It's hard to believe that it's already been two weeks since Spelunky 2 came out on Steam! We've been busy watching streams, reading posts, putting out patches, and catching up on our sleep. Thanks so much for making our launch and post-launch so exciting - it exceeded all of our expectations! We appreciate everyone who's playing and talking about the game, whether you're offering feedback, writing reviews, or sharing your stories and funny memes. It's making our post-launch work extremely gratifying!
And on that note, let's get to some common questions and what we've been up to these past two crazy weeks since launch!
ːspel2caverːːspel2ankhːːspel2cavelː
Online Multiplayer
While we still can't give a firm date for when online co-op will be turned on, we can talk about the work that's being done to get us there. First and foremost, the flurry of early patches that are being deployed to fix bugs and improve the game's overall performance will affect online, as well. Performance issues, especially in certain areas, are responsible for a lot of the severe rollbacks that we've seen on PS4. BlitWorks is also in the process of building tools to make it easier to investigate the "hard desyncs" that cause disconnections.
Spelunky 2's online multiplayer is server-based (with rollback) and not P2P - in the long-run, this should provide a much more stable experience, especially with 4 players. But that does mean that, before we turn it on for Steam, we'll want to deploy some smaller regional servers to improve the quality of the experience for players playing each other close by (particularly in Australia and South America).
Finally, we know that players are excited to play Arena Mode online at some point, and that's definitely planned, although, as you might have guessed, we won't be able to work on it until after online co-op is available and feeling good. In the meantime, we'll keep balancing that mode based on the feedback from players battling each other locally.
Support for Win7/8, Linux, etc.?
Officially, we won't be able to support older versions of Windows or Linux in the near future, since that would make it much harder for us to issue patches and stabilize the game. However, thanks to help from the community, Spelunky 2 should (again, not officially) be able to run on Windows 7 and Proton-TKG 5.18 right now, as long as your graphics card supports DirectX 11.
Thanks to Filip Kowalski for discovering the Windows 7 crash issue and BlueTJ for discovering that Spelunky 2 could run on Proton-TKG 5.18.
Dwelling and Other Common Frustrations
Yes, we hear you loud and clear! You LOVE MOLES and you want to see more of them! MORE MOLES! MORE MOLES! ːangryshopː
Just kidding! We know Dwelling is causing players frustration and I think there's some fair criticism there, so we're testing some changes to the spawn rates of enemies and traps, particularly in 1-1 and 1-2. Some tweaks to 1-4 should make it more interesting, as well! Look for those changes to arrive in a patch some time soon.
I will say that, from reading the feedback, I'm getting the impression that some players are trying to kill every enemy they come across in Dwelling, when it's often better to avoid them or, even better, let them kill each other or trigger traps for you! Moles are great for setting off arrow traps, for example. If you're having trouble getting out of the first area, try some new strategies!
Another common complaint is having to wait for the lava during a certain sequence in Volcana (if you've done it, you'll know what I'm talking about). We'll look into this, too, but I can't say if/how it will get addressed. In general, we have to be somewhat careful about how we go about changing the game based on player feedback. Ultimately, Spelunky is a game that is designed to have some sharp edges in it, and there's always the risk of removing fun along with the frustration.
But feel free to keep sharing your thoughts! We want to let you know that it's all being considered.
Localization
We can't wait to get the game localized into more languages and will do so once we have a little more time. We'll let you know when new languages are available.
Thanks Again!
That about wraps up this update! Thank you once again for making Spelunky 2's Steam release such a memorable one. It was definitely a dream come true to be able to bring you a sequel to one of the earliest "neo roguelike" games (I just invented yet another roguelike term!). We're thrilled that so many of you are enjoying it!
And in case you missed it, we released Eirik's Spelunky 2 soundtrack to Steam shortly after launch and you can get the bundle discount even if you already own the game! Check it out:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/16377/Spelunky_2__Soundtrack_Bundle/
Happy Spelunky-ing! ːgoldidolː