Human Tanks Infiltrate Steam

12/12/2013 / Jakke Elonen / Leave a comment

Again, happy news (well, not really super news at this point, if you’ve been keeping up). Yakiniku Banzai’s awesome Strategy/advanture game ‘War of the Human Tanks’, our first release has finally been greenlit! It already made it to rank #27 before the entire top 100 of Greenlight games was let in, which just goes to say… Human Tanks are awesome, or something.

We’ve been hard at work on the game’s Steam release since the news came to us, and are hoping to be able to publish the game sometime soon.

The glorious, Human Tank themed (surprise?) steam trading cards are already ready and raring to go, but we’re having some unanticipated difficulty with implementing our planned achievements to the game.

The base issue is that the engine doesn’t support using non-C code, which creates problems when trying to handle Steam’s class-using callbacks… if that says anything to anyone.

If you have any ideas, let us know. We’ll keep on trying different things for a while longer, in any case.

Here, have a Cookie.

On the other hand, our third release, 100% Orange Juice, the goal-oriented board game played by Orange Juice’s all-star cast is currently 86% of the way to the top 100 of Greenlight. We are hoping to see it greenlit soon.

Peace out… and let the war begin!

Progress Report 2.0

05/11/201305/11/2013 / Jakke Elonen / 2 Comments

RE: 99 Spirits

We are busily preparing for 99 Spirits‘ much awaited Steam release. As it’s our first game there, most of the features and their use are new to us, but the transition has gone surprisingly smoothly (thanks to the efforts of Tony, our resident walrus).

Right now, we have finished implementing Steam Trading Cards and Cloud Saves to 99 Spirits.

What’s taking most of our time is adding Achievements to the game, since they require a fair bit of testing and we want them to be well prepared and meaningful, rather than a compulsory chore. They’re great fun to work on, though!

If all goes well, you will see 99 Spirits appear on Steam quite soon.

RE: 100% Orange Juice

In answer to a popular request, we have finished another major undertaking for 100% Orange Juice, and can now present you with a comprehensive 52-page User Guide for the game!

Learn everything about the game’s underlying mechanics and pick up tips and tricks!

The guide is based on the original Japanese design by Orange_Juice, and updated with up-to-date information for our English release of the game. We hope it will help everyone struggling with any aspect of the game.

This user guide comes included in 100% Orange Juice 1.2 patch, also out today, which fixes a bug with ‘Tragedy in the Dead of Night’ card in multiplayer, as well as synchronizes players’ speed. You can also download it directly from our homepage.

100% Orange Juice is now 67% of the way toward top 100 on Steam Greenlight.

RE: War of the Human Tanks

War of the Human Tanks currently enjoys rank 57 of 1429 games on Steam Greenlight! We hope to see it join 99 Spirits among the Greenlit titles soon. Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about this series.

99 Spirits has been Greenlit!

30/10/2013 / Jakke Elonen / Leave a comment

Yesterday 29.10.2013 Valve announced a larger than usual batch of new Greenlit games, and to our great joy, included was our first game to make it onto Steam – TORaIKI’s brilliant puzzle RPG ’99 Spirits’!

In the coming days and weeks we’ll be focusing on publishing the game on Steam, and exploring all our options in the system – of course, we’ll be adding Steam Trading Cards for it too!

This is all thanks to everyone’s continuous support, and we couldn’t be happier for it. As we’ve previously announced, our loyal IndieGoGo backers, as well as those who purchased the game through our Fruitbat Factory store, or from Indie Royale, will also receive a Steam key for the game once released.

Thanks to TORaIKI’s Hoshino Tomo for the celebratory illustration!

#94 Spirits

21/10/2013 / Jakke Elonen / 1 Comment

It’s here!

99 Spirits has finally broken the elusive roof on Steam Greenlight and listed in the top 100 game entries.

Currently ranked #94, the Puzzle RPG 99 Spirits has been rising strongly over the past weeks, and we look forward to climbing even higher.

In related news, Rice Digital is running a great promotion where you can help us on Greenlight and get free games in the process! Check it out at http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/free-games-from-fruitbat-factory/

Many thanks to the good folks at Rice Digital!

Our other two Greenlight entries are climbing nicely as well, War of the Human Tanks is currently 90% of the way to top 100, so not far behind, and the new contestant 100% Orange Juice is already 51% of the way up.

It’s truly a joy to look at these numbers, and they’re all thanks to everyone’s continuous support.

110% Orange Juice

02/10/201302/10/2013 / Jakke Elonen / 1 Comment

Without further ado, patch 1.1 has been released for 100% Orange Juice.

You can get it on the homepage.

Patch notes:

Fixed a crash issue when counterattacked by monsters in Free Play
Improved multiplayer stability
Fixed descriptions for Blue Crow the Second and Marie Poppo
Added 100orange_debug.exe – players encountering repeated issues may use this .exe to run the game and upon a problem post debug.log on Fruitbat Factory forums for assistance

We also added a chatroom link on the 100% Orange Juice homepage for easier multiplayer arrangement.

Hope everyone’s enjoying their pudding-filled adventures!

Also here’s a much requested update on Steam Greenlight:

99 Spirits is currently 89% towards top 100.

War of the Human Tanks is currently 81% towards top 100.

100% Orange Juice is currently 39% towards top 100.

All of the games are on their way up, though of course 100% Orange Juice has further to climb as it’s the latest addition. We are focusing our efforts into bringing all our games into top 100, where they may have a chance of getting Greenlit.

Poppo!

The Spirits Grow Stronger

07/04/2013 / Jakke Elonen / Leave a comment

While we are hard at work preparing the game’s upcoming release, there is a bunch of exciting news to share.

We have had people on Steam Greenlight commenting that they would like to have 99 Spirits available in the Japanese language as well.

Hence, not long after announcing that 99 Spirits will carry dual audio, English and Japanese, we now have the pleasure to announce that to meet popular interest, we will also be including the original Japanese game in a Deluxe version we will be offering (similarly to our previous release War of the Human Tanks). Players will be able to choose between installing the game in English or Japanese.

Those who would prefer to enjoy the game in its original condition will thus benefit from having it available from major digital distributors.

The alpha version of the game has meanwhile been extended to the full game, and now also includes the promised English audio option. Check out the new build from our backer forum if you have access, and let us hear your thoughts.

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In other news, the IndieGoGo pledge rewards are coming together nicely as well, and we’re currently gathering backers’ wishes regarding the T-shirt and body pillow details.If you’re a backer, make sure to check the IndieGoGo updates and our forums for more information. We need a confirmation of the chosen goods by 30.4. at the latest.

We have received spectacular new art for all of them from TORaIKI, as you can from the image above.

Spirit Hunt Progress #2

26/02/2013 / Jakke Elonen / Leave a comment

The 99 Spirits IndieGoGo project just hit 40% of target funding – big thanks everyone!

To commemorate that, we’re launching a 4-day 40% discount for our previous release, War of the Human Tanks – you can head over to Desura to grab your copy.

Shizuru expresses her gratitude like only she knows how.

Also, here’s an update on the current status of the localization:

We just finished working on chapter 7 out of of 12 of the story.
The game mechanics are starting to be in playable condition – as illustrated by this gameplay preview we put together last week.

We’ll still need to perform a lot of play testing before the release, and there may yet be large changes ahead. However, the first compiled versions are starting to look pretty good.

We are working on a trial version and aim to have it complete by the time the IndieGoGo project closes – note that one of the pledge rewards features an early access to the trial a week ahead of others!

99 Spirits – Playing the Game

19/02/2013 / Jakke Elonen / Leave a comment

Our IndieGoGo project for 99 Spirits is running well – in the first week we have raised 31% of the total goal, which is cause enough for celebration. Big thanks to everyone who has already helped us there!

One theme has come up repeatedly in comments since our entry to Steam Greenlight and IndieGoGo – many players would like to see detailed gameplay footage from the English version.

After many revisions and 4 days of recording, here it is: the first English gameplay footage from 99 Spirits.

Do note that the video above is from a pre-alpha version of the game, and all content is subject to change.

We found that trying to explain the gameplay in a compact video isn’t an easy task due the puzzle mechanics mixed in. I tried to shoot different aspects of the gameplay, and we added overlay explanations (top-right) to clarify what’s happening on screen.

We hope you’ll enjoy the footage and don’t hesitate to drop any comments, questions or improvement suggestions.

Call to Arms: 99 Spirits

12/02/201313/02/2013 / Fruitbat Factory / Leave a comment

After a long preparation, here it is:

Fruitbat Factory is proud to announce our new project, Puzzle RPG 99 Spirits is doing a simultaneous entrance on IndieGoGo and Steam Greenlight.

99 Spirits, recently released in Japan Fall 2012, is the first RPG produced by the Japanese indie game circle TORaIKI, and is currently being localized for English speaking audiences. 99 Spirits was the recipient of the December 2012 Indie Dev Grant.

The game features an original battle system where players will have to puzzle out the true identify of the enemy before defeating them. 99 Spirits revolves around the real Japanese legends of Tsukumogami, where everyday objects come alive on their 100th birthday.

We are actively seeking the community’s support for the ongoing localization on IndieGoGo and for the game’s Steam release on Greenlight. “We truly appreciate the support of everyone interested in playing more unique Japanese PC games in English to help fund our current project and ongoing work. We are doing what we love and will continue to do so even if no funding is made available. We are doing this to gauge popular demand and to cover some of our immediate project expenses in the hopes of making a timely release possible so that we may continue creating interesting titles in the near future.” explains project lead Jakke Elonen.

30% of all the proceeds of a successful campaign will go to the original Japanese developer of the game, TORaIKI, giving fans a unique chance to support both the localization and original developer directly. Fans of the genre will also be able to enjoy exclusive items for their early support of the game including t-shirts, posters and a sneak peak of the game before it’s available to the public.

The project also offers all kinds of cool rewards for the pledgers, including t-shirts, posters, an artbook, a special boxed collector’s edition and a dakimakura.

99 Spirits will also be making it’s debut on Steam Greenlight. “Every independent developer faces the day they must enter the arena known as Steam Greenlight. For 99 Spirits, today is that day,” says Yoshifumi Ishii, the game’s translator. “Go to the game’s Greenlight page to check it out, and vote for it if you like what you see. Tell your friends. That’s all we can ask of anyone.”

99 Spirits is planned to be released on PC (Windows) in Spring 2013.

Additionally , our homepage has had a Downloads section added with trailers, screenshots and more!

Countdown Bundle

23/11/201204/12/2012 / Ozhan Sen / 3 Comments

While we’re working on 99 Spirits, we most certainly haven’t forgotten War of the Human Tanks. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to give as many people as we can reach the opportunity to enjoy the game.

On that note, we’re happy to announce that War of the Human Tanks will be featured in the IndieFort Countdown Bundle!

WotHT will be included in the final week’s bundle from 12/21/2012 to 12/27/2012, but do check out the great lineup below – if you buy all of the previous weeks’ bundles, you will get the bundle with War of the Human Tanks innit for absolutely FREE.

How is that possible, you ask? Read on after the trailer.

Countdown Bundle is made of five separate bundles, a new bundle every week for five weeks. Each bundle is made of four games and priced at $4. For each bundle you buy, the next one will be $1 cheaper. So if you buy the first one, the second bundle is only $3; buy that and the next one is $2, going that way next one is $1 and the final bundle (that is to say, the one War of the Human Tanks is in) will be completely free.

That’s $10 for a total of 20 games at the end of five weeks. We also have bonuses that will unlock upon reaching set sales goals that include 7 more games, 6 OSTs and an add-on. Making the full price of everything you are getting for just $10 into a grand total of $250. A 96% discount is a deal you should not to miss.

We have also teamed up with the kind folks at the charity organization Help-Daniel. We are dedicating part of the proceeds from the full five weeks of sales to him, and want to reach out to the community for help in the hopes he makes a full recovery soon.

Since this bundle is hosted by GamersGate, you will get a key for everything there. Also the games on this bundle that have Steam versions already present will give Steam keys to add to your account. (Marked those with (STEAM) below) And the rest are all on Greenlight (except 2, here is a link to the Greenlight Collection) and you will get a Steam key for those when they are greenlit with your votes. So don’t forget to vote YES for them. (Marked those with (Greenlight) below)

IndieFort Countdown Bundle:

Week 1:
Aeon Command (Greenlight)
Genetrive 2
Space Pirates and Zombies (STEAM)
Waveform (STEAM)

Week 2:
Caster (STEAM)
Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece (STEAM)
Strategic War in Europe (Greenlight)
Zombies (Greenlight)

Week 3:
Alien Hallway (STEAM)
Bridge It (Greenlight)
Eryi’s Action (Greenlight)
Terrorhedron (Greenlight)

Week 4:
Achron (STEAM)
Alien Shooter 2 Conscription (STEAM)
Orczz (Greenlight)
Syder Arcade (Greenlight)

Week 5:
War of the Human Tanks (Greenlight)
Will Fight for Food (Greenlight)
Zafehouse: Diaries (Greenlight)
Zombie Shooter 2 (STEAM)

Also we are having a Black Friday special sale! Everything at half the price.
Go grab some copies of War of the Human Tanks as presents for your friends, it’s only $4.99!