- New DLC: "Dungeonomalies" - 22 January 2026
I have not update Anomalies in a long time. But it's been about ten (10) years since the original game was released so I thought it was a good time to put something new out there.Why Dungeonomalies?It's a bit of a long story, so I figure I will start from the beginning. It all started when a person commented on the music for Cyclopean: The Great Abyss, my recent CRPG based on the underworld of Lovecraft's Dreamlands. Here is the comment:Now I can't say I fully agree with this sentiment, but I will take a compliment where I can get one. I had not really been formally introduced to dungeon synth, but here was someone saying (or rather implying) that my music was somehow included in this genre. So I went down the rabbit hole, and discovered a whole new (to me) genre of music that I had not realized existed. It's true, I had a few run-ins with it before, most notably the sound track for "Du…
- Anomalies - "Oddities" Release - 11 February 2021
Ever since I started Anomalies, and added sounds to it, I have always been fascinated with some of the music it produces. I've been compiling these songs into different albums, some of which are available here on Steam. "Oddities" is the latest of these records. It is actually a collection of songs that, for various reasons, did not make it onto any of the other albums. You can listen to and download the album for free on my Bandcamp page if you like: https://mkschmidt.bandcamp.com/album/anomalies-oddities However, it is also included with the Anomalies Music Collection as of later today (uploading as I type this). About Anomalies Music and Images I have stated it before, but I want to mention this again ... please feel free to use any of the images or sounds produced by Anomalies in your own projects. It's not really a "tool" in any practical sense, but if you felt like using anything,…
- Orbital Cheese and so much more... - 28 May 2020
This fellow has shared his Anomalies, some randomized, some hand crafted, on his YouTube channel. I really love seeing some of the things people experience with this game, as it can sometimes even surprise me, the game developer. https://youtu.be/k0e7Pw9_BLg Here's another one, part of a presentation of Procjam entries, he seems to get a real kick out of it and almost "explodes" his computer. https://youtu.be/c7YPlg1IK7k?t=2422 Feel free to comment on these video or share your own videos or screenshots here or in the discussions forum. Also, I noticed a bunch of people bought Anomalies both here and on Itch yesterday and today. I am curious why this happened, and whether it was because of some Youtube video or article that I am not aware of. Let me know where you found out about Anomalies in the comments!
- Options Menu and Advanced Spawn Menu Guides - 6 January 2020
I have added another two guides to the community hub. The first one covers how to use the Options Menu in Anomalies. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1962070526 It is just a video guide at this time, but I plan to write another article about it as well. You may notice that I do not discuss the Harmonious Sounds Only, or the Advanced Spawn Menu options. These are actually getting their own, dedicated guides. The Advanced Spawn Menu is described in this guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1962173107 Harmonious Sounds Only is described in the Procedural Music Demo https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1957979661 I will also be making a sequel to the procedural music demo, that will include non-harmonious sounds. Game Update Also, you may have noticed a small update. This was something I should have done a long time ago, but i…
- Anomalies - Procedural Music Demo - 3 January 2020
I have added a guide that has a video demo of how to influence the way Anomalies makes music. Check it out here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1957979661 You can also read the same information in a text format, with images on IndieDB here: https://www.indiedb.com/games/anomalies/tutorials/anomalies-procedural-music-demo
- Another Little Update - 19 November 2019
Some of you may not notice any changes. They are indeed very slight. Default Shaders I have made the bloom and outline shaders active by default. This will only effect new players, as your existing settings will over-ride this. Remember, you can always alter the shaders by accessing the Options menu. Activate or deactivate shaders by clicking on their associated radio buttons. Movement and Speed Instructions Another small change is in the spawn menu - that big green menu with all the buttons and sliders - the text at the bottom has been modified slightly to mention that WASD controls movement in view mode, and that SHIFT will speed up movement. Mention of the Options menu has also been added in that text, as some players did not seem to know about it.
- Anomalies Update - 8 November 2019
I have updated Anomalies to the latest Acknex engine (A8) which should make the game more compatible with newer operating systems. I also added a couple options which you can modify (If you want to) in the "settings_new.cfg" file that the game creates. The last three entries are: background fade,1 background stars,1 shiny surfaces,1 By changing any of these to 0, you will remove that feature from the game. Here is a description of what they do... Background Fade This causes the screen to turn black when generating an anomaly. I added this to prevent the kind of jarring effect of switching to a new anomaly abruptly. However, recently, I realized that I missed having the ability to watch an anomaly "grow" when you create it. By setting this to 0, you will be able to see the anomalies grow. Background Stars These are the floating globules you will see in the background, floating in differe…
- Help Schmidt Workshops! - 5 November 2019
Hey, did you know you could help Schmidt Workshops by writing reviews, sharing our games, and even by just playing them? Well you can! https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F34148628%2F98b65ceeb831ec968e72d157888052299ef62091.jpg That's right, by simply playing a Schmidt Workshops game, you will help to show other players on Steam that these games exist. Writing a nice review will help to establish that our games are fun to play. Sharing our games on Social Media, or simply telling your friends about them will help too. If you like the experimental, artistic and philosophical themes in Schmidt Workshops games, then please help by spreading the word.
- Join Schmidt Workshops on Discord - 12 August 2019
https://discord.gg/7QhKvGH If you are on Discord, feel free to join the discussion at the Schmidt Workshops server...
- German Version Updated - 7 February 2019
A player recently pointed out that the German Version of Anomalies did not activate Steam Achievements. I realized that I had not updated the German version in quite some time, so I apologize about that. The German version is now updated. You may have to go to "Anomalies > Properties > Verify Integrity of Game Files" to make sure it gets updated on your system. Restarting Steam also works, I think. You will know the version is up to date if you see the "Aktivieren Sie das erweiterte Spawn-Menü" option in the Options Panel.
- Sharing Anomalies - 22 December 2018
Did you know you can save and share Anomalies? if you find one you like, use the "save" button to give it a name. Then you can access that saved file via "Anomalies > Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files" to send it to other users. They would have to place it in the same folder, then use the "load" button and type in the same name under which it was saved. While I would not necessarily call this a "feature" just yet, it is possible to do with the existing game. If this is something you'd like to see more of, let me know. It might be nice to have an online repository of Anomalies that other players can download and experience for themselves.
- New Low Price! - 18 December 2018
Since Anomalies was released back in 2016, I have gotten a lot of great feedback on it. It was my first officially released game, so I did not really have a great grasp on where the market stood on games like it. As a result, I think I over-estimated its value a bit. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F26705830%2Fb5c7663478c747fb82bf465162f4fd0bfb5b6903.gif Anomalies' new price is $0.99 and I think it makes more sense that way. Maybe it will help it find a new audience, especially with the new "Advanced Spawn Menu" option. Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed playing Anomalies as much as I have enjoyed working on it!
- New Advanced Spawn Menu - 18 December 2018
For most of us, Anomalies is just weird enough. However, there are among us, the super-weird - the people for whom weird is just the beginning. It is for these people that I have added a new option in Anomalies. It's called: "The Advanced Spawn Menu." Basically, once it's activated in your options menu, it will allow you to manually enter numbers into the game's spawn menu - that green menu that you use to manually change the parameters of an anomaly. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F26705830%2Fb5c7663478c747fb82bf465162f4fd0bfb5b6903.gif The limits on parameters were put in place for several reasons. Performance is a major one. You may find that adding an extra 2000 segments will slow your computer or crash the game, so there are no guarantees that you can use these new options, or that they will get the results you want. Nevertheless, I thought it might…
- New Album Added to Music Collection - 7 November 2018
Congratulations! If you are someone who purchased the Anomalies Music Collection, you just got the latest Anomalies album. https://store.steampowered.com/app/696340/Anomalies__Music_Collection/ The fifth Anomalies album contains thirteen new tunes for your listening enjoyment. Remember, you can sample all the Anomalies albums here on my Bandcamp page: https://mkschmidt.bandcamp.com/ As a reminder veryone who purchases Anomalies automatically gets the first three Anomalies albums. Access them through your Steam Library under Music. Then you can use Steam's built in music player to listen, make playlists and more.
- How it all started - 17 August 2018
As a game and artistic project, I am very happy with Anomalies. I never expected it to reach as far as it has when I started. In fact, it started off as a simple algorithm to create nebulas for my other game Star Explorers. When I saw that the nebulas were beginning to look a bit like trees growing in outer space, I took that idea and went with it. Have a look at one of the very earliest versions of Anomalies, which I called "Trees in Space." https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1474988721 Each new feature came as a simple idea, what if they wiggled? What if they were symmetrical? What if they made noises? etc... so the game developed in an experimental way, with no plan as to what it would end up like. There were some ideas that I took very far, but have since abandoned because they did not perform the way I wanted them to. Exporting Anomalies actually worked, but it…
- Some Anomalies Music now Included - 28 February 2018
You may notice Anomalies updating the next time you log into Steam. I have included some of the music collection in with the basic version of Anomalies. For those that purchased the Music Collection, I thank you. Not all the music will be included in the basic edition, and any future albums will be automatically included to the Music collection, so please don't feel that your purchase is being devalued in any way. If you do feel this way, I do apologize, and I will personally refund your money if it comes to that, but I wanted to allow for the basic users to have some access to the music as well. Also, as I mentioned in the original release of the music collection, all the songs are available on my Bandcamp page here: https://mkschmidt.bandcamp.com/
- Some Anomalies Music now Included - 28 February 2018
You may notice Anomalies updating the next time you log into Steam. I have included some of the music collection in with the basic version of Anomalies. For those that purchased the Music Collection, I thank you. Not all the music will be included in the basic edition, and any future albums will be automatically included to the Music collection, so please don't feel that your purchase is being devalued in any way. If you do feel this way, I do apologize, and I will personally refund your money if it comes to that, but I wanted to allow for the basic users to have some access to the music as well. Also, as I mentioned in the original release of the music collection, all the songs are available on my Bandcamp page here: https://mkschmidt.bandcamp.com/
- Achievements are Coming - 19 January 2018
Now that you can load older anomalies after updates, I can begin making smaller incremental changes to the game without ruining your enjoyment. For starters, I have begun creating Steam Achievements for Anomalies. There are only two right now, and they are only activated in the "Testing" version of Anomalies, but more will be added, and soon they will be active in the "default" version. Some of the achievements will be give-aways, awarded simply for doing a certain action the first time. Others will be more challenging. Right now, the two achievements reflect this approach, one being awarded for simply clicking the "Randomize" button, while the other will require a bit more ingenuity. "The Wiggle Worm" is a type of anomaly I encountered through some experimentation. If you can re-create the Wiggle Worm, then you will get the achievement. Some parameters will need to be set a certain way…
- Achievements are Coming - 19 January 2018
Now that you can load older anomalies after updates, I can begin making smaller incremental changes to the game without ruining your enjoyment. For starters, I have begun creating Steam Achievements for Anomalies. There are only two right now, and they are only activated in the "Testing" version of Anomalies, but more will be added, and soon they will be active in the "default" version. Some of the achievements will be give-aways, awarded simply for doing a certain action the first time. Others will be more challenging. Right now, the two achievements reflect this approach, one being awarded for simply clicking the "Randomize" button, while the other will require a bit more ingenuity. "The Wiggle Worm" is a type of anomaly I encountered through some experimentation. If you can re-create the Wiggle Worm, then you will get the achievement. Some parameters will need to be set a certain way…
- Update 01/09/2018 - New Save Protocol - 10 January 2018
I have made an important update, that may not make much of a difference initially, but will greatly effect the future of Anomalies. The saving protocol for Anomalies has been completely rewritten, so it should now be possible for me to update the game, without effecting the user's ability to load previously saved anomalies. Anomaly data is now written to a text file with the following format: >save_"name".txt
