List of changes:
- Optimised code of Miners, most noticeable on 6.3 endless
- Greatly optimised collision detection code, up to 2.5x better UPS in end-game endless runs
- Changed default main menu music (some players complained about harsh and loud sound of Cherish), you can switch it back through the music player
- Removed "Community maps" button, more info below
- Developer mode research is now available. Developer mode allows you to create items / edit maps / modify the game in any way you like
- iOS: now uses different software for rendering. Touching iOS home bar now does not throw you out of the game immediately when you touch it (swipe up to enable it)
- Steamdeck: on-screen keyboard should now show automatically when any text field is selected
- Added rewarding device performance / capabilities survey
- Fixed 6 bugs
- Fixed: Gauss's incorrect resource consumption (now consumes equal or lesser amount of resources)
- Scripting possibility: custom / looped enemy paths
Dev mode finally available
Now it is possible to obtain access to the "developer mode" with the corresponding research.
Developer mode is the most endgame upgrade one could imagine. Here's some of its features:
- Unlocks console where you can run commands or any Lua code. For example, cmd.coins(100) will instantly give you 100 coins during the game and cmd.help() will show all of the available commands.
- Unlocks item editor which allows you to create any amount of any type of item (even accelerators and Double gain shards). You will also find "edit item" buttons in the inventory and map editor.
- Allows to add new and edit existing default levels
- Gives access to more advanced debug settings (useful for mod / map makers)
Please note: developer mode does not allow to compete on the leaderboards and save your progress onto the cloud but you can always return back to the normal mode with cloud saves.
Developer mode research will remind you about it too.
Development pace and state of Infinitode 2
It's been a while since the last update and such a big delay is caused by... well, you know, regular war stuff.
Most of the time since February has been spent on the development of 1.9.0 update and what you see in the above list of changes is actually 6 months behind the actual version (for geeks: 800+ commits behind).
There were (and are) some groundbreaking and major plans to improve the game, but eventually it was decided to keep Infinitode 2 in the current state and continue to polish it - I'll explain this decision further in this article.
Infinitode 2 is now a fully finished game - players can get all of the trophies, complete the storyline and there are no "Coming soon" lines in it. From now on, I'll do my best to fix bugs, improve its performance, implement some of the minor features and add new maps.
Most probably, Season 3 will start some day later with update 1.9.0 which will also improve the balance. The game will not recieve any major features such as Community Maps and Factory.
Community maps
As I've already mentioned above, community maps will not be added into Infinitode 2. Actually, it is not hard to add some kind of in-game map browser and allow players to submit their maps, and I could do that, but I can't.
The initial idea of community maps could be described like this:
Players can use items from their inventory to create new maps and submit them to the server. Other players can download those maps on any platform right through the game without manual copying of files.
I could implement that and call it a day: update 1.9.0 comes out, no more "coming soon", and no more frustration around that "soon" that takes another year to come... but it is basically impossible for my screwed brain to release such an unfinished thing, so I've started to refactor (re-write to make better) almost everything. Constant work on the community maps added a couple of new things that need to be implemented before I could call "community maps" complete:
- It should be possible to add scripts. Without scripting, every map will feel the same and won't bring much of an entertainment. New mechanics and rules is what makes a game like Infinitode interesting
- Scripts should work fast and it should be easy to write them in a correct way. Regular run can easily end up simmulating hundreds of enemies and thousands of projectiles, adding slow code in any part of it will easily kill game's performance
- Scripts must be safe - manual moderation of submissions is not an option because reading someone's code is hard and consumes much time. Manual moderation may fail to filter out some of the dangerous code and will result in long queues of maps waiting to be approved. Running unsafe code and leaving players on their own is not an option for me.
- Ideally, scripts should be able to change every aspect of the game - from individual stats of each tower to the global rules of the whole game mode. Maybe someone wants to switch roles and spawn enemies - in this case, destroying the base is actually a win.
- It should be possible to change the look and feel of maps - especially important if map brings new type of tower with a custom texture.
Good news is, most of these features are already implemented. Bad news is, most of the code needs to be rewritten, which takes much time and affects many mechanics of the game.
Future plans
Infinitode 2 receives long time support, which means that you can count on bug fixes, some minor improvements and seasons. It is now considered finished.
Infinitode 2 will also be officially released in China as a separate version of the game, and that's what I'll be focusing on for now.
It would be extremely irrational for me not to use all of the code that has been written for community maps and other stuff planned for what was the next (now discontinued) major version of Infinitode 2, so here's an official announcement for you: the next game is now in development - bigger, cleaner, better and, as usual - zero paywalls and mandatory ads. Obviously, no ETAs yet.
Solely for the purpose of hyping you up, let me throw some keywords and screenshots here (don't take them as any kind of promise, things usually change):
Community maps, factory, more / better research, large scale, 3D elements, high quality loot, regular events, better economics, diverse endgame, scripting, asset packs, multiplayer, cheat proof competition.
Thank you for staying with Infinitode!