Version "02/21/2019 21:45:44" (on the BIOS) is up. It'll be 22:03:03 for insiders.
A few minor changes/fixes:
- Increased the difficulty of a few of the Shard Stars (the "third star" that becomes available when a level is cleared). See 2-3, "The Squareshank Shapedemption", for one example. One reason for this is that, in some levels, the shards might be way too easy to collect because the level layout doesn't call for any sort of challenging ways to place them. Easy is fine once in a while, because some levels are hard enough that clearing them in the first place makes you deserving of more stars. And a break! But there shouldn't be many cases of "just enter the level again and grab the shards because they're just right there," because that would defeat the purpose.
- Fixed a crash that occurs clearing 3-10, because 4-1 doesn't exist in the "shareware" version. If you encountered this, the game shouldn't think that you're on 4-1 any longer, and you should be able to play again. Please leave a comment if it still does.
- Removed the splash screen, because the DOS bootup screen is basically one anyway. Credits and "Special Thanks" will be given in-game soon.
- On selecting "Play", the game now takes you straight to the last level you were on... at least for now. Because loading the level select screen too quickly after just launching the game causes crashing, and we haven't pinpointed the issue just yet. We'll be fixing it "for real," of course, but in the meantime you we think you should have as bug-free an experience as possible. Plus, you're getting to the action a fraction of a second earlier!
- Clearing a level takes you back to the Level Select screen, with the next level highlighted. This is more intuitive than the "Where next?" menu while also giving a clear-cut way to allow you to re-enter a level, or choose another one, pretty quickly.
Making sure that the game is actually playable -- cutting out those crashes -- is still top priority. We don't want to release any paid content until those are fixed. Because even though we're still in Early Access, it's simply not fair to pay for something that doesn't work like it should.
There will be incremental updates even when those aren't fixed, though, because we don't want to hold back what will at least be in the free version. In the works are some graphical updates and music. Along with some of your feature suggestions... so keep those coming!