We are putting the finishing touches on SKIPCHASER's Update #4. We've done quite a bit of rebalancing, bug fixes and added a new gameplay twist. "Skipping" is an ability to slow time to a crawl and hop to a new position close on the map. It's an *beta* feature for sure, so feedback is welcome.
This feature replaces the little used "jump" and uses what was the "shield" energy that wasn't explained very well. I hope this gets the difficulty balancing back on track so we can focus on fresh content in Update 5.
Speaking of Update 5, there are a raft of things that didn't get ready for Update 4 that are still in the works for a future update
Act 1 finale
GameJolt launch
Updated SFX/Ambient sound
New save format
PS4 Controller support
3 new music tracks and OST DLC
SKIPCHASER Early Access Update 3
It's all about weapons and bugs in Update #3. We cleared out every open issue on the forums and exposed quite a bit more of the weapons workbench. If you want a real challenge, reset your data and play through Act 1 with a low end weapon (now even more low end-ish.)
We also made it easier to see what a gun piece will do to your weapon by highlighting the stats that will improve or decline based on the piece you want to place.
Plus we still added a few killer features...
Better joystick as mouse functions
Updated gun colors
SFX updates (still more to come)
Weapon text updated, avoids mouse
Map "dead exit" fix
Dialog updates
HD UI elements (mouse pointer, buttons, etc.)
Enjoy this update!
HOTFIX pushed
We pushed a corrupted map fix for Mission 8 this morning thanks to a player bug report from last night. Sometimes a specific map could get corrupted on update.
If you have an issue finishing the last mission, try updating.
We have a few more fixes that will come out with our nomal updates next week.
Weapon updates ahead for UPDATE 3
A quick preview of what we are working on for SKIPCHASER's third early access update.
We've exposed more gun attributes, re-organized the workbench and fixed some display bugs with the Weapons Workbench. Now guns have 8 exposed attributes including:
Damage
Weight (Slow down when shooting penalty)
Accuracy
Fire Rate
Range (extra visibility)
Knockback
Recoil
Stun
We are also working on a way to quickly visualize what a part affects in the status window and a parts elemental damage bonus.
SKIPCHASER Early Access Update 2
So much to talk about. Update 2 is here and it’s got a bunch of new content and updates to existing functionality. Let’s just get to it...
Difficulty ramped up (reset your data to feel the effects)
Three new missions, expanded endless mode
Pistol blueprint (no run/gun penalty, low visibility, high cool rate)
Story dialog re-worked (restart needed)
Shooting robot enemy class
Skeleton warlock enemy class
Human grenadier class
Landmine classes (bio, pyro, cryo)
Trading cards!!!
Variable grenade distance (called out in almost every “let’s play”)
Enemy AI improvements (turrets, humans, bots)
Pause, exit menu, terminal now combined into "super" terminal
Bug fixes (various)
And much, much more…
As always, report bugs/issues as you find them and we’ll have another content update in 2 weeks. Thanks again for everyone supporting us in Early Access on Steam!
Launch week nearly over, UPDATE 2 is coming
What a week. SKIPCHASER went live (albeit in early access), we presented and demoed at Hackfort (a digital conference in Boise, ID) and still managed to squeeze in some time to address feedback from plays, streams and reviews.
UPDATE 2 is still a week away, but there are a few things I can confirm that will make the next build.
Variable grenade distance (called out in almost every stream)
Fixed bullets through walls (rare)
Removed "hiccup" on dialog showing
Enemy AI improvments (turrets, badguys, bots)
Pause, exit menu, terminal now combined into "super" terminal
Mission arrow outlined for visibility
Trading cards!!!
...and more stuff we can't confirm
There are other things we've seen in streams that aren't "quick fixes" like variable difficulty, enhancing the story (believe me, there's more to it) and more enemy types. These things are on our roadmap, and as we progress they will make it in to these updates.
But for now, if you haven't picked it up, today is the last day of our 10% launch discount. So, hop on board if you are interested...
Thanks to Everyone for their SHIPCHASER Launch Support!
We watched some videos and streams and read some great feedback on our launch. We are listening and we're already implementing some of the "low hanging fruit" from the community suggestions. Like this variable grenade throw distance suggestion from one of our supporters.
The longer you hold the farther it goes
We've got a long way to go, but we are tracking for Update #2 to drop the first week of April!
SKIPCHASER Early Access is LIVE!
Today is the day! SKIPCHASER Early Access is live for those who want to help us make an amazing gaming experience.
What’s included in the Early Access release, you ask? Here it is by the numbers:
5 complete missions from Act I
30+ randomly generated levels
8+ hand crafted maps including a boss battle
5+ pages of story dialog
2 weapon blueprints (Uzi, Rifle)
40+ unlockable weapon upgrades
4 enemy classes
6+ NPC classes
4 mission variations
3 original songs by VXVX
Major updates from the last release
Improved enemy AI
Respawn options screen
Terminal for dialog and help
Elemental damage states
Environmental interactions (switches, etc.)
Missions 4 + 5
Additional art assets
Grenade capping
Random chest drops
Camera smoothing
Performance enhancements
SKIPCHASER EARC1 Hotfix 1
Our beta testers were really on the ball this weekend and provided some good, actionable feedback to make our launch even better.
We went straight to work and have these updates ready to go:
Random Grenade Error fixed
Badlands fade effect lessened
Pet and grenades now no longer auto trigger land mines,
Fixed “jumping over” landmines
Outdoor levels no longer have multicolored floor tiles
Reduced font size in dialogs, various text updates (typos)
Enemies no longer fire from offscreen (but they will chase if they have LoS)
Minimum explosion radius upped to 192px — barrels much more dangerous
Fixed errand mission icon in middle of the map
EARC1 (Early Access Release Candidate 1)
Early Access Release Candidate 1 (EARC1) is live for private beta testers and press!
Lot's of new stuff there. I recommend resetting the game from the main menu and playing from the beginning. New controller configs are also available, so make sure to check those out.
