This is the largest update the game has received since it's release in 2020.
There are two main changes: 1. Enemy movement has been completely overhauled. Specifically the green, spider-like robotic sentries and the flying ones that appear later in the game. Their movement used to lurch and jump a lot, and was also uncontrollably fast at times. Movement should be smooth now, and not quite as frantic.
2. The Caves and Factory levels are still in the game, but are no longer required to complete it. This is a controversial thing for me. I fully admit that these levels were a kind of afterthought, intended to pad out the game length. I acknowledge they are lacking in the early game's Metroidvania elements and are not as rewarding from an exploration standpoint. On the other hand, I like the more intense gameplay they invoke and enjoy some of the weirder areas that I came up with.
I think for existing players, this won't make much of a difference, as most of you are already aware of the issues. I am hoping that new players will find the game more streamlined on their first playthrough. Sometimes you reach a point in a game and are ready for it to be over. But sometimes you want to find that secret area and enjoy a more challenging run. Now you have both options available.
Time will tell if this was the right solution to the problem.
A Lovecraft Inspired Dungeon Crawler
Introducing Cyclopean
If you enjoyed Paradox Vector, you may find this short project I made interesting. It was made in 3 days for the Dungeon Crawler Jam 2024 over on the itch website.
3 Day Game Development
Making something in 3 days required borrowing things from some of my previous games, but it is quite different from Paradox Vector in terms of style and gameplay.
Turn-Based Dungeon Crawler
Cyclopean is a turn-based dungeon crawler with roguelike elements. It has a somewhat procedurally generated dungeon, with Lovecraft inspired monsters, and a story that hearkens loosely back to the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath.
Short and Not So Sweet
The game is very short, and can be played (and won) within 10 - 15 minutes or so. Like traditional roguelikes it will summarize your success or failure at the and. You can view reports of up to 10 of your best playthroughs from the main menu. (not my best score)
Cats
It also has cats! You can watch a short clip in which the player rescues a cat here...
As a game jam entry, it is free of charge. Try it out and let me know what you think.
Game Updated to Version 1.1.8
I just made a small update. First, I added a title screen so you don't have to look at the default 3D Gamestudio start screen.
I also changed things slightly so the siren/alarm will no longer repeat, but only play once. I wanted it to give the player some anxiety after getting a paradox triangle, but I think it veered into the annoying...
The Second Part
Also, I recognize and acknowledge that the later levels of this game seem to be off-putting to many players. I would like to fix this, but I am really unable to make major changes to the game at this time.
The main complaints against these levels are the following:
They are more linear than the levels in the first area of the game, i.e. there is no longer any need to go back and forth
They do not provide any new, cool weapons or upgrades
The enemies are too unpredictable and tend to jump out at players with little reaction time
Now I am interested in getting feedback. With minimum changes, how can I try to address these things?
When I say minimum changes, I think adding new weapons, items, abilities or enemies is not an option right now. But, for instance, giving players more ammo or health, could offset the extra damage caused by jump-scaring enemies.
Maybe I could move the enemies around and make sure players have more time to react, that would be an example of a minimal change that could potentially solve one of these issues.
One option I have considered is to actually remove the whole factory section. That's where things tend to get super difficult/annoying for people. After the caves section the player could just transfer to the last level, and it would make for a much more streamlined experience.
I could then reintroduce the factory section as an optional DLC (for free), in case players wanted to try the original version of the game. That would potentially solve the issues, but it would make the default game considerably shorter too.
I am interested in all of your thoughts on this if you have any.
Game Updated to Version 1.1.7
Paradox Vector has gotten some great feedback lately, thank in large part to the recent speedrun competition.
One think I have hear a lot about is how the difficulty seems to spike a lot once you reach the caves. Well, this is definitely by design, the game should get harder as you progress, but I am a reasonable person. If something is ramping up the difficulty too much, too fast, I am willing to work on smoothing things out a bit.
So a couple enemies have been moved to "Hard Mode Only" status, and some additional health has been added in a key place. I do hope this helps players enjoy the game more.
Paradox Vector Speedrunning Beta
So the speedrunning community has taken notice of Paradox Vector and there is a competition going on right now.
You can read all the details here: https://www.speedrun.com/speedrunning/thread/90j5b/1#z77s4
The Speedrunning beta is accessible through "Paradox Vector > Properties > Betas > Speedrun" which will install version 1.1.6a on your system. This version is the same game but it has an added function that allows the game to communicate with LiveSplit, a speedrun timing software thingy.
Some of the results are coming in slowly if you are interested... https://www.speedrun.com/paradox_vector/full_game?h=100&x=w20mnozk
Lovacraftian Days Streaming Event
To celebrate the "Lovecraftian Days" event here on Steam, I will be streaming Paradox Vector between 3:00 and 4:00 PM on Saturday, April 8th.
Join me as I try to navigate the weird mazes, and combat the ferocious and deadly monsters, of this eldritch land of cyclopean masonry and alien vistas.
Paradox Vector Updated to 1.1.4 - Enemy Speed Update
Someone on the forum complained that the enemies in Paradox Vector were too fast. I took this as an individual preference at the time, I thought they were fast, but not so fast as to be of concern to most players.
However, I recently updated my graphics card and realized that the enemy speed (for the green spider-like robot guards and the green floating eyeball guards) was somehow linked to the framerate!
This was poorly designed and should have been discovered during testing, but I guess I did not have access to a fast enough graphics card at the time.
So I have made the guard movement independent of frame-rate, as it should have been at the first.
Paradox Vector Updated to 1.1.3 - UI Scaling
The game now supports UI scaling. It is basically just scaling up the entire window to fill your screen, so the game will appear a bit pixelated if you use this option.
To activate it, just use the video options panel to set the game to a lower resolution (like 1280 x 720) and make sure you select Window Mode.
When you restart in Window Mode, press F10 to toggle full screen mode.
Note: This scaling is a feature of the game engine I use. The main drawback is that the windows mouse cursor can sometimes appear over the game window when scaling like this. It should not actually cause any problems or interact with the game in any way, but it might be distracting.
If you do not like that, consider using Full Screen mode at a lower resolution that your monitor supports.
Paradox Vector Updated to 1.1.1
UPDATE: I have just uploaded version 1.1.1 which has another small but significant fix based on user input. The default gun's bullets now move a bit faster, and the crawling robot enemies move a bit slower.
PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Something I should have done a long time ago. The basic gun that you find on the first level of the game now has infinite ammo, much like Quake 2.
Previously, if that weapon ran out of ammo, it would respawn on the level, and you could go grab it to get some ammo back. This system was counter-intuitive and simple required players to run around needlessly. I regret this decision, and am trying to make up for it.
Although the changes to the game are small, I still consider this a major update since it will seriously effect the gameplay, especially for new players. I hope people will try the game out again, if you did not "get" it the first time through, I think it will be a more enjoyable experience.
Paradox Vector Updated to 1.1.0
Something I should have done a long time ago. The basic gun that you find on the first level of the game now has infinite ammo, much like Quake 2.
Previously, if that weapon ran out of ammo, it would respawn on the level, and you could go grab it to get some ammo back. This system was counter-intuitive and simple required players to run around needlessly. I regret this decision, and am trying to make up for it.
Although the changes to the game are small, I still consider this a major update since it will seriously effect the gameplay, especially for new players. I hope people will try the game out again, if you did not "get" it the first time through, I think it will be a more enjoyable experience.
