Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - expereal / 1,154,915[/h3]
Taking the lead in March is expereal with an impressive score of 1,154,915. Continuing with their preferred Modern control style, but graduating from the Easy difficulty level, expereal has demonstrated commitment to improving their piloting and combat skills. Congratulations on taking the top position this month and your new best!

[h3]2nd - BrainFlush / 168,665[/h3]
Securing the second spot this month is new player BrainFlush with a score of 168,665. Flushing asteroids and their enemies under the Easy difficulty setting, BrainFlush has left a mark this month. Well done and welcome to the Solaroids monthly board!

[h3]3rd - Whut / 89,430[/h3]
Rounding out the top three is... Whut, with a score of 89,430. Also playing under the easy difficulty setting, Whut's performance scores them a place among the top players this month as well! Welcome!


Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on the Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Join us on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say hi to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - flu Orid / 193,768,005[/h3]
Dominating the leaderboard once again, flu Orid claims February 2024's top spot with a stellar score of 193,768,005. Despite the game showing modern controls (note to self to review that code again), flu Orid confirmed they're sticking to the classic style. flu Orid's score edges closer to their (and the) unmatched all-time best of 596,174,085. This outstanding performance reaffirms flu Orid's mastery of the game. Do I see you prepping for a new a new all-time high for 2024?

[h3]2nd - Vavilenus / 4,335,770[/h3]
Claiming the second spot this month is Vavilenus with a score of 4,335,770. Playing with the classic control style, Vavilenus continues to showcase their skills in the game. Well done!

[h3]3rd - BATKNUCKLE / 387,365[/h3]
A fresh face in the monthly ranks, BATKNUCKLE bursts onto the scene with a score of 387,365. A commendable performance for their first leaderboard appearance, demonstrating both dedication and a competitive edge. Hats off to BATKNUCKLE for joining the elite circle of top players this month!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on the Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Join us on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say hi to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - flu Orid / 52,403,540[/h3]
What a comeback by flu Orid in January 2024! They snagged the top spot with a fantastic score of 52,403,540, and what's even more surprising is that they switched things up by playing in the Modern control style this time. flu Orid usually rocks it with Classic controls, and they've got an epic top score of 596,174,085 to prove it. But hey, mixing it up is fun, and they still crushed it this month. Welcome back to the leaderboard, flu Orid, and congrats on this awesome win!

[h3]2nd - gelberpolo / 43,176,785[/h3]
Big cheers for gelberpolo in the second spot! They were nipping at the heels for flu Orid with an impressive score of 43,176,785. gelberpolo's been holding it down at 11th place in the all-time Top 20 with a killer high score of 106,650,545. Talk about consistency! I'm eagerly awaiting the day you shoot past that 10th place. Massive congrats on this awesome achievement!

[h3]3rd - Bonguru / 21,909,470[/h3]
Taking the third spot in January 2024 is Bonguru with a score of 21,909,470. Playing with the Modern control style and normal difficulty, Bonguru's consistent improvement is commendable. They've even surpassed their previous all-time best scores. Congratulations, Bonguru! Keep up the excellent work!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on the Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Join us on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say hi to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - SirRave / 16,726,175[/h3]
Give it up for SirRave, who has secured the coveted top spot this month with a fine score of 16,726,175! Lately, SirRave's dedication in the game has been remarkable. Congratulations on taking the win!

[h3]2nd - Ashy Raven / 12,624,850[/h3]
Taking second place is Ashy Raven with an impressive score of 12,624,850. Ashy Raven has showcased their adept piloting skills and secured a well-deserved spot among the top players. Way to blast onto the leaderboards!

[h3]3rd - expereal / 708,835[/h3]
Rounding out the top three, and making it ""real"" in December is expereal with a score of 708,835. Competing using the Modern control style under the Easy difficulty setting, expereal has shown potential and dedication in the game. Congratulations on securing a place among the top players this round, and keep honing your skills for even greater achievements!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on theEarly Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Join us on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say hi to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all, but I messed up this month! I have to capture the scores before any regular players take a shot for the next month or it clears your score, and I wasn't able to get the scores in time before that happened (twice). It used to be that I had more time as you would have to beat your last months score or the score would have to age 30 days before it would clear it, but this had its own set of issues so I fixed it. I'm trying to think out how I can automate things so that the game can do the work for me.

That takes us to the November results... I think I have the ranking right below, but the actual scores are lost to me other than for Drakkett Aranthe. I think Vavilenus had something like 9 million from earlier in the month, and I think I saw SirRave with something more along the lines of 500-600k, though I'm fuzzy on that one. Plus I don't know if you got a last minute round in up until midnight on the 30th. If you know your score, let me know in the group chat and I'll fix it up. Otherwise, I'll try and make sure this can't happen again in the future. Please accept my apology for my mistake.

[h3]1st - Vavilenus[/h3]
A monumental salute to Vavilenus for clinching the coveted top spot this month with an extraordinary score just shy of your all-time best! You are quickly becoming a consistent top player and getting closer and closer to securing a position among the top 20 in the all-time board. It is always great to see your name at the forefront of the monthly leaderboards.

[h3]2nd - SirRave[/h3]
Securing the second place is new player SirRave battling it out with Drakkett Aranthe. Competing with the modern control style, SirRave has showcased their gaming prowess and earned a well-deserved spot among the top players this month. Congratulations on your remarkable performance and keep up the fantastic work in future competitions!

[h3]3rd - Drakkett Aranthe / 493,095[/h3]
Rounding out the top three this month is none other than Drakkett Aranthe with a score of 493,095. Drakkett Aranthe has once again proven their mettle in the game and secured a place among the top players this round. Long live classic controls and congrats! PS: Hi Drakkett!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say hi to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Vavilenus / 8,942,965[/h3]
A bit congratulations to Vavilenus for seizing the top position this month with an impressive score of 8,942,965! I think that may be you all-time best? Keep up the fantastic work!

[h3]2nd - klrb / 1,755,955[/h3]
A new name in the leaderboards klrb takes the second spot with a score of 1,755,955. Competing under the modern control style under easy mode (has no multiplier) and earning a place in the top ranks is no small feat. Well done! Keep pushing your limits in the upcoming challenges!

[h3]3rd - Max_0wnage / 218,125[/h3]
Securing third place is another new player Max_0wnage with a score of 218,125. It's great to see new names making their mark on the leaderboard. Keep honing your skills, and I am sure you'll continue to climb the ranks!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - gelberpolo / 55,322,595[/h3]
A big shout-out to gelberpolo for dominating the boards this month with a commendable score of 55,322,595! gelberpolo currently holds 11th place in the all-time boards with a top score of 106,650,545 - almost more than double this month's entry. I'm looking forward to the day you beat your all-time best and take over or surpass that 10th place position! Congratulations!

[h3]2nd - Bonguru / 13,957,565[/h3]
Securing the second place is Bonguru with a score of 13,957,565. A regular in the 13-18 million ranking and competing with the modern dual-stick control style, you just scraped by with an entry in the wee hours before I could lock the challenge. I'm going to have to officially grant a grace period or somehow automate the recording of the challenge results, as I'm usually asleep in those final hours up to and through midnight. Welcome back, and congratulations on taking 2nd, and after many months' break from competing to boot!

[h3]3rd - kimerou / 386,655[/h3]
Rounding out the top three this month is a new name for the monthly boards, and I believe the game in general. kimerou secured 3rd place with a score of 386,655. While it's a challenging journey to the top, you are showing potential as an early player under the Modern dual-stick control style. Congratulations! Keep honing your skills, and I'm sure you'll climb the ranks in no time!


Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Another month and another set of high scores for Solaroids. Hope everyone is enjoying the hot summer warmth in the northern hemisphere and getting lots of vacations and summer activities in. If you're down south, hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel and Spring is on its way soon!!



The all-time champs have deferred this month to make way for some of the rising challengers - I didn't pay them I promise!

Last month Morg556 had achieved a top score of 73M and this month takes the lead slot with their new personal best of almost 138M. Congratulations!!

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Arkanoid / 1,218,505[/h3]
Kudos to Arkanoid for grabbing the top spot this month with a commendable score of 1,218,505! Your dedication and increasing skill have paid off, and it's no surprise to see you hit the top in the monthly boards.. Congratulations!

[h3]2nd - Vavilenus / 896,425[/h3]
Taking second place is Vavilenus with a score of 896,425. Your consistent performance has earned you a well-deserved spot among the top players, and I think there was a bit of a surprise push by the top-placer this month. Congrats!

[h3]3rd - >-FISH-D / 255,305[/h3]
Rounding out the top three this month is >-FISH-D with a score of 255,305. I've seen a fish in the boards before, and I think this is might be the same fish but with some >- and -D added to the fish sandwich. If this is 'the Fish', then you have a ways to go to get to your 8-digit high scores of the olden years. Welcome back?! -- Oh I get it, >- is the tail and -D is the head. steamfacepalm


Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Vavilenus / 658,380[/h3]
Dusting off their ship from a long hiatus, Vavilenus is back at the controls taking the lead position this month a score of 658,380! Welcome back and looking forward to you reclaiming some of your top scores! You've got this!

[h3]2nd - Arkanoid / 442,350[/h3]
A new name on the boards, Arkanoid, takes 2nd place this month, clocking in a score of 442,350. I can't help but remember the breakout-style game from long ago with the same name, whether it is a coincidence or not. Congratulations, and welcome to the monthly top three!

[h3]3rd - Danny / 77,690[/h3]
Rounding out the top three and taking 3rd place this month is a new player, Danny, with a score of 77,690. Welcome and congratulations!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - jaffa / 1,078,160[/h3]
Congratulations to new player jaffa for securing the top spot this month with an impressive score of 1,078,160! Welcome to the boards!

[h3]2nd - Decayeth / 650,890[/h3]
Returning for a second month, and taking 2nd place is Decayeth with a score of 650,890. If you had achieved your last months score, you would have taken 1st! Congratulations!

[h3]3rd - Cloudy / 187,025[/h3]
Rounding out the top three this month is another new name to the monthly leaderboard, Cloudy. Cloudy took 3rd place with a score of 187,025. Congratulations and welcome!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Flu Orid / 150,163,030[/h3]
Flu Orid, the all-time champion, returns from a long hiatus to secure 1st place this month with a score of 150,163,030 while also blowing away all the competition! Flu Orid's top all-time score of 596,174,085 has continued to hold strong through the years. Your skill in Solaroids is still unmatched after all this time, with only the all-time top three possibly contending for the top slot. Welcome back to the monthly boards!

[h3]2nd - Decayeth / 1,985,150[/h3]
Taking the second spot this month is new contender Decayeth with a score of 1,985,150. It is great to see new players making their mark on the leaderboard, and Decayeth has certainly made an impressive entrance. Congratulations, and keep up the great piloting!

[h3]3rd - Drakkett Aranthe / 1,242,440[/h3]
Rounding out the top three this month is none other than Drakkett Aranthe with a score of 1,242,440. Drakkett plays Solaroids off and on on their Twitch stream, which is how we met, and also helps moderate my uber-quiet Discord server when necessary. Thank you Drakkett, and congratulations on taking 3rd place for May!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - gelberpolo / 74,034,085[/h3]
Congratulations to gelberpolo for securing the top spot this month with an impressive score of 74,034,085! gelberpolo has consistently achieved top scores, but still has not beat their all-time best score of 106,650,545 last August. gelberpolo holds 11th place in the all-time boards.

[h3]2nd - Chaser / 1,251,105[/h3]
Taking the second spot this month is new player Chaser (as recent alias Black-Chaser) with a score of 1,251,105. It's awesome to see new players making their mark on the leaderboard, and Chaser achieved a very respectable score at that for a first standing. Congratulations and I'm looking forward to seeing your evolution as a contender!

[h3]3rd - Beleos / 198,120[/h3]
Rounding out the top three this month is Beleos with a score of 198,120. Congratulations and welcome to the boards!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - rad... / 19,293,865[/h3]
rad returns to the monthly charts taking 1st place for March with their top score of 19,293,865. This is also a personal best for them, bringing them up to 28th place in the all-time scores. Congratulations, and welcome back to the boards!

[h3]2nd - Dean Demon / 2,210,310[/h3]
Also returning to the monthly boards this month is Dean Demon, taking 2nd place with a score of 2,210,310. Although backtracking from their own personal best in previous months, it has been a while since they have played. Now that the controls have been dusted off, we can expect to see a new best in the near future? steamhappy Congrats!

[h3]3rd - Leafeon4T / 370,885[/h3]
For the first time in the top three, Leafeon4T sneaks into third place with their score of 370,885. Welcome to the boards!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Flu Orid / 273,529,895[/h3]
Flu Orid, the reigning all-time champion, returns after what would seem like a long sabbatical with an impressive monthly top score of 273,529,895! At "only" just over 50% of their all-time high of 596,174,085, it would seem they are just getting warmed up again. Looking forward to a new record soon? At any rate, a big welcome back to you!

[h3]2nd - alienmigboy / 44,218,225[/h3]
alienmigboy moves up from 3rd to 2nd this month, while achieving more than a 15x increase over their last month's score. Congratulations go to your new best of 44,218,225, and securing 17th place in the all-time boards! Hats off to you!

[h3]3rd - Bonguru / 14,002,580[/h3]
Dropping from 1st to 3rd place for February, Bonguru still stays in the race with a respectable entry of 14,002,580. Congrats!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Bonguru / 18,145,465[/h3]
Bonguru is back and takes the lead slot this month with their top score of 18,145,465! Welcome back to 1st place!

[h3]2nd - El Doc / 3,055,745/h3]
El Doc storms in and barely secures 2nd place. Congratulations on your top score of 3,055,745 for February. Welcome!

[h3]3rd - alienmigboy / 2,619,540[/h3]
3rd place by a fairly close call, alienmigboy introduces themselves with a high score of 2,619,540. Welcome to the leaderboards!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Happy new year and many thanks for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Vangoonie / 26,501,405[/h3]
Moving up from 2nd last month Vangoonie takes 1st place this month with a high score of 26,501,405! A big congratulations dominating this month!

[h3]2nd - CatLord / 16,822,665[/h3]
A new name for the boards, CatLord secures a solid 2nd place with a top score of 16,822,665. Welcome!

[h3]3rd - Niphridel / 9,835,320[/h3]
3rd place goes to Niphridel with a final score of 9,835,320, also another new name for the boards. Welcome!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - gelberpolo / 45,824,480[/h3]
For the 2nd month in a row, gelberpolo takes 1st place with their high score of 45,824,480! Is this a trend? gelberpolo also continues to hold 11th place in the all-time high scores with their top score of 106,650,545.

[h3]2nd - Vangoonie / 26,501,405[/h3]
Newcomer Vangoonie hits it big taking a strong 2nd place with a top score of 26,501,405. Welcome to the ranks and a big congratulations!

[h3]3rd - rad... / 15,666,050[/h3]
rad... returns from several month break from the leaderboards and claims 3rd place with a score of 15,666,050. Welcome back!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - gelberpolo / 70,156,650a[/h3]
Congratulations gelberpolo for taking 1st place again this month! gelberpolo also holds 11th place in the all-time high scores with their top score of 106,650,545.

[h3]Bonguru / 13,259,415[/h3]
Welcome back for another month in the top three. Bonguru drops from 1st to 2nd place this month with their score of 13,259,415. Congrats!

[h3]3rd - Vavilenus / 1,504,045[/h3]
Vavilenus secures 3rd place again this month with a score of 1,504,045. Welcome back again to the board!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Minor feature updates and/or bug fixes.

[h2]New Features / Tweaks[/h2]

• Improved Shared/Split-screen transitions.
  
• Auto-calibration of thumb-sticks for Fire On Aim feature.
  
• Allow both thumb-sticks to be used for menu navigation.
  
• Updates to FNA/SDL used on Linux/OSX versions.
  

• Fix issue where your first score of the period (daily/weekly/monthly) doesn't replace your previous score for the period unless it was higher.
  
• Fix issue when accessing pause screen via players 2-3 (i.e. can't navigate).
  
• Fix crash when adjusting guest player names.
  
• Fix wave number indicator when transitioning into Free Play mode.
  
• Stability improvements.
  

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Bonguru / 9,779,170[/h3]
New player to the boards, Bonguru, and showing "guru" flair, takes the lead position for September with a top score of 9,779,170. Congratulations on taking the lead this month!

[h3]2nd - Red Eye / 706,195[/h3]
I feel like I've seen Red Eye in the boards before, but not in the top three! So welcome to the top ranks for September with your score of 706,195. Congrats on 2nd place!

[h3]3rd - Vavilenus / 661,245[/h3]
Holding 3rd for the second month in a row, Vavilenus rounds out the top three this month with a score of 661,245.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - gelberpolo / 106,650,545[/h3]
gelberpolo is back after a what seems like a couple month break, and hits it big with the top score of 106,650,545 for August, beating their best. gelberpolo currently holds 11th place in the all-time leaderboards. Congratulations on making the top and advancing in the overall!

[h3]2nd - rad... / 10,462,730[/h3]
New name in the boards this month, rad... takes a "radical" 2nd place with a strong score for a new placing of 10,462,730. Welcome to the ranks!

[h3]3rd - Vavilenus / 7,346,230[/h3]
Vavilenus slips a notch down from 2nd to 3rd this month with 7,346,230. The competition is ramping up!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Wain / 9,779,170[/h3]
New player to the boards, Wain takes the lead position for July securing 1st place with a top score of 9,779,170. Congratulations on taking the top slot!

[h3]2nd - Vavilenus / 3,376,185[/h3]
Regular in the monthly boards, Vavilenus takes second place this month with a score of 3,376,185. Welcome back to the boards!

[h3]3rd - drastic / 597,270[/h3]
Another new player, drastic rounds out the top three this month with a score of 597,270. Welcome!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Harnulfson / 190,376,515[/h3]
Harnulfson returns to the monthly boards and secures 1st place for June with a great score of 190,376,515. Really quite close to your all-time best, actually. Harnulfson holds 7th place in the all-time leaderboards! Welcome back!

[h3]2nd - Simons Mith / 86,741,870[/h3]
Simons Mith is also back this month taking 2nd place with a score of 86,741,870. Looks like this is your best score yet, nice one! Simons Mith holds 11th place in the all-time ranks!

[h3]3rd - gelberpolo / 72,126,990[/h3]
New player gelberpolo graces us with a quite close 3rd place ranking this month, with a score of 72,126,990. This also secures a slot in the TOP 20!. Welcome and congrats at mastering the art of drift!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - bwakaknife / 4,371,835[/h3]
bwakaknife explodes on to the scene securing 1st place this month with a score of 4,371,835. Congratulation!

[h3]2nd - Dean Demon / 3,799,180[/h3]
Coming in right behind the top score, and a regular on the boards, Dean Demon takes 2nd place with a score of 3,799,180. Way to go!

[h3]3rd - Vavilenus / 610,940[/h3]
Another new player, Vavilenus, secures 3rd place this month with a score of 610,940. Welcome!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - BLURR / 98,537,930[/h3]
BLURR is back and secures the top slot this month with a score of 98,537,930. BLURR holds a solid 5th place in the all-time ranks with a score of 259,940,465!

[h3]2nd - Simons Mith / 31,349,895[/h3]
Simons Mith, maintains 2nd place for April with a score of 31,349,895. Simons Mith continues to hold 15th place in the all-time high scores with a score of 39,793,780.

[h3]3rd - erekose / 105,085[/h3]
New player erekose, secures 3rd place this month with a score of 105,085. Welcome to the boards!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Harnulfson / 179,977,195[/h3]
Harnulfson is back and secures the top slot this month with a score of 179,977,195. Harnulfson holds 7th position in the all-time ranks with a score of 203,007,285!

[h3]2nd - Simons Mith / 10,841,260[/h3]
Simons Mith, also a regular player, grabs 2nd place with a score of 10,841,260. Simons Mith holds 15th place in the all-time high scores with a score of 39,793,780.

[h3]3rd - Piegos / 8,185,880[/h3]
Piegos, another regular player, and holding 1st place last month, takes a breather and coasts in with 3rd place this month with a score of 8,185,880 . Piegos continues to hold 9th place in the all-time highs with a score of 135,880,890.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Piegos / 118,360,585[/h3]
Piegos is on top for February with a score of 118,360,585. Piegos holds 9th position in the all-time ranks with a score of 135,880,890!

[h3]2nd - garrett.davis.7777 / 1,258,905[/h3]
New player garrett.davis.7777 shows up for February and secures 2nd place with a score of 1,258,905. Welcome to the ranks!

[h3]3rd - robertblane / 463,450[/h3]
robertblane, a long time supporter and player even from my days trying to get through Steam Greenlight, makes the monthly leaderboard this round taking 3rd place with a score of 463,450. robertblane is always supportive of my creation, and driving me to incorporate new features - thank you!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - morg556 / 9,144,830[/h3]
morg556 idles their way to 1st place for a second month with a score of 9,144,830. morg556 held 1st place last month and continues to hold a solid 4th place in the all-time ranks with a score of 342,642,665!

[h3]2nd - Vavilenus / 2,850,110[/h3]
Newcomer Vavilenus blasts in and takes 2nd place this month with a score of 2,850,110. Welcome and congratulations!

[h3]3rd - Simons Mith / 605,725[/h3]
Rounding out the top three, Simons Mith takes 3rd place with a score of 605,725, Simons Mith currently holds 15th in the all-time ranks with a score of 39,793,780!

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - COMPLETED!! steamhappy[/h2]

We managed to continue to fill the boards going into 2022! I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you want. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - morg556 / 151,109,760[/h3]
morg556 returns after a long hiatus and shows that they still have what it takes to compete in the boards while achieving a very respectable score of 151,109,760. Welcome back to the top this month! With a score of 342,642,665, morg556 continues to hold 4th place in the all-time ranks!

[h3]2nd - Piegos / 135,880,890[/h3]
Piegos slips to 2nd place this month with a score of 135,880,890. Piegos continues to hold 9th place in the all-time high scores!

[h3]3rd - ioClone x-45 / 2,477,065[/h3]
With a score of 2,477,065, ioClone x-45 takes 3rd place this month. Welcome to the ranks and a big congratulations!

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - COMPLETED!! steamhappy[/h2]

After somewhat of a lull during the fall, we managed to fill the boards for the holiday season! So, I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you want. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Piegos / 102,639,940[/h3]
Piegos takes the lead once more with a score of 102,639,940 after falling to 2nd place for October, . Welcome back to the top! Piegos continues to hold 10th place in the all-time scores, and this score came pretty close to beating their all-time high! Congratulations!

[h3]2nd - Starcrunch/ 34,030,800[/h3]
Starcrunch is back after a long break from the periodic boards and takes 2nd place this month with a score of 34,030,800. Starcrunch currently holds 9th place in the all-time high scores! Welcome back!

[h3]3rd - Beezle / 3,981,345[/h3]
With a score of 3,981,345, Beezle takes 3rd place this month. I think this may be the first month Beezle joins the top three for the month. Congratulations!

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - NOT COMPLETED!! steamsad[/h2]

Solaroids seems to continue to be in a lull after a long streak of players filling the monthly boards for most of 2021. Unfortunately we didn't quite fill the boards this month. We are getting closer, only missed it by 2 scores. Maybe December we will be back in full swing.

As a reminder, and challenge for next month. If the monthly boards are full I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Harnulfson / 202,334,440[/h3]
Harnulfson is back taking 1st place for October with a score of 202,334,440. Harnulfson holds 7th place, and just missed beating their all-time high by just under a quarter of a million points. Congratulations on taking 1st place!

[h3]2nd - Piegos / 67,189,115[/h3]
Piegos drops to 2nd place this month with a score of 67,189,115. Piegos currently holds 10th place in the all-time high scores. Congrats!

[h3]3rd - Simons Mith / 34,102,165[/h3]
With a score of 34,102,165, Simons Mith takes 3rd place this month. Simons Mith is also in the top 20 and holds 15th place in the all-time high scores. Congratulation on making the top three this month!

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - NOT COMPLETED!! steamsad[/h2]

Solaroids seems to be in a lull after a long streak of players filling the monthly boards for most of 2021 thus far. Unfortunately we didn't quite fill the boards this month - by only 5 scores.

As a reminder, and challenge for next month. If the monthly boards are full I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Piegos / 10,248,060[/h3]
Piegos holds the lead this month again with a 1st place score of 10,248,060. Piegos continues to hold 10th place in the all-time global high scores!

[h3]2nd - Dean Demon / 2,209,165[/h3]
Last month Dean Demon popped into 3rd place with a bit of timing luck with a sub 500k score, but this month has definitely earned 2nd place with their score of 2,209,165. Congratulations!

[h3]3rd - ThereIs0nly0ne / 181,680[/h3]
Welcome to the monthly boards ThereIs0nly0ne, you have achieved 3rd place this month with a 181,680 score. Congrats!

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - NOT COMPLETED!! steamsad[/h2]

Solaroids seems to be in a lull after a long streak of players filling the monthly boards for most of 2021 thus far. Unfortunately we didn't quite fill the boards this month - by only 5 scores.

As a reminder, and challenge for next month. If the monthly boards are full I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Piegos / 49,987,780[/h3]
Piegos takes the lead this month, by quite the margin to boot, with a 1st place score of 49,987,780. Congrats on taking the top slot! Piegos currently holds 10th place in the all-time global high scores!

[h3]2nd - cerex / 8,556,220[/h3]
Newcomer cerex takes 2nd place just sneaking past 3rd place with a score of 8,556,220. Welcome to the boards!

[h3]3rd - Dean Demon / 357,920[/h3]
Dean Demon strikes it lucky and hits 3rd place with what maybe be the lowest top-3 score I've seen of 357,920. Congratulations? steamsalty steammocking Seriously though, congratulations! I know I've seen higher scores from you before, I know you have it in you! steamhappy

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - NOT COMPLETED!! steamsad[/h2]

After a long streak of players filling the monthly boards for all of 2021 so far, unfortunately we didn't quite fill the boards this month. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the summer, if you're on the northern hemisphere, and getting out and about with a bit of a "break" from the dreaded corona.

As a reminder, and challenge for next month. If the monthly boards are full I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Harnulfson / 123,533,795[/h3]
Harnulfson is back on top for July with a score of 123,533,795. Welcome back to the monthly ranks! Harnulfson current holds 7th place in the all-time global high scores.

[h3]2nd - Piegos / 88,761,700[/h3]
Piegos slips to 2nd this month with an early-in-the-month entry of 88,761,700 topping their score last month by about almost 8 million. We still know Piegos has some surprises, as they currently hold 10th place in the all-time scores with an over 25 million lead over their July run.

[h3]3rd - Arcadae / 29,757,410[/h3]
Welcome back Arcadae! Arcadae takes 3rd place for July with a score of 29,757,410, topping their previous best (last December) and settling them into into 19th place overall in the all-time board.

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]First Documented High Score Challenge Run?[/h2]

As a side note, I learned that Arcadae is a regular streamer on Twitch where they are an infamous "head in a bottle" on the adcockm channel.

You can check out the channel and video that contains the Solaroids run HERE.

Thank you Arcadae/adcockm for testing out the new performance fixes - I'll get on that space-time discontinuity that you encountered late in your run right away!

[h2]Extra Challenge - COMPLETED!! steamhappy[/h2]

We made it again -- The monthly boards are full. I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Minor feature updates and/or bug fixes.

[h2]New Features / Tweaks[/h2]

• Localization updates:
  
  
  
  • Hungarian - now current
    
  • Portuguese - in progress
    
  • Romanian - in progress
    
  
  
• Updates to FNA used on Linux/OSX versions.
  

• Fix duplicate sound on menu selection.
  
• Fix failure to save options when only controls are re-bound and no other option changed.
  
• Fix issue where resetting the layout wasn't refreshing the visuals.
  

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Piegos / 80,403,390[/h3]
With a two-month streak and slip to 3rd last month, Piegos is back on top this month with a score of 80,403,390. Piegos continues to hold 10th place in the all-time boards.

[h3]2nd -Fish- / 67,854,975[/h3]
Something is fishy... nah, it's just recent newcomer -Fish- climbing the leaderboard "ladder" to 15th place, while taking 2nd place this month with a score of 67,854,975. Congrats!

[h3]3rd - Kiates / 48,220,650 + 4th - Starcrunch / 28,504,315[/h3]
What, yours truly? I forfeit which leaves Starcrunch taking 4th with a score 28,504,315. Starcrunch continues to hold 9th place in the all-time boards - but Piegos is close to overtaking that slot.

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Unlike last month, note that all three top players this month were competing with the Modern (dual-stick) control style.

[h2]Extra Challenge - COMPLETED steamhappy[/h2]

We made it again -- The monthly boards are full. I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Minor feature updates and/or bug fixes.

[h2]New Features / Tweaks[/h2]

• Re-introduced a Full Screen Exclusive (FSE) mode
  
• Add a few missing mipmaps to improve GPU performance and texture clarity -- the new background stars shouldn't "sparkle" anymore.
  
• Localization updates:
  
  
  
  • Hungarian - in progress
    
  • Greek - 99.9% complete
    
  • French - 99.9% complete
    
  • Italian - 99.9% complete
    
  • Japanese - 99.9% complete!
    
  • Dutch - now current!
    
  • Brazilian Portuguese - now current!
    
  • Portuguese - in progress
    
  • Simplified Chinese - in progress
    
  
  
• Updates to FNA used on Linux/OSX versions.
  

• Improve processing of Steam Leaderboards which due to increased size (a good thing) could result in frame skips (a bad thing) during background leaderboard refreshes (approximately every 5 minutes).
  

*Asteroids Deluxe vector theme shown

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Morg556 / 257,462,365[/h3]
Morg556 who holds 4th place in the all-time charts, got back into the game after a bit of a break to take 1st place this month with a score of 257,462,365. Welcome back!

[h3]2nd - Harnulfson / 203,007,285[/h3]
Stop the press. I remember chatting with Harnulfson in the Solaroids Group Chat and it seemed they were tapping out in the under 100M camp. You can imagine my surprise to see them more than double their all-time high score to 203,007,285 which firmly roots them in 7th place overall. Congrats on blowing through your personal best this month!

[h3]3rd - Piegos / 114,059,790[/h3]
The competition really upped the ante this month. Previous two-time monthly champion Piegos was dethroned in what appears to be a surprise attack this month. Still a very respectable score of 114,059,790 and a solid 3rd place. Piegos[\b] currently holds 10th place in the all-time boards.

If any of you top players have the hardware and want to stream your attempts to the Steam Store page, let me know and I can work with you to get you access.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Note again that all three top players this month are competing in with the [b]Classic control style, which though much more difficult, due to no automatic pilot (dual-stick) controls, does grant the player additional benefits with a somewhat stronger ship hull, and a more aggressive multiplier. Also, it's safe to say that they are also competing in the Normal difficulty mode based both on the score, and (since the last patch), do not have an E superscript next to their score which would indicate it was in Easy mode.

[h2]Extra Challenge - COMPLETED steamhappy[/h2]

We made it again -- is this becoming a regular accomplishment! The monthly boards are full. I'm a developer of his word, so as promised, I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Hello Solaroids players around the world - literally. It was high time that the supported languages get an overhaul after adding so much TEXT to the game. So, with this release I'm happy to announce that all major supported languages will be complete once again - now or very soon. They are actively being worked on by localization experts around the world so expect a few small patches to complete to the work over the coming weeks.



Oh and another thing... It's also time to drop the Prologue from the title and branding. I conceived of the Prologue sub-text as my way of introducing an incomplete game to the Steam Early Access community. While I still plan more updates before leaving Early Access, the game has grown out of its Prologue moniker. In addition, I've noticed a lot of demos being branded as Prologues over 2020, and Solaroids: Prologue is not a demo! Hopefully, this reconciles that annoyance as well. If you see any references to Prologue lurking about, let me know!

Those are the big things this round, but on a smaller scale I've tweaked the default options to something that I think will improve the first player experience. If you want to "trust me" and try them for yourself, just go to the Miscellaneous menu and hit that Reset button steamsalty.

Enjoy!

Chad (Kiates)

[h3]LANGUAGE UPDATES[/h3]

New Features / Tweaks

• Add back button to difficulty selection screen.
  
• Optimization to the vector renderer.
  
• High score listing now shows up after 5 seconds instead of 10.
  
• Allow rebinding of ENTER and ESC keys for use in-game.
  
• Language option is sorted by popularity now.
  
• Switch from Solaroids: Prologue branding to Solaroids.
  
• Change default zoom level from 100% to 130%.
  
• Change default inertial dampening from 20% to 50%.
  
• Change default HUD size from 100% to 125%.
  
• Change default reticle size from 100% to 150%.
  
• Change default controller vibration to 50%.
  
• Change default music volume from 60% to 40%.
  
• Change default vector focus from 100% to 80%.
  
• Updates to FNA/SDL libraries under the hood.
  
• Language updates:
  
  
  
  • German - now current!
    
  • Spanish - now current!
    
  • French - now current!
    
  • Portuguese (Brazilian) - now current!
    
  • Serbian - now current!
    
  • Russian - in progress
    
  • Simplified Chinese - in progress
    
  • Japanese - in progress
    
  • Italian - in progress
    
  • Polish - in progress
    
  
  
• New languages:
  
  
  
  • Greek - complete
    
  • Hungarian - in progress
    
  • Traditional Chinese - in progress
    
  
  

• Fixes to the vector renderer related to color/thickness.
  
• Fix a regression that would cause the game to exit when a controller was disconnected.
  
• Fix issue where key icons were not responding to language changes.
  
• Fix issue with demo expiration screen (DEMO build only).
  
• Fix some typos in English text.
  

*Asteroids vector theme shown

Welcome new and veteran players! Thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Piegos / 109,757,510[/h3]
Taking 1st for the 2nd month in a row with their new top all-time score of 109,757,510, Piegos continues holds their position as top player this month. Also, a congratulations on just making it into the top-ten all-time list (10th) place, just pushing uber-longtime player gonzalocasado out of their slot. Does someone want to give them the news? steamsalty

[h3]2nd - Harnulfson / 92,236,490[/h3]
2nd place goes again to Harnulfson with a score of 92,236,490. Not that far off from 1st, when you consider the scores we are talking about, but definitely widening the gap from last month.

[h3]3rd - BLURR / 50,333,210[/h3]
BLURR is back in the monthly ranks, taking 3rd place with 50,333,210. BLURR currently holds 5th in the all-time charts!

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

All three top players this month are competing in with the Classic control style, which though much more difficult, due to no automatic pilot (dual-stick) controls, does grant the player additional benefits with a somewhat stronger ship hull, and a more aggressive multiplier. Also, it's safe to say that they are also competing in the Normal difficulty mode based both on the score, and (since the last patch), do not have an E superscript next to their score which would indicate it was in Easy mode.

[h2]Extra Challenge - COMPLETED steamhappy[/h2]

We made it again -- is this the 2nd, or third month in a row? The monthly boards are full. I'm a developer of his word, so as promised, I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I've figured out an easier way to communicate to individual players is through the Steam Group Chat feature in the Community Hub steamhappy. Join the group chat and let me know, and I can transfer the card/code to you via a direct message. If you already have one and don't want another, also ping me in the Group Chat in the Steam Community HUB, or like I said, pass it on to someone that might enjoy it solaroidshalo.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

[h2]Version number scheme changing![/h2]

IMPORTANT NOTE - When I put Solaroids into early access in 2017, I didn't understand the typical conventions used for early access games. As such I used a EA 1.x.x.x format with the idea that the EA prefix clearly indicates that this is EA V1, not just V1. This has caused some confusion over the years, and I've decided to switch to a 0.x.x.x pattern until Solaroids leaves Early Access. I will be updating previous steam notes where I can to adjust for this. Don't be alarmed, 0.3.1.0 is the same as 1.3.1.0 steamhappy

Minor feature updates and/or bug fixes.

[h2]New Features / Tweaks[/h2]

• Updated the background starfield to a higher resolution version that is much sharper (especially at 4k).
  
• Vectorized splash screen.
  
• Removed the VECTOR MODE IS EXPERIMENTAL / INCOMPLETE disclaimer that would show at the bottom of the screen when vector mode was active.
  
• Record and show the Difficulty Mode used for a high score in the leaderboards. Right now these show up as a E next to the control style abbreviation next to the score for Easy since Hard and Insane are not complete yet and Normal doesn't need an indicator.
  
• Change internals related to the executable name and saved game locations to use the more generic Solaroids vs SolaroidsPrologue naming scheme. Your game options should be migrated automatically, however, in the unlikely event that they don't, check the diagnostics log and move them manually.
  
• Adjust "nuke" power-up token.
  
• Prepare for another round of localization effort.
  
• Updates to FNA used on Linux/OSX versions.
  

• Fix an issue with the default resolution.
  

Minor feature updates and/or bug fixes.

[h2]New Features / Tweaks[/h2]

• Refresh icon.
  
• Vector mode now has "vector" explosion effects in addition to single point explosion "particles".
  
• Removed "Exclusive" FullScreen mode (FullScreen=On, Borderless=Off). This mode is not necessary these days and has become an uncommon mode that made it difficult to switch back and forth between screens and other windows. In addition it made it more difficult to work with some screen recording software. Now the only full-screen mode is "Borderless" FullScreen, so as such, the Borderless option has been removed. Alt-Enter also still toggles between full screen and windowed as common among games.
  
• OSX Version now uses Vulkan for graphics which improves/restores lost performance for low-powered Macs (tested with 2016 era Mac Mini).
  
• Updates to FNA used on Linux/OSX versions.
  

• Fix issue with invalid unicode characters in Steam leaderboard names.
  
• Fix an issue with mouse behavior in the game and menus when running at non 1920x1080 resolutions in full screen modes.
  

Welcome new players and thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Piegos / 76,025,430[/h3]
1st place this month goes to Piegos with there top all-time score of 76,025,430 (11th). I've been seeing Piegos regularly on the periodic leaderboards, climbing higher each time and even taking 2nd place last month. They have obviously mastered the game, now playing in the most uber-difficult Classic control style that is true to the roots that Solaroids springs from. Piegos has definitely earned their place in the top position this month! Congrats!! Looking forward to seeing you in the top 10 all-time ranks real soon!

[h3]2nd - Harnulfson / 68,439,670[/h3]
2nd place goes to a regular in the top scores, Harnulfson with a score of 68,439,670. You've been beaten down a notch this month, but it was a pretty close run considering your scores are within 10% of each other and this wasn't your all-time best.

[h3]3rd - Starcrunch / 16,152,385[/h3]
Finally, 3rd place goes Starcrunch with 16,152,385. While trailing the others in raw points, Starcrunch is competing using the Modern (dual-stick) control style, which though easier to control with its automatic thrusters, takes more stamina to rack up really high scores, and agility to keep a multiplier going under full attack. Pros and cons.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - COMPLETED steamhappy[/h2]

We made it again, the monthly boards are full this month. I'm a developer of his word, so as promised, I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I think the easiest way to verify and transfer the digital card/key is probably via Steams friend/chat system. If you are in the top 3 this month, send me a friend request via Steam to claim your prize, and I'll send you a digital card/key via chat. You can de-friend me afterwards! steamsalty



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so, then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Hello Solaroids players around the world. I've got a potpourri of improvements ready to ship out to you this spring. There are a bunch so I'll get right to them!

[h3]RETICLE IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]

Several months ago, I received some great suggestions from the community to improve the experience. They've been hanging out on the BETA branch but it's time for them to hit the main build. The first one was to improve the visibility of things in the reticle, so I've made several tweaks that are hopefully in the right direction. Enemy ships are now colored based on their color, and bright red is reserved exclusively for missiles (yes, they are back in the reticle!). Missile indicators are also larger and blink rapidly. That coupled with the recently released ability to change the size of the reticle should help to keep threats and goal targets in mind just a little bit better.

[h3]COLORED SCORE TOKENS[/h3]

Another great suggestion from a player was to improve the ability to tell the value of the score tokens. Now they are colored based on their relative value in bronze, silver, gold style, along with sparkles at the upper end. Note the really REALLY large score tokens are not (yet) available in the game. However, the colors and sparkle effects are based on the highest valued token available for a given level, so you won't just see a bunch of bronze at the higher levels!

[h3]MORE VECTORS IN-GAME[/h3]

The "level indicator" is finally completely vectorized, so it no longer sticks out like a sore thumb. In addition, there is a "wave" indicator while in Free Play mode to keep track of how many waves you've decimated. The wave is also displayed under the Free Play text at the beginning of each advancing wave.


Another thing that is finally "vectorized" (is that a word?) completely is the reticle itself. Ammo heath bars and all! Enjoy, and don't forget for those that want an uncluttered reticle you can tweak what it displayed in it through the option menus (in the Player and Gameplay menus), so feel free to fly naked if youre feeling dangerous!


And finally all elements in the Player HUDs are now completely vectorized with the exception of your Steam profile icon. Feel free to enjoy a big SOLAROIDS :SolaroidsS: in it's place.

[h3]VECTOR CONTROLLERS AND BUTTONS[/h3]


Finally, the time has come to round out vector mode with vectorized controller graphics for the four controller types I support directly. They include not only the controller binding screen but the in-game representations of the controller buttons. I hunkered down in Inkscape and created these matching vector representations to ensure a perfectly accurate match with the controller images. I'm quite happy with them and think they complete the vector experience, so I hope you'll like them too!

[h3]VECTOR LOCALIZED TEXT[/h3]

Last but not least, I did a ton of research on techniques I could use to bring the vector look to all the languages I'm fleshing out in the game. After trying several techniques, I honed in on one that I think works the best, so if you play in non-English mode and have been frustrated with no text while in that mode, this update is for you. All but one of the languages in the game are supported for now. I will still be refining things (mostly adjusting things for consistency), but Japanese, Korean, and Chinese never looked better! This is a good time to plug my LOCALIZOR page if you can help review translations!

New Features / Tweaks

• Change the color of "points" tokens based on their value. They will now display as bronze, silver, gold, or gold with "sparkles" based on their value.
  
• Point tokens are now worth exactly their face value, previously they were worth at least their face value.
  
• Make missile indicators in the reticle narrow triangles instead of fat triangles to help differentiate them from enemy indicators (squares).
  
• Change the color of enemy indicators in the reticle to a similar color as the actual enemy instead of making them all red. This will help to distinguish between missile threats and regular enemies.
  
• Strobe missile indicators in the reticle to help to ensure they are noticed as imminent danger.
  
• Show current wave in Free Play mode.
  
• Initial tips are not dropped until the first player joins the game.
  
• If no controllers are connected, will automatically connect the keyboard for use with Player 1.
  
• Vector controller layout/binding screen and controller button graphics for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, and PS4 controller types.
  
• Reticle is now fully converted to vector mode.
  
• Level indicator is now fully converted to vector mode.
  
• Will now display a warning if the game is unable to access local storage for save game data, local high scores and stats.
  
• Multi-thread some aspects of the game. It will use additional processors if available.
  
• Improved performance of vector rendering.
  
• Improvements to vector graphics for enemies.
  
• Improved text handling/management.
  
• Improvement to handling of full-screen/borderless/maximized mode handling. The game will try and maintain the current select resolution in these cases.
  
• MacOS now uses Metal graphics API for improved performance on OSX.
  
• Updates to FNA/SDL libraries under the hood.
  

• Fix a potential crash when updating leaderboards.
  

Welcome new players and thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

[h3]1st - Harnulfson / 93,422,165[/h3]
1st place this month goes to Harnulfson. Harnulfson is a regular player and past holder of the monthly high score title. With a score of 93,422,165 achieved early in the month using Classic (Asteroids-like) control style, Harnulfson held the lead but didn't top their all-time best of over 186M points (7th).

[h3]2nd - Piegos / 60,459,690[/h3]
2nd place goes to Piegos, who is both a new player and a riser in the all-time leaderboards (13th). Piegos took 2nd place this month with their all-time best of 60,459,690. Congratulations! Piegos also achieved this top score using the Classic (Asteroids-like) control style common among many in the top ranks.

[h3]3rd - Starcrunch / 5,975,660[/h3]
Finally, 3rd place goes Starcrunch with 5,975,660 achieved early in the month using Modern (dual-stick) control style. Starcrunch recently took the top slot (December) with there all-time best score of almost 120M (9th), achieving their determination to make it into the top 10.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

[h2]Extra Challenge - NOT COMPLETED steamsad[/h2]

We didn't quite fill the monthly board, so unfortunately the challenge is forfeit this month. That being said, the challenge still remains outstanding. I'll be watching for the time when the scales tip and that board is full again!

As a refresher for any new players, if the boards are filled, the top three slots get Solaroids soundtrack Steam keys. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

[h3]Have a Feature Request or Discover a Lingering Issue?[/h3]
Do you have a feature request or find a lingering bug/issue? If so then post it to the Steam Solaroids Community. Many of the tweaks, features, other additions, or future plans for Solaroids have originated with the community.

[h3]Sign-up[/h3]
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

[h3]Track me down on Discord![/h3]
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

I see some regulars this month after radio silence for a while. Welcome back and thank you for playing and competing in the :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS: monthly high score challenge.

Congratulations to all!

1st place this month goes to long time player BLURR with a score of 49,838,145 using the ultra-competitive Classic (Asteroids-like) control style. BLURR's either getting rusty, or this is just a "casual" practice run for the new year, steammocking. Looking forward to seeing you beat your all time high score of 259,940,365 in 2021.

2nd place, with a score of 28,526,215, goes to another regular this side of the galaxy, Harnulfson, also using the Classic control style. Harnulfson ranks on the all-time boards in 7th place with 186,697,535, just behind yours truly.

Finally, 3rd place goes to another regular player PunchDrunk with 14,630,535, only with the Modern (dual-stick) control style.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Extra Challenge - NOT COMPLETED steamsad

We didn't quite fill the monthly board, so unfortunately the challenge is forfeit this month. That being said, the challenge still remains outstanding. I'll be watching for the time when the scales tip and that board is full again!

As a refresher for any new players, if the boards are filled, the top three slots get Solaroids soundtrack Steam keys. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.



I'll be keeping this extra challenge open for a while, so we'll see if there are enough competing players next month!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

Track me down on Discord!
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign-up
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Wow, the number of players just continued to climb through December! Lot's of new names this month!

Welcome to the new players, and thank you for playing... :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS:

Congratulations to all!

1st place goes to brand new player Starcrunch with a great score of 119,771,885 using the Modern (dual-stick) control style. Kudos also for the solid placement in the top 10 on the all-time boards as well.

2nd place, and also a new name this month, is Arcadae with 21,294,740 points and also using the Modern (dual-stick) control style.

Finally, in 3rd place is ioClone x-45 with 5,738,680 and also using the Modern (dual-stick) control style.

Note: Only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Extra Challenge - COMPLETED!

The monthly boards are full this month again! So as promised, I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I think the easiest way to verify and transfer the digital card/key is via Steams friend/chat system. If you are in the top 3 this month, send me a friend request via Steam to claim your prize, and I'll send you a digital card/key via chat. You can de-friend me afterwards! steamsalty



Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

Track me down on Discord!
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign-up
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Minor feature updates and/or bug fixes.

New Features / Tweaks

• When changing resolution it no longer changes the resolution immediately, but instead waits for confirmation.
  

• Fix issue where lowest resolution was used as the default when no save game data is available to select the preferred resolution.
  
• Improve robustness when changing resolutions in full-screen/non-borderless mode.
  

Minor feature updates and/or bug fixes.

New Features / Tweaks

• When accessing via Steam Link, override and limit choices for Reticle Size, HUD Size, and Zoom Level to optimize the experience for phone and tablet client types.
  
• Add a Particles option under the Effects category that allows the number of particles to be tuned to taste and/or system capabilities.
  
• Updates to framework libraries.
  

• Fix issue with Steam Link where using the Steam Link "shortcut" results in the wrong action set being applied first.
  
• Fix issue where selecting a Framrate of 144 results in actually using 120.
  
• Fix potential crash when refreshing high scores.
  
• Fix Infiltrator behavior under Framrates higher than 60 where the enemy would "turn slowly".
  

Another update coming at you in time for the "cold" holidays here in the northern hemisphere. This one is primarily some quality-of-life features.

[h2]Quality of Life is a Thing[/h2]

Not all screens are created equal and so several enhancements were made to improve the experience for those on small, but hi-res screens - for example Steam Link on iPhone/iPad.

[previewyoutube=11a3usIjeP4;full][/previewyoutube]

It's not automatic, but now you can increase the size of the reticle around your ship up to 200% regular size which can make taking advantage of its capabilities even easier. Whether it's tracking other players whether friend or foe, enemies (red squares), incoming missiles (red triangles), your lost power-ups (rings colored based on the weapon slot), or just that all important landmark the sun (yellow circle), the reticle has you covered. The Reticle Size option is configurable independently for each player.

Another Heads Up Display (HUD) improvement is now many of the text in-game (not menus) can now be adjusted up to 150% of normal size. Technically, you can reduce the size as well for any of you with mammoth monitors that just want the HUD "mostly" out of the way. It will adjust the size of each player HUD, Level Progress Indicator, Tip Text, Threat Lists, and so on. The HUD Size option is located under the Video option menu. Another option that can be useful in a similar situation is to adjust the Zoom Level under the Effects options menu to bring you closer or further to the action, adjust to your taste.

Another small but useful quality of life feature is I've added an Aim Indicator[b] that will project a line out from the front of you ship to assist in ascertaining your heading when everything is flying at you from all directions. By default, it is off, but you can turn it on per player under the [b]Player option menu.



The above screen shot has Reticle Size[b] set to 200%, [b]HUD Size[b] set to 150%, and [b]Aim Indicator[b] set to On. If you need help remembering what things looks like by default... here you go.



[h2]Localizor based Community Translation/Localization[/h2]

Finally, and this is a pretty big move for me. I've created a Localizor project for Solaroids on localizer.com.



[b]Localizor is a platform for helping to bring small developers together with passionate game lovers that are both fluent in other languages (besides my native tongue of English) and wanting to help with the effort to translate, review, or just correct those pesky language barriers. As Solaroids has developed the amount of text in it has ballooned, and it is hard to keep things current, even when I can find translators on my own. If you would be willing to lend a hand, or know someone that would, it is a great way to contribute in addition to helping spread the word about the game. Kudos to the studio that created Localizor, Hovgaard Games (out of Denmark), and for making it available to us micro-indies free of charge.

Happy Holidays to everyone, as much as we can with the crazy thing that 2020 has been.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

Track me down on Discord!
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign-up
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

New Features

• Aim Indicator - Adds a line projecting out of the reticle to help track your ship orientation and aim. It is configurable per player under the Player options menu.
  
• HUD Size - Allows you to tweak the size of the Score / Ammo area in the corners of the display as well as other overlay elements (excluding menus). Find it under the Video options menu.
  
• High score tables are now shown after a delay when entering a game session.
  
• In addition to shrinking reticle indicators with distance, also fade them out a bit.
  
• Allow reticle size to be up to 200% instead of 150%.
  
• Improve resolution of reticle and other circular shaped bars.
  
• Localizor support - Help to fix translation errors or help translate from English to your preferred language. Find a link to the Localizor community project from the main menu. You can find the project here: https://www.localizor.com/solaroids-prologue
  
• Added additional language options with initial machine translated text for Bulgarian, Danish, Greek, Finnish, Korean, Portuguese, & Thai. If there is another language you'd like or like to help translate to in Localizor, let me know and I'll add the infrastructure to the game.
  
• Updates to framework libraries.
  

• Fixes to HUD fade-out when controllers are disconnected.
  
• Missile indicators in the reticle were removed at some point, I've put them back. They are little triangles facing right at their target (YOU).
  

• There are still a few things in Vector mode that need to be finished up. Namely controller and controller button graphics, the Ammo/Heath bars, and the Level indicator.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*). Help review and correct issues at localizer.com.
  

A lot of new players this month due to steam sales!

Welcome and thank you for playing... :solaroidsS::solaroidsO:solaroidsLsolaroidsA:solaroidsR::solaroidsO::solaroidsI:solaroidsD:solaroidsS:

Congratulations to all!

1st place goes to mon-stryder with 5,010,775 using the Modern (dual-stick) control style.

Coming in 2nd place is -Fish- with 1,494,415 points using Classic (Asteroids) control style.

Finally, third place goes to Yarvik with 787,475 also using the Modern (dual-stick) control style.

Note: Another quick reminder that only the First Credit leaderboards are used for the monthly challenge.

Extra Challenge - COMPLETED!

The monthly boards are full this month! So as promised, I have Solaroids OST digital cards/keys for those in the winners circle. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.

I think the easiest way to verify and transfer the digital card/key is via Steams friend/chat system. mon-stryder, -Fish-, and Yarvik, send me a friend request via Steam to claim your prize, and I'll send you a digital card/key via chat. You can de-friend me afterwards! steamsalty



Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

Track me down on Discord!
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign-up
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Hello arcade shoot'em up and classic Asteroids lovers across the globe. I have a "small" update for you this fall primarily focused on performance improvements, but has a few significant changes under the hood that especially benefit those with either "creative" steam names, or are from a culture with vast numbers of unique characters.

Some of you that also play games on Xbox One may already know, but I released a free demo for Xbox One last summer along with an update earlier this fall that added full leaderboard including daily, weekly, and monthly support to that demo. If you play on that platform too, please give it a try! Anyway as a part of that effort, I've done a ton of performance tuning in my custom engine under the hood to support consoles. This should translate to lower resource/gpu usage for PC/Linux/Mac users, so everyone wins.

In addition I have ripped out my entire text rendering system and replaced it with an improved framework. Everyone should notice slightly improved text rendering, but the big feature this enabled is the ability to render more character sets such as Chinese and Japanese as prime examples. ? marks in steam leaderboards should now be a thing of the past for non-vector mode. Vector mode will still suffer until I can figure out how best to create a vector font that can encompass these diverse characters.





For first time players, I've also introduced selection screens on game launch that allow to to pick both an initial theme and control style. This should help those just starting out get familiar with some of the ways to play and reduce initial frustration. The demo always shows it, but the full version will only show it the first time playing. There is an option under Miscellaneous to force it on/off.



Finally, I've started work on additional difficulty settings. For now, I'm only exposing the new Easy mode for more casual players, but in the future I'll enable Hard and Insane modes, once they are ready.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

Track me down on Discord!
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign-up
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

New Features

• Performance improvements.
  
• New text rendering that supports full character sets.
  
• Introduction screens to pre-select a theme and control style.
  
• New Easy mode for casual play. Select before each game, or from the options menu before starting.
  
• Update framework libraries used under the hood.
  
• Improved demo experience.
  
• Guest player scores default to Anonymous 1-4.
  

• Better handling of thruster volume in Modern (dual-stick) mode.
  
• Borderless mode now supported on Linux/Mac.
  
• Many other little fixes, that probably only I notice.
  

• There are still a few things in Vector mode that need to be finished up. Namely controller and controller button graphics, the Ammo/Heath bars, and the Level indicator.
  
• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game may cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).
  

BLURR holds 1st place for October with their early-in-the-month score of 259,940,365.

Flu Orid swooped in later during the month, I presume to assert their grand-champion dominance, but failed to topple BLURR while still securing a solid 2nd place entry with a score of 100,002,490.

Rounding out 3rd place is Harnulfson with a respectful score of 86,097,960. Harnulfson seems to have been enjoying some much-needed R&R over the last few months, as I haven't seen them in the leaderboards since they took the July 2nd place slot.

Outstanding Challenge

We didn't quite fill the boards this month, even with my paltry test score added, so the challenge is forfeit this month. That being said, the challenge still remains outstanding. I'll be watching for the time when the scales tip and that board is full!

Once again, if the boards are filled, the top three slots get Solaroids soundtrack Steam keys. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.



Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

P.S. What is your #1 feature request for the next update? Let me know in the comments, or in the community under Feature Requests and I'll try to prioritize things based on which is the most in demand.

Track me down on Discord!
Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign-up
Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

It was a casual month on the Solaroids leaderboard for September 2020. Maybe everyone is settling into the change of seasons for those of us that don't live near the equator? Maybe we need to recruit some fresh pilots to up the challenge, maybe the pandemic is weighing on everyone, or maybe everyone is playing that Among Us game these days?

Raining all time champion Flu Orid skims through this month and takes 1st place. Probably didn't even break a sweat collecting a score of 45,715,435. Or maybe with one hand tied behind your back?

Another regular, morg556, coasted into 2nd place with a score of 25,461,215.

Coming in 3rd place is mochoaxx with 5,168,925. Welcome to the winner's circle.

Congratulations all, hope you have a great October, and let's fill the monthly board this month!

That's a Challenge.

If the boards are filled, the top three slots get Solaroids soundtrack steam keys. Use it yourself, give it away, or sell it if you can. The soundtrack is no longer tied to the game, it's been freed from DLC prison.



Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

P.S. What is your #1 feature request for the next update? Let me know in the comments, or in the community under Feature Requests and I'll try to prioritize things based on which is the most in demand.

Sorry for the delay on the August scores. I took some needed time off and it overlapped the transition. I don't have a backup at this stage of the game, it's just me.



morg556 is back, taking first place with a monthly high score of 206,137,240 with Classic controls after a several month hiatus. Good to see you in the periodic boards again!

BLURR, who took first place last month, is back taking 2nd place with a score of 99,376,995 using their favored Modern (dual-stick) controls.

Rounding out the top three, philipmccaffer comes in 3rd with a high score of 3,114,600 using Classic controls. Of note is they also had a score of 14,067,190 on the Any Credit board, but I use First Credit scores for ranking each month, so scores achieved on the first play starting at Level 1.

Congratulations all!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

P.S. I released a demo of Solaroids on Xbox One this summer as a part of an online event, and it's still available! In the demo you can only play through Level 4 or 15 minutes which ever comes first, but if you have an Xbox One give it a try, a rating/review and let me know how it goes. Right now it doesn't support Xbox live, but I plan on submitting a patch that adds Xbox live support including global leaderboards, stats, and saves in the near future.

July high scores!



First place for July goes to Blurr, congratulations for your top score and new personal best of 190,476,485.

Harnulfson comes in with a close second of 186,6997,535, also another personal best.

Finally Yancy Fry places third place with a their personal best score of 36,474,095.

Thank you to all the familiar players as well as the new players this month. Congratulations and stay safe out there!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

June high scores are here!



Flu Orid is back! Not only taking the lead position for the month with there incredible score of 596,174,085, but reclaiming the all-time first position on the global leaderboards once again!



2nd place this month goes to Harnulfson with a score of 104,237,145 who's become a regular on the monthly leaderboards, rising higher and higher each time.

3rd place, and neck and neck in the fight for 2nd, goes to long time Twin-Stick Control Style player Blurr with 101,908,730.

Give a big congratulations to the top players this month!!

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

It's time to announce the top scores for the month of May! I would also like to give a big thank you to all those that took the recently released update for a couple of rounds!




1st place goes to long time player Flu Orid with an astronomical score of 400,382,820. Welcome back, and great to see you in the monthly leaderboards again!

2nd place goes to Harnulfson with a score of 57,317,495. It was just last month that Harnulfson's top score was a solid 9M. Congratulations on the big jump over the last 30 days or so!

3rd place goes to Blurr with a score of 56,983,750. Neck and neck with Harnulfson. Blurr was also 3rd place last month with just over 6M, and using the modern twin-stick control style none-the-less. I mention this, because that control style has different ship and scoring characteristics to go with the more direct automatic thruster control it provides.

Congratulations to all!!

Oh, one more thing....

I've been thinking about putting some modest prizes up for a competition... some Solaroids shirts and soundtrack cards, but maybe a few other perks depending on the participation. Let me know in the comments if this is something you would be interested in participation in, or if this is a horrible idea.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

Greeting and welcome alpha fighter pilots; whether your are a medal laden veteran pilot, a new recruit cutting your teeth, from Earth, or from one of the furthest corners of the known universe.

I hope you've been priming your trigger fingers, as the Nexus Galactic as deployed several important milestone updates to whet your appetite for unmatched precision controlled skill based combat across the solar system.

Probably the biggest features added are CRT emulation capabilities, and an almost complete rendition of Vector mode.

CRT effects including scanlines and phosphors are now available.



Vector mode now has additional monochrome palettes in addition to the full color Solaroids palette.



Each aspect of the simulated XY Vector display can be tweaked to your taste and combined with other options like Bloom, Background Opacity, Stars, and CRT effects to simulate a variety of looks.



Many more tweaks and adjustments have been made to improve the experience. See the full list below.

This update comes on the eve of Solaroids Steam anniversary date of May 26th.

Cheers!

Chad (kiates)

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New Features

• Background and bloom amounts automatically adjusted based on theme (Vector/Raster).
  
• Backdrop stars now tied to Background transparency. You can now eliminate all raster based stars in addition to the backdrop, if you want for a more pure Vector mode experience.
  
• Increased power-up capsule size for easier visibility.
  
• Colorized additional graphics in Vector mode.
  
• Particles for smoke, sparks and explosions now match the theme when in Vector mode.
  
• Key representations are now 100% vectorized.
  
• Added Background option category.
  
• Added Emulation option category. Holding the two current modes/themes for now, but more planned still.
  
• Add Vector option category to control the palette and beam parameters when in Vector mode:
  
  
  
  • Vector Palette - Choose from the Solaroids multi-color vector palette, or classic favorites that reproduce the look of classic Asteroids, and Asteroids Deluxe.
    
  • Intensity - Adjust the intensity of the beam.
    
  • Focus - Adjust the focus of the beam for ultra precise focus, or wide and vibrant.
    
  • Shimmer - Adjust the shimmer effect to your liking and photo-seizure susceptibility.
    
  • Jitter - Old Vector XY monitors weren't always the most accurate things and were often particularly finicky. Adjust the precision of the beam.
    
  
  
• Add CRT option category to apply CRT emulation effects:
  
  
  
  • CRT Mode - Turn CRT emulation on/off.
    
  • Scanlines - Turn on scanline simulation.
    
  • Scanline Intensity - Adjust how intense the scanline effect is.
    
  • Phosphor Pattern - Old monitors has much more visible RGB phosphors, turn this on to heighten the retro feel of older color monitors.
    
  • Phosphor Pattern Intensity - Adjust how intense the RGB phosphors. A little goes a long way with this one.
    
  
  
• Supports Steam Remote's virtual touch-pad with configurations for Classic, Hybrid, and Modern control styles.
  
• Supports Steam Remote Play for local multiplayer over the network.
  
• Many many performance optimizations and engine improvements as I port the code base to less powerful consoles and mobile. Every platform benefits.
  
• The OST is now separate and can be purchased/activated separately.
  
• Updates to platform libraries (FNA, SDL, etc).
  
• High score tables now hidden while in option menu.
  
• Add Exit option category with options to:
  
  
  
  • Resume - Close the option menu and resume the game in addition to Esc/Back.
    
  • Forfeit - Forfeit the current players session.
    
  • Title Screen - Forfeit all players and immediately return to the title screen
    
  • Exit to System - Exit completely out of the game. No rage quitting!!
    
  
  
• Exit option category also replaces the former pop-up dialog when pressing Esc/Back for more options and better consistency.
  
• Options that are not available due to the setting of other options, are now "muted/grayed-out" until they have been activated.
  
• The current option is highlighted better.
  
• New Reticle option under the Gameplay option category. Allows you to adjust whether the reticle shows other Players, the Ammo/Heath bars, both, or no addition information other than enemies/power-ups.
  
• New per player Reticle Size option under the Player option category. Can be used to turn the reticle complete off for the die hard, or adjust the size when playing on different screens or different player "bio parameters". As an added bonus, if the reticle is turned off for a player, that player will not show up in the other players reticles making it a bit more difficult to seek out your friends/foes.
  
• Added a delay countdown when resuming the game. Gives you a little time to remember what horrible situation you left yourself in when you panic hit pause.
  
• When editing visual related options, the game is shown, non-darkened for easier tweaking of the many visual aspects of the game, from bloom, background/star visibility, reticle, CRT, or Vector parameters.
  
• New Positional Audio setting to adjust positional audio based on your speaker setup. Leave it on Surround to play as before with Left/Right + Top/Bottom mapped to Front/Back, tune to use just Stereo Left/Right, or turn off positional audio all together.
  
• CONNECTION CONTROLLER messages will now fade out completely (after a few minutes of controllers being disconnected).
  
• New Mouse Rotation option under the Player option category. I the Hybrid (single-stick) control style, allows you to rotate with relative mouse movements (horizontal/vertical) instead of the mouse position on the screen. Trackballs or spinners should work, though haven't been tested yet.
  

• Fix thruster scaling issues in Vector mode.
  
• Fix power-up icons missing in some prompts in Vector mode.
  screen.
  

• There are still a few things in Vector mode that need to be finished up. Namely controller and controller button graphics, the Ammo/Heath bars, and the Level indicator.
  
• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game may cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).
  

Another month of Coronavirus... and another month of Solaroids high scores!!



1st place goes to Jbiah this month with a score of 38,401,650. This beats their all-time best last December of 27M.

I've been busy porting Solaroids to other consoles, and mostly playing on another system lately, but had a moment to play a run on Steam and achieved a solid 30M[b] score this time.

Rounding out the top four this time making up for my entry, we have...

3rd place goes to [b]Harnulfson with a score of 9,4762,010.

4th places goes to Blurr with a score of 6,308,155.

Congratulations and stay safe out there!!!

Track me down on Discord!
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Cheers!!

Chad (kiates)

What a crazy and scary time we are in across the world! I hope everyone is staying safe out there during this global phenomenon that is the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov) outbreak. We have very little "known" exposure in our small university community in Idaho, USA. But we locked down weeks ago as a city, and as a household.

Glad to see folks had a little time to still launch an attack against the high score tables of Solaroids despite the sobering background of the virus spread. Anyone want a virus theme to take out frustration on?



1st place goes to morg556 this month with a score of 342,642,665 which is also their best all-time high score in the global leaderboards.

2nd place goes to rethdakair with a score of 4,508,085.

3rd places goes to John Lemon with a score of 3,317,035.

Congratulations and stay safe!!!

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Cheers!!

Chad (kiates)

Yesterday closes out the 2nd month of 2020, and with that another set of top scores. February this year closed out with a full 29 days thanks to it being a leap year. It's nice to see some regulars playing a few rounds in what has typically been typically a slow time of year for bringing in new players. Many thank yous to you folks, you really keep me motivated to press on.



Hold the press! It has been awhile, but this month we have a new all-time high score! I've seen them in the leaderboards in the past and have even reported on it here many months ago as they entered the top ranks. So with that... I give you a new global high score of 590,985,040 brought to you by [/b]!



If my bit of research serves me right, [b]'s Steam handle is a single Japanese character which is pronounced "ge" in romantic languages such as English. I can't hope to explain the meaning in the choice of Steam names, so perhaps Ge could enlighten us as to his origin story.

2nd place this month is held by long time player flu Orid with 176M, and previous 3rd place in the global top scores. 3rd place for the month goes to new player DarkBlooster with just under 69M.

Congratulations!!!

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Cheers!!

Chad (kiates)

Off to a slow start in 2020 with plenty of room in the monthly leaderboards. I may need some help recruiting new pilots in the coming months while I finish up some pending updates!



It's nice to see long time player Flu Orid in the monthly leaderboard this time around, and taking 1st place with a semi-serious 34M score. morg556 who took 1st place last month, came in 2nd place this month with a score just shy of 24M. Weasel managed to "scurry up" and take 3rd place with 16M - sorry about the play on your name, I couldn't resist.

Mini Status Update
As I mentioned in a previous high score announcement, I'm working on several new updates. One of those is to introduce CRT style effects as an option in the game, that I hope will bring some additional nostalgia to old school players, or even the younger crowd that can appreciate what these old games looked like in the 80s.

In the theme of High Scores here are two more shots, with two of the work-in-progress modes active. This first one is a relatively simple CRT effect that simulates the phosphor pattern of an Aperture Grill (aka Sony Trinitron) along with scanlines. The intensity of each will be adjustable via in-game options.



Click on this thumbnail to view the full HD image.


The 2nd one is a more advanced CRT effect that still needs a lot of work, as the fonts are getting butchered at the moment. It will be able to simulate several phosphor patterns common for CRTs along with scanlines as well. As seen in the screenshot, it will also be able to simulate the curvature of a real CRT, which will be fully adjustable as well.



Likewise, here's a thumbnail you can click on to view the full HD image.


Please let me know your thoughts... Whether you like where this is going, or have additional ideas.

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Cheers!!

Chad (kiates)

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great Holiday, had lots of rest, and had lots of fun too. It's monthly high score time!!



Lots of activity from new players taking advantage of the rock'n Holiday sales recently, and some familiar names from last month mixed in.

Congratulations this month goes to Jbiah with a top score just shy of 27M, establishing there place early in the month, and holding strong. Several runners up came very close to topping first place. leonski goldberg with a close 2nd place of just over 24M, and alienmigboy not far behind and in 3rd place with just over 21M.

Track me down on Discord!

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Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

Happy Holidays! Hope you're all enjoying the beginning of the Holiday season here in the US as well as from various parts of the world. A shout out to those that played this November even with the Steam Autumn sale in full swing.



Congratulations this month goes to morg556 with a top score of 154.6M playing with the Classic control style! I myself managed to end up in the 2nd slot with a mere 17.3M. Rounding out the top 4 over 10 million were R'kik D'nec and new player Astelan both neck and neck around 14.5M each playing with Modern (a.k.a Geometry Wars) control style.

Quick State of Affairs for Solaroids: Prologue

You may have wondered why no recent updates, so let me take a minute to ensure you that work does continue on the game. Solaroids is a side project of mine, and this year we took on the challenge to do some major remodeling on our house, some of which we are doing ourselves. This has taken up a lot of my extra time and slowed development considerably. For a while I didn't even have my main development area in my studio setup as that had to be completely taken down and moved temporarily into storage in order to re-surface the concrete in our basement. I'm glad to report that I'm typing this from that workstation, and it is "mostly" set back up after new concrete and flooring has been installed.

I do have a few updates that are at various stages of completion and I hope to be able to get some of them out soon.

The first is that I've increased the amount of content that works with the experimental Vector mode. Things such as keyboard prompts, explosions, and particle systems have been converted. Vector stars have also been added and options tweaked so that you can play it in a fashion that is more faithful to the original Vector machines if you choose, for example, without bitmap stars and backgrounds.



Additionally, I've begun the process to re-do the options menu to support a future "theme" system, and expose additional options for vector mode rendering. As a part of this I've started implementing some CRT effects for additional nostalgia. Here's a sample showing an aperture grille style effect and scanlines.



Track me down on Discord!

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

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Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

Hope you had a great October and a Happy Halloween! October high scores are here!



Congratulations this month goes to R'kik D'nec with a top score of 14.5M playing with the Modern control style! Kugelblitz, a player frequented in the leaderboards and a long time player, comes in 2nd this month trailing by over 5M with a score of almost 10M using the Classic Asteroids "Tank" control style.

Lot's of runners up in the over 1 Million category using various control styles. I look forward to the coming competition!

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

Welcome Fall for the Northern hemisphere. September high scores are here!



Flu Orid is back and reclaimed the title of best player for month this round with 252M. Morg556 with great score of 107M takes the runner up slot. My attempt this round, and a bit late none-the-less, still got me a 3rd place score - not my finest for sure.

I see some new players this month breaking the 10M barrier with the Modern (Dual-stick) control style. Welcome!

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

Another month and another set of high scores for Solaroids. Hope everyone is enjoying the hot summer warmth in the northern hemisphere and getting lots of vacations and summer activities in. If you're down south, hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel and Spring is on its way soon!!



The all-time champs have deferred this month to make way for some of the rising challengers - I didn't pay them I promise!

Last month Morg556 had achieved a top score of 73M and this month takes the lead slot with their new personal best of almost 138M. Congratulations!!

In addition to high scores, I've also been busy working on Solaroids in between trips and other summer fun. Not much in the way of visual features lately, but a lot of performance optimizations and internal changes to get ready for some new features this fall. To be honest some of the optimizations were driven by trying to run Solaroids on a mobile device - iOS in particular, but these are things I'll need for "other" mobile platforms and Xbox One too. But everyone wins, as now Solaroids is much more efficient at drawing Vector shapes, and HUD elements which should result in reduced CPU/GPU usage equating to better performance on smaller systems with integrated GPUs.

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

New Features

July has come and gone, and with that another time to reflect on recent high scores! Things have been a little less competitive at the high end, with the warm weather and myriad of other activities that abound, but some great scores and budding pilots none-the-less.



With no sight of previous two time champion GreyWolf, the montly title has fallen to none other than long time player Flu Orid with a mind blowing score just shy of 326M. While not topping their previous best of 436M, or the all time high still held by GreyWolf, it is still nothing short of an amazing score and still over double my top.

New challengers are rising up to face the toughest pilots at the top of the boards. [/b] with a solid [b]136M and Morg556 with almost 73M round out the contenders this month.

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

June has come to a close and with that another set of high scores! I didn't think the top scores could get much higher, but the two elite players at the top have proven me wrong yet again blasting through the previous ceiling.



I thought Flu Orid was going to take and keep the lead with his new best of 436M. After all, that is quite a jump up from 257M, an increase of a whopping 179M. Still an absolutely amazing score.

So... drum roll please... With a score of over 577M, up an astounding 282M points from 294M, and achieving a new milestone for Solaroids of over 1/2 a billion points, the champion and our reigning champion for the last three consecutive months is... Grey Wolf!! .



Just when I thought I was "almost" getting competitive with my 205M 3rd place score I find out that Flu Orid's and Grey Wolf's increases alone are in the ballpark of my best effort.

While the best players have held quite a lead ahead of the rest of us mortals, there are some budding players that have been getting some respectable scores in what I would consider the next class on the leaderboard, those in the double-digit millions. I'd like to specifically mention Kugelblitz with almost 50M, who I've noticed increasingly higher and higher scores over time, newcomer Ezekiel with 36.5M playing with the simplified Modern Dual-stick control scheme, and Morg556 with 31.5M.

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Cheers and as always Happy Blasting!! You are our first and defense!

Chad (kiates)

Hello classic and nostalgic modern gamers. Hope you are enjoying the summer so far and the steam summer sale. I've decided to put Solaroids on sale for a steal of a price to bring in more competition for you all ;) In addition, Ive made some significant progress on the Vector Mode, added a 3rd background "Stage 3", as well as the usual collection of smaller tweaks and requested options.



The work on Vector Mode has made a new milestone with the completion of conversion of the fonts to 80s style vector fonts. These will also smoothly transition when switching back and forth between the regular graphics and the vector mode graphics. This includes the main menu, option menus, leaderboards, stats, and in-game prompts and scores. They still could use some additional optimization, so if youre playing on a modest system, you may notice a loss in framerate when things get serious. This will improve over time as I squeeze out additional performance. Only basic characters are supported at the moment as well, so you may notice some missing punctuation, or in the case of fancy non-ASCII characters, missing characters.



I've incorporated a 3rd background accessible under "Stage 3" in the options under the Gameplay category. In addition, there is now a "Random" setting (the new default) that will give you a random background each play. You can still set it to a specific one if there is a favorite. I have some other backgrounds designs available and will be hopefully incorporating them real soon.

Finally, worth mentioning is there are a few other little features that have been added. One is a requested Reset Options feature is now available under the Miscellaneous category that will reset all the options back to the defaults, not just the controller bindings. Another is when accessing the "exit to main menu" dialog, you can do a quick restart instead of returning all the way to the main menu and then restarting from there.

Many thanks to the great players that have helped shape things with feature requests and stay tuned for more enhancements based on your feedback.

Come visit us in real-time on the recently Discord approved (Solaroids Discord Server) and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet. Also, don't forget to sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad (kiates)

New Features

Another month of competition with both some old and new names in the ranks. Grey Wolf and Flu Orid went head to head leap-frogging each other earlier in the month. Both crushed their previous bests, with Grey Wolf (MizzKitty on the Solaroids Discord) securing the lead for a 2nd month while almost breaking 300 million!



There was a good mix of Classic and Modern control styles in play during the month with Ezekiel and Crysyn leading the Geometry Wars style players with what used to be pretty respectable scores in the double digit millions. I learned that Crysyn actually holds an achievement of his own. At a game developer conference, and playing on a 30ft screen none-the-less, he was able to achieve over 1 million in Geometry Wars. It's no surprise that he took to the twin-stick controls so quickly.

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Hope you in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the spring weather. I know we are!

Cheers and Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

Greetings pilots! A potpourri of new features and corrections for this release, but mostly centered around enhancements to the HUD.



Many of you will be happy to know that Solaroids now has a health bar for player ships. Previously the amount of smoke and sparks emitting from your ship was the health indicator, and was meant to be a soft indicator, introducing a little uncertainty to whether you really can take another hit. But by popular demand, the ships computer system has been upgraded to be able to take more precise measurements of the hull integrity. I've decided to introduce an inner ring just inside the current reticle, allocating the back half to health. As you take hits, this "bar" will shrink from both sides and the color will go from happy green through yellow and orange to unhealthy red. I expect this will also help to get a better understanding of how much damage different hazards and enemies inflict.

But wait, that's not all. Since I've allocated a whole new ring to the reticle, why use it all for health when I can use the front semi-circle area to add another requested feature... Ammo indicators. Rather than having to always glance back up to the corner of the screen to assess what kind of ammo you have available and about how much, I've added some mini ammo "bars" for all three weapon types: primary, secondary, and defensive. The area is divided up into thirds, with primary front and center, secondary to the left, and defensive to the right. Each is color coded based on the weapon slot, and in the case of Xbox controller users playing with the default classic controls, also matching the colors of the controller buttons they are assigned to.



Following with the interface changes theme, I've added some additional indicators to help provide additional useful information.

First, Whenever the multiplier moves by a whole increment, an indicator will be shown near the player ship. The multiplier goes up incrementally as you destroy things, down incrementally when you're not destroying things, and by a lot when you take damage. Now you'll see these changes as the multiplier goes up and down.

Second, most things have a score adder associated with it, and that score is further adjusted by your current multiplier. In this version, the final score adder will now show up at the point where the score was accumulated. This also helps to see the exact score value for point pick-ups since I don't show the exact value on the pick-up itself, but you're guaranteed the points are at least that amount. I expect to add an option in the future to turn showing score adders on/off if it's too distracting - let me know.

Finally, how many times have you started flying towards a power-up only to find it "expire" in a pop of sparks right before you're about to pick it up. This last feature is for you. Now a count-down timer will show up near the power-up/pick-up if it has less than 10 seconds before it expires, giving you a chance to decide if you've got the skill to swoop in and grab it in the nick of time.

A huge thank you to twitch streamer Drakkett and his devoted community for testing out many of the above features last weekend and for the great feedback in shaping them!! Also, many thanks to Ultra C for taking Solaroids for a spin on their YouTube channel and providing feedback/bug-reports.



Work continues the Vector Mode as well. With this version, the configured player ship colors are now rendered, which includes incorporating the player stripe color into the missile fins. Power-up icons now render at the correct size in the HUD as well. Like I've mentioned before, Vector Mode is still very much an experimental feature and is incomplete. Reticle, fonts, and other bits are still missing and/or incomplete.

Come visit us in real-time on the recently Discord approved (Solaroids Discord Server) and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet. Also, don't forget to sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad (kiates)

New Features

The end of April marks the first complete month since the periodic leaderboards were added. The competition was pretty fierce resulting in two new all-time high scores and the emergence of a new top player using the Classic control scheme.



Congratulations to Grey Wolf for a zero to hero show, and Flu Orid, the reigning champion for some time, for putting up a good fight to try and hold the title!

Talking to Grey Wolf on the (Solaroids Discord Server) a few days prior to the achievement, it sounds like they play inertia based shooters almost exclusively, and have spent a lot of time honing their piloting skills playing the famous Subspace.

Come join the (Solaroids Discord Server), exercise some much needed bragging rights, say high to other players, share some tips, and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Sign up my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms, not just Steam.

Hope you all had a good April and I look forward to what May will bring!

Cheers and Happy Blasting!!

Chad (kiates)

Hello everyone! Needed to do a quick update to fix an issue with Mouse Locking that was being a little to aggressive in dual monitor setups.

A big thank you to twitch streamer Drakkett for tracking me down, bringing it to my attention, and working with me to isolate the cause. The result is not only the fix for the dual screen issue, but the full ability to turn mouse locking on/off (MS Windows only) from the option menu as well as a hot key (F5). I also added a hot key to toggle borderless window mode on and off (F6) in addition to the existing option menu item. Now dragging the Solaroids window to a second monitor and pressing F6 is a quick way to get it on a 2nd monitor.



Finally, I had made some additional progress of Vector mode, so might as well push it out to everyone, right? Vector mode is now in Color! The colors aren't finalized, and especially ship color isn't respecting each players choices, but it's starting to take shape. I'm also starting to work on converting parts of the HUD to vectors, so now the icons for the power-up prompts are showing up as well as your extra ships and active primary, secondary, and defensive weapons. With respect to those, they are showing up way to small, so I'll be tracking down the cause soon. It's still very much and experimental mode with score, fonts, and such needing the vector treatment, as well as refinement of the current vectors to make them more readable - especially in the case of power-ups.

If you miss the Asteroids Deluxe color scheme, don't fret. I plan on making it an option as Vector mode matures.

Come visit me in real-time on the (Solaroids Discord Server), and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet. Also, don't forget to sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad (kiates)

New Features

Hello everyone! Thank you to all the players that have tried out some of the recent updates and posted scores to the new Daily/Weekly/Monthly leaderboards.

It's been about a week since the update to add Daily, Weekly, and Monthly leaderboards and I see both some familiar names as well as some new ones. What do you think so far, yeah or meh?

Here's the top scores for the week!!



And for the month of March (partial month)!



Speaking of leaderboards. I think it would be fun to have a speed run leaderboard. For the current Campaign it would be through Level 10 possibly with intermediate ones for each level to track progress, and for Free Play mode it would be through a certain number of waves possibly with intermediate ones as well. What do you think?

In other news, work continues on the experimental Vector mode. I've converted more of the graphics and have been playing with simulating the look of a real vector display. Here's what it looks like with the Asteroids Deluxe colors -- as available in this EA V1.2.4.2 build. This still picture doesn't really do it justice, as the flicker effect adds a nice touch of authenticity.



I'm also playing around with adding color into to the mix. Here's a early sample of what it's looking like so far. What do you think? I'm thinking of making options to tune the vector mode to your liking. If I do it would probably include an adjustment for full-color vs a single color, line thickness, beam intensity, and flicker. Would you rather see these kinds of detailed options, or just a high level Monochromatic/Multi-color option where I pick the settings?



That's all I have for this update as far as the bigger changes, but there have been several other smaller tweaks, so see the patch notes below.

Come visit me in real-time on the (Solaroids Discord Server), and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet. Also, don't forget to sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad (kiates)

New Features

Hello players! Round one of leaderboard enhancements is ready for prime time. Solaroids will now show Daily, Weekly, and Monthly scores.



During the EA V1.2.4.0 update last week that released the early version of the Vector mode, I also put in behind the scenes work in to start collecting scores for some additional leaderboards. This includes Daily/Weekly/Monthly boards that are like the First Credit and Any Credit boards that are already established, but also starts recording scores for Control Style specific leaderboards (not exposed yet in-game as I'm working out details on where and how I want to display them).

Anyway, this update allows the Daily, Weekly, and Monthly First Credit / Any Credit leaderboards to be displayed in game. They show up on the left side of the main leaderboard display where the local leaderboards show. That area now cycles between Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Local boards, switching every 5 seconds.



Don't forget to come visit me in real-time on the (Solaroids Discord Server[discord.gg]), and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet. Also, don't forget to sign up on my Early Access Page[www.solaroids.com] to be notified at full launch across all platforms.

I hope you enjoy the new boards, and stay tuned for more tweaks related to leaderboards soon.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad (kiates)

New Features

Hello everyone! A little update with some new features mostly around options and to give you an early glimpse of the work-in-progress on the new Vector mode.



Yip, I couldn't resist getting your feedback, so I exposed an option to change the theme between the normal modern vector illustration style graphics and a more raw classic vector style. It's still very much a work-in-progress so be gentle. I still have to do work to swap out more shapes/symbols, particle effects (explosions/missile trails), fonts, and of course the main title, but I'm interested to hear what you like and don't like with the direction. Eventually I want to support additional themes too, so I can put in a nod to my old workhorses, the Commodore Amiga and C64, and hopefully some other classic systems as well. You can change the theme from the Effects menu, or for the brave, you can switch while in the heat of battle with the T-Key or DPad-Up, which are the default controls mapped to the feature.



There are also a few smaller updates focused on some usability enhancements requested from players and Youtubers. You can now fine tune the sensitivity of the thumb-sticks and triggers for the supported game controllers. This shows up as Thrust/Rotation Sensitivity options under the Controls option menu. In addition, you can also tone down the power of the thrusters if they're just to much for you to handle using the Max Thruster Power option. It's also fun to dial it down just for more deliberate thrusting experience and a different feel, but unfortunately, if you dial it down too much, you're bound to take a beating from random debris and bullets!!

Come visit me in real-time on the (Solaroids Discord Server), and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Also, don't forget to sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad (kiates)

New Features

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great winter and holiday season. We're still buried under snow, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Not a lot of updates for Solaroids for Steam, so my apologies for that. I've been adjusting the infrastructure of the game to support multiple platforms, so mostly hidden work behind the scenes. I'm also working on the promised Vector Mode from the Early Access Roadmap, and Monthly and maybe Weekly leaderboards. I'll hopefully be able to wrap those up soon, but either way will share some progress as it gets more concrete.

With that said however, I was able to spend time to finish a set of Steam Trading Cards that Valve approved late December. So if any of you were wishing for some extra Solaroids "bling", those are available to collect. I tried to make them both showcase some of the artwork I created, as well as be useful for players. As such they include design notes and descriptions of the capabilities of some of the enemy types. They are English only for now, but I would like to commission localization where there is enough popularity and if Steam will let me add them. Here are a few samples from the set of five available.




For those into starry-scapes, in addition to the trading cards, I created several Steam Profile Backgrounds to go with the set. You can collect them while crafting trading card badges. Here's a preview from the set of five available.



There is also a set of Steam Emoji Icons in the Solaroids theme. Collect enough to spell out Solaroids before I do! (SOsolaroidsLsolaroidsAROIsolaroidsDS)

Thank you for supporting me on my journey to try and make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter. If you ever want to chat about Solaroids with myself or other players, or brag about your top scores and share tips, join the (Solaroids Discord Server). It's quiet there now, but maybe you can help change that!

I've also created a dedicated Early Access Page filled with, gifs, links, and a place where you can sign up to be notified at full launch.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad

New Features

Hello! Another small update to release a few small fixes and a couple of new features.



I've added a new type of mine I call Mini-Mines. These are smaller weaker versions of the larger mines already in game, but don't unleash a plasma wave when detonated. They also have an interesting feature where their lights blink the closer you get and make an audible chirp. I may add this effect to the larger mines too, since some times they are a little too stealthy. What do you think? They are now introduced on the level the existing mines were, and I've moved the existing mines a few levels later.

Another feature is the addition of an option called Player Spawn Position to choose where new player ships spawn. This is mostly for multiplayer scenarios, but like other options can also be used in single player as well. The default has always been for players to spawn near the sun. Under multiplayer situations, especially Player vs Player setups, this isn't always ideal. So now there are two other modes available under the Gameplay options menu in addition to the default of Near Sun. Random will spawn player ships at a random place on the map, and Near Other Players will spawn player ships near the average of the positions of other players. This later mode is useful when playing Co-op.

I hope you enjoy the tweaks.

New Features

Hello everyone!



I've got another small update to incorporate a few new noteworthy features that I wanted to get wrapped up before the Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE). Yes, that's right... Solaroids will be showcased at PRGE this year thanks to the Portland Indie Game Squad. This is the first event for Solaroids outside of my local community, and I'm excited to show it to the retro gaming lovers at PRGE.

Well enough with the ancillary commentary, let's get on to the update.

First, I'm happy to present a new "shared" screen Local Multiplayer option. In this mode, rather than split the screen into up to 4 smaller screens, you can play with or against friends in a single screen. The camera will pan and zoom to keep all active players visible. Dueling has never been better.

The down side is things can get on the small side if players a long way from each other. Use the reticle to keep your direction straight - it always stays the same size and now displays the primary ship color. I'm still working out how to make power-ups readily identifiable when zoomed out for easier identification. You can find this new option under Gameplay in the option menu.

Second, I'm starting to map out additional stages and levels, and I just couldn't wait to share some new background elements with you. For now, I've added an option under Gameplay to select the "Stage" for the background elements to use. Ultimately this will be incorporated into the campaign along with additional enemies and other hazards, but for now it just adds an alternate view. Please let me know what you think and if it's the right direction.

Finally, a message is now displayed to compliment the final level wave warning sound. Players have all too often wondered what the warning sound means the first time they play. In addition, in Free Play mode this message is accompanied by a list of the end-of-wave baddies your about to face. You'll have to let me know if you find it useful to be able to anticipate the onslaught your about to face and possibly be defeated by, or just find it useless noise.

New Features

This release is dedicated to YouTube player/reviewer Big Joe Bear who was kind enough to both make me aware of a key issue now fixed in this release, and to also make a stellar video tour de force of Solaroids. Note to self, cause internet outages around the world to entice more players to play!! If you can, give his channel a look and support him if it interests you:

https://youtu.be/l9pLqZpr_SA

Hello Everyone! Things have been quiet on the Solaroids update front lately. Work hasn't stopped, but I've had to focus on some other aspects related to the game that are outside of the game itself. Stay tuned.

Some things I'm working on, but aren't ready yet, are additional leaderboards. I'm considering weekly and monthly boards, as well as per control type boards. I will probably be adding daily leaderboards once I have the planned Daily Challenge game mode implemented.

New Features/Tweaks

Hello Everyone! Just a small update to release a few new features, and round up a few bugs -- some of which were released as hot-fixes several weeks ago.

As players rack up more and more impressive scores, I thought it would be cool for you to be able to compare the control style you typically use with those of the other players. Classic and Hybrid (single-stick) control styles are the purest and most challenging modes, and as discussed in a previous update, come with some scoring advantages. Now you'll be able to see what control style a given score was achieved with. Next to scores in the global leaderboards you'll see a symbol denoting which control style was used: (C)lassic, (H)ybrid, and (M)odern. Note that this is only computed for new scores going forward, so any current scores are classified as Unknown and won't show a symbol until you beat your previous bests.

New Features

• The Control Style used to achieve a score is now recorded and displayed next to the high score. (C)lassic, (H)ybrid, (M)odern. You have to have played in a particular style most of the time for it to count.
  
• German translation updates.
  
• Cleans up old log files when debug logging is disabled.
  

• Ensure friend leaderboards immediately update in-game.
  
• Adjust thruster sounds for Modern (dual-stick) control style.
  
• Tune bullet sound effects.
  
• Fix issue where the top-X scores were shown instead of an empty list when you don't have any friends that play Solaroids (what a shame ːsteamsadː).
  

• Fix issue with Control Style text in HUDs overlapping when multiple players are choosing their control style at the same time.
  
• Fix crash on some machines/locales when player stat displays are generated.
  

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).
  

Hello everyone! Happy June and congratulations on the great scores!!



It is awesome to see the competition getting fierce on the leaderboards as well as players taking advantage of the new Control Styles and score Multiplier. That's the good news... the bad news is that 10 of the slots are being removed from the in-game list to make room for a small Friends leaderboard ːsteamhappyː&ːsteamsadː.

If you enjoy Solaroids, please consider leaving a review as it is critical to the amount of exposure provided by steam and could really help spread the word.

I'm happy to release some new features focused on competition. I've had statistics behind the scenes for some time, but I've always wanted to present them in-game. Showing the last/best score in the HUD was one such feature, and I'm happy to report that now several other useful (and maybe some non-useful) statistics are now readily displayed while playing alone or with friends.



The current set of stats are shown once a round has been completed and before continuing (or while requesting to forfeit). For player 1 (normally tied to the steam account), It will display the recorded Overall steam stats in addition to showing temporary session stats for Current, Last, and Best, For players 2-4 only stats for the current game session are tracked. If there are particular stats that you think should replace some of these, let me know in the comments or community hub.

In addition to stats, I've also decided to give each player their own mini high score listings to show their overall ranking. This includes Local, Global, and Friend listings.



What's a game based on a competitive score mechanic without more ways to rank yourself? I hope you enjoy 1-UP'ing your friends, or at least knowing at a glance who's the best!

I also managed to get a couple of smaller features in based on community feedback. If you are one of the players that had wished for "classic" twin-stick style controls (aka Geometry wars / Robotron) when using the Modern (dual-stick) control style, then you might enjoy the new Fire on Aim option under the Gameplay menu. Fire on Aim augments the Autofire setting to start firing just by aiming the ship. One consequence of this though, is that it is harder to conserve your Primary Weapon ammo. However, if you're careful not to fully press the thumb stick all the way, you can actually aim without firing as well.

Another set of small features relate to a recent request by a player to "simplify" the arena. I think they were longing for an experience closer to some of the retro games long ago, without backdrop clutter competing against energy bullets etc. As such, I've made it possible to adjust the background elements, such as the stars and nebula, to simplify, fade, or turn them off completely. Find these settings under the Effects options menu.

New Features

• Fire on Aim Option. When turned on automatically fires when aiming the ship while in the Modern (dual-stick) control style -- similar to simple twin-stick shooters.
  
• When using the Modern (dual-stick) control style, Dynamic Braking will not be engaged unless you release the aiming control (i.e. right thumb stick). This allows you to perform drifting strafe maneuvers similar to Classic or Hybrid control styles.
  
• Stars Option - Adjust the number of stars.
  
• Stars Opacity Option - Fades background stars.
  
• Background Opacity Option - Fades background elements such as nebula, galaxies, and planets.
  
• Global Friend high scores. Note this reduced the number of global high scores displayed in-game.
  
• Per player high scores and stats:
  
  
  
  • Shown between sessions, and independently for each player.
    
  • High scores include Local, Global, and Friend scores.
    
  • Presently, the following stats are shown:
    
    
    
    • Player Kills - The total number of times you have killed another player.
      
    • Killed by Players - The total number of times you have been killed by other players.
      
    • Asteroids - The total number of asteroids of any type destroyed.
      
    • Small Asteroids - The total number of small asteroids destroyed.
      
    • Outriders Held - The maximum number of outriders held at once.
      
    • Primary Ammo - The maximum number of primary weapon bullets held at once.
      
    • Secondary Ammo - The maximum number of secondary weapon shots held at once.
      
    • Defensive Ammo - The maximum number of defensive weapon shots held at once.
      
    • Powerups Collected - The total number of power-ups collected of any type.
      
    • Bullet Efficiency - Percentage of bullets that hit a target vs. bullets fired.
      
    • Missile Efficiency - Percentage of missiles that hit a target vs. missiles launched.
      
    • Survival Efficiency - Player kills vs player deaths.
      
    
    
  • Stats include Current, Last, Best, and Overall values.
    
  
  

• The default control style is now Modern (dual-stick) instead of Classic.
  
• Fix issue with missile collisions.
  

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).
  

Hello everyone! This is just a small update to release a few features that I didn't want to wait for a bigger update.



First, watching players at a local gaming event, and on YouTube, I fast tracked an idea I had for helping to identify power-ups that can be used. Now if a power-up can't be collected, or wouldn't be useful to collect, they will be drawn ghosted as an indicator. Cases where power-ups can't be collected are when you're maxed out on a capability such as bullet rate/velocity/strength, or for repair power-ups, when your already fully repaired. In the later case, previously it would collect it anyway, but I felt that was misleading since other power-ups would just fail to collect. I hope now it will be more clear when to chase after the buggers!



I also improved the ability to swap outriders for fresh ones. If you have a bunch of outriders and one of them is more damaged than the one your about to pick up, they will be exchanged. Previously it wouldn't always swap them out.

Oh and one more. After watching Space Game Junkie do infinity circles around two of the early bosses trying to get their own missiles to hit each other, I just had to enable it. So now after a short delay, enemy missiles can actually hit enemies if your adept with the piloting skills!

I hope you enjoy the mini-update and have a great weekend!!

New Features

• Drifting power-ups are now transparent "ghosted" if you will not be able to pick them up -- for example if you have already maxed out the capability. This includes repair power-ups, so no longer will you feel like you have to chase something down to only find out that it wasn't useful at that moment.
  
• Adjusted floating power-up effects to make the central icon graphics more visible.
  
• Enemy missiles can now be used against them. After a delay, their missiles can hit enemy ships including the source of the missile.
  

• Swapping outriders for outriders of better health wasn't working as intended. You should now be able to swap a damaged outrider for one in better condition.
  

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).
  

It's finally here!! In addition to the expert control and challenge of the classic Asteroids® controls, Solaroids now has more modern control styles for your (or your friends) enjoyment! I'm happy to introduce Hybrid (single-stick) and Modern (dual-stick) control styles.



If you enjoy Twin-stick shooters, now is the time to test your skills against veteran players. Just select the Modern (dual-stick) control style before joining or from the player options menu while in-game. Use one thumb-stick to thrust and orient your ship, or both at the same time to perform advanced dodging and strafing.





If you almost like the classic controls but wish you could use one of the thumb-sticks to control the orientation of your ship, we have you covered too. Just select the Hybrid (single-stick) control style.

If you're a classic player and worried about new twin-stick cowboys besting your scores, have no fear. This version now supports score Multipliers and taking direct control of all the ships thrusters via Classic controls has a few rewards. While using Modern (dual-stick) controls there is a bit of a multiplier penalty, and the multiplier increases and decreases at a less advantageous rate. These aspects may be adjusted over the coming months as necessary to balance things.

Another requested feature by several players has been to add "drum brakes". While I can't literally add them, it is space after all, I've done the next best thing. I've added lateral thrusters that you can use manually for advanced strafing maneuvers, but you can also activate all thrusters to dynamically slow your ship regardless of the direction it is facing. In Modern (dual-stick) mode this happens automatically whenever you release the movement stick. For Hybrid (single-stick) and Classic modes it can be engaged by pressing both forward and reverse thrusters at the same time.



But wait, that's not all! All these control styles are also available using keyboard and mouse. Yes, that's right, if you prefer to use the utility of the mouse to aim and fire, both Hybrid and Modern styles are augmented with mouse controls along with the ability to re-bind the mouse buttons to your liking.

In addition to mouse support in-game, the main menu and options menus have been re-written to support the mouse as well so click away. This also includes the control layout editor, so now you can click controls to re-bind them instead of having to hold the existing binding to activate reconfigure mode. Something that you may need if you have a controller that doesn't have some of the default bindings.

With the exception of the mouse movement, all thumb-sticks and buttons are reconfigurable to your tastes so if you don't like the default layout I've chosen, mix it up!

These are the big features, however there are a lot of other little features that have also been tweaked or introduced. Let me know if I hit something you like, or if the feature you've been hoping for is not available yet. I'm totally open for suggestions, and most have found a way into the game in one form or another.

I hope you enjoy the update. Let the blasting commence!

New Features

• Alternate control styles:
  
  
  
  • Classic - This is the original control scheme as in the original Asteroids, aka "tank" controls.
    
  • Hybrid (single-stick) - Orient the ship with the left thumb-stick or use the mouse to both orient and fire your primary and secondary weapons.
    
  • Modern (dual-stick) - Orient the ship with the left thumb-stick and control your thrusters with the right thumb-stick.
    
  
  
• Lateral thrusters for advanced pilots.
  
• Increase power of all thrusters.
  
• Dynamic braking. In Classic and single-stick mode, holding down both forward and reverse thrusters will slow the ship gradually to a stop. In dual-stick mode dynamic braking is automatically engaged when idle.
  
• Basic score multipliers. They go up for each kill and go down gradually when idle -- or really fast when you take a hit.
  
• If the spawn location near the sun is congested, spawning will be retried at an alternate location.
  
• Moved some options that were under Video to Gameplay and a new Effects menu as the video menu was getting crowded and too broad.
  
• Allow changing game play options while in-game. Now you can tweak friendly fire/collisions after starting.
  
• Early access reminder/disclaimer shown before title. You can skip it the same as the DynF/X Digital splash screen.
  
• Early Access version is now displayed in the lower right corner of the title screen.
  
• Beta is displayed when running an alternate build.
  
• Mouse navigation support in the main menu and option menus.
  
• You can use the mouse to pick the control to reconfigure which is especially useful if your controller doesn’t have the same buttons to “hold down”.
  
• You can left click the mouse button to skip the splash screen and early access disclaimer screens.
  
• Default parallax is now 200% instead of 400%.
  
• Adjusted layout and flow of HUDs:
  
  
  
  • Forfeit dialog is now within the player's HUD to not disrupt the flow of other players.
    
  • When joining, allow the introduction of minimal configuration choices before entering the game.
    
  • Move ship color selection to a dedicated step in the HUD.
    
  • Add control style selection as a step within the HUD using Left/Right on the D-Pad/Keys.
    
  • Add ability to navigate to next and previous HUD.
    
  • Display icons indicating which directions on the D-Pad/Keys can be used to change options.
    
  
  
• Rapid fire power-up now responds to the recharge rate power up, increasing the rate of fire. Very satisfying!
  
• Steam profile icon now displayed for the player tied to the steam account (player 1).
  
• If stand-in machine translations are used, they will be indicated with an asterisk (*) until they have been reviewed and/or translated by a real human.
  

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).
  

The next big thing I'm working on (and getting close to completion), are alternatives to the classic "tank" controls. Soon you'll be able to use the mouse to orient the ship when playing with keyboard controls, and use the thumb sticks to orient the ship when using controllers with analog capabilities. I’m also planning some limited twin-stick style controls.

This update adds a few small features and tweaks that I hope you'll enjoy till then. There's a new power-up, along with some balancing/bug fixes, but probably the most exciting is that some of the Terminator style bosses can now be destroyed before finishing off all their peripheral parts. Alas, normal energy-based guns can't do this, but missiles can, and so can your ship. So… as at least one person requested, and others have eluded to, the ability to kamikaze is born! It's quite satisfying to see the remaining pieces of the boss drift off as space debris.

New Features

• Added a Primary Weapon Recharge power-up which allows more standard/outrider bullets to be fired at once (normally limited to 4). This also increases the auto-fire rate.
  
• Bonus ships are less likely to be found and can only be collected up to level 10.
  
• Add kamikaze dynamic. Ramming asteroids and enemies at high speed result in detonation of your ships core.
  
• Enemy cores can now be destroyed using missiles (or player ships) before all peripheral parts have been destroyed. Normally they are invulnerable until they are the last remaining piece.
  
• Free Play mode has now been locked until level 10 has been beaten.
  

• Main cannon bullets were not being limited to 4 as they were supposed to.
  
• Terminator MKII bosses were not firing strafe bullets as they were supposed to.
  
• Fixed issue that caused activation of "trial mode".
  

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options are English only.
  

Hello everyone! Just a small update this time to add the new Parallax option. A often requested feature, parallax now adds depth to the background elements providing a richer visual experience.

I've also now discovered that the frameworks that I use (XNA/XACT/FNA) do not support disconnect of external audio devices that the game is using. I've come up with a workaround for Windows Vista+ but finding solutions for Linux/OSX (and pre-vista) are still ongoing research.

New Features

• Add Parallax video option. When enabled, stars and other background elements have simulated depth. Adjustable from Off to 400%.
  

• Crash/freeze on Windows when unplugging external (i.e. USB) audio devices that are being used by the game.
  

• Fixed issue where player and outriders could "lose" their color.
  

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options are English only.
  

EMERGENCY ALERT!!!

Space is a cold, even frigid, place and a sinister plot has been hatched by unknown forces. Working against us, an alien presence has deployed the biggest snow machine known to man, or any other-worldly inhabitant for that matter, in the hopes of sneakily invading our little corner of the galaxy.



Battle the most fearsome and retaliatory snowflakes (and the slithery snowman) you've ever laid eyes on, in a deadly battle against what would appear on the surface as a winter wonderland.

Use your skills acquired playing... ahem… Solaroids, to defend our little home. Do you have what it takes? Do you even care enough to stand up and be counted among humanities last hope for survival?

Briefing Instructions to access the xmas game branch:

Happy holidays everyone!

I present to you a small but significant update, as it has a few features that have been commonly requested. Now that I have an option menu in place it makes it much easier to surface some of these tweaks!

First, a very common request has been to eliminate the traditional "screen edge effect" that simulates the classic Asteroids wrapping from one side of the play area to the other. As Solaroids has a much larger playing field, this can be jarring (especially in the arena corners) and is unnecessary. So now the default is to use a Seamless Wrapping mode where there will be no discernable edge to the play area. The sun becomes a constant landmark to help re-orient yourself and is conveniently shown in the player reticle. While this is the new default, you can globally turn the mode on and off during gameplay from the video options.

Second, there are several options geared toward tweaking the visibility in the game. One is that the faster you are flying the more the camera will look ahead. This should give better visibility of what your heading towards, like a giant space centipede (Infiltrator). In addition, I've adjusted the default camera to be panned back just a little more, but you also can now adjust it even further (within reason) using the new Zoom video option.

Third, you may or may not have noticed that at the end of November I released a FREE DEMO, so if you can, please spread the word. The demo has a few limitations, one being you can only play for 15 minutes at a time or through level 4, whichever comes first. In addition, Free Play mode is locked, and Steam global leaderboards and achievements are unavailable. If the full game is purchased in-game, then these restrictions are lifted except for the global leaderboards and achievements. A restart is necessary to activate these Steam features.

I hope you enjoy the new additions, and I would love to hear any feedback you are willing to share via reviews or discussion threads. Thank you for your continued support, and happy blasting!!

New Features

• Add seamless wrapping video option that eliminates the edge of screen transition at the edges of the arena. This is now the default.
  
• Increase camera look ahead amount to allow seeing further ahead when moving.
  
• Adjust default zoom level. It is zoomed out about 5% more than before.
  
• Add Zoom Level option that allows some limited tweaking of the camera zoom level (80%-150%).
  
• Change Controller Vibration player option to allow a percentage from Off to 100%.
  
• Change Camera Shake player option to allow a percentage from Off to 200%.
  
• Change bloom video setting to allow a percentage from Off to 200%.
  
• The high scores for the steam account are highlighted.
  
• A set of basic tips are deployed around the sun to quickly guide the new player instead of being mixed in with the other level tips that can be found.
  
• Added 144fps to frame rate option.
  

• Improved memory efficiency.
  

• Limit the number of found power-ups to restrict the maximum number active to approximately 25.
  
• Fix timing issue for frame rate limiter that would cause the target framerate to be slightly lower than the requested rate. (released patch)
  
• Fix Infiltrator boss (serpent) when running at greater than 60fps. (released patch)
  
• Reduce popping of large nebula.
  
• Default Friendly Collisions to off.
  

• Borderless is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Some options are English only.
  

Hello everyone!! I'm happy to announce the V1.1.0 release of Solaroids.

This is a big update (at least for me) as it is one of my milestones to finally have proper option menus to control various typical game settings as well as a few extras for tweaking the mechanics of the game. I'm planning some additional options in the future, but this definitely feels like a good base.

A few of the other gameplay tweaks that are worth highlighting are that friendly fire and friendly collisions can now be turned off. While friendly fire was a specific design choice for the game to allow a co-op (or not) experience as well as a little extra danger, it has been a top requested feature. Note that these are available from the global options menu before starting a game; they are not available from the player-centric option menu in the pause screen. Similarly, there is also now the option to globally turn Auto-fire on/off for all players. When Auto-fire is on, you can still take control of the shots to fire bursts when things get intense and you need a little extra for a moment or two. This is the default for new installs.

Another tweak is the ability to control how many "credits/continues" are allowed per game session. Previously this was unlimited, which required discipline to not continue if you wanted to compete only on the "first credit" leaderboards. I've defaulted this to zero for new installs, but it can be changed from the option menu.

Also, this update provides a tip system to give a little coaching here and there. There are a lot of subtle/hidden details with how things interact in the game, so along with the typical instructional material to help clarify key game elements quicker, the tip system sheds light on many of these. Not all tips are available immediately, but they present themselves the further you progress. Similar to power-up prompts, they are not available in Free Play mode, so they are only available in the normal "campaign" mode. They can also be turned off via options once you've mastered them.

I hope you enjoy the new additions, and I would love to here any feedback you are willing to share via reviews or discussion threads. Thank you for your continued support, and happy blasting!!

New Features

• Tips - New "Power-up" that provides tips and hints about the game. New tips become available as the game progresses.
  
• Options, including controller/keyboard configurations for players are saved. Steam cloud is used to mirror settings between computers However, some settings are excluded from syncing such as (resolution, full-screen, border-less, frame rate, and vsync).
  
• When changing an option, an icon now indicates if the option participate in steam cloud synchronization.
  
• Added brief descriptions for menu items on the title screen (English only right now).
  
• An icon indicating first credit or any credit is displayed next to the score showing what leaderboard it qualifies for. These icons are also shown in the high score listings.
  
• The player name is now displayed in the player HUDs.
  
• For the current game session the last and best scores are displayed under the player name for reference.
  
• In the player HUD, when continuing, the number of remaining credits is displayed.
  
• Turn Speed, Bullet Strength, and Bullet Speed power-ups now detach when your ship is lost, so you'll have to retrieve them before someone else does.
  
• A hint is now displayed on the option menus and credits page showing how to leave the page.
  
• Adjusted player HUD layouts.
  
• The location of the sun is now indicated in the player reticle as a solid yellow circle.
  
• Changed bullet speed increase power up icon away from the too generic Plus (+) symbol; It is now a ball with speed lines.
  
• The Bonus Points power-ups now show their approximate value instead of the misleading $ symbol.
  
• Moved the Increase Cannon Strength Power-up to earlier levels so you can now begin to upgrade your main cannon sooner!
  
• Various stability improvements.
  
• Global Options:
  
  
  
  • Video
    
    
    
    • Common video options including Resolution, Fullscreen/Windowed, Borderless, Framerate, and VSync.
      
    • Bloom - Allows turning the bloom effect on/off which can help frame rate on some under-powered systems.
      
    • Language - Allows override of the current Steam language; the only way to access languages not supported by Steam such as Serbian.
      
    • Powerup Prompts - Allows turning off the pop-up prompts that display when collecting the various power-ups in campaign mode. Power-up prompts are always off in Free Play mode.
      
    • Tips - Allows turning off the tip "power-ups" that become available throughout the levels in campaign mode. Tips are always off in Free Play mode.
      
    
    
  • Audio - Master, Music, and Effects volume.
    
  • Gameplay
    
    
    
    • Credits/Continues - Allows restricting the number of credits/continues in a game session. Once a player runs out they can no longer re-join. Great for tournaments or simulating "death-match" until additional game modes are released.
      
    • Friendly Fire - Allows turning on/off the effects of bullets and other detonations between the local players.
      
    • Friendly Collisions - Allows turning on/off collisions with other local players.
      
    • Autofire - Allows holding down the primary weapon key/button for a nominal rate of fire. For extra bursts where needed, you can still manually control the fire rate for regular guns and attachments.
      
    
    
  • Miscellaneous
    
    
    
    • Logging - Allows turning on/off the diagnostics log that can be useful for bug reporting. The diagnostics log, when enabled, is in the game directory and is called diagnostics_.html. A new one is created with a new timestamp on each launch.
      
    • Expire Anonymous Scores - Allows a schedule to be set for retaining local high scores under the Anonymous label.
      
    • Expire Extra Scores - Allows a schedule to be set for retaining local high scores by the same player name. The highest score for each player name is retained.
      
    • Clear Local Scores - Allows the clearing of the local high score listings.
      
    • Local Leaderboards Only - When turned on the steam account is no longer used for player 1, and it behaves the same as guest players. That is it defaults to a player name of Anonymous but allows the player to edit the name used to label the local high score.
      
    
    
  
  
• Player Options:
  
  
  
  • Player
    
    
    
    • Camera Shake - Allows turning on/off the camera shake effect used when taking damage or near explosions.
      
    
    
  • Controls
    
    
    
    • Vibration - Allows turning on/off the controller vibration/rumble used when the player takes damage or is near explosions.
      
    • Controller Type - When a game controller is connected, allows the selection of the controller type used for button glyphs/layout. Currently Xbox 360/One and PlayStation Dualshock 3/4 are supported.
      
    • Layout - Allows adjustment to the buttons/keys used to control the ship.
      
    
    
  
  
  Previously Released Patches
  
  
  
  • Fixed issue where the players shield was not blocking shock waves from some enemy types.
    
  • Stability improvements.
    
  
  
  Known issues
  
  
  
  • Some previously supported languages are not fully supported at this time.
    These are still available from the language option and include the identifier "(partial)" next to the language to indicate which languages are not fully translated. In the cases where it is a partial translation, English is used for any missing translations. For most languages this is power-up prompts, tips, options, and menu items.
    
  • Borderless is only implemented for Windows right now.
    
  
  

Hello everyone!! I'm happy to announce the V1.1.0 release of Solaroids.

This is a big update (at least for me) as it is one of my milestones to finally have proper option menus to control various typical game settings as well as a few extras for tweaking the mechanics of the game. I'm planning some additional options in the future, but this definitely feels like a good base.

A few of the other gameplay tweaks that are worth highlighting are that friendly fire and friendly collisions can now be turned off. While friendly fire was a specific design choice for the game to allow a co-op (or not) experience as well as a little extra danger, it has been a top requested feature. Note that these are available from the global options menu before starting a game; they are not available from the player-centric option menu in the pause screen. Similarly, there is also now the option to globally turn Auto-fire on/off for all players. When Auto-fire is on, you can still take control of the shots to fire bursts when things get intense and you need a little extra for a moment or two. This is the default for new installs.

Another tweak is the ability to control how many "credits/continues" are allowed per game session. Previously this was unlimited, which required discipline to not continue if you wanted to compete only on the "first credit" leaderboards. I've defaulted this to zero for new installs, but it can be changed from the option menu.

Also, this update provides a tip system to give a little coaching here and there. There are a lot of subtle/hidden details with how things interact in the game, so along with the typical instructional material to help clarify key game elements quicker, the tip system sheds light on many of these. Not all tips are available immediately, but they present themselves the further you progress. Similar to power-up prompts, they are not available in Free Play mode, so they are only available in the normal "campaign" mode. They can also be turned off via options once you've mastered them.

I hope you enjoy the new additions, and I would love to here any feedback you are willing to share via reviews or discussion threads. Thank you for your continued support, and happy blasting!!

New Features

• Tips - New "Power-up" that provides tips and hints about the game. New tips become available as the game progresses.
  
• Options, including controller/keyboard configurations for players are saved. Steam cloud is used to mirror settings between computers However, some settings are excluded from syncing such as (resolution, full-screen, border-less, frame rate, and vsync).
  
• When changing an option, an icon now indicates if the option participate in steam cloud synchronization.
  
• Added brief descriptions for menu items on the title screen (English only right now).
  
• An icon indicating first credit or any credit is displayed next to the score showing what leaderboard it qualifies for. These icons are also shown in the high score listings.
  
• The player name is now displayed in the player HUDs.
  
• For the current game session the last and best scores are displayed under the player name for reference.
  
• In the player HUD, when continuing, the number of remaining credits is displayed.
  
• Turn Speed, Bullet Strength, and Bullet Speed power-ups now detach when your ship is lost, so you'll have to retrieve them before someone else does.
  
• A hint is now displayed on the option menus and credits page showing how to leave the page.
  
• Adjusted player HUD layouts.
  
• The location of the sun is now indicated in the player reticle as a solid yellow circle.
  
• Changed bullet speed increase power up icon away from the too generic
• Plus symbol; It is now a ball with speed lines.
  
• The Bonus Points power-ups now show their approximate value instead of the misleading $ symbol.
  
• Moved the Increase Cannon Strength Power-up to earlier levels so you can now begin to upgrade your main cannon sooner!
  
• Various stability improvements.
  
• Global Options:
  
  
  
  • Video
    
    
    
    • Common video options including Resolution, Fullscreen/Windowed, Borderless, Framerate, and VSync.
      
    • Bloom - Allows turning the bloom effect on/off which can help frame rate on some under-powered systems.
      
    • Language - Allows override of the current Steam language; the only way to access languages not supported by Steam such as Serbian.
      
    • Powerup Prompts - Allows turning off the pop-up prompts that display when collecting the various power-ups in campaign mode. Power-up prompts are always off in Free Play mode.
      
    • Tips - Allows turning off the tip "power-ups" that become available throughout the levels in campaign mode. Tips are always off in Free Play mode.
      
    
    
  • Audio - Master, Music, and Effects volume.
    
  • Gameplay
    
    
    
    • Credits/Continues - Allows restricting the number of credits/continues in a game session. Once a player runs out they can no longer re-join. Great for tournaments or simulating "death-match" until additional game modes are released.
      
    • Friendly Fire - Allows turning on/off the effects of bullets and other detonations between the local players.
      
    • Friendly Collisions - Allows turning on/off collisions with other local players.
      
    • Autofire - Allows holding down the primary weapon key/button for a nominal rate of fire. For extra bursts where needed, you can still manually control the fire rate for regular guns and attachments.
      
    
    
  • Miscellaneous
    
    
    
    • Logging - Allows turning on/off the diagnostics log that can be useful for bug reporting. The diagnostics log, when enabled, is in the game directory and is called diagnostics_.html. A new one is created with a new timestamp on each launch.
      
    • Expire Anonymous Scores - Allows a schedule to be set for retaining local high scores under the Anonymous label.
      
    • Expire Extra Scores - Allows a schedule to be set for retaining local high scores by the same player name. The highest score for each player name is retained.
      
    • Clear Local Scores - Allows the clearing of the local high score listings.
      
    • Local Leaderboards Only - When turned on the steam account is no longer used for player 1, and it behaves the same as guest players. That is it defaults to a player name of Anonymous but allows the player to edit the name used to label the local high score.
      
    
    
  
  
• Player Options:
  
  
  
  • Player
    
    
    
    • Camera Shake - Allows turning on/off the camera shake effect used when taking damage or near explosions.
      
    
    
  • Controls
    
    
    
    • Vibration - Allows turning on/off the controller vibration/rumble used when the player takes damage or is near explosions.
      
    • Controller Type - When a game controller is connected, allows the selection of the controller type used for button glyphs/layout. Currently Xbox 360/One and PlayStation Dualshock 3/4 are supported.
      
    • Layout - Allows adjustment to the buttons/keys used to control the ship.
      
    
    
  
  
  Previously Released Patches
  
  
  
  • Fixed issue where the players shield was not blocking shock waves from some enemy types.
    
  • Stability improvements.
    
  
  
  Known issues
  
  
  
  • Some previously supported languages are not fully supported at this time.
    These are still available from the language option and include the identifier "(partial)" next to the language to indicate which languages are not fully translated. In the cases where it is a partial translation, English is used for any missing translations. For most languages this is power-up prompts, tips, options, and menu items.
    
  • Borderless is only implemented for Windows right now.
    
  
  

Hello everyone! I need your help!

The next version of Solaroids is almost ready and I need people to try out the beta. It has a lot of new features such as tips, options, and gameplay tweaks. Most of the changes are documented in more detail here:

Alternate Beta Branch

It also explains how to access the beta.

The build is stable. The main thing that is still wrapping up is updates to the supported languages. Brazilian Portuguese is done and in the beta. Spanish, Polish, and Italian are done but still awaiting final review before entering beta. German should be finished sometime next week, and the others are still pending.

If you could try out the public beta and report any feedback or issues you encounter I would really appreciate it.

Thank you for supporting a solo (and part-time) indie developer!!

New Features

• Power-up prompts displayed on pickup. These include the icon, name, and description. Currently these are enabled in the English locale only.
  
• Power-up prompts are displayed up to 10 times per game in campaign mode, and suppressed in Free Play mode.
  
• Detonated mines will now also damage nearby enemies.
  
• Enemies that detonate on destruction will now also damage other nearby enemies.
  
• Turning speed power-ups are now visualized as lateral thrusters.
  
• Upgraded main cannon (velocity and damage) now also applies to Primary Weapon power-ups in addition to the default weapon. You'll also see a subtle increase in size of the bullets.
  
• When a ship upgrade (turning, cannon velocity/damage) is maxed out you no longer can pick up additional upgrades leaving them for other players.
  
• Ship upgrades (turning, cannon velocity/damage) persist until all lives are lost -- that is they are reset at the start of the game and on each continue.
  

• Max turn speed increased by 10%.
  
• Tweaks to previous/mini-boss spawning.
  
• Terminator MKII now has a few extra surprises.
  
• Mini-bosses are likely to grant a power-up, but not a 100% chance.
  

• Previous bosses during later levels were not deploying as they should, and this was corrected shortly after V1.0.8 was published.
  
• Stability improvements.
  

New Features

• Infiltrator bosses now fight back.
  
• Support OSX retina display.
  

• Reduced damage done by mines.
  
• Adjust limits for mini-bosses.
  
• Make mini-bosses vulnerable before destroying all turrets.
  
• Improve enemy targeting systems during multiplayer.
  

• Fix manual resizing of window in OSX/Linux.
  

• Fix failure to launch on certain retina enabled OSX devices.
  
• Fix crash when language is set to some non-English languages (i.e. Russian).
  
• Fix depth issue between bosses.
  
• Several stability improvements.
  

• Update support libraries for OSX/Linux.
  

There are a lot of small but significant changes in this update. Of special note is that you should find the early level progression quicker and with more to do than just mine asteroids for ammo/power-ups.

New Features

• Previously owned (lost) power-ups will now stay in game for 5 minutes giving ample time to find and retrieve.
  
• Previously owned (lost) power-ups now include a ring that is tinted with the primary ship color of who the previous owner was.
  
• Picking up a power-up that replaces an existing one now detaches the existing one first.
  
• If you have damaged outriders attached, picking up an outrider in better physical condition will now replace the more damaged one currently held.
  
• Your first life in Free Play mode now grants you some extra weaponry to start out with a bang.
  
• If your fighting more than 4 bosses, you now are given some extra weaponry when re-spawning.
  

• Reduced the percentage of asteroids/hazards that are necessary to clear in order to advance to the next level.
  
• Increased number of asteroids/hazards for earlier levels, and slightly overall.
  
• Increased number of enemies during regular play.
  
• Increased brightness/saturation of alternate player ship colors.
  
• increased visibility of reticle indicators.
  
• Increased chances of encountering "magnetic" asteroids.
  
• Increased strength of "magnetic" asteroid shards.
  

• Fixed issue where sometimes outriders would collide with their owners in what would look like a spontaneous explosion.
  
• When no gamepads are connected, require that the keyboard be used for player one which is tied to the steam account.
  
• Fixed a few potential crashes when playing for extended periods.
  

Just a small update primarily to support Steam Music! There are also a few other small features and fixes.

New Features

• Support Steam Music - When Steam Music is playing, or starts playing, in-game music is paused and volume is turned all the way down. Note that if you wish to return to in-game music you will have to continue to use the LeftShift+Plus hotkey to raise the volume until the option menu is completed.
  
• You can now force a leaderboard refresh with LeftShift+R.
  
• When in windowed mode, if the window is closed, a rudimentary pop-up message will confirm that you really wish to close the game. This is currenlty only supported for the Windows OS.
  

• Fixed leaderboard visual corruption/erasure when toggling between full-screen/windowed on certain graphics cards.
  
• Killing a mini-Terminator no longer gives you credit for killing the regular Terminator.
  

New Features

• Repair power-ups can now start repairing your attached outriders, if your ship has not been damaged, or is only mildly damaged.
  
• Player reticle will show recently lost power-ups as color coded rings.
  
• Attached outriders can now help pickup power-ups.
  
• Attached shield now tinted to the player primary color.
  
• Support Alt+Enter to toggle full-screen/windowed modes.
  
• Support Alt+Tab to switch applications.
  
• Updates to Russian translation.
  
• Updates to Dutch translation.
  

• The player tied to a steam account (player one) is no longer allowed to edit their name.
  
• Fixed overlap of key images in HUD when ammo goes over 999.
  
• Support rendering of TM character.
  
• Show top X leaderboard entries when the steam player doesn't have an entry yet.
  
• Increase number of visible leaderboard entries from 20 to 30.
  
• Increase number of characters displayed in leaderboards for player names.
  
• Fix jitter transitioning from splash screen to title screen.
  

• Increased size of the power-up hit area by 50%.
  
• More tweaks to end of level boss arrangements.
  
• Increase the default strength of the player ship.
  
• Decrease damage inflicted by some enemy bullets.
  
• Increased the strength of the shield power-up by 25%.
  
• Weaken smaller "mini-bosses".
  
• Bosses with missile ports now fire all missiles at the same time.
  
• Increased the time where you see the missile port open (loaded or empty).
  
• Increase strength of attached outriders.
  

This update mostly includes game play updates to re-balance some elements, but also includes a few fixes.

V1.0.4 Changes

• Added enemies to the end of the first level.
  
• Introduced rapid-fire power-up at level 1 instead of level 2.
  
• Moved shield power-up from level 1 to a later level.
  
• Introduced atomic power-up at level 2, much earlier than previously.
  
• Balanced boss strength.
  
• Adjusted boss encounters.
  
• Adjusted strength of the burst "shotgun" power-up.
  
• Bosses are now introduced away from edges of arena.
  
• Fix depth issue with respect to players and enemies.
  
• Adjust multiplayer split-screen visibility to the equivalent for single player. You can now see further.
  
• Fix crash when a steam Leaderboard name uses non-typical characters (i.e. TM, etc.).
  

I have an alternate branch available in Steam, where I sometimes publish experimental features or possible game play changes before being incorporated into the main/default branch. It is called 'beta' and can be accessed from the BETA tab in the Steam game properties window.

Currently this branch is hosting several game play tweaks that I think may help address some "slow burn" issues in the first several levels, as well as fine tune some of the boss fights. If you are up for it, feel free to try it out and let me know what you think about the proposed changes good or bad.

Gameplay changes

• Added some mini bosses/enemies to the end of the first level. Previously there were no bosses, as level 1 was designed around taking time to move about and practice hunting asteroids, picking up power-ups/tokens. However, several comments have indicated that the game starts of slow, so hopefully this helps to balance this. The design of these ships may change as I'm reusing assets from the first boss (Terminator) right now.
  
• Instead of the shield power-up being the first power-up that you can pick up I have moved it later in the game (sorry), and instead introduced the rapid fire power-up at level 1.
  
• Level 2 now unlocks the "nuke" power-up given the player one of the Defensive power-ups much earlier.
  
• Bosses are a little tougher from a damage point of view.
  
• When new bosses are encountered, they are now usually accompanied by one (or more) previous bosses to keep things a little more difficult. No more do you get to fight one "serpent/worm" in isolation where they are the weakest. I still have some things planned later for the serpent ship that should help as well.
  
• The "shotgun" burst power-up has been weakened slightly.
  
• Bosses used to spawn at the edges of the arena, like asteroids do. This has been changed to spawn at other non-visible locations on the map more centrally (warping in or something). This avoids more boss fights at the edge of the screen which didn't work as well with the wrapping nature of the arena.
  

Many thanks to those that have jumped in and started playing and reviewing! Your feedback is very much appreciated! Please continue to let me know of any issues you encounter or ideas that come to mind.

This is a small update that contains several fixes and tweaks.

V1.0.3 Changes

• Reverse thrusters no longer supersede forward thrusters.
  
• When a player attempts to exit the game before losing all lives, it is now a request to forfeit their session/score instead of exiting to the title screen.
  
• Machine Gunner achievement is now obtainable.
  
• Only scores greater than zero qualify for leaderboards and local high score listings.
  
• Players no longer spawn when other players are in the way.
  
• Small adjustments to gameplay balance with respect to enemy spawning.
  
• Updates to the following languages:
  
  
  
  • Spanish
    
  • German
    
  • Brazilian Portuguese
    
  • Polish
    
  • Serbian
    
  
  

• Limit displayed steam names in high score listings.
  
• Fix level achievements.
  

• You are currently allowed to change the name of player 1 (the player tied to the steam account). Note, that if you do this, then the score will only qualify for the local high scores.
  
• When using the keyboard, adjustments to ship colors and player name indicate left/right arrows, but in fact it is both left/right and up/down that can be used. Note that for colors, this is primary and secondary colors, and for player name this is left/right movement and up/down to cycle the letter.
  

The day as arrived to let Solaroids: Prologue out into the wild. Early Access began today at approximately 2:40pm PST. I hope your as excited as I am -- this is a big step for me as a solo/part-time indie developer.

Many thanks to all those that helped with play testing and localization.

Most of my goals for hitting this milestone have been met, but there are a few stragglers.

Known issues

• Japanese translation is currently rough and incomplete both in game and missing from the store page. I expect this to be resolved over the coming weeks.
  
• The planned Turkish translation had to be put on hold.
  
• The game credit screen has not been translated yet, and some of the high score text. This should also be resolved in the coming weeks.
  
• Due to current steam limitations, only player 1 can submit to Leaderboards using a steam ID. All players only qualify for local high score tables even if you enter your steam ID as the name.
  
• No mouse support for menus.
  
• If you reconfigure the keyboard or controller controllers, they are not saved between games.
  

• LeftShift+F1 - Toggles the bloom compositing effect on/off. If you happen to have a system with an extremely weak GPU, turning this off can remove some burden at the expense of some visual ambiance.
  
• LeftShift+F2 - Changes the music to a random selection within the Soundtrack.
  
• LeftShift+F3 - Cycles between system supported resolutions. This can also be useful for systems with weak GPUs. Solaroids defaults to the highest resolution supported.
  
• LeftShift+F4 - Toggles between fullscreen and windowed mode. There are some known cosmetic issues with windowed mode scaling on Linux/OS X at the moment.
  
• LeftShift+L - Cycles between supported languages. Currently this is the only way to access languages that steam doesn't support. For the current build this is Catalan and Serbian.
  
• LeftShift+Minus - Lowers music volume.
  
• LeftShift+Plus - Raises music volume
  

• Pressing the Enter key or Start/Select/Options on a controller brings up the pause screen.
  
• From the Pause screen you can change the controller type by quickly pressing the left/right bumper/shoulder buttons.
  
• Playing the game starting at level 1 without continuing qualifies you for the "First Credit" Highscores/Leaderboards.
  
• Joining the game after level 1 or continuing qualifies you for the "Any Credit" Highscores/Leaderboards.
  
• Currently Solaroids supports levels 1-10 officially, though level 10 will "repeat" at that point allowing continued play indefinitely.
  
• Local Highscores are mirrored via Steam Cloud between your machines.
  
• I'm planning many other features, some of which are listed in the Early Access description in the store page.
  
• I'm planning to include Trading Cards, they just aren't ready yet.
  

The day has arrived to let Solaroids: Prologue out into the wild. Early Access began today at approximately 2:40pm PST. I hope you’re as excited as I am -- this is a big step for me as a solo/part-time indie developer.

Many thanks to all those that helped with play testing and localization.

Most of my goals for hitting this milestone have been met, but there are a few stragglers.

Known Issues

• Japanese translation is currently rough and incomplete both in game and missing from the store page. I expect this to be resolved over the coming weeks.
  
• The planned Turkish translation had to be put on hold.
  
• The game credit screen has not been translated yet, and some of the high score text. This should also be resolved in the coming weeks.
  
• Due to current steam limitations, only player 1 can submit to Leaderboards using a steam ID. All other players only qualify for local high score tables even if you enter your steam ID as the name.
  
• No mouse support for menus.
  
• If you reconfigure the keyboard or controller controllers, they are not saved between games.
  

• LeftShift+F1 - Toggles the bloom compositing effect on/off. If you happen to have a system with an extremely weak GPU, turning this off can remove some burden at the expense of some visual ambiance.
  
• LeftShift+F2 - Changes the music to a random selection within the soundtrack.
  
• LeftShift+F3 - Cycles between system supported resolutions. This can also be useful for systems with weak GPUs. Solaroids defaults to the highest resolution supported (so 4k if you have it).
  
• LeftShift+F4 - Toggles between fullscreen and windowed mode. At the moment there are some known cosmetic issues with windowed mode scaling on Linux/OS X.
  
• LeftShift+L - Cycles between supported languages. Currently this is the only way to access languages that steam doesn't support. For the current build this is Catalan and Serbian.
  
• LeftShift+Minus - Lowers music volume.
  
• LeftShift+Plus - Raises music volume
  

• Pressing the Enter key or Start/Select/Options on a controller brings up the pause screen.
  
• From the Pause screen you can change the controller type by quickly pressing the left/right bumper/shoulder buttons. This is not yet documented in game.
  
• Playing the game starting at level 1 without continuing qualifies you for the "First Credit" Highscores/Leaderboards.
  
• Joining the game after level 1, or continuing qualifies you for the "Any Credit" Highscores/Leaderboards.
  
• Local Highscores are mirrored via Steam Cloud between your machines.
  
• Currently Solaroids supports levels 1-10 officially, though level 10 will "repeat" at that point allowing continued play indefinitely.
  
• The Free Play mode unlocks all powerups and bosses and is effectively the same as level 10. Don't go into that mode until you've sufficiently practiced or you could get frustrated pretty easily.
  
• I'm planning many other features, some of which are listed in the Early Access description in the store page. On-line multiplayer is one important feature I'll be working to complete.
  
• I'm planning to include Trading Cards, they just aren't ready yet.
  

Solaroids has a large playing area, and as such it is easy to lose track of your friends when trying to coordinate an attack on the more difficult bosses, or for those times when your “friends” have gone rogue and they need a little justified payback.

When bosses first enter the playing area, often it isn’t till they are on screen, or you start seeing a barrage of incoming missiles headed your way, that you realize where they are attacking from. While sometimes the surprise is warranted, with a resulting spike in adrenaline as you attempt to quickly maneuver to evade sudden destruction, sometime it just feels unfair, and a way to anticipate the interaction better would really streamline things.

I’ve had it on my radar, so to speak, for some time to create a basic way to indicate player positions and other threats or items of interest. It is the current #1 requested game feature that comes up during local multiplayer sessions.

So, without further ado I introduce the new Player Reticle feature. Currently, a Player Reticle will show three types of information:

First, small triangles arranged around your ship indicate the direction to distant players using their respective colors. The current orientation of the other players are also show, as well as relative distance indicated by size. As another player gets close enough to come into view, the indicator fades out.



Second, the locations of active enemies are similarly indicated with small red squares.

Finally, enemy missiles that are currently locked onto you are indicated with smaller red triangles, and the reticle ring will change to red to indicate the incoming threat.



The Player Reticle feature will be ready in time for the Early Access release of Solaroids: Prologue coming up later this spring.