Hey y'all, big playtest update just went live! Couple of major changes I'd love your take on. Also there's now a dog-petting leaderboard. More on that in a second.
Stars have been removed (kinda)
Early on, GRASS was designed a bit more competitively. But the more we've all played, the more one thing keeps proving true: people, myself very much included, just love the relaxing act of finishing a yard. Nobody leaves a yard half mowed. You are all suspiciously good at finishing the whole thing. So stars ended up not adding much, because finishing a yard partially done just isn't satisfying.
So stars are out as the primary progression, and Mower Rank is in. Completing yards raises your Rank, and Rank is now how you unlock new maps and areas. You'll still get a rating from each customer (that system will keep evolving), it just won't be what gates your unlocks anymore.
The Hill is back
The Hill has returned to the playtest! It was in for a while, took a vacation, and now it's back. It's a big hill area mainly for doing yard art, so think of it as a bonus mission zone for your masterpieces.
Creator tools
We've added some creator tools for making videos. While you're in a Free Mode match, type /meneedcontent in the chat bar and you'll unlock the playback and recording system. You can record and play back multiple mowers at once. It's what we use for our own multiplayer shots, and you can do some really cool stuff with it. While you're in that mode, /resetgrass will regrow everything so you can nail the perfect shot. We'll do a separate post with a full video on how it works, but we can't wait to see what you all come up with.
The most important leaderboard in gaming history
As promised: there is now a leaderboard for how many times you've pet the dog. Finally, definitive proof of who loves him most. No pressure, but he knows.
And more
There are plenty of smaller updates, under-the-hood improvements, and bug fixes in this one too. Still lots more to go, so keep the feedback coming.
One more note: we're getting ready for our public demo soon, so if you're newer to GRASS, your feedback is extra valuable right now. Tell us how it feels as a first-time experience and whether you think this is getting close to being a good Steam demo.
Let's grass