V.0.1.2 is here!

This update to the Demo adds two major features which I originally planned to work on later for the full release, but figured were such a huge part of the vision for the full release that not containing a taste of them in the Demo wasn't right. These two features also boost the replayability of the Demo by a fairly large margin. Other than that, this patch also features a ton of balancing and other QOL changes. The major changes include:

In-Game Challanges: Jobs!

This patch introduces a whole new screen and system with it! The demo now contains 16 challenges to beat, such as Time-Attack, Score-Attack and general achievements (such as reaching rank R for the first time) and lots of other stuff to test how far you can push your game. 8 of them also come with their own completion tiers, rewarding Bronze, Silver and Gold medals depending on how well you've performed. Jobs may be visually-tracked by selecting them in the now-open Job Menu, allowing you to check your progress in-game. Completing Jobs will not just reward you with a big stamp that says "DONE" or a Medal, but also with in-game currency: Stamps. Stamps can be exchanged in the Shop available via. the Job Menu and can be exchanged for various goods. In the Demo, these are only limited to 1 type of item for now, which are...

Customization: Paints!

Earned stamps may be exchanged for a variety of Paints available in the Job Shop. These are unlocked for all characters upon purchase. You can then select the Paint in the character select menu to give your vehicle a bit of flair.
There are plenty of colors to choose from, so take your pick!

Updated Auto-Slam Attack Indicator

The attack indicator for when Auto-Slam is enabled has been updated, moving away from the reticle design to instead favor an arrow design. The reticle has proven to be a bit misleading, giving the impression that the Side-Slam is fully homing. The new design now more accurately communicates how the attack works. That does not mean that the reticle is gone, however! The option menu for Controls now offers an option in which you can change the style of the attack indicator: Arrow, Reticle, Both, or None at all!

Better Timer-Feedback

Despite being a game-over condition, getting into trouble due to losing time and/or letting too many enemies get ahead of you without trying to catch-up was not communicated very well, or at all. The UI will now flash the red portion of the track-progress bar, display a flashing, "CATCH UP" warning text and also play a noticeable sound cue when you are getting in hot water due to the timer and/or the enemies getting too far ahead of you. Alongside this change, the last 10 seconds of the timer now audibly tick down for that extra bit of tension.

Additional Camera Options!

You can now find 3 additional camera settings ready to be tweaked by your liking in the options menu. These include how smooth the camera should move, how far the camera should move ahead when you are boosting, and the option to change how much the camera should adjust when it's looking horizontally vs. vertically to accommodate for the aspect ratio.

Full Changelog:

General/System Changes:

• Added in-game challenges feature: Jobs! 16 Jobs await.
• Added Job-Shop as a place to spend your hard-earned stamps
• Added 16 Paints as purchasable items in the Job-Shop
• Added paint functionality and menu in the character menu to be used with your purchased paints.
• Added Job-tracking functionality, to visually keep track of jobs in the in-game UI. Simply select the Job you want to track in the Job menu to track it!
• Updated Auto-Slam attack indicator with a more fitting graphic.
• Added Menu Option to choose between Arrow, Reticle, Both or None as your Auto-Slam attack indicator
• Added "Camera Boost Overhead" Option to the options menu
• Added "Camera Vertical Adjustment" Option to the options menu
• Added "Camera Smoothing" Option to the options menu
• Added "Hotswitching" option to the Gamepad options menu; You may now "Hotswitch" between Keyboard and Gamepad at any time. Previous behavior may be restored by disabling the hotswitch option in the Gamepad options menu.
• Added new "Time Danger" UI state if your time is about to run out and/or enemies have gotten too far ahead of you. In this state, the red portion of the track-bar will now flash, and a warning text encouraging you to hurry up will also be displayed in the UI. Entering this state will also be accompanied by a sound effect.
• Added SFX for the last 10 seconds ticking down.
• Added SFX when reaching max. Boost Jump Energy.
• Added particle effects coming out of your exhaust with amount scaling by the amount of Boost Jump Energy you've accumulated. A big puff of smoke will also appear once max. Boost Jump Energy has been reached.
• Redesigned UI elements responsible for switching screens in the Upgrade Screen to be more noticeable.
• Added Enemy-Counter in the Track-progress bar displaying how many enemies are ahead, and how many enemies are behind you.
• Vehicles aligned to the Police now have an audible siren sound.
• KAMICARZE COPS now have their siren sound go higher in pitch before exploding instead of playing the same sound Bosses use for their attack warning.
• The SHOPKEEP will now tell you if it's the last time you'll see her in the run.
• Updated SUPER HONK animation.
• Civs are now less likely to clump up into large clusters if you let a bunch of them pass.

Balancing:

• Increased amount of Boost Heat reduced on Taunt.
• Added "Diminishing Returns" effect on Taunts, the more NPCs taunted the less Boost Heat will be reduced.
• Increased max. cap of Boost Heat.
• (Slightly) increased the default amount of HP boosting costs.
• Reaching the end of the level with < 25 max HP will now restore your max HP to 25.
• Reduced Deadlift Boost HP cost. (3 Stars > 4 Stars)
• Increased M.A.L.L Boost HP cost. (4 Stars > 3 Stars)
• Added a reduction in Boost Heat when a First Aid Civ is destroyed.
• Changed EXTENSIVE GYROSCOPE: Now reduces Boost Heat when dealing lethal damage with the SPIN ATTACK to vehicles.
• Changed VACCUM HOSE: Now reduces Boost Heat when throwing vehicles.
• Changed HORN LOUDSPEAKER: Now reduces Boost Heat when dealing lethal damage using SUPER HONK to vehicles. Comment on the Upgrade Changes: Lots of players wanted to do runs where they hold C like a maniac, never to stop boosting. While I can recognize the fun of it, it was very difficult to find a good middleground between keeping the push-and-pull dynamic of boosting and also allowing you to do that. Combined with the three upgrades previously always being kind-of overshadowed by their counterparts, this change aims to offer these players an additional way to decrease their Boost Heat to keep on boosting right from the get-go and build their run around it from Shop 1, without affecting the rest of the playstyles available.
• Decreased JC SPIN ATTACK cooldown (60f > 50f)
• Slightly reduced the amount rank decays over time.
• Slightly increased the amount rank decays scales with rank.
• Adjusted PETE'S TRAP MINES:
  • Reduced surface area
  • Added delay before exploding; You can now "outrun" the explosion, provided you are boosting.
• Reduced the scaling-effect rank had on taunted enemy speed.
• Side-slaming Explosive Civs now has you "bounce" off the explosion.
• Bosses no longer take damage from explosions that do not originate from the player.
• VANCE'S EXPLOSIVE CIVS are now significantly slower and face the right way to act as more dangerous traps.
• Increased the effect rank has on shooting enemy fire-rate.
• Increased invulnerability after whiffing a Side-Slam.
• Added max. amount of time enemies can reduce when reaching the end of the level before you; enemies are no longer about to reduce the time beyond 5 seconds. This only applies Pre-Loop.
• Increased amount of time available in the first and second desert level.
• Increased gun-flash time for gunblast enemies in countryside.
• Grey Health decay no longer scales with rank, and default grey health scaling has been set to the scaling you would've gotten if you were on rank B.
• Increased time it takes for grey health to start decaying (2s > 3s) when taking damage from sources other than yourself.

Bug Fixes:

• Removed "Boost Cooldown" preventing you from quickly re-tapping boost to trigger a Boost Jump.
• Fixed Boost-Jump visual being misplaced.
• PETE'S TRAP MINES now properly draw below vehicles.
• Fixed BLAST PROCESSOR attacks not drawing hit effects when striking vehicles.
• Added missing bonus-heal SFX for various bonus-heal effects.

And that's it! This has been a major milestone to clear so far, and I am very happy with how things have turned out! There are still some things floating around on the backburner, but with this cleared the Demo should be in a much better spot now as far as replayability goes. Please let me know what you think if you give it a spin. Join the Discord! Follow on Twi... uuhh.. X? - Alexander

[ 2023-07-28 17:08:19 CET ] [ Original post ]