Hello Positron fans!
It's been a while since I released the Snake mode update back in January, and I've been busy working on the next content update. Along the way, I've redesigned some systems and started making a lot of sweeping changes to how the game is structured. Due to these large changes, the next update has been delayed a little, but I'm getting closer to having a good solid build that we're happy with, and I hope this next update improves the game in a number of ways.
If people don't know, I work in the games industry full time. I most recently worked on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac port of Sniper Elite 4. I also have five kids, and try to make the most of my morning and evening time with them. Outside of this, in my 'spare time' is when I sometimes get time to work on Positron. It's slow progress, usually only getting a few hours per week to work on the game, but the deeper I get in to it, the more time I'm spending, and I have a lot of things on the go at the moment:
Porting the game
Positron is written in C++, and is not using a prebuilt engine (like Unity or Unreal). This gives me a lot of freedom in how I implement game features, and allows me to heavily optimise the game to run on all platforms.
That being said, actually porting the game to run on all platforms, getting the rendering working correctly, and supporting all the platform features like leaderboards, and achievements, takes time.
I'm currently working on porting the game fully to Nintendo Switch, with the intention to release on Switch while still in Early Access. I'm also working on my Metal renderer for the Mac version, because My Wife recently bought me an M4 Mac Mini to use as a demo machine when we attend expos. This tiny beast of a machine is light and portable and is much easier to lug around to events than my huge Alienware Aurora desktop PC! I'm also working on the D3D12 renderer for Xbox, and my PS4 and PS5 renderers need a little work to get the game running on those aswell.
Game updates
Development of game features, and updating the game here on Steam is still the priority, but there's a lot more that we have going on at the moment too. The next update here on Steam Early Access will include:
- Arena Mode - Deathmatch arena mode with up to 16 bikes in one arena.
- Star ratings - Each level now has targets to reach for 1/2/3 stars on completion.
- Zones - Levels are to be mixed up and split in to separate zones. Each with their own distinct visual style, and possibly also introducing game mechanics as you progress. Earn enough stars by completing levels in a zone to unlock access to one of the two connecting zones, which again unlocks further levels.
- Ghosts - In Maze mode, a ghost bike showing your previous attempt will run ahead of you. Also toying with the idea of recording ghosts for leaderboard entries so you can try to follow the run of the top score setters. Possibly only enable that option if you yourself have already completed a maze.
- Snake mode changes - With the star ratings, come targets to hit in terms of orbs to collect in Snake. Approximately 15/25/35 orbs for the smaller levels to hit the star ratings. Targets are determined by having our AI play the level and determine appropriate values.
- Level dimensions and sizes modified - I've reduced the amount of space between the walls in the easier difficulties (with extreme remaining as it was). This means that the levels are now 'smaller' in dimension, and are quicker to complete, but gives less room for U turns (which are pretty useless in the maze, if you're trying to beat the leaderboard scores). This will mean all current leaderboards will be wiped with this coming update!
- More achievements - I only added the single achievement on launch, to get achievements working, but I'm looking to add about a dozen or so achievements with the next update.
- FOV Adjustment - The FOV is currently fixes, but I've been testing 9:16 mode for capturing social media videos, and it looked very odd, so I've added variable FOV adjustment which adjusts based on the screen aspect. This means those people running super wide monitors will now get a slightly different FOV, but I'll also be adding in a slider in the options menu to allow for some adjustment too.
Some updates, I have been planning, but I'm holding off making the changes for the moment while I work on getting our current update finished:
- Bike customisation - I'm toying with the idea of allowing players to customise the look of their bike, choose from a selection of slightly different textures, reflection models, and defining a fixed colour (with reflective highlight colour). It's something people have asked for, and I see the benefit in it. Having differently textured bikes with slightly different styles will also help distinguish them further in arena mode.
- Splitscreen multiplayer - Something I've already put a lot of work in to. I have four 2/3/4 player splitscreen modes already working well, but I need to fix audio issues, reflection issues, and more with these to ensure the game flow is smooth and the performance remains high too. I even have a vertical splitscreen for Steam Deck where you can sit across the table from someone and play two player versus games, which works great!
- UI overhaul - The current UI is a hardcoded mess of C++. I intend to have the UI write to an intermediate rendertarget (freeing it from the restrictions of the game's aspect ratio)., and also be defined in data files, so it's easier to modify as I extend the game.
- Button remapping - Adding the ability to remap the keyboard controls and also modify the game controller controls if required.
Steam Deck Verified
Anyone who's played the game on Steam Deck knows I've ensured it runs optimally on there, full 60/90hz running full resolution. As I mentioned earlier, being written from scratch gives me the ability to optimise at the lowest level, ensuring rendering and CPU usage remain within budget and don't push the hardware too hard.
The only thing stopping me from getting the official Steam Deck Verified status, is that I don't show button icons in onscreen prompts, like 'Press (A) to Start' that's it! So I'm looking at pushing out a small update at some point which will remedy this and I can apply for Steam Deck Verified status.
Thank you
Thank you for playing the game (if you've bought it). It means a lot to me. A positive review means the world to an indie developer like me, and the more positive reviews we get, the better our chances are of getting features more prominently throughout the Steam Store.
To date we have sold 131 copies of the game (since our launch in Early Access last November). It's not a lot, but it's nice to see people have enjoyed the game and have had positive things to say about it. I'm really hoping this next update brings people back to play the game who haven't played it since launch, and hopefully brings more players to the game too.