It’s 2023 and here we are with another update for The Multiverse Launcher. The release information as always is below, but first I need your attention for a moment.

We care a great deal about the integrity of the launcher, which is why each update is tested thoroughly before being released to the public. Due to some beta-testers having other priorities at the moment, public releases aren’t occurring as frequently as we would like.

To speed up this process, we need more people to help test. If you’re a fanatic of Populous: The Beginning and would like to get early access to the launcher’s updates with the goal of finding and squashing bugs, please contact myself or Toxicity on Discord or by email.

With that out of the way, I’ve got some of my highlights and a great big change log for you to ingest. Remember, to install this update you’ll need to run the updated installer:
>> Click here to download the Multiverse Launcher

WARNING: As always, your launcher settings may reset with the new version. When the launcher is opened for the first time it may crash and restart automatically, and any previous game saves may be unplayable.

I’m not sure how well a ghoul will follow your commands, but the launcher now supports the creations of user Zyraw (most known for his creations of Ascension: Chapter 1 and the glorious Boat Races); new followers that have been created for use in upcoming campaigns.

I’ll let you speculate as to how the Archer, Melee Ghoul & Ranged Ghoul will affect gameplay, as you are sure to soon see them in the promised Ascension: Chapter 2 and Witching Hour campaigns.

Gameplay has been 60 frames per second (FPS) since version 3 of the launcher arrived, however, the flybys that introduce the player to the world were always capped at 30fps for technical reasons. Our lord and saviour Toxicity has decided to raise his staff at these technical issues and send them into the abyss (and unlike Gandalf, Toxicity followed through with his threat).

All your flybys will now be markedly smoother and you’ll soon be forgetting about how lethargic our level introductions once were.

Before you start getting too excited at the thought of the original cutscenes being upscaled to 4k, this is a change that means the launcher now supports higher quality video formats. Campaign creators can now include such videos to inject even more life into their stories. You’ll be asked to install LAV Filters when installing the latest release, and you’ll need to do this if you’d like your launcher to be compatible.

Have you ever been in on the brink of world domination only to have it abruptly halted because enemy followers cannot be converted by your preachers due to having reached the population limit?

No longer! Your priests can now turn even the most devout enemies into believers of your own Shaman.

Only if you want to, that is. To deactivate cheats you must now enter the BYRNE command again, the same way that they are enabled. This allows users to keep cheats enabled whilst having access to the console for other shenanigans.

Some people, myself included, can get a little frustrated at trying to click the action boxes that pop-up when you hover over or right-click units, buildings and other objects, because they disappear so quickly.

The latest update has extended the time that these little windows remain visible and can be interacted with, hopefully removing some of the aggravation that they’ve caused in the past.

There have been numerous changes to the support for LUA scripting that the launcher provides. If you’re one of the few who enjoys creating content for others to enjoy, make sure to bookmark Toxicity’s github page: https://toksisitee.github.io/docs/mv-script-changelog