What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.74!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Added native Linux & Steam Deck support! [quote]Pixelmancer is now fully playable on a Steam Deck![/quote] - Changed the save file system again to support cross-save between Windows, Linux & Steam Deck [quote]This will reset your save progress once again, apologies![/quote]

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

Since Summer 2024, Steam has broke Steam Input controller support for many games which is still not fixed today. Steam Deck was also unfortunately affected which made Pixelmancer unplayable. Around August 2024, I switched to a completely new game engine (from Godot to Construct 3) and lots of improvements were made on the Windows version of the game. Unfortunately this meant the Steam Deck version via Proton wouldn't launch at all (Not that it even mattered since Steam Input didn't work anyway). I've spent a lot of time on and off for the past year trying to get a native Steam Deck version to work. Today I'm excited to announce that Pixelmancer supports Linux & Steam Deck natively. No proton or Steam Play required. Also, Steam Input works on Linux & Steam Deck with the new Linux native version! (Steam Input on Windows is still broken, please use xinput (Xbox Controller) instead) I would like to thank my friends for testing the Steam Deck version for me as I don't have a Steam Deck for troubleshooting.

[ 2025-03-02 15:43:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.73!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Completely redesigned the new save system [quote]As mentioned in the previous post, this will cause your save progress to reset - apologies again for the inconvenience[/quote]

[ 2025-02-02 11:12:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans. Due to the new save file system with update 0.72, I've noticed there would be issues with the current way that it's setup in the future when I update the game. For example: If I later on redesign a sub-level and that player saved their game on that specific sub-level then that means they will be stuck on the loading screen and would fail to load the game. I have found a way to avoid this, however it means I have to manually redesign the entire save & load system and also all the variables in the game. By doing this, there will be no way I can restore the old save files. So, after update 0.73 your save file will be reset - apologies for the inconvenience. I'm still doing further testing and I hope to finish the update as soon as possible.

[ 2025-02-02 09:42:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.72!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Updated game engine export system [quote]The new game engine export system has reduced the game size from ~400mb to ~80mb[/quote] - Added new save file system [quote]This is part of the new game engine export system, the old save files cannot be read through the new system[/quote] - Updated to latest Steam SDK

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

I was waiting over a month for the latest stable game engine before making further game updates because this forces me to change my export system to the new system as well as the save file system. From what I understand, the new game engine export system breaks Steam Deck support but I can't confirm if that's the case since I don't have access to a Steam Deck. Also the new system breaks Steam Overlay support [quote]This is an issue with Valve, they're aware of the issue and they're not currently working on a fix because not enough developers have complained about it yet[/quote]

[ 2025-01-31 14:27:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.71!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Added new Life Potency upgrade [quote]Increasing this upgrade will grant you more Lifestones for healing[/quote] - Enemies no longer chase Anima [quote]This is because after a while, enemies started going outside the map to fight Anima and ruins the experience of Pixelmancer[/quote] - Reduced Moby's healing rate from 1 second to 2 seconds - Reduced Moby's healing from ~25 to ~15 - Changed tier 3 sea to be more darker - Added stone icons in main menu for clarification - Reduced Spiralite core health from ~100 to ~75 - Every dynamic event now has same chance of spawning, also the deeper you go in your adventure the more dynamic events you'll see - Increased dynamic event chance overall - Increased Zementu range damage from ~20 to ~25

[ 2024-12-02 20:50:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.70!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Stadie's fireball now soft-locks onto enemies [quote] Stadie can now curve her shots towards the nearest enemies[/quote] - Added "Stadie Range" upgrade - Added Stadie range achievement - Added Life Reservoir achievement - Fixed bug where Stadie would shoot at Soulstones - Stadie now gathers Lifestones - Moby now gathers Lifestones

[ 2024-11-29 09:13:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.69! ( )

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Added Lifestone system [quote]Lifestones replaces your normal passive health regen. You will need to collect lifestones in order to enable your passive health regen until your Lifestone runs out[/quote] - Removed "Life Regen" upgrade [quote]This is replaced by the new lifestone system[/quote] - Added "Life Reservoir" upgrade [quote]This new upgrade will increase your lifestone capacity upgrade[/quote] - Cleaned up the upgrade category interface - Added icons to upgrade buttons for better clarity - Changed the colours of the victory effect to represent each pixel staff colour - Redesigned the health bar - Redesigned the mana bar - Changed the health icon - Changed Soulstone pickup effect - Health no longer restores at each level - Mana no longer restores at each level - Increased mana regen from 0.25 to 0.30 base rate - Added drop collision mechanic where lifestones and soulstones can't overlap with each other

[ 2024-11-28 18:28:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.68!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Replaced all previous soundtrack with new instrumental soundtracks that represents the game better [quote]Hope you enjoy the new soundtracks! There are now 27 soundtracks in total to listen to[/quote] - Pixelmancer and companions now celebrate when the level is finished - Fixed Soul Seeker health bar not appearing - Added Soul Seeker defeated achievements - Moved the level indicator further up - Moved the defeated indicator further up - Removed local multiplayer mode [quote]Steaminput has been broken for a few months now and caused local multiplayer feature to be broken with dinput controllers and remote play together. I was fond of the shadow beasts so I will look into adding shadow beasts again as part of the core gameplay[/quote] - Redesigned the Upgrades interface - Redesigned the Soul Mastery interface

[ 2024-11-27 18:10:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.67!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- New enemy: Soul Seeker [quote] The new enemy spawns at later levels with the dynamic event system, watch out :) [/quote] - Redesigned the weapon wheel - Updated the weapon names from "Fireball" to "Phoenix" and "Nova Cast" to "Frostbite" [quote]These weapon name changes reflect upcoming content where I will be redesigning all the weapons in the game before adding new weapon types[/quote] - Reduced size of Shadow Beasts

[ 2024-11-26 16:30:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.66!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- New aggro ability [quote]This new ability will be able to call all the enemies on the level to attack you and your companions. This is useful when you're overpowered and force the enemies to come to you instead[/quote] - Control tips displayed at level 1 - Reduced controller vibration strength from 100% to 25% for hitting enemies - Removed "level completed" message

[ 2024-11-25 15:51:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.65!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Converted game engine from Godot to Construct 3 - Some dynamic events will now occur at higher levels - Increased dynamic event chance - Exit Game button only appears at the home screen - Home button only appears in gameplay - Updated Steam SDK to latest version

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

This update took a long time because I've switched the entire game to another game engine and tried my best to make sure everything works as intended, I'll be doing quick hot fixes in the meantime for any potential issues that are found. I've decided to switch game engines because Construct is a game engine designed purely for 2D and allows for better performance, the other main reason is for easier, faster and smoother development process.

[ 2024-09-14 07:18:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.64!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Moby now only targets friendlies that are injured - Moby's healing hearts now seeks towards injured friendlies - Moby's healing hearts ignores fully healed friendlies - Moby focuses on healing the Pixelmancer first (Pixelmancer > Honey > Pixie > Stadie) - Floating bridges now sink after standing on them - Reduced loading time when game starts - Updated Gem Bear logo - Fixed luck stone value not displaying properly - Fixed Honey health regen

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

Moby has received many quality of life changes, he heals more often and doesn't miss his healing hearts anymore The floating bridges now sink when you touch them, this causes the Pixelmancer to be semi-trapped on the islands, although you could always just try to swim away The next big update I'm working on is re-designing the life-regen system completely. Until then they may be a few more quality of life updates

[ 2024-07-21 20:42:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.63!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Tiers now change every 5 level - Added tier 4 with 10 sub-levels - Added vibration support to controller - Anima is now a passive ability - Removed the ability system - Enemies on the map now get aggroed when there are 5 or less enemies in the level - Added a new dynamic event where all the enemies on the level get aggroed - Added a new dynamic event where 30 Anima's get spawned to help - Added new upgrade "Anima Summon" with up to level 30 - Added swimming animations to gravestones - Added Zementu's range attack to the enemy variants system - Added description to Stadie - Added description to Honey - Added description to Anima - Added 3 new sub-levels to tier 2 - Added 9 new sub-levels to tier 3 - Added passive health regen to Pixie - Added passive health regen to Stadie - Added passive health regen to Honey - Added clouds for Tier 4 with a 3D-layer effect - Added tip that you can scroll the upgrades page - Increased health of Baby Slime - Increased health of Slime - Increased health of Soul Hunter - Increased health of Zementu - Increased Spiralite to have unlimited detect range - Increased Anima base health - Increased Anima base damage - Increased Honey base health - Increased Honey base damage - Increased Honey base movement speed - Increased Stadie base damage - Increased Pixie base health - Increased Pixie base damage - Increased Fireball damage upgrade rate - Increased Pixie damage upgrade rate - Increased Stadie damage upgrade rate - Increased Honey damage upgrade rate - Honey now focuses on the closest enemy - Reduced health of Spira - Reduced health of Spiralite - Reduced Zementu's fire rate - Reduced fireball's base damage - Reduced fireball's mana cost - Reduced mana regen base value - Re-designed half the current sub-levels to match the new enemy count changes - Waves now only spawn closer to the islands - Fixed bridges in tier 3 - Moby is now smaller (and cuter) - Red Slimes no longer spawn in tier 3 as the desert isn't their natural biome - Zementu no longer spawns in tier 3, they now spawn on the new tier 4 - Zementu's projectile spins at same speed - Zementu now only targets the Pixelmancer - Game now saves when you toggle pause - Changed magic staff swap key to "Q" for keyboards - Changed magic staff swap key to "L1" for controllers - Renamed "Player" to "Pixelmancer" in upgrades menu - Renamed "Pets" to "Companions" in upgrades menu - Removed "Hero" from Pixelmancer upgrades - Added level counter onto upgrades - Added "Max" text when upgrade is on max level - Redesigned the Health upgrade icon - Fixed collision boxes on all upgrade buttons - Removed "Levels" on upgrades that are for unlocking a new ability - Re-organised the upgrade menu to make unlockable abilities more clear - Significantly optimised the land tiles, reducing the memory of every sub-level by ~60% - View Distance +50% is the new default setting - Reduced upgrade costs for all upgrades above level 20 - Added 5 more soundtracks - Lowered the chance of dynamic events - Changed the level-end transition - Improved level transition time - Fixed Stadie not targeting Spira, Spiralite & Zementu - Fixed the luck system not accounting for Spira, Spiralite & Zementu

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

This is one of Pixelmancer's biggest update! It's been a while since I've done a massive update like this, there's still much more to come later in the upcoming months This update is called the Rebalance update because this update focuses on changing the entire feel of the game based on feedback for over the year. There are more enemies now, they're stronger but also Pixelmancer can cast significantly more fireballs before running out of mana. The Rebalance update also changes the way tiers work, in the past the tiers would change every 10 levels. Based on feedback, I've changed the tiers to be every 5 levels, this keeps the game more fresh instead of feeling like it's being dragged out. Speaking of tiers, this update also introduces tier 4. This new update splits each biomes into 2 tiers. So there are currently 2 biomes, 4 tiers. Just a heads up, the Novacast was left untouched in this update because I'm working to change the entire weapon into a new weapon called the "Frostbite staff". The mechanics of Frostbite staff will offer a complete different playstyle to the Fireball staff which will eventually be renamed and redesigned into the "Phoenix staff". I've also finally removed the ability system, summoning Anima was the only ability in the game and I've changed that into becoming a passive ability, you can focus more on defeating enemies and let Anima summon in the background from your fallen foes. There's also a lot of quality of life changes in this update based on recent feedbacks. For example if there are 5 enemies left in the map, all the remaining enemies will be aggroed to you so that you don't need to try finding the missing enemies on the map. Thank you to everyone for your long support and positive feedbacks towards the game <3 One last thing, I've had a lot of great feedback on the recent soundtrack update, so I've worked on 5 more soundtracks!

[ 2024-06-30 16:28:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.62!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Added 15 new background music! - Removed all old 4 placeholder background music - Changed music default volume to 75% - Changed sound effect default volume to 50%

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

With this new update, there are 15 new background music with every custom-made lyric related to the game. I'm really excited for this update because I think it adds a depth of layer and feel to the game. Every background music is related to the game, there are music about the lore of the game, about the companions, about the enemies, about the weapons, about the game mechanics. There are even music about upcoming content such as new weapon types and life orb system that wasn't mentioned before. My personal favourite music is about Stadie's origin, I hope you have a few favourites as well!

[ 2024-06-22 20:31:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.61!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- Re-designed the upgrade menu - Re-designed the soul mastery menu - Re-designed the home screen - Re-designed the pause menu - Improved responsiveness of the pause menu for controllers

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

This is a quality of life update, the upgrade menu ended up being too big and complicated to navigate through, now it's fully re-designed to be under one big list with the abiltiy to scroll through Soul Mastery menu has received the same changes, the home screen has received small changes One long requested quality of life update is here, many players including myself (lol) have accidentally quit the game when they wanted to just get to home, now the exit game button is labelled as such and organised to be more clear

[ 2024-05-26 13:43:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.60!

- - - Updates & Bug Fixes - - -

- The player can now swim! - Re-designed invisible wall system on every sub-level - Bridges no longer slow the player down - Added swimming animation to Honey - Added swimming animation to Moby - Added swimming animation to Zementu - Re-designed all swimming animations to have a fade-in effect - Added unique hitboxes for all swimming animations (Player and beasts have smaller hitboxes while swimming) - Improved hitboxes for all beasts & pickups - Updated the overall sea colouring system - Updated to latest Steam SDK (1.59)

- - - A Note From Gem - - -

I originally wanted the player to swim to other islands, however at the time I didn't know how to code the detection properly when the player is swimming or on land. I ended up making a different system where there are bridges and slows the player down for not being on an island. I then had to painstakingly create an invisible wall system for every sub-level that worked perfectly A while back when coding the targeting system for Honey & Pixie, I learned new group event techniques and recently I realised that I could use the same technique to make the swimming mechanic

[ 2024-05-19 13:36:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.59!

- - - UPDATES & BUG FIXES - - -

- Fixed Background Music not playing sometimes - Added random background music selector

- - - PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DEV - - -

The latest update broke the background music from playing sometimes and I managed to identify the problem. I decided to redesign the background music system while also fixing the bug at the same time Now the game will randomly select a background music to play. Unfortunately this also means that there's a small chance you'll have the same background music playing back to back

[ 2024-04-11 13:27:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.58!

- - - UPDATES & BUG FIXES - - -

- No more getting flash banged at the intro screen - Steam achievements fixed - Steam Deck is now unsupported (I no longer have access to a Steam Deck so I can't test if future updates will cause issues with the Steam Deck version) - Changed the detection symbol

- - - PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DEV - - -

I'm currently working on a big update for Pixelmancer. I will be focusing on rebalancing the game, especially early game. Based on feedbacks, I will work on changing the way the game feels, there will be more enemies on screen while they will be easier to defeat. I will also be removing the "Abilities" system (There's only one ability at the moment anyway and that ability will become a passive in a future update). To replace the abilities system, I will be working on every weapon having a more powerful secondary attack that costs more mana. After all these changes, I will be looking into having tier changes every 5 levels instead of 10, to make the game more interesting.

[ 2024-03-23 10:32:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.57!

- - - UPDATES & BUG FIXES - - -

- Added support for Steam Deck OLED at stable 90fps - Improved overall performance by using new compression systems

- - - PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DEV - - -

Happy New Year all, Apologies for the lack of updates to Pixelmancer, the last update was back in May. I went through a lot of personal problems last year and didn't have the motivation to continue developing Pixelmancer any time soon. I hope to complete Pixelmancer development this year, I have a list of growing features and new content that I want to add into the game. Also, keep those feedbacks coming, I've been reading them all

[ 2024-01-01 18:49:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.56!

- - - UPDATES & BUG FIXES - - -

- Added 4 player local multiplayer! (Pick up an additional controller and join! For online play you can use Steam Remote Play feature) - Added Moby! (Moby is part of the new companions that spawn in the new dynamic event system. Moby will come and join your adventure sometimes, he's a very good dog) - Added Shadowbeasts (Shadowbeasts are played by players 2, 3, 4) - Added new dynamic event system (This system completely randomises events on when they spawn in your level, there are both bad and good events that can spawn) - Added companions - Soul hunters no longer counts towards the enemy counter to pass the level - Soul hunter zerg rush has a rare chance of spawning through dynamic event system - Slightly increased all Player stats - Slightly increased all Pixie stats - Slightly increased all Stadie stats - Slightly increased all Honey stats - Slightly increased all Anima stats - Improved particle effect system to support custom sprites (You can see this in action with Moby's healing trail)

- - - PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DEV - - -

Multiplayer was a massive project to include into the game, unfortunately it's not online multiplayer but you can play online up to 4 players thanks to Steam Remote Play Together feature, there are other third party software out there as well that supports online local multiplayer The way multiplayer works is that additional players (2 - 4) will play as "Shadowbeasts", they can join any time in your adventure and their upgrades start at level 1. The longer they survive the stronger they'll get (The number next to their health bar is their level). Multiplayer is a double-edged sword, having additional players is an unfair advantage as it makes your team very strong, especially early game. I've designed a fun system where any time a shadowbeast dies, they will spawn a shadow portal. An enemy will spawn every second until the portal closes on its own. The portal's life duration increases based on the shadowbeast's level Shadowbeast players can respawn manually after 10 seconds by pressing "Start" again, they will start from level 1 again and survive their way up to get stronger In addition to multiplayer, I've created a new Dynamic Event System where a soul hunter can randomly raid your adventure as well as a soul hunter zerg. They have a low chance of appearing in your adventures. Thanks to the new dynamic event system, the soul hunter zerg is a separate event and has a very low chance of appearing. Also, my favourite part of the new system is that you can also get good events now Introducing Moby, (Meg's very good doggie) I've wanted to add Moby into my game for a long time and now he has arrived today on Meg's birthday. Moby is part of the new dynamic event system as a good event Moby is a healer and immortal, he will randomly join your adventure and start sending you and your pets a lot of love to make sure you reach to the end of your level

[ 2023-05-19 07:17:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's up Pixelmancer fans, Gem here and welcome to update 0.55!

- - - UPDATES & BUG FIXES - - -

- All player upgrade levels increased from 20 to 30 - All player upgrades are now cheaper to upgrade - Added new global pause system - Added new settings system redesigned from scratch (You can now go into settings while in the levels!) - Added new controller icons

- - - PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DEV - - -

This update took a lot of hours because I had to remove the old settings system and create a new one from scratch I needed to work on a new settings system so I could make a global settings system where it would work both on the main menu and within the game itself Then it became extra challenging when I had to work on controller support because I had to create a new controller cursor system to work between the menu and levels as well One of the most difficult parts of adding controller support to the new pause and settings system was how pressing "ESC" on keyboard means both pause game and back, however on controller you press "Start" to pause and "B" for back I know from a glance this update doesn't look like much but in reality this was one of the most difficult projects I've worked on in the game and I'm excited that it's finally completed and players can now change settings while in the game

[ 2023-04-24 17:20:06 CET ] [ Original post ]