Leaderboards, Ear Chord Training, More Stats, Input/Output, Roadmap/Vision

Big batch of updates

Lots of updates - as usual PianoGlow is heavily based on user feedback:

• Ear Chord Training: - identify the type of chord e.g. Major 7th, Augmented 7th 2nd Inversion, etc. Thanks Nyx@ for the idea & insights about this!

• MIDI Input devices: now selectable for customization. Thanks aussie2@ for the idea.

• MIDI Output devices. Thanks noakopiano@ for the idea.

• More stats: Times Changed Soundfont, Audio Saved, Midi Loaded etc. Also thanks @7vlw for the idea of Total Playtime Hours and Coin Earning related stats.

• Leaderboards: for some of these new stats including Total Steam Playtime (thanks @7vlw and Sxronxploits@ for the ideas related to leaderboards). A tip tax (10%) is added so that tipping stats/leaderboards are more meaningful. Some stats and leaderboards are new and will be refreshed once you open the app.

• Clickable player profiles: - view their Soundfont & Reverb settings & some stats in multiplayer! You can also click on the chat names for this.

• 61 and 49 piano keys: under Settings > Piano. Defaults to 88. Thanks Wh0ze@ for the idea.

• PDF Navigation Improved: PGUP/PGDN shortcut, "Fit To Page Height" button near the zoom. This is shared with the notepad's page shortcuts (P.S. it was changed from INS/DEL and swapped with the volume shortcuts). Thanks Nyx@ for the idea.

• +38 more achievements (now totalling 70): Times Opened Settings, Sheet Music Training Achievements, Funny Ones like "Commitment Issues" achievement if you changed your SoundFont too often, Loading Or Saving Audio, and more!

• In-game ban system: includes chat bans + ban-timers/audit-log. Fortunately as of now, in-game users were well-behaved such that it wasn't ever needed since multiplayer was released *knocks on wood*.

• Bug fixes: including some types of crashes, alt velocity fix. Thanks noakopiano@ & 7vlw@ for the detailed reports. I will monitor the logs further for crashes - these will be the highest priority bugs to fix!

• Miscellaneous updates: Improved Help/About Page, Store Page Small Adjustments (highlighted a user's review on the store homepage), Room Name in the browse lobby list takes on the special effects/gradient of the host.

• Continuous development in Early Access: price increased. Wishlist to be notified of the regular discounts and email [email protected] if you have any enquiries!

• Mac OSX Removal: Mac OSX users will later be automatically refunded because Mac OSX support will be later removed. This is because Mac OSX users account for ~2% of PianoGlow users and more focus can be provided for the ~98% of Windows users. Additionally developing on Mac OSX is harder. For complaints regarding this, email [email protected].

Roadmap? Vision? What's Next?

Vision: PianoGlow's goal is to be a fun all-in-one piano app, i.e. online multiplayer game (jam with others, take turns playing or teach someone remotely, stats & leaderboards, community), MIDI & QWERTY game modes (can be used to supplement learning/training but not replace it) and high-quality unique visualizations (render options for social media or livestreaming).

Can't promise as things usually pivot, but a brief overview of what might be next:

• The Discord's #idea-forums (First Priority): this is the detailed roadmap (I'm not keen on a duplicate/explicit roadmaps as things pivot and I like keeping the process lightweight/improvized and heavily influenced by continuous user feedback, the threads here are organized here with tags of which ones are complete and can sort by recent activity). Many are prioritized based on how beneficial it is to the users relative to how difficult/fun I find coding it and for now, niche features affecting a small number of users are usually (not always) less priority e.g. ear training was used only by < 5 % of users but can still be important if those 4-5% use the app primarily for ear training (tracked via Achievement stats). This is a good forum as real direct user needs/complaints on the Discord forums are extremely important to address - feel free to comment/bump your favorite ideas and debate there. Every idea is guaranteed to be read, but some might not be commented or commented later (because some are difficult requiring much more time for thought/shower-thoughts/testing/user-comments to cook it or no extra input needed).

• Boost Multiplayer Activity: As some users explicitly wanted more players online, some multiplayer daily quests may be coded in later to boost multiplayer activity but careful consideration has to be made to prevent the impacts of cheating/botting. Also, a new experimental method #1 might be tested around Q4 2025 to gain users, and depending on the results, a different experimental method #2 later tested in gaining users in 2026. Though, it is more ideal and far easier to gain users after Early Access is over (because the Early Access badge does deter some users and the game will improve by then).

• Interesting visual improvements: Ideas included using emotion/key/chords, different visuals than vertical notebeams (clouds, rain, explosions, weather depending on mood etc) and more customization etc. It's impactful and not niche (impacting every user). I tried to code this a few months ago but was delayed due to both the difficulty and new critical feedback on #idea-forums from users that keep coming up.

Thank you!
- TheAlanski@