First of all, a big THANK YOU to everyone that has already jumped in to Boons & Burdens so early in development. For me, as a solo developer with a small group of volunteer testers, Early Access is a place to truly shape and grow my games with the feedback from the community. If you were along for the ride from the earliest days of Gunlocked, you'll know just how drastically different, and how much bigger a game it became from the very first release.
Game development like this is a dialog with a community of players, and this upcoming patch is just one of many ways that I'm responding to what I am already seeing and hearing from you all through various channels of communication and early reviews. Speaking of, the FromLefcourt Discord is a great place to discuss all things Boons & Burdens!
While this next update is focusing on the levels themselves, the following patch (or the first "milestone update") will feature the first steps toward meta progress, with a variety of unlockable power upgrades to play around with. I expect that to come out within the next two weeks if things go smoothly.
What to expect in patch 0.11
2 new burdens coming to patch 0.11
I'll dive into more specifics when the patch releases in the next day or two, but across the board, changes have been made to affect level completion speed, and difficulty curve.
- First, If you have experienced jitters in the FPS, but had no issues with my last game, Gunlocked, a small change to video settings in this patch might help
- Portal mechanics are changing to make charging the portal a smoother experience, and along with burden changes, should see players moving through levels at a faster rate.
- Burdens have been adjusted across the board. Most burdens are faster to complete, and many have had other variables adjusted to make them more interesting and responsive.
- Each burden will now be paired with a unique sacrifice. Duplicates should no longer appear in a single burden selection screen.
- All sacrifices are now either temporary, or they have a goal/limit that will remove them
- Several new burdens and sacrifices are being added to the pool (with more to come)
- Collection radius for picking up items has been increased
- The Portal Dancer achievement will be changing. It currently doesn't make sense after some last minute updates to sacrifices.
- Various updates to smooth out menu controls
- The Solicitotem Boon will be fixed. It is currently bugged.
That's it for now, but the patch will arrive very soon! If you're enjoying your time in the game, please leave a positive review. Early positive buzz can only help this game grow!