We've just launched Sure Footing version 1.0.2 on Steam this week. We've been hard at work on bug fixes, polish, balance tweaks and new content for this new build. So I'm gonna walk you through some of the changes we've made and bits of polish we've added. Plus this month sees us opening up teams Discord server to the wider world, so if you wanna see what's happening in Sure Footing's development more frequently, or just hang out and chat, you can do that too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIrFpM811BM
So let's talk big features for this version, our goal was to improve the accessibility of our game, as well as add in some small improvements and extra stuff hot off the Steam lauch. So let's talk the two big additions: changes to game difficulty as well as control schemes.
New Running Pace Settings
Sure Footing launched with four running paces: our term for the unique configuration of gameplay variables that make a particular difficulty setting. Each running pace is designed to manipulate how fast players are moving, the challenges presented by the level generator and the aggressiveness of Deletion Dave and Ramrafstar. We have opened this up for players and have expanded the running pace count to six: with a new pace (walker) that is much slower and less demanding, as well as Runner which helps bridge the gap between Jogger and Sprinter. Plus we've added new online leaderboards for both running paces. Players can change this running pace in the options screen like you see here.
Our goal for this is to enable Sure Footing to be accessible to a variety of players. Perhaps the fast-paced nature of some of the gameplay is too much for you? That's cool, you can turn it down. But also if you feel it's not challenging enough, then you can crank it up. In addition, none of the unlock challenges for store items are influenced by the selected running pace. This is critical for us. You can complete challenges and unlock items at your own pace and don't want to force you to play the game at a particular level just so you can unlock a specific power-up or costume.
But perhaps you're wanting more control over those running pace settings? Well then let's talk a look at the new custom running pace setup.
Custom Difficulty Mode
Starting in this build players can build their own custom running pace and decide on the intensity of four parts of the game:
- The running pace of the player themselves.
- The intensity of the level generation system.
- The aggressiveness of Deletion Dave
- Ramrafstar's attack frequency.
So perhaps you want to play the game at top speed with Dave hot on your tail across easy geometry? No problem! What about never having to deal with Ramrafstar because that's a bit too much for you? Turn down the Ramrafstar setting to its lowest point. What about playing much harder geometry on a slower pace? Then you can do that too. Each setting is reflective of how that feature works on an existing running pace, so you can get a feel for how your custom setup lines up with our pre-built running pace settings.
This is just the first phase of custom running pace settings we're providing and we're happy to hear feedback from players on how it can be improved or expanded upon in future.
New Control Options
In conjunction with this, we've built a new feature to allow for Sure Footing to be played entirely with one hand on one side of a controller. We're aware that sometimes holding a controller with both hands can be demanding for some players, so let's change that up! We now have three default settings: standard, which has some controls mapped to both sides of the pad, followed by lefty and righty. Left hand only maps the face buttons to the D-pad and right hand mode maps the left stick to the right stick. In each case we do lose some realtime control: such as changing camera angles and tabbing through the options screen. However, we're looking into alternative means to resolve that in future updates.
In addition, right now our user interface is not updated entirely to reflect the changes made to control schemes. We're aiming to do that also in a future update.
This is far from a complete list of features and we want to improve it and we want to get it right. So hearing from players about their experiences and how we can improve these features is vital.
20 New Costumes!
But of course it isn't all just gameplay, sometimes you just feel like you need to freshen up your wardrobe. With that in mind, we've added five new costumes for each characters, adding a total of 20 new costumes to the game. This includes new dance outfits, business attire and making your way in the world of action news!
UI Polish
We spent some extra time polishing up parts of the user interface to run a little more smoothly and to make it easier to get in and around parts of the game. The biggest addition is the ability to change some gameplay options whilst you're running. If you head into the pause screen, you can find now find the options screen is available to you. There are some changes you can't make during gameplay, such as video resolution settings and the like, as well as the in-game difficulty. But of course you can still do that over in the main menu.
Bug Fixes
On top of all of this, we've made a ton of bug fixes and improvements that help the game run faster and smoother than before. Listing all of the changes we've made is a bit boring! But here are some highlights:
- Ensured the camera in multiplayer eliminates players who fall out of bounds on the left.
- Improved the HUD markers for characters in multiplayer, just in case you had trouble figuring out who is who.
- Fixed a bug where everyone is wearing the same outfit in multiplayer! It's a shame, you all looked pretty dapper.
- Fixed a bug where multiplayer end-game results were wrong. Meaning your friend was declared winner after your hard fought victory. That was a bit unfair.
- Sometimes in multiplayer characters would use the wrong voice! That was confusing...
- We re-balanced the multiplayer so that you're less likely to get knocked out in the opening 20 seconds. I say less likely, the rest of it is on you!
- Fixed a bug where Steam leaderboards would decide they can't read them, they they could, then they can't, then could. Utterly indecisive.
- Deletion Dave had a habit of ignoring the starting speed he should have based on the running pace setting. We told him off.... he's sorry.
- Cathy's costume store had some occasional bugs where costumes were being listed as unavailable when they should. Pascal helped patch that out.
And that's it for this month! Let us know what you think of the new build in the comments. Spread the word and get your friends playing Sure Footing! To keep up to date on all things Sure Footing as and when they happen, keep an eye right here on our YouTube channel, our store pages as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Plus you can visit our new Discord server too over at the link below, come hang out with us and talk to us about the new update.
https://discordapp.com/invite/mDBgS82
Best of luck out there and don't forget to keep running!
Tommy
Programmer, Table Flip Games
P.S. We also managed to successfully upgrade the version of the Unity engine without any errors! That might not seem like much to you, but I'm super happy we pulled it off. :D
