Phew...that was a long pause between updates. Sorry for that. I'll make a point to release more frequent inbetween updates in the future, but enough about that. Let's talk about PowersVR's first content patch, which brings a fair amount of bug-fixes, art upgrades and of course features to the game. A patch I've dubbed:
One of the most common (and very valid) criticisms PowersVR has received is it's lack of gameplay, today's update is hopefully a step in the right direction as it introduces the first two challenges. Mini-tasks which are placed around the sandbox, and require specific heroes to take on. Completing these challenges with a good score will also unlock you one of the two new heroes.
As is often the case, building the underlying tech and assets is easier than creating additional content, so now that all the systems required to make challenges work are more or less done, creating new challenge areas and superpowers should be a much quicker process. This will allow me to get the rest of the planned heroes and missions to you at a quicker pace.
With the launch of this update I've also raised the price of PowersVR to 10 USD. This won't be something I do for every content update, but as the game grows so will it's price. I'll talk a little more about what's next for the game, but first the patch notes:
New Characters
* An anti-hero and a wronged villain have joined the cast and made it a bit darker.
- Nightwatcher's past keeps him on the streets, grappling from building to building, lurking in the shadows.
- The Witch's life has been stolen from her, along with her memories. The cold lab from which she escaped with her telekinetic powers is all she knows.
Challenges
* This update's highlight are challenges. Two challenges are waiting to be found and beaten in the city.
- Challenges are accessed through kiosks with a hovering hologram of a trophy.
- Completing a challenge with a score better than the required one will unlock one of the newly added heroes.
General
* Heroes that don't fit in the current 4-character wheel, will be placed on a new page.
- Players can toggle pages using the side buttons when the menu is open.
- This may change to a swipe gesture in a later patch.
* Refactored and optimizated a lot of old code.
* The pre-sandbox tutorial has been updated to include an explanation for challenges.
Options
* Reworked the way menus are handled thus removing a number of bugs caused by them.
* A new Sandbox tab has been added to the options menu, for settings which will affect only that mode.
* You can now reset all your progress from the options menu.
- A new confirm menu has been implemented for this option and future options with consequences.
* The settings menu now only rotates around the Z axis.
Sandbox
* There are now loads of physics items scattered throughout the city.
* Game textures and materials have been reworked to now take up less space, load faster and use less memory during runtime.
* Some art assets have been retouched.
* Removed deprecated assets.
Zap (Superspeed)
* Speed now depends on the amount the controller's trigger is pressed.
* All effects and animations have been reworked to work better with the new method of speed control.
* Fixed some issues with collision.
Fuego (Fireballs)
* Has a 0.8s cooldown inside the challenge mode.
* You can now cancel charged Fireballs by pressing the side button.
Dark Prinxess (Lasersight)
* Moved laser origin to make it feel more natural and remove a visual glitch.
Next on the agenda is of course fixing all the bugs and problems that this new patch will bring about. If you encounter a glitch or have feedback about any aspect of the game do not hesitate to contact me here, with a PM or on the forums.
Once it's stable I'll start working on the next content update with another couple of heroes and challenges. I'll also focus on creating 3D new assets and working on Enemy AI, which will not only make the sandbox and challenge areas look and feel nicer, but will also be used in the story mode.
After patch 0.3.0 hits, I'll focus my attention on the campaign, as that is supposed to be the core of the game, releasing new heroes and challenges occasionally, but consistently updating with bugfixes and improvements, as well as informing you of the current progress.
If you wanna influence the game's development I've also just created a Google survey. The results of this survey will determine what gets done next, so fill it up and let me know.
The last thing I wanted to talk about, before I go collapse in bed is some pretty great news. If you've already read this much of today's update then you've probably played the game and enjoyed it, but there are currently many VR early adopters who cannot. Well, after contacting the folks over at Oculus, I've been approved for and sent an Oculus Rift headset and Touch controllers. The tech feels awesome, and I'm super thankful for being given the chance to port my game to that platform. I'm already looking into enabling Rift owners to experience PowersVR for the first time and thanks to Unreal Engine, it may be easier than I once imagined.
That's it from me guys. It's been a pretty busy month, but totally worth it.