Update v0.8: Trading Cards, public Workshop and more
Update v0.8: Trading Cards, public Workshop and more
Added Trading Cards to the game! (and smileys/backgrounds/badges)
The Workshop is now public and visible even if you don't own the game.
Game changes
Added new border decorations for the ground on Running and Flying mode. The reasoning behind this was that the grass was a very high density repeating pattern, scrolling very quickly accross the screen, and it may have an effect on the "motion blur" feeling that some players are experiencing. The new borders are much more streamlined and should feel more easy on the eyes.
Added a "zoom-in" feature, you can now select "120%" as zoom value in the General options menu.
Slightly shifted light orbs' position towards the ground in Jogging and Running sections, so that it's easier to focus on both orbs and obstacles at the same time.
The game will now detect streaks of very low FPS (<30FPS) and suggest at the end of the track to the player to disable Anti-Aliasing or Post-Processing to alievate performances issues.
Added new character skins "Uniform" and "Prototype" (a copy of my "Classic Melody" Workshop item)
Interface changes
Added "Favorite Folders" to the bottom of the main folders list. This menu choice automatically extracts and lists all the different folders from your "Favorite" tagged files, allowing easy access to your common music folders.
Added help tooltips to most options items.
Misc changes
New on-disk track caching format, which now stores obstacles and track intensity data directly (and for each difficulty density type) instead of the music audio profile, reducing the size of cache files by a factor of 10. This change greatly speeds up track loading from cache, especially for very long tracks, and solves very rare cases where the cached version had different obstacles than the first "live" analysis, due to floating point rounding issues. All previously cached music files will now need to be re-analysed again.
Fixed a potential crash scenario related to manually modified Workshop mods folder names
Linux
Updated libbass to 2.4.11, which has improved compatibility with recent PulseAudio versions. Hopefully this should fix the audio garbling issues encountered by some users.
Mod Studio (Windows)
Fixed the Hair Editor's treeview size when using Windows magnified text size above 100%.
Update v0.7.4: New skin & haircuts + a mod editor
Patch update v0.7.4.0: New skin & haircuts + mod editor
Major Changes
Added a mod editor/studio. You can now very easilly create your own skins, hairstyles and color themes and edit them all in real-time (Windows only).
Added "slow-mo" jumps in running sections, for very specific occurences where the music's energy drastically drops during a few seconds. Those jumps can be identified on the song preview graph by a blue vertical dashed line (note that they are quite rare and mostly found in electro music)
Added new hairstyles: "Long Twin Tails", "Short" and "Braided Ponytail"
Added new skin: "White Dress"
Added new color scheme: "Dark"
Modding Changes
You can access the new Mod Editor in the game's installation folder, under the name "ModStudio.exe". I will soon write a tutorial on how to use this tool, but it should be quite simple to grasp the basics if you're already familiar with Melody's Escape custom content creation. The main advantages are real time color editing and texture reloading.
Added a "belt" skin element for the character skin (empty on the default skin). This element is drawn above the legs and is tied to the position of the "pelvis" element. You can use it for instance to draw a skirt above the legs
Hairlocks are now drawn above the static sprite of a haircut.
Minor Changes
Added some noise/dithering to the sky's background gradient, so that the gradient horizontal lines are less noticeable and to get a slightly more gritty visual result.
Removed the background gradient in menus screen as it resulted in visible horizontal lines with some color schemes.
The flying mode's backgrounds were slightly offset so that they don't intersect visually with the orbs anymore, for better visibility.
Hair movement now flow more naturally for all animations where Melody rolls (especially with very long hairstyles where it was too stiff before)
Flying mode is now slightly faster and running mode is now slightly slower
Multiple changes to the default color palette
Fixed folders with a dot "." character in their name being shown as playlists in the music selection menu
Fixed scrolling the music list with LB/RB shoulder button (or PgUp/PgDown keys) being able to overflow if the list was small.
Removed the "disable dynamic hair simulation" performance option as its cost was quite minimal compared to its high visual quality impact.
Fixed fullscreen mode issues when restarting the game on Linux
The Mac port is now using universal binaries, which should fix Workshop Skin loading issue that prevented some players from running the game after subscribing to a skin.
Now available on Linux and Mac!
Melody's Escape is now available on Linux and Mac, as a native port using FNA/Mono.
Everything should be functional, except for a few issues with fullscreen mode that will be fixed in the next patch, and "drag'n'drop" which isn't working yet.
If you encounter any issues on those platforms, please don't hesitate to post them in the Linux and Mac support thread.
If the mouse isn't responding correctly after switching to fullscreen, you can use the keyboard to navigate the menus.
Update v0.7.3.0 - Performance boost on integrated GPUs
New "Anti-aliasing" (MSAA) option
Disabling AA (in the "Performances" options menu) greatly improves performances on low-end machines (especially on Intel HD GPU laptops), at the cost of jagged edges on long obstacles (please note that this change requires a restart of the game).
If you were previously struggling to run Melody's Escape at 60FPS, you might wanna try to disable anti-aliasing and re-enable backgroud visualizations and/or post-processing (to medium) for the eye-candy effects, as without the antialiasing it might now run smoothly at 60fps!
This option will default to OFF on integrated GPUs. However, the GPU's type can only be detected by the game after that the setting has already been applied, so the first time that you run the game after this update, if the option was auto-set to "OFF" you still need to restart the game for it to take effect!
Effect preview:
Other changes
<*>Added a sound menu option to disable the audio preview when selecting a music.
<*>Tons of behind-the-scenes changes to the engine to prepare for the Mac and Linux port of the game (coming soon! :) )
Update 0.7.3.1 Fixed BASS addons for additional formats not being loaded by the music engine
Update 0.7.3.2 Fixed custom skins not being loaded when restarting the game
Update Notes - v0.7.2.0
New "Playlist Mode"
Added "Playlist Mode", to play multiple songs in a row (albums, folders, playlists, favorite/recent files, etc.). When you have multiple songs displayed in the Music Selection menu, simply select "play all files" ("P" hotkey on keyboard and "X" button on controllers)
If you want more controls over the played tracks and their order, you can use your favorite music player to create a .M3U playlist and then access that playlist from the Music Selection menu.
Added an option in the Pause menu to skip to the next song in the list.
"Autoplay" songs in Playlist Mode now start automatically after loading, allowing you to select multiple songs and have them all play without any required input (great for playing music in the background and enjoying the game as a visualizer!)
"Autoplay" songs don't show the end stats screen anymore.
Added support for multiple files drag'n'drop (to be played in Playlist Mode).
In Playlist Mode, files that cannot be played due to an error (file format, deleted file, etc.) will be automatically skipped instead of showing the error screen.
Difficulty Changes
Complete overhaul of the Overload difficulty. I wanted to have a much bigger density of orbs in Overload and I wasn't happy with the artificial difficulty of simply requiring difficult inputs constantly for solid obstacles.
Now the Overload tracks will have twice as much orbs and less solid obstacles (especially noticeable in "Tempo" sync mode), and require Direction/Color Tandem inputs instead of "Mix" (The Direction/Color Mix is still available in the Custom difficulty settings for those looking for an extra challenge).
Please let me know what you think about this new Overload mode in this discussion thread!
The input window in Intense mode is now a bit wider.
The orb density in Energy Peak mode for Medium Difficulty is now lower
Slightly increased the speed of flying sections again
The setting "Double Low Tempos" now only affect tempo values below 91 BPM instead of 101 BPM.
Added an option (in the "General" menu) to disable the usage of a distinct "Direction" purple color for solid obstacles in Intense mode (a cosmetic change only, you still need to use the correct arrow input).
Other changes
Removed the "tempo confidence" percentage from the Track Loading Screen, as it was too confusing and not linear; a lot of players assumed that 50% meant that only half of the song would be on sync when instead it would mean a near perfect sync.
You can now press the "backspace" key (or "back" gamepad button) during a track and at the end stats screen to replay the song.
Update v0.7.1.0
- Obstacle timing accuracy ("perfect", "good" and "ok") is no longer displayed on the left part of the HUD, but is now shown in the form of floating texts next to Melody, to make it possible to pay attention to the timing accuracy without being distracted. By default it only shows "errors" (failures), but you can configure it in the "General Options" to show each obstacle's timing accuracy.
- The background lights are now more accurately synced to the frequency spectrum of the music
- The ribbon trail behind Melody (on long obstacles) is now smoother and with a new texture, and it starts a bit sooner when sliding on obstacles
- The transition animation from "walking" to "flying" is now smoother
- Added an option to toggle FPS, in the "Performances" options menu
- Slightly increased the scrolling speed of the background in flying sections, as well as the fog's brightness
- On keyboard, screens waiting for "any key" input to continue now only look for gameplay-bound keys presses, "Enter" or "Space", allowing to take screenshots if you've bound the Steam screenshot key to something other than the Function keys
- Switching from keyboard input to gamepad input during a track will now work when pressing the d-pad or using the thumbsticks (it only worked with the color buttons before)
- Pressing buttons during the intro walk will not trigger failures anymore
Flying mode: complete rework! Update v0.7.0
Complete rework of the "Flying" sections
I wasn't happy with the current state of the flying mode, as it was too monotonous and didn't feel as "powerful" as it should to represent the most intense parts of a song. This was in part due to the lack of solid obstacles (requiring more complex inputs in Intense and above), and also due to the lack of distinct character animations and background visualizations to enhance the experience.
So I've completely scratched it and made a new flying mode with a new theme!
What I really liked about the old mode was the possibility to have a very high orb density, which isn't possible with solid obstacles in-between due to the animations' length, so the compromise I've found was to have solid obstacles only for long held notes, and orbs for regular notes.
Flying sections should now feel much more intense, and very long ones found in music genre like metal should feel more appropriate. Please let me know in the discussion board if you have any feedback.
Others
- Double arrows mix (Overload difficulty and Custom) are now inverted automatically when using a gamepad. You can still invert that result using the General options menu
- If a respawn would happen during a transition, it will now happen right in the middle of the transition instead of afterwards, giving you more time to anticipate the next obstacle
- Fixed the resolution change confirmation screen not applying video changes beforehand
- Fixed failure animations being horizontally offset in Intense and Overload difficulty
- Removed debug information from the window's titlebar
Quick Patch: v0.7.0.1
- Flying sections are now slightly faster in all difficulties
- Cleaned data files with references to the old flying mode (for faster game loading)
Interface improvements (QoL) - Update v0.6.4.0
Music Selection Menu improvements
- Added "Favorite Files" list and functionality (indicated by a small heart in the top right of each Music Info window)
- M3U playlists can now be browsed like folders (in the folders list, with the "[playlist]" prefix) to select indivual songs inside them.
- Changed "B" button behavior on gamepad to not exit the music selection menu directly but simply go back one level in the interface (so if you select a music, pressing B will go back to the music list)
- Going back one folder level from the "My Music" folder now takes you back to the main folder list instead of the "User" Windows folder
Interface improvements
- The video adapter used by the game is now displayed in the Video options menu.
- Added a timed confirmation dialog when changing the video resolution or the window mode (to avoid crashes or black/white screen bug on some systems)
- Fixed keyboard key "None" being autoset on some systems when trying to remap keyboard controls
- Fixed a bug allowing to upload empty items to the Workshop
- Selecting a new hairstyle in the Customization menu will now enable the "Dynamic Hair Simulation" option if it was disabled in "Performances" options
Others
- Fixed tails in Walking mode not always filling up to the very end when the next light orb was too close
Workshop Beta - v0.6.3.0 Update
- Added Workshop support, to share and download skins, hairstyles and color schemes! This is still in beta testing, and the Workshop is only visible to owners of the game at the moment.
Please join us in the Discussion board if you want to give feedback about that functionality.
- Modified the folder hierarchy and file names for mod support to support Workshop integration. All previous existing mods will need to be renamed correctly and move into the correct Mods folder for them to work again.
- Modified the "boost" animation to make it smoother
- Fixed difficulty selection menu not remembering the last difficulty choice and defaulting to "Autoplay" when using a gamepad or arrow keys
- Fixed a rare issue where a song with constant running wouldn't end with a walking section
- Modified the camera offset at the end of very long jumps in running mode to better anticipate incomining obstacles after landing
- "Halve High Tempos" mode (used in Relaxing) now only triggers on songs above 154BPM instead of above 140BPM
- Removed F10 key "debug" windowed functionality
New Difficulties! Update v0.6.2.0
New difficulties!
- Added a new "Custom" difficulty: Create your own difficulty thanks to a set of gameplay rules (Want to play with a single color but at the same speed and density as "Intense"? Or play on Intense with the old "Direction + Color" tandem? Now you can!)
- Added a new difficulty: "Overload", with a new input method (Direction and Color mix for solid obstacles). This difficulty is experimental and not finished, its obstacles density will be fine tuned with future updates.
- Added a new held/slide obstacle type: "Boost", in Running mode
Custom Content
- I'm still working on the workshop integration, but in the meantime you can join our new Customization sub-forum to enjoy and share community-made skins, color themes and hairstyles!
Additional changes and bug fixes:
- Arrows sprites are now bigger to improve visibility
- "Direction and Color Mix" and "Direction and Color Tandem" now have a new "double arrows" icon. Its color/direction order can be inverted in the options menu
- Modified the "hold" indicator as the old one wasn't effective at communicating that you had to hold the key
- Fixed cases of audio stuttering during music preview in the selection menu
- Fixed Autoplay vibrations not triggering
- Fixed a very rare case where a track wouldn't end with a walking section
- Fixed fire effect behavior when background scrolling is disabled