WELL
I don't really know where to start. Today is a bittersweet day.
What better way to do it than with a reference to The Simpsons?
Thumps & Blows is out today
That's good!
It's still not 100% finished
That's bad...
You'll be able to go all out with 7 characters
That's good!
You have to unlock them, and 3 characters are still unfinished
Can I play Thumps & Blows now?
What do you get to enjoy in Thumps & Blows?
7 awesome characters
Besides the characters from the demo, you'll be able to play as Cronchman, Jack, and Bruno.
Alex, Iago, and Towelman still need some work, but I'll be adding them as soon as I can.
Awesome music
Not all the music is finished yet, but you've got a few really cool tracks to enjoy.
Story Mode
What will happen to these little stick figures?
You'll have to unlock Weirdo, Cronchman, and Egguy by completing the Story Mode. But if you can't be bothered, you can unlock them by editing the arcade wins value in Save -> Stats.json. You can edit it with a simple text editor. This is just a measure to prevent you from spoiling the story for yourselves.
Random button
You've been bugging me about this for long enough. There you go. If the game breaks now, that's your problem.
Everything from the demo
And what about what's left?
Well, it'll come along as I can get to it.
First, I'll try to stabilize and polish the current version, and then I'll start adding everything that's still missing. I also need to sort out the credits properly, because right now they're a complete mess. You can check them in the game files under Docs -> Credits.
Most importantly, I need to finish balancing and polishing the characters, make the Linux version run properly on Steam Deck and Steam Machine, and finish the music tracks.
Finally, I'd like to add some extra content. I have a list of ideas for minigames I'd like to add, but that's not really a priority. I'll try to squeeze in at least a couple more. I also have ideas for new mechanics and other characters, but we'll see about that.
That said, I'm exhausted right now
I've been pushing myself as hard as I could for a long time to get everything out on time. I kept lowering the bar, but apparently I had set it way too high to begin with.
The game is a lot of fun right now, but it could be even better. My intention was to keep working on it without taking a break, but honestly, I'm running on empty and I just can't get much more done. That's what happens when you overestimate your abilities and underestimate your talent for wasting time.
Now I'm going to need a few days to recover.
I hope you'll forgive me. The game will currently have a few annoying issues, such as some visual bugs, missing music and sound effects, and maybe even a few localization errors... But I just can't do any more right now.
If you find anything, I'd really appreciate it if you shared it on Discord or the Steam forums.
Why not wait any longer?
I've been working on this for a long time, so I want to find out if this project really has a future.
My best opportunity to release it has already passed, and releasing it this autumn is simply not an option. I'd have to wait until February, but I need to answer this question now.