Version 1.1.1

• Ice Blocks: The calculation to determine if and when an ice block should shatter has been modified. Now the angle of impact has a greater effect, so sliding along a piece of ice won’t break it as easily, especially in levels such as Frostburn and Ice and Fire
  
• Fixed an issue where multiple players could select the same color narwhal in the player select screen
  
• Fixed an issue in the Challenge levels Escalation and Wave where the player could potentially die on spawn
  
• Fixed an issue with team mode where sometimes the players don’t get assigned to the correct team
  
• Fixed an issue with the sludge in Challenge levels where the player could continue to die after the first death on a run
  
• Results screen: Fixed an issue where the Tag and Capture count were being incremented on a hazard hit
  
• Localization: Versus score screen had an error when playing team mode on Score Attack
  

• A lot of work has gone into optimizing many parts of the game including level geometry and collision, AI pathfinding, and hazards. Many levels should have significant performance boosts and should be capable of running much more smoothly on older machines!
  
  
  
  • Versus: Mobius, Amoeba, Perch, Tumble Dry, Squall, Giant Growth, Slippery Slope
    
  • Challenge: Escalation, Spin Cycle, Stream Sailor, Centrifuge, Factory
    
  
  
• The AI has been significantly improved on several of the Versus levels:
  
  
  
  • Classic, Mobius, Amoeba, Perch, Time Spiral, Pneumatic, Tarkus II, Squall, Giant Growth, Frostburn, Glacial Pass, Slush Puppy
    
  
  

• XInput: Controllers can now use XInput on Windows PCs. Just go into the Options screen and you’ll be able to enable/disable XInput. With it enabled, you’ll be able to reconnect a disconnected controller without having to reboot the game, yay!
  
• Controller input is now locked as soon as a match is over
  

• Viking Squad Costumes! SKOL!! Check out the game here: Viking Squad
  

1.1.0

• Rounds - They have finally made their triumphant return. It took a bit longer than expected but it is definitely worth the wait! These are also customizable!
  
• Music - 7 new tracks, and each world in Versus now has specific songs for that world.
  
• Ghosts - You now can set the visibility of the ghosts in challenge mode in the Options menu. Control those phantasms!
  
• Languages - You can now set the game interface language to English, French, Spanish, Italian or German. Salut, Guten tag, and buongiorno, international amigos!
  
• New Level - "Giant Growth": There is a new special level designed by our Gigaballer Kickstarter backer. The level is massive so the narwhals will feel really tiny on this stage!
  

• The STARWHAL logo got a cosmetic update. We've also dropped the subtitle from the game, so the game is now just called STARWHAL. To find out more about why we're doing this, please read our post about it here: http://breakfall.ca/content/starwhal-name-change
  
• Player Select - Flow has been changed a bit. When you join up, it now starts in the customize screen where you can change Color and Costumes. After that, you're brought to the menu where you can ready up, check controls, or go back to customization.
  
• Versus Results Screen - There's now a little bit of anticipation to see who won since all the podiums will rise together before revealing who came in 1st place!
  
• Menu navigation with gamepads is now more responsive.
  
• Options Screen - now split into 3 different sections (General/Audio/Visual)
  
• Challenge Mode: Leaderboard navigation is now done with only one button (Tab/RB) instead of the having a 2 directional navigation.
  
• Medals now have a slight shimmer to them. So shiny!
  
• More visual details added to menu interface across the board.
  
• Countdown - The timer in versus mode will now flash and play a sound for the final 10 seconds of the match. Now you can tell when the match is about to end even if you can't see the timer!
  
• Level rename: "Balls Deep" has been renamed to "Bouncy Ball Brawl"
  
• Score-based modes (Score Attack, Zones, Heart Throb) now have an indicator of what the maximum score is for that round. So instead of just showing your score (say 10 points), it now displays 10/30 to show how close you are to winning.
  

• Results screen: Each podium in the versus score screen will show a medal if there is a tie for 1st place
  
• Heart Throb - The speed dampening for the leader has been reworked. Instead of dampening all velocity and angular velocity of the starwhal, now the propulsion force is slowly reduced. This makes it harder for the leader to get away from getting hit and feels a lot more natural!
  
• Player Select - The riders now have a cute bobble animation for when they're selected!
  
• The pause screen can no longer be triggered right after a match is finished.
  
• Ambient sounds of worlds will no longer play on the title screen.
  

• A new challenger appears! The Toto Temple Deluxe rider from our friends at Juicy Beast!
  
• AI Costume: AI players will now all have a Monitor Head costume to show that they're out for blood! Resistance is futile! (This costume is reserved for AI players, so mere humans aren't allowed to use it)
  
• Wizard hat and beard - You can never have too many beard costumes, and this will let you say YOU SHALL NOT PASS.
  
• Tabard - Lets you get medieval on other players' posteriors! Designed by our Gigaballer as well!
  

• New versus levels:
  
  
  
  • Stasis
    
  • Ameoba
    
  • The Gate
    
  • Perch
    
  • Tumble Dry
    
  • Squall
    
  • Pneumatic
    
  • Slippery Slope
    
  
  
• Challenge levels
  
  
  
  • 11 new Obstacle levels
    
  • 13 new Target levels
    
  
  
• Steam stuff:
  
  
  
  • Steam leaderboards
    
  • Achievements!
    
  • Trading cards
    
  • Big Picture support
    
  • Badges
    
  
  
• Music - 5 fresh new tracks, including the Obstacles theme shown in the launch trailer!
  
• More sounds - end of match sounds, world-specific ambience, and more!
  
• Even more visual effects: shockwave, heat shimmer, and lots of new particle effects!
  
• Challenge modes: a ‘next level’ button has been added to stay in the groove
  
• Updated challenge results screen - you can now see the required times for platinum, gold, silver, bronze medals, the difference between your current and best time, and the name of the level you just played
  
• End of match visuals and sounds for GAME, TIME, and COMPLETE
  
• Options: resolution can now be changed in game
  
• Control: gamepads now can use both analog sticks for turning, as well as both triggers for gas - now you can play one handed like in Wave Race 64!
  
• Credits - our identities have been revealed, as well as the amazing people who have helped us make it!
  

• Level name changes
  
  
  
  • Moebius to Möbius (big change!)
    
  • Fast Forward to Time Spiral
    
  • The Clash to Flip and Dip
    
  • Battlefield to Slush Puppy
    
  • Glacial Gate to Glacial Pass
    
  
  
• Gamepads can now use the dpad for menu navigation
  
• On gamepads the ‘A’ button is now used for readying up instead of the ‘X’ button
  
• Challenge mode: Lava is a +5 sec penalty, Fireballs are now a +3 sec penalty
  
• Challenge mode: game timer is now has .000 precision - as accurate as Olympic bobsledding - important for leaderboard rivalry!
  
• New medal graphics
  

• End of match: selecting “Restart” after a Random level was played will pick another random level
  
• Level loading is improved
  
• Physic calculations have been optimized
  
• Game timer font has been updated
  

• ‘?’ rider
  
• Six Link
  

Full release of STARWHAL on Steam is launching September 29th!

• 2 versus game modes
  
• 3 worlds
  
• 10 versus arenas
  
• AI players
  
• 12 song soundtrack
  
• 48 costumes
  
• 1 burrito
  

• 4 versus game modes
  
• 5 worlds
  
• 25 versus arenas
  
• AI players
  
• 17 song soundtrack
  
• 90 costumes
  And all this totally new stuff!
  
• 32 single player challenge levels
  
  • 16 obstacle levels
    
  • 16 target levels
    
  • Race to get Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum medals
  
  
• Leaderboards to track challenge level times and your worth as a human being
  
• Ghost replays to play against - beat your rivals and gloat to your friends!
  
• 24 Achievements
  
• Customizable match rules
  
• Redesigned UI for game status and menus
  
• Radical new post FX including bloom, distortion waves, and more
  
• Steam trading cards
  
• 1 burrito (okay, this one's not new, but don’t fix what ain’t broke)
  

Price change

New Stuff!

• Challenge Mode!
  This is an early 8 level preview of the single player mode that tests your STARWHAL skills. In the final release of the game, we're aiming to have over 30 levels. There are two different types of challenges:
  
  
  
  
  • Obstacle mode - 5 levels of racing to the finish line as fast as you can. Watch out for the hazards, as hitting them will give you a time penalty!
    
  • Levels:
    
    
    
    • EZ EZ
      
    • Full Throttle
      
    • Stream Sailor
      
    • Sludge Sewer
      
    • Centrifuge
      
    
    
    
  • Target mode - 3 levels of seeking and destroying the heart targets as fast as possible!
    
  • Levels:
    
    
    
    • Crossroads
      
    • Rebound
      
    • Factory
      
    
    
    
  • Hazards - Obviously, it's not so simple to just get to the end. Avoid the hazards to make to the finish in one piece!
    
    
    
    • Fireballs and Lava will give you a time penalty
      
    • Slime will kill you in one hit, so watch out!
      
    
    
  
  
  There are also a couple of other neat features!
  
  
• Ghosts - Your runs in Challenge modes get recorded and uploaded so you can race against yourself, a Steam friend, as well as a Rival, who has a similar time to your own!
  
  
• High Scores - Try to get faster times to unlock the coveted Platinum Medal!
  
  
• Leaderboards (coming soon) - we're still working on this one, so it's not in this preview build. Upcoming versions will have Steam leaderboard information displayed in game so you can value your worth as a human being by comparing yourself to friends and total strangers!
  Warning: We may need to clear some of the leaderboards while we're still in Early Access. Please be patient with us!
  
  
• UI overhaul
  
  
  
  • Player Select: you now have to ready up before going to the next screen (This means less accidental clicks when setting up a match)
    
  • Mode select: now you have more freedom of the type of the type of game you want to play - create your own combinations of score/time
    
  • Options menu: options now save their state between different game sessions
    
  • Post FX: We've now implemented lots of cool post effects including Bloom Lighting and chromatic aberration which make heart hits even more intense!(These can be disabled in the options screen)
    
  • Controller support: Xbox One controller for the Windows version of the game
    
  
  

Balances/Fixes:

• Narwhals have been tweaked - there's now a bit less friction on the players, especially on the "bell" area where the horn meets the head. In our testing, we've found that this has led to faster, more aggressive play since you don't get stuck on each other as often
  
• Heart hits - heart hits in versus mode now have a shattering effect to emphasize hits, as well as to show how long the heart is invulnerable between taking hits
  
• Ice blocks are now a bit easier to break in the Forsaken world
  
• Fast Forward level has been reworked
  
• Fixed the long standing and mysterious issue where sometimes a heart icon in the GUI won’t appear in Classic mode
  
• Camera improvements now better frame the action
  
• Curved blocks are now smoother so it's easier to slide on them
  
• Key Bindings - adding/removing AI on the keyboard are now changed to the P and O keys respectively from the +/- keys.
  
• Player Select - the confirm button for the WASD controls is the ‘Space’ key
  

Costumes

• Bacoooon, to dream of delicious bacon-wrapped narwhals
  
• Long Scarf, for sci-fi fans
  
• Female Assassin (we broke the bank trying to get this one in!)
  

• New world: The chilly distant system called "Forsaken"!
  
• 3 new arenas: The High Ground (featured at The Next Level PAX East tournament), The Clash, and Moebius
  
• New visual effects across the board
  
• New arena visual detail - crystals in Asteroid X and moss in Neo Flopicron
  
• UI updates, including a move of in-game score to bottom of screen (configurable in the options menu)
  

• Zones - bubbles act more like liquid now with a bit of resistance as you swim through them
  
• Heart Throb - the heart throb now gradually slows down and becomes easier to catch the longer they have the heart
  
• Arenas have been moved around a bit into different worlds
  
• General bug fixes including fixed scoring for Team mode and Zones and optimized game and level loading
  
• New controllers supported where possible based on the surveys sent back
  

• Ice Cream matching set
  
• Spartan helmet
  
• T-rex hat
  
• New battle companions! Paddington the Cat and Carl the Warrior Snail! (and a donut)