We're excited to finally release the long awaited Redux Update! Thanks for being patient, and a huge thank you to all of the testers on our Discord for their invaluable feedback. Here's the headline features for this update:

• Local splitscreen co-op
• Official campaigns revamped and rebalanced
• Easy and Nightmare difficulties
• Additional bonus levels to unlock
• Campaign speedrun mode with leaderboards
• Improved UI and game performance
• Better replay stability

LOCAL CO-OP

Every stage can be played with a friend in offline 2-player co-op, with separate leaderboards and replays for this mode.
When players move far enough apart, it will transition into splitscreen (unless you force a single camera in the options). When you die, your teammate will have to resurrect you by destroying your respawn pod. There's no limit on the amount of respawns, so as long as one of you is alive, you've still got hope.
At least one player needs a controller. And while this is not online, it does work well with Steam Remote Play or Parsec as long as you aren't thousands of miles away from each other.

REDUX CAMPAIGNS

Pretty much every aspect of the original campaigns are improved. We've placed an emphasis on providing a smoother difficulty curve, while also adding extra variety. For example:

• Lots of new enemy attacks and many changes to existing ones
• Overhauled some powerups and added a few new ones
• Reworked some boss pixels and phases
• Spawn with one shield on normal difficulty

These fresh versions of the campaigns come with new leaderboards, but the top 10 players from the originals have been immortalised in a new playable credits stage. Also, a steam branch called "legacy" is available to view the classic Legacy version leaderboards and replays.

EASY MODE

Everything is a bit more friendly in this mode, available on the main level select screen after dying at least 10 times.

• Players spawn with 2 shields
• Enemy bullets are less numerous and less fast
• Powerups are more generous
• More leniency with bullet collisions

NIGHTMARE MODE

Everything is much more cruel in Nightmare mode, unlocked after you beat the original campaigns on normal difficulty.

• No starting shields
• Enemy attacks are more dangerous and sometimes borderline unfair
• Bosses have new menacing color schemes
• Songs play a nightmare variation

BONUS STAGES

These stages aren't part of the two campaigns and only have a single difficulty level, but they can be played in co-op. Crossfire and Quartet were previously workshop stages, now included in the main level select. In Crossfire, survive as long as possible. In Quartet, the order you kill the 4 bosses determines their strength.
The playable Credits stage is unlocked when you beat either campaign. Destroy the names of the Chippy team and the top 10 fastest Legacy players.
Ball Pit is a versus mode that can only be played in local multiplayer with a friend. It's sort of like a round-based bullet-hell dodgeball. Avoid enemy balls while returning as many of your own as possible. Earn money to spend in the item shop between rounds. First to 10 points wins.

SPEEDRUN MODE

Speedrun stages let you compete for the fastest time across a whole campaign, once you've beaten it the normal way first. Each speedrun has its own in-game leaderboard, with watchable replays of each whole run submitted. This also means less loading time when playing stages in succession, since it doesn't need to load the menu between stages.
While this will probably be our last major update, we'll still be releasing fixes and tweaks in the coming weeks. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, the best place to reach us is on our Discord.

[ 2022-03-23 22:21:54 CET ] [ Original post ]