This update comprises primarily of bug-fixes but I've also added the ability to choose what level selection you get to play with during custom sessions.

Session Level Selection

Now that the game through its two free expansion packs has 50 levels there is enough variety where Im able to add the feature where you can specify which levels to be randomly picked during a custom session.
There is preset options for like early levels and mid-late levels, but also the ability to fully pick each level individually by a new menu giving you complete freedom on the session you wish to play. If your chosen levels number less than 9 then the remaining levels required will be pulled from the full available list. For instance maybe you only pick the first 3 levels to be chosen at random, then remaining six will be made up of any remaining levels you havent picked. If you have more than 3 of each early/mid/late stage the stage structure will be the same as the default (3 of each type) otherwise it will be completely random. The levels you picked will still try to follow the convention of sorting levels early, mid, late, so if you specify lets say the 3 late levels, youll see those at the end of the game, not the opening levels. If you pick lets say one early level, it will show up within any of the first bunch of levels, it doesnt specifically mean it will be the first level as everything is still shuffled around. As the selection is a bit more random here you may not get specific 3,3,3 grouping of levels unless youve specifically picked at least 3 for each. There are buttons to add all or remove all from the list for convenience, so if maybe you just want to remove 1 or 2 levels you dont like, thats also a good use of this feature. Players seeking to unlock the Perfect achievement (which less than 0.1% of players have earned) can use this feature to pick levels they are more familiar with or simply find easier. As you have to pick 9 different levels and then hit hole in ones in a row, its still a challenging achievement.

Achivements Menu Tidy Up

Another few changes in this update is tidying up the achievements menu a bit as felt this could do with a quality pass. The images are now cached differently so should be more responsive, and Ive tweaked the formatting of selected items to be easier to see. The button to actually access this menu was overhanging a bit with the back button on stats menu so Ive fixed that too. The remaining updates up till Christmas will primarily be bug-fixing now if anything does need fixing, Ive been doing some extended testing but at the moment there are no outstanding known issues. In the New Year there will be continued development and I'll talk about future stuff then. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/

Patch Notes

General

• Fixed an issue where the release press of the top camera / camera toggle could conflict with pressing B to exit out of the game menu.
• Added ability to choose what levels are played during custom sessions. Youll find ability to change a Levels setting in the custom sessions menu, when set to custom an additional button prompt will appear at the bottom of the screen to take you to the new menu.

Environment

• Fixed some level LODs not loading correctly. Ive made a workflow adjustment to simplify the process so will help with error prevention in future.
• Fixed a island lod for Short Spring not being consistently performance optimized.
• Fixed the area for the flag raising up on levels Water Hole, Speed Bump, and Getting Teed Off.
• Fixed ball stopping a little short on midhole madness.
• Fixed ball exiting pipe a little too quick on Go for it.

Interface

• Fixed the alignment of lower glyphs on the scoreboard (especially via session replay) overhanging to the right.
• Fixed some text getting cropped off on various prompts by widening the size of the prompt slightly.
• Fixed achievement icons sometimes not loading in the achievements menu. Ive instead triggered the caching of these icons when opening the stats menu.
• Added improvement to achievement menu by having the progress bar selection colors going white when selected and color when unselected.
• Fixed text minimum width on achievement menu so progress bars remain consistent length.
• Added level selection menu, accessible via pressing Y or the levels button when level setting is set to custom in the custom session menu.
• Added remembering last practice menu index when opening the season menu and pressing back. This behaviour previously worked for the leaderboards.
• Fixed some gamepad navigation issues on the theme/season select menu.
• Fixed some max values on the achievement menu being incorrect.

Discord Server

Be sure to check out the official discord server with channels for Golfing In Aether and my other various projects.

[ 2022-12-12 22:06:12 CET ] [ Original post ]