Road to Ballhalla
Editor Hotfix
I've just uploaded another small update. The editor now again properly sets the game exe path on first start. This didn't work recently, as the Rerolled update changed the game exe parent folder, so the editor couldn't find it.
Happy rolling!
Soundtrack now includes the BONUS TRACKS
For those of you that have bought the Soundtrack DLC, I've just uploaded the 4 new tracks of the bonus levels that were added in the big update last week (for free, obviously). They make up about 14 minutes of sweet new music - as usual, composed by Nicholas Singer! The soundtrack now contains 78 minutes of music to remind you of your exploded balls.
For those of you that haven't bought the Soundtrack DLC yet, it would really help Nick & me out a lot if you did. :) We're trying to get our next project going right now, so we can use every bit of help there.
Thanks, and happy listening!
Rerolled Hotfix
Yesterday I pushed a small update that fixes two issues introduced with the Rerolled update:
1. The game no longer triggers your VR software on start. Not sure if that was an attempt of the game telling me "I want to have a VR mode and make everybody puke", but it's gone now.
2. In rush mode of trial 1-5, restarting during the final section will no longer break the warball spawners. That was a facepalm-worthy failed attempt from me to improve performance.
Happy rolling!
"Rerolled" Update (FREE NEW STUFF HELL YEAH)
For existing players, the only downside is that your existing savegames won't work with the new game build. There are too many changes, both content-wise as well as in the engine, to keep them compatible. When starting the game, you can choose between the new and the old version, so no progress is lost!
I recommend starting fresh to experience all the new content and improvements since the game's original release, but if you just want to check out the new levels and get the new achievements, you can also use the save file I prepared: https://torchedhill.com/roadtoballhalla/BallhallaRerolled.sav
Just put this file into %userprofile%\AppData\Local\RoadToBallhallaUE4\Saved\SaveGames to unlock the first 3 worlds.
Read the (probably incomplete) changelog below.
New Features
- added 4 bonus levels with all-new gameplay mechanics, to be accessed from world 2 & 3
- reworked the Hub area by adding lots of small new things to discover (won't spoil them here)
- added new achievements (for the bonus levels as well as the new Do Not Enter hole you STILL should not enter)
- added new ball styles (white ball color, "Circles of Life" trail effect, and a secret bonus style you get by doing one of the new activities in the Hub)
- added some new bugs (hopefully not)
New Settings
- Rush Respawning: if you want to perfect you time score, you can now decide to always restart the trial when you explode, instead of respawning at the last checkpoint
- Supersampling: make the game look even better by setting this to 200%, or get more FPS on slower devices by going below 100% resolution scale
- Easy Mode: you literally can't turn this one on
- Language: you can now switch the language from within the game
Improvements
- adjusted the amount of Tokens needed per chapter
- increased blue key orb pull range, which is especially helpful in 2-1
- decreased collision size of blue barrier tiles, so you don't get "unfairly" destroyed by them
- improved super-secret background resyncing of music to the gameplay, but if you haven't noticed it before, you now still won't, and that's the whole point, so why am I even listing this
- improved projectile turret performance - this should increase FPS in levels with lots of turrets (like 2-3) on slower devices
- improved the grid puzzle in 3-1 by making it a bit more straightforward
- now displaying your best time in Rush trials while playing offline (for whatever reason)
- added a new clue for the rainbow to the game; if you recognize it, you'll know you're on the right track
Fixes
- fixed 2-4 secret teleporter disappearing when dying before the first checkpoint
- fixed some bugs with holes in the Hub area triggering twice sometimes, because physics
- fixed a bug that allowed the main menu to be opened while rolling into a Hub hole - though it was so difficult to reproduce, I probably should rather have unlocked an achievement for those that managed to do it
- fixed a bug I have described as "workshop page 0 bug" in my Git log, but I can't remember what it was, so whatever, but I guess it has something to do with browsing your downloaded Workshop levels
- ported the game engine from 4.7 to 4.17, which was a nightmare to do, but may or may not fix some not-game-related issues some of you were having (e.g. green screen flickering in fullscreen mode)
Enjoy rolling!
Gameplay Statistics Are Cool
Here we go:
The difficulty curve is now much smoother than before and has less spikes. Especially 1-2, 3-3 and 4-5 had way more respawns than other trials in their chapter and therefore saw the biggest change. 3-3 (teleporters suck) is still a bit high (as it's the only trial that focuses more on precision than rhythm) and 4-3 (time travel) is surprisingly low (maybe I should change that :>), but besides that I'm happy with the results.
As far as I can tell, you're having more fun with the game now (and this was the whole point of it): all of the over 40 Steam reviews since the update were positive and some of the negative ones even have been changed to positive!
Just for fun, here are the stats from the beta test a year ago (though keep in mind this data is only from about 100 players and not several thousands like in the stats above):
Yeah, right?
(The high amount of respawns in 2-2 actually came from players trying to bruteforce the hidden pathways because they didn't understand the hints.)
Happy rollin'!
Major Bal(l)ance Update
I went through all 28 trials + the scavenger hunt secrets and updated them based on feedback I got from you. Notable changes include (MINOR SPOILER WARNING):
- 1-2: vertical laser hallway (this one often lead to frustration as it's only the second level and the section is quite difficult)
- 3-1: increased button countdowns, reworked the button/teleporter puzzle (it was quite easy already, but many players just didn't find the right button order and thought it was impossible to solve in time, so I made it a bit more straightforward), captcha is now a bit easier to read
- 3-3: requires less precision overall (players had about twice as many respawns as in other chapter 3 trials), especially the jumping between barriers (it's hard to see from the 3D perspective if the ball would land on a barrier or not, and especially hard to control when using a gamepad)
- 4-1: reworked the final two sections to be less mind-melting (this coupled with insta-death lasers lead to some frustration)
- 4-5: made it more obvious what to do in general, reworked the final section (it required too much precision and perfect boost timing before)
- Secrets 9 & 10: not telling you what changed, it's a secret
- so much more
I also increased some of the rush time limits, as well as the max. amount of respawns you can have to get all tokens (now 5, previously 2). This way the game gets a bit more forgiving on your hunt for the completion & rush achievements.
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While this update is targeted more to new players, later this year will see the actual NEW CONTENT part of the 2017 update. That one will include new trials, gameplay elements, music, ball styles, unnecessary level hub holes, a quest for perfection, an easy mode that can't be activated (literally!), performance tweaks and more!
Have fun!
Want more levels? Check out Joca's work!
Joca has created a couple of really cool Workshop trials using the community level editor! I especially like how the gameplay elements are used in unique ways to create interesting new challenges. Not many have beaten these trials yet, so it's your perfect chance to claim that sweet top spot on the leaderboard. :)
Check them out here: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197999733878/myworkshopfiles/?appid=425410
Happy holidays!
2017?
Listening to the feedback of the last couple of months, it basically comes down to three main areas that I can improve:
1. Amount of content: The average time it takes players to get to the credits is 4 hours. This is without any bonus content, which adds another several hours of playtime. Still, a part of the playerbase doesn't care for bonus challenges or secrets and would have liked to continue playing the campaign. Therefore, the next update will add 4 new trials to the campaign, including new music, gameplay elements and puns!
2. Difficulty: This is difficult for me too, because player skill in this type of game ranges from "uber pro" to "can't even roll in a straight line". There will always be players complaining about how frustratingly difficult the game is, while others complain that they've rolled through it in 2 hours without any difficulties.
But thanks to the Humble Bundle deal, I now have statistics from thousands of players and can rebalance the trials to eliminate difficulty spikes (I'm looking at you, 3-3) and tone down the overall difficulty just a little bit. Pro players will still have enough challenges to master, like the Scavenger Hunt or 100%ing everything.
3. Narration: Some players also complained about how the narrator would insult them all the time and how they felt personally attacked by the game. **** them. Just kidding - to be honest, I'm surprised anyone could feel like this. The narrator's "really? you can't even get past this?" comments are meant to play out as fun taunting/teasing among friends. Still, I've reworked a few texts to make sure it's clear they are not meant as an insult in any way.
There's more, but I'm going to talk about other new features and improvements when the update is closer to its release, which is still a couple of months away.
TL;DR: Big new update in a few months, containing 4 new campaign trials, a major balance pass, updated ingame texts and some new features.
Happy winter days!
Ultra-secret update v161008 has arrived!
<*> Removed jumppad from Scavenger Hunt entry. You can no longer exploit this to get to the Hole of Glory.
<*> Scavenger Hunt percentage in the start menu now includes getting to the final secret - so, if you haven't found all secrets yet, your percentage is lower than before.
<*> A few updates to some secrets, mostly ensuring that they can't be reached with trial and error, but only if you've found out the right solution.
<*> Increased time needed for getting all 3 stars in 1-4 rush. You no longer need that cool trick at the second section (though obviously you'll still need it if you want to get into the top 50).
<*> Minor updates to the captcha graphic.
Enjoy!
Hi, I'm content (update v160926)
Another update already, this time with all-new gameplay content!
- Added lots of new optional sections to several trials, adding maybe half an hour of new gameplay to the campaign.
- Reworked yellow orb placements in all trials. Optional sections now reward you with more yellow orbs, so you're not collecting as many of them by just rolling on the main path. This should entice you to explore the levels a bit more and not roll straight to the exit.
- Changed distribution of Tokens earned from collecting yellow orbs, now 60%/80%/90%/100% for 1 to 4 Tokens (50%/60%/85%/100% previously).
- Teleporters are now blue instead of yellow, as players sometimes confused them with the exit hole. Not kidding.
Enjoy!