After months of remodelling and retexturing old Highblast assets, we are exited to say the new part of the game is almost ready.
What will it include?
The new update will feature the same base parts as the older version of Highblast but with improved graphics and playability. You will land your ship and deploy robots to take over an enemy base, taking over it's communications in the process.
When game happen?
The update will hopefully be out within a month, smaller patches will be necessary to make it more polished and we will try to fix any major problems as soon as possible. Any known missing parts will be listed in the update announcement and will be ultra high priority.
Graphics
Godot engine allows games to run very decent graphics on low end devices. We have included volumetric fog in the environment to make it feel more tense and interesting while playing. If the graphics run badly, we will include low-end settings for you. But if you do get bad frames, please inform people in the steam discussion pages, we want Highblast to have frames to spare and will review the game's performance heavily.
Game previews
(First image is not actual gameplay, We haven't finished the map quite yet.) (Actual gameplay below.)
Thanks to anyone interested in this project!
- Ilikefrogs101 - QuazarCG
3.0a-2
Slightly late announcement, this update is a few days old. Change notes:
- Fixed missing colliders.
- Added steam achievement infrastructure so we can add achievements back to the game.
3.0a-1 Quality Patch
Patch Overview
Unfortunately, in order to meet the release deadline we set ourselves, we had to skip some clean up steps for the main update. Here they are now, hope the game's experience has improved.
Main improvements:
Fixed some collisions
Rewrote the event triggers so that events are in order and timed better.
There are now input tutorials.
Improved the lighting with better global illumination (please report bad FPS).
Updated the HUD.
Robot can no longer exit the gravity ring.
Training robots (the flying spheres) now roll around on the floor so you know when they're deactivated.
Updated the Cakebot so it is holding a cake.
Coming soon:
Background music
More sounds
Better UI
New levels and environments for the next main update.
Thank you so much for playing! -Ilikefrogs101 & QuazarCG
Highblast Version 3.0a is here!
Complete overhaul (Again)
Highblast is now running on the Godot game engine, it is a lighter engine so the game should run smoother. Highblast has been an arc of game development learning for us, nothing has been complete until now.
If things are not super polished, don't worry. More updates will be coming out as soon as possible. We wanted to have the game out by the new year so enjoy!
Things to take note of:
The current game-play consists of an introduction and tutorial.
No achievements yet so don't go hunting. They are top priority and will begin to reappear soon.
We now have a voice actor voicing the lines for Cakebot, your guide for the tutorials.
The concept of controlling robots remotely is still the same.
The space station will become your "home base" of sorts as new updates progress the content of the game.
Please keep in mind: More coming soon! But first we have to polish this version.
Controls for anyone confused:
WASD = basic movement. Mouse = 360 degree rotation. QE = roll the player (good for 0 gravity) Esc = exit robot view
Story
The story has not changed much for a while but now we finally get to start telling it:
You are an employee of the Interplanetary Protection Organisation. This agency protects planets from being used for malicious purposes such as excessive weapon construction. It's your first day as a robot shuttle officer, your job is to take robots down to the surface and take over enemy bases. (This part will come in the next major update.)
Play through the intro and tell us what you think.
Thank you so much for playing our fun little game. Your continued existence is our number 1 priority! - QuazarCG & ilikefrogs101
Development Update 3
Confirming the last post's speculation
We know that Unity has taken a few things back and improved the situation. For people who need Unity, that's great. But we are not going back. This is now less about disliking Unity and more so because we've discovered how great the Godot engine is! It's just amazing, with more options for visual style combining it's 2d and 3d modes!
Unfortunately learning how to use it properly will take a while but don't worry. This time around we will focus on Highblast's story which has been all planned out for a while at this point. Soon, we'll have all the skills we need to make a smooth, well put together game. Hopefully in a few months.
Revamp pitch
First on the list is to make a new story-based tutorial.
You will arrive on a space station and learn where you are and get you bearings. Then you, the player, will go through battle tutorials and then be sent down to the planet's surface where the game play will be largely the same as it is now. But this time we want to make it as well done as we can and have it be fun and immersive. We have scenes and characters in the works but don't expect ultra high quality, we are just a few people after all... And we are working on other personal projects.
Here are a few concepts if you want them!
Anyway, hope your having a nice day. We'll hopefully be back in a while to show you our project. Sincerely: -Ilikefrogs101 -QadarCG -Godot
Highblast development slow down...
Unity is getting rid of all free games
Dear community, share this with friends because this is important.
Unity has announced that in three months time, developers will have to pay $0.20 for every single install of there game. The minimum if you pay < $100 / month is around $0.125. Therefore, with Highblast being free to pay (and mind you, free to develop apart from our own time and effort) Highblast will become a loss for us. We will have to pay Unity for you to play our game.
This does not only apply to Highblast, this applies for every single free Unity ever made. We all hope this gets changed because even if you sell a game for say... $10, it will still be at risk of loosing money to Unity.
Here is the official info if you want to read it. https://blog.unity.com/news/plan-pricing-and-packaging-updates
So, tell everyone you know about this because it will effect you.
Our safety plan
We are now learning the Godot Game Engine. If Unity does not change it's decision then Highblast will undergo a Game Engine changeover around Christmas. This means that Highblast Development will grind to a near halt. It's a shame because we have so much content we want to put into the game... Highblast might still remain in Unity if the Pricing Updates don't go through, but this is unlikely.
Sorry :(
Continue to play if you want, we know it's a bit of a broken mess but there a lot happening right now.
-QadarCG -Ilikefrogs101
Community Update
Next main update coming soon! It'll be mostly base and graphics updates with some miscellaneous fixes too. Sorry for the big gap in updates frequency we've been working on lot of stuff!
Here's a quick render concept for the new models:
Update is due this week. -QadarCG
Update 15/7/2023
New features of this update:
The new scoring system has been implemented! You now earn points when completing a mission. Every enemy killed is +10pt The shorter the round is the more bonus points you get. Every one of your own bots killed is -10pt
Patch notes:
-Assigned enter button to the Robot menu's "Select" button which has an annoying habit of disappearing on some devices. -Fixed old code causing victory to trigger when only one enemy is killed. -Fixed 3 objects in the level foundry that were not able to be placed. -Self destruct is now BACKSPACE. -Workshop and store page updates.
Menu screen score is stuck at 15 points, this is a known issue and will be fixed next update.
Any other bugs should be reported to the steam forums!
Next planned features:
-Drone and robot UI review and remaster. Plans have been made. -Drone weaponry. -Base vulnerability (weak points in the structure to sabotage power). -Improved graphics (Switching to Universal Render Pipeline). -Fixing base module issues (Geometry errors and textures). -Different terrain options to choose from in the level foundry.
Thanks very much for playing Highblast! QadarCG & ilikefrogs101.
Development Update 2
It's been a while since the last time the game was updated because we've been working on other projects. But progress has been made behind the scenes! We've been testing our private betas a lot and have fixed a lot of annoying game breaking bugs. And new features and models that are in the works will be listed below.
Issues that we're aware of:
- Robot selection menu "Select" button disappears on some windows devices. - The first 3 listed objects in level editor cannot be placed into the scene. - Saved or subscribed levels sometimes do not show up on level select menu. - Older maps from any previous game versions cannot be loaded according to our testing. - Level foundry ship cannot be selected or moved properly. - Robot animations are broken. - Level ends instantly when the first enemy is killed. - When all lives are depleted the is no "Mission failure" screen. - Level foundry models or not as flexible in where you can overlap them (Wanting to make a multi level corridor for example). - Non intuitive controls.
New Content That will be soon
Score Points
We are working on a score system so that when you complete a mission you gain a reward, these points will act like the currency. (wow we've never seen this system in a game before) But to clarify; later you will be able to upgrade drone communications distance, battery life, weapons and damage to bases.
The score will be based on: - How quickly you sabotage the enemy base. - How many enemies you took down. - How few of your own robots you used up. - How much your mission effected the overall goal (Later in a campaign update).
Drone Weaponry
Currently the drone is kinda useless. But now we're adding BOMBS. Your drone can drop a limited number of BOMBS on enemies and in order to sabotage the enemy base in the Infiltration missions The drone will also have a small gun to harm enemies if need be.
Space Base
This is a preview of the new scene I (QadarCG) am working on, space will bring a very different type of game play and setting. It will also help flesh out the context and reason you are where you are and where Highblast is set. This will not be in the next update but it is coming sometime soon.
Different terrain assets to choose from
A small feature that feels necessary to add. One or two new types of level terrain will be added to the level foundry as well as a way to select each type of terrain. The current terrain used (Rollcakeus Crater) will be an option to pick in the foundry.
Thank you very much for playing, we hope you play again. Please report any other issues that are not labelled above!
-QadarCG & ilikefrogs101.
Development update.
Development:
Many people are confused about multiplayer and what the game is about. I will tell you this. We completely restarted development a number of months ago because we lost the original files and it was a poorly put together test bed anyway. Now ilikefrogs101 and I, QadarCG want to make this into an actual game that is fun to play. Multiplayer is planned but we are far from it. Right now we are live developing it into something usable and fun. It will have a story, multiplayer, FPS and space simulator vibes. Gonna say it, we are just 2-3 people with some free time and this game used to be a Karlson clone.
Please, if you see this, come back to the game in a while and see if we've made progress. In time, Highblast will be a fun game, this is what early development looks like I guess. This whole project is for fun but we do want a playerbase so you can give feedback!
I will be posting progress on models and plans occasionally.
Thank you very much if you're reading this :)
Now for the naming thing:
The planet Highblast is located on right now has no defined name. So comment below any cool suggestions! You can find more information about this planet in the most recent community artwork.
