Lost Marbles Polish Update #1

It's been a little while now since the last game update, and even since my last community post on steam. I was planning to post this as a dev blog to let you guys know how things were going, but i decided since some of the visual changes are so drastic, id rather get the update out there ASAP as they better reflect the aesthetic direction I'm looking for compared to the current live version. Though I'm not currently doing any heavy marketing for the game, I do still want anyone who happens to stumble upon it to have a good first impression.

The update does not have many of the new levels that I currently have in progress, so expect those to drop when they are completed soon(ish). That being said, there are some new levels in this update, just not as many as I was originally planning to drop the update with.

I have dubbed this update 'The Polish Update #1', as many of the updates within pertain to pushing the game into a more polished state. With that little intro out of the way, lets get to what has changed...

Gameplay Polish

I have made a few small changes to the gameplay visuals in order to bring the game closer to my desired 'look'. This is by no means a finished look, but its a step towards my desired look and feel for the game. Some of the assets used are placeholder for now whilst the real artwork is being created.

On top of the visual changes, a new xp and currency system has been implemented. These currently don't have a use, but they will both be used in coming updates to unlock new levels and skins.

Below is a list of the changes to gameplay:

On top of these changes and additions, a few new levels have been added to the game.

Some levels have had visual changes made to them in an effort to bring their style in line with the more recent levels that I have release/are being made. I made sure that none of these changes affected the current record routes, but it is possible that the changes have opened up new, better routes. The levels in question are:

Challenge Mode Rework

Anyone who read my 2024 post will know that I wasn't at all happy with the challenge mode in its current form, and for that reason, it has been completely overhauled. Challenge levels are now know as Remix levels, and with this name change comes a redesign of how they work. The levels themselves have not changed, but they are now permanently accessible levels within the game, as opposed to using a random selection with a daily reset. Each challenge will have a specific unlock condition which must be met to access the level. There are currently 13 remix levels to unlock and play, and this number will likely rise rapidly as I finish polishing up all of the existing old challenge levels, as well as create new ones.

The concept of a daily reset still exists in the form of 'Spotlight' levels. These spotlight levels grant additional xp and game currency upon completion, and also allows access to remix levels that the player has yet to unlock. Spotlight is not exclusive to remix levels however, so any game level (including arcade playlists) can be selected for spotlight. Spotlight levels currently reset every 4 hours, though this could change in the future.

Menu Rework

The most drastic change many existing players will notice is the menu. Honestly, this change was accidental; I did plan on updating the menu, but it wasn't meant to be yet... I was curious how the menu would look if I removed the scrolling square background to display the new skybox, and I'm gonna' be honest, I was VERY happy with the result. On top of this, I tried adding some animations to each of the main menu widgets to give it a more reactive feeling, and I think it was a huge step in the right direction.

A list of all changes in the menu can be found below:

Game Server Overhaul

On top of the updates to the game client, the server has also seen some love. The back end has been completely re-written, and whilst this won't be noticeable by any of you guys, it was done to make my life a lot easier. It allows me to more easily add new features which I was previously putting off due to the backend mess that I created a number of years ago now...

This is what allowed me to easily add the new xp and currency systems into the game, as well as easily adding new leaderboards such as the new player level/xp leaderboard. Doing this has also indirectly fixed the issue with certain leaderboards not loading correctly without me having to actually diagnose the problem... :)

Regarding The Demo

In a final piece of news, I have decided that I do want to keep the demo around, but it will require a little work to bring it up to date with a standard that I'm happy to show off. For this reason, the demo will be disabled for a little while, and will return once I have made the necessary changes.

Additional change notes

That is all for this update, so if you made it this far, thanks for reading! We aren't done yet though, part two of the polish update will be coming in the near future, and will contain a lot more content than just visual polish for people to get their hands on!