Hi everyone. Today we are introducing a new way to deliver beta builds. Taking inspiration from a presentation at the recent Steam Dev Days, beta builds will now be managed through a public beta DLC, included in all copies of the game. The goal is to allow you to play both the regular version and beta versions of the game without having to switch between beta branches and waiting for the builds to download. Instead, when you launch the game, you will be asked which version you want to launch. Hopefully, this will reduce segmentation within the player base and bring awareness to new players that there is a better, actively developed version available to play.

How to use the new beta system
If you're installing the game for the first time: you don't need to do anything. Steam will automatically include the beta in your download.

If you already have the game installed: simply find The Flock's library page, and ensure that the check box in the DLCs section beside "The Flock Public Beta" is checked so Steam will install the beta. Once the download is complete, you'll get the choice to play the regular version or the beta version when you launch the game. Note Steam will automatically download the regular version if you were using the public beta branch.

macOS beta
With the introduction of the new beta system, we are also introducing macOS builds. From early reports, the Mac build is playable and comparable to the Linux builds. You will very likely experience graphical glitches that are also present on the Linux build, but you will be able to play with other players who are on Windows and Linux.

Hi everyone. Today we are introducing a new way to deliver beta builds. Taking inspiration from a presentation at the recent Steam Dev Days, beta builds will now be managed through a public beta DLC, included in all copies of the game. The goal is to allow you to play both the regular version and beta versions of the game without having to switch between beta branches and waiting for the builds to download. Instead, when you launch the game, you will be asked which version you want to launch. Hopefully, this will reduce segmentation within the player base and bring awareness to new players that there is a better, actively developed version available to play.

How to use the new beta system
If you're installing the game for the first time: you don't need to do anything. Steam will automatically include the beta in your download.

If you already have the game installed: simply find The Flock's library page, and ensure that the check box in the DLCs section beside "The Flock Public Beta" is checked so Steam will install the beta. Once the download is complete, you'll get the choice to play the regular version or the beta version when you launch the game. Note Steam will automatically download the regular version if you were using the public beta branch.

macOS beta
With the introduction of the new beta system, we are also introducing macOS builds. From early reports, the Mac build is playable and comparable to the Linux builds. You will very likely experience graphical glitches that are also present on the Linux build, but you will be able to play with other players who are on Windows and Linux.

Hi everyone! We are currently considering making Mac builds, but as the current development team doesn't have ready access to Macs, we can't really evaluate how much work needs to be done for Mac support in the future. Fortunately, Unity supports making Mac builds regardless of what platform is doing the building, so we would like to invite a few people with Macs to check the build out and see how playable things are. If it's anything like the current Linux version, the game should be able to link up with sessions created from other platforms, but would have some problematic graphics.

If you are interested in having a look, please reply to this announcement, and I'll contact you when there are a few people available.

Hi everyone! We are currently considering making Mac builds, but as the current development team doesn't have ready access to Macs, we can't really evaluate how much work needs to be done for Mac support in the future. Fortunately, Unity supports making Mac builds regardless of what platform is doing the building, so we would like to invite a few people with Macs to check the build out and see how playable things are. If it's anything like the current Linux version, the game should be able to link up with sessions created from other platforms, but would have some problematic graphics.

If you are interested in having a look, please reply to this announcement, and I'll contact you when there are a few people available.

Hello! We have released an update for August on the "externaltest" branch. This update includes various new features and several bug fixes.

How to update
You will need to set Steam to download the beta build. You can do this by locating The Flock in your library, then right-clicking on the entry, click Properties, go to the Betas tab, and select "externaltest" from the list of betas. After you close the properties box, you should see "[externaltest]" in The Flock's library entry.

Important: this update is incompatible with the current non-beta build. Make sure that everyone you're playing with are using the beta branch and are up-to-date.

What's new
There are a number of new features. Most notably, the game now has achievements and leaderboards. Currently there are 14 achievements for you to collect, and two leaderboards. Note that most of the achievements require you to be in a game of 2 or more players to unlock. In addition to that, detailed local stats are tracked, and those are synced through Steam Cloud so you'll be able to keep the same stats wherever you play. Another addition is you can now customize the game setting choices, from level to mode to various other settings.

What's fixed
Numerous issues were fixed, most notably the problem with particle effects rendering on the end of the artifact on first person view and the petrify effect sometimes spawning with the player in Angels mode.

What's broken
I'm happy to say that nothing new's broken, but the Linux version still requires a lot of work done on with regards to graphics.

More details on what changed is available on this discussion thread. Take the update for a spin, and if you have any comments, leave them below or on said thread.

Hello! We have released an update for August on the "externaltest" branch. This update includes various new features and several bug fixes.

How to update
You will need to set Steam to download the beta build. You can do this by locating The Flock in your library, then right-clicking on the entry, click Properties, go to the Betas tab, and select "externaltest" from the list of betas. After you close the properties box, you should see "[externaltest]" in The Flock's library entry.

Important: this update is incompatible with the current non-beta build. Make sure that everyone you're playing with are using the beta branch and are up-to-date.

What's new
There are a number of new features. Most notably, the game now has achievements and leaderboards. Currently there are 14 achievements for you to collect, and two leaderboards. Note that most of the achievements require you to be in a game of 2 or more players to unlock. In addition to that, detailed local stats are tracked, and those are synced through Steam Cloud so you'll be able to keep the same stats wherever you play. Another addition is you can now customize the game setting choices, from level to mode to various other settings.

What's fixed
Numerous issues were fixed, most notably the problem with particle effects rendering on the end of the artifact on first person view and the petrify effect sometimes spawning with the player in Angels mode.

What's broken
I'm happy to say that nothing new's broken, but the Linux version still requires a lot of work done on with regards to graphics.

More details on what changed is available on this discussion thread. Take the update for a spin, and if you have any comments, leave them below or on said thread.

Hi everyone! Since it's been a few months, I thought it would be a good time to fix some code and release an update. Now, you may have heard about the state of the game in April. Since then, a few of us who were interested in keeping the game going got together and worked on fixing the bugs. However, because there are only a few of us, the testing is still a bit lacking. Hence, this update is being released in the "externaltest" beta branch.

How to update
You will need to set Steam to download the beta build. You can do this by locating The Flock in your library, then right-clicking on the entry, click Properties, go to the Betas tab, and select "externaltest" from the list of betas. After you close the properties box, you should see "[externaltest]" in The Flock's library entry.

Important: this update is incompatible with the current non-beta build. Make sure that everyone you're playing with are using the beta branch and are up-to-date.

What's new
This update is mostly a bug fix update, but the one major new thing is the inclusion of a Linux build. While it is not perfect, you can play rounds with others, even with Windows players. There is also another new inclusion, but I won't spoil it for you. You'll know it after you see it a couple of times.

What's fixed
Most of the issues from the April beta thread have been fixed. This includes incorrect level choices, broken scoreboards, quick match, and friend invites. The clipping issue on the Bridge level has also been fixed.

What's broken
Because of the Unity engine upgrade that was performed, there are a couple of new problems. On both Windows and Linux builds, the glow effect from the carrier's artifact may not appear. This is cosmetic only, and should not affect gameplay. On the Linux build, volumetric lighting is quite broken, so you will see light shafts for the artifact and objectives offset to the side a bit ways, and the view will be blurrier than usual and with ghosting. These issues will be investigated in depth, and we'll try to fix them for the next update.

The population
The population countdown was the most unique and controversial feature of the game. Unfortunately, because of Vogelsap's current state, the population server could not be maintained. As such, all population features have been removed from the game. It may see reintroduction eventually, but for now, the game is free of counters.

Take a look at the beta, and encourage your friends to try it too. Please let us know what you think, and post any bugs or requests on this forum thread.

Hi everyone! Since it's been a few months, I thought it would be a good time to fix some code and release an update. Now, you may have heard about the state of the game in April. Since then, a few of us who were interested in keeping the game going got together and worked on fixing the bugs. However, because there are only a few of us, the testing is still a bit lacking. Hence, this update is being released in the "externaltest" beta branch.

How to update
You will need to set Steam to download the beta build. You can do this by locating The Flock in your library, then right-clicking on the entry, click Properties, go to the Betas tab, and select "externaltest" from the list of betas. After you close the properties box, you should see "[externaltest]" in The Flock's library entry.

Important: this update is incompatible with the current non-beta build. Make sure that everyone you're playing with are using the beta branch and are up-to-date.

What's new
This update is mostly a bug fix update, but the one major new thing is the inclusion of a Linux build. While it is not perfect, you can play rounds with others, even with Windows players. There is also another new inclusion, but I won't spoil it for you. You'll know it after you see it a couple of times.

What's fixed
Most of the issues from the April beta thread have been fixed. This includes incorrect level choices, broken scoreboards, quick match, and friend invites. The clipping issue on the Bridge level has also been fixed.

What's broken
Because of the Unity engine upgrade that was performed, there are a couple of new problems. On both Windows and Linux builds, the glow effect from the carrier's artifact may not appear. This is cosmetic only, and should not affect gameplay. On the Linux build, volumetric lighting is quite broken, so you will see light shafts for the artifact and objectives offset to the side a bit ways, and the view will be blurrier than usual and with ghosting. These issues will be investigated in depth, and we'll try to fix them for the next update.

The population
The population countdown was the most unique and controversial feature of the game. Unfortunately, because of Vogelsap's current state, the population server could not be maintained. As such, all population features have been removed from the game. It may see reintroduction eventually, but for now, the game is free of counters.

Take a look at the beta, and encourage your friends to try it too. Please let us know what you think, and post any bugs or requests on this forum thread.

Hello everyone (and welcome all new Halloween players)!

Some good and some bad news. The bad news is that we need more time to deliver the promised content update. The good news is, we've found some mistakes and bugs with the new content we're still ironing out to make sure you guys will receive a better experience. Also we will partake in a sale, so you can buy The Flock with a discount.

Just a quick update on how things are faring.

- The new map is nearly done (exciting!!), we're in the phase of playtesting the final build of the map, making only minor changes. You should be able to play on the new map 'Bridge' fairly soon!
- The new game modes are somewhat further along the line. They proved to be incomplete/not working correctly. They still need extra testing and fixing.
- Soon after Halloween during the month of November we will start releasing these content updates starting with the new map 'Bridge' and followed by the first new game modes.
- We've made notice of people that bought the game before Halloween. We're still figuring out a way how to deliver our thought out 'thank you package' to these people.

We thank you for your support and understanding. Honestly, the responses have been very kind and humbling.

Vogelsap.

Hello everyone (and welcome all new Halloween players)!

Some good and some bad news. The bad news is that we need more time to deliver the promised content update. The good news is, we've found some mistakes and bugs with the new content we're still ironing out to make sure you guys will receive a better experience. Also we will partake in a sale, so you can buy The Flock with a discount.

Just a quick update on how things are faring.

- The new map is nearly done (exciting!!), we're in the phase of playtesting the final build of the map, making only minor changes. You should be able to play on the new map 'Bridge' fairly soon!
- The new game modes are somewhat further along the line. They proved to be incomplete/not working correctly. They still need extra testing and fixing.
- Soon after Halloween during the month of November we will start releasing these content updates starting with the new map 'Bridge' and followed by the first new game modes.
- We've made notice of people that bought the game before Halloween. We're still figuring out a way how to deliver our thought out 'thank you package' to these people.

We thank you for your support and understanding. Honestly, the responses have been very kind and humbling.

Vogelsap.

Hey there everyone!

First of all, we would like to start off by saying we're sorry for the lack of communication the last few couple of weeks. We hope to clear things up with this post and explain the current situation regarding the Flock

To be honest the launch left us quite devastated and in a state of panic as we were trying to figure out what just went wrong. And how it came to be a game that had lots of positive previews, the backing of experienced devs and positive feedback on all the events we attended, but then have a disappointing launch. We truly believed we had a good game. Or at the least something passable. It hit us as a surprise to see the launch turn out totally different.

The last couple of weeks have been quiet because we have been attending several events where we were showcasing the Flock . We were attending Extreme Blue Expo, Tokyo Gameshow, EGX and INDIGO/Control Conference (these events were arranged and planned before launch).
We should've communicated something, or at least tell you guys we've been busy attending events. But we didn't and we're sorry about that.

However weve been going through a lot of the reviews and feedback looking at anything useful. And came to the conclusion the Flock is facing three challenges.

Hey there everyone!

First of all, we would like to start off by saying we're sorry for the lack of communication the last few couple of weeks. We hope to clear things up with this post and explain the current situation regarding the Flock

To be honest the launch left us quite devastated and in a state of panic as we were trying to figure out what just went wrong. And how it came to be a game that had lots of positive previews, the backing of experienced devs and positive feedback on all the events we attended, but then have a disappointing launch. We truly believed we had a good game. Or at the least something passable. It hit us as a surprise to see the launch turn out totally different.

The last couple of weeks have been quiet because we have been attending several events where we were showcasing the Flock . We were attending Extreme Blue Expo, Tokyo Gameshow, EGX and INDIGO/Control Conference (these events were arranged and planned before launch).
We should've communicated something, or at least tell you guys we've been busy attending events. But we didn't and we're sorry about that.

However we’ve been going through a lot of the reviews and feedback looking at anything useful. And came to the conclusion the Flock is facing three challenges.

Hey folks,

Sorry for the late update, but heres the final patch to round things up for this second week.

3rd Patch

• Players that are invited to a match from the desktop should go to the lobby, instead of the main menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where you would get a black screen after match launch.
  
• Multi-monitor is supported now.
  
• Fixed an issue where fullscreen wouldn't work.
  

• An issue where players are unable to connect while using the same router.
  
• Game gets stuck at 60 seconds in the lobby.
  
• Scrolling bug in the menu. This is probably due to unsupported 3rd party controller input software or other already plugged in devices.
  
• Windows 10 crashes. As windows 10 is still fairly new we don't yet understand the crashes it's producing. We would recommend updating to the latest windows 10 version and update your graphics driver.
  

Hey folks,

Sorry for the late update, but heres the final patch to round things up for this second week.

3rd Patch

• Players that are invited to a match from the desktop should go to the lobby, instead of the main menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where you would get a black screen after match launch.
  
• Multi-monitor is supported now.
  
• Fixed an issue where fullscreen wouldn't work.
  

• An issue where players are unable to connect while using the same router.
  
• Game gets stuck at 60 seconds in the lobby.
  
• Scrolling bug in the menu. This is probably due to unsupported 3rd party controller input software or other already plugged in devices.
  
• Windows 10 crashes. As windows 10 is still fairly new we don't yet understand the crashes it's producing. We would recommend updating to the latest windows 10 version and update your graphics driver.
  

Heres the second patch regarding the major bugs we're planning to release in the first two weeks.

2nd Patch

• Switching to fullscreen should work correctly now.
  
• Updated to a newer version of steamworks, which should fix some crashes.
  
• Fixed the a bug where people were ready but displayed otherwise.
  

Heres the second patch regarding the major bugs we're planning to release in the first two weeks.

2nd Patch

• Switching to fullscreen should work correctly now.
  
• Updated to a newer version of steamworks, which should fix some crashes.
  
• Fixed the a bug where people were ready but displayed otherwise.
  

Hello everyone,

As promised heres the first patch of 3 that we have planned to release in first two weeks. The goal is to fix the most game-breaking bugs that are currently in the game.

• Tweaked the score to 120.
  
• Reduced the amount of points an objective yields from 40 to 30.
  
• Made some improvements with an issue where lag would change the direction you're looking at.
  
• Added Flock call and Light size to keyboard rebind settings.
  
• Fixed an issue with rebinding keys.
  
• Added texture resolution options to the graphics settings menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could end up in someone else's tutorial.
  
• Fixed the issue where some people would receive a countdown timer when they start the game.
  
• Fixed the "string not found" bug.
  

Hello everyone,

As promised heres the first patch of 3 that we have planned to release in first two weeks. The goal is to fix the most game-breaking bugs that are currently in the game.

• Tweaked the score to 120.
  
• Reduced the amount of points an objective yields from 40 to 30.
  
• Made some improvements with an issue where lag would change the direction you're looking at.
  
• Added Flock call and Light size to keyboard rebind settings.
  
• Fixed an issue with rebinding keys.
  
• Added texture resolution options to the graphics settings menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could end up in someone else's tutorial.
  
• Fixed the issue where some people would receive a countdown timer when they start the game.
  
• Fixed the "string not found" bug.
  

The Flock is Now Available on Steam!

The Flock is an asymmetrical multiplayer thriller, where you get to play as one of the agile monsters that make up the Flock. Hunt down and attack the Carrier to take its place. Survive and fend off the terrifying Flock with the coveted Light Artifact .