Hello, trench lovers!
Sorry for the delay in this update, I'll get into more on why that is later in this post, but for now this update brings in two new quality of life features: Controller Support and Aim Assist.
Controller Support
This update's biggest feature is controller support, allowing players to, surprisingly, play on a controller. Players can fully customize their controller's bindings, including swapping which joystick is used for moving and which is used for looking. Players can also seamlessly switch between the keyboard and controller bindings if they so desire.
To interface with the UI, you'll use the left joystick to move a virtual mouse, and the right joystick to scroll through menus. There might be some small graphical errors if you're switching between keyboard/mouse and controller while interfacing with the UI, but they've proven to be very easy to dispel as well in my testing.
Note: I'm aware this isn't the best way for controllers to interface with UIs, but to make a perfect system would require me to reconfigure all the UI in my game and I don't have the time nor budget to warrant that.
Unfortunately, this game was not, and most likely will not, be designed with controllers as the intended way to play. However, to help mitigate that is the next feature:
Aim Assist
Aim Assist, found in the game options page, helps adjust your aim to focus on enemies more vital areas. It doesn't do this by forcefully moving your camera around as I always dislike that in games, but instead just changes where your bullets will be going. This also helps make aiming still important, but less harsh for players who will use this.
Note: Aim Assist doesn't change weapon spread, only where you were aiming. Bullets can still miss with Aim Assist via the spread of the weapon even if they're oriented to hit the enemy.
It has three settings: 'None', 'Minor', and 'Major'. It's disabled by default, so I'd recommend if you're playing with controller to switch it to 'Minor' or 'Major' before starting a run. I wouldn't recommend using it for most keyboard and mouse players as I think it takes some of the fun out of the game and can trivialize it, but if you think you need the help then by all means, it's there for a reason.
Future
If you'll recall in my last update, I said I would get controller support set up around mid-late February, and then get new content out early-mid March. Although, I didn't technically miss the deadline for controller support, it still took me longer than I would've liked. I would almost like to say this is due to my incompetence and that I've been wholly devoted to Space Trench, but unfortunately that isn't the case.
I've started work on a new game with a close friend of mine, which should be releasing in the coming weeks. I'll be sparse on the details here as I don't think they're terribly relevant, but this project will be where my efforts lie until its release. This isn't to say I'm done with Space Trench. I still have lots of ideas I want to explore in this game, and I hope I will get around to making them.
What this means for Space Trench is that I'm pushing back the expected release of the new levels back to mid March to late April. To help compensate with this, I might release the new levels separately, so that way there's less of a wait between now and new content. If you think this is a good idea, or if you'd rather I release the two levels together, please let me know.
Of course, if there are any bugs that I didn't find in the new version, I will still be making patches for this game between now and the release of my other project. Until next time, good hunting!