Early Access Update Tjugoett (21)
build id: 569D25EA 569D6FD3
EDIT: An update has been deployed to address broken screen splits for 3 and 4 player local co-op.
Hello all! We are happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.
Auto-Targeting is now Aim-Assist
One of the longest running threads in the forums is about the "problem" of the game being reduced to a top-down shooter once the player has both the Motion Tracker (short range) and the Auto-Aim upgrades. Personal preference and skill level are certainly factors in this discussion.
From a developer point of view we wanted to try to find a way to move the players' eyes back to the main 3d view without completely precluding SOME kind of targeting aid. To this effect we have removed the Auto-Aim upgrade and replaced it with what we call Aim-Assist.
Aim-Assist does not perform any kind of automatic aiming or control of projectiles, but instead is a kind of HUD-space overlay to the action that is going on in the main view. Threats are rendered with an outline (in the color of the HUD) that overlays all 3d rendering, regardless of depth, and can be conceptually thought of as being "in the glass" of the helmet visor.
The goal here is mainly to require manual aiming again, but also try to help the player sort through the massive amount of information that is going on. Aim-Assist requires some getting used to, but with practice it does indeed help you to pick out and target threats through all the chaos.
We certainly anticipate some contention around this change, but please do your best to fairly evaluate if it indeed does the intended job of keeping the the game a first person shooter as opposed to a top-down shooter.
Also note that Aim-Assist and Infravision are mutually exclusive; when one is enabled the other is disabled.
Another good thing that came out of Aim-Assist rendering work is that the Infravision modes no longer color the entire screen, but conceptually now only affect things that are "outside" the helmet / "beyond" the visor. This also means that Downsampling and Brightness options only affect things "outside" the helmet / "beyond" the visor as well.
Positional Audio
The changes to the Creep behaviour in Update 20 prompted us to do an initial pass on positional audio in order to make locating approaching Creeps more intuitive. Creep audio cues are now also monophonic and propely panned (along with many other audio sources) to give you a better sense of where they are in relation to your position and heading.
As always, thank you for your support and patience,
/nornware AB c/o johno
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