Hello everyone!
I am happy to announce the final update for Probe and a 10 level DEMO are live now!
You can download and try the demo straight from the store page here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1275980/Probe/ and the full game is 75% off for the holidays! Save data carries over to the full game so check it out! Here's some more details:
The Demo:
- First 10 Levels from the Full Game
- 15 Achievements
- DEMO Leaderboards & Save Data/Scores Carry Over to Full Game on Purchase - Added leaderboards to the DEMO for all 10 levels and an Overall High Score. These are separate leaderboards from the full game BUT all your saved data, scores, stats and level progression from the demo will be carried over into the full game if you decide to purchase it after trying the demo.
- Link to Probe Steam Page In Game (Steam Icon) - Added a quick access button to the main menu and end credits that will take you to the Probe full game steam page if you decide you want to buy it while trying the demo.
NOTE: If you are having issues with the XBOX gamepad controller inputs not working as displayed in the settings to the respective buttons you may need to change this option in Probe properties to "Forced Off"
The Update:
- Hotkeys - Added hotkeys for both keyboard & gamepad to the in level menu selections to help improve the flow of the gameplay. "N" (RB) for Next - "H" (Y) for Home - "R" (B) for Retry (there are icons displaying the hotkeys associated with each action as well)
- Music - No longer skips songs when retrying a level, the soundtrack keeps playing as intended and loops back to first song when it's over.
- Leaderboard and Score Improvements - No matter what computer you are playing on your high scores will be downloaded and saved so you know your high score on any computer you play on. Even if you achieve a new high score offline the leaderboard will update your leaderboard scores when back online.
- Load Screen - Unfortunately downloading 51 leaderboards of data can take a few seconds sometimes so had to add a load screen to the main menu. So far my longest wait time was around 7 or 8 seconds. Levels still have no load time. If you want to bypass the load screen you can go offline and then go back online later in game when you want to update the leaderboards with your scores.
- Local Saved Data Updates - Local data of level progression is shared with anyone on the same computer but stats and scores are not now. They are saved based on the user. Saved level progression & stats do not carry over from computer to computer, however. Anyone previously playing would have lost progress if I were to change it. Was an oversight and something that should have been done pre-release and will be on future products.
- LESS false positive malware flags - Some users had reported false positives for malware from the game upon download a while back. This was due to a feature in the game engine I made Probe with (Clickteam Fusion 2.5) that has now been removed from the engine so there should be no more false positive malware flags. Also had the executable file whitelisted by Avast.com just in case and none of my antivirus software is flagging it anymore as well. (UPDATE: Did get at least one person informing me they are still having it auto-quarantined by their antivirus software. Am trying to everything I can to fix the issue. You can allow the exe via antivirus software but that is entirely up to you and understandable if you do not wish to. Some antivirus software may not be up to date with it just yet and avast.com does not cover ALL antivirus software, just many, but they found it safe)
*Edit Note: There was a bug in the update where you could not get the achievement "Determined" for retrying a level. Also Time Played in game statistic was not being tracked/saved properly. A patch is now live with the fix. Sorry for the inconvenience.*
Also just a little reminder of how the scoring system works for anyone trying out the demo that wants to try and dominate on the leaderboards:
To celebrate the release of the demo and final update I have also created FREE desktop wallpapers from the backgrounds in the game available for download from the Probe page on the Nate Bit Games website: http://www.n8bitgames.com/probe
If you want to stay up to date on this and future games make sure to subscribe to my blog & newsletter for frequent updates and announcements on future titles, updates and sales: http://www.n8bitgames.com/blog
Hope everyone is doing well! Happy Holidays and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the states! I know it's been a difficult year for many, including myself, but I still have so much to be thankful for this year despite all the challenges and even those challenges I am thankful for as they helped me grow and adapt as a person and developer. I am so thankful for my very supportive family & friends. I'm thankful I had the chance to focus on the release of my first solo developed title, it has helped me learn so much, and most importantly I am extremely thankful for everyone who helped beta test, bought and played Probe and helped give me the feedback I needed to grow as a developer and make the game even better. I hope everyone enjoyed/enjoys playing it as much as I enjoyed making it.
*EDITED* - Previously the Demo was only 5 levels but I felt it didn't give the full feel of the difficulty progression of the game so I upped it to 10 levels
Nathan Hicks
Solo Developer
Nate Bit Games
http://www.n8bitgames.com/
https://twitter.com/N8Bit_Games