Hi all, While I am updating Carsteroids with new features I decided to go with an historical low discount here on Steam. The discount will only last this week, so you have few days to grab it :)
What to expect in the next update? Well, apart from adding the Italian translation and preparing the code to accomodate other eventual languages, I am working to add special features and events to play the game in different ways, creating different type of situations for fresh new challenges. These feature/events will be activated with a special code at the start, but they will be officially added to the game in the future if they are appealing! The use of the code feature will also be beneficial for the timed events I'll organize, regarding the giveaway of tokens, items, unlock of special events etc. Also, I am adding the possibility to use paint jobs on your car for the arcade mode, I added few of them, will you collect them all?
Thanks for reading, as always any feedback would be extremely appreciated.
Hello pilots! Thanks to your many requests the soundtrack is finally out!
You can now experience the frantic sound of Carsteroids with your awesome home stereo or while driving your car, but do not activate your weapons while driving, please!
Hello pilots, thanks to your feedbacks Carsteroids just received a new update.
This update is about the recently added "reload" sound effect, now replaced with a new one (the voice sample seemed a bit out of place). Also, now when you enter a boss stage you will find an energy divider that is active for few seconds, this makes the fight not immediately starting (but there is a surprise during stage 20). Hope you'll enjoy!
v1.05x changelog:
"Reload" voice samples replaced with new sound effects.
Energy barrier added before each boss fight.
The Scavenger now also appears on stages 1-2.
No more received hits when a pop up message is on screen.
Achievement "Masochist" is not triggered anymore after the training stage.
Fixed a bug preventing shooting/reloading when energy equal to zero.
Fixed screen shake when using the bouncing shot.
Some minor changes.
Update v1.05 - Difficulty balancement, checkpoint saving & more
Hello fighters! Thanks to your feedbacks the update 1.05 is now live. This update is mainly about difficulty balancement and savegames, but also other things listed below.
1. Difficulty
You face many types of opponents in Carsteroids, but they can mainly be categorized in primary and secondary. Primary opponents spawn once at the start of a game (they're your main target) and secondary opponents spawn at some intervals during a play. Before this update a game could have been infinite because the continous spawning of secondary opponents. After this update when you beat a primary opponent no more secondary opponent will enter the combat (now a secondary target enters the arena only if the primary target is still in play). This change brought a significative alteration to the "ecosystem" of Carsteroids because with less secondary opponents less points are generated and consequentially the player might earn less money for the upgrades. So it took a while to rebalance all the factors for a good compromise between all of them. Hopefully the gameplay will be better balanced now.
2. Saving
Because the game automatically saves at certain points to preserve the unlocks and the overall progress, when I added the possibility to manually save, the load of a checkpoint started to mess all of this. Now with this upgrade when starting a new game (independently if it's arcade, story or versus) the game always overwrites the previous data deleting also the story mode saved checkpoint. This is the best option to keep all the data for a game born on roguelite foundations and featuring 3 different main modes connected between each other.
3. More...
Lastly, some improvements to the reload notifications and some AI upgrades to give to your opponent a little more of unpredictability. Below you can find the complete changelog. Game on!
v1.05 changelog:
Added "reload" voice on zero shots (normal difficulty).
Added "reloading" sound on button pressed.
Remaining shots' HUD info now counts downward.
Now the game automatically records a leaderboard score on "quick restart".
Reduced screen-shake magnitude from stage 6 onwards.
Added a new save checkpoint on stage 15.
Upgraded boss' hit points for stage 10 and stage 15.
Opponents' combat AI updated.
No more secondary opponent is spawned after you beat the primary target.
Rotating opponent now holds the fire when spawning bombs on later stages.
Reduced secondary opponent's respawn rate (for early stages and easier difficulty).
Reduced fire rate of walking opponents.
Reduced quantity of scattered tires on easier difficulty.
Tire sprite outline is now a little darker.
Adjusted Parasite's beam collision box.
Increased Parasite's 3-way shooting interval.
Updated description of "Less Hard" difficulty option.
Updated load/save/new game brief descriptions.
Added savegame informations before starting a new game.
FIXES:
No more opponent is spawned after you hear the gong.
Gamepad's select button in the controls page now works again.
Drones are no more automatically destroyed when you wreck the Deployer.
Fixed loss of progress caused when reloading a save state.
Fixed bonus stage 4 bug preventing the timer to work.
Fixed collision bug between beam shot and enemy shield.
Money earned playing Parasites's intro stage are now kept after a quick restart.
"Invincible" achievement trigger is no more randomly activated.
Achievement "Car-ball favourite" now triggers on the spot.
Other minor fixes.
Update v1.04 - Steam Achievements
Hello Pilots,
the update 1.04 adds 39 Steam achievements to the game, plus the support to the Steam overlay to finally take screenshots.
Hope you'll enjoy.
GAME ON!!
v1.04 changelog:
Added Steam achievements
Steam overlay support
Some minor alterations
Update v1.03
Hello Pilots,
this new update introduces the option to choose a different gamepad layout and some other adjustments/fixes.
Now two gamepads can use the same or two different layouts. You can choose the layout A or B and assign it to a gamepad in the options page.
Here the 1.03 changelog list:
Added the option to swap the main gamepad layout with an alternative one.
Updated the design of the Control pages.
Adjusted car responsiveness in the scrolling stages.
Now you'll receive 2000 tokens when you collect all the 4 Vestal Queens.
[Fix] Power-ups no more disappear after a co-op wave is complete.
[Fix] Tokens don't go off-screen anymore after a stage is clear.
[Fix] Title screen's main menu is now navigable with no random delay.
[Fix] Camera zoom no more hinders the pop-up unlock message.
[Fix] Fixed the collision bug when two Mine Deployers are on screen.
And here is a screenshot of the game's options page:
I am improving Carsteroids because of your feedbacks. Thanks very much and GAME ON!
Update v1.02f
Adjusted Parasite's base damage from 3-8 to 4-10.
Parasite's stealth shot power is now +20.
Replaced chapter 4 ending artwork.
Updated stage music tracks with the extended versions.
Your car now spawns water particles when it's raining.
The audience is now more enthusiastic when you beat a boss.
[Fix] Stage flame launchers don't shoot anymore after a stage is clear.
[Fix] Continue timer no more disappearing in some conditions.
[Fix] Boss music now stops when you beat a boss.
Update v1.02a
Fixed load bug when pressing "quick restart" during chase stage.
Fixed game freezing bug when displaying chapter 1 finale.
Replaced chase stage music with the new extended version.
Few other minor fixes.
Continuing & Saving
Hi Pilots, thanks to your feedbacks I added the possibility to continue your game when playing the Arcade Mode and the possibility to save the game when playing the Story Mode. This is a major upgrade that adjusts the gameplay in a better way. The game is still difficult but now it gives you the opportunity to replay some stages defying the permadeath.
Here are the main added features in detail:
CONTINUE?
During an arcade wave, when your energy is depleted, the game will display two additional options on the game over screen: Continue or Give Up. If you use a continue, you will receive your full energy back to be able to keep playing the current stage. The continues are limited for each new game (3) and you'll need to have a few tokens to use them. The continues are available from wave 2 onwards.
CHECKPOINT!
You can save the game every time you encounter a checkpoint. At moment there are 2 checkpoints, located between story stages 5-6 and 10-11, precisely after you beat the level 5 boss and the level 10 boss. When you save a checkpoint you can restart from that precise stage if you prefer, using your current gear. To make things a bit challenging, you can save your state only if you have 50 tokens.
OTHER STUFF:
I also tuned the car steering for tighter turns and I made some other adjustments and additions listed down here. Game on!
Full 1.02 changelog:
Added option to continue when playing Arcade Mode.
Checkpoints to save state in the Story Mode.
Adjusted car steering speed.
Now you can steer the car also using the d-pad.
Title music updated with the extended version.
You can now toggle the music during the gameplay.
New sponsor added in the arena.
Easy difficulty renamed to "less hard".
Leaderboard is now used for the arcade mode only.
Added drift instruction when playing the tutorial.
