CANARI Update 1 is Live! Patch Notes
Hello Everyone! The PixelBot Games team is happy to announce our first official update for CANARI. We’ve spent a lot of time since September updating and fixing a variety of bugs, developing new features, and flushing out some of the initial pieces of the game that really needed
Hello Everyone! The PixelBot Games team is happy to announce our first official update for CANARI. We’ve spent a lot of time since September updating and fixing a variety of bugs, developing new features, and flushing out some of the initial pieces of the game that really needed more work. Since this is our first update and our first patch notes, please feel free to leave comments below and let us know how detailed you’d like us to be in the future. Thank you for your support!
We’ve broken up the notes into three major categories: Features, Bugs, and Tuning. As always, if you find a bug, have a comment, or just want to talk, drop us a line at support at pixelbotgames dot com.
Features
Engine upgrade from Unity 4 to Unity 5
When we upgraded the game engine CANARI was built from, the lighting engine had completely changed. While it took us some time to make the switch, it means the textures and materials on all of the art assets now look more realistic.
- Improved textures on a majority of game art assets (some still in progress of updating)
- More realistic lighting effects
- Emissive materials (helps our items appear to glow in the dark)
LUMIN
Stomp
We’ve added a brand new feature to LUMIN’s moves, the Stomp. We recognize that not all players want the Pacifist achievement. In the spirit of “The only good bug is a dead bug”, you can now stomp on certain enemies in CANARI by jumping into the air and quickly tapping the jump button again. If you aim correctly, your enemy will burst into pieces. If you miss, it does make it more likely that they’ll grapple you. Just remember to push both analog STICKS OUT to throw them off your back.
Animations
To the keen eye, you may have noticed that LUMIN was pretty lifeless in our initial release. We were using code to move LUMIN around, but he wasn’t actually walking. Besides, his legs are tiny and difficult to see. Thanks to the help of our new animator LUMIN is much more alive. Some initial animations have been added, with more planned in the future.
- Walk
- Idle
- Jump
- Death
- Spawn
- Damaged
Tutorial Level Added
A large bulk of our time has been spent on expanding the Tutorial in CANARI. We acknowledge that our initial release, left a lot to be discovered. Some players may not like that as much, so we believe our new version is definitely a step in the right direction. Please let us know your thoughts on the tutorial. Functionality is almost complete, but a large majority of the art is still in flux, so expect that to get better with each future update.
- New crash site level
- Instructional Guides for gameplay
- Introduce early storytelling
Tesla Trees
LUMIN wasn’t the only one to spring to life. The Tesla trees now react to you touching them. In the future we will be looking to polish these up a bit more, but the animations really help the player with wayfinding in the dark (Is that the same tree or a different tree).
- Idle
- Discharge
- Recharge
Helper Bot
- The Helper Bot has been recreated. Our Art Team decided that a completely new look was in order.
- New Helper Bot Audio Along with the new Tutorial levels, brand new audio was recorded thanks to the great Maureen Pritchett voice of the HELPER. We’ve pivoted away from the completely robotic sounding bot to something more human but with a bit more distortion.
Loot
New Pick Up Model with color specific identification
When you find treasure in the caves of CANARI, it will now be easier to spot what kind of reward you might receive. Each CANARI Corporation blueprint module is now color coded for three categories:
- Green for Equipment
- Red for Combat
- Blue for Access
If you see a module in the distance, we think the color coding will help you decide if it's worth finding a path to.
Lock and Key Mechanic - 1st Pass
I mentioned Blue modules are color coded for Access. We are currently experimenting with a mechanic that blocks certain paths on a given level. The key to unlock that path is placed randomly throughout the level. So, if you find a path with a block (currently a placeholder boulder) you need to find a key. Where and how often this shows up in the game is something we are still tuning.
- Hidden rooms can be unlocked with a key that spawns randomly on a level
- Rewards can spawn within hidden rooms
High Score List
Before we brought CANARI onto Steam, we had our own version of a high score list. Since Steam allows for Leader boards, we wanted to modify what we had into something that played more nicely with the platform. We are tracking a variety of metrics from every play through in order to show a player how they performed. This is still very experimental as leader boards have a tendency to be difficult to secure.
- How many levels completed +
- How many lives did it take you -
- Crystals mined +
- Pickups collected +
Pilot ID
Ultimately, we think CANARI is a game that streaming communities would enjoy. We’ve heard from quite a few YouTubers and Twitch streamers and want to support those communities as well as build up our following (we are the new kids in town). The Pilot ID takes your Steam ID and displays it into your Pilot HUD. If you are someone who streams your gameplay, we think this little integration will help a streamer as their gameplays get shared across social media. We hope to integrate even more unique features that support online streaming at a later date. Streamers can contact us at ‘press at pixelbotgames dot com’ for more information.
Full Controller Support
We’ve incorporated a new code library that allows a much larger selection of gamepads to work with CANARI. If you use an Xbox or Playstation controller you should be completely compatible. If your controller is not working and it is on this list (InControl Supported Controllers), please send us an email and we’ll work with you to see what’s going on.
Please note: CANARI no longer supports keyboard and mouse. LUMIN can still be controlled this way, but we are planning to remove these controls completely in a future release.
Steam Achievements
We’ve added 15 achievements to get you started. We have quite a few more planned as new sections of the game are in development. Click here to check out all of the CANARI Achievements.
Level Markers
We’ve added level name markers to each level when the player first spawns. We’ve found it much easier to track your progress when you know how deep you’ve gone. We are working on more ways to visually distinguish the three cave levels.
Tuning
- Increased the chance for crystal rooms to spawn on Level 1 Originally, I intentionally held crystals from the player on level 1. I’ve received feedback that maybe I’m a little... too harsh. In an effort to smooth out new players first couple of runs, I’ve added a new room to the first level that can spawn and give players a modest payout of energy.
- Added walls to the Underground tutorial level to make it a bit less challenging Many hours of playtesting has informed us that the underground level of the tutorial (pre-update) is pretty tough. One way we’ve tried to make your first steps in our world a bit more friendly is by giving you walls in the starting platforms. You are still going to need to learn to land your jumps and sprint, but hopefully with the new bumpers, you won’t throw so many bots into the void.
- Reduced sprint energy cost
- Added UI Instructions to the new Surface and existing Underground tutorial levels These much needed instructions were added to the tutorial. We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on these improvements.
- Modified the drop rates on all blueprint modules so the most powerful equipment is more rare, but combat rewards appear more often.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where players would jump from an edge but the jump would not engage
- Fixed an issue where players would spawn in the second level but there would be no ground underneath causing immediate death
- Fixed an issue where LUMIN’s headlamp would spin erratically when using mouse controls
- Fixed an issue where a particular room would spawn with a lava floor and tesla trees but the trees would not give energy
- Fixed an issue where paths would terminate without end caps leaving an unsightly edge
- Fixed an issue in the Boss level where spiders would get stuck on terrain and never signal the next wave of enemies
- Fixed an issue in the Boss level where the Boss would force you through the floor killing you on the lava below
- Fixed an issue where Tesla trees would not work in the Tutorial
- Fixed an issue where Crystals would not work in the Tutorial
- Fixed an issue where debug items were not turning off in the Tutorial
- Fixed an issue where materials wouldn’t load properly on the Tutorial level
- Fixed an issue where an upgrade wouldn’t work properly in the Tutorial level
- Fixed an issue where the analog stick couldn’t be used to navigate respawn and upgrade menus
- Fixed an issue where some art boulders spawned without collision volumes (players would fall through the floor)
- Fixed an issue where attractor or deflector flares would spawn in mid-air if placed when jumping
- Fixed an issue where the game would perceive players as dead when they were jumping large gaps and sprinting
- Fixed an issue where standing on a mini tentacle of a lamprey would prevent you from jumping