Winter is coming.. and the ranked season is ending!
Rebound v0.75.0 is live!
Hey Slappers! Here’s an update to prepare the game (and you!) for the next one that will launch in two weeks and mark the end of the first pre-season of Slapshot Rebound.
Pre-season 1 is ending!
We entered Pre-season 1 with the release of ranked, which will be ending on December 19th, marking the beginning of Pre-season 2. This will be the last season before the full launch of the game next year!
Of course a season ending comes with rewards! All slappers who have reached a rank at least once will receive the exclusive Pre-season 1 stick. You will also receive all the sticks for each rank below the one you have achieved. I’m sure you have some questions, so here’s some answers:
How many matches do I need to have played at a rank to get the rewards? None. Reaching it once will have qualified you for the rewards of that rank.
Will my rank reset at the end of the season? Ranks will be soft reset, meaning you’ll need to do placement matches again but it’ll still take into account the rating you achieved last season for matchmaking during those placement matches.
When do I get the rewards? They’ll be distributed around the start of the new season.
How do I know which rewards I qualify for now? We don’t have a way to show this right now, but will add something during the next season. Your best bet is to just get the highest rank you can in the next two weeks :-)
What’s changing next season? We’re always changing how ratings and matchmaking work throughout the seasons. This gives us a chance to let those changes shine better with a clean slate. Expect more improvements throughout pre-season 2 as well.
Rebound birthday!
It’s that time of the year again! On December 7th, Slapshot Rebound is celebrating its third birthday since releasing into Early Access in 2020. To celebrate this, everyone that logs in between December 7th and December 14th 2023 will receive an exclusive cosmetic just like previous years.
Previously, we gave away a party hat and a cake hat. This year's exclusive cosmetic features three candles and frosting, designed to be worn with different hairstyles (allowing the candles to protrude playfully).
Player milestone
Slapshot has also reached a fun player milestone on Steam today! This means 1.5 million people have added the game to their Steam library. Welcome to the Slappyverse, everyone!
Patch notes
Right, this is a patch, so there have to be patch notes too. Most of the changes are preparing for the next patch, but there’s a few things you will notice already!
Reworked tutorial
The tutorial has been changed to accommodate for a true first time player experience, giving a better insight into how input works in Slapshot and making sure every step is easier to understand than before so new players are better equipped before they get on the ice!
Winter is coming
We’re moving on from the autumn locker room to a cozy winter cabin! Let’s decorate it soon :-)
Cosmetics
- Created a new internal shader, so we can get more creative with cosmetics and dynamic colors - Added Snowglobe hat, Reindeer hat, Christmas tree jersey, blinking lights stick, turkey ‘jersey’ - Added the Candles anniversary cosmetic (unlockable Dec 7 to Dec 14)
Fixes
Fixed stick highlight not working with the goop head
GLHF, The Oddshot Games team
v0.74.3 Fixes and improvements
Hey Slappers, this is a small update to address some bugs and improve the matchmaking.
- Further improved matchmaking variables based on new statistics and player feedback - We're back in the Autumn locker room now that the Halloween event has ended - Switched out the Island arena for Slapstation in the public match arena rotation - Fixed the cones in obstacle practice getting highlighted like the puck - Fixed an issue where the default stick would not always get highlighted - Remastered the Salmon stick
GLHF The Oddshot Games team
Halloween is here! 👻
Rebound v0.74.1 and v0.74.2 ːreboundː
Halloween update!
This is a smaller patch because I took a little break this month but we've still got some fun stuff for you! Just for logging in between now and the end of October, you'll unlock a free Halloween cosmetic "Skeleton mask".
We've also decorated the locker room to be more spooky 👻
Individual player muting
- In the menu while in-game, a new button called "mute / unmute" will allow you to mute individual player's chat. - When you have them muted, you won't see any of their chat (including quick chat). You can unmute them from the same menu. - The scoreboard will show you a muted indicator on the very right.
Highlights rework
We've tackled the highlight shader that takes care of the stick and puck highlights to be more consistent and not affect non-highlighted models.
- Before, there was a bit of transparency to the stick. This is fixed now. - The gloves will now avoid the highlights (despite 'obstructing' the stick) - Highlight colors are more accurate now. We've also changed the preset colors to make them look closer to what they did before (you may need to reselect yours!).
As a part of these improvements, we've also remastered a bunch of sticks: Fork, spatula, iridescent, oil, frost, zombie, Mjolnir, butcher, butter knife, bowie knife, scythe, camo, bone stick, sword
Matchmaking
We've made the matchmaking a bit stricter on the extreme ends. This should make for more balanced matches. On Tuesday this was tuned a bit too extreme to the other end, a middle ground has been launched today that makes for a better balance between match quality and queue times.
Cosmetics
- Added free Skeleton Face paint (log in during October to get it!) - Added lightning stick, modern stick, zombie jersey, zombie head, balaclava, military jersey, jetpack - Reworked the duck mouth (old version became a variant)
Other
- Changed the API lobby limit to only count towards the limit if there's less than 2 players in a lobby - Fixed an issue where item pictures would be influenced by the locker room lighting - Fixed gloves not rendering in replay and spectator cameras (happened since 3 days ago) - Fixed candy cane stick - Fixed frost stick not applying the stick tape and base color cosmetics
Good luck, have fun! The Oddshot Games team
Better netcode, autumn locker room
Rebound v0.74.0 is now live ːreboundː
Autumn is here
As the Slappyverse is cooling off after the summer, we've moved indoors to get cozy.
Netcode
We've made some significant improvements to the netcode which will cut down perceived latency by a decent amount. The improvements have been made to processes that handle sending and processing of packets, making them twice as fast on both client and server.
This will not change the network latency. The change will be felt, not seen in the ping number. It does not make network ping lower or higher. Online gameplay will look smoother when your fps and refresh rate are 60 or above as well.
Improvements
- With more cosmetics being added every patch, we've increased the shop's featured slots from 4 to 5 and the daily slots from 6 to 10 items. - Ranked leaderboards now requires you to have played a match in the last 7 days to appear on it (does not affect other stat leaderboards) - We can now blacklist accounts from the ranked leaderboards and will remove alt accounts from it. The blacklist is on a per season basis - Increased the networking timeout to game servers when you lose network connectivity, giving you a higher chance to reconnect. - We have completely disconnected the game from all Unity services to reflect our lost trust in the engine maker - Improved the video RAM usage of cosmetics with high resolution textures
Fixes
- Switching teams during item preview no longer resets the selected variant - The default spectator camera is now back to being the caster cam - Fixed scorebug not displaying the gamemode specific team names - Fixed switching teams while looking at a bundle visually showing its price as 0 pux - Fixed cosmetics not being able to apply dynamic colors to multiple pieces of geometry - Fixed the 'spectate' command making the player move when you move the spectator camera
Cosmetics
- Added a dark variant to the celebration hat - Added new variants to the camera helmet (content creator program) - Reworked the existing pumpkin head cosmetic (the old ones are now variants) - Fixed hair colors on the Goosan cosmetic - Added Patreon cosmetics for October (Halloween) - Added elegant hairstyle, superhero jersey and mask, deathknight jersey and stick, hazmat jersey
SPL Season 11
The North American league returns. Join the SPL in its 11th season. Signups open from Sept 25th to Oct 6th. The season starts Oct 16th. https://forms.gle/e6xxGQxwwvKn4UQy9
Good luck, have fun! The Oddshot Games team
v0.73.0 Fixes
- Fixed low framerate users getting strange input glitches - Fixed controller navigation on the main menu - Fixed default bot match length
Freezetag game mode, huge performance improvements & more!
Rebound v0.73.0 is now live! ːreboundː
Most of our time was spent working on performance and other less flashy but very important things. There's still a bunch of things related to that that aren't ready yet so stay tuned for more boring but essential things!
New gamemode: Freezetag!
Freezetag lets you choose between being a tagger and a runner. This works with a 'best of' round system. The round ends when the time rune out (runners win) or all runners are frozen (taggers win). - As a tagger, hit the runners to freeze them. - As a runner, get away and tag frozen teammates to unfreeze them!
This mode has no pucks, it's all about movement. Freezetag is available in custom games. Let us know what you think of it!
Performance fixes and improvements
Significantly improved CPU usage of the game as well as memory allocation (less/no more stutters!) Nerd stuff ahead: The reduced memalloc produces 82% less garbage each frame, putting less strain on the GC which avoids stutters.
Quality of Life
- Completely remade our Steam integration. Should not make a difference right now but will help us integrate with Steam more in the future (Rich presence, Steam sockets & relay for player hosted servers) - Further improved toxicity and false positive detection
Fixes
- Fixed some ice reflection related issues - Fixed no goal horn playing if nobody on the team is credited with the goal - Fixed some inputs getting discarded is they last less than a game tick
Cosmetics
- Added cultist jersey, cat beanie, bandana (mouth), cauldron, suspenders, poutine stick, nasher jersey (stay tuned!), snail hat & jersey, facial hair: lumberjack, balbo, chad & disguise glasses - Added new variants for Goosan, Star eyes, visor helmet, wireframe hat & fedora (will be enabled later today) - Replaced the fart goal horn. Everyone that's bought it is eligible for a free refund for the next 7 days if they don't like the new version (help for a ticket) - Resized the league winner crown based on feedback
Other
- Added a new loading screen by community member Rev - Added Steam (Points Shop) & Discord chat stickers (Goosan Walk & Slapshot Smile) by Rev - Renamed dodgepuck arena to 'Obstacles' - Added an XL version of the Obstacles map
What's next?
Our major focus areas are a game replay system, releasing more performance improvements and introducing new latency reduction tech.
Good luck, have fun! The Oddshot Games team
Some v0.72.0 Fixes
- Fixed stick colors on the goop stick - Fixed controller navigation to the Career button - Fixed the very dark variant of the crown
XL Arena, Career UI, Summer has arrived!
Rebound v0.72.0 is now live!
Summer!
- We've refreshed the locker room to feature a summer theme! - The Island arena has replaced the Colosseum in public game rotation
Your Career
Many people liked the idea I pitched last patch notes so we created it. You can now follow your rank & rating more closely in the Player -> Career interface.
XL Arena
For custom games, you can now select the Slapstadium XL arena, which is a lot bigger than the default arena size. The arena is intended for matches with lots of people, such as 6v6.
Quality of Life
- Enabled the jparty command in the dev console to join parties without being Steam friends. When someone creates a party, the dev console will tell you the party id. Others using the jparty party_id command where party_id is the id shown to the party creator allows them to join the party. - New custom game lobbies are now shown at the top of the list rather than on the bottom The Top 50 rated players in 'Rankings' now shows their skill rating - Changed the 10 minute queue achievement to make it accumulative over multiple queues and not 10 minutes in 1 queue - Added a new loading screen by JustCoopz
Fixes
- Fixed a stanchion clipping into Slapstadium and Slapville ever so slightly (did not affect gameplay) - Fixed custom player spawn in goalie practice - Worked around a bug in the Unity engine to re-enable simple latency diagnostics in-game when you run the mtr command or report a server, this will help us take action sooner when servers aren't performing well. - Fixed the minimap for the Jumbo arena, it now more accurately lines up with the real positions - Fixed the ability to play in practice mode without an internet connection - Fixed the highlight for the oil stick - Fixed changing arenas in goalie bot practice starting the match timer
Cosmetics
- Added new bundles to the shop: Goop, Exotic Hair, Basic Stick Colors - Created a system to support variants for decals (mouth, eyes, face) - Added several new goal horns: Fart, Hell, Slapshot Horn, Metal - Added: O Canada face decal, Dream Hair, Popsicle Stick, Scarf, Goosan Head, Beach Body, Fancy Suit, Lys face decal, Short full beard, Mozart hairstyle - Added Goop set: Goop mouth, Goop stick, Goop back (covers body), Goop hat (covers head) - Added dark variant for Mjolstick, earless variant for Frozen - Reworked 'Manbun', 'High Ponytail' and 'Punk Rock'. Their old versions are available as variants. - Updated the Crown's visual style (for league winners)
Special thanks to Addzin for the new goal horns and Rev for the concept work for a bunch of the new cosmetics!
GLHF, Oddshot Games
Quality of life, fixes, better latency sim and more!
Rebound v0.71.1 is now live
This patch is mostly fixes, quality of life and setting us up for future updates.
We've been a bit preoccupied making sure all our systems could handle the increased player count and provide support in a timely manner. Thank you so much for all your support and just for playing the game. It's so awesome to see so many people enjoying the game!
Patch Notes
Fixes
- Fixed an issue in replay state handling that could rarely cause a player to be stuck in replay cam during gameplay - Tweaked the latency simulator to be more accurate to a real scenario - Fixed the stick highlight for the Bowie knife - Fixed saving of the 'simulate last game' setting for non-premium players - Fixed hovering over the rank tooltip while a scene changed happened causing the tooltip to stay there during gameplay - Fixed the puck spawn location not working on open obstacle practices - Fixed some head overriding cosmetics causing other slots to show an invisible head sometimes - Re-enabled the league and premium showcases
Quality of Life
- Added a mercy rule setting to bot matches (player requested) - Removed the pond preview button because we moved it to the arena system so our artists can work on it better --> Yes this means you can access it with the 'arena pond' command but it's still WIP and will be overhauled completely. - Added links to our Discord and socials on the main menu for easy access - Changed the icon for party indicators, it's now more clear that it means they're in a party together - Changed the league section in the esports tab to include a short video to showcase the skill ceiling - (Dev) Changed how we handle logging to be able to act on issues faster and proactively
Cosmetics
- Added new variants for Turtle Shell, Edge LED (these launch later today) - Added Fish Head, Father's Day cosmetic (for this Sunday), USA Stick (for 4th of July) - Added new hairstyles: Top Knot, Afro, Halfie, Slick, Lawyer
Request for Feedback
There's some things we're thinking of adding based on player feedback and we'd love to know if our solutions are what you'd like to see. Let us know if we're heading in the right direction!
Career
Players have been wanting more insight into their rank and when they will promote/demote. To tackle this we came up with a 'career' page that would be accessible from the 'Player' tab, showing you your rank, specific rating and how far you are from promoting/demoting as well as a short history of the matches you have recently played. Is this something you want? Should it contain more/different information?
Creator Program
There's been a lot of talented people applying to the Slapshot Content Creator Program and we're happy to showcase those that have been accepted. Together, they've been creating amazing content right alongside us and are helping Slapshot reach new heights. Interested? More info here.
Thank you for playing, GLHF! - The Oddshot Games team
Goal horns, Island arena, creator program and more!
Rebound v0.71.0 is now live
Goal horns!
- Added a new cosmetic type: Goal horns. - Added a new bundle in the shop with a few boat horns - Added a 'thunder' horn to the Norse God bundle. Everyone that bought the bundle before has received it for free.
Arenas
- Added the Island arena. It is accessible from bot matches and custom games - Removed Slapstation from the public game rotation due to performance complaints
Matchmaking
- Created better balancing for the teams within a match - Made matchmaker a bit stricter, avoids instant matches with suboptimal balancing
Quality of life
- Added native support for PS5 controllers, you no longer need to use Steam Input for it - Added controller icons for DualShock and DualSense controllers (PS4 & PS5 controllers) - Latency simulator has been made more accurate (take round trip time into account) - Latency simulator is now on by default so new player experience in tutorial and practice is closer the online experience -- It'll estimate the latency, then after having played a match uses the latency found in that match - Region selector now shows the estimated latency to a region and color codes if it's good or not - Added advertisements for premium and the leagues for your respective region - Made some huge infrastructure improvements, making a bunch of operations significantly faster - Added more server-side metrics and monitoring to find out about bad performing servers quicker - When changing or adjusting camera settings, 'reset zoom' is used so settings are more accurate and less weird angle issues - Added support for 800x600 resolution for the people with potato PCs - Added the ability to view variants of items in bundles by clicking on the item, this'll bring up the item details UI
Cosmetics
- Added a camera helmet cosmetic for the creator program - Added selfie stick, makeshift stick, skull cleaver stick, reinforced stick - Added more variants to the premium hoodie, all existing and future premium users get these for free
Fixes
- Better stability for game server startup - Fixed an issue where if the server fails to start, you have to reboot to queue again - Fixed the variants for the bird wing cosmetic - Fixed playstation controller icons for quick chat not showing correctly - Fixed an issue where sometimes the purchase confirmation UI would incorrectly assume you own a cosmetic already
Creator program
We have launched a creator program to work with those that are creating content for Slapshot. Oddshot Games is determined to help you create great content and want to support you in the process! For more information check out the info page here: https://oddshot.notion.site/Public-Slapshot-Creator-Program-e869eda1d76e48bf91a13d40aff2703b
