Fall Updates

Between convention season and gameplay refinements, we’ve had a packed few months here working on Violet. From reworking tutorials to adding brand-new areas and features, our team has been pushing forward, all while upgrading to Windows 11 (which the in place upgrade was surprisingly good) and keeping development going smoothly.

Latest Demo Updates

With winning the “Best in Show” award at Cleveland Gaming Classic, we decided to add a few updates. While version 1.0.8 was originally planned as the final demo update, we couldn’t resist adding a few more improvements based on your feedback. These include:

• Having an option to Press B to exit inventory / map
• Fixing the gravity on precipitation when using dash / dodge
• Better visibility adjustments for night and cloudy scenes
• Clicking the R-Stick is easier for auto-merge
• Fixed Asteric’s dodge up side animation
• Fixed an issue with the manual merge algorithm that would incorrectly select the wrong item
• Updated character portraits and text

These refinements carry from the main game development and should make for a more polished playthrough. We hope you enjoy the smoother experience and quality-of-life tweaks.

Conventions

This fall, we had the chance to bring Violet on the road and got to meet players and fellow creators across several conventions. It’s always amazing to see people connect with the world we’ve been building and to hear your feedback firsthand.

A huge thank-you to everyone who stopped by our booths at the Cleveland Gaming Classic, GDEX 2025, and Williams County Fountain City Fandemonium. Meeting you all reminded us why we do what we do, and we’re already looking forward to seeing you again next year.

Expanding the World

A major focus this season has been expanding and refining Velare with new areas that connect our existing biomes in seamless, story-rich ways.

Border Regions

We tackled the transition between the grasslands and forest biomes, using creative design tricks to make the seams feel natural. We also restructured Claire’s barn side quest, splitting it into two parts, and temporarily removed the broken bridge into 2×3.

The North Swamp

Our latest environment, the North Swamp, brings murky new terrain to explore, complete with an eerie atmosphere and surprise enemies. Venture too close to the edge of the map, and the Forge Brothers might just appear out of nowhere to prevent you from reaching the world’s limits.

Forest Dungeon Exterior

You can now explore around the outside of the Forest Dungeon, adding more immersion and freedom to the dungeon approach.

Forest Province Edge

We’ve added a new area in the forest province, which is on the edge of the map. We introduced a natural cliff border between the Forest and Swamp provinces to make biome transitions more cohesive.

New Gameplay Features

Auto-Merge When Picking Up Weapons 

While merging remains Violet’s signature mechanic, we know repetition can wear players down. To help with that, we’ve introduced an optional auto-merge feature: hold the L-Trigger while picking up a weapon, and it’ll automatically merge into your inventory.

Bottles and Potion System

One of our longest-planned systems (bottles and potions) has finally arrived! Players can now collect bottles that automatically expand their food and resource inventory, eliminating the need to manually drop items.

You’ll find six bottles throughout your journey, and they can store potions used for healing or status effects (with more planned in future updates). This also ties into the new resource management features, giving players the freedom to choose between upgrading weapons or boosting their food supply.

Animations and Audio

We’ve been adding a ton of new animations to bring the game to life, as well as new music!

• The Violets now has full stun and death animations, complete with matching sound effects.

• Centaur enemies have new death and shield bash animations.

  

  

  

  

• Generic NPCs can now sit, bringing a little more realism to towns and camps.
  

  

• We’ve also updated character portraits throughout the game. Here are a few examples:
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

On the music side, we’ve composed new day and night themes for the woods to give each time of day a distinction.

Wood Day

Wood Night

Asteric Redesign 

After hearing community feedback that Asteric’s design could use a touch more personality, we revisited his look. We leaned into his courier roots by adding a satchel, adjusted his outfit for more depth, and found another visual to show his connection with the violets.

Tutorial Overhaul

The tutorial has been completely redone. It’s now mostly outdoors with a few caves and offers a better sense of pacing and immersion. The new version focuses on core controls first and adds combat encounters earlier to give new players a smoother start that feels closer to the full game experience.

Polish and Performance

Code Cleanup & Optimization

We spent some time clearing out old TODOs, reducing our task list from over 160 down to 80. With Optimized Loading nearly complete, we also moved our data decryption to a separate thread, cut down on load stutters, and improved overall performance.

Big thanks to Anthony for crushing countless bugs during QA and helping us smooth out the experience.

Boulder Physics

Players noticed they could hide behind boulders even though arrows passed right through. We restructured the system so that boulders now properly block projectiles, setting up for future mechanics like pickup-able rocks.

Marketing Updates

Outside of development, we’ve also been refining Violet’s visual identity. Our updated logo and refreshed branding are in the works, with more details to come soon. The goal is to capture the spirit of the game in every piece of design you see from us.

Stay tuned for the reveal!

Conclusion

We’re incredibly proud of how far Violet has come this season. With new features, expanded areas, and plenty of polish behind us, the game is steadily becoming the vision we’ve always imagined.

Thank you for following along on this journey! Your feedback and support keep us inspired as we continue building this world together.