Carighan

Text copied and pasted from the linked Steam update (there's also a video showcasing things):

Brand New Gameplay Presets

You wanted a challenge, more variety, and more control over... everything! So we've given it to you. Starting today you can modify your trips in the Zone with 7 new presets:

Pacific Drive

The standard Pacific Drive experience - a Pacific Drive through the Olympic Peninsula.
Scenic Tour

Crafting requirements, resource consumption, driving difficulty, hazards, dangers, storms, and damage are all lowered or disabled. The player cannot die. A scenic route through the story of Pacific Drive.
Joyride

The same gameplay and tension as Pacific Drive, but gathering, crafting, and research requirements are all lowered. Damage and failure penalties are minimal.
A Sunday Drive

Focus on the Olympic Peninsula with minimal interruptions
Nuclear Journey

Every map will be filled with low dose radiation that is harmful to the player. Storms are faster and stronger, hazards and damage are more plentiful. An unpredictable, irradiated journey that only the car can protect you from.
Mechanic's Road Trip

Terrain and the status of the car impact driving more. Items to repair the car are more costly to craft, and can't be crafted on a run. A challenging drive and susceptible car will provide a test of your forethought, problem solving, and automobile experience.
Olympic Gauntlet

All aspects of the game are much harder - An extreme gauntlet to challenge the most dedicated Breachers.
Iron Wagon

All aspects of the game are much harder, and failing a run will delete your save file. An extreme gauntlet to challenge the most dedicated Breachers, with no room for failure.

It doesn't end there though, you can create your own presets with over 50 new settings in addition to the base game's existing options. Tune and tweak your trips to be as punishing or as pain-free as you'd like, all from the same menu.

New Paintable Parts and Collectible Cosmetics

Unleash your inner artist and further customize your heroic wagon! Bumpers and wheels are now fully paintable. It's fully possible for you to create the best and brightest clown car station wagon imaginable, or black out your rig for a more Mad Max style adventure.

Along with the new paintable surfaces, we've add two new collectible cosmetics to find out on a trip - an antenna topper and mirror hanger that fit in pretty well with the surreal, fantastical elements of the Zone.

Play Custom Music from Local Storage (PC ONLY)

Now that you've got a custom car... how about some custom tunes? One of the most requested features from the community was the ability to use your own playlists and music in game - and we're happy to say that this feature is also included in todays update. For PC players, you can now load your local music into a folder via local storage and Pacific Drive will pull it into the game. You'll be able to kick back and listen to it in the garage via the Jukebox or out on the road through your old station wagon speakers.

Songs are loaded from `%localappdata%/PenDriverPro/Custom/Radio/` folder, and this feature supports .wav, .mp3, and .ogg files, as well as simple .m3u/.m3u8 files.
Playlist files may point to an external internet radio stream as well (if the stream type is supported).
Enabled in the Audio settings category, can choose to have no custom music (Default), a mixed playlist of default music and your custom set, or exclusively your own music.
Reminder:
If you are streaming the game or otherwise creating content, you could be at risk of DMCA strikes or content restrictions on platforms like Twitch and YouTube if you are playing copywritten music through Pacific Drive’s in game radio. Use this feature responsibly, and at your own risk.

The Anomalous Cosmetic Pack

Last but certainly not least... we have a new cosmetic DLC pack available! This Anomalous set features parts and decals that pay tribute to your favorite weirdness from out in the Zone.

Included in this cosmetic DLC:

Mailbox Bunny (Bobblehead)
Sawblade (Hood Ornament)
Tourist (Shifter)
Anchor (Steering Wheel)
Vacation (Sticker Pack)
Anomaly (Decal Kit)

Our paid cosmetic DLC packs allow Ironwood to continue to support the game with content updates just like this one! Stay tuned towards the end of the year for upcoming details about our Winter update and more - Pacific Drive just keeps getting bigger and better and we're very thankful that you're all along for the ride.

This emoji summarizes it perfectly: 🤢

Obviously, given the subject matter, I had to let ChatGPT generate a summary for this:

The Meta Stack Overflow post discusses a policy decision regarding the use of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, on the platform. The key points include:

1. Ban on Generative AI: The community has decided to prohibit the use of generative AI for answering questions on Stack Overflow. This is due to concerns about the quality and reliability of AI-generated content.

2. Quality Control: The decision aims to maintain high standards for answers, as AI-generated responses may lack accuracy and context, potentially leading to misinformation.

3. Community Feedback: The policy was influenced by feedback from the community, emphasizing the importance of human expertise in providing reliable answers.

4. Future Considerations: The post suggests that while the current stance is a ban, the situation may be revisited in the future as the technology evolves.

Overall, the policy reflects a commitment to ensuring that the content on Stack Overflow remains trustworthy and valuable to its users.

So... if the backend gets moved over to Wordpress, and Wordpress can already federate, I guess this means Tumblr is coming to the fediverse? 😮

This is looking pretty good. I'm especially excited about them taking key bindings seriously, with even class-specific binds.

Coming fresh off of Avatar Frontiers of Pandora - which I loved - where Ubisoft could not even be arsed to make key rebinding usable by having several hardcoded functions on E and F, absolutely crucial buttons that both block using ESDF to move (as is proper, as per Tribes) or using a lefty keybinding setup near the numpad for us 96% users.

Don't get me wrong, this is still the successor to the severly undercooked if well-designed DA2 and then the big but also super tepid and boring DAI. Not truly excited about the game as a whole, and definitely not going to get this before a few patches have passed fixing the worst bugs.

But for as laughable as the first trailer was, it's now looking... quite good?

The closed alpha consists of two thrilling modes - Hotzone and Team Deathmatch - across three different maps (Ozone, Zenith and Frontier) and grants players an early look at each of its three factions. There is no time or match limit during the alpha, and it is free to play.

Iterating on the initial game’s success, 1047 has rebuilt Splitgate 2 from scratch. Suit up and portal into the action as an elite Ace, choosing between three factions - each with their own distinct abilities tailored to a variety of playstyles. Mix and match to create the ultimate team and play together to master Splitgate 2’s fast-paced combat unlocking new capabilities along the way.

From the article:

On the whole, Bloober's Silent Hill 2 sometimes seems more... visually led than it should. There's an innocent airiness and spaciousness to it, for all the shadows and grime, with puddles that grandly reflect the clouds and sumptuously imagined interiors that speak to an antiquated fixation with extravagant lighting effects and photorealistic fine-detailing for its own sake.

The big one here is IMO the change in respawn systems, from group respawn (the thing they custom-made for Season 7) to a more standard wave respawn system:

So those things were great, but the biggest problem with Group Respawn was how dying first often led to getting “buried” by a long sequence of teammates dying in a row, making your respawn time a lot longer. This meant their respawn times were generally shorter, but it also meant yours was longer. Wave Respawn fixes that by ensuring your respawn time will always be shorter than the default if another hero was already dead.

Though the statistic with group respawn is truly interesting, about how it made a much bigger difference in particular in the highest ranks. Which is curious, as you'd also assume that in those ranks, people would have known to stay back and wait for their respawning teammates, which in a way is all group respawn ever did, forcing that.

Excited as all hell, this looks really really beautiful in remastered. 😮

Some more info in the Wikipedia article. And yes, this is about DC Solar, which I guess many americans will know but as someone from europe this was totally new to me.

Wild just how far he got running this shit.

Game Information

Game Title: Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure

Platforms:

• Nintendo Switch (Jul 25, 2024)

Trailer:

Developer: Furniture & Mattress

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 78 average - 75% recommended - 22 reviews

Critic Reviews

AnaitGames - Víctor Manuel Martínez García - Spanish - 9 / 10

Furniture & Mattress' debut game moves all its threads with surgical precision to get puzzles and adventures to share a triumphant close-up.

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CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 8.5 / 10

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure made sliding-block puzzles fun and interesting. That in and of itself is the highest praise I could give it.

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Checkpoint Gaming - 8 / 10

Players who enjoy casual puzzle titles are sure to find something to love in Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure. With its beautifully hand-drawn world and original puzzle mechanics, Arranger offers a compelling story world with engaging puzzles that are great for puzzle fans, both young and old. The world's grid system creates a novel way to interact with engaging puzzles while also expanding on the story world. If you're looking for a hardcore puzzle challenge, Arranger might not be for you, however, if you're looking for a casual experience with colourful graphics to boot, Arranger will be a great fit for your library.

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Eurogamer - Christian Donlan - 4 / 5

This is a lovely mixture of puzzling and exploration, with a delirious wraparound twist.

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Final Weapon - Saras Rajpal - 3.5 / 5

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is an addicting and fun title with a beautiful art style and a near flawless performance, regardless if you're playing on docked mode or handheld mode. Despite the short runtime, a lack of any content for completionists, and puzzles that often feel obtuse, Arranger is bound to at least put a smile on your face, even if you're just a casual fan of the puzzle genre.

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GameBlast - Alexandre Galvão - Portuguese - 7 / 10

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure stands out for its originality and charm, offering a magical and compelling experience. The soundtrack, charming art direction and plot help create an immersive, captivating atmosphere. However, the gameplay, while innovative, presents challenges that may hinder the player experience due to execution issues and the lack of adequate support during critical moments. Jemma's journey is full of lessons about friendship, trust and courage, making it a pleasant adventure to play through despite the obstacles that demand constant attention to this world's logic.

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GameXplain - Thomas Arnold - 8 / 10

Video Review - Quote not available

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God is a Geek - Lyle Carr - 9 / 10

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is an engaging puzzle game full of heart, charm and a whole lot of variety.

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Guardian - Keza MacDonald - 4 / 5

It definitely exhausted my brain from time to time – now and then I was just shifting stuff around in circles because I couldn’t figure out how to make three blocks land on three separate switches at the same time, as the conveyor belt logic of the puzzles temporarily eluded me. But more often I felt locked in, darting around the levels and arranging them almost on instinct, feeling as if I was playing Tetris. Having reached the end of Jenna’s adventure, I am definitely done with block puzzles for a while – but rarely do you play a game that explores one good idea as thoroughly as this.

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Kotaku - Kenneth Shepard - Unscored

Arranger is a brisk adventure, but it’s filled with so many clever, perfectly executed ideas that by the time it was over, I was just left wanting more. Jemma’s story might be over by the end, but I’d love to see Furniture & Mattress add new puzzles in future updates because the team has such an immaculate, clever eye for what makes puzzle games so satisfying. Now I’m just waiting for my memory of the game to fade so I can go back and try to solve those puzzles with fresh eyes once more.

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LadiesGamers.com - Paula Moore - Loved

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is a game focused on the core experience of exploration and puzzle-solving. It brings a refreshing twist to the RPG genre. Its innovative grid system, storytelling, and visuals make it a standout title for me on the Nintendo Switch.

The game’s unique approach to movement, exploration, and combat, combined with its story, ensures that it will leave a lasting impression on players. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or new to the genre, Arranger is an adventure worth embarking on.

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Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 8 / 10

Puzzle game meets narrative adventure in this funny, beautifully written, indie game whose unusual grid-sliding mechanic is elevated by its characters and story.

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Nindie Spotlight - Justin Nation - 9 / 10

A smart, and simply different, mix of puzzle and RPG elements that feels fresh

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Nintendo Life - Alana Hagues - 8 / 10

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure dares to be different, and it succeeds with aplomb. By interweaving a heartwarming and inclusive story with addictive gameplay, Furniture & Mattress teaches us that puzzle games can be more than just a vehicle for making the cogs in your brain turn. If you're looking for pure puzzling, then the game won't be for you, but a simple story and simple gameplay loop are both elevated to new heights because of the thought and care that's gone into them.

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Press Start - James O'Connor - 7.5 / 10

Arranger takes a type of game puzzle that is often irritating and turns it into something pretty cool – even if some of that frustration remains. It's absolutely gorgeous and full of interesting mechanical ideas, and though its core premise isn't the most exciting, it makes a strong argument for its own existence.

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Push Square - Stephen Tailby - 8 / 10

Arranger is a delightful puzzle adventure game that we thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Its tile-sliding puzzles are simple but well designed, and new ideas are introduced at a steady rate, adding variety without overcomplicating things. On top of that is a lovely, positive tale that gets its message across with a good dose of humour. There are some narrative loose ends we'd like to have seen addressed, but really there's very little to pick at here. It's a charming, well presented game well worth sliding into your schedule.

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Rectify Gaming - 10 / 10

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is a true masterpiece that sets a new standard for indie games. Its innovative gameplay mechanics, unique world design, and captivating narrative come together to create an unforgettable experience that will leave players eager for more

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Alice Bell - Unscored

Arranger is funny, surprising, and builds a simple movement puzzle concept into complex, layered head-scratchers. It's a very charismatic puzzle game that won't outstay its welcome.

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Siliconera - Jenni Lada - 6 / 10

I appreciate Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure and what it sets out to do, as the concept is great and some puzzles are thought-provoking.

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TheGamer - Axel Bosso - 3.5 / 5

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is both a pleasing and frustrating puzzling journey that leaves you thinking both about the steps you make in-game and the ones that you might or might not make in your real life. This could have just been a small game about a cool and strong mechanic, but it ended up being

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Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 4 / 5

As one of my new favourite indies of the year, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is a joy to play with its unconventional puzzles.

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video games are good - Nathan Hermanson - 9 / 10

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is an explosion of creativity. The team of artists behind it turned one simple concept into an adventure worth taking, turned simple tiles on a grid into a world full of imaginative concepts, and, hopefully, will turn many more slide puzzle strangers into converts overnight.

If you're looking at the hefty 2024 gaming season and wondering if you should slide some pieces around to make space for Arranger, I say leave the space open and you won't regret it.

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