TL: DR:
- New patch out, V0.1.05!
- Makes the game significantly easier/more approachable.
- I'm working on a lot of extra stuff (such as an extended tutorial option) to further help tutorialization and ease the learning curve.
- Said extra stuff will make its way into the demo very soon!
First of all, thank you to everyone who has so far given the game a try/wishlisted it! I've received a ton of feedback which I am working on implementing right now.
The two main pieces of feedback which I have received are:
- The game's too hard.
- The game's tutorialization is lacking.
This patch, V0.1.05, is mostly addressing the game being too hard, hence the name. I'm working on a ton of ways to improve tutorialization, such as an additional extended tutorial, special "Game Over Tips" which appear in the Game Over screen, and more! These features should make their way into the demo fairly soon.
But for now, this patch alone should already make the demo a lot more approachable. Please let me know what you think once you get a chance to give it a try.
CHANGES:
- Adjusted Rank System:
- Increased performance requirements for reaching higher ranks.
- Slowed down enemies on lower ranks.
- Reduced spawn rate of enemies on lower ranks.
Comment: The player rank directly affects the difficulty and speed of the game. New/Inexperienced players should now find themselves in the appropriate ranks (D-B) far more often, which in turn should make the game feel a lot easier and less punishing.
- Adjusted enemy damage:
- Reduced base enemy damage.
- Elite (Colored) / Augmented (Outline) enemies now have increased damage modifiers.
Comment: The damage dealt overall in the game has proven to be way too punishing, leaving little room for learning. Damage dealt by enemies, especially Desert ones, has been reduced drastically to leave some breathing room. To not make the game too easy, however, said damage has been moved to the stronger enemies, which naturally appear in higher ranks. Overall, damage should now scale upwards much more smoothly.
- Adjusted Boosting:
- Boosting past 1HP will now, temporarily, decrease player max health at a rapid rate.
- Decreased base Boost cost.
- Reduced the effect Boost Heat has on Boost HP cost.
- Increased the amount of Boost Heat reduced on taunt.
- Boost Heat now recovers faster when not boosting.
Comment: Boost Heat ended up being a bit too much of a ball and chain, preventing players from really going ham when they wanted to. In addition, it made boosting a bit hard to do for newer players, which made its usage a bit too punishing, despite being a core mechanic. Boosting past 1 HP directly blowing you up also ended up being a bit too punishing, as the rate at which HP decreases was a bit unpredictable due to Boost Heat without prior experience. These changes overall should make boosting easier to do, while still introducing new, interesting decisions by letting players use their max HP as an additional resource.
- Added "Low HP" Alert
- Quality of Life option that can be disabled in the options menu.
- Plays an audible alert sound while also displaying visuals.
Comment: A more intuitive and immediate way to tell you are on low HP. If you are experienced enough that you knowingly boost down to that HP and you end up finding the alert to be an annoyance, a quick visit to the Options menu will disable it.
- Added "Overhead cam distance" option.
- Quality of Life option that can be tuned in the options menu.
- Lets you move the camera further ahead or back depending on what is more comfortable for you.
Comment: While attacks and enemies do surround you from all sides in this game, some players have requested an option to see more of the road ahead. If you are one of those, this option should help a lot in managing some turns.
- Adjusted Auto-Slam:
- Increased base homing
- Homing rate now depends on character vehicle size
- Reduced detection range to more accurately detect in the actual attack range
- Inputting Auto-Slam with no target will now play a distinct sound
Comment: Auto-Slam was a bit too hard to use previously, detecting NPCs outside slam range and more. While these changes purposefully still leave room for error, it should be a lot easier to use now. In addition, larger vehicles (M.A.L.L) which already had an easy time of hitting targets now have reduced homing, while smaller vehicles (Deadlift) now have enhanced homing.
- Removed green civilians
Comment: A mechanic with good intentions but massive consequences, green civilians were originally implemented to give players more agency about the spawn rate of enemies. Destroying one would have a chance of immediately spawning an enemy. In practice, especially due to how terribly communicated this mechanic was, most players were not aware of this. As such, new players would unknowingly spawn more enemies, which increased difficulty. The job of spawning more enemies if a player is good has now entirely been moved to the rank system.
- Adjusted John Carma's Spin Attack:
- Removed "crash state" when hitting a wall
- Removed vulnerability debuff after use
- Increased cooldown
Comment: JC's special was way too difficult to use, especially as a newcomer character. The relative power this special offered didn't match the downsides attached in practice, so they have been removed and instead moved to a slightly longer cooldown. The Spin Attack should be drastically easier to use now, matching its power.
- Added minimum 25HP gain when finishing a level.
Comment: Punishment for performing poorly was a bit too drastic when it comes to the timer, often leaving players at very low HP into the next level. This change now grants a bit of help, instead of leaving you completely blank.
- Added 5 seconds of extra time for the desert levels pre-loop.
- Civilians no longer move too far away in case the player is staying behind for a bit.
Comment: Previously, civilians would just keep going after the player, for example, got launched into a wall. This made a "comeback" from that interaction a bit of a slog, as a player would first have to drive for a bit before actually getting some civilians to slam. This change now makes civs stay fairly close, offering a much more immediate opportunity to bounce back and get your HP back.
- Mr.Kill's special sound effect has been increased in volume.
BUG FIXES:
- Menu Movement now takes priority over Menu Confirm/Retreat inputs.
Comment: This fixes an annoyance in case you bind a Menu Confirm/Retreat input to a Menu Movement key.
- BASS-BOOSTED VUVUZELA now only displays the "health up" effect and sound when you actually taunt enemies and have the effect trigger, rather than always.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Coming in V0.1.1:
- An additional, optional, extended tutorial going into some of the more intricate mechanics of the game for players looking to up their game a bit.
- A Keyword system in Tips and the Shop, improving readability and coming with explanations of what each of the keywords do.
- More immediate feedback of what has ended your run, and how you can deal with it in the form of a special tip on the Game Over screen.
- An alternative Control Scheme similar to the "Free Star" from Kirby's Airride
- An option to directly change character from the Game Over screen
- More obvious and extended attack indicators for the Side-Slam and certain enemy attacks (such as Pete's Spin Attack)
- Better visual indicators for what is selected in the Upgrade Screen
- A redesigned "Tune Up" Button in the Upgrade Screen so its actually noticable that there is an entire extra screen for you to upgrade your vehicle's health in
- A bunch of other misc. changes aimed to help tutorialization (such as a couple more tips).
Thanks a ton again for all the feedback everyone has given!
The game should be a lot more approachable now, while still retaining plenty of challenge for players seeking it.
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- Alexander