There is one more update coming for Anomalies this week. This will be the last one for a while, as I must begin working on my other Greenlit game Star Explorers.
This final update (until Star Explorers is ready) will include the following:
More Particle Options
More Particle Types - 10 in all
Particle Size
Particle Shrinking or Growing
Particle Color
Flower Options
1 New Flower Type
Flower Rotation - with Wiggle Active (previously flowers only rotated when Wiggle was set to 0
Flower Particles - if flowers are active, particles will now spawn on flowers, adding rotation to the particle movement
Flower Symmetry with Orbit - activating flowers along with symmetry and orbit caused problems before, now they will all work together
German Update
The German version of Anomalies will be up to date as well
Re-Released the Update!
The new update has been re-released!
Here is the list improvements of improvments again.
Improved Branching/Spawning/Segments "# of Branches" is now more accurate. This allows for a single spawn, with "# of Branches" set to 1 to create a single long anomaly with no branching. I call this type of Anomaly the "Wiggle Worm." It will be the subject of the next contest.
Also, number of spawns is more accurate, so if you set it to 3, there will actually be 3 spawn points. Previously, it was counting them innacurately, and sometimes producing extra spawn points.
Max segments has also been improved and now sets numbers divisible by 10. This effects the timing of anomaly music, especially when "fixed angle" is set to 1, so it makes it easier to create more rhythmic songs.
Improved Rhythms Before, some anomalies would have very, very slow sounds when "Fixed Angle" was set to 1. This has been tweaked, and sounds are produced somwhat more consistently, regardless of the settings.
Particle Features Three particle parameters have been added or improved. "Particle Scatter" allows the user to determine how much or little individual particles will move randomly from their initial path. Particles with no "Speed" and now "Scatter" will remain motionless.
"Particle Length" allows the user to determine how long a particle will remain visible.
"Particle Speed" was there before, and it worked more or less the same way. However, it did not work in conjunction with "Symmetry" and particles would shoot out in random directions. Now try adding particle speed to a symmetrical anomaly, and see the results.
Fixed Saving/Loading Saving and Loading anomalies worked, but the loaded anomalies did not retein the correct material settings. This has been fixed, and loaded anomalies should appear exactly as they were when saved. (Note, anoamalies saved before the update will not work ... sorry. If you want to avoid this in the future, make sure you set Automatic Updates to "off")
Improved Orbit The "Orbit" parameter did not work with symmetry correctly. Now symmetrical anomalies can also orbit, and retain their symmetry. Also, "Flowers" did not work correctly with orbit either, and now they do.
Enjoy the new features and improvements to Anomalies!
Update Removed
The new update was added last night. However, it has been removed and replaced with the previous version. All the new features worked great, but somehow the game's screen resolution became fixed, and could no longer be changed.
As soon as this problem is resolved, the new update will be re-uploaded.
Sorry about the confusion. The German version was not yet updated.
New Update 11-21-2016
The new update has been released!
This one includes quite a few improvements.
Improved Branching/Spawning/Segments "# of Branches" is now more accurate. This allows for a single spawn, with "# of Branches" set to 1 to create a single long anomaly with no branching. I call this type of Anomaly the "Wiggle Worm." It will be the subject of the next contest.
Also, number of spawns is more accurate, so if you set it to 3, there will actually be 3 spawn points. Previously, it was counting them innacurately, and sometimes producing extra spawn points.
Max segments has also been improved and now sets numbers divisible by 10. This effects the timing of anomaly music, especially when "fixed angle" is set to 1, so it makes it easier to create more rhythmic songs.
Improved Rhythms Before, some anomalies would have very, very slow sounds when "Fixed Angle" was set to 1. This has been tweaked, and sounds are produced somwhat more consistently, regardless of the settings.
Particle Features Three particle parameters have been added or improved. "Particle Scatter" allows the user to determine how much or little individual particles will move randomly from their initial path. Particles with no "Speed" and now "Scatter" will remain motionless.
"Particle Length" allows the user to determine how long a particle will remain visible.
"Particle Speed" was there before, and it worked more or less the same way. However, it did not work in conjunction with "Symmetry" and particles would shoot out in random directions. Now try adding particle speed to a symmetrical anomaly, and see the results.
Fixed Saving/Loading Saving and Loading anomalies worked, but the loaded anomalies did not retein the correct material settings. This has been fixed, and loaded anomalies should appear exactly as they were when saved. (Note, anoamalies saved before the update will not work ... sorry. If you want to avoid this in the future, make sure you set Automatic Updates to "off")
Improved Orbit The "Orbit" parameter did not work with symmetry correctly. Now symmetrical anomalies can also orbit, and retain their symmetry. Also, "Flowers" did not work correctly with orbit either, and now they do.
Enjoy the new features and improvements to Anomalies!
Winner!
Blossom963 has won the Anomalies contest with this entry:
http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/242461552697249558/D8F7CED0F496651B24D52B4327CEE0054C697068/
Here is a screenshot of the original file with the parameters showing, so you can see the similarities, and try to re-create it yourself.
Blossom963 will receive a free key to Star Explorers when it is released on Steam!
Update Scheduled
There is a new update coming for Anomalies some time this weekend. Several issues have been address:
1. Orbit will now work in conjunction with Symmetry. Currently, if using randomize, orbit will never appear in a symmetrical anomaly. This is because the orbit function messes up the symmetrical appearance of the anomaly. In the Update, these two parameters work together to create new and unique formations.
2. Sound speed improvement. Currently, some anomlies suffer from exceedingly slow sound production. They are virtually silent. This has been improved in the new update, and you will hear more sounds coming from most anomalies, especially with "fixed angle" active.
3. Particles! New parameters have been added to the effects menu. Particle Speed has been improved and now works with symmetrical anomalies. The visual results are quite breathtaking if I may say so. Currently, particle speed is set to 0 when Anomalies are symmetrical and in orbit, as they did not work properly.
4. More Particles! The new system also allows you to manually adjust particle length (how long a particle will remain on screen) and particle scatter, allowing for stationary particles, or very actively scattering in all directions.
5. Sound Lights. Currently there is no option to turn off the flashing lights that occur with each sound an anomaly segment produces. In the update, you will be able to turn this parameter on and off.
Check out the short trailer of some of these new features:
https://youtu.be/Tp-sreqVygo
Look for the update some time this weekend. It will be after the contest winner is announced tonight (midnight central time)
Contest Ends Friday at Midnight (Central Time USA)
On Friday night at midnight I will pick the best attempt at the Anomaly. If you are having trouble, remember to watch the Demo Video in the last announcement.
Good Luck!
Demo Video
The Anomalies Contest (previous announcement) will be coming to a close this weekend. I can see that some folks are struggling to acheive the desired results. In order to give everyone a better chance, I'm sharing a demonstration on how to use Anomalies. It doesn't show how to make the contest anomaly, but it might help you to understand the interface more.
https://youtu.be/jrFt83AGw88
I hope to see some more attempts!
Anomalies Contest
Can you reproduce this Anomaly?
https://youtu.be/e630g-YMWW4
The first person who shares a video or screenshot of an Anomaly like this will win!
You will win a free key to my other game "Star Explorers."
Star Explorers has been Greenlit, but it is not available on Steam yet. As soon as it becomes available (I am shooting for mid December) I will send you a free key to access the game. Check out the Greenlight page here:
Also, post your screenshot with the parameters menu showing.
German Language Added!
Now you can tell all your German friends about Anomalies!
To activate German mode, right click on Anomalies in your library and click on "Properties" then on the "Languages" tab. Select Deutsch (German) from the drop down, and it will automatically update when you play Anomalies.
For any Germans who actually download it, I apologize, "Mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut..."
More languages will be coming in the following days and weeks...
