Outside the Lines cover
Outside the Lines screenshot
PC Steam
Genre: Indie

Outside the Lines

The December Effect is releasing on March 3rd
Hi! I'm Cade, the programmer for Outside the Lines, and I'm releasing my first retail game called The December Effect on March 3rd. It's a work of interactive fiction with minigames. If that's something that sounds interesting to you, be sure to add it to your wishlist!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1521430/

Update 1.1 - Tidying Up
So, within the past year I've become a much better programmer, and I started to dislike working on Outside the Lines because of how messy the code was. That being said, I spent the last few days cleaning up ALL of the code in the game. While doing so, I actually made a lot of changes that I think improve the game as a whole.

  • Most paint lasts MUCH longer, but smaller splatters clump together. This should hopefully make the game feel fuller and reduce any lag people may have been getting. Paint Bucket's alt fire is the only thing that still has a low duration.
  • Added three new achievements! Not letting you get a perfect game that easily!
  • Changed the font to a pixel art font so it's easier to read.
  • Changed the in-game logo to better match the promotional logo.
  • Player coverage and gun coverage now matters with all of the weapons. Before, some weapons would only consider one or none of the stats.
  • Wide Paintbrush's right click was toned down.
  • Increased the spawn rate of Erasers.
  • Increased the chance for the Thin Paintbrush to convert chalks.

Update 1.0.4 - Finishing Touches
This is an update that addresses some minor issues I've encountered in the past few months.


  • Added a button to the settings that allows players to reset their achievement progress.
  • Achievements are now disabled while playing multiplayer or without CPUs. Sorry!
  • Pressing the shoot button once the game ends returns to the menu. I noticed that the escape key wasn't super obvious.
  • Erasers are a bit more common.
  • Fixed a crash that would happen after a few seconds of playing with a 120 second timer.
  • Fixed an issue where the colored arrows would start pointing too soon with a 60 second timer.
  • Updated the intro credits to replace my changed username.


Super lame update, I know. I'm not abandoning this game at all, but my priorities are currently elsewhere.

Update 1.0.3 - New Engine and Various Changes
Hi everyone! I just started using GameMaker Studio 2 for my other game, so I decided it would be a good idea to try importing Outside the Lines as well. There isn't anything too major in this update, but hopefully it'll tide everyone over until I have enough darn time to make a big update.


  • Migrated to GameMaker Studio 2 from GameMaker: Studio 1.4. I've noticed some hefty performance improvements from this.
  • Spray Paint and Paint Bucket don't spawn in Deathmatches anymore, since they can't deal damage to players.
  • Changed how weapons spawn to make sure all colors have at least 1 weapon on the ground.
  • Added text that says "Not Yours!" whenever you go near an enemy weapon.
  • Keyboard players can now click to pick up weapons if they don't have a weapon equipped. Hopefully this is a good change for people who don't read the instructions!
  • Cleaned the positioning of almost all text, most notably weapon pickup text.

Antivirus problems have been solved!
It's been a long few weeks, but I've finally managed to figure out a way to stop Windows Defender and Norton from blocking my game. For good. Thanks so much to everyone for dealing with this, because I know how valuable a clean computer is.

Also I've removed the "multiplayer" and "co-op" tags from the store page to avoid confusion, since it's only local multiplayer.

There's nothing too exciting to say because I've been spending most of my time on my other project, so if you're curious, you can find more info on my website: http://www.vastforecast.com/

Thank you, and until next time!

Regarding Windows Defender and Norton
I'm not sure how to approach this issue, but here's my side of the story.

Windows Defender is falsely quarantining my game for trojan after a recent Windows 10 update. I've gotten reports of Norton locating a trojan file as well. This is resulting in a lack of trust and negative reviews, and it worries me immensely.

I've contacted Steam support and they responded extremely swiftly, directing me to contact the antivirus vendors. I can't seem to get a response from Microsoft.

I advise everyone who is still skeptical of the game to avoid playing it, because there isn't really a way to prove that the game isn't a virus other than the fact that it hasn't been taken off Steam. From a consumer's perspective, better safe than sorry.

This just really bums me out, though. I'll keep everyone updated.

Update 1.0.2 - Options and New Gamemode
This is a small update that adds an options page so that all the options are stored in a clean place. We're still working on those events, but CatnipOverdose (our artist) is a little preoccupied with our other game right now.

Options



  • A new gamemode has been added: Deathmatch. Everyone has 3 lives. Last color standing wins!
  • You can change the amount of time in the match to 60 seconds, 90 seconds, or 120 seconds.
  • Audio/Visual options have been moved to the new options page. Also, you can fullscreen without hitting F.
  • You can turn on "respawn with weapon" to start with a weapon every time you die.
  • Turning on and off CPUs has been moved to the new options page.


Balance



  • The weapon stats matter much more now. Starting weapon stats have been changed so that the percentages for other weapons are accurate. The max damage/coverage stat has been increased to 180% (was 150%) and the max speed up has been increased to +40% (was +20%). The minimum possible stats are the same. Fixed a few bugs with overriding stats.
  • The Cotton Swab wasn't properly changed last update, so that's fixed now.
  • The Paint Bucket was slightly changed to have bigger (but a less amount of) splashes.

Update 1.0.1 - Balance and Other Cool Changes
Hey everyone! I absolutely love reading the reviews and watching the YouTube videos that people are posting, and it's awesome to see all this support. I've tried to get as much feedback as possible on the balancing, but the main issue with the game is it lacks replayability. And I totally agree.

We had some things planned to make the rounds feel different, like random events. But until that's ready, I've tried to make the balancing of the characters and weapons feel a bit more fair.

Misc Changes



  • You know that feeling when you've been playing too much Enter the Gungeon, so you spam your R key to try to reload, but then you realize that R does something else? Yeah. The R key doesn't immediately restart the entire game anymore.
  • The edges of the coloring book are now treated like a wall, so you can't just walk off and instantly die.
  • The "Green Wins" message doesn't stay on the screen for a century anymore.
  • The Paintball Sniper's sight line now has infinite range so you don't oddly see the end of it.


Character Balance



  • Stats don't lie! The achievement distribution was undeniable proof that Green Crayon was OP. Green Crayon's coverage has been changed from a 25% increase to a 20% increase. Doesn't sound like much, but I feel like it makes a huge difference.
  • Pink Pencil was actually the hardest character according to the achievements, which surprised me. I've always thought she was more viable than Blue Ballpoint. But nonetheless, Pink Pencil's speed increase has been changed from 25% to 33%.


Gun Balance



  • The bullets from guns are bigger and they no longer leave a trail. This makes guns more focused on getting kills instead of covering ground.
  • The Paintball Gun's alt ability has a 60% slowdown instead of 50%.
  • The Paintball Shotgun is slightly more accurate.


Item Balance



  • The Paint Bucket's cooldown has been changed from 95 to 55. The alt cooldown has been cut in half, since that's based on how long you use it.
  • The Sponge no longer slows you down while using it. Sponge's alt cooldown has been changed from 80 to 70.
  • The Cotton Swab's melee attack now only works if you switch sides after the animation finishes. No more spamming melee!
  • The Thick Brush has a 40% slowdown instead of a 50% slowdown. You guys know this thing can get kills right?

Outside the Lines is out!
Hi. My name is Cade but I use the username AstroPenguin642 online. I've been making games since I was seven years old and this is the first time I've actually released one.

This game originated as an entry to a game jam, and it was actually the first game jam I had ever entered. I made Outside the Lines with CatnipOverdose, a team member and long time friend. It ended up placing 3rd overall, so we decided to fine tune it, add some handmade music by our good pal Slimer509, and release it on Steam for the experience.

We're actually working on a much bigger game with online multiplayer; more on that later! But for now, it should be fun to keep this game updated and stuff.

Wanna chat with us? Use the Steam forums or join our Discord!
Our Discord: http://discord.gg/YeNm93g
Our Website: http://www.vastforecast.com/