We have just rolled out a few small hotfixes that contain the following fixes and improvements:
Fixed a crash when completing a workshop level
Improved the lobby player list. It should now display all players within the lobby correctly.
Multiplayer Particles are now turned off by default. Multiplayer Particles can currently cause performance issues, so we do not recommend to turn them on.
Thanks for playing!
Join our Discord Server to become part of our community! Send us your feedback and suggestions to help us improve the game even more and make it as good as it can be!
We have just rolled out a small hotfix that contains the following fixes and improvements:
Fixed a crash when completing a workshop level
Improved the lobby player list. It should now display all players within the lobby correctly.
Thanks for playing!
Join our Discord Server to become part of our community! Send us your feedback and suggestions to help us improve the game even more and make it as good as it can be!
After a long year, Vacuum Pilot is leaving Early Access.
We have made a lot of progress during Early Access, including improved graphics, improved mouse responsiveness, online ghosts, overhauled customization options, improved User Interfaces and most importantly: A ton of bug fixes to improve the player experience.
Leaving Early Access does not mean that we are done with developing the game! We do however think that the game is now polished enough and features enough content to be considered a full game.
We will continue to work on new levels, game modes, bug fixes and other improvements to the game!
1.0.0 Patch Notes
New XP reward algorithm
New XP animations after finishing a level
New Level up animations
Bug fixes
Early Access summary
Here's a summary of the most important changes we have made during Early Access:
0.6.3
New Halloween Level
New Halloween cosmetic pack
Editor: Fixed a bug in which the selected object was not resized correctly when pressing the R key
0.6.2
Improved ship customization: Ship parts and colors can now be selected independently from one another. This means that any ship part can be combined with any color.
Completing a level in Free Mode will now give a small amount of XP if no medal time was reached
0.6.1
Added a customizable keybinding to show/hide ghosts
Added a new "Press Enter/Ctrl to restart" hint when crashing while the current time is beyond bronze time.
0.6.0
10 new levels have been added
Two new customizable space ships have been added
Specific ghosts can now be downloaded and displayed
It's now possible to watch replays of other users after downloading their ghost
The in-game UI now displays all medal times of the current level
Your current steam avatar is now shown in the XP card
Support for more aspect ratios and resolutions
The in-game text chat can now be disabled in the game settings
Added a customizable keybinding to activate the mouse cursor in-game to interact with the leaderboards
Added a customizable keybinding to show/hide other players
Added a customizable keybinding to show/hide your current speed
Editor: Objects can now be moved to the front or background by using the page up/page down keys
Editor: Objects can now be rotated more precisely by using the Q and E keys
Editor: Selected objects now display their current rotation while in precision mode
0.5.11
Improved text chat
Support for chinese and thai usernames
0.5.10
Reduced ram usage
Faster start up time
Improved fonts
0.5.9
Added a new "Fast start" option which speeds up the level start countdown
0.5.7
Added new sounds when interacting with checkpoints and buttons.
Editor: Fixed a crash which was caused by deleting a group of objects and then pressing R or the middle mouse button
0.5.6
Added a new level
Visual UI improvements
0.5.5
Improved the time it took to load the list of all subscribed custom levels within the Free Mode level selection
Editor: Objects in the selection box are now highlighted before they are selected
0.5.4
Support for custom keybindings
Editor: Added a contextual help dialog that shows all available actions
Editor: It is now possible to select and modify multiple objects at once
Editor: It is now possible to create custom props and share them
0.5.3
Added Steam achievements
Added an option to disable respawns at checkpoints
0.5.2
Fixed a bug that caused the ship to accelerate faster than intended in some circumstances
0.5.1
Adjustable camera zoom
0.5.0
Improved graphics and new background colors for every single level
Improved Lighting and performance
Ghosts of other players are now visible
Added leaderboards to Arcade Mode
Reduced mouse movement delay
The mouse is now locked to the game window during a race
Main Menu overhaul
Settings Menu overhaul
Editor: Added a color mixer which allows you to choose every possible color for colorable objects.
0.4.2a
Improved online multiplayer netcode
Explosions of other players are now visible
New color blind mode
Join the community!
Join our Discord Server to become part of our community! Send us your feedback and suggestions to help us improve the game even more and make it as good as it can be!
Before we begin with the patch notes, i would like to ask you to join our Discord Server to take active part in our game development! Every suggestion and feedback is appreciated!
Editor: New halloween themed objects are now available for custom levels
Editor: Fixed a bug in which the selected object was not resized correctly when pressing the R key
Update 0.6.2 Patch Notes
Hey there!
Before we begin with the patch notes, i would like to ask you to join our Discord Server to take active part in our game development! Every suggestion and feedback is appreciated!
Thanks for playing!
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Patch Notes
Improved ship customization
Ship parts and colors can now be selected independently from one another. This means that any ship part can be combined with any color. (Due to this change, your previous ship customization is no longer compatible and you have to customize your ship again.)
Additional changes and fixes
Completing a level in Free Mode will now give a small amount of XP if no medal time was reached
Changed level requirements for some ship parts and colors
Improved the visual design of some ship parts
Fixed a visual bug in which long user names were overlapping with the "ghost" icon in the leaderboards
Update 0.6.1 Patch Notes
Hey there!
Before we begin with the patch notes, i would like to ask you to join our Discord Server to take active part in our game development! Every suggestion and feedback is appreciated!
Thanks for playing!
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Patch Notes
Vacuum Pilot Item Store
Our Item Store is now available! This is the place where you can buy new unique cosmetics for your space ship to stand out from the crowd!
You can access our Item Store from our Store Page or in-game from the "Customize Ship" menu. The following item types are available in our Item Store:
Ships This includes all items that give access to entirely new customizable space ships
Cosmetics This includes all items that provide additional cosmetic changes for your ships. Some cosmetics will be available for any ship, while other cosmetics will be available for specific ships only.
All items can be traded on Steam. (Our items can not be sold on the Steam Marketplace at this moment. )
Additional changes and fixes
Added a customizable keybinding to show/hide ghosts (Standard key: G)
Added a new "Press Enter/Ctrl to restart" hint when crashing while the current time is beyond bronze time.
Fixed some overlapping UI text in the german, french, spanish and portuguese versions of the game
Vacuum Pilot is now Free to Play
Add the game to your library now and start drifting around corners and climbing the leaderboards in this unique mouse movement based speedrunning racer!
Key Features:
Enjoy over 30 official levels (more to come)
Global Leaderboards
Earn medals to unlock new customization options
Casual and competitive real-time multiplayer
Watch replays of other players and compete with their ghost
Level Editor and Steam Workshop support
For more information, check out this short FAQ we have made:
Why Free to Play?
A competitive game like Vacuum Pilot needs a healthy amount of active users to populate the leaderboards and online lobbies. With our current business model, we did not reach enough users. Lobbies were empty and the leaderboards did not change often. By going Free to Play, we hope to increase user activity and end up with an actual competitive environment. Additionally, going free to play means more potential feedback to improve our game during Early Access!
Will there be "pay to win"?
No. The current plan is to only allow the purchase of visual elements, like new ships or ship parts. They do not and will not change the behaviour of the ship.
Are there any bonuses for people that have already bought Vacuum Pilot?
Yes. People that have bought Vacuum Pilot before September 23rd will receive every single microtransaction that will ever be in the game for free. If you want to give us feedback, feel free to join our Discord Server or create a discussion in the Vacuum Pilot Community Hub.
Thanks for playing, we can't wait to see your records!
Season 2 content out now! - Update 0.6.0 Patch Notes
Surprise!
Our Season 2 content update launched a bit earlier than expected and introduces 10 new levels, entirely new space ships with their own unique customization options, a new online ghost system and a ton of quality of life improvements!
Vacuum Pilot also goes Free to Play on September 23rd at 10am pacific! (Read More)
Before we begin with the patch notes, i would like to ask you to join our Discord Server to take active part in our game development! Every suggestion and feedback is appreciated!
Thanks for playing!
Season 2 highlights
New Levels
Season 2 introduces 10 new cave and jungle themed levels, with more levels coming in future updates.
New Ships
Entirely new ships with their own unique customization options are now available for purchase! Users that have bought Vacuum Pilot before September 23rd will be able to use the new ships with no additional costs! Free to play users will be able to purchase each ship for $1.99.
New Ghost and Replay System
We have rebuilt the ghost system from the ground up. It's now possible to download and compete against specific ghosts, and additionally you can also watch downloaded ghosts as a replay.
The eye icon indicates if a ghost is downloaded and displayed. Click it to toggle the visibility of the corresponding ghost. The "Replay" symbol can be used to watch that individual replay.
Leaderboard reset
Due to changes to the ghost system, all local records and ghosts were deleted and all leaderboard entries were removed. Your XP and Player Level are NOT affected!
Ship customization reset
Due to changes to the ship customization system, your space ship customization has been reset to the default. Your unlocked ship parts are NOT affected and can be used immediately!
Full Patch Notes
New content and features
10 new levels have been added
Two new space ships are now available for purchase (Free for users that have bought the game before September 23rd 2022)
Specific ghosts can now be downloaded and displayed
It's now possible to watch replays of other users after downloading their ghost
UI and resolution
The in-game UI now displays all medal times of the current level
Your current steam avatar is now shown in the XP card
Support for more aspect ratios and resolutions
Level changes
Season 1 - Labrynth: Removed the start area checkpoints to improve level flow
Improved the look of Tutorial - Basic Movement and Tutorial - Advanced Movement
New settings
The in-game text chat can now be disabled in the game settings
Added a customizable keybinding to activate the mouse cursor in-game to interact with the leaderboards. (Standard key: Alt)
Added a customizable keybinding to show/hide other players (Standard key: G)
Added a customizable keybinding to show/hide your current speed (Standard key: S)
Bug fixes
Arcade Mode: Fixed a bug where your score was not uploaded after reaching level 10
Fixed a bug that caused the personal best ghost to not load properly
Fixed several UI related crashes
Level Editor changes
New cave and jungle themed objects are now available
Improved the overall stability and user experience
Objects can now be moved to the front or background by using the page up/page down keys
Objects can now be rotated more precisely by using the Q and E keys
Selected objects now display their current rotation while in precision mode
Resets
All local records and ghosts were deleted and all leaderboard entries were removed
Your space ship customization has been reset to the default
Vacuum Pilot goes Free to Play + Season 2 preview
Hey there!
The Season 2 update will go live on September 23rd and will feature new Levels, entirely new customizable ships and new features! But before we go into more Season 2 details, we are happy to announce that
Vacuum Pilot goes Free to Play
That's right! Starting with Season 2 on September 23rd, Vacuum Pilot will be available for free, forever!
Why Free to Play?
A competitive game like Vacuum Pilot needs a healthy amount of active users to populate the leaderboards and online lobbies. With our current business model, we did not reach enough users. Lobbies were empty and the leaderboards did not change often. By going Free to Play, we hope to increase user activity and end up with an actual competitive environment. Additionally, going free to play means more potential feedback to improve our game during Early Access!
Will there be "pay to win"?
No. The current plan is to only allow the purchase of visual elements, like new ships or ship parts. They do not and will not change the behaviour of the ship.
Are there any bonuses for people that have already bought Vacuum Pilot?
Yes. People that have bought or will buy Vacuum Pilot before September 23rd will receive every single microtransaction that will ever be in the game for free.
Season 2
New Levels
Season 2 will introduce 10 new cave and jungle themed levels, with more to come in future updates.
Here's a preview
New Ships
Season 2 will introduce entirely new ships with their own unique customization options. Users that have bought Vacuum Pilot before September 23rd will be able to use the new ships with no additional costs! Free to play users will be able to purchase each ship for $1.99.
New Ghost and Replay System
Until now, the game would download and display every ghost of the currently selected leaderboard. This made it impossible to actually compete against a specific ghost, and filled the screen with a lot of ghosts, making it harder to see and focus on the level.
For Season 2, we have rebuilt the ghost system from the ground up. It's now possible to download and compete against specific ghosts, and additionally you can also watch downloaded ghosts as a replay.
The eye symbol indicates if a ghost is downloaded and displayed. Click it to toggle the visibility of the corresponding ghost. The "Replay" symbol can be clicked to watch the downloaded ghost as a replay. Season 2 also includes a ton of smaller quality of life changes and bug fixes! We will go into more detail once the official Patch Notes drop! We hope you are looking forward to Season 2 and we can't wait to see what you think! Send us your feedback and suggestions!
The best way to reach and talk to us is through our Discord Server. Here, we will create polls based on the suggestions we receive so our player base can actively take part in the direction our development is taking.
Thanks for playing!
Update 0.5.11 Patch Notes
Hey there!
Before we begin with the patch notes, i would like to ask you to join our Discord Server to take active part in our game development! Every suggestion and feedback is appreciated! If you would like to see the game in your language and want to help with the translations, you can message us on Discord!
Thanks for playing!
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Patch Notes
Improved Chat
We have made several changes to the chat and how messages are displayed. Previously, chat messages were displayed as a simple text, like this:
Now, the username is highlighted and shown on top of the message. We hope that this change makes it easier to read chat messages.
Support for chinese and thai usernames
Previously, the game could not display chinese and thai usernames. This has been fixed with this update.
UI fixes
Fixed an error in which the font size of UI elements was incorrect in some situations
Fixed an error in which too many users have been displayed in the friends leaderboards, causing UI elements to be rendered outside of the visible screen
What's next?
We are currently working on Season 2 content! New levels, customization parts, new objects for the Level Editor and a new Survival game mode are in development! Feel free to join our Discord Server, where we post little updates on season 2 content from time to time!
