I've been wanting to add both Slipstreaming and 25cc for quite a while and they're both here in the same update! 25cc should make life much easier for younger players and anyone that just wants a more relaxing casual drive, and Slipstreaming should be welcomed by anyone that has ever found themselves behind the leader on the final lap playing catch-up!
Changes List:
added a Slipstreaming mechanic for more catchup tactics
added a 25cc speed class for beginners, featuring a more relaxed pace and less aggressive cpu karts
hitting the brakes will no longer take you out of a driftboost buildup but will instead slow you down when tapped. This should come in handy on 150cc!
added nVidia Shield to the controllers list
added some city destroying robots in the Canabalt64 skyline
slightly eased up some of the cpu kart difficulty
reduced the amount of motionblur which was too much at high speeds
fixed a bug in the mirrormode button when going between gamemodes
added a yellow colour to the mirror mode button when it is activated
added a Fast-Forward button to the Ultra Podium scene
See you in the discussions area if you have any issues with the latest build!
Until the next update, happy karting!
Early Access Update v0.71 - August 2018 Update
*EA Update v0.71* - Controller Update
Here's another quality of life update, this time adding alt control schemes and an oft-requested key rebinder!
Changes List:
added a new Controls screen with alt control schemes and a redefine buttons option
alt control schemes include SanicR and Jumpman92 styles
fixed an issue where xbox controllers weren't auto-detected for button graphics
fixed an issue where xbox360 controllers could get stuck in a vibration loop when turning Rumble setting on
added a Motion Blur filter option to Key 5, looks nice and retro!
replaced the red girders in the Ultra Stadium for textured versions that reduce triangle count of each one from 5000 to 16(!), improving performance greatly
fixed a glitch where you could smash through the fence in the Ultra Stadium corkscrew and fly away when your planet needed you
added rearview mirror button to Splitscreen racing too
fixed a bug that was hiding roadside arrow signs in almost all VRtrax races
fixed a bug where the wrong screenshots were shown in the cup select menu after a quick race
Next up:
The next Ultra Cup
Two amazing new crossovers
25cc Beginners Speed Class
Obviously if anything has broken, do let me know in the discussions area. The "Previous Build" beta branch is now set to v0.70c.
Until the next update, happy karting!
Early Access Update v0.70c + Linux Release
*EA Update v0.70c* - Aug 2nd 2018
Welcome Linux owners!
After the game missed out on the linux kickstarter stretch goal (by only a few dollars), I had promised that I'd make it happen eventually, and here we are.. sometime in an eventual future!
Let me know in the discussions Linux topic if you have any serious issues.
Next up on my TODO list:
Redesign of the controller screen to include alt control schemes
Move the new performance options into a joypad friendly in-race pause screen graphics menu
After a week of speeding down many different optimisation avenues, the first mini-update to the first Ultra Update is here. Nothing beats dropping the resolution a peg or two, to me it looks fine in 960x540 as half-HD gives some nice sized pixels, but I've also added some temporary keys you can push to change up some individual options while in a race which might help some systems find the balance you prefer between looks and speed.
Key 2 : Max Draw Distance - Near, Mid, Far, Very Far
Key 3 : Material Glow Shader - On/Off
Key 4 : Stadium Jumboscreens - On/Off
Added a risky shortcut to the Ultra Canabalt track
Added some foggy thickness to the magnetic beams in TeslaTower64
Reduced the amount of laps required for Ultra Cups to 3 laps in all speed classes
Fixed up a few sound effect volumes spotted while watching players streaming the game
There's still a few more elements of the game that I can refactor into more efficient entities that will add further stability to that stadium framerate, and I hope most of you will see a nice improvement already, but expect more mini-updates over the next couple of weeks taking it further still.
As always, let me know in the Discussions area how the game is currently faring with your setup and I'll continue to help out where I can.
(Oh.. and even if your system isn't having any performance issues you should still give the Max Texture Size option a look as slipping it down to Medium or Low gives a really strong N64 vibe!)
The first Ultra Cup is now available to download! (Just let the game update itself as usual).
Ultra brings a different generation of karting to Super Indie Karts, one that represents a huge 3-dimensional jump from the flat Super tracks to corkscrew loop-de-looping crazy anti-gravity Ultra tracks!
List of changes:
Added the Emerald Cup, the first of the Ultra Cups, which features the SIK Ultra Stadium, Tesla Tower Floor 64, Canabalt City Circuit, and Runbow Road 64!
Added a new podium scene which takes place in the Ultra Stadium
Amalgamated the 4 Toto kart slots on the menu into 1 slot
Redesigned the Teslakid sprites
Added a bit of polish here and there, fixed a tonne of glitches and bugs (and probably introduced a tonne of new ones!)
There might be some older hardware out there that could struggle to appreciate the extra power needed to run the Ultra content, but I'm working on some optimisations now to ease the oomph demand a little, so expect some of that over the next fortnight in mini patch form.
As always, let me know in the Discussions area what your thoughts are on the new stuff and also if you have any issues too!
Ultra Happy Karting,
1leggedseagull
Early Access Update v0.65 - XMAS 2017 Update
*Update v0.65* - New Settings Update
Here's a nice little quality of life update to finish off the year!
changes:
added an Audio Settings menu, with volume sliders for Music, SFX, and Voice
added a Controller Settings menu, with a deadzone adjuster, vibration on/off, auto-accel on/off
removed more of the slip, adding more of the grip:
switched the kart's acceleration physics from applying force in direction the kart is facing, to applying the force into the direction the front wheels are turning to. This dramatically reduced a lot of the slippy feels
added a credits roll (launched from the main menu options)
added some pre-splats to the INK track, might need more in a later update or maybe splatted walls instead
Hope you all have a great New Years Eve, and I'll see you at the next update in January 2018!
Best,
1leggedseagull
Early Access Update v0.64a - Spooky Halloween Update
*Update v0.64a* - Halloween 2017 - Diamond Cup Update
Well, this one's a BIG one! :D
main changes
4th Indie Cup added!! Featuring: Freedom Planet's DragonValley, StarrMazer:DSP's Telchines Supercluster, INK's INK Trail, and KnightmareTower's Lava Knightmare!
New Indie Characters added! Sash Lilac from Freedom Planet, Brick M. Stonewood from StarrMazer, Roy G. Biv from INK, and The Knight from Knightmare Tower!
Added a new weapon! Welcome to the arsenal PumpKing - a pumpkin that's 4x the size of a regular pumpkin! PumpKing won't explode on impact, but you can see it from a long way away making it easy to avoid (as long as it doesn't sneak up behind you). A shockwave blast on initial landing is pretty handy for knocking out a few birds with one stone!
Added a First Person internal kart view to the cheats menu so you can test it out while I polish it up.
other changes
added new max fps values 120, 144, and 180
fixed problem where some thumbsticks weren't turning the kart as quickly as the D-pad(!), leaving some players steering at only an 80% turn speed!
fixed a situation where the kart could turn slower if the fps was running low (like when screen-recording while playing)
stopped Left&Right keys conflicting with each other if both were pressed, now the kart will straighten out
added a few walls and widened a problematic platform in Rhombus Square Oval
removed some landmines, barrels, and a pit in Duck Race
eased the annoyance of a trap corner in TeslaTower
add more details to the Canabalt track including giant robots destroying the city skyline
added a bunch of bouncy castle walls and background bubbles to the Shutshimi track
polished some of the kart select menu, added sounds, and you now get asked if you're ready after making your selection
cleaned up some more of the character avatars
revamped the ground flame trails when boosting
jazzed up the camera swing that's triggered on winning a race to be more punchy
smoothed out some of the main camera movements and rotations
changed how much the kart can bounce off of walls and obstacles
added a much quicker Brake, Reversing Speed, and Acceleration from Reversing (Reverse-reversing?)
fixed a bug that allowed you to build up the driftboost meter while reversing
Weapon Jars expand in size when respawning instead of just re-appearing, and also play an electric particle when collected
added some 3d Ramp models to make the Jump Pads easier to see
added a small amount of bounciness to the kart when landing from a high jump
fixed a glitch that let you hop just as the kart reaches ground height when over a dropoff to stop yourself going into water etc
increased the polycount on the finish line banner so it looks nicer from side-on angles
fixed a bug in the TeslaTower elevation shafts that saw you drop out if you went in with a downwards velocity
fixed a bug where a jumpPad could be ineffective if you hopped onto it
added some new animated wheel dust effects when on grass, mud, and sand
remastered the Shutshimi kart graphics
cleaned up elements of the TotoTemple and the WhisperingWillows tracks
fixed how some 3D walls looked dark in mirror mode
spruced up some of the race screenshots on the cup select screen
added a flash anim to the RaceGoal icons on the scoreboard if you get all 3
you can no longer get a jewel or shroom RaceGoal star after the race has ended!
added some soundfx for the pause screen button presses
updated Canabalt's kart select with a new variant: Canabalt HD
added some more detailed titlecards on race openings
linked alt+enter and the fullscreen menu setting
made the kart engine revs a bit beefier
added golden explosions to objects that goldrushing destroys
With an update this huge, there's bound to be a few new gremlins in the works, so anything serious please post it in the discussions area and I'll do all I can to iron them out over the next short while.
Spooky karting,
1leggedseagull
Early Access Update v0.63 - Super Summer Update
*Update v0.63* - June 22nd 2017
Summer's here and I'm super stoked to release this update, which adds support for more than 2 players in splitscreen. SplitscreenGP now supports 3 and 4 Players!
SIK v0.63 changes:
3-4 players now supported in SplitscreenGP
Replaced all of the joypad button graphics with pixelart versions, and also added Diamond Button Map options as seen in many Nintendo Switch games
improved the look, and performance, of the TV filter
added cleaner Cup Selection menu layout adding a tab system
added boxes for the in-race HUD elements to sit in, much cleaner looking now
jazzed up the HUD's Shroom cards and added a spin animation to them, they also now represent separate Shrooms so you can see which one you're missing
added up & down arrows to the HUD's weapon slot frame to show your aim direction
cleaned up the PowerDrive2000 car's spritesheet (long overdue)
fixed a palette error that had made the nose of Runbow's Red Hue vanish
added faster Brakes and quicker acceleration from a standstill
As usual with big updates like this there can be minor side-effects I might have overlooked. You can also usually expect a follow-up update a few days later. If anything has gone astray, don't hesitate to let me know in the discussions area and I'll get onto them as soon as I can.
I've also added a "previousbuild" branch to steam so you can revert back to the previous release if something goes wrong when a new version launches (or if you just want to check out what it looked like before all of the new awesome stuff got added ;]). It's an open beta branch available from within the steam client by right clicking the game in your games list and going to Properties\Betas. As an example, the current "previousbuild' branch would revert you back to v0.61.
The next major update (with Indie Cup 4) will be coming very soon, there's just a few more things to finish up! I had hoped to have it ready with this update but we'll just have to wait a little bit longer. I've posted several GIFs recently showing some of the future crossovers on the 1leggedseagull twitter page if you want to get a sneak peek.
Keep on karting on!
1leggedseagull
Early Access Update v0.61
*Update v0.61* - Mar 20th 2017 - Horizontal SplitscreenGP (2P)
Horizontal SplitscreenGP is here!
A lot of players get a little queasy when playing splitscreen in a Vertical set up, while others get queasy with a Horizontal setup. Thankfully you can now switch to the one that's most comfortable to you. Look for the Setup button prompt on the kart select screen in the SplitscreenGP menu to make the switch.
List of changes:
added a Horizontal splits option to SplitscreenGP
added more vibration events for more rumble immersion
added a check for when single player switched controllers mid race to stop another vibrate-forever bug
added punchier avatar changes in the 4 race position HUD avatars
fixed 3d walls looking dark in mirrormode
fixed costume change arrows sometimes showing up on wrong players character
fixed infinite lives glitch in SplitscreenGP
Besides these changes I also updated my Unity version to the latest release which has had the unfortunate side effect of adding around 45MB to the file size of the game! I'll be doing some investigating in the coming week to find out where this extra bloat has manifested and I'll make an effort to reduce the file size back down to what it was for the next update.
One other issue introduced by the Unity update is upon starting the game you might get a firewall notification letting you know the game is attempting to contact Unity's Cloud Service. This isn't an intentional connection attempt, but seems to be happening because the Unity engine has had some new Online Multiplayer code added to it. You can feel free to permanently block the connection attempt (that's what I did here) and the game will still run just fine. I've sent a support request to Unity3D and hope to have that resolved for the next update too.
Keep on karting on!
1leggedseagull
Early Access Update v0.60
*Update v0.60* - Mar 8th 2017 - SplitscreenGP (2P)
SplitscreenGP is here!
What a long windy road adding this game mode has been! The latest version (v6.0) adds SplitscreenGP as a game mode, allowing two players to race whole cups together. The game will track how many wins each player gets too so if you can find a decent enough opponent you should be in for a good challenge.
One negative of this addition is that BattleMode had to be temporarily removed to fix some glitches that made it unplayable. It shouldn't be too long before it's back up and running.
Another change has been the introduction of two new resolutions to the options screen. 1280x720 and 1376x768. The way that the settings are structured meant that I've injected them into the middle of the list. What that possibly means for you is that your previously used resolution may have changed because of the new additions, so if you find your game is looking somewhat different to how it normally looks, check what your setting is on there, you might want to change it up to 1080 again.
Work continues on IndieCup4 and adding 4 Player support and refining SplitscreenGP. Depending on how things go, the next big update might come at the end of this month, or at the start of April.
