Howard Phillips Lovecar cover
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Genre: Indie

Howard Phillips Lovecar

What's this...?

I'm working again
I just wanted to let you know that I'm back from my vacation - so my work on HPL resumes!
I put the XP/upgrades on hold for a while, since I want to fix a gameplay thing that bothered me since the release: regeneration. Currently you need to stop the car and stop shooting for a while to get the car auto-repaired. It's clumsy and not fun at all... So, I'm reworking it into something else (better, hopefully :))!

XP update available!
I just pushed a new update with the XP system and a few basic upgrades. I wanted to make it richer first (more upgrades, better upgrade screen etc.), but I decided that you shouldn't wait too long to see it - so here it is. Check it out and let me know what you think, while I'm busy making it better!

Changes:

  • XP system added, gain XP by killing enemies. Bigger combo - more XP
  • Choose one of three randomized upgrades on level up
  • Added handbrake sounds

I started implementing upgrades :)

It's totally unbalanced so far, but hey, it's fun!

Gameplay improvements - let me know what you think!
I spent some time to rethink the gameplay and here are my ideas:

  • player gets experience points for killing enemies. Higher combo - more XP.
  • advancing a level lets the player choose one of three randomly selected upgrades.
  • killing large enemies and making long combo chains yields some kind of trinkets.
  • the player will use the trinkets to unlock new upgrades (which will be available to choose in further plays).

I started implementing the XP system:


I'm still not sure what to do with new weapons - I don't think that putting them in that random-3 is a good idea. Right now I think about an in-game shop, where you can buy another weapon using the trinkets (instead of using them to unlock new upgrades). Do you have any other ideas?

Pause menu added
I added the pause menu in the latest build. The "Quit game" option might seem like a bit too much, but I really like when games allow me to quit to desktop anytime.

This (hopefully!) concludes the much-needed (and a bit boring) technical updates. Up next: work on improving the gameplay!

Customizable keyboard controls
Phew! That took me a while, but I finally implemented customizable controls for you. Let me know if I broke something!



Other changes:

- Controllers: added digital controls for car movement, if you want to bind the acceleration/turning to regular buttons instead of analog triggers/joysticks.
- preliminary handbrake implemented :)

Customizable controls are on the way


I need to fix a few bugs and test it a bit more, but you'll be able to remap the keyboard controls soon!

Controller support is in!
I made a few fixes to the controller support and it works with the Steam Controller, Xbox 360 controller and the PS4 controller. Other devices should probably work as well :) Remember to use the Big Picture mode and remap the controls as you like!

Other changes:
- added sounds when collecting ammo
- killing a cultist makes his body fly away a little

Controller support in the beta branch
I just added controller support based on the Steam API in the beta branch. I tested it with the Steam Controller and the Xbox 360 controller and it seems to work well. But I need more devices to be tested before I push it to the public build! So, if you have any controller - please enable the beta access, download the latest build and run it through the Big Picture mode. Let me know if it works!
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