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Viscera Cleanup Detail

 
VCD 2; sneak peakFeb 26, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, all! ːvcdmopː With the new year already well underway, we wanted to share with you a little bit more of what we're up to and give you an early look at some of the design changes and vision we're going for in VCD 2 ahead of the showcase. We're confident that we have more than enough material for a sequel and lots of interesting improvements to add. While it's going to be a very long road, we are now confident we can achieve it in the more modern Unreal Engine, rather than just a simple port of the original. A port of the original levels will benefit from its development in one form or another. With that, we can say that the goal of a Viscera Cleanup Detail 2 is very much within reach. Just keep in mind that a lot of the developments you're about to see are subject to change. So without further ado, let's get into some of those developments shall we? Unreal Engine 5 As of right now, the project has been upgraded to Unreal Engine 5. There are a couple reasons for that. It contains a richer feature set that, in some areas may prove beneficial. Unreal Engine 4 is gradually going to be phased out and see less support. Upgrading now saves us a ton of headaches as VCD's code-base grows more complex. Migrating code is never fun... It's the natural next step. It has 5 in the name, which is a higher number than 4 if you can believe such a thing! With that being said, we still have some experimenting to do to assess whether or not UE5 is in-fact too advanced for a game like VCD, which needs to run on a variety of systems and not be pointlessly demanding. Fortunately, UE5 is very flexible, so we're confident it'll suit our needs. Design Changes With VCD 2 we're aiming for improvement and refinement over radical changes. We're trying to trim some of the fat and make it more streamlined while keeping the quirkiness and overall insanity of a VCD game. Then just build on that with more quality and new levels. However, there are a few key alterations. Uniqueness > Quantity One thing the original suffered from was an over-reliance on the same mechanics. Bullet Holes and casings, I'm looking at you! So, rather than having each level be a reskinning of the same mechanics of body and shell-casing cleanup with just a few minor additions, we've decided to make each new level center around a strong theme and carry that theme into all or most of the mechanics present in that level. More in line with how its DLCs were structured. This means that if the level is about a mining facility, then you can bet you're going to be having to fix up a lot of mining machinery. If it's about a medical facility, you're going to have to do a lot of blood cleanup and restoration of medical supplies, etc. So the focus will be more on making interesting mechanics for a level that won't necessarily appear in other levels, and to make the process and final result of the level's restoration a satisfying and beautiful thing to witness. To that end, each level will feature a set of the...Happy Holidays / Roadmap!Dec 14, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings hard-working interplanetary sanitizers! As we bring things to a close this year, we'd just like to take this moment to thank everyone for their continued support, and wish you all an amazing holiday. When one is stuck in the reeds, it's often difficult to come up for air and post updates. But one thing that always strikes us is your loyal support(even when we're dreadfully silent), and the great many of you who keep this community strong. Not to mention that one of our favorite activities is to browse your many screenshots, artwork and workshop creations. You guys are great, so here's to you! ːvcdsignː It has actually been quite a hard year for RuneStorm. We've not made nearly as much progress on our projects as we had hoped, have been facing a number of difficulties, been forced to reevaluate some things, and are horribly burned out at this point. Part of the job, true enough, but it still takes its toll all the same. In the wise words of Bilbo Baggins, we are like "Butter scraped over too much bread."; stretched. To that end we're taking some time off, and are looking to pick things up with renewed effort in the new year! What's to come We have some exciting stuff planned. Most notably, we hope to have a fully fleshed out VCD 2 Showcase ready for your eyes. This(for those of you who are not aware), will serve as a demonstration of where we're wanting to take a sequel. Of course, it will not be a complete picture by any means, but it will feature a number of new concepts and mechanics we think will serve its more refined design. All that being said, we really want to put our ideas out there and get your feedback, because as much as we have endless ideas(many of which are solid), VCD has always been stronger with the community's valuable input. When the showcase is ready, we'll also run through all the things we envision for its design, from new concepts, mechanics, themes, emphasis, tools and beyond. That way you'll get a sense of what the game might be like, and have the opportunity to be heard should you find something truly abhorrent. We're pretty excited to develop some new stuff for VCD, and hopefully not be bogged down by the numerous technical challenges that plague the original. We're also evaluating the best and most fair way to do justice to the original by means of the aforementioned port being developed alongside. The idea has always been to ensure VCD can live on in as functional a form as possible, and not do so with some nasty cash-grab approach which is all too popular in remakes these days. So that's the goal. We also have our other more secret project in the works. This one has faced a lot of challenges, but then it never was going to be an easy one... The new year should bring some developments there. Happy Holidays! Until then, I wish you all an amazing holiday, and hope that you're hunkered down with a mop in one hand and a broom in the other, ready to face down any alien(or human) mess that presents itself. May yo...Bob Plushie - Nearly there...Nov 5, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, noble janitors! ːvcdjanitorː With only five days left, my fellow Janitors have asked me(under threat of hazing) to inform you that time is running out to claim their limited edition Bob Plush! I've been instructed to inform you as well, that anyone seen sporting this fine fellow is sure to be causing some sleepless nights for Aerospace Sanitation! That in and of itself is a fine bonus if I say so myself! If you're still not sure if you want to stick it to the higher ups, then take another look at Bob's endearing puppy-dog eyes and tell me that's not the face of a hero worthy of a seat in your home? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/830f57995c6f51c489f21f25e1ccc84fd65148a0.png Be sure to claim yours while you can! ːvcdsignː As a reminder, our little friend in the Aerospace Sanitation printing factory needs to hit the 200 mark before he can actually produce anything, otherwise it's all for naught. Something about batch limits, I hear. We'd best not let him down, else he'll be caught by security for sure.Bob Plushie Now Available!Oct 20, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings all! As we work our way towards a showcase of what we've been up to with VCD and UE4, we wanted to take the time to give you guys another little bit of physical VCD merch you can decorate your headquarters with! To that end, we come with some exciting news from the custodial underground. One of our number has begun producing Limited Edition Bob plushies in clear contradiction of Aerospace Sanitation mandates! If you wish to show your support for Bob and the 'cause', then be sure to do your part and head on over to Makeship to order yours! If the campaign is fully funded, you'll then be receiving your very own plush Bob in no time! It's on sale now for $29.99, and runs until November 9th. Aerospace Sanitation cannot be allowed to intervene. Let Bob be remembered! He comes with his very own detachable mop, and a little belt and brush! Not to mention a whole lot of blood; He's seen some things... {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/830f57995c6f51c489f21f25e1ccc84fd65148a0.png He's sure to cause quite the stir no matter what part of your house he ends up in! Just, keep an eye on him. We don't know if he can be trusted. Questions? We have answers! Now, on to some of the questions you guys have regarding VCD's future plans: So what happens to the port / newer version? This is a tricky one. Given the workload required just to get a base version of VCD operating on UE4, making a full sequel instead makes more sense, as then at least we're making something new, which we'd love to do! However we also don't like the way the existing VCD is held back by the problems it has, and the aging nature of UE3. We'd hoped to future-proof it on UE4. So at this point the two are progressing side by side, sharing the same improvements, but a 1:1 port seems unlikely, given the mechanics will not be the same between the two. As I see it, there are 4 options, all of which have their pros and cons. Keep VCD as we know it, it stays on UE3 and we focus on using the UE4 platform solely for a sequel. Integrate the legacy levels into the sequel; easiest and most likely to regularly benefit from updates. But it's hard to avoid the package and pricing issues. Separate out the Legacy content into a branch of the UE4 base and make it a different item on Steam. A bit more work, trickier to maintain, but it's its own thing, clear as day. Also it won't necessarily have all the previous mechanics, or in the same way, as it's using the ever-developing code of the UE4 base, which will be leaner, at least to start with. A "VCD - Remastered" if you will... Separate out the Legacy content into a split off version of the UE4 base, and restore all existing content and mechanics. Considerably more work, but you get exactly what you're paying for. VCD as you know it, but on UE4. Its separated nature makes it much harder to maintain, because it's two separate projects being changed in parallel, with different mechanics and code. We're leaning toward option 3, as it's the most robust compromise, ...Progress Update; UE4 Showcase & Revelations!Oct 7, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings custodial crusaders! ːvcdjanitorː We thought we'd take some time to give you an exciting update on how things are progressing with VCD's UE4/5 future, lift the curtain of secrecy somewhat, and reveal something new! Progress has been consistent, but we're still climbing a mountain. At present we have incorporated most of the fundamental mechanics(and while they are still rough drafts), they are largely just lacking a nice shiny coat of content to dress up their appearance. This includes: Tools (Bins, Buckets, Mop, Broom, Welder, Shovel) Decals(Blood Splats, bullet holes, etc) Sounds(So many missing sounds... it's very quiet) Camera movements Networking Physics Objects Basically everything else... That process will be relatively quick, so we've not yet given it a huge amount of attention. One needs a solid skeleton before you can give it flesh. The latest major change to the fundamentals is that we've tackled one of the biggest hurdles for the User Interface; a generative system for creating Options and Rules menus. This, while not strictly necessary for the main game, is important in both modding and making it easy for us to add to the growing list of system settings as we go. It is finally working now and can begin to be used, so the rest of the UI for the game will be much quicker to develop. That being said, it's still basic at this point and needs many things, not least of which is a style change! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/9d6dea26f596866390569907931463ac4d124c24.png That can't be it... It's been months! Surely you've been doing more than that, you lazy bugger. Funny you should ask, because yes! As it turns out we have actually been very busy with another side of this project, and that is entirely new stuff. It has taken most of our time, so it's doing well. We're at present working on something big to showcase to you guys, but like with anything big, it takes time. We need to create quite a few new systems and content. "But why?" I hear you ask. Well to develop a concise package we can fully capture our intent with. "What are you on about? That didn't help at all!" Fair enough. Truth is, we're mashing together a lot of new design ideas, mechanics, content, and plans for a hypothetical VCD Sequel and then using that as a demo that you, our noble janitors can judge. The purpose of which is to try and capture our vision going forwards, and readjust based on your feedback. "Wait, does that mean...?" Yes, it means we're committed to making VCD on UE4/5, and that we're generally testing out the overall shape of what a sequel would look like. We already have a well-developed vision of what that looks like in our own minds, but the final demo will be its proving ground. "So it's a sequel, right?" Hush now, young Padawan. As a taste of what's to come, we can now show you a little of what we've been up to on that front. This is all of course subject to change, and the content is not final, but it's definitely on its way. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5...Progress Update; Future of VCD & UE4/5Jun 19, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsA fine day to you all, noble janitors! Although we've been quiet(a shocker, I know ːsteammockingː), we've also been very busy! While we were certainly hampered in our work for months on end due to endless rolling blackouts in the country as well as failing backup solutions, we've been getting closer and closer to an end goal. So despite it all, we have made some progress! Our other secret project is continuing to see revisions and refinements, and is going well, our estimates for when it'll be ready for a public audience have unfortunately all proven to be quite optimistic given the circumstances. At this point it'll be done when it's done. ːvcdmutantː As for VCD on Unreal Engine 4; the work is ongoing, and since the last update, a number of things have changed. We've added: Third person spare weapon props (the tools on your back and belt). All of which is also much more modable than previously. Screens and Punchout Machines(still need to do the UI for them) Added Blood Masks to tools Tons of small little improvements throughout the growing code-base. Sand Traps (colloquially known as "Saarlac Pits") Shovels Sand in Bins & Buckets Sand Mechanics in general Greater modibility in all features Much more besides. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/46d02b48c0fd8a5aeddd907101b8d75c22892312.png We've also been evaluating the port a lot(which is part of its original purpose), and have been testing out some large changes. I can't get into it now until we have something more solid we're confident with, but suffice to say we're doing some experimentation and dabbling in lots of new things along-side getting the entire base foundation of VCD working on UE 4/5. It's fair to say this has taken a good chunk of the time lately! Goals Moving Forward To clear up some confusion people have had with regards to what form the port will take and how it will affect the existing VCD, here is our goal and current thinking: Existing VCD as it stands will be Unaffected and will remain on Steam as is. The UE4/5 version will also be on Steam, and won't be subject to any exclusivity arrangements. It will be built on Unreal Engine 4, and later(during development and long before release) moved over to Unreal Engine 5. That may actually happen quite soon depending on what we need from the engine. Its code-base is being remade, and some content will be upgraded as a result of the new engine's requirements. It has some new features and improvements, so it's somewhere between a port and a remake at this point. The possibility of pivoting it to a full-blown sequel is not off the table, and to that end we've been doing a lot of experimenting, and have no shortage of ideas. It will not be free, as it represents a massive investment. If it ends up being just a port or remake, we'll do all we can to ensure existing owners of VCD get a reduced price, and possibly also some perks. We're being very conservative with the project at this point because it's still uncertain, a massive investment(in ter...Happy Holidays / Status ReportDec 15, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsA fine holiday greetings to you all, custodians! I trust those stations are being kept clean, and that you're all well? This year seems to have gone-by in a blur, so we thought we'd take a moment to let you all know what's been happening since this same time last year. Between countless disruptions making any steady work a challenge, we've been making reasonable progress on our two main focuses: VCD in UE4 and the 'Other Project' We also partnered with Makeship in July to create a limited edition janitor plushie, which was a successful foray into merch, and it was good to have something physical to give our community for a change, so when time allows we'd like to look into another. A MASSIVE thank you again to everyone for their support! I hope they have found a place of honour to perform their duties in your home. VCD in UE4 We've been continuing work on this one to some success. But in all honesty, it's taking far longer than expected... The main reason for this(beyond external disruptions), is that we're having to build the code-base from scratch and build it right. Something we didn't have to do with VCD before, because we already had many UDK projects previously made we could simply build upon. There is as much to learn about UE4's internal workings and limitations as there is actual code to write. Nonetheless, it is coming along well! Here is a rough rundown of what has been achieved since last year: Saving & Loading has been added. Editor Tools for placing Splats & Objects has been added. Broom, MuckGyver and Welder tools have all been added! Significant improvements to object networking and optimizations. Bins, Buckets and other containers now work much better in network. All Third-Person Animations and tools so far have been added and work in network. More common sounds and object types have been added. Bloody Footsteps have been added. Buckets, Mops, Boots and Brooms all now get filthy. Bullet Holes and Welder damage marks have been added. A lot of time has gone into the object networking. Because it's such a tricky system, squeezing out any improvement to its behaviour is a fine balance. Especially containers, they have seen significant improvements. It's finally at a point now where I think we can be happy with it, and you should notice significantly less desyncing. The core philosophy going in to improving the networking for objects was(as it usually is): "Make it look like nothing is happening." To that end, we've gotten pretty close and made a much more fluid system that's a bit less aggressive and much smoother. As well as all the improvements made to the game's systems, I managed to squeeze in our first new addition: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/84d47ad1e7d5bf564931d39a9b6e56c75087bdf1.jpg The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that the MuckGyver another player is holding now reports what it's detecting. Not only that, it also beeps for all to hear, allowing a single janitor to act as a team's dedicated "sniffer". And here are a...Janitor Plushie; Final Week!Jul 8, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsA fine day to all custodians! ːvcdjanitorː Aerospace Sanitation would like to inform you that you only have a few days left to claim their limited edition Janitor Plush! I've been instructed to inform you as well, that workers seen to be showing company spirit around the workplace will be "bumped-down the termination list". I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds nice! If you're still undecided, then you have just under a week left to pick up your very own soft doppelganger. Be sure to head over to the Makeship page to claim yours! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/e651688eb5875661f3a9a7f466fbd04aa8423ee3.jpg If he doesn't "wet your mop", so to speak, then be sure to let management know. That is to say, let us know in the comments what other plushies you'd like to see, and we can consider running another campaign with the community's top pick in the future!Janitor Plushie Funded!Jun 27, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, workers! Aerospace Sanitation is pleased to announce that thanks to your support, our Limited Edition Janitor Plush has just crossed the funding threshold and as such is now officially going into production! So you can all look forward to having the little bugger in your gloved hands in no time, and be able to put him to work around your own home "space-station"! Caution: Worker performance may vary as we are still unable to remove all personality from our subjects. If yours should prove defective, submit them for reeducation at once! Thank you for all the incredible support, everyone! If you are considering picking one up, then be sure to head over to the Makeship page and order yours. You still have until the 14'th of July to decide if he's a suitable accoutrement to your couch "control-room" before he's gone forever. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/2953d930add98ca64900622dbe1447237c99240e.jpg Janitor Plushie Now Available!Jun 22, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, noble custodians! ːvcdjanitorː Our Limited Edition Janitor Plush is now available for purchase! Be sure to head on over to Makeship and purchase yours! If the campaign is fully funded, you'll then be receiving your very own plush custodian in no time! It's on sale now for $27.99, and the first 200 buyers will also get a free Steam key for VCD to keep or gift as they please! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/cdf354f2a5822b165edb95ea267095c96a7d9bae.png Janitor Plush and Giveaway!Jun 20, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings hard-working(and not so hard-working) swabs! Very soon you'll be able to get your rubber-gloved hands on your very own Janitor Plush! As mentioned before, this is out first foray into Merch, and so we (and administration) have partnered with Makeship to ease most of the challenges involved. Aerospace Sanitation prizes itself on efficiency. :vcdmop: Behold, we present to you the living embodiment of the oft-forgotten space-station working class! :vcdjanitor: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/d0f2e09ad51b8c0342f5db1cd7ebfb454b2408db.jpg As you can see, despite his somewhat cute appearance, Aerospace Sanitation and Makeship together have done a remarkable job in capturing the soulless and emotionally numb look of Aerospace Sanitation's workers. The things they've seen, oof! Well, that's covered by Section 3 of the Non-Disclosure agreement under the standard Aerospace Station Contract, so we really cannot say... If the campaign goes well and you'd like more, we'll certainly be considering some other tasty plush options! Be sure to stop by the campaign page and sign up, so you'll get reminders, and ultimately be able to support the campaign. Until then, the administration and Makeship are offering a once in a lifetime opportunity. Where you will have the chance to win 1 of 2 Limited Edition Janitor Plushies! How to enter? 1. Simply follow @Makeship and @VisceraCleanup on Twitter 2. Retweet this post Contest ends June 22nd at 6PM (GMT). Good luck!Progress Update; MERCH! Wait...what?Jun 9, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, noble space Janitors and futuristic Custodians. I hope you are all keeping our glorious Conglomerate leaders happy, and are not eschewing your duties in covering up a great many "tragic and wholly unforeseen accidents". Things may have been quiet on the news-front here, but we have been excessively busy since our last update. UE4 Port This one is slowly inching along. Slightly more regular updates for which can be found here. The current task is adding and improving the Saving and Loading system. Lots of work to do there! Beyond that, we've got editor tools in place, and a bunch of other underlying improvements. Sadly not much to show off visually yet, but that will come quickly once all of the technical stuff is sorted. 'Other Project' We're also still very hard at work on this one, and each day it draws closer to being revealed! It's got more than a few kinks still to work out, and a fair bit of content to add/replace, but it is most certainly getting there. Merch! Wait...what? But that's not all, we bring some exciting news from the administration! In a new PR move, Aerospace Sanitation has decided to promote its vast working class through the timeless medium of the Plushie. In other words, you may soon have a chance to get your hands on your very own Limited Edition Janitor Plush! Aerospace Sanitation will not be held responsible for any nightmares or fantasies it may induce. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/45fa36ae6e4e14180c52d77a3b8a6354bf3d7745.png We're very excited for this one! It's our first foray into merch of any kind, something we've been wanting to get into for quite a while and have had more than a few requests for! So keep yourselves braced for that one. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/349e8682caf6095778099cfe362bd3882b5cefd2.png That's all for now, but keep your eyes open for further announcements soon. And keep those stations clean!Happy Holidays / What's New?Dec 15, 2021 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings everyone! I hope your mops are keeping busy! Another year has passed, and much has happened. We thought we'd give you a rundown of what exactly this year brought in terms of progress, among other things. As ever, sorry for the long periods of silence. Since our last major announcement, a few things happened. In July, South Africa experienced a major bout of civil unrest. Rioters burned down buildings, destroyed and looted shops, disrupted vital transportation, ceased harbor operations, and generally caused a great deal of damage across the country, adding to the existing damage caused by the pandemic and lockdowns. Just down the road from us the shops were ransacked, and for over a week things were touch and go. Many parts of the country experienced food shortages. Fortunately, things returned more or less to normal quicker than expected, but it's safe to say that stuff got very uncertain, and led to many changes in the country. We've been very hard at work on the two projects mentioned last time; The UE4 Port and the "Other Project" The other project has been showing great promise, and it is now nestling into a final form. It's hard to over stress how much this project has been a journey of discovery. Not just in terms of the tech, as we are making our own engine for it, but in terms of the game it's going to be. We've been spending a lot of time learning new skills and new tech for what we have planned for the future. Working on VCD full time made this difficult, what with the weekly updates and regular dead lines, so we're taking the time(what little there is) now to do so. The 'Other Project' The time spent since our last word on it has brought a fair bit of progress. As I say, it is now nestling into a final form. So we're testing and iterating over it. It has fresh and shiny new content to go with its unusual art style. It has a fair play time, and it has a feel that's now getting in line with where we want it to be. That being said. It's still pretty early for where it needs to get, ultimately. But it is approaching the time when we can announce it, with a good bit to show. It'll be very interesting to see what you all make of it! One of these days, we might actually have images to show. Hard to believe, I know... We've talked about it for ages, but yes, it is coming along very nicely now! It's a culmination of many years of effort in making our own tech, so it's naturally been an exercise in experimentation. The UE4 Port of VCD This one has also been coming along nicely. But it too is a huge undertaking. Here are some screenshots of where it stands. We decided to remake Splatter Station, as it's a good test bed for the main mechanics before we move onward. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/c19d131bab0fa143a16fdcc21ca0581e4f8b6945.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/4b1dc011eba390aa6ee49e70c19deb27cfd6f19d.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/cb691939f8d144a03645041f914afe8fd224efac.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/4a72cc9e41a976f6c45ca5f0cfef77c0b9...Unfortunate Spacemen: Janitors WantedMay 16, 2021 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, noble mop masters! I come bearing news. Aerospace Sanitation has taken a contract with some Unfortunate Spacemen, and calls for fulfilment are now coming in. Suitable Janitors will be dispatched at once to offer their services. The company has urged me to remind all Janitors that refusal is not an option... Jokes aside. The folks over at New Blood Interactive have been kind enough to allow Aerospace Sanitation employees a minor position in the ranks of the Unfortunate Spacemen. As of right now, anyone who owns Viscera Cleanup Detail on Steam will receive an appropriate Janitorial suit and Helmet for use in Unfortunate Spacemen. Be sure to conduct yourselves in a manner befitting the company's reputation. Any improper behaviour will, I am told, lead to an immediate termination. As always. Work quickly and efficiently. Your future depends on it. Status ReportApr 6, 2021 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, tentacle-headed mop wielders of legend! We thought we'd give you a quick update on what's happening right now. Short answer; lots with only a little to show. Long answer: We've been hard at work on two things at once. (1): "The Project" (2): Viscera Cleanup Detail UE4 Port "The Project" This one, as you might expect, continues to prove tricky. Still too early to tell if it's gonna make it through the whole process. It's being dissected, analyzed and re-focused as we speak. We still don't have "it". The hook, the feeling, the *whipcrack* that makes it all come together and feel like how it's supposed to. But it is certainly making progress. Currently it's undergoing a fresh start to see if its redesigning holds water, and can be put together more solidly. All of this sadly, comes in the form of words for now. We don't have any pretty little pictures to show yet, or a concrete way to describe what it is we're making(it is still morphing), other than to say: It's not like VCD at all, yet a decidedly interesting specimen all the same. So rather than say when we'll have something to show, or when we hope to reveal it, or give any other dates, It's better to maybe just say: We're working on it, and prefer not to force it out into the wild without its poncho. It feels somewhat pointless to say what we're doing if we can't show you anything, but sadly that's just how the process works. It's a lot like a sculptor giving you a running commentary whenever he lands a chisel blow. Not even he knows how the nose is going to look until it hath been cleft. Side-note: If you have a cloven nose, you'll have to start over. Unless a mutated renaissance abomination is what you were going for. Better that than we say nothing at all, so...onward with the prattle! VCD Port Luckily, this one does come with some imagery. Albeit somewhat drab and barren. Like a mop that's been left out in the blaze of a red dwarf for too long. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/f0ae10e435cda4e3f643498a4ce49d617195f9dc.png Work proceeds well on this. However at this point it's largely just in the form of rebuilding basic game mechanics. Most of which are in. Mops Hands Buckets Bins Splats Physics Objects Incinerator Machines Janitors UI Networking We've also been making sure to do networking early this time around, so everything you see here works in Multiplayer too. Some blessed improvements have been made to how objects are synced between players now, so(although it's early days) the movement of objects is much smoother on clients. I think this area, predictably, is going to need a lot of work, and may necessitate a far more individual approach to object networking than the more generalized system VCD had before. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/8068dde346e9c6385e5e36f331277b392319492f.png As you can see in the images, things are extremely raw. Some of the old content no longer works correctly in the newer engine, and that poor worker there has joints that bend the wrong way. Although that c...v1.145 released; fixes & improvementsFeb 6, 2021 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, mop brigade! I come bearing a small update, Mostly in the form of fixes, and a few improvements. As well as an updated HD soundtrack! A few notable items are: A Throw key Some hopefully beneficial changes to improve multiplayer performance Alien Creep foulness factor + 10 High Quality lossless .flac versions of the game's soundtrack Workshop additions Before we get into the changelog, I want to issue a short warning, as some of the changes have unintended side-effects. Your personal settings, such as: Key-bindings Player and server names Volumes and Preferences Performance tweaks and some Display values Default ports, network device and framerate limits Will all be reset. This is unavoidable I'm afraid, given the way the engine handles configuration settings. We always tried to keep these to a minimum, but in an effort to tweak a few essential systems, we've had to make changes this time around. Hopefully you won't be too adversely affected by it. We have also changed the game's default port, so let us know if you are suddenly unable to connect to your friends where you were before the update. Changelog: Added HD .flac versions of the game's music to the Soundtrack download. For all you audiophiles out there. Where you at! Maps: Made the "Creep" and "Biomass" materials in Incubation Emergency pulsate, resulting in 10x more disgust; How unseemly! Added "Deadly Fauna" as an "Incident Particular" to the Incident Report for Pestilent Penitentiary. Fixed Hydroponic Hell seeds that have been in an empty bucket being impossible to plant. Game: Added a "Throw" key(Default E on keyboards, B on XBox controllers). Mainly designed for controller use, as throwing is often difficult. Yes, you can now break acid jars! Fixed the Broom jiggling off its hinges in first and third person. Made spent Flares look darker than their un-used cousins. Fixed a number of items(such as dynamite and candles) not being extinguished when they make contact with water other than buckets. Fixed long text fields in Report Forms being cropped when loading a game, or re-entering the form on the punchout machine. Hopefully Fixed the occasional disregarding of values entered into Report Forms upon punch-out. Changed the game to use a gradual stepped "chunk" loading approach to the loading of Save Games. This should stop actor-rich save-sessions from crashing on load. This can be changed in the UDKPreferences.ini file. Increased physics damping for valid objects inside Stacking Zones, allowing them "settle" more easily. Multiplayer: Changed the game's default network port back to 7777. (Let us know if you are suddenly unable to connect to your friends!) Increased engine bandwith limits and net tick-rates, which will hopefully improve connections for larger and faster servers. Fixed clients being unable to use machine interfaces after restoring Light-Bulbs to incubators in Incubation Emergency. Slightly reduced the "jittery" movement of various "ragdoll" objects on clients. Fi...Remote Play Together SupportJan 26, 2021 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, sanitation squad! I come bearing some news on Remote Play Together support. We've finally found the time to do some testing of the feature and improve its support. As such, it will now be enabled for the general public. With the excellent help of our community, we've unearthed some info you'll need to know to ensure a decent experience. Many of these things will be familiar to those who've used the feature before. With ado in no way furthered, here is what you need to know! Hosting Before you launch VCD Enable support for controller types used by the players you'll be inviting. You can do this by going to the Settings menu in your Steam client. Under Controller->General Controller Settings you'll find the tick-boxes to include support for other devices. Ensure players you're inviting in-fact have a controller. It won't work without. You as the host will likely also need a controller plugged in too(even if you don't use it), as this can sometimes cause connection problems. If a player is unable to connect, consider having one plugged in. Starting a game Launch VCD in either 64bit, or normal 32bit mode. If you have problems, consider running the other one instead. Start a Splitscreen Co-Op work assignment. Inviting Players Once inside a level, open the in-game overlay and in your Friends List, invite a player. Wait for them to accept the invite. If you're having trouble, consider: Disabling sharing of Keyboard and Mouse in the Remote Play dialog before they connect. You can do this by clicking on the respective input icons on the Remote Play dialog. If you have a controller of your own, try dragging and dropping its icon in the Remote Play dialog to the right, into Player slot 2. Also before they connect. When a player joins, drag and drop their controller input icon to the right; out of the Player 1 slot and into Player 2, etc Then, optionally re-enable Keyboard and Mouse sharing. Joining Make sure you have a controller plugged in. Make sure the host has added support for your controller type. To join a Remote Play Together session, simply Wait for your friend to invite you Click on the Play Game button that appears in your message window. Wait for it to connect. Once you see the host's view of the game, press Start on your controller to take possession of a new character and initiate a splitscreen. Common fixes If you should still have problems, here are some common solutions. Poor performance Reduce the game's resolution on the host. Adjust the stream quality settings in the Remote Play dialog. Stop downloading that collection of Janitor Couture pics you've got on the go. Trouble Connecting Port forward the Steam Remote Play ports in your Firewall, and if it still doesn't work, your Router. UDP ports: 27031 and 27036 TCP ports: 27036 and 27037 Review the following official Steam documentation for more info: Steam Remote Play Remote Play Support Disabled Hardware Encoding in the steam client settings: Settings->Remote Play->Advanced Ho...Roadmap 2021 & Beyond!Dec 18, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, tireless cleaners! Gosh, how long it's been.... We seem to be making a bit of a habit of this. I thought I'd take the time to let you guys know what we've been up to, and finally fill you in a bit about our new project. Are you guys still alive!? I think it's safe to say this has been an interesting year for everyone, and I hope you're all keeping well out there. We are well, just -as usual- extremely busy. While the lockdown certainly complicated things for us, we have at least still been able to work. Between all sorts of other stuff we've had to contend with distracting us from work, and the lockdown situation, we've actually been up to quite a lot. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5859810/aeabc6c69b7ed6f2f08b9ebeaecc58f342bbbdff.png So here's what's on the cards for next year. VCD Update We've got a long list of things to fix, and some additions that will aid our tireless workshop creators. We'll be tackling these after the holidays, and hope to improve a few things. No content additions are planned for this update, so it'll only be fixes. Sadly, it has become clear that some issues with the game cannot be fixed with the given platform the game is built on. It has been an endless source of trouble for us, and some of these issues are quite serious, as I'm sure many of you are aware. This brings me on to the second bit of news. VCD Port Given the challenges and limitations, not to mention just the aging nature of the UDK -upon which is built VCD-, we have decided that an eventual porting of the entire game is the only reasonable course to future-proof and hopefully fix the most stubborn issues the game is currently shackled with. It's safe to say this will be no small undertaking, and we'll likely have to rebuild the entire game's code from scratch on a newer engine. We're eyeing Unreal Engine 4 for this, but that's not yet locked in. Having to do things from scratch does allow us a great deal of freedom, and we see this as an opportunity to streamline some elements the game has. It won't just be a simple port, but rather a "gold standard" for the VCD experience. Some things in the current game are chunky, and we see all sorts of areas we could improve. That being said, we're obviously not going to be straying from the quirky oddness that makes VCD what it is, so it'll still very much be the same kind of game, just "better". However, I must sadly temper your expectations. This is going to take time(likely years), and before we can even commit to doing that full-time(or at all), we have another project we'll be rolling out first! New Project "What is it!?" I hear you ask? Sadly, we must be tight-lipped and dry-mopped on this one. We'd have told you more about it sooner, but it has been as much an experiment as it has been a normal development, and we had to feel our way to something solid before we even knew "what" exactly it would be in the end. Here is what I can tell you. It's not in the Viscera Cleanup Detail universe. It'll be a surprise. It ...The best co-op games ever madeJan 24, 2020 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunEvery game is better with friends, but some games are the most betterer of all. These are the best co-op games you can play on PC in 2020. Whether you want to survive against zombie hordes, fell giant monsters, or fling your physicsy forms across chasms, there’s a game for you below. (more…) v1.14 released; Even more fixes!Oct 19, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings, grimy cleaners and bloody technicians! We've taken some time to fix a few more pesky little issues plaguing the game. Nothing that will especially pique your mop's interest, but important nonetheless. Main among them was a game crash when you tried to take one of those poor dead janitor bodies from Uprinsing back with you to your office as a trophy. What a ghastly thing to do, you monsters! Well, you can feel better now, knowing that the game is impartial to your unhinged nature. Also, some improvements aimed at unusual combinations of features in Workshop levels that weren't initially supported. Like the ability for Flares to ignite TNT or Candles. Workshop creators will now also be able to represent door codes using letters/words and not just numbers, similar to The Vulcan Affair doors. Additionally, for those who are negatively affected by the flickering nature of lantern and candle light in dark areas, which can get quite intense with such high contrast, we've added an option in the menu that will allow you to keep the fancy lighting and shadows, but without the flickering. Here is the full list of changes: Changelog: Maps Fixed the PDAs in Overgrowth not keeping their text and colours when taken back to the office. Changed the background color of PDAs in Overgrowth from dark-brown to light-green. Fixed the janitor bodies from Uprinsing causing the game to crash when you try and take them back to the office. Synced up the gate image on Unearthly Excavation keypad consoles with the movement times of the gate itself. Fixed the punchout machine logo in Paintenance Tunnels being solid black. Game Fixed lit Flares not igniting Candles, Jacko-Lanterns, Dynamite and Molotovs. Added an internal limit of 3,000 on the number of player-generated bloody footsteps the game is allowed to save. This should mitigate crashing on save-file loading. Fixed certain PDAs from attaching to walls with the wrong orientation. Fixed unusual paper note shapes attaching to walls with the wrong offset. Slightly increased the general surface offset distance for attached paper notes. Improved grammer and wording for one of the news-ticker stories; "Statues to Replace The Rot?" UI Added a "No Flickering" option to the Light Complexity setting, allowing you to keep full detail shadowing without the flickering. Added font support for some additional and unused character sets, ie: Turkish/etc. This is not any form of official language support, but does give you some tools for adding it yourself. Added letters below keypad number button icons, allowing workshop level designers to represent numeric codes with strings, similar to the codes in Vulcan Affair. House of Horror Fixed lit Candles not igniting Flares, Dynamite and Molotovs. Santa's Rampage Added a slightly new and better looking level preview image. Workshop Added Kismet Actions that allow you to change and check the currently applied character skins of players. And there you have it! We're hard at work at the...