Today brings a major update to the demo of Up to Par. As well as the usual bug fixes, this version has significantly updated netcode, which should make for smoother hosting and joining games. There are also more descriptive error notifications, and fixes for many networking bugs.
Major Changes
Purchasing shots for upcoming rounds in the bank now costs 2 instead of 3.
Bug Fixes
Fixed issue where chip shot wouldn't fire.
Ball now correctly despawns in edge case where client disconnected during level change.
Inviting friends to a game now works all the time, not only when they'd already started a game in the same session.
Changed level generation to fix occasional de-sync bug where courses would appear differently for different clients.
Magnet effect now applies to all clients, making for smoother physics.
Made the ocean "wiggle" piece wider so that it didn't block the ball when identical pieces were placed next to each other.
Fixed the pole catcher item that had broken.
Client balls should now always register as being in the hole.
Metal ball now has metal fragments.
Highscore list font support for KO, RU, JA, TC and SC glyphs.
Fixed issue where the tie-break distance from hole was recorded incorrectly when both players were out in the same hole.
Game now correctly quits to main menu with no delay after equipping items.
Fixed bug where ceiling wouldn't fire if you were in line with the hole.
Known Bugs
Playing an online multiplayer game directly after playing the Weekly Challenge will result in connection issues.
I hope this update makes your online games smoother! As always, I hope you have fun playing this new version, and if you run into any bugs at all, please use the F1 report screen to let me know so that I can get them fixed in the next patch release.
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.22.1 - New Items
Hi Golfers,
This new version of Up to Par has the usual list of bug fixes, but also shakes up the item inventory a bit, with two old items removed and four new items added! I've made my favourite - the Mulligan - unlockable in the demo, and if you're part of the beta testing program (ask me about that on the Discord) you'll be able to test them all out.
New Features
Removed the Birde and Eagle items. These didn't require any skill to use, and were so overpowered that they were required if you wanted to get a high score - removing any interesting choice of items or tactics while playing.
Added a new Mulligan item that you can unlock in the demo. If you make a mistake and your ball bounces back near where it started, you get a do-over and can take the next shot for free.
Added a Ceiling item. It keeps the ball low to the ground, even if you launch it off a ramp or over a bump.
Added a Chip Shot. Your first shot each hole launches high into the air - giving some fun possibilities for shortcuts!
Added a Free Shot item. A small target appears on each course, and if your ball lands inside the target you get your next shot for free.
Added the Foresight item. It's a permanent upgrade, that shows you the next course when you're shopping. This should make it easier to tune your upgrades for each course, picking the items that will be the most useful!
There's new music for the main menu!
Bug Fixes
Fixed missing toasts/popups saying who has left or joined a networked game.
Stopped balls from respawning on top of moving objects.
When levels generate, corners of courses will no longer overlap and trap the ball.
If a team is out in a 3+ team game, and the game progresses to the shop, the team who is out will no longer get a shop, and won't be spawned back into the game in the next round.
F1 now works to report bugs in the full version of the game for beta testers.
Fixed a bug in the game and settings menu where it was possible for everything to end up unselected and a player using a controller would get stuck.
Stopped game menus and settings menus from appearing *underneath* the previous menu.
Tweaks to some of the in-game sound effects and volumes.
New sounds for the new seasonal balls.
Fixed bug where the ball would bounce directly away from the pontoon in ocean levels and never cross it.
Sound effects for UI popups.
Graphics pass for the pond level, because reflections weren't rendering for many players. Removed the reflections but added ripples and depth.
Player names in networked games now show up properly along with their correspending controller icon.
Fixed a major bug where slower clients wouldn't show the level introduction information, and could join into the level so late that their ball didn't appear.
Fixed bug where the teleport item, if equipped, was used up fully when the ball was within 1m of the hole.
Teleport no longer drops you onto the pond ramp, or into the troughs on the farm level.
Ball trail breaks correctly when the ball respawns or teleports.
Fixed a bug where a ball would respawn infinitely if bounced off the level during spawn.
Whew, another big update, and another few steps closer to release! As always, I hope you have fun playing this new version, and if you run into any bugs at all, please use the F1 report screen to let me know so that I can get them fixed in the next patch release.
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.21.2 - Bugfixes
Hi Golfers,
Over the last two months I've been grinding away at all the bugs you've reported, and I'm happy to say that I've fixed quite a lot of them! Version 0.21.2 of the Up to Par Demo is now live. From major connection issues to tiny UI glitches, these are all the things that should be working better now:
Game no longer crashes when a client player uses a Gimmie.
Lobbies filter correctly for Nobody/Friends/All when set in game setup.
Balls should no longer be able to fall infinitely when hit out of bounds.
Controller now works in Yes/No confirmation dialogues.
The in-game interface correctly disappears when the in-game menu is shown, so they don't overlap.
Fixed the issue where not all teams or balls would appear for all players.
Added a "New Team" button for the mouse player, so they can create their own team.
The shots remaining panel in-game is highlighted for the local player, so that when playing large online games you can tell at a glance which team is yours.
Added some exciting (and secret!) new seasonal balls. Keep your eyes peeled for details.
Balls will now never overlap when starting a new level, this means they won't ever hit each other out of the course by accident when playing with collisions on.
Fixed an infinite-respawn bug that occured when a ball was knocked off the course before the player took any shots.
Tweaked the angle of the row-jumps in the farm crop level obstacle. It's now a bit smoother and more predictable.
Fixed one of the achievements that was broken.
Stopped the aiming cursor showing up sometimes when the ball spawned, before it touched the ground.
Teleport upgrade only fires once per shot, and only uses one of the items in stock.
Teleport also looks ahead to where it's going to drop the ball, and will shorten the teleport length if needed to ensure it never drops out of bounds.
Controller remapping dialogue now shows up correctly in front of everything else.
The remapping settings will appear/disappear when you plug/unplug a controller. This means you can no longer get stuck trying to map buttons from a controller that you can't input from.
Fixed the progression view so that you can't end up with multiple versions of it open at the same time.
Disallowed connecting while a countdown is happening to ensure that all players have had a chance to select their balls before the game starts.
If a client is in connection handshaking when you start a countdown, it will now stop the countdown and wait for them to join.
Added a friendlier error message when something fails in the connection process.
Fixed the missing "Join" buttons for mouse players when setting up a new game.
Fixed the bug in networked games where balls would freeze randomly in the middle of a shot.
Whew, what a list! I hope you have a smoother and better time with the demo than ever before. As always, if you *do* run into a problem that I haven't fixed yet, please use the F1 report form to let me know. I read all of them!
If you're hanging out here waiting for the full release, I'm pleased to say that my list of bugs is slowly getting shorter, which means release is getting closer! I don't have a date yet, but you can be sure I'll let you know as soon as I do.
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.19.1 - Bugfixes
Hi Golfers,
This small patch to the demo brings some long-awaited bug fixes, including the following:
Fixed major bug where networked players could purchase upgrades multiple times (causing the game to freeze or crash)
Fixed network bug where all players except the server would use multiple instances of the powerups.
Shop categories now have headers showing which section you're in.
Stopped highlights staying behind when you moved off a shop item.
Loading screen!
Scroll bars now correctly reset when you navigate away from them.
Player Join button only appears when it's revelant, as does the player team selection prompt.
Fixed missing backgrounds for some text in the end-game screen.
Happy Playing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.18.8 - Santa Ball
Hi Golfers,
This week I released version 0.18.8 of the Up to Par demo, and it brings with it lots of interface updates and a new ball to unlock!
From today until Christmas, for only 6 shots you can unlock a ball with a Santa hat. Once it's unlocked, you can keep using it forever.
Other updates include:
There are now smooth transitions between all parts of the game, including all the menus. This should not only make things feel nicer, but will solve some of the flickering/flashing issues that were reported.
There's been some minor fixes for the UI particle effects that weren't showing correctly.
In a major change, I've upgraded the networking to a new API.
The Ready/Start button is now in the left panel, so that it doesn't get hidden behind teams in multiplayer games.
I've fixed the bug where you lost shots if moving through shop too quickly.
Resolutions no longer appear doubled in the settings menu.
Controller button prompts should only appear beside one of the "Join" or "Ready" buttons, not both at the same time!
Particle effect now shows the last time you use an item.
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.17.24 - Simplified and Traditional Chinese
This update to the demo brings the following features and bug fixes:
The sound volume slider now works.
The setting menu can be accessed while in the game.
Fixed the issue where music would sometimes play twice overlapping.
Simplified and Traditional Chinese are now available in the language menu.
Fixed the issue where joining a multiplayer game made your UI extra large.
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.17.9 - Spooky Balls
This week's update brings two spooky balls that you can unlock in the demo, from now until the end of the 31st October. Once you've unlocked them, you can play with them forever!
There's the pumpkin ball, and a ghost ball, and you can unlock them in the Pro Shop after hole 6.
I've also made the following changes to fix some bugs and make playing the game better:
Fixed missing fallback fonts for Chinese, causing some phrases to appear as squares.
Playing solo now shows a bigger preview for your ball.
Fixed the bug where the pole catcher would unnecessarily use up a gimmie.
Finishing up at the Pro Shop now says "Done" in singleplayer, and "Ready" in multiplayer.
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.17.9
This week's update brings two spooky balls that you can unlock in the demo, from now until the end of the 31st October. Once you've unlocked them, you can play with them forever!
There's the pumpkin ball, and a ghost ball, and you can unlock them in the Pro Shop after hole 6.
I've also made the following changes to fix some bugs and make playing the game better:
Fixed missing fallback fonts for Chinese, causing some phrases to appear as squares.
Playing solo now shows a bigger preview for your ball.
Fixed the bug where the pole catcher would unnecessarily use up a gimmie.
Finishing up at the Pro Shop now says "Done" in singleplayer, and "Ready" in multiplayer.
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.17.6 - New Input Options
This week's update brings the following updates and bug fixes. You can check them out in the demo now.
Added an accessibility option to turn off Screen Shake on collisions.
Fixed a bug where the game would freeze when opening setup options in singleplayer.
Updated the info message "Unlock more game settings in the Pro Shop" so that it shows if there are any items still to be unlocked.
Fixed issue where you couldn't select high resolutions due to scrollbar snapping back to the top.
Added a confirmation dialogue to the in-game menu when you select any action that will lose progress in your round.
When selecting items in the shop, the navigation arrows don't show if there are no more items to navigate to.
Balls now interact when that game option is turned on.
Correct title now shows in the main menu for Traditional & Simplified Chinese
I also added extensive options to customize how the input works when aiming and setting your shot strength. You can now choose from the following:
Aiming - Direct (Aim in the same direction that you point) - Relative (Rotate the aim clockwise or counter clockwise)
Shot Strength - Hold and Release (Hold down a button to increase the shot strength, then release to hit the ball) - Two Stage (Tap a button to start increasing the shot strength, then tap again to hit the ball)
Cancelling by - Movement (Move the aim direction to cancel your shot) - Button (Press the menu button to cancel your shot)
Action Order - Sequential (Aim first and then set the shot strength) - Simultaneous (You can adjust your aim while setting the shot strength)
Happy Golfing, Philip
Patch Notes for Version 0.17.4 - Team Displays
Hi Golfers,
Over the next month I'll be working my way through a backlog of bugs, and hopefully fixing any that you've run into recently! This patch fixes three of the most commonly reported problems:
Teams now display down the side (instead of across the top) to avoid blocking the flag.
I fixed a bug where you wouldn't get the ball skin that you selected during setup.
I fixed an issue where players would disappear during the game setup.
