the game [/olist] We would love to hear about your feedback, either in the steam discussions or on our discord! Here is the full list of changes: Twitch Updates

• Joker button now always fixes an anomaly if at least 1 correct vote has been cast by the viewers
• Voting chart is cleared completely after using the joker

Entities

• Completely reworked the Hospital Entity, now called "Gramweberin", to match the overall vibe of the game
• Items stolen by the Smiling Man now appear inside the level as anomalies of type "Personal" and can be retrieved by reporting them
• Smiling Man now is less forgiving when being ignored and will no longer make himself audibly known before killing the player
• Smiling Man now generally grants less time to react to his presence

Anomalies

• Reworked all snapshots to show missed activities more clearly
• Anomalies can now have multiple valid types, making it easier to deduce the code for reporting them
• Replaced some of the less interesting anomalies, and added new anomalies across all levels
• Removed special anomaly types from each level (except "Personal" as it's gameplay relevant)
• Fixed or replaced some incorrectly or confusingly categorized anomalies

Van

• The journal has a new colour to stand out more from the background
• Journal now has an indicator for unread entries
• Adjusted Journal entries to for the new Gramweberin
• Changed the arm waving behaviour of the Maneki Neko (waving cat)
• Updated magnifier icon to better reflect its function

Audio

• Replaced and polished Ambient sound for all levels
• Reworked entity related sound effects
• Adjusted audio volumes across the board

Localization

• Updated some descriptions and localizations
• Replaced handwriting font for Simplified Chinese for better readability

Balancing

• Turned Sanctuary into an easier version of Nightmare mode, where the entity can now appear as well.
• To compensate, we added a new mode called "Training", which replaces the old sanctuary mode.
• New levels can now be unlocked by beating the current level in "Sanctuary" difficulty or above.
• All screens inside the van now need to go through a short boot sequence when turning on the power.
• Shortened each bible passage to just a single number to make finding the corresponding audio clip easier.
• Playing the wrong audio clip when the priest is around now is the best way to get yourself stabbed.

Menu

• All settings can be reset to default now

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where the smiling man just wouldn't stop laughing
• Twitch: Cooldowns now correctly apply to subscriber- and bit events

Known Issues

• When the Smiling Man steals the Lava Lamp, it doesn't always appear inside the level
• Description on the Hospital Level Polaroid still mentions drowsiness, even though the mechanic has been removed
• A small amount of users reported encountering freeze frames every few seconds. We're still investigating this issue.
• Overall performance is not quite where we would like it to be yet, and we're still working on optimizing the game across the board for a stutter-free experience
• Some Steam Achievements have no description and will either be removed, adjusted or are still being worked on during Early Access
• Steam sometimes doesn't recognize the game as being closed after shutting it down. This leads to the impression that the game is still running even though it's not. (We're not mining crypto in the background on your machine, we promise!)
• The leaderboard is haunted! Sometimes, your playtime appears in the leaderboard even though you have been playing another difficulty than endless mode

[ 2025-01-27 16:30:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Anomaly Enthusiasts!

We wanted to start off the new year with a small update, fixing the following issues:

• The panic button can now be activated via gamepad
• Fixed a bug where the protagonist would keep breathing heavily even though panic mode has been disabled
• Panic mode is now automatically disabled when the observation ends
• Removed Van-camera spawn locations for the entity "die Traumweberin"

We are currently working on a bigger update based on the feedback we received so far, and hope you are as excited as we are for the upcoming changes! Thanks again to all players, and lots of love for your feedback and great suggestions.

[ 2025-01-04 10:53:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Unheim Heads!

We are super thankful for the positive reception of our game over the last week. Of course, we have also been listening closely to the very valid points of criticism we received. Based on your suggestions, we will focus on removing obstacles that only distract from the scares. Additionally, we plan to improve accessibility, and tweak areas of confusion to further enhance your gameplay and horror experience. As these updates require a longer development cycle and will therefore be part of our first major balancing update at a later date, we want to address the most urgent issues today in this small balancing patch:

• Since we got the impression that the hospital entity, "die Traumweberin", is too challenging for the wrong reasons, we decided to make banishing it a lot simpler in this update. For our next big update, we will redesign it to fit better in with the rest of the game.
• Charging the battery now happens a lot faster, so you can spend more time observing and less time torturing your wrist!

We hope you enjoy the new changes, and wish you a happy holiday!

[ 2024-12-23 13:54:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Unheim Community

With this patch, we provide much needed updates for our endless mode, which was rightfully perceived as way too easy, especially coming from inferno difficulty. We also fixed a bug that prevented the correct observation time from being send to the steam leaderboards. For this update, we had to wipe all currently existing entries from the leaderboards. We are super sorry about that, especially to anyone who already commited to this mode. We hope that you will give it another spin anyways and enjoy the new difficulty! Please find the full changelog below: Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug in Endless mode statistics which caused incorrect playtimes to be recorded and displayed on the Steam leaderboard.
• Fixed a bug that caused spanish texts to sometimes pick the wrong translation and font.
• Fixed an incorrectly tagged flickering Chandelier in the cathedral from "Object removed" anomaly to "Light" anomaly

Balancing

• Endless mode now starts out more difficult and has a steeper difficulty-over-time curve.
• "Die Traumweberin" is now easier to track, due to slightly reduced movement speed and less variation in move direction.
• "Die Traumweberin" appears less often during an observation
• Made it slightly easier to spot plagues in the cathedral early
• The "Paranormal Disturbance Visualizer" now takes time to calibrate to make it less powerful

We hope you enjoy the new updates! As always, happy hunting!

[ 2024-12-20 17:00:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fellow Unheimers

thanks to everybody who already checked out our game! Here are the changes from our obligatory day one patch: Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where sometimes the camera would be stuck at the observer screen
• Fixed a bug where the game would crash when closing the game while twitch is connected
• Fixed a bug where the heatmap tool would detect false positives due to post processing
• Changed some slightly unfair spawn locations for the Traumweberin
• Deactivated screens while battery is empty no longer are shown on top of the game over screen

Features

• Improved loading times during startup
• Removed angelic activity type in cathedral, but added various new paranormal activities

We hope that you can continue your observation undeterred with these new changes, and apologize for any inconveniences encountered!

[ 2024-12-17 19:57:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

UNHEIM is available for Early Access!

Charge up your batteries and get ready to dial, because UNHEIM is finally available for Early Access on Windows! From now on, you can test your observational prowess in 4 distinct levels, each haunted by their own unique Paranormal Entity. At your disposal are a variety of Gadgets, helping you to stay one step ahead of the dreaded game over screen. After conquering the terrors of the game, start conquering the Steam Leaderboards in Endless mode. It's gonna be a long night! Of course, Early Access marks only the beginning. We have a lot more planned for the future, and hope that you will accompany us on our journey to version 1.0! Last but not least, a huge THANK YOU to all the players of our demo, who helped shaping this release by providing invaluable feedback and provided relentless support. We cant wait to hear your screams as you dive into the Early Access of UNHEIM. Your Lovely Bytes Team P.S.: To anybody who was hoping for a Linux version and Gamepad support - sorry to keep you waiting just a little bit longer. These features are still in testing, and will be available as soon as we can guarantee a smooth gameplay experience for both!

[ 2024-12-17 14:00:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

First off, a massive THANK YOU to everyone whos played the UNHEIM demo and shared your thoughts with us. Your feedback has been our guiding light, and weve been hard at work bringing your ideas to life and squashing every bug that crawled out of the shadows! As a result, were beyond excited to unveil a huge update just in time for the upcoming Scream Fest, packed with new features and major gameplay improvements: More meaningful Battery & additional Fuse Box mechanics
Steam Deck Support so you can take the horror with you anywhere!
...and even more:

• Extended Live Streaming Interactions now with event triggers linked to Channel Points
• Finally Controller Support!
• Level Balancing we've fine-tuned the first level to be slightly more forgiving without sacrificing the fear factor.
• Some bug fixes and tons of polishing on existing features

We couldnt have done it without your input, and were thrilled to see how these changes shape your experience! Also, if you havent already, join our official Discord to connect with the devs and actively influence the development of UNHEIM with your ideas. Thank you for being a part of the UNHEIM community and for your relentless support. We cant wait to hear your screams as you dive into the new and improved horrors. Happy Scream Fest! Your Lovely Bytes Team

[ 2024-10-25 17:49:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're happy to announce that Unheim got selected for the Tiny Teams Festival 2024, which starts today at 6pm BST and runs until August 15th 6pm BST!
Over the course of the event, you can check out UNHEIM and many other awesome indie games in the festival's livestream (which is already live!):

Yogscast's Twitch Channel

We also want to use this opportunity to thank all of you for your ongoing support, by either providing helpful feedback and suggestions, live-streaming the game or just showing interest in the game in general. We're currently working hard on the full release to make sure it will meet your expectations! Until then, you can try out our free demo, which is still available and has been improved thanks to feedback from our community over the last few days!

[ 2024-08-08 10:29:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

The response to UNHEIM exceeded all our expectations. We're immensely grateful to each of you who tried out our demoyour enthusiasm has truly blown us away. Your amazing, consistently positive feedback has been incredibly affirming. Its clear from your responses that we're on the right track with a truly great game. Thank you for your encouragement and for showing us what's possible! So, what's next? Given the fantastic response from Twitch streamers regarding our Twitch integration, we are excited to announce plans to extensively expand this feature. Additionally, we're exploring options to integrate with other streaming platforms like YouTube Live to broaden your ability to share and enjoy UNHEIM. We've also noticed a significant interest in playing on the Steam Deck. We are working hard to make this option available to you very soon! Ultimately, we are preparing for the official launch of UNHEIM, which will take place before the end of the year. To help you get ready for the final release, we will keep the demo online for a while. Take this opportunity to hone your skills and prepare for the full release! Thank you once again for your tremendous support. We are overwhelmed with joy and appreciation, and we can't wait to see you rock the final game! Your Lovely Bytes Team P.S.: We appreciate your ideas, criticism or simply an exchange about the game. Join our amazing Discord Community if you want to add your two cents

[ 2024-06-18 12:45:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

In todays live stream, were excited to dive deep into all of your queries and curiosities about UNHEIM. Do you have any burning questions or are you seeking insights into our project? We are here to provide comprehensive answers. Whether youre curious about our roadmap, the intricate game mechanics, or have creative ideas and suggestions, this 60-minute session is the perfect opportunity to engage directly with us. We encourage you to participate actively and share your thoughts. Your input is invaluable, and it plays a crucial role in helping us develop and refine UNHEIM, ensuring we make progress step by step. Join us to explore the exciting world of UNHEIM, and help shape its future together.

[ 2024-06-16 20:00:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fellow Investigators! With our newest demo we (hopefully) addressed the following issues:

• Fixed an issue where the twitch connection process would never complete.
• Camera controls stay enabled when accessing the advanced twitch settings menu, and are only locked while you're typing in text.
• The !score chat command should now display your rank alongside your points during the running observation.

We hope that with these changes you can continue your paranormal investigations undisturbed! Happy hunting, your Lovely Bytes Team

[ 2024-06-12 14:54:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Join us for From Vision to Version: Lovely Bytes Developers Live, an immersive live stream where you'll get an exclusive insight into UNHEIM. See how the developers play and fail or win in their own game, while talking about the one or other detail of the game. This session not only showcases gameplay mechanics but also provides commentary on design choices and development challenges. Tune in to discover the secrets behind UNHEIM's eerie atmosphere and learn tips directly from the creators.

[ 2024-06-10 16:06:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're happy to announce that the Demo for Unheim, our paranormal surveillance game with a twist, is finally available here on Steam! In the demo you start right at the beginning of the main game. You can explore your van, story snippets, and clear the first level of paranormal activities and entities in a variety of game modes:

• Sanctuary: A more laid back experience, where you can focus on the spot-the-difference aspect of our game. Think of it as a practice mode.
• Nightmare: The real deal, where your nightly observation routine is disturbed by the looming presence of a murderous entity
• Inferno: Unlocked by beating nightmare difficulty, this mode considerably cranks up the difficulty and has a few additional surprises in store!

If you happen to be a streamer, you can also make full use of the game's twitch integration, allowing your viewers to aid you in your investigations. If you don't stream, the game is still perfectly playable, using the twitch integration is entirely optional :) We hope you have a great time with the demo, and would love to hear from you in our discord! We're always eager to improve the experience of our game, so feel free to make suggestions and share your feedback with us. Finally, a huge thank you to our existing community for their continued support and valuable feedback, without which we wouldn't have made it to this point! What's next for the demo? We're currently working on adding controller support, as well as providing Steam Deck and Linux versions of our game. We will also continue to update the demo with bugfixes and balancing changes, as well as with feedback from our community. Also, we plan to add support for bits and channel point events to our twitch integration, as well as the ability to upload custom sounds and images, so be sure to check in regularly for updates! I got the demo for free, why should I care for the full game? The complete game will feature additional levels, each haunted by their own unique entity. Each level, including the one from the demo, will also sport an endless mode, complete with steam leaderboard integration. So if you were looking for an excuse to stay up all night, there you have it! Additional surveillance tools to augment your nightly watch. Lastly, expect something vaguely like this:

[ 2024-06-07 14:32:23 CET ] [ Original post ]