Palallel
V1.00d - Controller interaction fixes
V1.00b
- Fixed typo in the credits.
Palallel is now available on steam !
Palallel is now out on steam ːzaggrinːːpraisesunːːcozybethesdaː
It's been a year and a half since we started working on Palallel on our spare time and we're delighted to see the game taking form and to be able to share it with you today.
Before we go into the thanks part, we have two small messages for you :
- If you encounter an issue in game, please contact us on the steam forums or on Discord. If a level is too hard for you, you can skip up to two levels for each world (on the pause menu). Choose wisely !
- All levels have been neatly tested one by one, but we lack time to properly test it with external players. We know some levels might feel frustrating or even be particularly difficult. We'll do our best to solve the issues you'll encounter in the next few days.
GoatApe is composed of three members : Thomas Lourties, Simon Colin and Corentin Pacaud Boehm. All musics have been composed by Lucas Kleffert (Youtube) and Romain Pelloux. We also had help on the programming part from 4pi and Galeniium as well as Anasthasia Kasyanik (Artstation) for the GoatApe logo and for the AD (Thank you !). Final thank you for all our playtesters of the frist and second wave, the game would'nt look like that without them.
If you have any issues, a remark or feedbacks to give us, please contact us on Discord, Twitter or on the steam forums.
Finally, thank you for all of us who supported us and those who will support our future projects !
--GoatApe
Important Price & Friend Pass Update
We have an important update about two things : Friend Pass & the game's price.
TLDR : The Friend Pass is canceled, the price has been adjusted to 5.99$ (4.99€) and ~4.8$ (4€) on the first week.
Friend Pass
There's no good way to approach this but unfortunately, we have to cancel the Friend Pass due to some technical issues. Don't worry tho, we'll adjust the price accordingly.
We thought that the Friend Pass was a great way to increase the game's accessibility. You just have to buy the game and ask your friend to download the Friend Pass version to start playing. We prepared the Friend Pass for a long time but we didn't want to disable the demo (that was supposed to be replaced by the Friend Pass) until the release.
For those who don't want the technical explanations, you can skip to the next chapter.
Testing on the Friend Pass version was yesterday and as you understand it, it didn't go as planned. The Friend Pass version was complete and after pushing the build to the steam servers to test it, we ran into some lobby issues (the Friend Pass version couldn't join). After some research and debugging, we got word from the steam team that the steam multiplayer API wasn't able to connect a player from the demo to the main game.
As a result of this, we had to choose between reworking the game's multiplayer system to be independent of the steam API and leaving the Friend Pass behind. Reworking the multiplayer system a week before release wasn't an option (not to mention the cost of servers and issues related to ping) so we made the decision to cancel the Friend Pass.
Some of you might know this but before we switched to the steam networking API, we had our own system and a relay server that ran in France. That worked as expected but there was a cost involved in maintaining the server and after the first playtests, we got reports of heavy ping issues that made the game unplayable for people that were far from France. The cost that came with renting multiple servers from around the world was as you guessed it not something we could handle. The steam multiplayer API solved most of our problems (no cost, no ping issues) but it came with the price that we were dependent on the steam platform.
Today is the second cost that came with this decision : the Friend Pass is not possible technically in our case.
Price update
To compensate for the lack of Friend Pass, we decided to reduce the price of the game to 5.99$ (4.99€). On the first week, the game will have a discount of -20% which will bring the game to ~4.8$ (4€).
We always wanted to make the game accessible to most people. The Friend Pass played a big role in this. Unfortunately with its removal, we had to make sure you don't feel wronged in any way. With this new pricing, we hope the game will still appeal to most of you.
Thank you for reading, have a nice day !
-- GoatApe Team
Palallel is coming on May 27 !
It is with great pleasure that we can announce that Palallel will be released on May 27 at 9,99$ (6,99$ the 1st week) !
In addition to the new trailer you can check out above, we also updated the steam page to present all of the content and functionalities Palallel will support at launch. Key points to remember :
- 144 Levels individual levels (among these : 8 trials levels, 8 logic rooms and 32 bonus challenges)
- 36 Achievements to unlock !
- 10 Themed environments
- Several mechanics and interactive objects to challenge your brain and dexterity
- Some easter eggs…
- Character customization pushed to the limit
We wanted to remind you as well what's the Friend Pass. It's a system that allows you to only pay the game only one time in order for you and your partner to enjoy the game entirely.
How ? Nothing simpler : One of you has to purchase a copy of Palalel while the other will head to the steam page to download the Friend Pass (which is free). Once you're both in-game, the one who owns the game will have to host and invite his friend.
Thank you for your interest in the game. If you want don't hesitate to add the game to your wishlist. This will help the game's popularity (and it help us a lot as well !).
See you soon for more ːcozybethesdaː
Dev Update - April 2022
We'll keep this short this time, don't worry, we have some good news today !
Release Date Announcement
We chose in the past months to not talk about the release date until we're ready. That's why we only gave you a window of "March To July". While we can't tell you right now the precise date, we're working on the final details and we should be ready to announce the date alongside a new trailer in early May (yes early this time ːsansː).
Past & Current Work
- We wrapped up the final levels and we can finally announce that the game's is fully playable from start to finish. I guess Palallel is now kinda gold ːpraisesunː
- Achievements are still in the oven (mostly for the visuals) but they'll be ready soon.
- Controllers are now fully supported (Xbox & PS Controllers expect PS5 sorry !).
- Musics are almost done, we only have two themes left until we start the final mix step with other sounds & musics.
- We've made some adjustments to the planning mode that we'll present before the game's release.
- As we stated above, we're working on the release date trailer announcement that will me coming in the next few days.
- Of course, we are also polishing things up before the release, fixing nasty bugs ːmissingː and unwanted behaviors.
As we're getting close to the release, you will be hearing more from us in the coming weeks. We're planning to introduce and explain some of the game's mechanics and systems in small blog posts. We're really happy with the game's current state and we're eager to share more news about the game !
See you soon ːluvː
Development Update Palallel / Return of the demo - March 2022
We're happy to be here to talk about what we've been working on and what's coming next for the game in the near future.
Return of the demo
You heard it, the demo is back ! We tweaked the content and added some new functionnalites since the last time (controller support, richer option menu, new musics & sounds, planing mode, ...). We'll let you discover all of this by yourself ːdipː.
Playtests
Playtests are still running (they have been for 3 weeks) and the first feedbacks we've received are very useful. Thanks to them, we've fixed a lot of bugs that appeared since the last updates and we tweaked a huge amount of levels.
We're still working hard on the difficult balance. Our goal is to avoid frustrating and/or difficulty spikes (these spikes were reported especially in the END levels which are a bit special). Don't worry however for all of you Dark Souls lovers out there, bonus levels are there to spice things up. They will be unlocked as you progress through the game.
Currrent Work
Here are the subjects we're working on right now :
- Controller support : We just wrapped the support for classic controllers (Xbox & Playstation). It's now possible to play the game entirely with a controller. There's still a bit of polish before we make it available but it should be in the demo.
- New worlds, new levels : Work is never over regarding the game's content. We're constantly adding new levels. Right now we finalized 126 levels (bonus levels included), for a grand total of 7 worlds. Our goal is 8 worlds at release.
- Steam achievements : A list of steam achievements has appeared and we're updating it regularly. The implementation is about to begin. We don't want to only create 'completion' achievements, but also special and interesting ones.
- Easter eggs : We love a lot of games/movies/series so we couldn't miss the opportunity to add some easter eggs & references in our own game. Maybe you'll recognize where does this comes from ?
- Polish : Each game has a polish phase to guarantee the quality of the final game. In our case, we spend time on each mechanic, kept a healthy codebase in order to reduce the length of this last step. Every week we tweak another UI component, we're fixing issues, or add some other improvement of some sort.
- Musics & Sounds : Worlds theme are keep growing in numbers, we currently have 3 main themes and new sounds have been added for the character jumps, some new UI elements and new mechanics (that haven't been revealed yet).
Planning Mode
The planning mode is a communication & organization tool that we mentioned in the last dev update. It's time to see it in action :
By pressing a button, you'll enter the planning mode. You won't be able to move and a cursor will appear that allows you to aim at interactable objects of the level (doors, pressure plates, buttons, ...) as well as exchange zones.
When you choose an interactable object, you'll be able to open two selection wheels. The first one will display colors and the other one will display symbols. When a color is selected, the object will take the chosen color and when a symbol is selected, it will be displayed next to the object. This will be useful to clearly identify an object and to communicate more efficiently with your partner by establishing links between objects that work together.
When you choose an exchange zone, you'll be able to send a signal to your partner on a specific zone. Of course, when you send a signal on the top right of your screen, the corresponding zone on the screen of your partner will be pinged (like a mirror) on the top left. This will allow you to explain to your partner the way to proceed or where to send his key/box.
Please note that this tool is still a WIP and will evolve, we already planned to bring some modifications to it thanks to the feedback of the playtesters.
This is it for today, I hope this recap interested you, we'll see you very soon to talk about the release of the game !
Development Update Palallel - End of 2021
It's been a while since we talked about the game. We had (and still have) quite some things to handle. Since the Steam Next Fest, we worked on multiple fronts, here's a quick overview of what happened :
- We reworked the network system and switched to the steam network API to handle multiplayer. After the first playtest sessions, some people ran into issues with lags & disconnections. Even though Palallel isn't heavy networking-wise, our previous servers were located in France. This meant high ping for non-EU players and instability. With this rework, this shouldn't be an issue anymore as players will connect directly without the need for a relay server.
- Along with this rework, we also heavily modified the invitation system to fully utilize the steam API. Creating games, sending invites, and joining is now faster and easier (less time in menus and more in-game ːclaptrapː).
- There are currently 4 and a half worlds ready to be tested. Of course, we worked on a lot more levels, but visuals aren't finalized yet. With all bonuses and WIP levels, we reached an incredible step: 80 levels and we're not stopping there!
- We spend quite some time thinking about the sound design & the inclusion of music in the game. The first results are promising and we are eager to share this with you when it's ready (very soon).
- New systems are coming to smooth out communication & planning for you and your partner. These will help you in the hardest levels of the game. They'll be in the next playtest sessions as well, we count on your feedback for this one.
- We will be running a few playtests sessions in January to try new systems & levels. If you're interested, please join our discord (GoatApe discord) where we will give all information necessary to join the playtest sessions. You can also fill this form and we'll contact you directly when the playtests start.
- We took some time in the past weeks to make things official, so we're now GoatApe, an indie game dev company that creates games you will (we hope) like!
We're not ready to set a date for the game's release, but our current plan is to release the game between March & July 2022.
Thanks for following us, see you soon ːsansː
GoatApe
Some news & October Steam Next Fest !
It's been a while since we talked to you, so here we are !
First of all, we will be part of the October Steam Next Fest !
During this event, you will be able to try the game in a short demo with a friend for free. This demo will showcase some basic levels that will be rather easy compared to the rest of the game. They will introduce you to the game and all of the core mechanics. We currently aim at a 60-90min demo with 24 levels.
We are also discussing with some people to make an introduction stream at the start of the event to present the game and answer some questions you might have. We will have some news about this later as we come closer to the fest.
Finally, we will release a small trailer that will introduce newcomers to the game's concept and main mechanics.
That's all for the steam fest. We will now spend some time explaining what's next for Palallel and what's going on.
Current Focus :
Devblogs
When we decided to participate in the steam next fest, we made the choice of delaying the devblogs to have more time to spend on the game's development. Although we loved to discuss the issues we encountered and the design choices we've made, we won't don't plan to make any devblog in the near future. This is a really time-consuming process in research, illustration, and writing and with the demo coming in October, we had some priorities that came first. That doesn't mean we won't make anymore devblogs, but it's in a frozen state as we work on polishing and finishing the demo.
Demo
The Steam October Next Fest was a target for us for a long time. We've missed the July Fest because the game wasn't ready but we knew that a new one was coming. We've been preparing for this new fest for some time now, some of you may even have participated in a playtest we've made a couple of weeks ago (thanks a lot !). This playtest was incredibly useful for us, it allowed us to fix a lot of issues and identify key problems about some of our base mechanics. We've fixed almost every one of these issues and even though some remains, we are confident in the current demo's state.
What we're working on
Of course, we are still polishing the demo as we come closer to the fest. Some issues are hard to track but we are doing our best to finish the demo. We changed our server hosting service to gain stability and to have a bit more margin for the number of concurrent users. Thanks to the design choices we've made at the start of the project, Palallel is a game that requires almost nothing in terms of resources (both networking and client-wise). This topic is probably one of the most important topics we would like to talk about in a devblog, but as I said earlier, it's too complicated right now.
We are also preparing for the future. We are adding some new mechanics that won't be in the demo and we're constantly adding levels to the game. Some of these mechanics will be shown in the trailer we will release with the steam fest.
What's coming next :
The game has a new structure with worlds (we will go more deeply into this later). We won't spoil anything about this right now as we are currently designing these worlds but expect some news after the fest.
Palallel will feature special levels (called 'Mid' and 'End') that will have a unique mechanic associated to them. With each world comes one mid-level and one end level (names are WIP). I'll let you discover these when the demo released in October.
We also plan to add bonus levels that didn't make it in the current world you're playing. These levels won't be accessible at first, you will need to unlock them by paying attention to the world (rather mysterious ːshadeknightː). See this as a "cut content" that we've add to the game for those who want more challenge.
We have some more work to do on UI, sounds, and more and we're planning to add controller support as well as some settings in the main menu. All of this will come in the future sooner or later.
The end :
Even though this post is incredibly long, we still have one more surprise for you : the friend's pass.
There will be two versions of Palallel. The complete version will allow players to host & join a game while a free version will be available that will allow players to join anybody (but can't host).
This will allow players to enjoy Palallel at low costs.
Thank you for following us, we hope this answered some of your questions. We'll see you very soon during the fest !
Game mechanics : Grab/Throw objects (1/?)
We’ll begin with something that may seem easy (at first glance) : grab/throw objects.
The purpose of this mechanic is to allow players to grab an object, move the object as he moves and let go/throw the object with a defined power in a direction he chooses. When an object is grabbed, it doesn’t have any gravity applied to it. This allows the player to manipulate the object very easily.
We spend a lot of time on this mechanic to make it the most satisfying and the least restrictive as possible. Before I show you our final result, here is the evolution of the mechanic :
- First version : No cursor, the player had to use the basic cursor. The grabbed objects could only move on an axis around the character (the white arrows aren’t in the game, it’s only here to show you the axis). They couldn’t collide with walls back then. The throw option wasn’t available, the player was only able to grab & let go of an object.
- Second version : We added a cursor in the game that replaced the basic one (hidden). This cursor is very useful to know where the player is aiming as it can only move in a circle around the character. We also included the throwing mechanic which was very basic at the time (throwing objects at a set force that we defined).
- Third version : We weren’t convinced by the throwing mechanic and the lack of flexibility. That’s why we chose to add a power bar that allows the player to throw an object with variable strength. This made the throw mechanic a lot more enjoyable and a lot less rigid.
- Fourth version : After a lot of tweaks, we chose to make the grabbed objects collide with everything except the character. It felt better with collision and added a new layer of difficulty for the player as he needs to avoid walls & other objects. We excluded the character from the collision to avoid the small collisions that would happen when manipulating an object. These collision tweaks were necessary to make another major change : remove the constraints of the cursor. The cursor could now move freely inside the character’s range. It felt more natural to use and a lot more enjoyable.
- Fifth version (current state) : We added multiple visual & audio feedback to emphasize the character actions and the object collisions/movements. The cursor. The cursor is now hidden when an object is grabbed and an arrow is displayed when throwing an object to show the throw direction. The charge bar has been integrated into the character’s model to simplify the UI and make it part of the character’s action animations.
Among the visuals I shared above, something important isn’t mentioned and doesn’t stand out. In our first tests, we experimented with two ways of throwing objects :
The “physical” throw : This type of throw is tied directly to the object physics. As you know, the cursor follows the mouse movements while being restrained in an area around the character. By moving the mouse quickly, the object is gathering speed and velocity which can be used to throw an object if you let go of the object at the right time. With this technique, it’s possible to throw an object with a lot of speed if you do it correctly.
The “artificial” throw : More traditionally, the player aims somewhere and pushes the throw key. We then give an impulse to the object so the object is thrown at a set speed (always the same) in the direction of the cursor.
After some playtest it became clear that the physical throw was the most entertaining but there was a handling issue that came with it. It required the player to move the object quickly and let it go at the right time while aiming at the right spot.
We chose to not make any choice and keep the two options with a hybrid solution. When charging a throw the traditional way, the object is gathering speed and if the player lets the object go at the right time, he will have the throw impulse in addition to the speed he gathered while moving. This way, players that aren’t used to the physical throw can use the normal throw and the players that want to throw objects with a lot of speed can use both or just the physical throw.
We made sure that all levels are doable with the traditional throw so we don’t exclude some players that aren’t comfortable with the physical throw. Of course, this mechanic will probably evolve in the future but we are at ease with the balance we have now.
Thank you for reading this devblog, I hope you found something interesting. While you’re here, I would like to warn you about the delay between each devblog. We decided to delay each devblog by two weeks (monthly devblogs) to have more time for the development. We still plan to release a demo in a couple of months and the game before the end of this year.
Have a nice day,
Corentin PB