Mind OVR Matter
Update 0.21
Sorry for the lack of content in this update. I've been ill over the past week and, while I've caught up on sleep, Preacher and SGDQ recently, I haven't got anywhere near as much done on the game as I would've liked.
I have, however, managed to add some much requested changes such as the new ability to grab objects from a distance (press left or right on the touchpad).
I'll be trying to get a larger update out soon to make up for the lost ground this week.
Full changelog:
New Feature:
- Press left or right on the touchpad to grab distant objects in the centre of your view. Yes, this works on enemies too ;) You do, however, need a clear line of sight for this to work (no objects in the way).
Changes:
- Changed lighting in The Playground.
- Changed tips on controllers and in the Welcome room.
- Changed lighting/reflections in most areas.
Bug Fixes:
- (Hopefully) fixed the bug that created a small chance you could throw yourself through the floor! (Please let me know if this still happens to you!)
- Reduced the friction of the walls. This is to address a bug where the player is unable to throw themselves whilst touching a wall. I'm still not 100% happy with this fix and so I'll be revisiting it soon but this should help for now.
Thanks again for playing everyone :)
Update 0.2
New Features:
- The first boss has been added! He's waiting at wave 10 (or through the new wave select option). I was hoping to add some menacing music to go with him but didn't want to rush it so that will be coming soon.
- 2 new 'timed' modes (one mobile, one stationary) - See how many drones you can destroy in two minutes (no player damage).
- 2 new enemies - one small and speedy; one slow with a shield on the front.
- 'Wave select' option now available for 'wave' modes.
- 'Music off' option now available in the welcome room so you can play along with your own music.
- Enemy spawners added in playground.
- Particles added to hands when triggers pressed to show range of 'grab'.
Changes:
- Waves now have more variety and set patterns.
- Health bars have been made more visible (will replace with 'dots' or similar soon).
- Made player's area of hit-detection smaller so you are now harder to hit.
- Changed wording of starting/advanced tips in the welcome room.
- Added labels to controllers to display functions.
Bug Fixes:
- Enemies now fire bullets at a force based on current distance from player to combat cases where bullets were coming in too low/fast.
- Pressing a trigger will now grab any object within range of the hand without the need to move the hand first.
- Fixed weird reflections in welcome room.
- Performance tweaks (let me know if you have any problems!)
As always, please let me know if you find any bugs so I can squish 'em ASAP.
Feedback on the new boss in particular would be greatly appreciated at the moment, though all suggestions are welcome :)
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Bug Fix 0.13.1
- Now hold both triggers AND grips to grab ALL objects. (Less likely to be triggered accidentally).
- Slowed the rate at which grabbing all items happens such that it is now easier to select fewer objects if desired.
- Updated tutorial text to reflect changes.
Bug Fixes:
- Grabbing all objects will now grab ALL objects (would previously miss some if player was in a corner).
- Fixed occasions where the A.O.E. wave sent out to grab objects wouldn't be triggered/deactivated properly.
- Teleport beam will now disappear if pressed on a second hand while still held on the first (enables player to grab all objects with new controls).
Thanks again for the continued suggestions and feedback,
Special thanks to Nah(?) Queen of The Humans :D
It means a lot.
Joe
Update 0.13
Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4pqmv2/mind_ovr_matter_sale/
It seems standard policy is to wait until 8 weeks after launch to be able to set a discount, however, so I am currently waiting to hear back from Valve but I'm not too hopeful.
Regardless, thanks again guys.
Patch Notes:
New Features:
- Hold 'down' on the touchpad to draw 'held' objects in towards each other. You can cluster them for easier management or release the touchpad once clustered to scatter them with a small explosion. Objects will also cluster differently depending on whether the trigger is held.
Changes/Upgrades:
- Hold down both triggers to grab all objects near self. You can now hold down longer to grab ALL objects.
- Press 'up' on the touchpad to drop all objects held by hand. (Previously anywhere on touchpad)
- Fonts and tutorial wording revamped to include new features/changes.
- Small upgrade to welcome room.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed bug where object would drop to the ground when grabbed by a second hand.
- Fixed bug where objects controlled by a single hand would stop moving with the hand if too close to the player.
- Adjusted audio priorities to stop certain noises from being drowned out by others.
Let me know if you find any bugs or have any more suggestions,
Joe
PS. I have booked the week off of work next week (except the Friday) so I'll try and focus on getting some bigger updates out during that time. I'll be focussing soon on uploading larger updates a little less frequently (probably weekly but I'll let you know if I decide on a set day) so as not to overwhelm everyone and tackle some bigger features. Thanks for playing :)
Sale? Question for existing customers
I've been wrestling with this for a couple of days now and wanted to get people's opinions if you don't mind offering them.
This is obviously my fault and you don't owe me anything so thanks for even reading this.
Basically, I'm afraid that the game is actually getting less exposure now that the summer sale is on and I didn't have a launch sale as I decided to keep the base price low instead.
I would now like to put it on sale to let more people see it but I'm very worried that I'll upset people who have already bought it if I do so (i.e. you).
I know what it's like when you've just bought a game and then it goes on sale...
Please let me know what you think and if anyone who's bought it says that they wouldn't like me to then I won't do it.
I'm sorry if this comes across as needy or unprofessional; I just want to be as transparent as possible and your opinions mean the most to me when it comes to things like this.
If you would like it on sale or you don't mind, how much would you think is reasonable? Money is certainly not my motivation for doing this and if more people can come and join the community then I would much rather that.
Thanks again for your time,
Joe
Also, I'll have an update out tomorrow with some new powers that people have been requesting, as well as some refinements to existing ones. I was going to push it live tonight but just found some more bugs while testing and it is late (4am) so I need some sleep before work tomorrow.
Update (next day): Thanks for all of the replies. It seems that the response here and on Reddit has been overwhelmingly in favour of a sale so I'll try but have just been made aware that there is a minimum of 8 weeks between sale periods and the launch counts as one (probably to avoid upsetting early adopters).
So, I'm waiting to hear back but I'll aim for 15% based off of feedback if/when I can.
Thanks again.
Bug Fix 0.12.1
- Fixed a bug where controllers would disappear after steam menu button pressed.
- More objects will now fire into scene from the launchers before they turn off as performance seems stable on my GTX 970 at this number.
Joe
Update 0.12
- Added coloured particles to 'held' objects to display which hand is holding which object. Made them blue and orange for now as they are the most distinct colours for most people with colour blindness but will review later.
- An object now moves with the hand that is 'holding' it while suspended in the air. Objects held by both hands will not move in this way.
- An object is now only 'grabbed' when pressing both triggers if it is not held by any hand at all. Helps to stop both hands controlling everything at the same time.
- Objects are now thrown when releasing the trigger on either hand if 'held' by both hands.
- Adjusted enemy behaviour to stop incoming shots from bunching up as much.
- Adjusted scoring to fix a bug where if more than 100 objects were held by a hand the score would decrease when a drone destroyed. Much bigger reward also given for using fewer objects now to encourage as a viable playstyle.
- Reworded some of the 'Starting Tips'.
- Adjusted haptic feedback.
- Minor performance optimizations.
As always, let me know if you find any bugs or have any suggestions,
Joe
Minor update to fix day one bugs and implement a few suggestions.
Only a small update today based on some feedback.
Patch Notes for 0.11:
- Added lens flare to Drones to help locate them when not in immediate view.
- Improved overall audio spacialization.
- Made the 'level selector cube' solid and moved it so that it's less likely to fall on your head :/
- Added a couple of extra signs.
- Increased haptic feedback on grab/throw (let me know if too much now!)
- Minor bug fixes.
I'm trying out a couple of larger suggestions as well at the moment so we'll also see where they might lead in the coming days...
Thanks for reading.
Have fun and let me know if you find any horrible bugs,
Joe
Force VR renamed Mind OVR Matter
Can't wait for Tuesday so that everyone can start playing.
I'll be posting updates on Steam, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube and my website but feel free to message me directly if you want/need anything.
Have fun :)