Hi all,
It's been a week since we submitted the game to Valve for approval (although it's been only 5 days since we went public) and we already have the first update for Heart&Slash.
Today's update focused on:
- Getting some content into the sewers part of the second level (the only one available so far).
- Fixing some of the bugs our community has pointed out.
- Providing a Linux build (so we can start testing this).
Let's go over this one by one:
LINUX BUILD:
This build is very preliminary, since we don't have a dedicated Linux development machine. The test environment we are using currently is a Debian running in an underpowered laptop. The graphics driver is Mesa (software rendering), so graphical fidelity is very, very poor. Thus, we cannot guarantee that things will work properly right now. Please, be patient. We are considering options to improve this situation as quickly as possible.
BUG FIXING:
Bugs that have been fixed with this build:
- Controller support for Mac (you need to have the controller active before you start the game. Moreover, sometimes if there's more than one input device -controller- detected, the game might fail to detect the correct one).
- Enemies getting stuck on ledges: this should be fixed now.
- When entering the second level, the HUD is updated properly now.
- The main character should not get stuck into enemies as often.
- The dead screen now gives you the option to start again on level 2.
If you were suffering from some of these bugs, please test the new build so we can be sure they are gone forever (or so we can squash them should they prove resilient).
CONTENT
We have integrated the following new content:
- Several new sounds were integrated.
- The sewers got some love, with some special rooms able to appear there now.
We hope you are happy with some of these fixes.
But this is not all...
There has been a lot of other work done in the game this week, but it's not yet ready for release. In fact, MOST work has been done on content and features not on this build. However, we can't commit for a release next week, so this is a tentative list of next week changes:
- Overhaul of the Camera system. Game should feel MUCH smoother now and not like it's running at 30fps while the fps counter is telling you you have 100+fps.
- First pass at the overworld of the second level. This is a HUGE area taht will need some work after next week release, but that will definitely expand the scope of the game.
- Fixes to level generation that will make it less likely for the game to crash then (although there are stillinstances when this will happen).
Apart from the extra content we will be releasing then (which is a lot, and bring the game much closer to were we want it variety-wise) the camera system overhaul is HUGE.
I can't stress this more.
It really changes how the game feels. I didn't realize how constraining the current sytem was, and now I find it very hard to play the current, choppy version. Even if I didn't realize it was choppy before. This is only of importance to those getting over 45 fps, but if you are one of these users, I would heartly (no pun intended) recommend to wait till next Friday so you can experience the game as it should really be...