We're back with a brand-new demo, available now on Steam, just in time for Next Fest which starts on Monday.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2978840/Pup_Champs_Demo/
Since November we've been working hard on another major art overhaul for the game. One thing we noticed when Pup Champs was shown at various events and showcases was that the game looked good in motion but lacked energy when displayed via static screenshots.
This is why we decided to bring the game from pure 2D into 3D, skewing the perspective a bit to make the scene appear more dynamic, and give ourselves some camera tools for bringing more life to the backgrounds. The way you play the game remains the same (just better), but now everything should look cooler.
Aside from that we've got improved UI, new puzzles, two new story comics, a major animation rework and much, much more!
Patch notes for Pup Champs v0.5:
- Pup Champs is now Steam Deck Verified!
- Reworked game camera from orthogonal into perspective,
- > This is a big art-related update that we started working on even before v0.4 was out - the game’s art felt flat on static screenshots, and we hope that this perspective change will make the gameplay feel more dynamic,
- Implemented new camera features,
- > Now you can move the camera around (middle-mouse / right stick on controller) and zoom in/out (mouse scroll / LT & RT),
- > Play around with them to see the updated level visuals too!
- Updated puzzles available in the demo,
- > Added all-new levels in Chapter 3,
- > Added bonus levels in Chapter 3,
- > Updated existing levels in Chapters 1 & 2,
- Added new mechanic - moles,
- > Moles occupy two spaces on the field, blocking one tile (head) and switching between them if the other tile (exit) is triggered,
- Added new mechanic - mud,
- > Whenever the ball lands in the mud, it can’t be removed from this tile without kicking it, creating a space that you need to be careful around!
- Pug is back with a new kick type!
- > This unit is able to kick the ball backwards by one tile, opening up a bunch of new design possibilities that weren’t there before,
- > This one is a work-in-progress animation-wise, but we really wanted to put it in your hands and see how it feels - let us know your feedback!
- Added two new story comics in Chapter 2,
- > Introducing a new teammate and an important in-game mechanic,
- Updated in-game UI,
- > We moved unit cards from left side to bottom of the screen to center the game’s layout and give ourselves more space for displaying horizontal grids, which make up the majority of puzzles in the game.
- > Also - we cleaned up fonts, input glyphs, sprites and other things while we were at it!
- Improved nearly all animations in the game,
- > Improved synchronization for animation playback,
- > Reworked animations when units pick up and move the ball around,
- > Reworked animations when units kick the ball,
- > Reworked animations when the ball hits the net,
- > Added new player unit reaction animations when scoring a goal,
- Added new sound effects and tweaked existing ones,
- Added extra ground detail decorations and fixed vertical grass stripe appearance,
- Reworked decorations on the sides of each level,
- > This is something that was enabled by our new camera settings - an additional multiplane with trees to make the visuals a bit richer,
- Fixed issues related to sprite layering and masking,
- > Sometimes certain things would show up in front of others when they shouldn’t; this issue should be improved now, but expect more improvements in the future,
- Reworked VFX when a player unit is able to finish the level,
- > The old VFX felt like a bit too much when paired with all the other art-related changes we made, so we toned it down,
- Refactored gameplay code to make it more stable and cleaner,
- Reworked demo end screen to make it look nicer,
- Reworked gamepad controls,
- Improved VFX when Monkeys bump into other units,
- Improved tutorials in Chapters 1 & 2,
- Updated visual palette in Chapter 3,
- Reworked visuals for Bushes and added a new VFX when entering them,
- Improved player selection / stamina marker,
- Improved visuals for ball trajectory shown before kicking,
- Improved fonts in main menu,
- Improved display for in-game shadows,
- Fixed issue where ball would sometimes reposition itself slightly when restarting a level,
Thanks for reading, and we hope you'll enjoy the updated demo :)
Cheers,
- Luke