Before we get into what’s coming, thank you to everyone who’s played Ball Scratch Simulator! Whether you’ve been scratching solo or slapping your friends, I appreciate you being part of the game.
A few interesting stats I’ve spotted since launch:
86 hours of Scratching - After just a day of release, all players have accumulated a total scratch time of 86 hours. The itch won't stop just yet.
228 hours of Lost Productivity - Ball Scratch Simulator is taking down the world economy one minute at a time.
A 136.9 second scratch - This may or may not have been due to the developer incorrectly testing a mechanic.
Patch 1.0.1
After a couple of small maintenance patches, Patch 1.0.1. is now live. Thanks to all the feedback and requests which formed the basis of this patch.
This update comes ahead of the first planned free content patches that will continue the game’s story. Speaking of which… has anyone translated what the Waifus are saying yet?
New Features
Star Targets: Completing the star challenges on Forbidden Scratch and Crotch Inferno will unlock higher-tier stars and Steam achievements. A little recognition for putting your balls on the line.
Public Multiplayer Lobbies: Meet strangers, compete, scratch, and slap each other.
In-Game Voice Chat - Experimental Feature: Because apparently being able to slap strangers wasn’t enough. I’m still deciding whether this is a good idea, players can use In-Game voice chat to form strategies on maximising scores, or share some friendly heckling. In-Game Voice Chat is currently experimental and may have some early bugs.
Balance Changes
Great Balls of Slightly Less Fire: Crotch Inferno is getting a difficulty reduction to improve survivability. Current survival times are roughly four minutes on Tickle, two minutes on Forbidden Scratch, and just 45–60 seconds on Crotch Inferno. The difficulty curve is doing its job, but the hottest setting could stand to cool off a little.
A Little Breathing Room: Waifus will now wait at least 1.25 seconds before taking a second glance, reducing unfair back-to-back checks. However, overtime charges might lower this slightly.
No More X-Ray Vision: Waifus will need a clear line of sight to catch you. They’ll no longer be able to see “through” each other.
Hover With Less Suspicion: Holding your hand over the scratch area will build significantly less suspicion.
Pinch, Roll, Move On: Waifu's previously had higher observation time when they spot the Pinch and Roll in action, the additional observation time has now been heavily reduced.
Bug Fixes
Back on Their Feet: Gym Waifus will correctly play their standing-up animation after finishing crunches.
Multiplayer Lobby Stability: Added protection against lobby state issues involving timeouts and invite clearing.
Smoother VR Recentring: Fixed a minor stutter when recentring in VR.
Additional minor bug fixes will be expected as new players onboarded and PC's from 1995 are dusted off for the first time to play this new classic. Stability is holding up well, but if you run into any bugs, please lodge a report so I can investigate.
Still More to Uncover
Players have already found plenty of the in-game jokes, but some Easter eggs are still hiding, and more are in the works.
Keep your eyes peeled. Just make sure the Waifus aren’t doing the same.