The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.2 "unstable" alpha build are:

• added a countdown timer to the local multiplayer character select screen to support canceling the session if other players did not submit to join the session (press the input mapped for ’duck/crawl’ to stop the countdown)
• added geography filters for new servers in Frankfurt (EU), São Paulo (South America), Tokyo (Asia Pacific), Singapore (Asia Pacific), Seoul (Asia Pacific), and Mumbai (India)
• modified geometry for 'gondola' for stage
• modified Steam ID labels to use the selected character colour
• modified the default online game mode to not despawn the characters of players that leave the server (neglected characters will idle but not decrement / increment score metrics if removed from the stage by other players)
• modified the game camera to frame the last player on stage end
• modified the input mapping screen to support the mapping of single inputs
• modified the input reference screens with revised information
• modified train tracks on ‘subway’ stage to render in front of the Steam ID labels
• removed ‘Draw’ messaging on stage end for single player local games
• removed background plane and Steam Avatars from Steam ID labels
• removed debug input for immediately loading the next stage in the current sequence (in the current default game mode)
• restored 8 player support for the current default local games mode (
• restored menu setting to enable / disable Xinput support
• restored the ‘containers’ and ‘chute’ stages for the current default local game mode
• temporarily disabled invoking the input mapping screen from the in game menu

Please note there is no "stable" alpha build release with this post, the next stable release will be published when the 'buoy' and 'fans' stages have been restored to the default local game mode.

Online Support on Steam Early Access

Online gameplay in Gang Beasts is currently supported in the "unstable" alpha builds on Steam Early Access (support for online gameplay in the default Gang Beasts Early Access builds is scheduled for a later stage of development).

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the ‘unstable’ branch on Steam right-click on the ‘Gang Beasts’ game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab and then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:’. To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu. For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

[ 2016-08-25 13:46:17 CET ] [ Original post ]