I know this update came out of nowhere, so let me explain.
A few weeks ago, I attended the Gamebox event here in Denmark, where I had a booth showcasing the game.
This gave me the opportunity to watch a lot of new people play the game, and I wrote down when I noticed things a lot of people struggled with. I ended up with a pretty long list of things to change, tweak, and improve, which is what this update is all about.
In addition, the second Gauntlet level has been finished for a while, so instead of waiting for 3-Boss to be done, I decided to release a smaller update now.
So, what's new in Beta 5?
Well, first of all, as mentioned, the second Gauntlet level, 2-G, is now available!
Of course, this level is a bit harder than the first Gauntlet level, so be prepared for a challenge!
The Brachin Goo tiles have been reworked and are now animated to make them more visible. This was done because I noticed a lot of new players wouldn't always notice them and ended up running into them on accident. This change also applies to the Brachin enemies, whose designs and animations have been updated as well.
Another thing I noticed at Gamebox was that the Character Barriers were a bit confusing for new players. They often didn't realize that the barriers locked them from swapping characters, so we've added a new lock animation to the Character Wheel when entering a Character Barrier. This hopefully makes the Character Barriers easier to understand.
Something a lot of people have been asking for as well is an update to the ancient pause menu sprites, and I'm happy to say that this has now been done! The new sprites look so much better, and they match the art style of the game much more closely. And their animations reflect each of the characters' personalities much better now, which is a nice touch.
I've also made a bunch of changes to the controls and physics because I noticed a lot of people struggled with the controls. Specifically, I noticed several instances where people had trouble landing after a jump, and they often ended up making this zig-zag movement in the air because they always moved further than they intended when trying to correct their jumps.
To address this, I've made the characters heavier, which makes them less floaty and easier to control. In addition, the max sprinting speed is now slightly faster, and it takes slightly longer to reach this speed, which makes the movement feel a bit more natural and less slippery. I also noticed that the Double Jump's reduction of horizontal speed was a bit too harsh, so I've reduced this effect. And Azura's Dash is now easier to stop, which should make it easier to control her movement.
As a general physics improvement, momentum now functions properly on springs and other objects that can bounce the player. Before, you could turn around immediately in mid-air after launching off a sideways spring, which looked and felt wrong. This is no longer the case, and momentum feels more natural now.
I also finally got around to fixing the irritating issue where jumping on slopes would sometimes completely halt your horizontal movement, which was super frustrating.
Those are the main changes to the controls and physics, but I've also made a bunch of level design changes based on the feedback I got from the Gamebox event. I'm not going to go through all of them here, but I've made several level design changes in World 1, since these first levels are crucial to introducing new players to the game. For example, in 1-1, the Seedle enemy is now introduced later on its own instead of close to the Leafly enemy.
This was done because I noticed many players would simply run past the first Leafly enemy and then get attacked by the Seedle enemy, and then they would have to deal with both enemies at the same time, which was too difficult for new players. Also, the Seedle being able to chase the player all the way to the first checkpoint was a bit too much, so the new design prevents this from happening.
This is just one example of the many changes I've made to the levels, so I hope you'll enjoy the improved experience. It should be easier to get into the game now, and I'm looking forward to hearing what you all think about the changes! I've listed all the changes in the patch notes, so check them out in the description below if you're interested.
Also, most players didn't seem to realize that the boulders in 1-4 and 1-Boss could be launched by attacking them, so we've changed the boulder sprite to a flower bomb, which now explodes on impact. This way, they stand out from the environment more and their purpose is clearer.
We've also added a joystick vertical sensitivity option, because I noticed many players would accidentally trigger crawling while moving left or right because they would slightly tilt the joystick down. This new option makes it possible to adjust the sensitivity of the joystick's vertical movement, so you can avoid this issue entirely.
And finally, we've made a bunch of other smaller changes and fixes, which I won't go through here, but you can read about them in the patch notes. I hope you'll enjoy the new update, and as always, feel free to reach out to me with feedback or suggestions!
3-Boss is still in the works and progress has been made, but it's not quite ready yet, so we will release that in a later update. We just wanted to get this update out now to address the feedback we got from the Gamebox event, and I hope you'll enjoy the changes!
Enjoy! <3
- Pattrigue
Changelog
- Added a new level: 2-G
- Added a new lock animation for the Character Wheel when entering a Character Barrier
- Added a joystick vertical sensitivity option
- Added checkpoints in 1-G
- Added new Pause Menu sprites
- Overhauled several graphics
- Updated Brachin Goo tile graphics
- Brachin Goo tiles are now animated
- Updated Brachin sprites and animations
- Updated Seedle Bush sprite
- Updated Violastro's leaf trap sprite in 1-4
- Overhauled and tweaked controls and physics
- Max sprinting speed is now slightly faster
- Using the Double Jump now reduces less horizontal speed
- Azura's Dash is now easier to stop
- Characters have more weight now, making them less floaty and easier to control
- It now takes slightly longer to reach sprinting speed
- Momentum now functions properly on springs and other objects that can bounce the player, and you can no longer turn around immediately in mid-air after launching off a sideways spring
- Jumping off slopes while climbing no longer halts horizontal movement
- The wind physics in 3-2 and 3-3 have been improved and no longer causes significant speed losses
- Fixed several inconsistencies with sprinting
- 1-1 design changes
- The hole at the very start now includes a platform, making it easier to exit
- The Seedle enemy is now introduced later on its own instead of close to the Leafly enemy
- Redesigned the area where the Seedle is introduced to make it easier to fight or evade the Seedle without it following the player all the way to the first checkpoint
- Redesigned the Air Kick tutorial
- Slightly adjusted the Dash tutorial
- Redesigned the section following the cave exit
- Added a new checkpoint after the final Character Barrier in the level
- Removed several poorly placed Brachin Goo spike tiles that caused frustration for new players
- 1-2 design changes
- Redesigned the opening area to now include a tutorial board reminding players to use the Slide Kick attack
- Redesigned the area featuring the first stompable Bramble Bopper to clarify that it can be stomped
- Removed the Breakable Rocks at the end of the second section due to their poor placement and the frustration they caused when trying to destroy them
- Readded the Glide tutorial board after the Vine Stab tutorial
- Redesigned the area following the Glide tutorial to teach players that holding the jump key while Vine Stabbing allows for higher bounces
- Redesigned the launchable boulders in 1-4 and 1-Boss
- Changed boulder sprite to a flower bomb
- Now explodes on impact
- Updated sprites in 1-4 to glow, making them consistent with their appearance in 1-Boss
- Updated vine sprites in 1-4
- 1-G's second section now features one fewer enemy and has been redesigned on the left side for improved movement
- The platforms in 1-Boss are now graphically distinct, and the wind does not lift you as high
- Dying 10 times without reaching a checkpoint will now prompt the player to try Assist Mode
- The Character Swap animation is no longer affected by slow motion, making it easier to identify the active character while slow motion is active
- The Character Wheel is now visible on-screen by default
- Covered a death pit in the final section of 1-4
- Platforms added beneath the Coral Springs in the sky sections of 2-2 prevent the player from falling to their death at the end of the section
- Fixed gamepad controls in the Level Builder using the incorrect joysticks
- Fixed the Character Wheel tutorial board layout in 1-1 not matching the actual Character Wheel layout
- Fixed several instances where enemies did not respawn, potentially softlocking the player
- Fixed the Double Jump tutorial board speech bubble obscuring a platform in 1-1
- Fixed being able to clip into walls in 3-4 using Moving Hooks
- Fixed the Challenge Coin HUD appearing when playing levels in the Level Builder
- Fixed weird camera movement in the third section of 2-3
- Fixed camera issues near the end of 3-1 when using Assist Mode's Infinite Abilities modifier to Double Jump to the ceiling
- Fixed being able to repeatedly use the Homing Attack ability with Assist Mode enabled even though Infinite Abilities was disabled
- Fixed getting stuck on ceilings with spikes while using Assist Mode's Hazard Protection modifier
- Fixed an issue where the interact arrow above doors was not affected by slow motion blur