January is here and we've started digging into optimization and the more social parts of the game. One brand new feature is the in-game chat and chat bubbles. This means that you can communicate with other players in the game using a proximity chat, but also using a global chat box. Both of these will be refined and improved on, but we wanted to get it out now to see how it works. We've also added more regions and the ability to see in-session games. Clothing materials and textures have also been improved.
Networking has also been improved a lot, with no more crazy lag like before, and everything should look silky smooth. For the next update this will be improved on even more, which will also have a lot of optimizations for CPU and GPU performance. With all of these things we hope to be able to increase the player count and start adding some social sandbox maps where you can hang out and play around with others. But more on that later! Here's everything new!
New Features
Updated ALL clothing materials and textures
Added a new CHAT feature
Added duration for revives
Added new "scope" tooltip for scoped weapons (e.g. sniper)
Added the ability to see in-session games
Added South America, Africa, and Australia regions
Added speech bubbles
Reworked the entire networking for grabbing objects and NPCs
Added Metal Claws blueprint
Added Dingus Soda blueprint
Bugs & Fixes
Improved aim correction - leading to less wobbly aim
Fixed radial progress bar not always disappearing
Improved networking of body bend angles
Fixed firework crashing the game upon exploding
Improved issue where objects sometimes fall through the ground
Fixed the infinite ammo stack exploit in survival
Fixed pongie pathing in Survival Swamp
Fixed memory leaks in-game, in the Lobby, and in the Main Menu
Lowered all water colliders
Removed foliage colliders in Military Base sewers
Added colliders to the hanging walkway in Military Base
Made enemies much less likely to be scared from gunfire
Changed which enemies get scared from gunfire
Changed which enemies will hold up their flippers at gunpoint
Fixed the speedboat clipping in Et tu, Bingus
Made the orphan and Pongita dying not reset the heist
Fixed missing stair colliders in King Pingnar's Mines
Fixed the portal maze puzzle in King Pingar Mine's
Fixed missing house colliders in Et tu, Bingus
Noot you later!
Post Office Update
For the longest time, all of you have been collecting strange currency, in the form of Stamps, by finishing "Daily Challenges." All your work will finally have paid off.
Today, we introduce the Post Office. The Post Office is a new store where we are experimenting with a new concept in Penguin Heist. Namely, time. Every 24 hours, the Post Office will be restocked with new items for you to spend your stamps on.
Since this is the first time we are adding something like this, we are also very keen on adapting and changing it in ways to make it more fun. We want the Post Office to be an exciting addition that makes the penguin village feel more alive, as if the village lives and breathes even when the game is off!
The Post Office will start by only offering you new items and weapons, but will later offer you a chance to buy rare cosmetics, and even furniture (player housing! hint-hint)
We also want to introduce more ways to earn stamps other than simply completing Daily Challenges, as that may be too constricting. But - that is for another time.
For the full changelog of this update, look no further:
Changelog:
Weapons you can expect to see in the Post Office (for this update): - The Butcher - Delta Flier - Jetpack Flier - Freeze Bomb - Golden Gun - Healing Sphere - Stamper - Icicle - Fish Launcher - Grenade Launcher - Glowstick - Flare Gun - Plague Staff - Sword of the Flame - Flash Bang - Tiger Saw - Timmy Gun - Glue Gun - Lightning Rod
New Features: - Post Office - Changed loadout size from 6 to 8 - Added a new loading screen for heists - Changed behavior gun-wielding AI, making them keep more distance - Added a new song in Playa del Sol
Bugs & Fixes: - Increased music volume for all levels - Improved the loading time of levels - Improved the responsiveness of AI - Removed Staff of Plague from the Store - Added Magic Wand back to the Store - Fixed a significant memory leak in the Lobby - Fixed Gunslinger Yon's blueprint being missing - Fixed King Pingnar's Portal Maze - Decreased amount of potential sequence breaks in the Tutorial - Fixed ladders launching penguins into space - Improved slope behaviors - Fixed the ship in Research Station slowly drifting away - Fixed house colliders in Madinat Al'Asmak in The Nile - Improved the reliability of reviving players - Improved the reliability of voting
Winter Update Fix #1
Fixes and Changes
Fixed bazooka not working
Fixed tutorial not responding for some players
Fixed some items missing from the store
Fixed some missing blueprints
Winter Sale
Penguin Heist is on sale during the Steam Winter Sale! Grab a copy for yourself, or gift it to friends and family (or your nemesis)!
Also, the Penguin Plush has been funded, so now you can be sure to get one if you order it. Each plushie also comes with a giftable key for Penguin Heist :)
Noot noot!
Winter Update
New clothing: - Mittens - Reindeer Headband - Christmas Hat - Snowguin Head - Snowguin Body - Monkeyguin Tail - Monkeyguin Ears - Monkeyguin Skin - Eggshell Body - Eggshell Hat - Diamond Glasses
Bugs & Fixes: - Massively improved the game's performance, especially in larger levels - Fixed ground collision for grenade, firecracker, bear trap, inflatable walrus, and explosive fish - Added the Gold Sword to the store - Added the Pistol Pistol to the store - Added the Bokken to the Blueprint Studies - Fixed the flamethrower's aim pointing in the wrong direction - Sleep Dart no longer instantly puts bosses to sleep, but will require 3 darts to do so - Chainsaw Lucy has been fixed to have the right boss name, wield a chainsaw, and drop the correct blueprint upon being killed - Fixed weapons like the bazooka randomly triggering at some points in levels - Made doors grabbable - Improved the gliding behavior of the Umbrella - Made fast travel work for clients in multiplayer - Fixed an issue where the last selected pause menu button was triggered upon jumping - Made the Painting Mystery (achievement and teleportation) work for clients in multiplayer - Made the teleportation gun work for clients in multiplayer - Fixed the lag occuring in The Void outside Dark Castle - Fixed two-handed weapons (e.g boxing gloves) not rendering correctly for other players - Lowered the volume of the Neko ears noot - Increased the efficiency of the Ice Cream and Freeze Ray - Improved the camera's ability to follow the penguin at high speeds - Improved the colors of lasers in the laser puzzle in Pongton
The Official Penguin Heist Plushie! (free copy of Penguin Heist included)
The Makeship campaign for the Penguin Heist plushie is nearing its end, so make sure you head on over and secure your order. Keep in mind: every order of the plushie comes with a FREE Steam code for Penguin Heist (perhaps that is the perfect Christmas gift for a friend?)
Just a tiny patch that fixes memory leaks on some levels :)
Network Overhaul Patch #1
Tiny patch that fixes some very specific bugs :)
Networking Overhaul Patch #1
Tiny patch that fixes some very specific bugs :)
Network Overhaul
This update, most prominently, features a complete rework of the networking for the player characters in the game. Penguin Heist's #1 issue in multiplayer has been the amount of experienced lag amongst clients. So we have spent the last week reworking the networking to begin a journey to eliminate that experienced lag.
This networking overhaul focuses primarily on player character movement and interactions (read: grabbing) physics-based objects.
The improved movement will make using jetpacks, sliding, and just moving in general feel almost like you are playing in Singleplayer mode.
The improved physics will help with the carrying of heist objects and significantly improve the experience in modes such as Pizza Panic.
Here's a list of the fixes and features added in this update
Player character network overhaul
Fixed heist objects disappearing on low graphics modes (such as the key in Research Station)
Fixed an invisible wall that appeared in the temple in The Nile
Fixed multiple rock and tree colliders not working correctly in Dark Castle
Improved performance for all levels by optimizing the ragdoll physics simulation
Improved enemy state synchronization
Changed multiple sound effects, primarily for sword-based weapons
Decreased likelihood of your penguin getting stuck on objects, such as ramps
In other news, That Fish is hard at work doing the soundtrack for the game and we are going to be balancing the audio levels for the music, as well as expand the audio controls. Furthermore we are in the works of implementing the long-awaited Post Office which will be bringing in 20+ new items to the game. Stay tuned for that!
