- Fixed: Ghosts could be one frame the player, while actually being on them. This is now fixed.
- Fixed: Online ghosts should now wear their proper hats instead of the player's hat.
- Added: Game window can now be manually resized while in Windowed mode.
Cloak and Dasher
0.5.6: Fixed Ghost Frame Offset
Fixed Cross-Platform Pathing
Fixed MacOS Leaderboards
0.5.2 Fixed Key Rebinding
0.5.1 Minor Emergency Patch
Old saves were not compatible with the new leaderboards, a save wipe was originally intended, but mistakenly did not occur.
Update 2: Giving Up The Ghost Live NOW!
New Features
Ghost System
Easily my favorite new feature of the game. Now, as you play, Ghosts will automatically be saved locally and, if you're online, pushed up to the internet for others to race against! When you beat a level or marathon with a new best time, the ghost will automatically be updated to match. The whole system has been designed to be seamless and run in the background. The game features a variety of options for your ghosts.
When playing, you can opt to race against your personal best, the global best, the person closest to you in the global leaderboards, and your friend's best/closest runs. You can also select to race against only ghosts who have gotten all the gems. Use the ghosts to push yourself and become the greatest dasher out there!
Assist Mode
Accessibility has always been a concern of mine, as I believe that games should be for everyone. To that end, I've worked hard to create an "Assist Mode" for players. Whether you're looking for a slower paced experience, training to beat the harder levels, or just want to have fun flying around, there's now all sorts of options to help get you into the action!
While in Assist Mode, your times/ghosts will not be submitted to the online leaderboards, and you won't be able to earn Medal related Achievements, for the sake of fairness. Beyond that everything else is set to work the exact same! You can also return to a level you've beaten in assist mode and overwrite your best time with assist mode off. Assist mode times will ever overwrite your non-assisted times, meaning when you're feeling up to the challenge, you can tackle anything you had assistance on without have to start over!
New Environments
As part of this update, two new environments have been added to help make the game look more diverse. In addition to their new looks, each of these environments also contain new music for both their normal and hard levels, created by the legendary @744music.
The Simulator
Before tackling the ruins, Cloak needs some training! Join them in the simulator to learn the basics of the game in a more controlled environment. Some familiar levels have been repurposed for this environment, and some new one have been added to teach you more. Study the ways of the Dasher and become a true master!
The Cathedral
A mysterious new area of the ruins containing strange gravitic anomalies and portals! Left in much better shape than anything before it, this area seems to guard many secrets of the culture that created it. What can you learn here?
Everything Else
In addition to the new environments, every new environment has gotten a fresh coat of paint. New background details and art have been added to previous levels you know and love. See if you can decipher their meaning to understand the ruins in a new light.
New Levels
This update features many new levels with new mechanics, primarily, you'll find these levels in the newest chapter taking place in the Cathedral, but there are a few others scattered along the previous chapters as well.
We're not dead!
Been a while, huh?
Cloak and Dasher is not dead, in fact, it's got more features in it than ever! But, there's a catch...
The last public update for Cloak and Dasher was about 1 year ago, wow, time flies. I've been working on the game a ton since then, but as is always true with solo part-time game development, it's slooooow going. I'd like to think those of you familiar with the game are familiar with this by now, but I think it bares reminding. As happy as I am that people have played the game at all, I have come to the conclusion that Early Access was a mistake.
I had this grandiose concept of releasing new maps every month for the game, and building new features in as I went, but that proved unsustainable for a part time developer pretty quickly. Tack onto that the fact that no publisher will touch a game in Early Access, not being allowed to participate in Steam NEXT events, and having lost all "release" marketing momentum, I'm afraid this game is never going to be popular.
So, why don't I give up on it? Honestly, stubbornness! This game is my baby, and since inception I've always wanted to see it through to completion. At the start, completion for me has always meant 3 things.
- Hundreds of levels spanning 4-5 different environments.
- Some form of competitive leaderboards.
- An in-game level editor with level sharing so players can create their own fun.
However... since then, through Early Access Feedback and general brainstorming, a few new points of development appeared, which I really wanted to add in.
- An in-game Achievement system.
- Unlockables for that achievement system. (hats and such)
- Unlockable Hard Mode
- A Medal System
- A reworked Adventure Mode that focused on Individual Levels over Level Sets.
It all comes down to 2 dreaded words in development. Scope Creep.
You mentioned new features?
That's right! As of right now, the Development version of Cloak and Dasher has alot of new stuff compared to the current public version. Namely, it has:
Ghost System
There is now a fully integrated Ghost Replay System in the game. When playing a level or marathon, you can choose to have another player's replay ghost alongside yours! It all happens automatically, you can choose to race against yourself, the next person in the leaderboards, the top of the leaderboards, or your friend's ghosts.
Assist Mode
In an effort to allow for difficulty options, I've added a series of Assist options. While these options are enabled, you will be unable to post scores to the leaderboards, however, you'll be able to do everything else including acquire achievements and unlockables. Play the game your way!
New Environments
The Simulator
The Simulator has been added as a new "starting" environment to the game. It is Cloak's little training ground where they can prepare for the journey ahead.
The Cathedral
The Cathedral environment shows off a spiritual area deep in the underground, where a strange sort of worship occurs, and even stranger spacial anomalies exist! Both areas feature new art, and music!
Teleportals
Teleportals are a new mechanic starting in the Cathedral chapters. They are a one way teleportation system. ANY object passing through a teleportal entrance will be instantly brought to the other side.
Object Patrols
A new system has been devised which allows for ANY object in a level to be given a "patrol" route. This will allow for some interesting dynamics in certain levels which were not possible before.
Updated Environments
Since the beginning, I've wanted nearly all storytelling for the game to be environmental. This has been important to me, as such, Yokcos has gone above and beyond to create TONS of new background art for environments, which has been placed all over. Environments will be much more feature rich now, while not impeding gameplay.
So, where's the update!?
That's the catch... it's all working, but it's not done, and this next update is so big, that it's going to require a wipe of the leaderboards. I do not take wiping the leaderboards in this game lightly. Many players (rightfully) view the leaderboards as the whole point of playing the game. If I'm going to do something to wipe the leaderboards, I need to be completely sure that all the work is done!
My main focus right now is on revamping old levels with the new visuals, which will require tiny tweaks to the map layouts, and until those are done, I can't justify doing an update, for fear of further wipe-requiring tweaks down the line. Once the old levels are updated, my final focus will be on the New Levels for the Cathedral area, and once those are done, the new update will be ready!
I'm working hard every weekend to get these levels done, but there's one major life event that is slowing things down a bit. After years and years of renting, my Wife and I have finally bought a house! We move in soon, which is going to take a while, and a ton of work, but once I'm fully situated, the house is going to do wonders for my productivity, as I'll have an office to work in, instead of my living room!
Thank you to those who have had the patience to stick with me through this project. I know I say this every time, but you're the reason this project continues to grow! It's certainly ballooned in scope, but I'd like to think it's never lost any of its spirit. Each new feature helps push it to be a better game, and I know it's going to live up to your expectations by the end.
Get The Goods Update!
What's New
ALOT! This update features a complete redesign of Adventure Mode, making it feel more like a complete experience than ever before. Each Level now features a "Hard Mode" version which can be unlocked by collecting all the gems inside. In addition, each level also how has Par Times which give the player medals if achieved.
In addition to all that, there are now Achievements on various levels which the player can get by doing various challenges (completing a level without double jumping, no dashing, keeping all enemies alive, etc...). Achievements will also unlock hats, making Cloak look more stylish than ever!
With these new Hard Levels, the game now contains double the level count, and we plan on having hard levels for all future levels as well. Some hard levels are straight challenge upgrades of the originals, while others are complete redesigns. Expect a healthy variety of new challenges!
What's Next?
I want to release a formal roadmap in the near future to show all the plans leading up to the game's final release. We're getting closer! If I were asked straight up, I'd say feature and content-wise we're about 3/5ths of the way through the game's development.
Get the Goods Update Announcement Trailer
The Get The Goods Update will be released June 29th. Wishlist today to stay informed!
Beta Version 0.4.9 Changelog
Changelog
Major Changes
- Cloak's Deceleration speed has been doubled. This should make it much easier to pull off precision platforming, and help with any slippery feeling players have had. (Especially players on controllers!)
Bug Fixes
- Minor: Fixed a bug where if a save file accounted for more gems than existed in a level, the level wasn't considered perfected.