We're back with a few new features for you to enjoy! We took some time while we were porting the game to Switch to check a few more boxes off the list of things we would like to have in the game, things like ...
Colorblind Support!
In the options menu, players can now enable a colorblind mode. This setting will adapt the colors of the tiles a bit, while adding patterns to the tiles to help differentiate players. There are 3 contrast levels for the patterns.
End of Match Stats
When completing a match, you'll now see a stats window in the corner of the victory screen displaying Wins, Kills, Crushes and Dash Captures. All of these are cumulative across all of the matches you've played since selecting characters, and will reset if players return to player select. Don’t forget, you can change maps and match settings through the level select to keep consistent stats!
We also touched up the game in a few cool areas!
Optimization Overhaul
The game's performance has been optimized heavily in preparation for the game's launch on Nintendo Switch! This should result in the game running smoother, especially on lower end systems.
Smarter, More Stable AI!
Several AI bugs have been fixed which should make them a slightly smarter, more natural opponent.
Bug and Crash Fixes
Lots of miscellaneous bugs have been ironed out, and several potential crashes have been patched.
We hope you enjoy the new features, and don't forget, we're coming to the Nintendo Switch this November!
Battery Jam - 1.0 Launch!
It's here! Battery Jam 1.0!
We set a goal years ago to release a game, we were lucky enough to get to develop it full time for the last 9 months or so, and here we are. After all our planning, discussions, and hard work getting Battery Jam to what we felt made for a solid and complete experience we're finally here!
With that content completion comes a price change. We'd intended to adjust the price at launch since we went live into Early Access, and that's happening as promised. Today, we're bumping it up to $14.99. We wouldn't do it if we didn't think it was worth it, and we hope you agree! If you don't, then make sure you keep an eye on Steam Sales!
But enough about money, how about what's being added to this update?
Two More Levels!
Nebula and Satellite both focus on narrow arena formations to emphasize the ability to control zones of the board with raised tiles. On top of that, they're in outer space, so everything else is irrelevant!
Language Support!
One out of three Halseo employees have studied Japanese a bit. So we went to people who knew what they're doing for this one!
Bot Difficulty!
We hope the AI difficulty settings allow players to fine tune their experience a bit more! Dig in and crush them at every difficulty!
Various Bug Fixes
Addressed boomboxes merging
Added mouse symbols in options and in game while using Mouse and Keyboard
Options menu glitch for keyboard support
Visual glitch on skyline
Boomboxes spawning out of the arena
Addressing AI loitering
Numerous small fixes
We hope you enjoy the game, and on behalf of the three of us at Halseo, thank you to the players, and to our friends and family that helped along the way, and SCAD+, for making this possible!
Full Release coming May 17th!
Great news everyone!
We're one week away from releasing our 1.0 version on May 17th!
What does that mean?
Two more levels being added!
Here's a peek at one of them!
We have AI difficulty settings coming in!
And of course, some general bug fixing!
In slightly less positive news...
Right now, there is a small hiccup on our side. We had intended to raise the price of the game to $14.99 once we came out of Early Access. You might have noticed, as of this writing on May 10th, 2018 at about 10 AM Eastern, the price has already changed.
We were under the impression we would choose when that new pricing would go into effect, and seems we misunderstood! We're really sorry about that. We've reached out to Steam for some help and are working to see if we can kick the price back down for the rest of Early Access.
Keep an eye on our Twitter for updates about that situation, we'll inform everyone as soon as we have answers!
Battery Jam Update 0.7 : Levels and AI Update
SMALL LIST FOR A BIG CONTENT UPDATE!
Hope you're ready for our coolest update yet! Not only are we adding two new levels, which happen to be our fanciest levels to date, Plant and Slag, but we're adding AI so you can beat them up IN THE NEW LEVELS!
You can add them to a match while you're in character select! Check it out!
Here's the list of awesome stuff we packed into this update!
Plant
- A dense, small new level set in a beautiful and serene jungle! Or is it? Plant is a real tight level where you're always vulnerable!
Slag
- This laboratory isn't just eerie, it's also huge and empty! Make the most of the space to attack poorly defended opponents from across the map!
AI Opponents
- Now you can play the game solo or use AI to fill out matches with friends! They can be added in the character selection screen!
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Mouse and Keyboard Support
- Now that single player is possible in Battery Jam, it only made sense to properly support keyboard and mouse control! Mouse input is supported across all the menus and the keyboard and mouse control in game has been greatly improved and refined.
Battery Jam Update 0.6 : The Customization Update
IT’S TIME FOR AN UPDATE!
You want match settings? Teleporters? Enhanced visual elements on levels? Refined music tracks!? YOU GOT 'EM!
Here's the short list:
Added Match Settings menu
Added optional teleporters to every map
Added level specific feedback once game timer reaches 30 seconds
Updated various music tracks with additional saxophone
Updated Tutorial and Control Screen for clarification
Good old fashioned bug fixes
Match Settings
We’ve added a ton of options and ways to modify the game! Great features like...
Game Mode Presets
We’ve added pre-built game mode options for easy access, which you can further customize with tons of settings, such as...
Game Speed
Now you can tailor the pace of the game to your preference! Choose between normal, slow or fast game speed!
Teleporters
Push boomboxes into the teleporter to catch the competition off guard, or run through yourself to traverse the map quickly!
Invisible Territory
This modifier makes it so the colors of the tiles fade over time! Spice up our default mode by adding some mystery to who’s tiles you’re destroying, or add in deathmatch scoring to take the focus off the arena!
Score Type
You can also now change whether the score in a match is based off of tiles captured, kills, or crushes with the boombox!
Timers
Boombox timer, match length, respawn time each have an option in match settings to adjust!
Boomboxes
More than the timer option, you can also choose whether or not they turn into capture boxes, and how many boomboxes appear in the arena! Two not enough? Try ten!
Infinite Energy
And not an ounce of responsibility!
Points to Win
Two minute matches not your style? Change the game to a points to win setting to have standard deathmatch modes, or a variation on our default tile based mode!
Level Updates
Now on each level, when you’re playing a timer based game mode, each level will have a unique event to help ramp up the tension of those final moments!
Updated Tutorial and Control Screen
Changed the “Rocket Punch” to “Stun Shot” to help clarify the intent of the ability.
Changed “Popping and Dropping Tiles” to “Raising and Lowering Tiles” for clarity.
Bug Fixes
Problem with the bubble making player invincible after attempted pop while bubbled
Problem with players remaining stretched when hit while dashing
Problem with players getting knocked out of the play space
Problem with victory screen displaying in slomo
A bunch of other inconsequential bugs not worth mentioning!
Available now!
Happy launch day!!
Battery Jam has now been released into Early Access!
So what does that mean!?
It means you get the game! Which as of launch on January 30th, contains all four characters, four levels, Classic Jam (Free for All) and Team Jam!
Over the course of early access we'll be working to add features like -
New Levels
New Music
AI Bots
Match Settings
We'll also be doing our best to address feedback and bugs as they come up.
Thank you so much for spending time with our game, and we hope you enjoy it!
Heading to Early Access!
Hello everyone!!
Thank you so much for checking out Battery Jam! We're really excited to finally get to show it to all of you!
We made a small mistake during our submission process we need to clarify!
Battery Jam will be in EARLY ACCESS in January, not officially released. That comes a bit later! As our storefront gets re-reviewed, we figured we'd let you know why Battery Jam will be in early access, and what our plans are with it.
Until the store page updates, here's all that information posted here.
Why Early Access? Halseo is comprised of three guys shoved in a room in Savannah, Georgia, and we need early access to test the game and get feedback as we wrap it up for final release!
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? Only a few months! As of launch we're doing our best to have the game completed and officially released around March 2018.
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? The final version of the game will have additional levels as we complete them during Early Access, and a bit more music to add as well!
Currently, we do not plan to add online functionality.
What is the current state of the Early Access version? Presently the game contains four stages across two levels for players to experience. A large portion of the Early Access release is fairly indicative of what the final product should be. Our big plans for now are to bug test, and address feedback as players find new and exciting ways to break the game, and finish up the last of the content we're releasing.
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? Probably! We do intend to increase the price of the game after early access, by how much is still being figured out.
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process? We need feedback in all areas! We've got various resources available to our studio but at the end of the day we're looking to make sure the game's working well, make sure the game is playing well, and making sure people enjoy what we've got going on!
There's always opportunity for more, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!
