the new graphics include procedurally generated backgrounds and planets. they are created using a seed and is generated when going from menus to in game, from in game to menus and selecting a new level while in game. i included options to disable the new graphics completely, disable in certain scenes or disable certain aspects such as spawning planets or creating new backgrounds. i also added ability to keep the seed set between scenes or have it randomized. having a set will decrease load times since when seed is set new graphics will not be recreated.
Changes
old skyboxes use seed to select random skybox
removed ability to change background when uploading level since background can now be set with seed
made fans close together not as loud
Bug Fixes
bug where correct versus seed was not being displayed for clients
bug where some levels with snake caused game to crash (like expert 4)
bug where some levels would turn off player sounds and music (like easy 34)
Public lobbies and Multiplayer Versus
Multiplayer
new versus game mode
2 new versus achievements and skins
lobby and in game chat
ability to host and search for public lobbies
ability to reset level / sections without having to restart entire level
added steam icons to lobby and in game scoreboard
scoreboard scales when game contains large number of players
lobby ready up now starts countdown when host and majority of lobby is ready
in game player options such as kicking and muting
pressing B on controller in lobby no longer disconnects player
Singleplayer
ability to restart level with single button press
ability to reset level objects back to when a checkpoint was picked up
added normal respawn mechanics to portal run
added checkpoints in portal run
Other Changes
added new respawn / reset settings info to in game ui with option to disable
added info about selecting / using extra powerups in portal run
disabled saving times in multiplayer
last portal in portal run turns into finish flag
first portal in portal run turns into startzone
portal in next section camera is no longer visible
players must enter a name for new levels / playlists
cleaned up in game ui
players are notified if they try to use extra powerup without enough points
Bug Fixes
bug where host could not add workshop levels to portal runs while in multiplayer lobby
bug where controller stopped working when selecting play portal run in multiplayer
bug where clicking back button while selecting level for portal run in multiplayer caused host to send level to players in lobby
bug where navigating browse workshop list did not work sometimes
Multiplayer Versus Beta
yo this next update brings a beta for a new multiplayer versus mode
Multiplayer Versus
versus is a game mode where you race against other players on normal levels or portal runs. it is similar to portal run since the levels are connected via portals, however, you will find that versus has more options to change the rules as you see fit. each player has a certain amount of time and player who completes the section first will make all other players start to lose their time. when only one player has time remaining, they win the round. the game ends when a player has won the specified number of rounds.
versus also has the option to vote to skip the current section. if all alive players are stuck on the same section, they may vote to skip it. skipping sections requires a majority vote for players who are still currently alive. this was added in case a section is too difficult to complete, which would prevent the game from completing.
to play versus, you must create a versus playlist, which is similar to creating a portal run playlist. the main difference is you may choose to play entire levels or their portal runs.
New Respawns and Reset
every level now has additional respawn and reset options. i added all the new respawn / reset info to the in game ui with an option to disable in the options menu.
All Modes:
pressing r (b on controller) is the standard respawn
holding r (b on controller) resets all objects to their positions when the checkpoint was hit
Normal Levels:
pressing t (down d-pad controller) restarts entire level
Portal Run:
pressing t (down d-pad controller) restarts current portal run section
holding t (down d-pad controller) restarts entire portal run
Versus:
holding t (down d-pad controller) votes to skip current section
im sorry for making respawns / resets complicated. the main reason i added all these respawn / reset options was for multiplayer game modes since some levels (like expert 01) become impossible to complete when certain objects (like glass) are destroyed or moved. these reset options allow these types of levels to completable in multiplayer without having to beat the level first try or having the host reload the level every time. i also did not want to remove the old respawn mechanics as it would make some of the current leaderboard times impossible to beat.
Checkpoints in Portal Run
portal run now has standard respawns and portal run sections can now have checkpoints.
Future Plans
there are a few more features i would like to add before releasing this update as a regular update. the new features i hope to add while versus is in beta are:
ability for players to host public lobbies that can be viewed and joined by other players online
in game text chat where you can chat with other players in the lobby and in game
Multiplayer Portal Run
yo this update brings multiplayer portal run
NOTE* in multiplayer portal run, times will NOT be saved and portal run achievements CANNOT be unlocked
changes:
merged portal run select screen with normal level select screen
removed not being able to unpause single player portal run finish screen
bug fixes:
bug where menu camera did not turn on when quitting from in game
multiplayer bug where finished players times on scoreboard would start to countdown again when a player leaves
Multiplayer Features
yo this next update is a small update that adds some multiplayer features
Multiplayer Features
creating different lobby types
setting max number of players
host can now kick players
when host quits in game, the host and clients return to the lobby instead of game ending
Other Changes:
failing to join a lobby should result in error message stating why
fixed scaling of multiplayer scoreboard
multiplayer scoreboard updates when a player disconnects
fixed bug in multiplayer with player triggers
fixed default skin not working in multiplayer
Campaign Leaderboards and Level Workshop
yo this next update brings beta for leaderboards for campaign levels, ghost files and steam workshop
Campaign Leaderboards
leaderboards will only work on campaign levels and require a new run in order to be posted. your old times will not get deleted but im very sorry to say your old time files will not be able to be posted on the leaderboards. also, the leaderboards are still partially incomplete as i need more entries in them to test certain things, so some aspects of the leaderboard may be broken.
Ghost Files
time files now contain ghost data that you can race against. you can race against ghosts in campaign, local custom and workshop levels. you can also race against other players ghosts that are on the leaderboards. racing ghosts is currently NOT supported in multiplayer or portal run.
Steam Level Workshop
super galaxy ball now has a steam workshop where you can upload and download levels by the community. all the tools required to upload and download levels are found in the game. after creating and saving a level with the level editor, you can choose to upload it to the workshop as a new level or overwrite an existing level you already posted. to browse levels, select the workshop option in the main menu to open the browse workshop window. the browse workshop window contains basic search options to help browse the workshop. you must subscribe to the level in order to be able to play it. if you find offensive or inappropriate content, please select the "open in steam" button to open the item in the steam client and report it. if you require more info about levels or more advanced search options, i suggest using the steam clients workshop tab.
Other Changes
startzones no longer freeze you in place when you spawn (now works like they did back in first patch)
time files are now more accurate
keyboard delete no longer acts as controller back button
merged all level canvases into one canvas with dropdowns used to sort levels
singleplayer finish slow down is now faster on lower frame rate pcs
increased max size of creating objects in editor from 200 to 500
level difficulties are visible on the level card
Bug Fixes
achievements in multiplayer not unlocking
pressing space bar in editor when input field was selected closing the menu
multiplayer scoreboard timers werent working properly
portal run startzone in editor not changing back when exiting play mode
duplicating and deleting custom square objects deleted original along with all duplicates
rotate select pivot was not being set properly in some cases
Workshop Beta
yo this next update brings a beta for steam workshop and an extension to the leaderboard beta
leaderboard
pretty much the same as the previous leaderboard beta, however, i did have to reset the current leaderboards.
workshop
there is now a workshop for super galaxy ball where you can create and download levels. you can create levels using the in game level editor and once saved, they can be uploaded to the workshop. you can also browse workshop levels in game by selecting the browse workshop button in the main menu. the current workshop implementation only includes basic search and upload functions and is also set to unlisted, which means theres no public page on steam. when the beta finishes and this update goes live, ill set the workshop to public.
when subscribing to levels, you may need to restart the game and let steam finish downloading the subscribed level in order to access it.
another beta?
sorry the last beta has not been released. while i was waiting for more entries for the leaderboards, i started working on adding the steam workshop and managed to finish it quicker than i thought, so ive decided to release it together with the leaderboards. if all goes well, this beta should only last a week or two before coming to the live game.
Leaderboard Beta
yo this patch brings a beta for leaderboards.
to access the beta, go to library, right click super galaxy ball, select properties, then select betas tab and select the "beta for new features". if the beta does not show up, try restarting steam.
Beta Notes
leaderboards currently only work in singleplayer (no portal run)
leaderboards may be reset at any moment during the beta if i need to
leaderboards WILL be reset before leaderboards update goes live
leaderboards require you to be online and have steam cloud enabled
any progress made while playing beta will not carry over to main game
please keep in mind that this is a beta, which means some things will be broken and hopefully i am able to fix all / most of the problems before posting it as a live regular update.
if you encounter any problems / bugs or have any concerns about this beta, i would appreciate it if you posted about it in the super galaxy ball community as a discussion with as much info as possible. thanks.
Portal Run Update
yo this patch brings new game mode called portal run as well as bug fixes, quality of life improvements and other changes as well as some insight into future updates
Portal Run
portal run is a new singleplayer game mode where you play sections of levels in a random order
create a portal run playlist with any levels, campaign or custom, then complete sections to earn points and use the points to unlock extra powerups and unlock doors early
the goal is to clear all sections as fast as possible
portal run also comes with two new achievements which also unlock new skins
Quality of Life Improvements
players spawn direction is no based on startZone direction
spring now adds speed to objects relative to its up direction
disabled fan sounds when not in game
added light up animation to spring to help identify the up direction
made loading levels much faster
editor now highlights objects that are being hovered over
added option to select any campaign level as a template for a new level in level editor
the player in the level editor now spawns facing the startZone
added option to disable cursor hiding while in game
added option to rotate camera with arrow keys
Bug Fixes
fixed bug when grappling to an object that resets position the grapple would stay connected instead of ending
fixed bug where objectRotate wasn't setting and resetting rotation properly
fixed bug where some objects would experience angular drag
fixed bug where levelEditor could interact with trailColliders (which are used to create player trails)
fixed bug where level finish ui would show in editor play mode
fixed bug where game would glitch if trying to enter play mode without a startZone
Other Changes
player timer starts automatically after 10 seconds or any movement input
added option for springs, speedBoosts, fans and pinballs to add spin in addition to adding velocity
Future Plans
I do plan on adding more updates, however, it might take a few months for each update. I'm currently a solo dev doing this on the side for fun, so i apologize if updates are not frequent enough. Below are future updates I plan on adding to the game.
Planned Future Updates
leaderboards for campaign levels
uploading / downloading levels on steam workshop
multiplayer versus mode
more game mechanics and campaign levels
bug fix
fixed bug where expert achievements were not unlocking
