Fixed game breaking bug that would cause your game to crash if you died with the Point Defense Drone equiped twice in a row.
Fixed a bug that caused the video line overlay to stutter along the x-axis when it should only be scrolling along the y axis.
Workaround for the 'black screen on Stage 9' bug has been implemented. Check the Bugs & Glitches forum thread if you are having this problem.
V 1.0.4 Power Spanner / Gamepad Tutorial / Balancing
This update is again aimed at gamepad users. Players will now receive gamepad specific instructions from NPCs in the QC Labs tutorial stages.
I've also got a tasty new weapon for everyone, it's called the Power Spanner and it's an ultra-heavy melee weapon that slows enemies on hit! Expect high resource costs and a slow rate of fire.
There has been another solid round of balancing changes intended to reduce the difficulty, especially for the later stages. A and S ranks should be much easier to obtain, so go grab those items you missed!
V 1.0.4 Major Changes:
New Melee Weapon: WrenchIt Power Spanner - big damage, big cost, slows enemies
Buffed: JLP Crossbow Bolt Storm had it's Energy costs reduced and fire rate increased
Buffed: Healing pads heal player for much more at lower levels
Nerfed: Enemy Spawners leveling up speed increased (takes longer for Spawners to pump out heavies like Slicebot and Droids)
Nerfed: Enemy Spawners spawn rate reduced
Nerfed: Explosion damage scaling reduced
Increased Par Time on most stages, making it easier to get higher ranks. Most of the hardest stages will be easier to S Rank.
Changed enemy statusbars to only appear once they have been damaged, reducing visual clutter.
V 1.0.3 Joystick Aim & Balance Patch
Great news for gamepad users! Aiming with the joystick should be a much simpler task now that it is angle-based. Your targeting reticle will remain at a fixed distance away from Mags, and it will smoothly rotate to whatever direction your stick is pointing. Additionally, overall game difficulty has been reduced through a plethora of subtle but effective changes. Read on for details!
Version 1.0.3 Full Release:
Gatbot: base Stamina and Armor reduced
Medbot: Healing reduced
Crushbot: Armor Scaling increased
JLP Xbow: increased Bolt Storm damage and Ammo cost, decreased main fire Energy cost
Turrets: Health scaling drastically reduced
Spawners: time between spawning increased
Gamepad: joystick aiming has been improved! You will now smoothly aim in the direction you point the stick and the reticle will remain at a fixed distance from the player.
Added a multitude of healing pads to several of the stages and generally increased the ease at which players can get to heal pads.
Added equipment to stages that require you to collect Data, making it easier to take Servers out.
Reduced the number of enemies that are one-time spawners in several of the stages.
Fixed several achievement issues and put in a check to make sure anyone who didn't get the buggy acheivements will now receive them retroactively upon entering the Equipment Screen.
Small Patch 1.0.2
Had to get a fix out for a game breaking bug resulting from choosing the 'Proxy Max' skill. Pushed a few balance changes (favoring the player) at the same time. Lots more in the works including new achievements and weapons!
Kite Update 1.0.2
Crushbot: hitbox increased
Pingbot, Crabot, Chargebot, Droid: health and armor reduced
Dakabot: health reduced, time between phases increased, healing from scrap reduced
Spawners: spawning cooldown increased, but spawners produce enemies faster the fewer current enemies exist
Pllayer: starting Energy increased from 500 to 600
Fixed: 'Proxy Max' Skill was causing players to lose stats during battle
Kite 1.0 Full Version Has Landed!
Kite has crawled it’s way out of the Early Access cocoon, emerging a full release! Version 1.0 has all the goodies - Kite ships with Hardcore Mode, Achievements, plot twists, new characters, cinematics, a final boss and gamepad support!
With the week long 20% launch discount, now's a great time to share Kite with friends - get them aboard the run and gun train! Bellow is a list of major changes and additions.
New Enemy: Pingbot Pingbots come in threes and wind up sniper shots. They are pretty easy to predict and have an extremely slow attack, but left alone they can ping targets down.
New Enemy: Medbot The ultimate companion, this self sufficient side piece will heal itself and whatever it’s guarding. Players may unlock Medbot in the Workshop for themselves, but they will also face off against enemy Medbots who can turn any unit into a damage soaking beast!
New Enemy: Gatbot With a slow turret tracking speed players can out-circle it’s main guns, but Gatbot’s backup weapons often shutdown the best laid plans. Full support from a Point Defense and Medbot unit turn this bruiser into an unstoppable bullet hose.
New Boss: Dakabot A hulking giant who’s tracks only allow for side to side movement, but built to deliver punishment on a fantastic scale. Expect multiple weapons systems, defensive powers and backup minions. Classic cycle mechanics do apply and RNG is minimal. Learn the pattern, sequence your powers correctly and enjoy the finale!
New Stage: Launch Pit Requiring a fair amount of Data collection, the Pit clusters the majority of action in the central building where a massive horde of enemy automata await intruders. Players will be forced to snatch a fair amount of their Data from this maelstrom, but outbuildings provide some easy pickings and safe spaces. Although Volley Arrows will rain down on you wherever you go, until the power gets cut.
New Stage: Server Core Fighting to the Master Databanks within the Server Core consists of a chain of skirmishes revolving around individual enemy types. Progress through a group of Bettybots, then Droids, then a mass of Slicebots, a couple of Gatbots and then finally face a Crushbot with massive minion support before moving on to the final chamber. Turrets will harry your assault but aren’t a required objective. Push through to the end and face off against Dakabot!
Added Debrief Screen From here players will interact with NPC’s and push the plot forward. Additionally, some helpful advice is given based on how the last battle went. Scoring requirements for each Rank are also visible on the side of the Debrief Screen.
Added Hardcore Mode Activating Hardcore Mode will turn off Reconstruction, and when Mags suffers a System Failure, the game will reset - A.K.A. perma-death. Hardcore mode also frees players from being locked into any dialogue or menu, streamlining the experience for veterans. Otherwise gameplay is identical but progress is saved separately from Normal Mode.
Added Final Cinematics
Added Credits Improved gamepad aiming and control swapping
Improved sound engine
Updated SFX
Updated in-game dialogue for brevity
Moved Tutorial II to Stage 3
Moved Launch Plateau to Stage 7
Last Early Access Patch 0.9.6 Before Release
Prepare for launch!! Ahead of Kite's full version release next week I've uploaded the final Early Access patch. It's now a complete game and you won't want to miss the finale! Unless you hate enormous beam weapons.
I'm counting on some of you Early Access players to shoot feedback my way and report any bugs you might encounter. I'm so excited to reveal the story, characters, new enemies and stages to everyone, please enjoy!
Mother of All Patches - Beta 0.7.0
It's here! The biggest Kite update ever is finally available for your enjoyment! We've got controller support, we've got unlockables, we've got new stages, new enemies, new items, weapons, hazards, HUD indicators, and of course new art including a total refresh for our stout protagonist, Mags!
Dig in to this chunky update and let me know what you think! I'm especially looking for feedback on the gamepad option, it plays pretty well on a pad but I still can't perform as well as I do with a mouse and it takes some getting use to. I'm sorry to say that I had to reset everyone's save files to be compatible with the newest version.
Controller Support Enabled!
New Stage: The Pit will push you to surpass your limits
New Enemy: Gatbot has multiple weapons to counter your build & healbot support
New Unlocks: Ranks B&C grant you extra scrap while an A gets you a bonus skill point and an S Rank unlocks a secret item from each stage!
New Craftables: over 20 new items and weapons have been added, check them out in the Workshop!
UI improvements including off-screen indicators for easily locating objectives
Death Penalty: it now costs scrap to rebuild after a system failure, but you can only lose scrap earned from the current stage.
Kite's full release is just around the corner, and this will probably be the last major update before the full version launches. It's almost done! Thanks to everyone who's stuck with this project for so long.
Entering Prime Development Phase Before Launch
Wanted to let everyone know what's coming for Kite! I've completed many of the cutscene assets and as you can see we've got Mags looking fab on the new cover artwork. The final levels and enemies are next on the workbench and I've got new tilesets to reveal next patch. Should be worth the wait :]
Monday's Patch Preview!
Hey all! I wanted to quickly take you through some of the changes with Monday's update - it's not a huge one but there are quite a few changes.
Kite Beta 0.2.2
New Tips: In the briefing room players are encouraged to preview the stage goals and objectives, and now there is a little display which provides hints and tips about the game. Any feedback on this implementation is welcome!
New Ultimate: Syphon Laser System - fires a 360 degree wave of seeking lasers every second for three seconds and Mags' Energy Leach is boosted by 20% for the duration. With a 30 second cooldown, it regenerates twice as fast as the Satellite Beam. It's meant to be a perfect fit for builds that rely mostly on Energy and don't require much extra Ammo.
Central Office Updated: One of the first stages I designed, it was suffering from a very bland tileset and bad contrast. It's been retilled and redisigned a bit for easier navigation and had it's dificulty balanced.
End Challenge Updated: Also a very early stage, it was meant mostly as stress test when I first made it, but people love it's design so I've updated it to comforn with the quality of the other stages. Players will find it a bit more difficult and remember it's still a work in progress!
Time Bonus Changes: The time multiplier now ticks down every 1 minute instead of every 30 seconds, essentially making it twice as easy to get a 1.5x and everything but the 3x is easier to obtain. As an example, before if you complete a level in say 2:59 and it's par was <2:00 you would have recieved a 2x bonus because you were considered <1 minute away from the 3x so -1 to your bonus. Now the same time would only recieve a -.5 to their bonus netting a 2.5x final time bonus.
Ranking Changes: Most stages have had their score adjusted to make A and B ranks easier to achieve, while preserving the difficulty of S Rank. I'm always interested in feedback about the ranking system - once I've dialed it in rewards will enter the picture I swear! Secret items and weapons will be unlocked with S ranks, while A and B will grant you scrap.
Weapons:
Both Railguns have had their Energy costs increased.
Tech X Spread Ammo cost increased, damage decreased.
N.I.L.8.R. Energy cost increased, damaged decreased.
JLP Xbow Bolt Storm Ammo/Energy cost increased, cooldown increased, damage decreased.
All melee weapon damage increased by ~10%.
Mondays are patch days, so expect this to go live on 1/28 - see you all then!
Kite is a cyberpunk, twin-stick shooter, bullet hell, Zombies Ate My Neighbors-lite, Soldier of Fortune-lite and early 90’s camp all wrapped into one 16-bit gaming package. The game honestly feels like it is right out of the 90’s. The one-man studio, Lab Cat Games have completely captured the vibe and feel of games from this era. If I went into this game blind and somehow miraculously played it on a SNES cartridge with a SNES controller I would not of blinked an eye. Now, the game sure does a good job of capturing that vibe but what it also does well is modernizing the game play, mechanics and aesthetics that are usually found in these older games.
I had the pleasure to interview the man behind the game, James Treneman aka Deeps.
Questie: What was your first game?
Deeps: My first game ever was some asteroids game I played on our Macintosh off a floppy disk mom brought home. It’s funny when I answered that in the last interview I realized that makes my first game a shooter, and nearly a twin-stick. So I think that must have made a big impression. But on my Turbo Graffix I rocked R-Type, Bonk’s Adventure and Military Madness. And that was a really good spread I think.
Questie: Now that’s cool. It really does show in the game, honestly. So would you say that those games are the most influential ones you played as a child? Or would you say that there were other games? (Zombies Ate My Neighbors feels like the biggest influence in Kite IMO)
Deeps: Yeah you nailed it. Surely Zombies is my biggest inspiration for Kite. Second place goes to Soldiers of Fortune (The Chaos Engine in EU). Those two games are just about the best top downs on the SNES which became THE system for me after I got one sometime around ’93). But there are a lot more modern elements from games like WoW in Kite as well.
Questie: Care to extrapolate more on the WoW elements?
Deeps: Sure, I played a lot of WoW and it’s certainly the most influential game of my adult life. We don’t have to go there but the one thing that is kinda relevant is that I was just a hardcore Twinker, and I ran one of the longest running twink guilds. I only liked to PvP and had probably 6 or 7 low level Twinks before even getting to max level. I loved finding weird items that you shouldn’t be able to get and weird stat formulas that are super overpowered at low levels. So I just become a big stat head, and was obssessed with mocking up builds for twinks at level 10 or 29 or 79 whatever, I was down with it.
So I wanted to bring the itemization and synergy elements to Kite, at a much lower sort of Ficsher Price level. But also, what I loved about WoW was the PvP and it was all about kiting, so it’s a natural playstyle for me. The controls in Kite at their heart are really no different than they are for the way I play WoW.
Questie: I’m a WoW player as well. I thought it felt a lot like how PVP feels in WoW but I didn’t think it was such a huge influence. That’s really cool. I’m a tank in WoW so I respect the people who Kite ADDs for me.
Deeps: heh nice! Yeah WoW is probably the reason I was able to make a fun combat system. I had a lot of iterations, at one point there were a ton more keybinds like WoW, you had literally all the weapons at once. The way you switch between the two Operating Systems is just pulled straight from stance dancing and I wanted to make the melee feel a bit like when you are in a group and land a good WW with a big Crusader proc.
Questie: When did the development for Kite start?
Deeps: Kite dev started in May I think of 2014. More accurately I started learning how to draw pixel art, program and design in May of 2014 lol. I think of it like this – how much would it have cost me to get this kind of education? Probably around the same and it wouldn’t be as well rounded, and I wouldn’t have a product at the end. When I think of it like that, Kite doesn’t really need to make a buck.
Except that it probably does need to once I fully release lol. But I had buddies playing an early prototype, maybe 2 weeks into dev and they were clearly having fun. My wife was like ‘Do it!” and so that’s when I went all in.
Questie: It’s always the wife/gf that makes men do things
Deeps: Yeah, she has been so incredibly supportive, now way could I be here without her help and constant encouragement (and playtesting)
Questie: It seems that your s/o is a huge supporter in you and your dream.
Deeps: I’m really lucky in that way, game dev is still a crazy profession and many people have to deal with parents and loved ones who don’t believe in their passion, it’s so hard for them and I hope to be a solo dev who can inspire those people. But they should know the many advantages I’ve had, and I’m still waaaaay in the red.
Deeps is just a normal guy like all of us, going through the struggles of life. He has worked many jobs to find what he was good at and what he was passionate about. After many years of working different jobs he finally decided to chase his dreams and become a game dev, he couldn’t be more happy about it.
This is something that I find so admirable about him, he knows that he has to work hard and do a good job at being an indie dev. And it shows. This man is willing to accept criticism and change parts of his game because people let him know that it isn’t working or needs an adjustment.
Kite is an early access game that is doing early access correctly. Sometimes devs put a game up on the market place and then they slowly update it over the years and the game has no end in sight. Deeps on the other hand has put his game out and is working mercilessly to produce a quality game. He wants his game to be good and be the best he can make it be. It is something so admirable and one of the reasons I wanted to have a sit down and just talk with the man, I respect him and his game immensely.
We have a huge problem now-a-days with early access games being published and left out for people to buy. There are many games that have over a couple of thousand concurrent players that are still in early access that have no end of development in sight. This is something that I won’t support on principal. With any type of game, be it console or PC, I won’t buy it if there is DLC planned or if it’s in early access/beta. If the game isn’t finished why should I spend my money on it? I shouldn’t. We shouldn’t. If you spend money on these games and they make a killing, we are greasing the wheels for these kinds of people and studios. But on the flip side there are people like Deeps who are using Early-Access to its full potential. He’s letting you play the game and then he asks for feed back. He wants to make his game the best he can. He is actively working on Kite. Deeps is definitely a diamond in the rough with the Steam early access model and he, unlike others, deserve your money more than anybody else.
Hey guys, I hope you liked this write up I did with the man behind Kite! It was fun working with him and playing his game and giving him feedback, definitely something that I would love to do in the future. I love the idea of helping someone make a product better. It was a pure joy.
