Hey again zomboarders!
As always, thank you for playing Radical Zomboarding! This is another major update. Several parts of the game have been reworked from the ground up to make runs faster, more exciting, and more rewarding for skilled play.
The biggest change is the new "Hype" system which replaces the old start mult and run mult system. The old system was far too confusing to keep track of. Now, building hype means bigger scores. Easy!
Here's the changelog for 5-25-26 (1.7.48+9b553936):
Changes
Major rework: The Hype Meter
The hype meter is now a central part of your run. Taking risks by chaining tricks, killing zombies, and more now all now play a part in building your hype meter.
Your score multiplier goes up by 1 for every filled hype meter, up to 4x to start with.
Collect C-A-R-V-E on the slope to upgrade your hype meter, or upgrade it at the shop!
Almost every perk has had a major rework revolving around the hype meter:
Abacus: Gain hype on challenge complete. Higher challenges earn more hype!
Aerial Ace: Faster spins per hype, but hype decays faster
Explosive Entrance: Big jumps EXPLODE! Gain hype for each exploded enemy.
Feathery Flip: Faster tricks per filled hype bar, but hype decays faster
Frugal: One free reroll in the shop
Hangtime: Gain hype while grabbing
Air Bud: Higher air shots. Air kills grant 50% more hype.
Speed Shooter: Shooting enemies while over 40 km/h earns hype
Jump Boots: Higher jumps. Hype decays slower while airborne.
Keepin' It Fresh: Fresh tricks grant extra hype
Retail Therapy: Gain hype when buying a perk
Rocket Chainsaw: Fully charged chainsaw kills have a 1/4 chance of exploding nearby enemies.
Rocket Jump: Fully charged jumps EXPLODE! Gain hype for each exploded enemy.
Speed Grind: Grinding over 40km/h builds hype
Speed Shooter: Shooting enemies while over 40 km/h earns hype
Timber Tango: Every near miss with a tree adds 50% more hype
Adjusted the tutorial to explain the hype system
The gap with a rail over it in the tutorial is much shorter now and the rail itself is now shorter and easier to grind
The arrow pointing to the perk you're about to sell is now easier to see
Upgraded to a new save system. Internally this makes adding new unlockables easier for me, but you shouldn't notice anything. You'll get a message if your demo save was upgraded. If you're missing anything please contact me and I'll work with you to get your save fixed.
Improved readability of various UI elements
Improved pause menu layout
Low time warning now tells you to get to the chopper instead of kill zombies, since killing zombies no longer grants time
Several perks and cheats have new icons
Crashing through a billboard now fills your hype meter, providing an incentive to fly through them
Boss challenges now each have a unique color. This should make it easier to know what boss challenge you're about to do at a glance.
Fixes
Fixed an issue where failing a grind in the tutorial would cause a respawn loop (sorry to those of you who suffered that)
Fixed an issue where you could occasionally latch on to a rail upside-down
Fixed the UI scale in the language selection screen for Steam Decks and smaller displays
Fixed(?) an issue where the UI that shows your jump charge amount and how far away a missile is from you would occasionally not point towards the camera. This should be fixed, but since I've never experienced this on any of my machines in the thousands of hours I've tested the game and could never replicate it, there's a non-zero chance it could also not be fixed. Despite that, I'm pretty sure my changes will fix it
Fixed an issue with the camera when bailing; previously it would jitter around and become disorienting, but now watching the direct result of your mistakes is a much smoother experience
Fixed an issue where incorrect UI elements could be selected when pausing in the shop
Fixed an issue where the game would incorrectly detect any Linux machine as a Steam Deck and show the Steam Deck in the controls diagram instead of the keyboard or controller you're using
Fixed an issue where the Mayflash Magic-NS adapter in Xbox mode would not show the correct controller visual (due to showing as X-Box instead of Xbox)
Fixed an issue where triggering perk animations would cause the list of perks to become jumbled up
Additions
New perks!
Redline: Hype doesn't decay while over 40km/h
Pyrotechnics: Gain twice as much hype from exploding enemies
Boomstick: 1/4 chance of exploding nearby enemies when shooting
Itano Circus: Gain hype while chased by a missile
New boss challenges! Note: X changes depending on how far you are in a run
Double Dare: Earn twice as many points as the previous challenge.
It's Tricky: Earn X points, but doing a short trick resets your money to $0.
Lead Sled: Earn X points, but gravity is twice as heavy.
Cranked: Earn X points, but you won't earn hype while under 40km/h.
One-Hit Wonder: Earn X points, but only your highest combo counts toward your score.
New character!
Shrimple Steve - This crossover was the result of a drunk text to another dev of a cool game I like and well, now he's here! Go play the demo and wishlist the full game here:
New boards!
Paperball Board - The devs of indie ball roller game Paperball, Cliax Games, has graciously allowed me to include art from their game on a new snowboard in Radical Zomboarding! It's a great game and it's very fun for fans of the genre, so please go check it out here!
Removals
Removed "Bust-A-Billboard" from the boss challenge rotation
That's it for now! As always, thank you all for playing and sending your feedback. I hope you enjoy this newer, better, and more radical version of Radical Zomboarding!
Until next time!