I can now write pages on the importance of consistent style when working with a big team and how much time it'll save you...

Early on in the jam, we made a simple mistake that would end up being costly, and were inconsistent in our folder naming scheme. It got changed around on various peoples system across multiple operating systems, and no change ever fully stuck.

Fast forward to today and it turns out our big crash was caused by SOME systems being unable to find a packed resource because the folder names weren't being treated properly. /Tilesets/MyTileset.tres vs /tilesets/MyTileset.tres. Our filesystems and github repository could never agree on what we were doing with that. This bug cost us HOURS during the jam and came back to bite us again in embarrassing crashes for some user. Hopefully we can lay that one down to rest once and for all, though I wish I knew why it worked for so many, and burned for others. We thankfully got in contact with someone for whom the game crashed nearly every time. With his help we were finally able to get the information we needed. Thanks Doug!

The windows 11 non-start bug... this capital letter induced crash bug... can't wait to see what other horrible bug is going to keep me up at night. So give Sominpathy a play, and see if you can't break it again!

We've been pretty overwhelmed by the positive response to Somnipathy. In just 4 days its eclipsed nearly all our older projects! This is resonating and we love it!

Unfortunately not everyone is having fun, and we're taking this moment to fix MAJOR bugs and some minor balance tweaks based on the feedback we've received. The Windows 11 bug is still there at this point, but in testing, so the windows download is not yet updated.

And as we enter the weekend, we just want to say thanks for really making this a special week. We are doing our best to play through everyones games too, and the heart and fun we're having is beyond words. Here's to all of our continued success!

Changelog: Jam-feedback Bug Fixes 1 - Fixed a serious crash bug - Fixed Cellphone interaction - was +50 score, -50 alert; now +50 score, -10 alert, -1 sanity - Fixed lamp/light switch interaction - was +15 sanity; now +15 alert - Enemy no longer moves during dialog - Slightly sped up BOTH you and the Enemy -Starting values were 25 and 75; now 35 and 85) - Slightly sped up natural Alert decay - was 1 moving, 5 standing; now 1.5 moving, 5.5 standing) - Fixed bug where the Enemy spawn timer would continue even if the game was paused - Fixed many sprite y-sorting issues - Fixed missing attribution in about page

Whiskeybadger, our mysterious character designer and pixel artist, made a post yesterday where he talks about his experiences in the jam. Did you miss it? Well don't worry, we've saved his words on a devlog over at Itch.io too! This was his 2nd gamejam ever, so if you're curious about his process, take a peak on itch.io here!

And if you want to see his work in action, try a round of Somnipathy!

If you've played Somnipathy, then you're familiar with this thing we are currently calling The Creeper. But what is it exactly? Where did it come from? What does it want? Why does it pursue Aggy? Is it an enemy, relentless and cruel? Or more a beast, driven by the need to feed? What's with the hand?

We hope to share that and more with you in the coming months as we change and expand Somnipathy from an atmospheric, but unfocused, score attack survival point and click, to a more narrative driven experience, that doesn't abandon the exploration, resource management, and atmosphere that all the gracious people who have given us positive feedback enjoy.

We have a lot of ideas and hope to have more information for you after the Jam ends, but if you're interested to see where it goes, give us a follow on itch.io for updates.

Will Aggy have what it takes to handle this new creature? This raw personification of Sleep Paralysis? What other twisted creatures await her as she unravels the reason for the Creepers unending chase. (Concept art, final design subject to change~)

We were overwhelmed by the reception and reactions to Somnipathy over these last few weeks. Being the 8th most rated game in the whole of the Jam division, one of the most played games this event, is honestly humbling and far more attention than we'd expected.

The incredibly valuable feedback we received is also clear: while we are on to something with Somnipathy, it's not there yet. And we agree! The focus is shifting to a more narrative driven experience with more depth, more story, and of course more monsters. We are excitedly working on a full level demo, due for a mid-summer release and from there continue towards a proper release.

Already we've uncoupled our code to make expanding features easier. We've upped the creepy factor by enhancing our lighting and started work on the daytime 'normal' world. So much is in the pipeline, and we can't wait to share it.

If you're interested in joining us for this journey join our discord here or follow us on itch.io. In discord start engaging by joining team Creeper or team Aggy! Or if you just want to hear milestones, releases, and other patch notes, join team LampCat.

Either way, thanks for helping us get this far and see you next Jam!

Our Ludum Dare 50 game Somnipathy (https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/somnipathy) is prepping for its Steam Next Fest debut! Check out our steam page

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2069260/Somnipathy/

Somnipathy is still a pixel art point and click thriller, but its focus has shifted from score attack to a proper story mode. It's been a fun 4 months of progress, with at least another 4 to go before it's done, but we're very happy with the progress, and can't wait for people to try out the demo in October!

The feedback we got during Ludum Dare was only the start, but was incredibly valuable... its not easy to get quality feedback and we were lucky enough to get it in spades. Thanks everyone who helped, and hope to see you at next fest.