Last night I put out the latest major update to the game, .39 and a few subsequent mini-patches bringing it up to .39.4. It's a major update, meaning it is not multiplayer-compatible with previous versions so make sure you're on the latest. It has a ton of new goodies:
Customization
- You can now customize 'Victory' and 'Defeat' facial expressions on the Profile/Customize tab. You can create a bunch of happy/sad/goofy faces and they will be displayed on the Match Results screen instead of a wall of numbers.
- The whole customization panel has been rebuilt with a better layout and is more controller-friendly.
- There are also a bunch of new sunglasses to try out. Previously you could pick the color of the sunglasses, but that meant all the basic sunglass models had to be monochrome. I didn't find it that visually appealing, so now the glasses models look cooler but you now pick from a few pre-chosen colors. Still, I think there's plenty of glasses and colors to choose from and have fun with.
Match Voting
Previously, it was a common problem that the match Host (or Master Client, to be more accurate) didn't know they could change settings, or had to informally poll players to ask what they wanted to play. Now, any player can view match settings, change it to what they want, and then call a vote. All players can then vote on the proposal (F1 or F2) and after enough time / votes it will pass or fail and those will be the settings for the next match.
The host can still change settings any time they want. Once a vote passes a new vote can not be called that match. And if you request a vote and it fails, you can't request another vote for that match (to prevent trolling / spamming). It might need some fine tuning but I think it'll be a very useful feature.
Rebuilt Challenge Modes
Previously, the singleplayer challenge modes had a complicated system of upgrades based on your XP level and a menu that I don't think anyone actually figured out, because the default challenge was by far the most played. I wanted to streamline this process and make it more fair to new players, so I took out the upgrade system and now I just assign a specific set of powerups to the player based on the challenge mode / objective. I didn't think the Upgrade system was that rewarding anyways, because players usually weren't aware they were unlocking anything. Hopefully the new challenge setup is more clear and fun to play!
Kudos
Whenever you are KO'd by a player, you can now hit the Kudos key (default:K) and you will automatically send out a public message giving your opponent kudos for a nice shot. I'll include your name, the type of KO, and the person who performed the KO. I think it's just a nice way to encourage sportsmanship. They are tracked in the stats panel, but not incentivized or rewarded in any other way, so I think there's little need to game the system.
Additionally, if the match is over, it will type out 'gg' for you.
Other misc improvements
- New HUD boost / jump meters
- Leaderboard now shown in Arcade mode
- Renamed Core to Reactor
- Renamed Demolition Derby to Grand Prix
- Stopped invalid player name chars from showing up as red X's
- Training prompts reflect your current control config
- Fixed enemy super ball collect not ending fugitive round
- Achievement progress updates now occur on match end, not after every KO
- Super Boost removed from Turbo Bot and renamed Flame Bot
- Can now play as your custom color in challenge modes
- Fixed challenge special KO 3D text showing up as duplicate lines in challenge modes
- Spawn reset timer no longer affected by current slo-mo powerup
- Arcade boss health meter disappears when you KO them
- Round restart countdown time extended
- Fixed overlapping layout of score and score subtitles
- Livestream mode no longer allows host to insta-kick or force another player's team to change if match is Public
- Fixed first char sometimes getting truncated in chat
- Fixed Horde catch-then-die triggering duplicate catch warning if your first kill after respawning was also a catch
- Fixed camera spectate L/R rotation control labels being swapped
LAUNCH REMINDER
Disco Dodgeball is officially leaving Early Access on February 19th - just over a week from now! The price will be going up to $15 (with a launch discount though) so if your friends want to get in on the game they can still get it for the Early Access price of $10 for just a few more days.
Early Access has been a great thing for me and the game, but I'm really excited to launch officially and get the game out to the world! So please make sure to tell everyone you know on launch day to go get it. If it goes well enough then I could potentially keep developing this game for a long while and add some amazing new stuff to it. So thanks in advance for your support : )