After the long wait, Pogo Rocket is now officially out of early access!
Along with the 1.0.0r release comes with a multitude of features and bug fixes.
New Features:
Local Multiplayer
You can now play Pogo Rocket locally with up to 4 players at the same time. You can do this on a local machine, or by going through Steam Remote Play.
New Zone
The new zone in Pogo Rocket takes you through the aliens' mothership. This zone includes both old and new obstacles, and has a complete design rework from the original set of levels.
Final Boss
Pogo Rocket now has a final boss! By destroying this boss, you can beat the game (and enjoy a new set of cutscenes alongside it as well).
Full Changelog
Added & Removed
- Added a button to the main menu to go to our website.
- Added disintegrating blocks.
- Added equipment feature with 4 options.
- Added final cutscene & credits.
- Added new alien boss.
- Added new alien zone.
- Added new layers to the background.
- Removed controls button.
- Removed antialiasing option (was causing severe lag issues).
Changes
- Added a new menu for setting up multiplayer.
- Changed The Rocket That Jumped Through Space into a main menu track.
- Changed the modifier button to be used for both modifiers and upgrades (making it more obvious in the process).
- Increased the amount of friction on walls.
- Increased the resolution and re-rendered all of the backgrounds.
- Increased the size of the win menu buttons.
- Made it so that R opens the win menu so you can pause the game after beating a level.
- Made it so that all tiles are randomized on level start, and are based on a weighted randomization system.
- Made it so that pressing circle on a gamepad will close the main menu and win screen.
- Made it so that the Pogo Rocket turns into a pixelated version when hitting the nondescript blockgame easter egg.
- Reworked the entire audio system (improving performance and fixing many issues in the process).
Fixes & Optimization
- Fixed a memory leak associated with freeing images from memory.
- Fixed an issue that enabled the player to get the speed demon achievement in the level editor.
- Fixed an issue when trying to launch after pausing the game.
- Fixed an issue when trying to launch the Pogo Rocket with a controller.
- Fixed an issue when trying to pause in the spooky room menu.
- Fixed an issue where audio emitters would not be properly cleaned between levels.
- Fixed an issue where gems and their hum would keep playing after they were destroyed.
- Fixed an issue where instances would deactivate improperly with the camera lock modifier on.
- Fixed an issue where laser walls would go through the outer walls in the level editor.
- Fixed an issue where level names displayed improperly.
- Fixed an issue where music would never play if the audio was set to 0 before relaunching.
- Fixed an issue where objects could sometimes disappear at the edge of the camera.
- Fixed an issue where pausing the game or going into the win screen caused the pogo rocket to not launch or get soft-locked.
- Fixed an issue where pressing the A button on a gamepad to skip the beginning popup message would select the play button.
- Fixed an issue where the Pogo Rocket wind sounds would keep playing.
- Fixed an issue where the camera in the level editor was choppy.
- Fixed an issue where the camera would not properly follow bosses after dying.
- Fixed an issue where the charge bar disappears.
- Fixed an issue where the erase data button flickered.
- Fixed an issue where the game would attempt to allocate a 64-bit integer limit amount of RAM.
- Fixed an issue where the level time would increment when the game was paused.
- Fixed an issue where the outer walls in the level editor were not shown in thumbnail.
- Fixed an issue where the player could be taken to the jumpscare room if pressing P in the level editor.
- Fixed an issue where the turret boss would say phase 2 when dying.
- Fixed an issue with the doppler effect not working.
- Fixed issues related to the gem hitbox.
- Greatly optimized directional audio system.
We want to thank you for enjoying Pogo Rocket, and we hope that all of you will join us for our next project!
Pogo Rocket 1.3.0b Update Progress
Hey everyone, we hope 2022 is going well for you.
It's been a couple of months since we've last updated Pogo Rocket. We want to let you all know that we're slowly making progress and are here to share some of what we have been working on:
Multiplayer
Multiplayer was originally something we really wanted to add to Pogo Rocket since we felt like it would be a good addition. We had planned on adding online multiplayer, however, it proved to be extremely challenging with GameMaker and would have warranted an entire rework of the game, so we decided against it.
What we have done instead is implemented local multiplayer. The reason for this is that it's much easier for us to get this working with Pogo Rocket and with Steam Remote Play becoming a more viable option, we figured this would work best.
Adding local multiplayer was much easier than online multiplayer, however it still came with some difficulties.
One major issue is that Pogo Rocket has directional sound. Many game engines only permit the use of one audio listener (including GameMaker), which is essentially a point in space where the game listens for these directional sounds. This is completely fine when there's only one player, but when there are multiple players on the same screen, this presents an issue.
In order to combat this, we implemented a system where the audio listener will move between each player depending on what sound is currently being played.
We assigned a priority value to each sound, with higher values being more important. If a sound with a higher value than another sound plays, the audio listener moves to that sound regardless of whether or not the other sound is playing. This worked quite well, however another minor issue presented itself.
Since the same sound can play at the same time, we needed a way to choose which one would be more important. We decided to also implement a distance value, so that when two same sounds are playing at the same time, the one which is closest to a player takes priority.
This system seems to work relatively well, with the only downside being that sometimes ambient sounds are cut out, however, this is a minor downside that would not be comparable to the lack of directional sounds all together.
New Zone
Another thing we have been working on is adding a new zone to Pogo Rocket.
This new zone will be themed around the aliens and their crystal-like designs. It will include new themed enemies, obstacles, and more.
On the surface, it seems like a simple thing to start working on, however designing sprites and choosing the overall art style we'd like to go forth with is deceivingly complicated. The main issue that presents itself is designing the environment.
Pogo Rocket, being a platformer, is designed around a tile set of blocks. These blocks are often grouped up and tiled hundreds of times, so they need to be able to look interesting while also being tiled. This can become quite difficult to do especially when there are so many different variants to take into account. This is the biggest reason why there's been no update for a few months now.
We have been working on coming up with a design for this tileset, however it has proved to be challenging, so we will continue to work on it until it's in a state were happy with.
Anyways, we hope you all enjoyed that run through of what we've been working on and hopefully newfound insight into the complexities of game design. We are hoping to release 1.3.0b within the next month, but we are of the mindset that we would rather spend the time to make an update exactly what we want rather than rushing things.
Thanks for reading!
Patch 1.2.1b released
Patch Notes:
- Added one new splash screen message.
- Fixed an issue where going to the next level from level 15, 16, 17,or the boss level would go to the wrong level.
- Fixed an issue where the boss music could not be changed with the music slider.
Pogo Rocket 1.2.0b released
Hello everyone, Pogo Rocket 1.2.0b is now out! This update contains a ton of new features, with some major new content including:
Level Editor
Pogo Rocket now has a level editor! This level editor works through Steam Workshop, allowing players to create levels and then upload them for others to enjoy. We will continue refining features and performance but we now have it in a state we are comfortable with.
New Levels & Obstacles
We've introduced three new levels into Pogo Rocket, with two of them being centered around the new goo turret obstacle. This obstacle shoots out goo balls and slows down the player. The other level is a boss fight! This level contains the turret boss, which will shoot out lasers. It has two phases, which the player will need to be able to get past to defeat the level!
Steam Achievements
We've gone ahead and added Steam achievements to Pogo Rocket. Right now, there are 15 achievements for you to collect and discover. Can you get them all?
On top of those three main features, we've added lots of smaller ones as well, including a bloom option, improved tool tips, brand new tracks for the main game and the level editor, and a ton of tweaks and performance improvements. To read through all of these changes and additions, take a look at the changelog below. We hope you all enjoy this update while we get started on the next one.
Update Features and Changes:
Added & Removed:
- Added 2 new tracks that play in regular levels.
- Added a bar to the loading screen.
- Added a level editor button in the main menu.
- Added a new section in the play menu that shows steam workshop levels.
- Added a new track for the level editor.
- Added a new win sound for special levels.
- Added an auto tiling system for wall turrets.
- Added an f4 menu, which only shows fps for the purpose of testing game performance without drawing everything in the regular f3 menu.
- Added an option to enable bloom in game.
- Added delta timing for menu interfaces, making it so that they will remain fast and responsive if the game ever lags.
- Added fireworks that appear when winning a special level.
- Added large wall tiles.
- Added level editor.
- Added the goo turret, an obstacle that shoots out goo that slows you down.
- Added the turret boss.
- Added two new levels.
- Added various new splash screen messages.
- Removed some random files from being included in the installation folder.
- Removed the v-sync button (caused too many refresh rate issues).
Changes:
- Changed and improved the f3 menu.
- Changed how buttons are selected after switching to a controller from keyboard and mouse.
- Changed how level thumbnails are loaded in (from file rather from memory).
- Changed the bounding box of various objects to improve direction marker positioning and physics collisions.
- Changed the tooltips sequence for level 8.
- Changed zooming in and out with the controller to be analog.
- Decreased the amount of damage taken from hitting walls.
- Improved how turrets function so they work when midair and have a lower performance impact on the game.
- Increased the amount of linear dampening the pogo rocket has. This makes it harder for players to get stuck floating having to wait for them to magnet towards the closest surface.
- Increased the speed of various menu fades and transitions making them feel more responsive.
- Made it so that gears and wrenches collide with forcefield walls.
- Made it so that level timing starts when you first jump.
- Made it so that the pogo will move toward all walls when not moving, including slopes and level editor walls.
- Made level 12 easier.
Fixes & Optimization;
- Fixed a potential issue where tooltips can be completed multiple times in rapid succession..
- Fixed a rare crash related to yes or no confirmations.
- Fixed a ton of issues related to slow performance of objects.
- Fixed an issue in level 15 where a wall was positioned wrong.
- Fixed an issue where leaving the options menu in game could stop the player from pressing buttons.
- Fixed an issue where the health bar, charge bar, and rocket would lag behind when attaching to a wall.
- Fixed an issue where the saved time for levels were broken, allowing impossible times like 0.03 seconds to be achieved.
- Fixed an issue where the song queue could play the same song twice in a row.
- Fixed multiple issues with how the game behaves when a controller is disconnected.
- Greatly improved performance of the main menu.
- Made significant improvements to bouncy slime block performance.
- Modified level 13.
- Optimized and improved performance of in-game tooltips.
