Next Fest is upon us once again, and we arrive with gifts! And by gifts we mean a patch adding bugfixes, easy/hard variants for several demo levels, and some QoL changes. Here's the rundown:

FEATURES

• Reworked the level format to allow for multiple difficulties stored in a single level
• Added an easier difficulty to ILOVEYOU.vbs and lawrence
• Added a harder difficulty to so stressed!
• Added the ability to unpause
• Added "Toggle particles" event
• Added "Play sound" event
• Added cs.objectRotation easable
• Window positions are now saved between editor sessions. To reset your windows to default, press CTRL+R

FIXES

• Fixed expanded HUD accuracy display
• The editor no longer crashes when trying to load a level with a non-existent event
• Fixed system cursor not hiding when using a custom cursor
• System cursor now re-appears when the game is paused
• Fixed outline event not working correctly with a color index over 3
• Fixed abnormally long level loading times sometimes causing levels to break
• Alphabetized editor palette

Additionally, we're currently working on getting our Mac and Linux compatibility visible again for our demo, so we appreciate your patience! We're still compatible with all three major OSes (Windows, Mac, Linux) and if you attempt to download the demo it'll give you the right version.

Thank you very much for playing Beatblock! More news tomorrow... :0

(if you're a musician or producer, get ready!)

[ 2024-10-14 17:14:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Rhythm Fest is upon us, and we have a small update as a gift!

We also have a wiki.gg page established- check it out here! You can check out level info here, and we'll be keeping this updating in the future! Thank you to all the new wishlisters and players supporting us- we'll have more for you soon (and maybe some more levels?) For now, happy Beatblocking and keep groovin'!

Version 0.2.1

Game:

• Added a pause screen!
  • It only has Reset and Quit options for now...
• Added song options, including:
  • Game speed
  • Existing accessibility options for convenience
  • Restart on miss/barely
  • Count barelies as misses
• Added drag and drop support for custom levels! Try dragging a zip file while the custom level screen is open.
• Added rebindable keys!
• Added new minehold particles! They look really cool!
• Tweaked ILOVEYOU.vbs slightly
• Side note SFX now always play, instead of being only on-hit, for parity with taps.
• Exiting out of a level now sends you back to where you were in the song select
• Expanded expanded UI to optionally show misses/barelies
• Added a toggle for menu music
• Fixed taps at hold end nodes causing misses when near other taps
• Fixed hold rendering glitching out with some eases
• Fixed a crash with blank song images
• Fixed levels and tags being meaninglessly "updated" for no reason.
• Fixed some blue screen errors on older devices relating to shader compilation
• Fixed 0 duration mineholds being pass-throughable (an exception is made for 0 duration mineholds that have the same start and end angle)

Editor:

• Expanded allowed colors to 8!
• Added custom player faces. put in the name of a .png file in the spriteName property!
• Added autosave backups, in case of crashes
• Added vfx.ignoreNoiseCorrection boolean, for levels that use the HOM canvas in unconventional ways.
• Added `p.outlineColor`, `p.fillColor`, and `p.faceColor` easables.
• Fixed 0 segment holds crashing the editor (sorry.....)
• Fixed negative song offsets (by removing the ability to do it)
• Fixed mine preview ghost being that of a normal note
• Fixed a crash with trying to place a non-existent event

Note: the new mine particle effects currently cause lag spikes for some lower-end devices, and we're currently working on a hotfix to remedy this. Thank you for your understanding!

[ 2024-08-19 17:21:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

We hope youve been enjoying everything in Beatblock so far- heres some more!

New level: ILOVEYOU.vbs

A tricky level showing off the inverse note mechanic, with the track ILOVEYOU.vbs from Aspid Cat! Be careful with your email, or you might open up a nasty surprise [previewyoutube=hqBLTw2SFoE;full][/previewyoutube]

Accessibility options

Weve added options to adjust leniency for side and tap notes, as well as reducing or removing visual effects in levels! Any recorded scores with accessibility options used will have an indicator on the select screen. Weve also added a custom cursor for smoother gameplay, with adjustable display options!

More tweaks

Weve made several adjustments and bugfixes, including:

• A neat new UI displaying more level information. (You can toggle the old one back in settings!)
• Resprite of the inverse note for better readability
• New particles for side note hits
• Editor bugfixes and QoL changes (holds now render in the editor, yay!)
• Engine update from LOVE 11.5 to LOVE 12!
• Many, many other fixes and changes. Too many.

Whats after this?

Well be participating in Steams Rhythm Fest on August 19th, so keep an eye out for that- both for Beatblock and other rhythm games! Go explore! Beyond that, well continue work on the demo and potentially showcase it at a few public events! You can stay updated on that via our Discord and Twitter. Happy beatblocking! ( ^^ )=)

[ 2024-07-28 16:11:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Were on Steam now!

Developments taken a while, but weve got a demo out that well continue to update over these coming months. But first

Whats Beatblock?

A headspinning rhythm game where you use your mouse to hit blocks to the beat. Different block types and mechanics will keep you on your toes as you groove to the music!

Whats in the demo?

• Five levels (and counting) with both original & licensed music.
• An early version of our level editor, with more additions and features planned.
• A custom level select to store and play other players charts.
• A built-in calibration tool for button inputs.
• Controller support, so you can spin whichever way you like.
• Cranky ( )=)

Whats next?

No specifics yet- but were cooking! At the very least, expect a few more levels and bug fixes or tweaks here and there. With a little bit of luck and a whole lotta work, well have more news for you in the future! A big thank you to those whove already supported us on itch, and to anyone new whos finding us for the first time! ( ^^ )=) Find us on Discord and Twitter for new updates, and chat with the community!

[ 2024-06-21 21:46:47 CET ] [ Original post ]