Optimization
I have been furiously optimizing Streets of Rogue over the past week or so. While performance issues haven’t been a major problem in the game (save for a few trouble sections), it had been about a year and a half since the last time the game got an optimization pass. If you’re running the game on a low- to mid-range PC, you may notice fewer frame drops in this build. For everyone else, the game will feel just a tad bit snappier. There’s still a lot more optimization to be done as well. And be on the lookout for new bugs, because I modified a whole lot of code in a whole lot of different areas.
Consoles??
A big part of the reason for these optimizations is that I’m currently working on console versions of the game, and unfortunately, consoles don’t have quite the horsepower of a modern PC. So, my code needs to be in impeccable shape for the game to run at a decent clip. While Streets of Rogue might not look like the sort of game that should have big requirements, there’s actually a lot being processed on the CPU at any given time. Fancy AI doesn’t come cheap!
So what consoles is the game coming to, and when? Can’t say right now, but it may happen before the end of the year if all goes well!
What about Level 4??
I was hoping to have it done for the September 7th build release, but that may not happen. There’s a lot on my plate right now given some recent developments regarding the console versions. But I would still like to have it out in mid-September. Can’t make any promises, but I think that should be doable.
PAX
The game will be playable at PAX West next week at the tinyBuild booth. Stop by and say hello to those fine folks, and be sure to bug them about Hello Neighbor's release date, I hear they love that! Sadly I won’t be able to make it this year. I’ll be out of town for a wedding for 5 days during Labor Day weekend.
Community Stuff
This week’s Fortnight Discussion deals with the long-awaited “Big Quests”...
Also, check out the Wiki Editor of the Month competition!, and while you're at it, go make some edits to the wiki!
Alpha 32
Performance
- Loads and loads of performance tweaks
- Load times are slightly faster
Graphics
- Fix for players clipping through walls and objects vertically after teleporting while in the water
UI / Controls
- Fix for Traits on Load Character screen not being separated by line
- Fix for players 2, 3 and 4 not having the correct character selected when entering Character Select screen after death while playing as a custom character
- Fix for error if player plays as a custom character, dies, clears the custom character slot, then closes and re-opens the menu
Items
- Fix for Shopkeeper appearing to be equipped with weapons on multiplayer client when he is actually empty-handed
Status Effects / Traits / Special Abilities
- Fix for Bloodlust, Zombify, Camera Shy, Crepe Crusher, Blahd Basher and potentially others not triggering properly sometimes for multiplayer clients past the level where they joined the game
- Unstoppable-Ish cancels out Tank-Like and Skinny Nerdlinger during Character Creation
Sound
- Fix for “jump out of water” sound effect playing if the player teleports while in the water
Tutorial
- Fix for explosions from first laser not hitting the player if he stood in the exact right spot
- Player can now eat the Banana to advance the “quick-use health” part of the tutorial
Internal
- Prep work for Downtown levels
- Prep work for console versions
- Created new Free version of the game
- Created new Show version of the game for PAX
Alpha 32b
- Fix for custom characters sometimes not appearing properly
- Fix for chests and shops sometimes having incorrect items
Alpha 32c
- Fix for Pits not appearing
- Fix for Crusher poles not appearing
- Fix for shadows not appearing
- Fix for player identifiers not appearing in multiplayer modes
- Fix for people not turning blue when frozen
Alpha 32d (reverted to 32c for now due to new bugs introduced, will fix tomorrow)
- Fixed a small bug that I added shortly before deploying Alpha 32, which ironically might have made performance WORSE than before.
Alpha 32e (August 25)
- Fixed issue from 32d where people would not attack you
- Added new lighting setting “Medium”. With this setting, walls do not cast shadows, which can greatly improve performance while still keeping the aesthetics mostly intact.
- Fix for Killer Plants remaining permanently white after being hit
- For for people briefly looking incorrect after being Depossessed by Shapeshifter
- More performance tweaks
Alpha 32f
- Fix for glitch introduced in 32e where AI would often not attack each other when they are hostile
Alpha 32g (August 26)
- Fix for people not always fighting back against Zombies
- Fix for people not getting angry upon seeing you standing over their friend’s dead body
- Fix for people not walking around in their owned buildings and looking at objects
- Fix for people not being angry at depossessed people who attacked them while possessed
- Fix for people not correctly determining when they should not get angry at a person who attacked them while possessed
- Fix for items not having shadows
- Fix for players 2, 3 and 4 in coop games not being able to use hacking target properly
- Fixed frame drops when people got clustered together
- Improved Zombie frame rate issues
Alpha 32h (August 27)
- Fix for weird bugs introduced in 32g