After removing the storyline from the game due to excessive complaints in recent user reviews (and poor sales) since the update, it appears most players were unhappy with that decision! Perhaps I jumped the gun a bit there when I removed the story. I appreciate everyone's support in saying they actually enjoyed it and that it should still be included. So yes, it's back.


Like I literally just said! Ever since I released the last big update, the reviews, forum posts, and overall sales have been pretty terrible to look at. People have some pretty awful things to say about Influent and I guess it took a toll on me as a solo indie developer. I don't think most people realize it's just me making this peculiar language learning game. PSA to anyone unhappy with Influent: When you rip into my game after playing it for fifteen minutes and tell me how terrible you think it is, do you think that makes me want to keep working on it? It honestly makes me want to set it on fire and walk away.


I'm honestly doing fine! Mentally anyway. Financially? Lol! But that's my fault from all the avocado toast I've been eating. Ultimately I don't really think Influent has much of a place in the video game industry given the way things have been trending since it released in 2014. Education is just not important to any publishers out there and in my experience, players on Steam have been extremely critical in their reviews of Influent. Personally I believe games like Influent need extra special care in order to grow and succeed in a market driven primarily by entertainment value as opposed to educational value. Influent specifically gets a lot of flak for not being a one-stop-shop for fluency. It also catches heat for not having enough words (yet everyone complaining about that has less than an hour invested). But I digress...


Look. I am not a highly skilled 3D Artist. Yes, I can do 3D art and I understand how it works but it is not my area of expertise. Furthermore I am not a 2D artist and cannot make texture art in the style of Influent. As I explained above, my addiction to avocados has left me without the income to hire the artists needed to create new areas for Influent. Hopefully that helps everyone understand why I keep adding things that don't involve 2D/3D artwork.


It's an Arcade Game, and I do mean a real arcade game, that my best friend and I have been working on for FAR too long that we're trying to release on consoles this year. I have a business partner named Spooky who I have a commitment to so I will be focused on Armed and Gelatinous until it's done and released into the netosphere! Please wishlist and maybe buy it when it comes out? I need that sweet avo rush as often as I can get it!

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios

That's right folks! Influent's story is finally dead! Let's face it, it was garbage to begin with. I don't know who came up with all that nonsense but it definitely wasn't me. Okay maybe it was me but I promise it was going somewhere until in 2013 when the くそ hit the fan and development screeched to a halt.

What happened you might ask? There's a great quote by John Lennon about how life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. So yeah, it never got finished and I'm sorry to anyone who liked it but it's gone now. Maybe I'll rewrite it someday, who knows!


I spent months developing a chat system so the characters could talk to each other in-game like an RPG kinda thing but it turned out to be a lot of slow-paced clutter and people have complained heaps so that's almost completely gone now! I'm sorry I ever programmed it into existence. That's just me apologizing to myself for wasting months of time. It's cool, everything's fine. I'm not crying. Why would I be crying?


Yeah I guess it might have helped a few people and I'm sure it might leave some in the dark without it but ultimately, Influent is a pretty straightforward experience with a whole world wide web out there where other players can answer questions. That's you right? I'm looking at you! Either way, I'm happy to field questions on the discord and on the Steam forums if anyone ever gets lost or confused. The game just dumps you right into it now. Sink or swim! I hope you swim.

Also I'll probably bring back the FPS mode someday soon, I know you want it back.

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios

PS - The game is also a lot cheaper now! Tell your friends!

In keeping with tradition, I've extended the Winter Sale deal another 2 weeks so if you just missed the deal Influent had going, there's still time to get on board with learning something new in 2023! If you've ever wanted to start on a new language, there's never been a better time than right now.


This version of Influent just launched in November and features a plethora of languages all in one fancy package! How many languages you ask? 23 to be exact! This includes the ever-popular Japanese, Spanish, English, and German, alongside the brand-new Polish, Welsh, and Dutch releases!


Also worth noting is that Korean is now fully fixed as I've just included some additional updates to the language pack. Many thanks to Creorleans#4291 on Discord for all the help with identifying the last few bugs! Solid companion. ːp2cubeː

Also the spaceship's lasers now auto-fire when held down. Enjoy!

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios

It took a few sleepless nights but the Korean language pack is back in action and should now be bug-free! Huge shout out to Steam user TOBESTAR for their help with reporting many of the issues as well as finding a few other gameplay bugs that slipped through the cracks. Also to HyeonJin Shin for coming in hot with 100+ new audio pronunciations!

The game should be running super smoothly now, specifically with regard to Reversal Mode! Beyond that, all Synonym settings should be respected when attempting Star Challenges as well!

Here's a quick changelog of things:

• CHIP Overlay Toggle (Press 'R' Key to toggle)
  
• Added AZERTY Keyboard Support (in-game option)
  
• Added back the FOV Slider back (in-game option)
  
• Remembers view mode after exiting Star Challenge
  
• Adjectives and Verbs now display in Reverse Textual
  
• Synonym selections now display in Reversal Mode
  
• Displayed Answers now reflect synonym selections
  
• Displayed Answers now reflect alphabet settings

All that said, if you or anyone you love is affected by Influent bugs, no matter how serious, please contact me on the Influent Discord or the Influent Steam Forums with a brief description. :)

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios

There's a brand new update in town and its broadly defined name is redefining the definition of definitive! That's right friends, not only is this new version of Influent so complete in its own definitiveness that it includes every single language pack released for Influent up to this point, it also includes three entirely new language packs plus a very much improved German language pack not to mention a very much corrupted Korean language pack! There's a lot to un-pack here so read on for the details! (Ha! Get it? Yeah you got it.)

Influent has always been a bit confusing for players to purchase and for storefronts (like Steam) to present on their Store page. After hitting 20 languages, I desperately needed to simplify things instead of continually feeding the ever growing monstrosity that was the Influent Store page. I've been wanting to streamline things for quite some time but wanted to avoid messing up everyone's data in the process. But at this point I've had to wipe everyone's data with the new update anyway! You knew about that right? Sincerest apologies if you didn't know this was coming... I posted a warning months ago in the Steam forums as a head up. (Best I could do! Please don't kill me.)

From this point forward, Influent's language packs are all included in one simple bundle known only as the Definitive Edition. "Why should I even care?," you might ask? Well! If you've already purchased the "premium" version of Influent, you rule and will be grandfathered in and updated to the Definitive Edition at no extra cost. (Not feeling like a grandfather yet? Influent released almost 9 years ago!)

Now, for everyone with the Free Edition, don't panic! I've put the new Definitive Edition at 67% off for the duration of the Steam Autumn Sale, making it roughly the same price as a single language pack. Also, Free Edition players will still be able to enjoy the updated features available with Influent's new version in French, Italian, and Korean at no cost. We cool? Cool. (Don't flame me bro, it was free!)

Something something Thanksgiving... I had some extra gravy on my mashed potatoes and started feeling extra grateful that I wouldn't be able to feed myself if it wasn't for all your support over the years and I just wanted to say thank you in some way for keeping me fed. No catch! I genuinely hope you or someone close to you will try out a new language. I am however inserting a humble request: Please tell your friends and family about Influent. While I am grateful to be able to afford food, I can't afford marketing. Ya heard? (o;0) (Yes that's an owl face. Yes I just invented it.)


I wasn't fully satisfied with the method of mastery that Influent was using up to this point. It felt lackluster in many ways and I realized long ago that it was partly due to having no "reversal" mode. Imagine a flash card where you see side A and have to recall side B from memory. Reversal mode is effectively seeing side B and having to recall side A. This concept was tricky to introduce but I am quite happy with the results and I think you will be too! (Protip: There's a 5th crystal in the bathroom!)

This right here is the major change and will help ensure that everyone is truly mastering each word during a play-through. There are now 5 distinct modes for playing back your lists in either Classic Search or Seek and Destroy mode. The 5 modes focus on different areas of expertise such as Listening Comprehension (Vocal), Reading Comprehension (Textual), Both (Vocal + Textual), Reverse Vocal, and Reverse Textual. Each mode represents one point of a five-point star, meaning players must earn a point in all 5 modes before mastering a word. (Protip: Stars Unlock Adjectives and Verbs!)

As it turns out, there were a number of hard-to-click objects when playing from the first person view mode and many players were reporting issues with trying to select items. It took some time to solve this complex problem but it's finally time to introduce a new playable character. Say hello to the new and improved CHIP! (They're a droid, not a robot!)

In case you don't already know, Discord is awesome and I've created some cool integrated features for anyone brave enough to share their progress with others on the Influent Discord! It'll post and tag you when you master new words and you can chat with CHIP and ask them for your "!stats" any time! It's still very much a work in progress but I think it's pretty neat and hopefully you will too! (Join the discord here![discord.gg])

A long time ago, in a country far away, Influent was originally programmed in a version of JavaScript known as UnityScript. This proved to be problematic as time went on because Unity dropped support for it in favor of C#, which admittedly is the superior language. However, in doing so, Influent was trapped on an old version of Unity, seemingly forever. That is, until I converted the entire codebase to C# and updated it to an LTS version of Unity. (Please, hold your applause until the end!)

With the fancy new update comes some fancy new languages including Welsh, Polish, and Dutch!

This was a fun one to work on because I had never heard a single Welsh word in my life and having now heard a whole lot of Welsh words, I cannot stop having visions of dragons and an insatiable craving for leeks. Cheers to Morgan Roberts for helping to make this happen. This is quite possibly the most interesting language I've ever heard and I highly recommend giving it a play if you've never heard it either. (Here be dragons![www.google.com])

There have been far more requests for Polish than any other language at this point, which really surprised me because it wasn't very high on my to-do list. But the people have spoken and it quickly came together thanks to the efforts of Filip Cholewczyński and Monika Bilska aka The Gaming Shark. (Grab some pierogies and dig in!)

It's been a long road for the Dutch language pack. As some of you may recall, Dutch was announced for Influent many years ago but it never materialized. From what I've gathered, there was a mishap at the recording studio in Amsterdam where the voice actor was doing the pronunciations and most of the files were irretrievably lost. It was an unfortunate situation that was out of my control and it took me a long time to find someone willing to re-record the pronunciations. But at last, the time has come to release Dutch upon the world! (It's about Amsterdamn time!)

The German language pack was recently put under the microscope after a number of players pointed out that it was missing some crucial information, specifically the definite articles der, die, and das. Not only have the translations been completely redone, so have the audio pronunciations! These new pronunciations have been recorded by German language instructor, Michael Bochmann, who took care to include the singular and plural form of each word in every pronunciation. (Note: Will not help you communicate with German Shepherds!)

Yes it's true, the current version of Korean is not in good health. From what I've gathered, there was a communication breakdown and a large number of updates were made to the translation database without my knowledge, thus putting those audio pronunciations out of sync. Effectively many of the pronunciations are outdated and need to be re-recorded. I could revert back but it's considerable time better spent pushing forward. Update coming soon! (I take full responsibility and do apologize for this mishap. Thank you u/TOBESTAR for reporting the issue.)

On the plus side, Trading Cards are working again! One of the caveats with the release of Influent's Free Edition was that it changed the way Trading Cards were obtained. I was not aware of this but apparently with Free-to-Play games, players are awarded Trading Cards by purchasing DLC. I was unhappy with this outcome and have been hoping to fix it by reverting back to a premium model. I'm very happy to report that Trading Cards should now be dropping again as expected! (STGs: NFTs before they were uncool!)


Well that about wraps it up for this massive update! If you made it this far, thanks for reading my wall of text. You rock! Please let me know in the Steam forums if you find any issues while playing.

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios

Summertime and the earning is easy with Influent! Grab a language for half off or pick up the Polyglot Pack at 90% OFF to get access to all 23 languages as well as all future languages!


Speaking of future languages, Dutch, Polish, and Welsh will be releasing soon along with a whole new version of Influent that includes a robust tutorial for new players, a revamped word mastery system, a reversal mode that allows for studying words the opposite way players are currently used to, as well as a more in-depth storyline! Not to mention the spaceship controls have been completely rebuilt and there's even a new character to control!


Please be aware that this new version will reset your save data. This was unavoidable due to the nature of the new mastery system but it will make the game a lot better in terms of how you learn words so I think it's for the best. I do apologize about the annoyance but it'll be a little bit before it's ready for a full PC release so if you're trying to complete the game and getting close, you still have time!

Stoked to get the new version out there for everyone to see! Happy Summer!!

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios

It's finally happened! Influent is out on iOS and Android!!! ːmernː

Here are some of the most notable updates:

• Take control of CHIP the and zoom around in first person
  
• Stars are earned by earning 5 star points in 5 different game modes
  
• Two of the new game modes invert the learning process (reversal mode)
  
• Space Vole ship hovers (no longer constantly moves forward)
  
• Space Vole ship is indestructible (no longer explodes on impact)
  
• Three new language packs including Polish, Welsh, and Dutch
  
• Special Promotion: French, Korean, and Italian are playable for free!

[play.google.com][apps.apple.com]These updates will eventually make their way to Steam but for now, they are only available on mobile. This new version had to be completely converted into a new programming language and this means all save data is now incompatible. I want to give existing players time to prepare for this imminent purge as well as take time needed to ensure a high-quality experience on PC as the latest version was built around iOS and Android as the primary target operating systems.

<3 Robatato

Three sales in a row?!?! It's crazy out here in 2022! Here's one more chance to grab a new language pack on sale and start learning today! Pick up any of the 20 language packs on offer for 50% off retail price or check out the Polyglot Pack and grab them all for 90% off! FYI, this special package also includes all future language releases!

As a side note, for anyone who hasn't seen the post in the discussion forums yet, Influent will be getting a rather significant update in the coming months. Please go read the post as this will impact your save data!

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios

If you haven't made any aspirations for the new year, why not take up learning a new language as a new goal? Influent is an especially great tool for new learners and with over 20 languages to choose from, there's sure to be something for everyone!

If you're feeling bold, definitely have a look at the Polyglot Pack, which features all languages on offer (plus all future languages) at a fantastic value. Happy New Year to everyone, let's make this year the best one of the new decade so far!

<3 Rob @ Three Flip Studios