In preparation for Steam Next Fest later this month, a new update to Volatility's demo has landed!
This update consists mainly of bug fixes, but many areas in the game have also received visual adjustments and the addition of more rewards to find (some more well-hidden than others!).
Read on below for version 0.2.0's changelog:


Additions
• Settings: Normalize Engage Aim (re-centers aim at eye-level height every time player aims) option added.
• Gameplay: Added treasure to both playable areas.
• Gameplay: Added "Beam Emitter" hazards to Portal Transit.
• Gameplay: Most cutscenes can now be skipped.

Fixes & Adjustments
• Fixed lighting issues.
• Visual optimizations for Portal Transit area.
• Restored missing damage numbers during boss encounter.
• Actor speech now ends correctly if player skips dialogue lines during a cutscene.
• Visual optimization for UI elements.
• Fixed missing SFX instances.
• Fixed Transport Junction interaction icon inconsistencies.
• Fixed instances where player was able to go out of frame of camera.
• Minor changes to Portal Transit level design.
• Fixed physics interactions of destructible crates.
• Fixed issue where cursor was not disabled correctly.
• Decreased time between a pickup spawning and it seeking to the player.
• Fixed issue where Alexandrite upgrades were instead applying to Ruby.
• Fixed issue where the Diamond "Slash Range" upgrade was not working correctly.


As always, thank you for spending time in Rotreef and feel free to contact me with any feedback, questions and suggestions!


Billy / May As Well Games

Please enjoy this ~20min demo of Volatility's starting chapter. If you have any feedback, or in case of bugs, please report them either through the steam community boards or via the May As Well Games website/email/twitter (all links available on the store page).

This game is a labor of love, and I appreciate each and every person who shows or has shown interest in it! Read on for more information about the game below or jump straight into the demo if you like!

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Volatility is an action-adventure (a Zelda-like, if you will) which borrows elements from a wide variety of genres, foremost of which modern metroidvanias.

The player awakes to find themselves in an unfamiliar world on the brink of destruction, a pocket dimension approaching its natural end by collapsing in on itself. The few survivors left in this world implores the player to assist them in finding a way out, having been stranded here for centuries on the orders of a mad regent. What dark purpose did this pocket dimension serve the regent, and why were some of their most brilliant scientists left to such a harrowing fate as to wither away here? Most importantly, how did you end up here, and is escape even possible?

Volatility features a host of abilities tied to gems, each of which lets the player interact with the world around them in a unique way. The ruby allows firing off projectiles at faraway foes and activation of electricity-powered devices, while the emerald enables powerful kick attacks and skating through the sky on etherlines.
The player can upgrade gems to hone in on a favored playstyle, by searching environments for the many, many secrets scattered and hidden about the world.
The player will come across friendly characters while exploring the pocket dimension, some of which may offer helpful insights or ask for help with things to make their existance in this world less fraught with danger.

Your survival and escape depends on your ability to understand this self-annihilating world, but there are those who would see it end with you inside it. At any cost.