V0.1.1 is here! This update focuses on aiding Tutorialization and making it easier to learn the game, as well as expanding on the control settings you can choose. The major changes include:

Turning Modes!

The game now features two distinct Turning modes; "Steer Style" and "Free Style". Steer Style is the one most people will be used to, in which you steer the vehicle from the driver's perspective. Heavily recommended for keyboard, and the one that I'd imagine most people will use. Free Style is the new one, and is best used on a controller. This mode turns the vehicle into the direction you point from the perspective of the camera, rather than the driver. If you've played Kirby's Air ride and played with the Free Star at some point, this should sound familiar. Turning modes may be swapped at any time, and you will be prompted to select one the moment you enter the first tutorial. While it seems like most players prefer Steering, there have been several requests from players which prefer turning from the camera perspective. This mode should hopefully be right for you!

Tutorial Revamp!

The Tutorial has received a numerous amount of changes to make it flow better, avoid confusion, and help smoothen the learning curve. For one... The Tutorial has been split into two! Tutorial 1 Tutorial 1 remains largely the same as the one in the game previously, minus the taunt section. Taunt ended up being a mechanic that was largely irrelevant to new players until they got into the swing of things. As such, the mechanic is now first introduced in the second Tutorial. This should help with the "information dump effect" a lot, and keep players focused on learning the core mechanics. Tutorial 2 Tutorial 2 is entirely new, minus the Taunt section from before. This Tutorial is focused on the more "advanced" mechanics of the game and features the following topics:

• Taunting
• Boost Jump
• Augmented Enemies
• Elite Enemies
• Rank System

This Tutorial is available to do the moment you have completed Tutorial 1. The game will actively nudge you towards it after getting your first couple Destructions straight from the Game Over screen, too. While this Tutorial isn't necessary to play the game at its core, it's heavily recommended. Players with a previous save file will not have their Tutorial 2 marked as complete. Other changes include the previously mentioned prompt to choose your Turning Style in the first Tutorial, the game now freezing time to give you space to read, and many more changes that prevent accidentally thinking you are making progress when doing the wrong thing.

Upgrade Shop Keywords!

The Upgrade Shop now has helpful Keyword cards pop up when the selected Upgrade features a special Keyword for specific, special effects, such as Turbos, the Vulnerable Status effect, and more! This system should immediately clear up some headscratchers in the upgrade screen, and should aid in making a more informed decision when picking your next item.

Additional Game Over feedback

The Game Over screen now shows what particular thing caused your demise, which should help in clearing up some confusion if you happen to explode in the middle of the chaos, and give immediate feedback in describing what happened.

Slam Stick!

Controller users which prefer Auto-Slam disabled may now use the right analog stick as a way of inputting slams. The slam direction will correspond to the direction you flick the stick relative to the vehicle angle, regardless of what Turning Mode you've selected. The flick motion of the stick combined with the Side Slam attack makes for a fairly satisfying experience, so if you use a Controller and have Auto-Slam disabled, I recommend giving it a try!

Option Tooltips!

Certain options will now display tooltips explaining what they do. This includes disabled options, which will inform you of why they are disabled.

Full Changelog:

General/System Changes:

• Added "Turning Modes"; "Steer Style" and "Free Style"
• Added DPAD Support for Controllers to use for directional input
• Added "Slamstick" Option to use the right analog stick for inputting manual slams
• Split Tutorial into Two, removed Taunt Lesson from the first Tutorial and moved it to the second
• Added an almost entirely new second Tutorial
• Added new Submenu after selecting "Play", featuring an option to advance to the character select screen or play the Tutorials
• Disabled Rank gain in the Tutorial (outside of the "Rank" lesson)
• You can no longer defeat enemies in specific Tutorial lessons using the "wrong" attack (e.g. slamming in the special lesson)
• Retrying/Blowing up in the Tutorial will now save your progress in the Tutorial, rather than completely restart it.
• Added time-freeze for each tutorial lesson to give time to read the ancient scriptures
• Added Option tooltips on hover
• Added new Option submenu "Controls"
• Generally moved a lot of Options into places that make more sense
• Added Upgrade Store Keywords, which are underlined and feature a helpful little text card that pops up and explains the effect.
• Added "Spree Ender" to the Game Over screen as immediate feedback to what ended your run
• Added new Tips, made Comedy Tips a bit rarer
• Increased distance you can dig outside level boundaries before taking damage.
• Made explosions a bit more audible.
• Boost Jump Energy now has a maximum.
• Reduced Boost Heat reduction from taunts by 15%.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed the Taunt sound cutting off when experiencing hitstop as everyone but JC.
• Fixed Mr.Kill's Skulls sticking around after he dies.
• Loop Counter now properly says "Looped 1 Time" instead of "Looped 1 Times" when only 1 Loop was done.

More to come! There are still plenty of points sitting on the feedback list to work off, but with this and the last patch out, the demo should be in a drastically better spot as far as accessibility goes. Please let me know what you think if you give it a spin. Join the Discord! Follow on Twitter! - Alexander

[ 2023-06-16 21:04:54 CET ] [ Original post ]