V.0.7.3.9.0: Japan Update

New Krabber Mechanics


• First we gave you krabbers. Now, presenting Krabbers as bombs! What are these bombs you ask? Oh, well now you can suck up Krabbers and use them as explosive grenades. Careful though, they explode with their element’s damage and can really knock you on your butt if you don’t throw them far enough.
  
  

  New Elemental Interaction: Ice

  
  
• With Krabbers now throwable, Ice type damage is available in the elemental system (Warning, don’t lick frozen snails).
  
  

  New Japan Levels

  
  
• More levels! Everyone likes more levels. This update brings you the first 4 levels of Japan. It should give you a couple more hours of fun while we finalize the rest.
  
• This is the big part of the update. It’s taken us months to get all the assets and levels working the way we wanted. We hope you like it, we feel it’s a huge visual improvement on what’s currently in the game. We look forward to your feedback. How does it look? How does it play? Did we miss anything?
  
  

  New Build Caps on Towers and Walls

  
  
• You now have caps to the total amount of walls and towers you have in a level. It proved too difficult to perfectly balance your cash intake with the upgrades with the total towers and walls built. This helps even out a lot of the balance issues. It also allows us to emphasize a long neglected element, upgrades. Rather than building more, now you are more encouraged to upgrade the towers you have. We think it improves the “meta” of the levels.
  
• Limiting the number of towers and walls in a level increases performance. We can start building effects, animations, complex mechanics around a cap now. It keeps players from building so much that they experience significant frame rate drop.
  
• Numbers are still being worked for all the levels. Some may be too easy still, some too difficult. It’s something we’re testing and tuning and hope the community can give us some feedback on.
  
  

  Slimebacks are Out There

  
  
• There’s FINALLY a new kid on the block. The Slimeback marks the addition of the long awaited “large” enemy type. There’s still some mechanics to work out, but we think this one adds a lot of fun to the battlefield.
  
  

  No More Zombie Snails

  
  
• Snails no longer eat things/attack cores as they spawn out after killing them. It was a minor problem, but it’s fixed now.
  
  

  Payload Maps Deployed

  
  
• There’s a new gametype! You have to deliver things across larger levels. We think it adds fun new mechanics and breaks up the usual humdrum of being the hero of humanity.
  
  

  Supreme Commander Klang is in Command

  
  
• We’ve finally added a villain to the game. This one’s got a flair for the dramatic and an insatiable hunger for power.
  
• Klang showcases a new procedural animation system we’re using in an attempt to better automate in game cinematics/action.
  
  

  Minor Bugfixes

  
  
• Potential infinite loop in the chain electricity system
  
• Overhaul to Audio system
  
• Many performance optimizations
  

• New pointers for selecting and build phases. We've replaced the vive controllers with hands. They look pretty cool.
  
• The Deadshot is live. You can buy the Deadshot in the store now and play around with the first two handed weapon in the game!
  

Snailiens v0.7.3.8.0 patch notes

• Added the Krabber to the game. Added animations, textures, and implemented them in levels:
  Krabbers can now be seen scuttling around in levels! Heads up, there’s one for every elemental type. This addition marks the first “small” class enemy in the game and greatly improves the meta of the game.
  Improved level performance. With the addition of the very efficient Krabber, we have freed up cpu and gpu power for other things!
  
  
• Slimeback animations and initial mechanics added to game. Not yet implemented in live levels:
  We’ve started internal testing the Slimeback and the new “large” class enemy mechanics. Things are looking real great.
  
  
• Added new system for player to take damage:
  You now have a proper body! Well, kind of. You now have collider volumes that reflect your hands, your head, and your body. They’re denoted by a large sphere for now, final art is on the way!
  
  
• Modified Snailien animation system to be more robust and allow for by bone animation blending:
  Introducing animation blending! We can now blend things like walking and shooting or walking and taking damage together into a compound animation. This’ll let us do the more complicated animations necessary for all the abilities and mechanics we have planned.
  
  
• Modified base Snailien to fire at player:
  The base Snailiens aren’t as dumb as you remember. They’re angry and they’re firing back. Base Snailiens now fire plasma shots that you’ll need to avoid if you’re going to survive.
  
  
• Modified Flamer Snailien with new ability. They will now throw bombs that cause initial damage and a fire dot in a defined area:
  The Flamer Snailien was boring. We’ve given him new, more dynamic mechanics. He’ll now throw big bombs that explode dealing damage, then apply a fire area of effect.
  
  
• Visual quality pass on all Georgia levels:
  Trees, bushes, and rocks were added to improve visual quality and bring Georgia more in line with Japan levels. We’re still working on making the game really sparkle. The Georgia levels felt kinda dead. We’ve added some trees, bushes, rocks, etc to the levels to give them a little more life. They look a lot better, we think you’ll like it.
  
  
• Added a soft death system:
  We’ve been playing with lots of different ways to “die” in the game. We wanted to make sure if you died, you understood what you did wrong, but didn’t feel too punished for it. When you die, you’ll lose some parts but get to immediately continue from where you were.
  
  
• Overhauled damage physics to better handle damage hitting the player:
  New collision channels will allow us to filter the different types of damage needed for the new mechanics we’re adding. This is one change that if we’ve done it right, you’ll never notice.
  
  
• Overhauled enemy damage hit boxes to allow for damage to be applied by bone:
  Snailiens are no longer driven by “pill” damage. Instead it’s on a per vertex damage system. This allows us to, in the future, make weak or more resistant spots on enemies. It also allows the damage hit boxes to be more literal and reflect the shape of the enemies better.
  
  
• New particle systems for weapon and tower hits:
  Our weapons still need some work and we’re learning new tools to make them more satisfying to play with. We’ve taken another shot at a few of those weapons and towers. A new “spark” particle has been added to many that, we think, makes it way more satisfying to shoot.
  
  
• New visual system for collected parts:
  You’ve always used parts you collect off Snailiens to build your defenses. To make it more clear to players where the parts come from and make shooting snailiens more satisfying, we’ve added a visual effect. Now, on death, Snailiens will lose some parts that will fly to the player and be collected.
  
  
• Various volume modifications to better bring abnormally loud sfx back into line:
  There’s some weirdly loud sounds in the game. We know, we hate it too. We’re systematically combing the game making sure some of the biggest offenders get pounded down. Hopefully now your ears will bleed a little less!
  
  
• New bullet trail systems on weapons and towers:
  We’ve added a new bullet trail effect on the default revolvers, mother in law, shredder, and southern comfort. They either were bland before or didn’t exist. This one looks much nicer.
  
  
• Modified all Georgia levels to reflect the new enemy system:
  This is the big one. We’ve changed all the levels to reflect the new enemies and abilities you’ll find in them. With the addition of small enemies we can have them effectively fill the role of the base Snailien. They’ll mostly get taken care of by the towers, assuming you built your defenses well. Now we can free up the larger Snailiens to have more engaging abilities. You’ll see far fewer medium enemies now, but they’ll be more interesting when you do. We think this removes a lot of the chaos and “just shoot the next one you see” mentality of the old system and increases player enjoyment.
  
  
• New Trackpad Mechanics:
  This week we made some big changes to the system to improve gameplay. Trackpad is an on touch locomotion system now with a dash mechanic on direction button press. This allows more fluid movement and a better “get out of fire” ability to bring it in line with teleport. It was too slow compared to teleport, so we’ve increased it’s speed to give the player more agility. It definitely causes some simulation sickness if you are not used to it and, while we love the way it plays, we firmly suggest you stick to teleport if you start to feel any nausea!
  

Snailiens v0.7.3.8.0 patch notes for tomorrow's update

• Added the Krabber to the game. Added animations, textures, and implemented them in levels:
  Krabbers can now be seen scuttling around in levels! Heads up, there’s one for every elemental type. This addition marks the first “small” class enemy in the game and greatly improves the meta of the game.
  Improved level performance. With the addition of the very efficient Krabber, we have freed up cpu and gpu power for other things!
  
  
• Slimeback animations and initial mechanics added to game. Not yet implemented in live levels:
  We’ve started internal testing the Slimeback and the new “large” class enemy mechanics. Things are looking real great.
  
  
• Added new system for player to take damage:
  You now have a proper body! Well, kind of. You now have collider volumes that reflect your hands, your head, and your body. They’re denoted by a large sphere for now, final art is on the way!
  
  
• Modified Snailien animation system to be more robust and allow for by bone animation blending:
  Introducing animation blending! We can now blend things like walking and shooting or walking and taking damage together into a compound animation. This’ll let us do the more complicated animations necessary for all the abilities and mechanics we have planned.
  
  
• Modified base Snailien to fire at player:
  The base Snailiens aren’t as dumb as you remember. They’re angry and they’re firing back. Base Snailiens now fire plasma shots that you’ll need to avoid if you’re going to survive.
  
  
• Modified Flamer Snailien with new ability. They will now throw bombs that cause initial damage and a fire dot in a defined area:
  The Flamer Snailien was boring. We’ve given him new, more dynamic mechanics. He’ll now throw big bombs that explode dealing damage, then apply a fire area of effect.
  
  
• Visual quality pass on all Georgia levels:
  Trees, bushes, and rocks were added to improve visual quality and bring Georgia more in line with Japan levels. We’re still working on making the game really sparkle. The Georgia levels felt kinda dead. We’ve added some trees, bushes, rocks, etc to the levels to give them a little more life. They look a lot better, we think you’ll like it.
  
  
• Added a soft death system:
  We’ve been playing with lots of different ways to “die” in the game. We wanted to make sure if you died, you understood what you did wrong, but didn’t feel too punished for it. When you die, you’ll lose some parts but get to immediately continue from where you were.
  
  
• Overhauled damage physics to better handle damage hitting the player:
  New collision channels will allow us to filter the different types of damage needed for the new mechanics we’re adding. This is one change that if we’ve done it right, you’ll never notice.
  
  
• Overhauled enemy damage hit boxes to allow for damage to be applied by bone:
  Snailiens are no longer driven by “pill” damage. Instead it’s on a per vertex damage system. This allows us to, in the future, make weak or more resistant spots on enemies. It also allows the damage hit boxes to be more literal and reflect the shape of the enemies better.
  
  
• New particle systems for weapon and tower hits:
  Our weapons still need some work and we’re learning new tools to make them more satisfying to play with. We’ve taken another shot at a few of those weapons and towers. A new “spark” particle has been added to many that, we think, makes it way more satisfying to shoot.
  
  
• New visual system for collected parts:
  You’ve always used parts you collect off Snailiens to build your defenses. To make it more clear to players where the parts come from and make shooting snailiens more satisfying, we’ve added a visual effect. Now, on death, Snailiens will lose some parts that will fly to the player and be collected.
  
  
• Various volume modifications to better bring abnormally loud sfx back into line:
  There’s some weirdly loud sounds in the game. We know, we hate it too. We’re systematically combing the game making sure some of the biggest offenders get pounded down. Hopefully now your ears will bleed a little less!
  
  
• New bullet trail systems on weapons and towers:
  We’ve added a new bullet trail effect on the default revolvers, mother in law, shredder, and southern comfort. They either were bland before or didn’t exist. This one looks much nicer.
  
  
• Modified all Georgia levels to reflect the new enemy system:
  This is the big one. We’ve changed all the levels to reflect the new enemies and abilities you’ll find in them. With the addition of small enemies we can have them effectively fill the role of the base Snailien. They’ll mostly get taken care of by the towers, assuming you built your defenses well. Now we can free up the larger Snailiens to have more engaging abilities. You’ll see far fewer medium enemies now, but they’ll be more interesting when you do. We think this removes a lot of the chaos and “just shoot the next one you see” mentality of the old system and increases player enjoyment.
  
  
• New Trackpad Mechanics:
  This week we made some big changes to the system to improve gameplay. Trackpad is an on touch locomotion system now with a dash mechanic on direction button press. This allows more fluid movement and a better “get out of fire” ability to bring it in line with teleport. It was too slow compared to teleport, so we’ve increased it’s speed to give the player more agility. It definitely causes some simulation sickness if you are not used to it and, while we love the way it plays, we firmly suggest you stick to teleport if you start to feel any nausea!