Read about Sarah Northway's new game I Was a Teenage Exocolonist[exocolonist.com] on the official Northway Games site[northwaygames.com].

Newest post: Growing Up in Exocolonist[northwaygames.com]: what will this game be about?

Fantastic Contraption version 2.0 is now live! Happy Valentine’s day, Neko loves you!

We’ve been working on this update for a year now, and we’re excited(/relieved) to finally get it into your hands. This version is packed with new content, new features, and a ton of back-end improvements, but first:


Version 2.0 comes with a 33% permanent price drop. Fantastic Contraption is now available for $19.99USD everywhere!

Pricing has always been something we’ve had to approach carefully. As we were a launch title for the first commercially-available VR, there was no data on what was appropriate or expected from consumers. Now that the market has settled down a bit, we think that $20 or so is fair for everyone and in line with expectations. And if you buy now, you’ll essentially have $10 you didn’t before! That’s like… a pizza! A… a small pizza, but a pizza! You’ll be losing free money if you don’t buy today!


DOUBLE THE LEVELS!

We’ve put a ton of work into our puzzle-set and have created a whole new “B-Side” playlist for you to enjoy! The game now boasts over 100 levels, smoothing out the introductory learning curve and adding some high-end challenges for those Contraptionistas that find the late-game too easy. Share your new solutions! Show us what you’ve got!


Fantastic Contraption 2.0 runs faster on every machine now!

We’ve been making separate versions of Fantastic Contraption for different platforms, as each new piece of hardware had different technical requirements or minimum specs. Gameplay is the same between all platforms if you have the latest and greatest hardware, but what if you don’t have a supercomputer with a dedicated AC room? We’ve put a bunch of probably-disqualifying performance-enhancing code into each edition of the game to make it sing uniquely for each platform.

What we’ve done in Version 2.0 is merge all of our performance fixes into one master build. This means that if you have a computer that is below min-spec on any platform, you should still be able to play without our physics engine grinding your CPU to dust! This also means that if your CPU is heavily loaded with other tasks (Twitch streaming, mixed-reality compositing, etc.) the game will keep chugging along at a comfortable 90+ FPS.

This required us to rework how physics work so if reality starts falling apart for you, maybe try RAMing some CPUs onto your DVD-ROMs.


Fantastic Contraption has been hitting up the gym every week and is really starting to show some progress! It’s been simultaneously doing low- and high-carb diets and the results are amazing!

But also, now that you’ve made it this far down in the update news, I’ve got a secret to let you in on. All those dirty article-skimmers won’t know about this, but those B-Sides levels? They also include a handful of levels featuring all-new gameplay mechanics: Cactuses (that destroy bits of your contraption on touch) and Balloons (that give your Contraption buoyancy to float over Cactuses, gaps, and other challenges).

These new elements aren’t a big part of this update; they’re little teasers we’ve thrown in, things that we’ve been working on since version 1.0, way back when VR was just a baby. They’re just two fun toys in a whole toolbox of things that were cut for the initial version of the game. You can access these new elements in the Level Editor though – so you can generate (and share online) all sorts of zany things for the world to see!

(original blog post[radialgames.com])

It's been a few months but we haven't been resting! This update brings a whole ton of bug fixes, performance improvements, and a whole boatload of new language support.

We've even included a new special "no frills" quality setting in case your machine has trouble pushing enough pixels to your VR headset. This should help you out!

Check it out and let us know what you think.

(Full patch notes here)

"Now I am become Editor, the creator of worlds"

We're calling this the "Anti-Oppenheimer Update"[northwaygames.com] because now you too can defy - nay, define - physics as the creator of your own Fantastic Contraption levels using the new built-in Level Editor. To get started, first put on the helmet to enter dark world, then look for a mask above a statue of a two-toed sloth.

Yes! Helmet Inception! From there, ring the bell to summon the Sarahfox for a tutorial on how to spawn, stretch, snap and clone level objects. You can test them by adding contraption parts (make sure you delete these when you're done) and share online the same way you save contraptions.

(playing along with the Sarahfox)

So now we have potentially infinite levels! We've created a few to get started, which you'll find on the dark world saves table. There's also a new keyboard (dubbed "Lippy the Mouthmoth") which you can use to name contraptions or levels, and to search for them by name.

(Lippy the Mouthmoth keyboard)

Want to hear more? Andy Moore explains everything you need to know in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrzkFdTrK5I

This is the last update we originally planned for the game, making 1.6.0 the final cherry on the Contraption sundae! Radial Games and Northway Games will keep maintaining it, but we're moving on to new things in 2017.

• New Level editor! To use it, first put on the helmet, then put on the creepy mask in the corner and ring the bell for a tutorial. User-made levels can be shared online and loaded via the save table just like contraptions.
  
• New Mouthmoth keyboard lets you name contraptions and levels, and search by contraption / level name
  
• Made colliders on large cylinder-grass-blocks more accurate. This shouldn't affect any previously made contraptions unless you went off-roading into the background elements, but it'll make more of a difference with the upcoming Level Editor.
  
• Added interactive art elements to side of maquette and Kaiju scale
  
• Autohide the companion desktop menu and limit desktop display framerate
  
• Show purple building bounds if cheating detected during tutorial
  
• Hide black sphere during startup
  
• Improve look of pins on Neko's head
  
• Adjust some sky characters
  
• Sky color variation
  
• Sounds for items including non-spinning green wheels and eyeballs
  
• Disable musical sounds if you're holding an item
  
• Tweaked throw force for Kaiju scales
  
• Improved haptics
  
• Improved tutorial text font
  
• Optimized first person companion view smoothing
  
• Optimized avatar shadows
  
• Optimized Twitch panel memory usage
  
• Fixed some menus not updating when language changes
  
• Fixed models disappearing after you drop them on a save table shelf
  
• Fixed Button the Dog ghosting
  
• Fixed disappearing Neko eyes and ghosting
  
• Fixed obscure crash bug with some webcams
  
• Fixed cat skin modding
  
• Fixed sticky tutorial messages
  
• Fixed laserpointer positioning for Twitch/camera menu
  
• Fixed feedback form submission issues

Cheers and happy 2017 from the Fantastic Contraption team!

Hello everyone! We're testing out the new Fantastic Contraption level editor and need your help!

To switch to the experimental branch:

1. Right-click the game in your Steam client Library view and pick Properties.
   
2. Switch to the BETAS tab
   
3. Select experimental from the dropdown list (no code/password required)
   
4. The game will say [experimental] beside it once you are using the experimental branch. If the game doesn't update right away, you can exit and restart the Steam client to force it to look for the update.
   
5. If you find any bugs, please report them from inside the game in the feedback box on your monitor

To get to the level editor, first put on the helmet to enter the Dark World Menuspace, then put on the mask hovering in the corner over the statue of a sloth. Yes - helmet inception, by popular demand!

Ring the bell to summon the Sarahfox (voiced by yours truly) for a short tutorial. Sharing is enabled so you can save and publish your levels online the same way you can share contraptions, except that only people using version 1.6.0 and above will see user-made levels on the save table.

If you find any bugs or have suggestions, please send them to us via the in-game "Report a Bug" form on your monitor.

We've also fixed a few bugs in 1.6.0 and Lindsay has been adding all kinds of rad touches to the art. Full changelog coming soon.

December 7th, 2016

• Fixed some shader issues with bubbles and outlines.
  
• If you were happily playing in Japanese mode you could have been unexpectedly ambushed by English text in some rare circumstances. No longer will Latin characters dirty your screen! Pshaw!
  
• Switching between cameras in Director Mode now requires holding the button for a full second to prevent accidental switching
  
• Fix to the Redo button on Oculus Touch controllers
  
• Fix bug introduced in 1.5.4 where shadows would flicker in Director mode
  
• Added simplified Chinese as an included font
  
• Added support for right-to-left languages
  
• Instead of switching to just newly downloaded language files automatically, we instead switched to it every time on game startup. Woops. Languages should now behave better!

Since the Kaiju Update we've been fixing a few issues and adding some new gameplay that we thought were important to get out there quickly. Most notably, perhaps, is some major tweaks to the audio system when playing at larger scales.

See the changelog since 1.5.0 below, or the entire history here.

November 30th 2016

• Customized in-game twitter messages are now saved between sessions
  
• More strings added to language files
  
• Fixed issue where GIF recording instructions were too difficult to read
  
• EyeBug's preview window now caps framerate at 30FPS to help performance

November 29th 2016

• Fix issue when launching the games with no hands detected
  
• Updated to Unity 5.4.3p1
  
• A bunch of audio tweaks
  
• Fix to audio scaling and pitch shifting at larger play scales
  
• More ambient sound effects
  
• Made tutorial a bit less cluttered at larger play scales
  
• Fix some edge cases with snap-distances being off
  
• Fix some mistakes with labels in the tutorial texts
  
• Fix some visual sorting issues with the gifCamera and clouds
  
• Added a visual indicator (particles) to grabbing during the tutorial
  
• Added support for both Touch triggers

November 25th 2016

• Added error-message strings to the translation files
  
• Mixed reality should now function properly at larger play scales

November 23rd 2016

• Replays now play sound back properly
  
• Ability to change avatar in-game via starfish grab
  
• Added a bit of visual flair to the island (bugs, flowers)
  
• Companion camera now turns off (helping performance) if smoothing is set to 0
  
• Pins now throw like darts (the more leaves on the pin, the more dart-ey it is)
  
• Undo/Redo buttons on Touch now works
  
• Twitch chat no longer jumps when grabbing with two hands, and scales appropriately at larger play scales
  
• Twitch chat now uses our own authentication path to avoid errors
  
• Moved some settings to the user-editable file (volume control, shadow display, vsync, etc.)
  
• Default quality setting is now "Fantastic"
  
• Fixed gimbal-lock when flying the eye-bug with the keyboard

The version 1.5.0 update, aka Kaiju Update[northwaygames.com], is so big, it’s Godzilla big. Because now you are the monstrous, lazer-breathing beast that hovers over Fantastic Contraption levels, the contraptions and wee Neko so tiny and innocent down there on the ground. Yes we do love room scale, but there are times and places where you just want to reach over your entire contraption without walking across the room.

And so we present: Kaiju Scale.

You can scale from 50% of regular room scale size, which can be comfortably played while standing in one place, way down to 10% roomscale which feels like playing with a miniature set of contraption pieces about the size of Lego. The controller flowers shrink down to smaller precision buds so you can more easily see what you’re doing in this tiny, detailed little world.

If your VR hardware is configured for a small space, the Room Setup menu will appear automatically the first time you play. You can force Fantastic Contraption into Kaiju Scale and reconfigure your space via the companion menu on your monitor:

We've also added Steam Workshop modding support, contraption favoriting, new avatars and a ton of other features. Visit our dev blog[northwaygames.com] for more about it.

• Kaiju Scale: full support for playing in smaller spaces including seated. (Re)configure world size and orientation via the companion menu on your monitor (settings > standing scale > configure standing). Config will automatically run once if SteamVR is set to “Standing Only”.
  
• Steam Workshop support for modding Neko skins. See http://steamproxy.net/app/386690/workshop/ and http://northwaygames.com/contraption-modding/
  
• Workshop support for other languages. See http://steamproxy.net/app/386690/workshop/ and http://northwaygames.com/contraption-modding/
  
• Japanese language support. Change language via the companion menu on your monitor. Other languages coming eventually and/or create your own using Steam Workshop.
  
• Rate and fave saved contraptions by giving them a smooch
  
• Throw level from maquette to frog to delete autosave and revert
  
• New avatars and improved avatar model physics
  
• Change avatar by using the touchpad while grabbing maquette
  
• New avatar hats and improved existing hat models
  
• Twitch chat voting on avatars and hats with "!avatar wolf" or "!hat 5", defaults to 60 second rounds. Twitch mods can disable, trigger rounds, or force a change immediately.
  
• Avatar shadows
  
• Command-line arguments to run in demo mode, eg "-demo". Contact us for full list.
  
• Rearranged things in dark world
  
• Combined level and contraption save tables into one
  
• New look for Neko
  
• Highlight Neko's parts when you're close enough to grab them
  
• Improve Neko animation performance
  
• New look and animation for victory spheres
  
• Improve stereo shader rendering
  
• Tweaks to tutorial messages
  
• Hourglass loading indicator
  
• Fade out effects
  
• Selection highlighting on camera bug and some other things
  
• Sound tweaks
  
• Tweak and tune all haptic responses
  
• Added arrows to tutorial umbilicals
  
• Minor tweaks to several levels (must delete autosaves to see)
  
• Hide online contraptions made with newer incompatible game versions
  
• Fix helmet obstructing first person companion view
  
• Fix error on loading corrupt save files
  
• Fix Twitch panel error and bloat
  
• Fix SteamVR init crash
  
• Fix physics issues caused by variable framerate
  
• Fix respawn delay after taking items from Neko
  
• Fix hitting start/stop while loading
  
• Fix several levels so they'll break less
  
• Fix snaps disappearing or being where they shouldn't
  
• Fix and tweaks to camera bug
  
• Fix Neko's missing eyes on blink with helmet
  
• Fix spelling "comfortably"

Hi everyone! We're getting ready to release a pretty big update and could use your help testing it!

The main feature we'd like to test is the new StandingScale, which let you play as a big person in a smaller contraption world and fits Vive Standing Scale room setups eg standing in place or sitting at a desk / even on the floor!

To force the game into Standing Scale mode in version 1.4.9, Open the companion menu on your monitor (eyeball icon at bottom-left), then pick Settings > Standing Scale > Configure Standing. Please let us know what you think!

To switch to the experimental branch:

1. Right-click the game in your Steam client Library view and pick Properties.
   
2. Switch to the BETAS tab
   
3. Select experimental from the dropdown list (no code/password required)
   
4. The game will say [experimental] beside it once you are using the experimental branch. If the game doesn't update right away, you can exit and restart the Steam client to force it to look for the update.
   
5. If you find any bugs, please report them from inside the game in the feedback box on your monitor

Full changelog:

• Kaiju Scale: full support for playing in smaller spaces including seated. (Re)configure world size and orientation via the companion menu on your monitor (settings > standing scale > configure standing). Config will automatically run once if SteamVR is set to “Standing Only”.
  
• Steam Workshop support for modding Neko skins. See http://steamproxy.net/app/386690/workshop/ and http://northwaygames.com/contraption-modding/
  
• Workshop support for other languages. See http://steamproxy.net/app/386690/workshop/ and http://northwaygames.com/contraption-modding/
  
• Japanese language support. Change language via the companion menu on your monitor. Other languages coming eventually and/or create your own using Steam Workshop.
  
• Rate and fave saved contraptions by giving them a smooch
  
• Throw level from maquette to frog to delete autosave and revert
  
• New avatars and improved avatar model physics
  
• Change avatar by squeezing grip while grabbing maquette
  
• New avatar hats and improved existing hat models
  
• Twitch chat voting on avatars and hats with "!avatar wolf" or "!hat 5", defaults to 60 second rounds. Twitch mods can disable, trigger rounds, or force a change immediately.
  
• Avatar shadows
  
• Command-line arguments to run in demo mode, eg "-demo". Contact us for full list.
  
• Rearranged things in dark world
  
• Combined level and contraption save tables into one
  
• New look for Neko
  
• Highlight Neko's parts when you're close enough to grab them
  
• Improve Neko animation performance
  
• New look and animation for victory spheres
  
• Improve stereo shader rendering
  
• Tweaks to tutorial messages
  
• Hourglass loading indicator
  
• Fade out effects
  
• Selection highlighting on camera bug and some other things
  
• Sound tweaks
  
• Tweak and tune all haptic responses
  
• Added arrows to tutorial umbilicals
  
• Minor tweaks to several levels (must delete autosaves to see)
  
• Hide online contraptions made with newer incompatible game versions
  
• Fix helmet obstructing first person companion view
  
• Fix error on loading corrupt save files
  
• Fix Twitch panel error and bloat
  
• Fix SteamVR init crash
  
• Fix physics issues caused by variable framerate
  
• Fix respawn delay after taking items from Neko
  
• Fix hitting start/stop while loading
  
• Fix several levels so they'll break less
  
• Fix snaps disappearing or being where they shouldn't
  
• Fix and tweaks to camera bug
  
• Fix Neko's missing eyes on blink with helmet
  
• Fix spelling "comfortably"