We're back and we're breaking the silence with this great update that we love. We're happy to state that our next goal is to release this game! Reaching this goal will help us to concentrate on the next most anticipated game feature - multiplayer.
Our major goal in this particular update was a significant improvement of the gameplay and pushing its realism to the next level. We're happy to introduce our new oil pattern-based physics model. Now it feels much more like the real bowling valley! Making a perfect curl (hook) is really easier now. There are no tricks or hacks. Oil pattern works how it should, like in the real world.
Just turn your hand and wrist counter-clockwise (clockwise for lefties) at the end of the swing when releasing the ball and look how ball is taking this rotation, but sliding straight forward (in direction of your swing) while oil is wet on the lane, but closer to end (or to edges, according to pattern) it drier and ball starts turning towards its rotation direction.
As you may know, there're many oil patterns in bowling and they differ from club to club, may vary from championship to championship. And we know that finding the “breakpoint,” or the point where the ball should exit the oil pattern is vital to being a successful bowler. But in the real world bowler feels the weight of the ball, while in the game he can feel only the small weight of the controller. And it differs from platform to platform (Vive, Oculus, PSVR, etc) and affects gameplay in its way.
So to give you more options to find the best way to play on any platform, we added equipment screen (alpha version) with selection of the balls of different weights and looks. Currently, it shows you only the standard set of balls (that available from start) and balls that you unlocked during a career walkthrough (that is fixed now!). We're going to update this screen soon to make it more convenient to use. And we're happy to announce that you will be able to choose your desired oil pattern soon from many different really existing and applying patterns.
One more important thing made in this update is a fix for our scoring system. We apologize that it took too much time (since starting early access) before we fixed such a significant thing. Now it's fully authentic and takes into account all possible cases. So there is no more confusion with tasks in career walkthrough. Put on your headset and finish career unlocking all the rewards!
This update includes even more changes and improvements that worth say about, such as graphic improvement, optimization and bug fixes, but this post is already too long, so we're going to share more details with you in our next posts.
Please stay tuned and thank you very much for your patience!
Sincerely yours, «Let's Bowl VR» development team!
Q2-2018 Roadmap
Dear customers!
We know that you didn't hear from us for a while, but there is a reason for it. We're developing the next huge update for Let's Bowl VR. We know that some of you prefer small and often updates, but we're working on some complex features that are very dependent and it would be better for everyone to release them pretty well polished and tested. Especially the multiplayer feature.
I do not want this to sound like an excuse, but as you may know, we're indie developers and our game still in Early Access. We're working without any investments in our free time and our dream is to make a very special bowling game suitable for everyone from professional bowlers to casual gamers. How you can see we're working very close with the community and we implemented a lot of features by your requests and we're going to continue this practice.
We can't wait to share all the stuff we're working on with you, but everything has its time. So to break the silence and to make you sure that this project is more than alive, we decided to release the list of features that will be released in upcoming quarter:
1. Multiplayer mode;
2. Oil coating (was planned to release in PATCH 003, but it was disabled due to some issue);
3. Inventory and stuff;
4. Different weight of balls (currently all balls have the same weight - 13 lbs);
5. Major physics improvements;
6. Challenges game mode (in its final state and unlocked regardless of career);
7. Career walkthrough fixes and improvements;
8. AI: The girl will finally play with you;
9. New Lobby map;
10. Finally you will be able to throw the annoying tablet away and play with free hands;
11. Lots of bug fixes and improvements;
Please stay tuned and thank you very much for your patience!
Sincerely yours,
«Let's Bowl VR» development team!
Roadmap
Dear customers!
We know that you didn't hear from us for a while, but there is a reason for it. We're developing the next huge update for Let's Bowl VR. We know that some of you prefer small and often updates, but we're working on some complex features that are very dependent and it would be better for everyone to release them pretty well polished and tested. Especially the multiplayer feature.
I do not want this to sound like an excuse, but as you may know, we're indie developers and our game still in Early Access. We're working without any investments in our free time and our dream is to make a very special bowling game suitable for everyone from professional bowlers to casual gamers. How you can see we're working very close with the community and we implemented a lot of features by your requests and we're going to continue this practice.
We can't wait to share all the stuff we're working on with you, but everything has its time. So to break the silence and to make you sure that this project is more than alive, we decided to release the list of features that will be released in upcoming quarter:
1. Multiplayer mode;
2. Oil coating (was planned to release in PATCH 003, but it was disabled due to some issue);
3. Inventory and stuff;
4. Different weight of balls (currently all balls have the same weight - 13 lbs);
5. Major physics improvements;
6. Challenges game mode (in its final state and unlocked regardless of career);
7. Career walkthrough fixes and improvements;
8. AI: The girl will finally play with you;
9. New Lobby map;
10. Finally you will be able to throw the annoying tablet away and play with free hands;
11. Lots of bug fixes and improvements;
Please stay tuned and thank you very much for your patience!
Sincerely yours,
«Let's Bowl VR» development team!
HOTFIX UPDATE
Improved hook
Fixed: HTC Vive touchpad dead zones caused issues with teleport rotation
Fixed: hand model out of sync with controller after throws
Fixed: power drain of throws on HTC Vive
PATCH 003
"Natural" throws
From the very begining of development of this game, we wanted to make it as much realistic as possible. However, standard approach for VR throw implementation is not ideal for a bowling, especially for people who want to bowl a hook. So we decided to completely rework this part and make you feel like a ball has a weight during swing (only in virtual world of course =). It gives you full control of gameplay and feels so much like real bowling.
Now:
Throws are more precise
Throws are more powerful
Throws direction depends on your swing
And you can bowl a hook!
Teleport
Now you can play our game freely even if you don't have much space in your game room.
The Return of the Prodigal Ball =)
We know you were irritated because of balls rolling out and never back. Now if ball is rolling out so far from you it will be returned by ball return machine.
Additional graphic options
Now you have ability to setup supersampling and reflections resolution to improve your graphics quality. Of course if your PC is powerful enough ;)
Haptic feedback
We added haptic feedback so you can not only see and hear but also feel some in-game events.
Performance and Stability Improvements!
As usual, we fixed a lot of bugs, made some optimizations and tweaks!
STAY TUNED!
More updates are coming!
Sincerely yours, «Let's Bowl VR» development team!
PATCH 003 is coming this week!
Stay tuned!
PATCH 002
Introducing Career game mode!
Unlock clubs and towns by passing each level with three stars!
Earn rewards by playing in Career mode!
Get new bowling balls and collect Let's Bowl VR chips! In the next updates you will be able to spend them on equipment or new levels.
See your stats!
A close view camera
Play with any hand!
Oculus Rift support!
Introducing Natasha - your personal bowling tutor!
By now she is just looking how you play, but she will play against you in one of the next updates!
Introducing Challenges game mode (alpha preview)!
Solve physical puzzles to win the challenges. Throw the balls via moving platforms, giant clown's head, circus tent and many other amazing obstacles!
It's available in alpha access only. Finish Career to get it.
Performance and Stability Improvements!
Bugs/crash fixes, optimizations and tweaks!
PATCH 001
NEW CLUB AVAILABLE:
Underwood Corner Club
FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS:
Notification improvements,
Behavior of balls in gutter improved,
Minor tweaks,
Crash fixes
