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The Church in the Darkness

 
Pre-Orders Are Open for The Church in the Darkness™ Physical Release!Nov 8, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsLimited Run Games has announced that pre-orders are open for a cool physical edition of The Church in the Darkness! Find out more below: PlayStation 4/Nintendo Switch Edition - USD $34.99 {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/fc0bbf92cd33e9a30e22f98f5d41d4b4edf52367.png PlayStation 4 Edition: The Church in the Darkness is on a region-free physical disc for the PlayStation 4. Also works on the PlayStation 5. Nintendo Switch Edition: The Church in the Darkness is on a region-free physical cart for the Nintendo Switch. Make sure to pre-order your copy from Limited Run Games so you don't miss out! Pre-orders are open from November 7th to December 10th.The Church in the Darkness is 90% off in the Fellow Traveller Publisher Sale!Sep 18, 2023 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/7b512fffbdbb19a9691c4d114d1ac70ef20c47b8.png The annual Fellow Traveller Publisher Sale is now on - and to celebrate, The Church in the Darkness is 90% off! ➡️ Take me to the Publisher Sale ⬅️ There are plenty more Fellow Traveller titles on sale to choose from - so whether you're looking for something new, a bargain, some cool soundtracks and bundles, or even something to play on Steam Deck, we're sure to have something just for you. We're also thrilled to announce that three new games are joining the Fellow Traveller family; Scrabdackle, Wander Stars and Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo - read up on each of them below! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32967820/40c1797b8a73e5d9ffe2140b51ffa845f73fec0e.gif Wander Stars: Follow the story of Ringo and Wolfe as they join forces to collect the pieces of the Wanderstar Map in this turn-based RPG with roguelite elements! Use words to create your own fighting techniques, befriend your rivals, and explore the universe in an adventure inspired by 90s anime. Scrabdackle: As a novice wizard, discover the intricate world of Scrabdackle and experience the impact wizardkind has unknowingly had upon it. Scrabdackle is a hand-drawn, non-linear adventure with a vast, intricate overworld, tight and responsive combat, cheeky banter, and pages of lore to discover. Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo: A 3D adventure where you play as Kulebra, a dead snake with a heart of gold that wakes up in Limbo. Use your wits and keen eye to gather clues from the residents and find items that will help uncover the mystery of Limbo and its curse that traps souls into repeating the same day on loop.So get exploring and grab some great narrative games!The Church in the Darkness - 90% Off For LudoNarraConMay 4, 2023 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/753e1c3342fc752ec58b4d2672b305d759ebb903.png We're proud to once again have The Church in the darkness participating in this year’s LudoNarraCon sale which kicks off today and lasts until May 11th. Perfect time for you or a friend to venture deep into the cult jungles of The Church in the Darkness for 90% off. And I (project director Richard Rouse) will also be participating in the panel Game Stories Told in Most Unexpected & Surprising Ways - watch it as part of the loop on the LudoNarraCon page on Steam or on YouTube anytime right here: Be sure to check out LudoNarraCon, where you can find everything about the fifth annual digital festival held exclusively on Steam to find some other dark and interesting narrative video games, including talks and streams from the developers that make them. Or check out some narrative game demos - there's always some new hidden jems to be found at LudoNarraCon. Not all the games features will all promise cults in the jungle, but there's more to life than joining the Collective Justice Mission. Right? Right? - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the DarknessLudoNarraCon: Shocking Developments panel + On Sale!May 5, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsLudoNarraCon - the Steam festival dedicated to narrative games - is taking place right now, May 5th-9th, and you can get The Church in the Darkness for 80% off, or complete your cult experience by picking up the True Believer Special Edition soundtrack & extra videos for the same discount which makes it quite a deal indeed. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/08e19ee7d019ee971301f7bbc0e4326005393aff.png As part of this LNC I am hosting the "Shocking Developments: Subverting Expectations with Game Stories" panel. I'm sure Church and other games I've worked on will come up, and I'm sharing the stage with some great writers: Antony Johnston (Resident Evil Village and many more), Heather Albano (A Study in Steampunk: Choice by Gaslight and many more), and Xalavier Nelson (Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator and many more). Catch it when it loops on the LudoNarraCon page. : Or watch the video right here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNz70KC4ij8 Find all the LudoNarraCon games and such right here: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/LudoNarraCon We've been in LudoNarraCon before - if you missed them, check out some of our favorite videos from past conferences: Panel on Telling Dark Stories with Games Panel on "The Evolution of Game Narrative" with our guest writers Steve Meretzky, Brian Moriarty, Brenda Romero and special guest Clara Fernandez-Vera Q&A with our voice actors & musicians John Patrick Lowrie & Ellen McLain That's plenty of high quality convention talks for you to enjoy - and all for free and from the comfort of your Steam platform of choice. Thanks to Fellow Traveller for running LudoNarraCon and supporting the narrative game scene. They've got their own cult following... - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the Darkness {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/ff3f411f3d3f0eb6813727db65270f1005a0ce87.jpgOn Sale for LudoNarraCon + "Telling Dark Stories with Games" PanelApr 24, 2021 - Community AnnouncementsLudoNarraCon - the Steam festival dedicated to narrative games - is taking place right now, April 23 - 26. The Church in the Darkness has exhibited at all the previous LNC events, and right now we're going to be on sale for this one! A good time to head to the jungle if you yet come to join us. As part of this LNC I hosted the "Telling Dark Stories with Games" panel. I talk about Church on there, and share the stage with some great dark storytelling panelists: Emily Short (Sunless Skies, Sunless Seas, Fallen London), Marta Fijak (Frostpunk) and Thomas Grip (Amnesia series, SOMA). Catch it when it loops on the LudoNarraCon page, or watch the video recording whenever you want (on demand) right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osBN80_AhNo Or you can check out all the great panels and LudoNarraCon content over here: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ludonarracon?tab=4 I mentioned we've done LudoNarraCon before - if you missed them, check out some of our favorite videos from past conferences: Q&A with our voice actors & musicians John Patrick Lowrie & Ellen McLain Game Stream with our voice actor Arif S. Kinchen Game Stream with cult enthusiast Brock Wilbur Pre-Launch Game Stream with streamer & game designer Geoffrey Card Panel on "The Evolution of Game Narrative" with our guest writers Steve Meretzky, Brian Moriarty, Brenda Romero and special guest Clara Fernandez-Vera That's a lot of talking about the game! I think there's some really fun and fascinating discussions in there. Thanks to our publisher Fellow Traveller who created LudoNarraCon and keeps championing weird narrative games like ours. And remember, we're on sale for the duration of the event! When better to come to come join/escape our cult. - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the Darkness Version 1.42 + True Believer DLC Update + Sale!Dec 16, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsThis dark December brings several updates that we've combined into one, and this week it's all on sale. Come, listen. Version 1.42 We've just published our version 1.42 which adds some more functionality and polishes our "Notes" feature that we introduced in v1.4. To recap, our last updated added a Notes menu item, letting players review all of the documents they have unlocked in their many journeys through Freedom Town, letting you review notes you have collected over multiple playthroughs. We like how this showcases all the different narrative pieces our writers and artists came up with for the game's collectable documents, and lets you read them in the calm between playthroughs. Read more about the feature in our last update: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/339830/view/2907598989583047897 This 1.42 version adds a "Total Collected" counter in the top left of the screen so you can track your progress in collecting all the many documents you might find in Freedom Town. V1.42 also improves the interface on the menu, adds Japanese translation to the new screen, and fixes some other UI and polish items. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/396651263bfb44964d28dfd9f76b92328df233b4.jpg Update to the True Believer Special Edition Our True Believer Special Edition is our DLC that includes our soundtrack and a number of Behind the Scenes videos, and we've just expanded it with two new videos! These were clips we had in the vault that we thought people would really enjoy checking out - we've edited them and synced them up with the best sound. The videos are live in studio recordings of songs by our cult leaders and voice actors extraordinaire Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie. One of the new videos features Ellen doing a spirited alternate take on that ultimate cult tune "The Working Song," a fan favorite of our players. In the second John does a perfect one-take performance of "Flee As a Bird" which he sings while simultaneously finger picking his guitar. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/64fab9a711c72128411c11bc8d618f2ac33e813e.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/1c07b1ccae1084fb9a9efc0b6c181a2c03e0ab2b.jpg If you already purchased the True Believer edition, you will automatically get these files added to your collection. And if you haven't become a True Believer yet, now's a perfect time to pick it up, because it's on sale too! Fellow Traveller Sale And to cap off this announcement, this week we're on sale along with a bunch of friend titles from our publisher Fellow Traveller. If you've already played us, take a look at Fellow Traveller's other titles for some uniquely rich narrative experiences. Or return to us. Get back into the jungle and use our new feature to see if you can locate all the journals, newspaper clippings, inter-cult memos, stained Polaroids, postcards, and cries for help that are tucked away in some footlocker in Freedom Town... The story they tell is the story of all of us. - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the Darkness Update V1.4 Now AvailableNov 24, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsWe've now rolled out our new version our new version 1.4, featuring our note tracker, available via the Notes entry on the main menu. This tracks all the notes & documents you find in your playthroughs of the game and lets you read or re-read them whenever you want. After a few revisions and polish we're happy to bring this new feature out of Beta and make it part of the main build for everyone to play. Your game should automatically update to this version. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/9bbb607dbe41c338e65fd8cc426ff0e436155c20.jpg As you travel through Freedom Town, in desks, trunks, and other searchable spots you'll collect documents that you can read in game. But some people have mentioned reading them during gameplay can be stressful given how intense the game can be. Plus, since not every document is in every playthrough, it was previously impossible to read all the notes in one place. So we made the new "Notes" menu. We love this feature because now you can explore the full narrative of the game across multiple playthroughs, and to read the notes not during stressful gameplay but from the calm between games. Our writers and artists put a bunch of work into these, and we wanted to shine an extra spotlight on them through this new menu. You can even explore how these documents and the story change between different versions of the cult, because we show you all the different versions of a specific document you might find in different playthroughs. And you can also see what notes you haven't found yet, giving you a good reason to venture back into the jungle again and see if you can find what you're missing. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/c268afff0cf80fc38a1c634210a59c65d4def0c9.jpg Want to know how to find one you're missing? Keep searching those desks, the bulletin boards, and also the red chests in the chapels. The more you search in a single play-through, the more obscure the documents you will start to find... And remember, you can never find them all in a single playthrough. We're looking forward to seeing who will be first to collect all the notes. We should remind you that we have only been tracking your Notes/Document collection since our 1.3 patch, so if you're a long time player not everything you've found will be displayed. Good reason to go hunting in Freedom Town for those missing documents. And thanks again to folks who tested this out in Beta! The Collective Justice Mission has so many different stories to share with you - to find them all, you'll have to spend a good amount of time in the jungle. Let us know when you think you've found them all. - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the DarknessNew Beta: "Notes" Tracker on the Main MenuOct 12, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsWe've been working on a new feature that we'd love for you to try out before we set it live in the main branch/build - it's a new Notes tracker/collector, accessible from the main menu! This is something we've been wanting to get in the game for a while, and it helps you explore the full narrative of the game across multiple playthroughs. We also think it shines a light on an area of the game we think deserves more attention: the many notes and documents you can collect over repeated playthroughs of the game. As you travel through Freedom Town, in desks, trunks, and other searchable spots you'll be able to collect documents that you can read in game. But some people have mentioned reading them during gameplay can be stressful given how intense the game can be. Plus, since not every document is in every playthrough, it was previously impossible to read all the notes in one place. FIRST, to access it you'll need to download our Beta build. To do that, select the game in your Steam library list, Right Click on it and select "Properties", go to the "Betas" tab, and select "publicbeta - Public Beta w Notes Menu" (no password required). It should immediately download. Once you have that downloaded, from the main menu just select the item "Notes (Beta)" and try it out. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/d30a28470a3287eef15d4e32590ff469a83359bf.jpg Note that this beta should be fully compatible with the main game, and you won't lose any save data for trying it out. In it's beta form, not all notes are tracked, but we're working on that. Also we have only been tracking your Note/Document collection since our 1.3 patch, so if you're a long time player not everything will be displayed. Good reason to go hunting in Freedom Town for those missing documents. Much thanks if you do try it out! Let us know what you think, or if you encounter any issues/bugs. Or sit back and wait for it to hit the main branch once we've got it all finished... - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the DarknessTrue Believer DLC Update + Sale + Vinyl AnnouncementAug 28, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, We just did an update to our build last week, but in addition to being on a week long sale right now (through Monday), I wanted mention a different kind of update we just did... True Believer DLC Update If you've picked up The Church in the Darkness you may have seen we also have our True Believer DLC which includes our soundtrack and behind the scenes videos featuring voice over sessions, music recording, some interesting monologues that didn't make it in the game, and various other interesting items. We've just added another video to our True Believer collection! We recently dug up this unreleased raw video, edited it together, and thought it would make a good addition to the DLC. It features our cult leaders Rebecca and Isaac Walker (played of course by Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie) singing "Where We'll Never Grow Old" from the soundtrack. You may have heard the song already if you got that particular ending, but now you can enjoy seeing them perform it. If you have the DLC already, it should just pop up in your library along with the rest of the files. If you don't have the True Believer DLC, it's also on a good sale right now! But also, not to despair, we've also posted this new video up on YouTube: Adding materials to the True Believer edition is something we'll be doing more of later this year, partly because we just like looking through our archives, but also because we like to think of the True Believer videos as an evolving record of what went into making the game. Vinyl Soundtrack Pre-Orders Available For those who are really into the soundtrack, today we also announced that our soundtrack is coming out on limited double vinyl! This has all new artwork that was done to make it look like a real 1970s record, and we're proud to have worked on it with our good friends at Minimum Records. This includes both the 10 songs John & Ellen did on disc 1, but then also Andre Maguire's 18 track soundtrack on disc 2. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/b3ea71ae8576ee89ee64ecf40495a5b1a5337196.png To learn more about it, check out one of the links below. • Pre-order (UK/EU/World) https://bit.ly/3jov8GE • Pre-order (US) https://bit.ly/34ImLBI Now we've had our music fun, back to work updating the game itself... - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the Darkness Inventory Fix Update + MoreAug 23, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsHey everybody, Wanted to let everyone know that we did a small patch this weekend that also sets up our next update. Update 1.3 Live First up, we just did a small update where we fixed some bugs in the inventory when using mouse control which sometimes resulted in lost items, or using items at the wrong time. Steam should have auto-updated you to version 1.3 to get this patch. This was something rare and that had been eluding us for a while, but we were able to finally pin down how to reproduce it and got it fixed. Now using the mouse with the inventory should work well, let us know if you see any other issues inventory-wise. But also in this build is the wiring for something you won't actually SEE until our next patch. We've introduced a new system that tracks and saves what you collect in each game playthrough, and we're working on a cool way to display that in game, both so you can review it when you're not in the middle of a difficult infiltration but also to help you track how much of the game you've uncovered. We'll be introducing that patch in September, but slipped some of the infrastructure for it into this build, so it'll start tracking what you've collected in games as of now. I'm being a little nebulous here because I want to have it be a bit of a surprise when you release the feature later, but I think you'll like it. And as always, if you see anything weird or buggy in this build or any build, let us know in the comments below! LudoNarraCon Swag Sent & Received As I mentioned in our last update, we had a great time showing at LudoNarraCon - if you signed up to receive some swag as part of that you should have received your little care package in the mail by now. We know at least one fan in Sweden got theirs: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/9b8bffb8b090250fc3b97c674f0e77d886c9dbd4.jpg And if you want to catch up on our streams from LudoNarraCon, with some tips & tricks for playing as well as secrets about the game you probably didn't know, check out talking voice acting with Arif S. Kinchen or talking cult lore with Brock Wilbur. And One More Thing to Hint at... We've also got one more secret in our cult, which will be cool for people who have purchased the True Believer special edition (which comes with our soundtrack and some nice Behind the Scenes videos). We're hoping to share something about that in the next few weeks. For now, remember to let us know in the comments below what you think, or if you spot any issues in the new build. And check back for more updates soon and good luck in the jungle! - Richard Director/Designer/Programmer/etc on The Church in the Darkness Update v 1.29 + Sale + LudoNarraCon StreamsJun 15, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, We just wrapped up a beta weekend with several players trying out our new Steam controller fix build, and everyone has reported back it is working for them. So we have taken it out of Beta and released it as Version 1.29 of the game. Your game should automatically update to this version. This build should also should fix much rarer cases of Xbox controllers not working. We also included some fixes to the difficulty system, as well as some more tuning to our guards and how responsive they are. And to go along with this latest update, we've also put the game on sale all this week! This primarily fixes problems with the Steam controller sometimes not allowing the player to shoot their gun - this was a problem that mysteriously popped up post launch, perhaps due to an update to the controller API. Our fix is a combination of this new version of the game plus a "recommended" custom controller configuration specifically for the Steam Controller. With your Steam controller turned on and connected, before launching Steam should automatically pick our controller configuration "Steam Controller for The Church in the Darkness by Paranoid Productions". To check that this controller is selected, visit the controller configuration screen for the game in Steam's Big Picture mode. The Steam controller has always worked if you connect it after the game launches, and that should still work as well. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/da2cd735c7837b2fc1d10a70ee5c49488ca88a88.jpg If anyone has trouble with any controllers with this build, please let us know in the comments or community forum. This was something that ended up taking much longer to solve than we anticipated, and is one of those moments in game development where you look back and wonder "should we have focused on something else with this time?" But we like our Steam controllers and we know people who like the Steam controller really like it a lot, and we'd committed to finding the best solution to this problem we could. And now that this controller issue is out of the way, it frees us up to look at a few other features we've had our eye on. If there's other bugs or anything else that still bugs you, let us know in the community forums. LudoNarraCon Streams We had a great time doing streams back at the LudoNarraCon Steam games festival a few months ago, and if you missed it live you can catch up on our Streams from that event on YouTube. These include talks with our actor Arif S. Kinchen (also from Saint's Row and The Suffering) as well as cult-expert Brock Wilbur. Each also go into some tips and tricks for the game as you can watch me try to explore less well traveled corners of the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUmG_VV0zNs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6mT2UFGOaE Hope those show you some insight into other corners of the game. Thanks to our guests, and let us know what you think! - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the DarknessSteam Controller Beta BuildJun 13, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, We've had a few bug reports come in the last few months about Steam controllers not working correctly with the game, specifically players not being able to hold the left trigger down and then fire with the right trigger. A similar problem happened This has been a really baffling bug for us to fix, as it was working at launch and broke sometime after that for mysterious reasons. We got some helpful feedback in our forums that helped lead us in the right direction and we think we now have a fix! It's a combination of a "recommended" custom controller configuration for the Steam Controller and a new build of the game. Right now we're trying this out in a beta branch. If anyone wants to jump in and see if it works for them before we set it live for everyone. To try it, go to Properties on The Church in the Darkness in your Steam library, go to the Betas tab, then select the branch "publicbeta" (which does not require a password). With your Steam controller turned on and connected, before launching Steam should automatically pick our controller configuration "Steam Controller for The Church in the Darkness by Paranoid Productions". To check that this controller is selected, visit the controller configuration screen for the game in Steam's Big Picture mode. With that, you should be able to aim (left trigger) and fire (right trigger) without trouble. We think this will also fix a similar problem people sometimes (rarely) had with wired Xbox 360 controllers. Those of you who love your Steam controllers probably know more about the intricacies of this setup than us, so feedback is very much welcomed. Let us know if you try it and if it works for you! - Richard Director/Designer on The Church in the DarknessThis Weekend: Sales, Streams, & Giveaways for LudoNarraConApr 24, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsThis is the weekend - April 24th-27th - for the online convention dedicated to fascinating narrative games, LudoNarraCon, and we'll be participating in a number of ways we think you'll like. Get The Church in the Darkness for 50% Off For the duration of LudoNarraCon, you can pick up The Church in the Darkness for half off! Game Streams with Arif Kinchen and Brock Wilbur As part of LudoNarraCon, we'll be doing two streams hosted on our Store page which will loop all weekend. Each will have me (Richard) playing the game and showing off some advice and tips players may not know about. And with me I'll welcome two very special guests: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/f1c5b933b373990cfa5d8f3539e08dc8223e5077.png First up we have Arif S. Kinchen, the voice actor who plays Alex, Charles and Scooter in the game. Or you may know him as Miles from The Suffering: Ties that Bind, or as Pierce Washington in the Saint's Row games. He's also taken up streaming our game over at twitch.tv/askblooddrive, so also look for him there. Next up we have Brock Wilbur: journalist, knower of cults, and as it happens a big fan of our game. He will be on to talk about the game and ask me some questions about why the game is like it is, while we discuss other cults they find fascinating. You can find both of these playing on a loop on our Steam store page. Evolution of Game Narrative Panel Also, as part of LudoNarraCon you can head over to the main page to see The Evolution of Game Narrative panel. This is moderated by myself and features three of the guest writers from the game: Steve Meretzky, Brian Moriarty, and Brenda Romero, along with narrative design specialist and scholar Clara Fernandez-Vara. We'll be talking how game narrative has changed over the years, and with that lineup it should be a fun conversation. The panel will debut at noon Pacific Time on Friday, and then will repeat over the course of LudoNarraCon weekend. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/f80a6d505d5fa0db70c5fd3b7d163d754160b422.png To find that, go to the LudoNarraCon home page. How About Convention Giveaways? Though LudoNarraCon is an online convention, one of our favorite parts of the in-person cons we attend is getting to give away some Church themed items to folks who come by our booth. We like making them and we like giving them out. But online events don't normally have that! But we figure we can still mail a few goodies out. We've got revolutionary pins, recruitment brochures, and a few Isaac/Rebecca Walker devotional cards signed by Ellen McLain and john Patrick Lowrie... If you'd like to be entered in our random drawing to receive some convention swag in the mail, please fill out this form to give us your mailing info. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/94be1053c201bc9565a09b85f3b8a50fb64ccb24.jpg Hope you like LudoNarraCon and enjoy a weekend of unique narrative games. And if you haven't been to our jungle utopia yet, now is the perfect time to come visit. And stay. - Richard Director/Designer/Writer of The ...We're exhibiting at LudoNarraCon April 24-27!Apr 14, 2020 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/96571571c86f0c9ee4008f86f631da88a37d54d1.jpg LudoNarraCon is a free digital festival running April 24 - 27 here on Steam that celebrates narrative games like our’s! Tune in to see behind-the-scenes streams from over 40 narrative games, download and play over 20 demos, and watch live panels from narrative developers. We hope you’ll visit our Steam page during the event: we’re excited to livestream 3-4 hours of behind the scenes content for you. It’ll replay on a loop for the duration of the event, so come anywhere and anytime starting April 24th until the 27th. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33025617/444e06fb19a7239b822794cb52719143a7eea0bc.png As part of LudoNarraCon, nearly half of the exhibitors will be offering free demos...! Enjoy a taste of these games from the comfort of your home on your schedule. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33025617/35480336bf9cd9a1237af6e00198b16592826b6a.png Developers and publishers will stream live on their games' Steam store pages with behind-the-scenes content, couch chats, and demo gameplay. We hope you'll tune into our stream during the event! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33025617/5a005b62cd1985f9d7afa3824dc41b14b3ba2f00.png A main theatre stream will feature 12 hours of live panels with game developers, writers, journalists, and other industry influencers. Panels will cover everything from narrative design, game localization, how to create player empathy, and much more. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33025617/8803a6be25b72623c396c889839e9ba3cf1c8f90.png The LudoNarraCon Sale launches on Steam during the event, with more than 50 story-rich games participating. ATTEND FOR FREE, FROM ANYWHERE, ANY TIME All live streaming content will replay on a loop for the rest of the event, making it easy to check out everything from the comfort of your own home on your schedule! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278734/aa3b709944e4c8bddf0d192955ba75cf0d1599d2.png Excited and don't want to miss out? Visit this Steam page to set a calendar reminder. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278734/181d5e93d21ccb7e5e6426d71e12d34ba97e11de.gifUpdate v1.25 AvailableMar 23, 2020 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/cd69a4b7b4a406710f33366225be973608f6a446.jpg Our latest build update v1.25 is now live on Steam! This has a number of improvements we've been working on: Reworked Alex's follow behavior. In particular this fixes cases where he could box the player into a corner and there would be no way to get out without knocking him out or killing him. Now you have no excuse to not get him out of Freedom Town! Unless you think he should stay in that playthrough... (And if you ever see him blocking you with this new build, please let us know.) Per request, on the Graphics Settings menu added custom settings for Shadow Quality, Anti Aliasing Level, and Lighting. To access these go the Settings menu, then look for the Graphics Settings sub-menu. Played with some guard behavior modifications to vary up gameplay a bit more. In particular, tuned the "Red Hat" Guard's behavior to be more aggressive - be careful when you try to get past them. And remember to always look at a guard's hat to get an idea how much trouble they're going to give you. For controller players, fixed bugs where cancelling out of menus would sometimes lead to a state where no item was selected and you'd have to switch to mouse to progress. Fixed bug with Charles' sight cones being the wrong colors if you were using the alternate/color blindness UI settings. Also, if you've been having issues with your Steam controller and our game, we recently discovered that sometimes gun firing does not work if the controller is on when the game launches. The quick fix to this is cycle the power on/off on your Steam Controller once the game is already launched. Steam Button + Y turns it off, and then Steam Button turns it back on and you should be good to go. Let us know if you see any other issues with the Steam controller. Of course this new version 1.25 also rolls up all our previous updates, including: Camera/Controls Changes - New camera control feels a lot less "floaty". Now when the player stops, the camera stops, which we think feels a lot more tight. But there's also an option on the Settings menu to turn it off if you prefer how it used to play. Alternative UI Colors - Also on the Settings menu, this new option lets you change the color on UI elements, specifically the sight cones. This was something we had numerous requests for, as the original colors are particularly hard to read for people with colorblindness. Our non-Permadeath mode if you’re playing on the “Interloper”/Easier difficulty level - lets you save the game and load from that save multiple times if things don’t go the way you want, or you want to experiment with getting different endings. And catch up on all the changes since our launch here: https://churchinthedarkness.tumblr.com/post/613423215119843328/our-latest-build-update-v125-is-now-live-on And as a last thought, when all the world seems mad, let our utopia deep in the jungles become your home. As Preacher Isaac tells us, "Is life worth living if you a...On Sale This Weekend! Returning to LudoNarraCon April 24-27!Feb 7, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsLast year we had a fantastic time exhibiting at LudoNarraCon, the free digital convention hosted on Steam that celebrates unique narrative games. Now it's coming back on April 24-27, and we're happy to be returning. And to celebrate, this weekend we've got our game on sale - great time to pick it up, or to get your friends to join our cult. LudoNarraCon Returns April 24-27 For LudoNarracon 2020 we're working on interesting content to feature, including more talk about cults, looking at hidden bits of the game with streamers, and maybe even giving away some merch. It'll be just like one of the big physical conventions we've done, but with it being online, no matter where you are, you can attend as well. LudoNarraCon will include 30+ narrative games exhibiting on their Steam pages, great sales on lots of games, along with 12 hours of live panels. And it's all available free to the public on Steam. Check out this montage of some of the interesting games being featured: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjnumLK9LyU To see more about LudoNarraCon or to sign up to its mailing list, visit: www.ludonarracon.com Looking Back at LudoNarraCon 2019 For a refresher, last year at LudoNarraCon we featured a gameplay stream with Undead Labs' Geoffrey Card and myself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsqL5aM0tRM And we also had a long and very fun interview with our own cult leaders, actors Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie. Check out our archive of those streams below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzUOraASA9Q What would you like us to feature at LudoNarraCon this year? Let us know in the comments. We look forward to seeing you there. - Richard Director on The Church in the Darkness Update v1.2 Available + Last Days of the Winter SaleDec 30, 2019 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/6da923bb1c7c1e308ef356c7d9b6a99d1cd9cb9b.png Update v1.2 After our quick beta test, we've completed our bug fixing/polishing and our update to Version 1.2 has been posted for all to play as the Steam main build. Here's what you can find: Camera/Controls Changes - New camera control feels a lot less "floaty". Now when the player stops, the camera stops, which we think feels a lot more tight. Update to the Swing Camera - We also updated the "camera swing" feature - which you use to look farther around your character and access with the arrow keys (by default) or the right stick. This now feels a lot more "under control" as well and doesn't automatically swing back over your character until you start moving. Control Options - The above camera features are on by default. However, if you want the camera back the way it was before, we have that covered too. Go to the Settings menu and you can tick the "Re-Center Camera After Moving" and "Swing Camera Re-Centers" options and it will feel the same as it did previously. You can mix and match which of the features feels best to you. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/886e66a957e0e4a26b7147f928586a361aebe65d.jpg Alternative UI Colors - Also on the Settings menu, this new option lets you change the color on UI elements, specifically the sight cones. This was something we had numerous requests for, as the original colors are particularly hard to read for people with colorblindness. Here the default is still the same, but we've added three different alternate color schemes that hopefully provide an option that works for you. But if not please let us know and we can keep refining them in a future update. Of course this new version 1.2 also rolls up all our previous updates, including: Our non-Permadeath mode if you're playing on the "Interloper"/Easier difficulty level - lets you save the game and load from that save multiple times if things don't go the way you want, or you want to experiment with getting different endings. Steam Cloud Saves now enabled as well as various fixes to our save games. And catch up on all the changes since our launch here: https://churchinthedarkness.tumblr.com/post/188049292174/the-church-in-the-darkness-v11-now-available Winter Sale Also, as the year ends now would be a good time to pick up the game, or tell someone else to pick up the game, or make it a festive New Year's gift, because we are on sale in Steam's magnificent Winter Sale. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/9552ccd79b16dafe85db60e31d97dd00741d1d2d.png Come everyone - our compound in the jungle may be inexplicably and impossibly surrounded by snow, but inside we are warm. Gather close and we will tell you the greatest truth, that now is the time to come to our light. Or gift us to a friend to have them join our community shining through this winter darkness. - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the Darkness Beta Build for UI Colors & Camera OptionsDec 23, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsHi everyone, We've been working away on our latest update and feel we have it pretty close to done, but want to do a little more testing before we update the main branch of the game. But we realized maybe some of you would like to test it out and give us feedback. Specifically, this is because one of our changes has to do with changing the colors of the UI, of particular interest to players who have some version of colorblindness, something we've had numerous requests for. We've included three different alternate color schemes (in addition to the default) that hopefully will cover most people. But if you want to see how well it works for you, we'd love to hear about it. Once you have the beta, just go to the settings screen to try out the different options. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/1aead04a1e9604ad36dbaed0205ad92cbe707bec.jpg The other big change for this build is we have changed how the main camera in the game works, to make it a bit less swooshy - when you stop, now the camera will immediately stop as well. Also the "Swing Camera" feature (accessed from the right stick or the arrows by default) will also not swing back over the character until you start moving again. I like this chane a lot - if you try this out we'd love to know what you think. If you'd like the camera back the way it was, we have that covered too - just go to the Settings menu and you can tick the "Re-center Camera After Moving" and "Swing Camera Re-centers" options and it will go back the way it was. To try out any of this, you need to opt-in to access the beta. To do that, right click on the game in your library list, go to Properties, then select the "Betas" tab. Then you want to select the one labeled "publicbeta" (no password required) close the dialog box, and it should automatically start downloading. Once you are in the game, look for "1.19Beta" as the build version in the upper left on the settings screen. There's a few small bugs we know about, but you may not even notice them. If all goes well, we plan to have these features a little more tested on our end, hear anything anyone picks up on, and then have the game on our main branch by the end of the week. - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the DarknessOn Sale This Week! + Update on our Next UpdateDec 10, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsA quick post that in case you haven't picked the game up yet, we are on a pretty nice sale this week, so it's a great time to venture into the jungle if you haven't yet. Also, for those of you who have already played the game, a quick status on our next update - we've been playing with some controls and camera tuning that we think you are going to like trying out. We're planning to make them an option to turn on, but may make them the new default. For this next update, we're also getting some more graphics options in, including something for our colorblind players. We'll share more once we post the update, we're definitely aiming for before the holidays. And if you've already played the game and are waiting for that next update, I wanted to bring you one of my favorite streams about the game. On launch day we had Seattle streamer Blonde Viking stream the game on our Steam page. Then a few weeks later, I went on his show talking about the inspirations, challenges of development and patches that were coming (at the time - basically everything I discuss in the video is now in the build). And of course this was all while his viewers lobbed us questions. Check it out here, but watch out, it's quite long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8kw_GYC26w As usual, if you have any questions post them below! Look for another update from us soon. - Richard Director/Designer/Writer on The Church in the Darkness Update v1.1.3 Available - with Non-Permadeath OptionOct 29, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsWe have just posted our update v 1.1.3, which implements a new non-permadeath mode. We wanted to get this in to coincide with us going 30% off as part of Steam's Halloween sale! The non-permadeath mode (permalife mode?) is available if you play the game in the easiest difficulty - Interloper. The way this works is simple - when you play the game on the Interloper difficulty you will be able to save the game and continue playing. If you then die or decide to quit, you can load up that save again. We've had several requests for something like this - though we thought permadeath was important to the higher difficulties, we knew players who found the game hard enough could really benefit form giving a second (or third, or fourth...) chance. It can also be helpful if you want to explore some different endings without having to replay a whole game. But keep in mind this only works if you use those Save game options on the pause menu. If you play and die without saving your progress at any point, you'll be starting a fresh game just like before. You are still limited to just one save file, and if you start a new game at a higher difficulty it will wipe your old save (as it always has). Note this is just referring to saved games, not saved settings: your unlocks and endings progress which will be preserved as they always have. We are currently marking this feature as experimental. We have tested it and don't know of any issues, but with save game files there can always be surprises. Please let us know if you find anything and we can fix it in our next patch. Some other items included in this update: Steam cloud saves are now working and will automatically backup your save files and transfer them to other places you may use Steam. Fixed a few existing bugs with save games that is also a bit of a performance boost in some situations. A little adjustment to the controls, working toward a more extensive refinement in our next build. As always, let us know what you think in the comments. For those of who want it, the jungle just became a little more forgiving - and for the rest of you, have you finished a game on the higher difficulties yet? - Richard {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12097543/d57d28ce119f0b5a93d37a71e8c23afaf2ee3262.gif

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