What’s up?

Hi all, just a quick word. What have I been doing these last weeks?

In the limited leisure time I have available I have started rewatching the Andor Series and reading up on Belisarius. And working on extending the SE lore for before the Dissolution War.

I have also been slightly annoyed with some continued negative reviews for the Shadow Empire base game due to AI art inclusion, while the base game is completely and utterly playable without that art, by using the master switch on the startup menu. I am surprised to find myself at the point where I am actually happy to see a negative review that just says “Game is no fun; UI too clunky; thumbs down”.

Mostly I have been working on implementing PBEM++ systems inside the next Decisive Campaigns (DC) title; more news on that title soon. The last time I used PBEM++ systems was like 3 PBEM++ system versions ago, and for DC2: Case Blue; so I am happy that I am getting this tech back in to one of my games again. Might also see introduction with SE at some future point.

Shadow Empire work is mostly bug fixes, balancing changes and enlarging to-do lists for nice-to-have stuff, as time currently is being mostly spent on finishing up the mystery DC title.

However, after the summer (yes, got family, I also do holidays), I’ll return my full focus to SE. I said a month or so ago that I would make a new road map, but since my plans for the next SE release need to be properly aligned with the publisher, this will take a bit longer. I gotta be sure of how I am going to spend the next years, before I commit. The good news here is that the more I am secretive, the more it points towards some major thing.

Next week or so I’ll share my findings from the NewGfx polls. It’s quite interesting, but of course just a rough guideline.

Hope everybody is doing well. And I will try to post more. Take care!

Best wishes,
Vic

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Round 4 of the Vidcom Gfx Poll is now up!

We just did the NewGfx upgrade like 2 months ago… But probably in about a year’s time we’ll publish a newer version of the NewGfx. I am already doing some community research which graphic styles and image compositions are preferred by the SE players. If you have not done so yet, please vote over here: https://www.vrdesigns.net/vidcom_poll/poll4.php

Best wishes,
Vic

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Website updated

Finally found the time to update WordPress and PHP version. Fixed some dead links and also included option to upload generated planets of the .se1 file format (Shadow Empire). If you run into any website bugs than please post on Discord on in the comments below.

Best wishes, Vic

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SE Republica Soundtrack

Please make sure to get your high quality copy of the Shadow Empire Republica Original Soundtrack (OST)! by the great Marco Finestra.

His music has inspired me for years now to make Shadow Empire better and more immersive. Hop on over here to his bandcamp: https://marcofinestra.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-empire-republica-original-soundtrack

Did I already mention that the “Meritocracy” track is pure gold? It is! But with nine political systems and nine soundtracks, there must be a favorite for everybody.

Best wishes, Vic

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New Gfx Vidcom Modding

I would like to make especially (potential) modders aware that with the New Gfx Vidcoms graphical modding has been hugely extended. Cumulating multiple images, layering, conditionals, using multiple mods at the same time, it is all possible now. Read more in this short PDF presentation: https://www.vrdesigns.net/docs/NewGfxVidcomModding.pdf

For more in depth documentation go to the full docs over here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XlfhwgiXz9UxpCpevndGf-xM76WkCOner8MCabBt_cA/edit?usp=sharing

Also note I have created a dedicated page in the top menu of this website under the “Shadow Empire Series”. https://www.vrdesigns.net/?page_id=2325

Best wishes,
Vic

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Shadow Empire REPUBLICA has been released!

It’s been more than 2 years of work, but I am proud to present my best DLC so far!

Extend your Shadow Empire game with the advanced politics coming with Republica.

For more information hop on over here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3645760/Shadow_Empire_Republica/

Best wishes,
Vic

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