- New Demo Update 0.8.1: PowerSuit, New Quests & More Polish! - 9 October 2026
Hello fellow Laser Knights!Since I'm not getting quite as much feedback on the demo lately as I'd hoped, I decided to give you even more reasons to jump back into the adventure! ːsteamhappyːSuit up!The PowerSuit is now available in the demo! It currently grants you one very important ability: RUNNING FASTER! 🏃💨Of course, this is just the beginning. In the full game, the PowerSuit will get more abilities and upgrades as your adventure progresses.Getting your hands on it isn't quite as simple as picking it up, either. There's a new little quest to complete, and you'll need to find your first Power Cells to upgrade it right away. Keep your eyes open!A little more shine, a little less sandfall chaosThere's plenty of other stuff going on under the hood, too. Spice rocks have received a fresh new look with more detailed models and better textures. Metal objects now have shiny outlines, and…
- Demo Update 0.8.0 – Rocks. Lots of Rocks. - 9 August 2026
Demo Version 0.8.0 is out!This update is mostly about giving the desert planet a bit more life and variety. I’ve been adding lots of small environmental details — with a somewhat unreasonable focus on rocks. 🪨The world should now feel less empty and a bit more like an actual dusty, lived-in desert planet.Changelogadded purple cactuses ... cacti ... plants?!?added lots of little rock pilesadded windmill and watertankadded more pipes to doors (especially trader jane's)adjusted dust particles to be more visibleadjusted all rock textures to have more details (per noise variation)increased player acceleration (smoother movement)moved some mushrooms in first dungeon (player could get stuck)smoother player head rotation while near enemy or NPCoptimization: less unit calculations if units (enemies) are off-screenincreased holo sign glowsmemory leak: loading different songs wouldn't unload last…
- Update 0.7.9: Dungeon Overhaul, Snappier Combat & World Polish! - 12 June 2026
Hello, adventurers!I'm back with another packed update designed to make your journey deeper, more responsive, and visually striking. In this patch, I've focused heavily on your feedback regarding early-game exploration, combat responsiveness, and atmospheric immersion across the major zones. Being a solo developer means every bit of your feedback helps me shape the game directly, and I'm excited to show you what I've been working on!Here is a detailed breakdown of what’s changing today:🗺️ Exploration & World OverhaulsThe First Dungeon Overhaul: I felt the introductory dungeon was guiding you a bit too much by the hand. To bring back that classic sense of discovery, the central obelisk is now completely hidden from plain view. You will need to rely on your wits, explore the area, and actively find your way forward.High-Visibility Chestboxes: No more missing out on rewards hidden in the…
- Demo v0.7.8: Seeing Red, Clean Tech, & Pure Combat Flow - 16 May 2026
Hey space travelers! 🪐It’s time for another update as we march closer to polishing up our core demo experience. Version 0.7.8 focuses heavily on environmental storytelling, UI cleanup, and trimming the fat from our combat visual effects so every swing of your sword feels just right.Here is the breakdown of what’s new in the latest build! 🎨 Visuals & Environment: The Red InvasionThe first planet is looking a whole lot more alien today. We wanted to dial up the sci-fi atmosphere and give the starting world a more distinct, vibrant identity.Red Moss Takeover: You’ll notice patches of a strange, thick red moss sprawling across the terrain of Planet 1. It isn't bioluminescent, but its deep, striking crimson tone gives the landscape a beautifully eerie, otherworldly vibe.Next-Gen Industrial Polish: Our spaceship, elevators, and various machinery have received a massive texture overhaul. We’…
- Devlog 0.7.7b — UI Glow-Up, Better Questing, and Visual Polish - 8 May 2026
Version 0.7.7b is focused on one thing: making the game feel better moment-to-moment.This update improves a lot of the interfaces players interact with constantly, adds clarity to progression and quests, and pushes the visuals further toward the atmosphere the game has been evolving into lately.Upgrade UI ReworkThe player, powersuit, and katana upgrade screens have all been redesigned.Upgrades are now presented as holographic blueprint-style panels with glowing outlines and cleaner presentation overall. The old UI worked functionally, but the new look makes upgrading feel much more connected to the sci-fi aesthetic of the world.On top of that, upgrades are now performed by holding the upgrade button instead of clicking once. It sounds small, but the interaction feels dramatically more satisfying and gives upgrades a stronger sense of weight and progression.To make onboarding smoother fo…
- Devlog #7: Deep Dive into the Jungle Planet - 1 May 2026
Development on the third of our five planned planets—the lush, treacherous Jungle Planet—is officially in full swing. This environment has been a blast to build, offering a vibrant contrast to the more desolate landscapes we’ve visited so far. Here’s a breakdown of what’s new in the latest build:Environmental Interaction: Destructible FloraTo make the jungle feel more alive and reactive, I’ve implemented a new system for destructible plants. Beyond just aesthetics, these serve as a playground for players to experiment with their weaponry.Visual Feedback: Plants now sway, break, and disintegrate based on impact types.Utility: Some destructible elements may hide secret paths, resources, or provide tactical cover during combat encounters. It’s a small detail, but it adds a satisfying layer of tactile immersion to the traversal.PowerSuit Evolution: New CollectiblesExploration on the Jungle…
- Demo Version Update! Graphics, Lighting, Shadows, Environment Updates! - 17 February 2026
Hello everybody :)Here is a brand-new demo version update ... it's been a while, and some things havve changed in version 0.7.6!Mostly the visuals, be it the new lighting & ambience in all levels (especially the houses), or the shadows, or the better environment textures, or all the fixes that came in between ... There is still a lot to do ... but enough to enjoy a new adventure in space, with Zack - your friendly Laser Knight from the neighbourhood planet ;)Greetings, Denzi!Changelognew enviroment textures (less toon-ish, more "realistic")new player-focused lighting with more ambience in all levels, and a soft vignette on topadded blob shadow for player, enemies, and NPC's (better visibility of units)more lights (e.g. obelisks, lamps in houses)player input is more precise, reacts even faster (feels less "float-y")added lots of roads to many levels and the desert planet main maplots of…
- Devlog: Creating a new Endboss - 24 November 2025
Hello fellow Laser Knights, I have been working on the robot endboss you will meet on the 4th planet - an industrial cloud planet with floating industry complexes and lots of robot enemies ...Here is a little time lapse video to show you the progress: Greetings, Denzi
- The Cat Update! - 9 October 2025
I’m constantly developing and expanding the universe of Tales of the Laser Knights, and this time I’ve added something extra… fluffy. 🐾 Please welcome Rusthaven’s newest (and arguably cutest) resident: a little cat!You’ll meet this furry bundle of joy at the end of the demo, when you enter the town of Rusthaven. Be careful though—cuteness overload may cause you to forget there are still enemies around.On the technical side, I’ve also improved the AI of both enemies and NPCs. They now respond much more quickly to the player’s actions—instead of pausing for a moment before deciding how to react.Have fun exploring the updated world of Tales of the Laser Knights—and don’t forget to give the cat some love!Changelogadded catAI: NPCs and enemies do react faster (before: sometimes it took 2-3 sec until units reacted)applied Unity's newest security fix (happened already in version 0.7.4d on Oct…
- NPC Behaviours FTW! - 23 September 2025
A small new update that brings some bugfixes, but also better NPC behaviour: when you need to follow Ramius (or any other NPC later in the game), s/he will wait for & turn towards you if you are not fast enough, and also will continue walking if you are too fast.Before, NPC's would simply stop moving and wouldn't do anything, as soon as Zak was too far away.Small but subtle change, that makes the NPC's behaviour feel much better :)Kudos and thanks to @RetroX for pointing out the bugs, and motivation in general! ;) ChangelogRamius/NPC's wait correctly for player (turn around, continue walking if player is faster)Ramius: added some dialogue when player activated 1st obeliskjunker end-boss: show shield indicator a little bit longer before starting shieldfixed: dialogue UI was interfering with player picturefixed: wrong camera when player entered the main map (camera targetted towards air c…
- New Demo Version Update 0.7.3 / 0.7.4 - 1 September 2025
Hello everybody
- Demo Version Update 0.7.2 ... all about performance! - 16 July 2025
Here is the newest version of Laser Knights, with lots of performance fixes - I am trying to reach a constant 60Hz on Steam Deck ... and it feels like I am almost there ... ;) still lots of smaller scripts that might need some adjustments, even though they come into use only rarely ... and I have to consider all the side effects, and test, and test, and test .... :)BTW, I also changed the former heal icon (a cross) to a heart, which makes it much more recognisable.Lots of other fixes ... hope I didn't invent new ones on the way to a much more stable frame rate :)Have fun! Denzi Changeloghealth and medikit: heart icon instead of 'cross'new option: disable 'water refraction effect'performance on Steam DeckAI balancingfixed: player being invisible after being beamed up from a ravinefixed: items not being shown in UI (spacemap, quick selection)fixed: audio fading out too soon on some effects
- Shrooms & Bushes Update 0.7.1 - 6 July 2025
Here is the newest update, with lots of new bushes, trees, shrooms and other fauna... the world feels more and more alive 🟩🍄🌲Changelog:added thorn bushesadded lots of shrooms!added glowy plantsnew house plants new dungeon door modela little performance boost (still W-I-P, will continue to make the game performant)Have fun, enjoy the new features!GreetingsDenzi
- New Demo Version 0.7.0 is out now! Levels are much more beautiful now - 19 June 2025
Hello there :) I removed some of the ugly block-out levels, and overhauled the complete level geometry to look more slick, more stylized, and more pleasing ... also lots of smaller player feedback, and some bugfixes!Enjoy! Play the Demo! And don't forget to wishlist! :)Changelog:added lots of "more beautiful" level geometry --> desert ground, rocks, mountains, treesnew "player was hit" effectimproved sand shader, made it more distinguishable from "normal environment"increased "Ambient Occlusion"player voice: less played while dashingjunker (endboss) --> indicate "shield turn off" with 3 light indicators (before, only "turn on" was indicated)junker (endboss) --> fixed lights & window not showing hit highlightsome level flow adjustmentsfixed "sandfall" being more animated, more movingfixed player not showing "chest open" animation
- Demo-Version 0.6.9b: FX- & Sound-Update - 3 June 2025
Hello there, with the newest update, I optimized many of the FX and sounds - lots of player feedback for the Laser Katana© :) Kudos and thank you
- Epic new Animated Intro!!! - 15 May 2025
We finally got rid of the ugly old intro with the "wall-of-text" (who reads that stuff anyhooch?)! Nadim "I'm not rude" Arnaout took the time to create an epic animated intro video, which totally reminds me of the good old "Saturday morning cartoons" like Brave Starr, Saber Rider, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ... and of course, my biggest inspiration - Captain Future! The music composed by Olivér Kovacs - a completely new track! - gives it that epic hollywood'esk feeling, and totally upgrades the "feeling of the game"! I love it so much ... we even joked about, if we should not stop game development, and start doing an animated series ːsteamhappyː And here is the changelog for demo version 0.6.9: epic new animated intro! added some planet details - but now with the new intro, they look ugly ... "work-in-progress" :) physics: changed gravity behaviour of player (and all units) - feels mu…
- Hands on Update, Update 0.6.8j! - 8 April 2025
Here is the changelog for another update of the demo version for Tales of the Laser Knights: player hand positioning when picking up objects player hand positioning when climbing a ladder start/stop climbing ladders is much easier: full collision handling overhaul balancing: increased player dash speed & acceleration slightly quests: better readability of descriptions (font & size) quests: adjusted quest descriptions (Ramius' mine complex) added grass step FX and sounds fixed: player cannot attack while in the air fixed: player cannot attack while climbing ladders fixed: obelisk trails would not show up every time fixed: explosive barrels colliders would be disabled during explosion countdown phase Thanks for your attention, Have fun :) Denzi
- Make the Heavy Attack Great Again! - 17 March 2025
Hello everybody, I released a small update that has huge impact on the game flow: instead of stopping the Heavy Attack before dashing off a cliff - which somehow felt wrong and broke the game flow - the player has now the chance to dash back towards the save ground he just left accidentally ;) heavy attack: does not stop anymore if near a cliff heavy attack: if player moves off a cliff, s/he can still move for 0.2sec afterwards (to dash back to save ground) physics: easier to dash/move back to save ground, if player moves off a cliff items: add 'up' force on spawn plant pots can be destroyed UI: new background frames for main menu, message box, tutorial UI UI: new game - mark existing save slots red, to warn the player from overwriting the save game Have fun, Greetings
- Video Devlog #1 - 4 March 2025
Hello everybody, here is the first video devlog for Tales of the Laser Knights: Greetings, Denzi
- FX Update 0.6.8g - 25 February 2025
Hello everybody, here is another changelog with many small changes and adjustments, to make the game even more enjoyable and easier for the player to understand what's going on :) endboss 'junker' - increased size, added details FX: highlights when enemies attack FX: highlights when enemies/player is hit FX: enemies show an "!" icon when they see the player added new ladder model (more details) better head rotation towards target player attacks do stun enemies for 0.2sec physics: player doesn't need to hold button to lift light objects lot of text changes and renamings (planets) fixes to mini-UI (selected item) fixed swimming rotation when dashing fixed beam sound would only play once fixed flying units do spawn their loot in wrong location fixed snake not being shown behind objects adjusted snake animations new app icon and cover artwork AI balancing player weapon balancing balancing:…
