Bernie Needs Love
New Disco Stage Preview
Life happens, but we're back on track!
We're not sure when the next update will be available, but we're progressing. Here is a new preview of the disco-themed stages:
Disco stage preview GIF on Imgur
We'll share a bit of the soundtrack that will play on those stages soon!
Take care, and have a great weekend!
Update to version 0.831 is now live!
We have just updated 'Bernie Needs Love' to 0.831 as a minor between-milestones version increment to fix issues with the analog stick in stage 1-10. Special thanks to 'Zeebrax the Astral Lifejacket' for reporting the bug!
As a sidenote, we are working hard on levels 2-3 to 2-5, and we are looking forward to share more details with you guys in the near future. For now, we can promise version 0.84 will introduce very interesting gameplay mechanics to the run-and-jump formula, and a whole new setting for the action to take place (while all 2-x levels will be Carnival-related, after making his way across street festivities in stages 2-1 and 2-2, Bernie is now forced to endure a series of night-club parties).
As always, thank you all very much for the support, and have a great weekend!
Update to version 0.83 is now live!
We're happy to announce Bernie Needs Love is now updated to version 0.83 for both Windows and Linux platforms!
Here's what's new:
- Added bonus level 2.
- Added a new music track, "Jawcrusher Ballad", for the 2nd bonus level.
- Added secret level 2.
- Added new old-TV simulation mode (click here for a comparison).
- Fixed bug: keeping the key or button pressed, or pressing it repeatedly, while the level selection screen loads after completing any level kept the taximeter sound looping during the following stage.
- Replaced graphics for secret item 1 to match the style used for subsequent secret items.
- Updated credits and thank you list.
As usual, please let us know in case of bugs, comments, or suggestions.
We'll keep you guys posted on what we'll implement next. For now, our aim for 0.84 is to add two more levels and a new type of duck floater, along with a more stable volume for the soundtrack accross different stages.
Thank you for sticking around, and have fun! :)
0.83 is ready for Windows
This is a very short update just to keep you informed of our status: the update to version 0.83 is now finished and working 100% on Windows 32 and 64 bit. This version adds one hidden level, one bonus level, one new music track, various bug fixes, and a second old-TV effect that is much more accurate than the one present in version 0.82.
However, we stumbled upon an unexpected problem with nw.js and the Linux builds: the game does not start on our Ubuntu test environments, probably due to a change introduced by nw.js 0.13.x.
We're investigating the issue and, hopefully, we'll have a solution by the end of the week. Either way, we'll post another announcement this weekend letting you know if we managed to fix this.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Thank you, and have fun!
Happy New Year & Status Update on Version 0.83
In our last announcement, we established November as the likely timeframe for the update to version 0.83 to be made available. However, the introduction of the new Jawbreaker-based bonus level proved much more demanding than expected – as it usually is with new features, but you know, we're optimistic – and now, on the verge of the new year, we’re still working hard on the said version increment. Fortunately, we’ve been making good progress, and we’d like to share a bit of what we’ve been up to lately, as well as leverage this opportunity for a new year message to our dear players.
We intend to include a new bonus stage every few version increments, until we reach a total of 5 different minigames. The current version, 0.82, let’s the player enjoy an arcade-inspired bouncing game when 10 pills are collected in any regular stage – and that’s where the new bonus level, a tribute to Jawbreaker, will come into play: with the update to 0.83, bonus plays will switch between each special level every time the full score is achieved.
There are still details to add, and a few rough edges to trim, but, after a lot of tweaking, we think the game flow feels right. Click here to view a quick capture of the 2nd bonus stage in action.
We also intend to create a different music track for each bonus level, and the idea is to maintain the style of the track we used for the bouncing stage, i.e. a bit less chiptunesy and a little more organic compositions with a blues/Latin rock feel. Click here to check out the very WIP, as-is, export of the track we’re making for the new bonus level.
Still regarding bonus stages, a few players made us a question we did not really expect: what are those bonus levels for? We sincerely thought the opportunity to play a different style in a difficult-to-reach level would be a reward in itself, but those comments made us wonder what we could do not only to reward the player’s effort, but also to further tie-in that bonus content with the whole experience. Here’s what we have come up with so far: when a (local) highscore is achieved in any give bonus stage, the player obtains a powerup that allows reviving Bernie once and continuing after death, without returning to the start of the level. This is not something will implement in 0.83, so please do let us know if you have any ideas for this system while we try to figure this out. ;)
Shifting focus to another feature we’re working on, not many of you seem to be aware, but the game already features one hidden level, and future updates will deepen a very mysterious subplot for those who search hard enough. The second secret level will be introduced in v0.83, and, even though giving away details about the secret stages is not in our plans, we’d like to share the first half of this extra-dificcult challenge to fuel your curiosity: click here to see a preview of the 2nd secret stage on Imgur.
Well, that’s it for now. Let us know if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments – we’ll do our best to reply in a timely manner.
We wish you all a wonderful 2016, full of happiness, health, and personal growth. It’s been an honor for us to have you along for the ride, and we have each and every one of you to thank for helping us create ‘Bernie Needs Love’. When the new year comes, we’ll raise a toast to you, our dear players, who enjoy beating the challenges we come up with, see poetry in pixel art, and somehow seem to get our silly yet acid sense of humor – thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
Cheers! :)
New secret level + A tribute to Jawbreaker
Quick dev update:
We're still working on the level design of the new hidden stage, and on the mechanics of the 2nd bonus stage - in which we pay homage to the great classic Jawbreaker (for the Atari 2600).
Here's a gif with a bit of the aforementioned bonus stage
And here is a quick capture of the WIP bonus level based on Jawbreaker
We've been aiming for an update in October, but it seems November is more realistic. After that, we will implement stage 13 or, in the context of how the levels are split, stage 2-3.
Stay tuned for more updates about the next version, and have fun! ːsteamhappyː