You can view this post with images/videos on my development blog at https://www.timveletta.com/teleblast-v0.15-changes/

This update marks the first major update during Early Access and has been designed to make the game look and feel better to play. Ive included a lot of feedback from the playtest events that we have been a part of and rewritten a lot of the logic behind the game.

General

• Added new Music and sound FX by (Aaran) Insole Games (check out @InsoleGames on Twitter)
  


• Modified player colours. Here are the new colours with purple being added due to popular demand.
  

• Fixed issue that occurred whenever you died mid-explosion; it would make your explosion full size before imploding rather than just imploding from the size it was at the time of death.
  


• Fixed many issues around the scoreboard and scorekeeping. This should be more accurate and consistent now.
  

• Added teleporter trails - dressed this up a bit.
  


• Modified Map Select images to better reflect the maps themselves
  


• Modified map design and effects
  

• Added the outer circle - previously a round could take a while to end when players were stuck on opposite sides of a map or just werent doing anything attacking. Ive added a circle that slowly reduces the amount of available space for players which is enabled from 20 seconds into a round or when there are only 2 players remaining.
  


• Added 3 more maps - this takes the total number of maps up to 5 and adds dynamic elements to some of the maps.
  


• Removed player shields persisting from round to round - this is to ensure that a player further ahead on the scoreboard wont keep their shield from one round to the next and makes it easier for other players to catch up.
  


• Added maximum speed for teleporters - previously teleporters could move as fast as they wanted so when a teleporter hit an explosion, they would usually get an unfair speed boost.
  

• Removed Quick Play button from main menu - this button served as a way to quickly get into game but it was seldom used and wasnt really clear with what it did.
  


• Added Nintendo Switch Joycon button icons - Ive been testing the game using Switch Joycons so it made sense to add those button icons to the UI screens.
  



• Modified layout of Game Select screen - makes it clearer for the user what options they have.
  


• Moved Modifiers to its own screen rather than being embedded in the game select screen.
  

• Adding match intensity level which will be something that is detemined in the background and will affect the music, sound FX and graphical effects to increase the tension felt by players.
• Adding the King of the Hill game mode.


• Adding the option to play out a practice round to introduce new players to the game and allow them to get a feel for moving around before being competitive.

As of right now it has been over 6 months since the last and only TeleBlast update and it is with great excitement that I announce that a new update is coming tomorrow, the 17th of May.

Firstly, I must apologise to the people that put their trust in me and bought the game in Early Access; I feel like I have let each one of you down by taking this long and I hope that I can restore your trust not only with this release but also the releases going forward.

What I am releasing is not going to be a perfect game, nothing close to it but it is going to be a step in the right direction and I have a plan going forward that aims for an eventual 1.0 release later this year.

While I wont go into all the details of why it took me this long, I think it is important to recognise one of the reasons given it is a prominent topic around the game industry at the moment and that is crunch.

I am forever grateful for the opportunity to showcase TeleBlast to the many people that came and played it at PAX Australia last year, however the pressure I put on myself and the people around me to be there was immense. Game development is not my full time job so most of the work I do on TeleBlast is either on my commute or takes away from the time I spend with my friends and family. In the lead up to the event, I was at a point where I was working 80-100 hours a week which is something that is completely unsustainable for anyone.

At the time I didnt think about what I was doing; I only focused the goal of producing something polished and exciting for players. Following PAX, I didnt want anything to do with TeleBlast, I didnt want to work on it, I couldnt even look at it; I was completely burnt out. It remained this way for at least the next 4 months.

When I finally came back to working on TeleBlast I was in a position where, because of the crunch, I had used a lot of shortcuts in developing features which had caused a number of bugs. I knew that if I was to enjoy developing TeleBlast again, I had to do things right which meant a lot of refactoring.

I had originally planned on releasing the refactored version of TeleBlast to Steam however it would have been disappointing to wait 5 months for a release, only to get nothing new so I decided to hold it back an additional month and add features to get people excited about the game again.

What is going out tomorrow is what the game should have been in an initial Early Access release; I was probably a bit premature in releasing TeleBlast when I did but I wanted to capture the hype from people playing the game at PAX to being able to buy it as soon as they got home.

This time around, I am in a much better place with regards to adding more features to the game, fixing bugs as well as just mentally and physically. I cant wait to share with you all what it is in store. I look forward to your feedback and I cant wait to hear all about the experience of sharing TeleBlast with your friends.

I am in the process of putting together some release notes of what is different in TeleBlast so stay tuned for those but until next time, take care of yourselves and have fun!

Also, please join the TeleBlast community on Discord, Id be more than happy to talk about the game or anything else on your mind!

I am beyond excited to announce that TeleBlast has been invited to showcase as part of the indie booth at PAX Australia from October 26th-29th in Melbourne. For a game that started out development at Global Game Jam and became something I just wanted to finish to have at least 1 completed project; I would have never imagined that it would end up being showcased at an event as big as PAX.

From now until the event, I am looking to get the game as release ready as possible including an entirely new look and feel along with brand new game modes, variants and maps to play on. If you would like to follow the progress of the game check out the game on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

And if you would like to support the ongoing development of TeleBlast please follow and wishlist the game here on Steam and purchase the game on itch.io to play it now for 50% off the release price and we will send you a Steam key when it is done.