Howdy!
Patch Notes:
Reworked Worm Mouth Escape Mini-Game:
- The old spinning/timing escape mini game was a big friction point for some players (and it wasn't very fun, I'll admit). So I'm excited to announce a complete rework! The new mini game requires you to hit a series of directional and jump inputs in a row, slowly filling the escape meter. Missing an input will lose progress on the escape meter, so both accuracy and speed are important.
Design insight: The new mini game is *MUCH* more fun and feels more like you're frantically trying to escape, instead of the slower pace of the previous game.
Changes to Damage and Healing:
- Pardners now take 10% of their current health when they get grabbed by the Worm. **The health loss per second during the mini game has been reduced to counteract this.** It can be frustrating for the Worm to grab an experienced Pardner, and have them escape super quick, so this should guarantee a small amount of damage, while still incentivizing quick escapes.
Note: This is 10% current health. At 100 health, you'll take 10 damage. At 10 health, you'll take 1 damage etc. I still want there to be dramatic last second escapes, so it made sense to do it this way.
- The rate at which the Worm auto heals underground has been slightly reduced, but you now gain a burst of health when entering a new healing ring. This hopefully will further incentivize not focusing the Pardner that escaped your mouth. (or at least give them a few more seconds to recover)
- The underground Worm healing rings have been increased in size. Again, to incentivize Worms moving further away after a Pardner escapes.
Changes to Worm Visibility and Physics:
- The Worm can now push and move physics objects. This was always the case for host Worm, but due to how the physics are handled, it wasn't affecting client Worms. This should stop Pardners barricading themselves inside train or trapping the Worm behind a mass of physics objects.
Note: You can move objects by simply pushing up against them, or you can move them further by pouncing into them.
- The Worm now reveals props that are *very* close to them (basically touching them). This DOES NOT affect Pardners, only props - so standing still on the sand is still a vital strategy. This also means any prop you pounce and hit will instantly be revealed, instead of having to wait for it to hit the sand again. Note: any prop revealed this way will hide itself after a few seconds.
- Large props (crates, beds, tables, ladders - anything you hold above your head) that are on the sand will now always be visible to the Worm. Again, this is only for when they're touching the sand, and will be hidden if on a rock or train etc.
Design insight: There's been frustrations with Worms pouncing and being redirected by a invisible objects they can't see. This gets especially frustrating when lots of large objects are piled next to each other. This change should help with a handful of frustration points as Worm, while still keeping the "guessing game" of where Pardners are intact. Note: For anyone wanting a "lore" reason for this, anything heavy enough presses into the sand and the Worm is able to *sense* it. It's the same reason they can see houses, trains, rocks, etc. See! It makes sense, I promise!
Misc Changes:
- Added 5 minute intervals to the Sundown Timer match settings. It goes from 5 minutes - 40 minutes, with the additional "Never", if you don't want to play with it at all. Note: Sundown Timer is now 25 minutes by default (was 20).
As always, thanks for playing Wormtown! Feel free to leave any feedback here or in the Discord.
*tips novelty-sized cowboy hat*