Since Anomalies was released back in 2016, I have gotten a lot of great feedback on it. It was my first officially released game, so I did not really have a great grasp on where the market stood on games like it. As a result, I think I over-estimated its value a bit.
Anomalies' new price is $0.99 and I think it makes more sense that way. Maybe it will help it find a new audience, especially with the new "Advanced Spawn Menu" option.
Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed playing Anomalies as much as I have enjoyed working on it!
New Advanced Spawn Menu
For most of us, Anomalies is just weird enough. However, there are among us, the super-weird - the people for whom weird is just the beginning.
It is for these people that I have added a new option in Anomalies. It's called: "The Advanced Spawn Menu."
Basically, once it's activated in your options menu, it will allow you to manually enter numbers into the game's spawn menu - that green menu that you use to manually change the parameters of an anomaly.
The limits on parameters were put in place for several reasons. Performance is a major one. You may find that adding an extra 2000 segments will slow your computer or crash the game, so there are no guarantees that you can use these new options, or that they will get the results you want. Nevertheless, I thought it might be fun to try to push the limits.
https://youtu.be/SS2NPK4vRGw
The video shows just one such parameter being customized, "orbit" which is usually limited between 1 and 10. At 500, the anomaly rotates much faster than would normally be possible.
At any rate, combining these new options might result in some extraordinarily weird stuff, and that's what we're here for, right!?!
New Album Added to Music Collection
Congratulations!
If you are someone who purchased the Anomalies Music Collection, you just got the latest Anomalies album.
The fifth Anomalies album contains thirteen new tunes for your listening enjoyment. Remember, you can sample all the Anomalies albums here on my Bandcamp page: https://mkschmidt.bandcamp.com/
As a reminder veryone who purchases Anomalies automatically gets the first three Anomalies albums. Access them through your Steam Library under Music. Then you can use Steam's built in music player to listen, make playlists and more.
How it all started
As a game and artistic project, I am very happy with Anomalies. I never expected it to reach as far as it has when I started. In fact, it started off as a simple algorithm to create nebulas for my other game Star Explorers.
When I saw that the nebulas were beginning to look a bit like trees growing in outer space, I took that idea and went with it. Have a look at one of the very earliest versions of Anomalies, which I called "Trees in Space."
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1474988721
Each new feature came as a simple idea, what if they wiggled? What if they were symmetrical? What if they made noises? etc... so the game developed in an experimental way, with no plan as to what it would end up like.
There were some ideas that I took very far, but have since abandoned because they did not perform the way I wanted them to. Exporting Anomalies actually worked, but it had some issues that I could not quite resolve. I am still thinking about it though, and it may show up in a later version. Exporting the sounds as a MIDI file is also still on my to-do list, though I really have no idea how it might be accomplished yet. VR is an intriguing prospect too.
Still, the possibilities are pretty endless. I have not had time to tinker around with it recently, but my creative efforts tend to come and go in phases. I am sure another Anomalies phase is on its way, just not sure when...
Some Anomalies Music now Included
You may notice Anomalies updating the next time you log into Steam. I have included some of the music collection in with the basic version of Anomalies.
For those that purchased the Music Collection, I thank you. Not all the music will be included in the basic edition, and any future albums will be automatically included to the Music collection, so please don't feel that your purchase is being devalued in any way. If you do feel this way, I do apologize, and I will personally refund your money if it comes to that, but I wanted to allow for the basic users to have some access to the music as well.
Also, as I mentioned in the original release of the music collection, all the songs are available on my Bandcamp page here: https://mkschmidt.bandcamp.com/
Achievements are Coming
Now that you can load older anomalies after updates, I can begin making smaller incremental changes to the game without ruining your enjoyment.
For starters, I have begun creating Steam Achievements for Anomalies. There are only two right now, and they are only activated in the "Testing" version of Anomalies, but more will be added, and soon they will be active in the "default" version.
Some of the achievements will be give-aways, awarded simply for doing a certain action the first time. Others will be more challenging. Right now, the two achievements reflect this approach, one being awarded for simply clicking the "Randomize" button, while the other will require a bit more ingenuity.
"The Wiggle Worm" is a type of anomaly I encountered through some experimentation. If you can re-create the Wiggle Worm, then you will get the achievement. Some parameters will need to be set a certain way, while others will remain open.
As a hint to anyone who wants to try it, since "The Wiggle Worm" is clearly singular, you would have to start by setting "Max Spawns" - the first parameter on the upper left corner of the spawn menu - to 1. This means only one "branch" will spawn initially. A second hint is that "Max Segments" and "Max Size" can be set to any size. An anomaly does not need to be a specific size or length to be called the Wiggle Worm.
Perhaps you can guess the other parameters required, there are around 17 of them. Good luck!
Update 01/09/2018 - New Save Protocol
I have made an important update, that may not make much of a difference initially, but will greatly effect the future of Anomalies. The saving protocol for Anomalies has been completely rewritten, so it should now be possible for me to update the game, without effecting the user's ability to load previously saved anomalies.
Anomaly data is now written to a text file with the following format: >save_"name".txt< where "name" is the name you type into the save dialogue. Type the same name into the load dialogue and hit Okay, and your anomaly will be recreated before your very eyes.
The old save protocol used 3D GameStudio's default save_game function, which produced .SAV files. Any time I added any new functions or variables to the game, the engine would no longer recognize the older .SAV files, as they did not carry the new functions and variables in them.
To use the new version, go to Properties>Betas and choose the "testing" version. I plan to test it over the next few days to make sure it's stable, then I will set it to the default.
Small Update 01/03/2018
UPDATE:
I updated Anomalies again this afternoon. There was a small issue where flowers would not rotate symmetrically when symmetry was set to 3. This should be fixed now.
ORIGINAL POST:
I updated he Options menu to allow you to lock and unlock the shader effects. What this means is that they may be "randomized" like other parameters of the anomalies. If you are installing Anomalies for the first time, they should appear as locked by default (different from other parameters) as I felt that these shaders are not parameters of an anomaly, but rather parameters of the game window.
By keeping them locked, you can manually set your shader preferences. However, when you unlock them, by unclicking the small round toggle next to the slider in the options menu, you will allow the randomize button to randomize these shader effects.
I also included the old backgrounds and sounds in this latest build. This allows you to switch back and forth between the old style and the "Space & Sounds" DLC content by turning that package on or off.
If you have no idea what any of this means, no worries, just press "R" :)
Shaders Update 01/01/2018
Anomalies has gotten an overhaul. New shader effects have been added to the Options menu.
The new outlines and bloom shaders in action
Shaders
Bloom
Blur
Pixel Graphics
Outlines
Bloom
The Bloom Shader makes your anomalies glow with brilliance. Adjust the intensity with the bloom amount slider.
Blur
The Blur Shader does what its name implies, making your anomalies more vague and undefined. Adjust with the blur amount slider.
Pixel Graphics
Get that "old school" effect with the Pixel Graphics shader. Adjust the pixel size with the pixel width slider.
Outlines
Give your anomalies a unique, cartoony look with the outline shader. Adjust with the outline amount slider.
Mix Them Up
These shaders work alone or together. Mix them up to see unique combinations!
Other Additions and Fixes
Anomaly segments have been adjusted to correct a problem with flickering shadows when real time shadows were enabled
Moving Background - the background now rotates
Secondary backgrounds - new background layers have been added with star like objects that swirl around
The new version will not be able to open previously saved anomalies. However, you can opt-in to the "legacy" version by clicking on "Anomalies > Properties > Betas" and choosing "Legacy" from the drop down menu.
Music Collection
Since posting the Music Collection DLC, what does everyone think? I'm curious because I have been listening to these "albums" non stop for the last few months. I'm not saying they are great, but somehow hearing music written by my own program is really interesting to me. If you are interested in hearing samples before diving in, you can hear all four albums here:
