Stopped urnest drawing entirely black when viewing an instant replay
Fixed an issue that caused Urnest's projectile to stop hitting the ball after one collision
Fixed an infinite collision bug that could happen with Urnest's Super when opponent melees a ball that is being dragged by it
Urnest's Super now drags opponents into the boundary line if it connects with them
MENUS
Steam screenshots should now actually work!
Activating the steam overlay during a match pauses the game
Fixed issue where the opening screens briefly showed an unintended sprite when changing rooms
Fixed player 2 controller influencing player 1 menu options in the CSS
Fixed issue where in CPU vs CPU both ai levels would display as the 2nd CPUs level
Parts of the Pause screen no longer get covered by black bars
During cup matches the opponent's headshot sprite in the top right now appears correctly
Made it so finishing a cup clears your suspended save data so you can't keep earning unlimited money by reloading the end
Clearing a cup now fills in the appropriate medal slots with the medal rank on the cup character select screen
Number of other small misc. changes like double sided medals
Quick Fix to 0.1.2
Quick fix from abroad that fixes issues with CSS in P1 vs CPU and CPU vs CPU match maker mode. This fix applies to Windows only. Warning to linux users (including Steam Deck) that this issue will persist until I'm back from my partner's family's house. Massive apologies for the inconvenience until then.
v0.1.2 Patch Notes
ADDITIONS
Gluup is now selectable as a playable character in the ZONERS cup mode
MENUS
Updated Pro Controller detection as gamepad name detection has apparently changed from "Pro Controller" to "Nintendo Switch Pro Controller" either in Windows or Gamemaker
Initiate menu continue button sprite updates position based on currently detected controller i.e right face button for switch pro controller, down face button for xbox or playstation controller
CPU vs CPU shows join prompt first in the CSS
During pre-match dialogue if using hi-res fonts the Location/Sub-location and skip text displays at the correct size
pre-match dialogue jumping movement reaction slightly improved
Removed the blank test spanish language file as it caused issues for players with steam setup in Spanish even though I haven't allowed any translations yet
GAMEPLAY
Attempted to fix major issue after last patch where goals would no longer trigger until a new match was started
Whilst there are still crashes to find and fix, I have temporarily changed the way cup saving is handled so that it is auto saved between matches and not lost on reloading. This means even if the game crashes or a bug stops progress, you will be able to continue where you left off. This is of course abusable and so will change later in development, but my main priority at the moment is letting the bugs cause as little damage to your fun as possible
Attempted to fix a common freeze reported happening by one player on Plazzma Penthouse. I believe a while loop was sometimes getting stuck endlessly
Ball can no longer begin to be hit by a melee hitbox and move out of it's range unless the parent player is broken out of the melee by being hit for example
Fixed bug where if ball was in centre and hit by any character's melee and opposing player was Bzzt hits it with a super it would cause an infinite hit effect
Urnest super can no longer be deflected before it becomes physical, sometimes causing infinite deflects
Urnest super will now drag opponents along with it if for a bit if they connect with it
Crabhammers projectile no longer becomes unusable after hitting opponent or centre line during zone break
Crabhammers super fallers no longer stun opponent if they are doing a Hyper move
Princess now faces the correct way when doing her melee if player 2
CPU vs CPU no long crashes the game on match load
v0.1.1
ZONERS v0.1.1 Patch Notes
MENUS
Fixed gamepad tester in opening message screen so it can be opened and also closed again
"Delete Save Data" in the options menu now functions as it should without deleting data no matter the choice
Fixed issue when doing player vs cpu with the control stick having no delay between menu movements on the CSS
GAMEPLAY
AI won't try to move ahead of ball if it's in a paused/held state
The ball should be less likely to not get hit out of it's referee held state
Princess melee now hits once from position around her, removing a number of bugs. This might change back in the future depending
A melee clash with Princess no long causes an infinite crash loop
Princess shot laser now has an outline like other projectiles
Fixed issue that caused Ringressa's shot laser to still draw after clearing until used again
Fixed issue where the Hyper move name view would get stuck on screen during a match
Attempted to fix memory allocation crash for the replay recording object by resetting the recording buffer between rounds. This still might trigger if a match is left unattended in a draw, or a long round length is set. I will be looking into this further in the future.*
Also atttempted to remove some issues of loading some recorded match replay data and getting a crash with a high id number
MISC
Steam overlay and screenshots should now work correctly
ZONERS Early Access available NOW
And we're live! That's right, ZONERS is now available in Early Access. It's all go, go, go over on my end today as I still have to manage things whilst at my day job! But I've managed to fix the first set of bugs discovered (see below) and start interacting with people about the game. This patch should go live for all platforms very shortly. [PATCH IS NOW LIVE]
So what's next? I'll begin by just maintaining what we have until Friday 5th of August, at which point I unfortunately have to make a week long excursion to Ireland for my partner's family (terrible timing... always T_T). I'll still be on hand to take bug reports and listen to feedback, but it's unlikely I'll be able to fix anything until I'm back.
From that point on, I'll be hammering away at the first set of updates, which includes The Clawcade stage background, a brand new stage, super and hyper ranks in the cup, some initial achievements & of course gameplay tweaks and balance. I'll keep you all in the loop with where things are at, but I'd expect at least some of these within the first 30 days.
In the mean time, if you manage to play with any friends or have good experiences, I'd love it if you could share them in the community, on social media, in steam reviews, or even just privately to me! It can be lonely work splitting my time between "Real job" and indie dev (we're talking 60 hour weeks!!!).
I REAAAAALLY hope you enjoy your time with the game and I'm able to update it regularly enough to give you stuff to do. Thank you so much for putting your faith in me if you've bought it already.
Love, Paris
ZONERS v0.1.1 Patch Notes
MENUS
Fixed gamepad tester in opening message screen so it can be opened and also closed again
"Delete Save Data" in the options menu now functions as it should without deleting data no matter the choice
Fixed issue when doing player vs cpu with the control stick having no delay between menu movements on the CSS
GAMEPLAY
AI won't try to move ahead of ball if it's in a paused/held state
The ball should be less likely to not get hit out of it's referee held state
Princess melee now hits once from position around her, removing a number of bugs. This might change back in the future depending
A melee clash with Princess no long causes an infinite crash loop
Princess shot laser now has an outline like other projectiles
Fixed issue that caused Ringressa's shot laser to still draw after clearing until used again
Fixed issue where the Hyper move name view would get stuck on screen during a match
Attempted to fix memory allocation crash for the replay recording object by resetting the recording buffer between rounds. This still might trigger if a match is left unattended in a draw, or a long round length is set. I will be looking into this further in the future.*
Also atttempted to remove some issues of loading some recorded match replay data and getting a crash with a high id number
MISC
Steam overlay and screenshots should now work correctly
*a small unumbered patch was pushed out just after reattempt to fix this issue
ZONERS Launch Date 02/08/2022
And after the technical issues and a touch of stupidity on my part, ZONERS is now officially, for real this time, no really I mean it, launching tomorrow the 2nd of August 2022 at around 8am PDT!
Wooo! Sorry to keep you all waiting, but I can't wait for you to get tucked in! I'll share with you the more immediate dev plans for the first month of Early Access tomorrow when I return from work.
Until then, this is Paris, trying to get some sleep and sending you all "Love & Peace"
ZONERS Incoming Release & Early Access Road Map
Release Date
ZONERS should be releasing...today?! (29th July 2022)
Except, it might not because a small technical fluff on my end has meant it went into review for approval late ːsteamfacepalmː Fear not, at the absolute worst we're looking at a few day delay, and if we're lucky, we're looking at a release later today! Whilst I wait, I'm hunting down as many bugs as I can find so any players have as few problems as possible.
Early Access Plans
So, Early Access, that means the game isn't finished right? Correct. There's a lot still to add to the game, not least of which is aesthetic polish and game balance. But anyone who dips in during this period will see fairly frequent updates (minimum of monthly) starting the 14th of August. Keep reading for more information on how I plan to approach this and pricing going forward, or scroll to the bottom to see a visually laid out summary of my 3 Phase Road Map to v1.0.
The game will release at it's lowest price, roughly half of it's final full release price.
Provided there are no major hitches, every 4-6 months I will complete a "Phase" of development, which has certain development goals in mind.
There will be 3 main phases, meaning Early Access will take about 12-18 months depending on life circumstances speeding up or slowing down development.
When a phase is officially complete the price will be increased by a few £/$.
I will spam all my available channels the week before I do this so people have the opportunity to make a purchase decision before a price increase with fair warning.
From Early Access launch up to and including v1.0 release, there will be exactly 3 price increases just as there are 3 phases.
Not all planned content, features & polish is included in the below Road Map. As such, this is not a comprehensive list of the tasks, big and small, involved in making a complete game to the standard I want, of which there are probably 100s or 1000s. Please keep this in mind when discussing suggestions or issues with the game. I still have a day job to work and a life to survive. I will do my upmost best to surpass your expectations and try and provide some surprises along the way.
If you have any further questions or just want to share some support, don't hesitate to get in touch here, on the forums, twitter, reddit, email, any will do!
I look forward to the release (FINALLY) and can't wait to keep working hard to make it a full package bursting at the seems with personality!
ZONERS Demo Linux Version Now Available!
Well I said the Linux version would probably be coming soon, and after a few restless nights surrounded by 3 different computers bug fixing, Linux support is officially here! Download it and give it a whirl for free.
Due to my limited Linux knowledge and the wide array of distros available, it's possible you might encounter some weird bugs I haven't picked up on or performance issues I haven't seen on my end. Please let me know if this happens and I'll do my utmost best to help out, but please note I am limited to officially building to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS as per my engine's guidelines, and so depending on the cause, I might not be able to tackle distro specific issues. However, if you typically play games on your Linux OS, then you will probably be fine for the most part.
v0.08.1 Patch Notes
Platform Support - Linux versions of the ZONERS Demo are now available, and with that all future full releases of ZONERS will also come to Linux day 1!
Menus Etc. - Changed the way gamepad detection is handled slightly to account for Linux specific concerns. - Updated the gamepad player no. icon in the top right of many menus to include a number, altered controller sprite and all LED configurations for players 5-8). This icon will now indicate player number based on the order connected gamepads are detected in.
Note The Steam Next Fest Demo version of ZONERS will continue to receive free updates and fixes until sometime close to the Early Access launch (End of July 2022 pending) where it will then be removed.
If you've enjoyed playing it, please give us a wishlist and share it with your friends. Every little voice together makes a ZOOOOOONE BREAK!
macOSX version of ZONERS & Demo v0.08 Patch Notes!
That's right, ZONERS is now going to officially be releasing for Apple Mac devices too! As part of that process I've made the recent demo available for macOSX. For full information on getting it running see below.
So, "What about Linux?" I hear faintly echo from the void. Don't worry, I've not forgotten about it! Stay tuned for more information about that in the near future I reckon :)
PATCH NOTES Demo v0.08
PLATFORM ADDITION - Mac OSX version of the demo is now available!
As this game is not yet an officially signed Apple app, if you are using more recent versions of macOSX and the game is blocked when trying to open it, please follow these instructions in order to allow the game to run: https://help.yoyogames.com/hc/en-us/articles/216753558
Known macOSX Issues - Game doesn't recognise true resolution of Retina display. This is a limitation of not owning a paid Apple dev account. If there is enough demand, I will pay for one. - Manually scaling the window yourself will cause many visual glitches. If you accidentally do this, set the window size in the game options to undo you manual changes. - 1 frame flicker when entering a some new rooms. Am aware of the cause, will need some time to work around it
GAMEPLAY - Character - Using Bzzt's Super will now cause them to dash continuously in your chosen direction. Connecting with the ball will trigger old behaviour consistently (no longer extra zigzags), where as hitting a wall will cause a small recovery period
- Urnest Super is active at end point for longer now only travels back along path if it catches a ball or player
- Rhapsody Super now spawns multiple dizzy inducing vinyls & added placeholder destroy sound - Rhapsody Hyper sound waves have less time between them and a new placeholder sound effect has been added for each one
Gameplay - General - Sphere Smasher ball can no longer be lost outside of the arena - Fixed crash where ball would look for non-existing object during Sphere Smasher - Fixed the way the background is drawn on the Plazzma Penthouse stage so it displays correctly
Menus etc - Added version number on titlescreen & demo indicator - Improved windowed mode mouse dragging for Windows versions - Fixed display of some background lights on CSS screen - Added small tab indicator in the bottom left of Match Maker & CSS menus that shows player count & overall match setting type (E.g P1 Vs Cpu & standard match icon)
ZONERS Demo v0.07 Patch Notes
v0.07 Patch Notes
Fixed crash when trying to do a rematch after losing in a cup match
Fixed opponent's character theme playing over the stage music when rematching a cup match
Fixed issue with using Piro's Hyper during the Ring Rally bonus game
