Alright, I've been hard at work all day today for about ten hours straight trying to balance Rock 'N Roll, get all the formulas and calculations better with all the new changes and additions to the game recently.. This IS a vital part of making a good and fun game that you want to return to again and again!
So anyhow, let's get to the changes made for Update 1.17...
* I've boosted the accuracy bonus points again so that it feels more fair when compared to the time bonuses which have been pretty gigantic at times compared to taking careful aim with your shots. I'm not at more then double the accuracy rewards over what this game saw just yesterday.
* Another 40% increase in points are awarded immediately to you for the Risk VS Reward action of thrusting while shooting and hitting asteroids. The faster you are moving and the smaller the asteroid hit with your bullet, the greater the bonus. This total is now given to you on the "Level Complete" statistics screen between levels. Keep in mind that this bonus shown is already given to you immediately when you hit asteroids with bullets while moving real time, but it's just nice to see how many points you did earn by being a dare devil.
* Before this update, extra lives were earned either by picking up the bonus life power-up (rare drop) during the action, or by scoring 20,000...50,000, and every 50,000 points thereafter. That is not changing until you pass 1 million points. Once you pass a million points in a game, the requirement to get an extra life moves from every 50,000 points to every 100,000 points.
* The A55 Kicker fire rate has been changed. Its firing rate will now vary in speed based on what level (wave) you are on when you spawn it (or pick up the A55 Kicker power-up) At level 1, you'll see about a 40% slower firing rate, and each level will slowly increase it's firing rate. The firing rate seen before this update will be matched at level 7, and each successive level will slowly increase its rate of fire until it maxes out at level 16 at which point it would be firing more than twice the speed it always fired at before this patch. So basically, the rate of fire is nerfed until you reach level 7, and buffed after level 7. Note that the difficulty you choose to begin the game has no effect on this firing rate, it's all based on what wave or level you are on.
*The A55 Kicker was also OP against the enemies killing them effortlessly as long as they were within the A55's range. The A55 will now sometimes barely miss the Red Shooter Alien and the Kamikaze worm but will still do extremely well when firing against the VDS. Keep in mind that if the VDS spawns with an A55 Kicker on your screen, unless you save your little buddy, the VDS will very likely kill it based on having precise aim and a much longer firing distance than your little aluminum beer can friend. Protect it and kill the VDS before it kills your friend! ;-)
* Tweaks were made to the Cannonball power-up when you have purchased additional power-up time at the Galactic Upgrade Station between levels. Now for every additional second of power-up time you purchase, the Cannonball power-up will send you flying at incrementally faster speeds when launched from the cannon power-up pick up. This means that if you were to max out the power-up timer at 60 seconds, picking up the Cannonball power-up would launch you at double the speed! Wow! ..I hope this doesn't send anyones ship flying through their monitor and into their real life home! :-P
Remember to have fun! I hope you enjoy the game and all the work I'm putting into this little game. :-)