Hi all! The test branch's patch update is now live on the main branch of Frogun as we're more confident of it's stability, so everybody should be getting an update to the live version of the game soon. This updates the game from the launch version (1.6.3) to v1.8. However! We've made a few changes detailed below, as not everything from the test made it into this version after a lot of thought.
If you've played the test, then you'll already be familiar with most of the fixes below. If not though, there's a smorgasbord of QoL improvements and minor fixes that we've implemented in response to feedback! Check it all out below.
We've also implemented multiplatform (multi-device/PC + Steamdeck) Cloud Saving! More info on this (and some pre-cautions) below.
WHAT MADE IT IN FROM THE TEST VERSION BRANCH:
Changelog:
- Removed fall areas near S-shaped skull section at the start of Chamber Of Spooks.
- Fixed level select chests opening sound playing full volume all at once when entering the level select map.
- Made Jake stop hurting in races, and for him to only "bop" the player for a split second if collided with. (causes a stun rather than damage - this was a common complaint because of narrow pathways - we didn't want to remove the challenge, so we didn't remove *all* damage)
- Fixed start of level animation not consistently playing upon starting a level.
- Experimental camera damping slider; smooths camera movement.
- Made input made during the "unpause" frame not affect the player character.
- Changed third Eyemerald to white coin in Golden Depths.
- Removed bugged coin vases inside stair in Scorchy.
- Changed Y position forcing method for bosses (should help with bosses such as Scorchy getting stuck).
- Added invert x-axis option.
- Correctly rotated checkpoints so spawning on them will point players in the correct direction.
- Removed blob shadow from Wintry's ice spears.
- Set Wintry's NPC sounds to the sfx volume channel.
- Made Beelzebub's shots spawn correctly.
- Made Beelzebub's spike wall spikes actually hurt you if you jump on them.
- Made hanging spiders stay down for two seconds more, so chaining them is easier.
- Made shortest slide-jump a bit longer in Golden Depths.
- Made timed color pullers not emit tic tac sound if a button of the same color activates the color without timer.
- Coded bouncy mushrooms to not affect the player while in the "death in water" action.
- Fixed "Hatter's special" hat unlock conditions.
- Fixed fade out music method.
- Option to force shots to snap to 45 degree angles, before autoaim
- Fixed a bug where the switch timer ticking sound could loop infinitely.
- Made final level stop victory music before going into credits.
- Changed fourth Max. HP chest requirements from 15 wings and 20 rings to 10 wings and 15 rings.
- Changed last Max. HP chest requirements from 30 to 15 full emblems.
- Fixed collider of thin square columns so they have a full block hitbox.
- Added missing delay between skull and eyes parts of emblem in level results.
- Reduced delay between emblem pieces in level results from 1 second to 0.75 seconds.
- Fixed tongue artifacts when shooting near Hatter at the end of Race on the topside.
- Changed tree branch mesh collider to a box collider.
- Fixed invisible blocks in Mountaintop.
- Fixed floating tiles at the end of Cold cave.
- Fixed invisible blocks in Slidey Spikey Cave.
- Fixed position of Dark Cave, Haunted Ruins and Gold Ruins vertical fog.
- Updated credits backer name change.
- Modified obsidian skull path entrance in Golden depths.
- Fixed the one barrage in Super Beelzebub that didn't wait for the pillar to spawn.
- Reduced health of Prickly and Kicky to 2 in Boss rush.
- Reduced health of Wintry, Scorchy and Hexy to 3 in Boss rush.
- Reduced health of Super Prickly from 5 to 2.
- Reduced health of Super Kicky from 4 to 2.
- Reduced health of Super Wintry from 5 to 3.
- Reduced health of Super Scorchy from 5 to 3.
- Reduced health of Super Hexy from 5 to 4.
- Reduced health of Super Beelzebub from 7 to 5.
- Reduced health of L from 3 to 2.
- Removed empty vase at the end of horizontal column in Breaking in.
- Removed coins inside the Obsidian Skull path in Pushy hallway.
- Tweaked Obsidian Skull path in The tar swamp to reduce the length of the bubble chain.
- Added slope near the start of Mountain jog.
- Slightly modified start area of Hot Feet.
- Removed blinking blocks on the moving spike rod section near the end in Treasure vault.
- Fixed duplicated "Published by Top Hat Studios" text at the end of the credits.
- Added emblem legend to level select screen.
- Made it so that picked coin count cannot surpass total coin amount in the level.
- Steam cloud save integrated. You may see a momentary frame jitter when buying a new hat, unlocking more HP, or on the results screen after finishing a level - this is where the save data is wrapped in order to push it into the cloud without introducing another loading screen. It should not interrupt actual gameplay, however. NOTE: THERE IS SOME ADDITIONAL NOTICE HERE: SEE LAST COMMENTS
And some additional issues which were found in the beta-test branch - these are new fixes NOT from that branch:
- Fixed boss behaviour in At The Top Of The World sometimes malfunctioning.
- Fixed 100% progression counter not calculating in some circumstances.
- Fixed expert time trial recordings being incorrect in some circumstances.
- Fixed too dark shader in the brutal boss rush mode (and several other fog areas).
- Fixed multiplayer coin count sometimes displaying incorrectly.
WHAT DIDN'T MAKE IT IN FROM THE TEST VERSION:
As mentioned in the last post, we felt that the test had issues with balancing our game design of challenge next to the ideal balance of difficulty and easiness. The test had a lot of checkpoints added, and we've removed these to maintain the challenge. However, there are checkpoints specifically near all obsidian skull entrances now - this should help with creating a better sense of fairness for completing these challenge segments. However, we listened to all user feedback and have a solution in the works. Please see below for expectations in the next beta-test branch build (will be live over the next few days).
COMING IN THE NEXT UPDATE:
Our aim for the next update patch for the game will address very high refresh rate issues (like at 165hz and 240hz), to better make animation and physics/game logic more independent of FPS.
This coming update will also do some additional difficulty balancing as mentioned above. Below is what you can expect on the next upcoming test.
We've heard from a lot of you that going to lengths and backtracking to pick up all the coins, only to lose them by dying before hitting a checkpoint - forcing the whole process to be done again, often multiple times - is quite frustrating. While there is meant to be a sense of challenge in having to not just collect things but also make it out alive, we acknowledge there's a need for balance. We also feel the experimental solution of simply adding checkpoints incorrectly removed challenge without better balancing the game mechanically.
In response to this, we will be introducing an experimental fix for changing collectibles to have persistent collected behaviour in levels - so if you die, any coin you've collected remains collected, but you'll respawn at last checkpoint. This is only within each level session themselves, however - if you quit the level without finishing, they won't remain collected.
Furthermore, we have decided "challenge items" (the obsidian skulls) will still require visiting a checkpoint, something which is balanced with the current checkpoint solution. We feel keeping this mainly for widespread collectibles like coins is the best balancing solution.
Other things we'd like to include in this next test include additional smoothing options, as well as further accessibility options in the gameplay menu.
TRADING CARDS AND EXTRAS
In the next UPDATE, we also plan to introduce trading cards, badges, emotes, and backgrounds.
NOTICE ON CLOUD SAVES:
In order to ensure that saves do not have issues, we've introduced a means of transitional save data. This means for EXISTING save data, it will *not* auto-sync with the cloud. There will need to be an action which invokes the save behaviour first, so AFTER opening the game and completing a level your gamedata will correctly sync to the cloud. Basically, you do not need a new save or anything, but you need to trigger/invoke a save event in the current file for it to sync said file.
FOR CONSOLE PLAYERS:
Patches are in the works for all consoles and should be delivered on all versions and platforms by the end of the month. We need manual validation from platforms for patches, so these are slightly delayed. We expect the patch to include ALL fixes including from the next upcoming test (the coin fix), so expect a MEGA-PATCH on the horizon.