VR Arcade Support
With multiplayer now supported, Starblazer is about to go to the VR arcades! In order to make it easier for the people running the arcades, we implemented a new Arcade Mode. Arcade Mode brings a couple of things, including:
• Once Arcade Mode is selected from the menu, the game will always load directly into the War Room.
• Players will load directly in front of the game selection screen, rather than further back looking into the War Room. This way they can get started playing faster.
• Unnecessary rooms, like Fleet Builder and Demo Room are closed off, just to keeps players focused on the versus gameplay.
• Whenever a player is in Arcade Mode, 5 default fleet types are available as options instead of 5 custom fleets, as normally is the case.
• There is additional 2D UI available on the flat screen for arcade shop owners to help players get a game started. Without even being in the VR game, owners can quickly set up players with a map, game mode, and launch the game for players.
Improved Cosmic Controller
Additionally, while this is not Arcade Mode specific, we simplified the use of the Cosmic Controller Version 1 (CCV1).
Originally, the player had to flip their wrist like they're looking at a watch to activate the menu (it was pretty cool!). However, this has the negative effect that many users didn't even know that we implemented the feature. That's corrected now, with the CCV1 visible and available at all times during gameplay. This will also help first-time players during gameplay by giving them simple options such as Fire Everything, Deselect, Return to Flagship, etc.. We're constantly trying to simplify and lower the barriers towards people being able to play Starblazer. If there are other things you find difficult that we should correct, please just let us know on discord!
https://discord.gg/jDKWnmX
Major Bug Fixes
As we continue to emphasize, we won't stop improving and fixing the game, which is why I'm pleased to announce several major bug fixes that were tackled in this patch:
- Every now and then, the selection button can get stuck, leading to scenarios where the user is unable to select ships during gameplay. This lock-up was being accidentally activated whenever the player passes their selection controller through one of the buttons on the CCV1.
- There was a chance of a major crash at the end of the game whenever the player lost but still had a Seeker on the field. Yes, this is a very bad bug indeed. Good news is that we squashed it and are finding no more crash-inducing bugs.
- Sometimes there was a selection spasming, where the ships would rapidly highlight / de-highlight. Now selections are solid and consistent.
- The CCV1 cannot be accidentally selected by the same hand it's on (an issue specific to HTC Vive)
New additions and delighters added:
- Ships will now fight back! Whenever an idle ship is attacked, it will immediately start attacking the ship that attacked it first. It won't leave it's location, but it will respond with aggressive force.
- All players will now get a randomized default name when they first join Starblazer. There's some pretty creative options in there, so let's see what you get!
- Instead of the 5 default fleets being the same, users are treated to the five fleets used in Arcade Mode.
- Curious what all Orbit can do in the future? See her many functionalities in the Repair Room.
Other tweaks and improvements:
- Players now start in front of their fleets, rather than awkwardly behind them. This helps first time users start a game without even having to teleport and also makes selection of objects more visible and accessible.
- Enemy ships can no longer fly into the Builder and get stuck. They will be stopped outside of it.
- The teleportation path is limited now, due to user feedback that it was too sensitive.
- Splitter attack radius increased to avoid no-hit scenarios.
- Bruiser buckshot damage increased on the middle two cannons to avoid cases where a Fighter is stuck directly in the middle, not taking much damage.
- Bruisers and Splitters will start attacking the Builder at 2.5x the radius… eliminating cases where the Bruiser is stuck underneath the bottom of the Builder but not making any damage.
- Virtual ceiling lowered on Saffron to make it easier to play.
- Colliders for the ships were off from the rescaling, now they're much more realistic.
- The War Room real-time lighting wasn't being cast onto the ships, leading them to look darker than the rest of the room.
- Laser pointer was missing for the left hand on the Start Screen.
- Start Menu was moved further away from the user's face to make it easier to use with the laser pointer.
- Seekers can now target Flagships.
- The trigger boundary for the sun on Icarus had accidentally become static, blocking players. Make it passable again.
- Holograms were not the same size as the actual ships when they spawn.
- Finding a match versus creating a match will now give the appropriate prompt on the console menu.
- Orbit sounds reduced during gameplay to be more comfortable to the user.
- Background panels added to many of the menus for clarity and cleanliness.
- Less networking calls now made over the network to increased fluidity of online gameplay.