Hey guys! Krayfishkarl here and welcome to another Droplet: States of Matter update! Early access 1.32 is now available! This is one of the game's largest updates since its release in early access, hence why it took a little longer to come out this time around.
Firstly, the narrative changes I mentioned in previous videos have now been implemented. Virtually every cutscene in the game has been redone from the ground up. There are now over 300 lines of fully voiced dialogue. This was done to flesh out the game's story and characters to make them more compelling. To accomodate new players, the game's starting area has been reworked to more thoroughly explain the game's unique mechanics. You'll find an open, playground-like environment to experiment in before you move on with the story.
Alongside this rework are graphical overhauls to the Helium Valley and Radon Industries hub worlds. The most important changes are that each of the portal locations now have distinct landmarks so that players can more easily find them at a distance. While Helium Valley saw the simple addition of more details, I chose to redo Radon Industries from the ground up to look like a realistic industrial park. You'll now find signs and posters throughout the area that add some environmental storytelling.
The other major feature I added was a map screen. You can now use a spaceship to fly to different star systems. Not only was this an opportunity to add more worldbuilding, but it also addressed some general feedback about the game's pacing. Some players had mistakingly believed that the Helium Valley hub world was the entire game, so this map screen will nonverbally inform the player just how big of an adventure they are getting into.
With one of the biggest tasks of the game now completed, the finish line draws ever closer. My next item on the to-do list is to give another pass through the remaining bosses and hub worlds. I want to provide them with a similar treatment to what I did with Radon Industries. Once all these changes are underway, I'm hoping to have this game out of early access before the end of the year.
That's all for now! And with that, thank you for following the development of Droplet: States of Matter!
Patch Notes
Gameplay
- Completely overhauled the game’s tutorial area. It features a brand new layout with new cinematics. The storyline has been overhauled so it is recommended to visit this area with a new save file for the best experience.
- New gameplay mechanic where you can select the systems of the Noble Gas Kingdom from a map screen. You now have a spaceship called the Mendeleev.
- Changed the way general progression to the next hub world works. You now are required to defeat the boss to obtain a star chart.
- Landing areas for the Mendeleev added to each hub world. Relocated some portals to adjust to the change.
- Added a shortcut in Neon Badlands that can be used to go from the landing area to the Sobek area more easily.
- Redid the atom placement of Xenon Lagoon.
- Fixed some moving objects that would sometimes open/close incorrectly.
- Fixed a bug where hammer robots weren’t exploding after being defeated.
- Elevated the exit portals in some levels to minimize exiting the level on accident.
- Slightly updated some platforms in Industrial Junkyard.
- You no longer revert to third person mode when you’re in a free movement cutscene in first person mode.
- Removed the mines in Weather Machine Test Site.
- Removed some drones in Bonsai Bathhouse.
- Fixed a bug where the nurikabes were incorrectly set to be immune to projectiles.
- Swamp sludge now ascends and descends correctly if rapidly going between its range of attack.
- Fixed movement bug if you entered water while crouching.
- Alternate idle animations are now disabled in certain areas. (i.e. You’ll no longer fall asleep in boss levels.)
- Adjusted some Gizmo Shop prices. If you have a previous save file with it already purchased, you should be able to refund your atoms to get them at the new prices.
Graphics
- Completely redid Radon Industries. Area looks more like a realistic industrial park.
- Touched up graphics in Helium Valley. Entrance portals now have distinguishable landmarks.
- Expanded the Gizmo Shop to make room for the Mendeleev.
- Updated loading screen background.
- Minor graphical updates to Kalofrioh’s arena.
- Atoms and player projectiles no longer receive decals.
- General FPS improvements to Arctic Rig.
- Arctic Rig now has the correct celestial bodies in the sky.
- Fixed some misplaced water geometry in Arctic Rig.
- Adjusted some tiling in Arctic Rig.
- Updated models and textures on utensil enemies in Macro Kitchen.
- Fixed some misplaced geometry in Toxic Bog
- Fixed missing texture in credits sequence.
- Updated the color of Eich-Tuo planet.
Audio
- New voice overs for the accompanying dialogue rework.
- New music track for Dr. Ruby Dium Phase 3.
- New music track for Captain Salty Peter battle theme.
- New music track for Duchess Cara Bonnie’s boss area.
- New music for Lord Krypton’s boss area.
- New music for the Gizmo Shop.
- Rebalanced audio on several older music tracks.
- Updated the music audio balancing during cutscenes.
- Updated sound effect for Salty Peter’s rifle.
Text
- Completely rewrote the game’s dialogue. Cutscenes have been changed accordingly.
- Dialogue boxes now show the name of the person/entity who is currently speaking.
- Text speed now automatically adjusts to the length of the line recording. As such, the “Fast” Text Speed option has been removed from the options menu.
- Droplet now gives the hints at checkpoints if you’re playing as Molly-QL.
- Fixed several edge cases where the dialogue box would continue when it wasn’t supposed to.
UI
- Fixed bug where you could repeatedly mash “Save and Quit” before the game fully exited to the desktop.
- Reordered some levels in the status menu.
- Fixed bug where you could “cancel” out of the menu while a cutscene is paused.
- Adjusted the conditions for enabling/disabling the HUD during and after cutscenes.
Other
- Improved compression. Overall file size of the game should be significantly reduced.