v1.0 Progress Update + Control Improvements & More
A small update to improve controls and patch bugs until the v1.0 release.
Also, your own personal butler!
Version 1.0 Progress Update
I'm currently working with the awesome people at tinyBuild to do proper Quality Assurance, Optimization, and Console Porting for the huge v1.0 release.
Guts and Glory version 1.0 will have a simultaneous release on PC and Consoles this Summer, and will include a TON of new content.
This means that the quality of the end product will be much better! However, it also means that the PC version won't be ready in late Spring as I initially planned. Instead, everything will release at the same time, but at better quality.
I apologize for the delay, but I really don’t want to half-ass the release from Steam Early Access. The end-result will be worth the wait!
In the meantime, I'm working on a couple fun surprises to hold us all over until then....
Vehicle Control Update
Several of the vehicles have been given a major physics and control overhaul!
You’ll notice the biggest changes on the ATV, car, truck and motorcycle, and minor adjustments to the other vehicles. They all handle much, much better and still maintain their power and wheel frictions so that they don't break any existing level designs. (Flying vehicles are still undergoing some changes.)
Oh, and the Boost works like it’s supposed to now. This should help out with breaking those Leaderboard records too 😉
Please let me know what you think of the new vehicle controls in the comments below.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed bug that caused "Loading" overlay to block menu buttons if Steam Leaderboard update timed out, causing user to force quit application.
- Fixed bug that caused Chapel Hill (and a couple other levels) to crash the game on some Macs.
- Annnd fixed several boring, little things. (Note: Settings may be reset for some players due to these changes.)
Summon Your Personal Butler!
Also, The Butler ride-along character has now been unlocked for everyone!
Simple wear the black Top Hat (won by completing all of John & Jimmy’s levels), and your personal butler will be summoned.
He lives to please, but do be careful… he’s quite fragile in his old age.
More to come!
I’ve also got more surprises in store between now and the big launch day, so stay tuned for update announcements!
A Glorious New Year
I’m currently working on a massive new update for you guys!
The goal is to have this update ready for release sometime this Spring.
New stuff includes:
Control and handling overhaul by the super-talented Justin Couch. Say goodbye to twitchy controls and wonky handling. G&G controls are getting a proper upgrade.
25 brand spankin’ new Official Tracks for the new characters
40+ new Level Editor items for all you wonderful Workshop Level Creators out there
1 magnificent Halls of Glory, including a Trophy Room to see a visual indicator of your progress
Proper QA and bug squashing with the fine folks over at tinyBuild
This update will prepare things for the official version 1.0 launch and console ports. The goal is to have this update out sometime this Spring! It’s a ton of work, so I just wanted to let you all know what’s going on behind the curtain and what to expect in 2018.
Here's a brief look at one of the YouTuber cameos, CoryxKenshin!
Photo on the left, 3D game model on the right. It's crazy the gamedev software out there these days.
You can also view a cool timelapse of the character creation process over on my YouTube channel.
Localization
Now that most of the new content is in place, it’s time to update all the language translations. If you are interested in volunteering to review and edit the localization document, please email me at hakjakgames@gmail.com. Accepted volunteers will get their names added to the Official Credits list, as well as a recommendation on LinkedIn, etc.
Serious inquiries only please. Translations will be peer-reviewed. No new languages can be added at this time.
Current languages include:
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Korean
Japanese
German
Russian
French
Italian
Turkish
Arabic
Portuguese (Brazil)
Spanish
Estonian
Got Bugs?
If you have bugs to report, please send to hakjakbugs@gmail.com or use the in-game bug report tool. Bug squashing and QA is a huge priority right now. Please be sure to include computer specs and other details if you email me directly.
Hmm, what would Frogger be like in Guts and Glory?
Thank you all for your support in 2017!
It’s been fun shaping this game together during Early Access and I can’t wait to see what you think of the huge 1.0 update to come this Spring!
Sincerely,
HakJak
The Butler Patch
Uploaded a small patch today to fix some minor bugs and add the new Butler passenger.
Bug Fixes / Improvements
Fixed bug that kept the "Night Owl" achievement from being unlocked.
Increased suspension strength and height for AI Cars so they can handle rougher terrain more easily.
Reduced Zoe's Motorcycle suspension bounce by 40% for better control.
Increased Jack & Jill's Bike and Wagon mass for better control.
Increased mass of the prop trucks 4 & 5
Increased FlipPad trigger height so it's more compatible with Pedro's truck.
Removed Bug Report keyboard shortcuts because they interfered with custom control maps
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LEVEL CREATORS Avoid creating levels where the character will impact extremely stretched-out geometry at extremely high speeds, from an angle. Apparently Unity's physics engine can't handle this and returns null values that can actually crash the game. I'm hoping Unity will have a fix for this issue soon. Until then, it's best to use several smaller blocks instead. For example, build walls from multiple blocks, rather than just one super long block.
The Butler
Early access to The Butler is now available to the appropriate Kickstarter Backers! Simple where to Top Hat and your personal butler will appear, eager to please.
Missed the Kickstarter opportunity? No worries! The Butler will be available to everyone this Spring ːsteamhappyː
What's Next?
I'm currently working on a ton of new content for the big "official" launch of Guts and Glory this Spring, including over 20 new Official Tracks, The Halls of Glory, new Level Editor content, some YouTube celebrity cameos, and more!
Thank you for all the love you guys have given to this game! I'll continue to do my best to keep adding more content and making this game better and better!
V0.8.0: Guts, HoverBoards, Leaderboards, and Pedestrian AI
Guts, Blood and Gore Settings, New Character, Pedestrian AI, more Blocks, and even a new Hazard in this big update!
Blood, Guts and Gore Settings
Yup, you heard right. I finally added GUTS for all you gore lovers! All characters, including pedestrians, now have bloody guts in their gooey middles.
Annnnnnd Blood/Gore Settings so you can crank it up even more and paint the town red…
…OR you can turn it all OFF, if you’re not into that sort of thing and just want to enjoy all the ragdoll physics hilarity.
The Final Character
Earlier this month, you guys helped me figure out who the 8th and final character should be, and here he is. With absolutely no affiliation with any blockbuster movie whatsoever, meet the HoverBoard-riding “Junior.”
Junior is one of the few unlockable contents in the game. Complete any 20 Official Tracks to unlock him. He can be used on any Class B, C, or F tracks!
If it’s a Class F track, press the Boost button to get vertical lift.
Pedestrian AI
One of the top requested features has been to add basic artificial intelligence to the pedestrian characters. Now you can set them to stand, wander, or even dance like idiots.
They’re somewhat aware of their surroundings and will attempt to flee from danger and try to avoid falling off of ledges.
It’s very basic AI, so they’re still pretty stupid, but entertaining.
Community Track Leaderboards
Community Tracks now have their own leaderboards too.
Old scores are not auto-uploaded like the Official Tracks were, so these are clean slates, ready for you to claim your spot at the top as the most glorious player in the world!
Rotating Blocks
I added a few new Blocks under the “Physics Blocks” category. These rotate around their centers and can be rotated and scaled however you wish. Should provide some really interesting level design options for all you creative types out there.
Barrel Launcher
If you’ve ever discovered the Easter Egg level in the game, then you’ve ran into these Donkey Kong-esque bouncing barrels! These are now available in the Level Editor for your sandbox physics entertainment.
Bug Fixes
No update would be complete without some bug fixes. Here’s a brief recap:
- Fixed Leaderboards sometimes not appearing after completing a level.
- Fixed "Next Track" button sometimes redirecting player to Main Menu when it shouldn't.
- Fixed pedestrian hand rigs
- Fixed Pedro being unaffected by Acid Fog and some other Hazards + other minor fixes to Pedro and his truck.
- Fixed 'Pumpkin Destructible' having no gravity while in Level Editor
- Fixed Settings-->General UI navigation issue with controller/keyboard input
- Improved Leaderboard update reliability
- Blood decal rendering optimizations
Special thanks to the handful of dedicated players that have consistently sent me quality bug reports! Very helpful, especially in these later stages of development.
Halloween Items
If you missed the update earlier this month, I also added several new Halloween and Christmas props to the Level Editor.
I hope you all enjoy the new update!
Community Vote #4: Who Will Ride the HoverBoard?
Join me for the final Community Vote!
There’s one vehicle type that I’ve received more requests for than any other: a HoverBoard!
At first I didn’t think I could fit this into the game, but now I think I’ve found a way that makes sense. Here's a brief outline:
- Use on any track: In Class F (flying) tracks, it would have vertical lift at the press of a button, allowing it to “fly.”
- Simple Controls: Drive and steer similar to a bicycle; no funky controls like Larry
- Unlock this vehicle by completing any 2-4 Track Groups?? Or just put it in right away like the rest?
Think of this as a “first gen” hover board. It won’t be perfect, but it will be funny! The character will have floppy ragdoll physics, flailing his/her arms around, trying to maintain balance while you cruise through the course. It should bring a fun new dynamic to the game, and offers one more vehicle option for all tracks.
But the big question is…
WHO WILL RIDE THE HOVERBOARD?
This is where you come in.
Should I scan my face and put myself in the game?
Should I add a big YouTuber personality, like JackSepticEye?
Should I make this a hipster?
Or how about a Japanese business man?
Or an old woman?
Or………..????
Aaaaaaah! Help me decide!
Who should ride the HoverBoard?
Vote in the comments below!
v0.7.1: Pedro's Grande Update
New Character: Pedro HUGE Optimization Overhaul! 100+ New Level Editor Items Halloween & Christmas Props
New AI Vehicles
Orbit Cam, Pause Cam, and In-Game Screenshots
Shift-Click: Multi-Object Editing
Lighting/Time of Day System
New Materials + Physics, including Mud, Snow, and Ice!
25 New Music Tracks
And yes, even more!
https://youtu.be/dmGXsNlanl4
ಠ‿ಠ Do it for the glory!
This update brings Guts and Glory a big step closer to being finished. Major performance improvements, a new character, and tons of new level creation content—just in time for making holiday levels too!
Pedro Sanchez
Last month, you guys voted on your favorite version of Pedro and here he is! Pedro Sanchez is one of the finest getaway drivers for the Mexican Cartel. His reckless attitude and manly mustache makes him the envy of men and the desire of women.
Pedro’s truck “El Toro” has a faster acceleration and higher suspension than the Yang’s car. It can also sustain more damage. However, it has a lower top speed and is much harder to drift (use the emergency brake at high speed).
The Voice of Pedro
In a future update, Pedro will be voiced by the legendary UberHaxorNova! Coincidentally, he also did the voice for “Pogo Stick Guy” in Happy Wheels.
Wuuuuuuut?!
For now, however, Pedro is mute.
Orbit Cam
I was finally able to add this long-requested feature and make it work with the “smart cam.” It may need a little more polish, so as usual your feedback is welcome.
DEFAULT CONTROLS:
Controller: Use right stick. Hold between 0-50% to maintain view angle.
Mouse: click-and-drag any button
Keyboard: uses legacy controls
This finally allows for more vertical level designs to work, and makes it easier to see where those poor passengers end up.
Glory Cam
Now you can pause the game and view the destruction from any angle! Easily rotate around objects in a Matrix-like fashion, or fly around the scene and view anything you wish.
DEFAULT CONTROLS:
Keyboard & Mouse: Click-and-Drag Mouse to rotate/steer
W, A, S, D, Q, E keys to move camera
Controller: Right-Stick: rotate/steer
D-Pad: pan camera
Triggers: move in/out
(Left-Stick is still used to navigate menus)
When you’re near objects, the camera will rotate around them. When you move the camera away, it can be steered as if you’re flying the camera around the scene.
In-Game Screenshots
Want to share a glorious moment or capture a great video thumbnail? Now it’s easier than ever!
Just click the Camera Icon on the pause screen and it will save a screenshot to your documents folder with all UI removed.
LEVEL EDITOR
Tons of new stuff for all you Level Creators out there!
Max Complexity Limit increased by 25%!
Camera movement speed increased too.
Multi-Object Editing
Now you can edit lots of objects at the same time!
This feature was tricky to implement, but totally worth it. It makes level building so much faster and enjoyable.
LightBox
Special Items-->LightBox
Just drag-and-drop this item anywhere in your scene and select a preset to adjust the overall lighting and atmosphere.
25 different presets!
If you make any dark levels, it’s highly recommended that you add some lights too.
Point Lights & Spot Lights
Good lighting can make a mediocre scene look great! Just drag-and-drop them into your scene and select a color option. They’ll activate automatically if the level is dark enough.
Point Lights cast light in a radius around them. They’re perfect for general lighting needs.
Spot Lights project a circle of light in one direction. Rotate them to get the effect you need.
Also, the Level Editor cameras now render all lighting effects as well, so you can preview the final look in realtime (light glow, “god rays”, fog, etc.)
Tip: avoid lighting overlaps for best performance
MusicBox
I added a visible trigger radius to the MusicBox when in the Level Editor. Add MusicBoxes along the track to change the music/mood during a track.
Auto-Play: If only 1 MusicBox is in the level, it will now auto-play no matter where it’s placed (no triggering needed).
Added 20 new Music Tracks, including holiday themed songs.
Added 5 new Ambience Sound Tracks, like city sounds and desert winds.
New Materials + Physics
Added 44 new Terrain Textures, including Snow, Ice, and desert Sand sets. These affect wheel friction physics too.
Added 6 new Material options for Blocks, each with their own physics and wheel FX: - Earth
- Mud
- Sandstone
- Snow
- Ice
- Neon Glow (shows during play mode)
100+ New Items!
These are just some of the new items you can find in the Level Editor.
Death Fog
Causes instant death if any part of the driver touches it.
Scales to easily cover large areas. For example, “Don’t touch the lava” type levels.
Acid Fog
Instantly eats away any portion of any character that touches it.
Useful when you want to create smaller, custom hazards.
Funny Fog
AKA “Bobble Head Maker”
Each time a character passes through this volume it makes their head grow larger. xD
A big assortment of new props under several sub-categories. Includes rubber tires, bowling pins, boxes, garbage, new fence types, wind turbines, new buildings, and more.
Holiday Props
A bunch of holiday-themed props, including Halloween and Christmas stuff.
Electronic Road Sign An electronic road sign with a ton of different message options. (Thanks everyone who tweeted me ideas for this!)
Prop Vehicles
Several new prop vehicles to decorate the track / use for obstacles. Ranging from small to large.
Nature
New Material options for Rocks (desert, snow, etc.), assorted Grasses, and even Cactuses. (Yes, the cactus spikes can hurt you!)
Prop Characters
Cardboard cut-out type characters that you can use to quickly make background audiences and on-lookers… or whatever you want.
Audiences
Buildings-->Special-->Grandstand
Easily add a cheering crowd to your levels for extra glory.
New AI Vehicles
The standard AI Cars have been upgraded! They now have an interior, transparent windows, lights, and even a driver!
I also added 2 new options: Police Cars and Border Patrol Cars (complete with sirens!)
Added 4 new AI Vehicle Types:
School Bus Cuz why not?
Monster Trucks Can also be equipped with Hazards, such as Lasers, Cannons, or Mad Max style spikes and saws!
Big Rig Create your own “Clustertruck” inspired levels or just add some very dangerous traffic. Careful waypoint placement and speed settings are key for getting smooth driving out of these due to their large size and towed trailers.
Santa Claus The version that’s been drinking too much egg nog….
TECHNICAL STUFF:
Upgraded entire project to Unity Engine 5.6.3
MAJOR optimization overhaul! - More content but smaller application size
- Faster load times and higher FPS
- Updated shaders and driver plug-ins
- Heavily optimized all texture files: smaller build, faster performance, and more compatible with older setups
FPS Counter now shows Memory stats too
New Outline shader in Level Editor
Engine audio no longer cuts out after driver dismount/death
HUD hidden and Menu minimized when game is paused
Fixed red handle of Level Editor Gizmo not rendering above some selections
Optimized all Destructible items even further
General audio performance optimizations
Optimized lighting in several Official Tracks
Increased Yang’s car top speed by 10%
Increased Landmine and FlipPad trigger heights to be compatible with Pedro’s truck
Added normal maps to primary characters
Optimized collision meshes for several buildings and other props.
AI Car complexity cost increased by 12% to account for interior, driver, lights and new options.
Improved level load times. (However, Level Editor initial load may take longer due to added content.)
Replaced old AA system with a fast FXAA system.
- old system caused rendering issues on older computers and many Macs
- new system more performant and compatible
Experimented with Community Track “level streaming” but it is far too buggy at this time. Will try again before final build, probably in the Beta branch.
BUG FIXES:
NOTE: This is a major change to the build that affects nearly every part of the application. If you have any troubles with the upgrade, simply do a full un-install and re-install of the game on Steam. (All 3 of my test machines upgraded smoothly, but YMMV.)
Most “Bad Access / Null Reference” bugs should be fixed now (error 0x0000005).
Fixed Terrain Edit menus/tools not always showing immediately after creating new terrain in a new level.
Fixed AI Vehicle options sometimes not loading correctly in QuickPlay Mode.
Fixed bugs in Block material physics; changing Block materials now affects wheel friction and FX correctly. Scaling Blocks affects physics correctly as well.
Fixed shader errors that caused poor performance on tracks that contained custom road meshes (example: the first Yang track).
The “rainbow screen” / “texture glitch” rendering errors on Macs should be fixed, unless your computer is below minimum required specs.
Fixed Anti-Aliasing post-process compatibility issues; replaced with simple, fast FXAA system. (Mostly affected Macs, Linux, and older Windows machines.)
Where’s the Guts man??
As I worked on this update, I noticed that the work needed to be divided between Level Editor content and everything else. Since Level Editor stuff takes longer to debug and get feedback on, I decided to focus primarily on that aspect for this update.
I also wanted to make sure content was out ASAP for Holiday levels.
Next update will feature Guts, Blood Settings, Pedestrian AI, and other top-voted features from last Community Vote.
FEEDBACK WELCOME
As Guts and Glory gets closer to completion, optimization and polish is becoming a higher priority. This update should give the game a massive performance overhaul and make level creation faster and more fun than ever.
I’d love to hear what you think about the game after this update
Community Vote #3: Pedro and Priorities
What content should be included in the next major update?
We’re doing things a little differently this time around, see below….
“Vote” now by commenting on this Steam Announcement page. 1.) Select your favorite Character option.
2.) Select the top several Content options you would like to see in the game; help me prioritize feature development!
Only 2 Community Vote events remain!
For these updates, I will re-prioritize the to-do list based on your feedback. Then I’ll work through these items starting at the top, adding as many new features as I can before it’s time to release a new update. When the next update releases, I’ll update the list and repeat!
1.) Character Options:
The Life of Pedro
Class C Vehicle: a small pick-up truck
The next contestant for the Guts and Glory games will be the legendary Pedro!
Pedro has lead quite an interesting life, and spent many miles behind the wheel of his favorite pick-up truck. For this week’s event, you get to decide which version of Pedro will be featured in the game. Should it be Pedro Past, Present, or Future? Let me know in the comments below!
Pedro Past
In his past life, Pedro was a driver for the Mexican cartel. He enjoyed fine cigars, fine woman, and an exciting life.
As you can see in the super technical drawing below, this version of Pedro looks confident and he’s smoking a cigar. There are 2-3 cartel thugs in the back, bags of blow, and suitcases full of money. Dollar bills trail behind the vehicle, blowing in the wind. A crash could result in money and snow flying everywhere.
Mustache Level: pequeña
Pedro Present
After a recent job went sideways, Pedro finds himself on the run! He gathers up his famila, a few belongings, and makes a run for the border… with the cartel hot on his heels.
This version of Pedro is wild-eyed! His caliente wife sits in the passenger seat. His mother and daughter sit in the bed of the truck, along with several belongings, such as suitcases, boxes, and a chicken in a cage.
Mustache Level: medio
Pedro Future
Pedro is a made man. He’s established himself in a new country, and now runs an incredibly successful “lawn management company” with some very loyal and well-paid employees.
It’s totally legit. Seriously.
No, those aren’t guns in the back… those are just weed-eaters. That green stuff in the bags is just lawn clippings, not cash. It’s not what you think it is....
Okay, if you keep asking so many questions we might have to show you the wood-chipper….
Orbit Camera: move mouse to look around; snaps back after you stop
Community Track Leaderboards
Pedestrian AI: simple wander and flee behaviors
Driver Ragdoll Movement: apply forces to flop around in a given direction
Steam Avatar Box: add your "signature" to levels by dropping in a resizable cube with your Steam Avatar icon on it.
Tutorial Videos / Guide
Zero Gravity Zones
More Hazards: _________?
More Special Items: _________?
More Props: _________?
Other...?
Not Listed
Trading Cards + More Achievements I plan on adding these on Full Release launch :)
More Official Tracks Many more Official Tracks will be added for Full Release!
Level Editor Logic / Triggers This is more complicated than I anticipated, but I plan on giving it a try when the game is close to finished, so I don't slow everything else down in the meantime. I want there to be some sort of behavior options available.
Mutliplayer I know this is a highly requested feature. However, I must wait until the game is nearly finished before I can give this a try. My first priority is to get the single player experience finished on time. Then I can take a swing at this.
Fire, Water, and Replays These are very technical and time-consuming features to implement properly. Rather than make a half-ass implementation, I'm crossing them off the list... perhaps if I make an expansion or 2.0 some day. But right now it's simply too much work to do alone and will slow everything way down.
I'm ready to crank out some new content quickly!
Time to hit the boost button on development!
Leaderboard Patch
Small patch to fix the following issues:
Fixed Leaderboard bug that allowed levels to be "finished" without hitting all checkpoints. (Cheat times cleared from Leaderboards.)
Fixed Leaderboard switch buttons; Leaderboards now correctly filter between Top 10, Friends, and Personal.
Fixed Zoe's front wheel not spinning.
Due to the first bug listed above, extreme outlier times have been deleted from the Leaderboards (this was mostly just one person). I have also removed my own times from several boards, that may have been the result of testing phases.
There's also a chance that this patch may reset your Settings on Windows.
v0.5.4: Big Summer Update #2
Today marks the release of the second major update in a series of Community Vote events where you, the amazing Guts and Glory fans, get to vote on the content you want to see in the game!
Zoe Zoom
Class B Vehicle
Nobody knows where she came from, but everybody loves her! Zoe Zoom has captured the attention of fans across America, and soon the world!
Already famous for her death-defying stunts like jumping a school bus full of children across the Grand Canyon, Zoe is ready to claim her presence on the global stage by entering the Guts and Glory games.
In last month's Community Vote #2 event, she won the vote by a huge margin. You guys really love this one!
Her stunt bike is built for high speeds, maneuverability, and landing extreme jumps. On flat ground she can reach speeds of over 100 mph with her rocket boost alone! Similar to the bicycle, you can use the Roll buttons to lean extra hard into a turn, rounding corners very sharply at significant speeds, and her shock system can absorb some fairly rough falls.
Zoe is ready for any stunts you throw her way!
Steam Leaderboards
Leaderboards are here at last! Compete with your friends for the best track times, or fight for a place in the glorious Global Top 10. Times are tracks to the millisecond, so every move counts.
Leaderboards can be sorted by:
- Personal Best Time vs Global Rank
- Friends vs Friends
- Global Top 10
***** Log In Soon *****
The first time you log into Guts and Glory, your best times for each completed Official Track will be automatically uploaded to the Steam Leaderboards.
Leaderboards are currently just set for Official Tracks. Later I might add more boards for Stats / Community Tracks. (There's a limit on the number of leaderboards Steam allows, so this is a little trickier to execute.)
Can you beat everyone's best track times?
Mass Destruction
I did a huge optimization pass on all of the destructible items in the game, boosting their performance by as much as 50%! This allowed me to finally add these objects to the Level Editor.
There are now 31 new Destructible Items in the Level Editor!
Navigate to Props-->Destructible Items to start using them now and add some more chaos to those Community Tracks. There's a wide variety to choose from, including Glass, Chip Boards, Fences, Dishes, and the classic Wooden Barrel.
Now go forth and build some insane stunts for Zoe!!
Community Vote Results & Retro Runner Level
THANK YOU FOR VOTING!
By a large margin, here are the winning votes:
Character B: Zoe
Content A: Leaderboards & Destruction
DEVELOPMENT STARTS MONDAY!
Like last time, I'll post an announcement as soon as the new content is live!
(Some content may be available early in the Beta branch for testing.)
Earlier this week I also rolled out a small patch:
Added the "Retro Runner" easter egg level back in! (HINT: the portal to this level hidden in a warehouse)
Fixed bug that caused music from last scene to keep playing when Player enters a Community Track that doesn't have a Music Box. (Sorry for this annoyance :P)
Rewards Menu (hats) now auto-scrolls with Keyboard/Controller input.
Added OBS recording note to Settings-->Visual-->Anti-Aliasing
