Hey guys! It feels quite unreal, but tomorrow, on Tuesday 15th October, OUTBUDDIES will finally release here on Steam!
I just recently implemented some cool quality of life stuff that I want to share with you today. Next to our Kickstarter backers, people from all over the world enjoyed the game on various conventions this year. OUTBUDDIES sticks to loved genre conventions when it comes to platforming and combat, but the Buddy droid mechanics are for sure a new take on the scene and demand some explanations.
As localizing the game was not on the cards for now, I decided to get back to the drawing board last week. Now, for the release build, 20 animated pictorials were crafted, explaining all the mechanics needed to explore the Old Gods’ sunken fortress. Those little assets can be discovered in every single key room and will alleviate any language barrier, making sure people all over the word can enjoy OUTBUDDIES’ depth and steep learning curve.
I hereby also open source those little pictorials under a creative commons CCO 1.0 license (free to use in your own projects, even commercially, no attribution needed). Here is the Sprite Sheet, containing 216 little artworks on a 128 x 64 canvas: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cb97v12ro31zajk/AAAp5R-XlWrnR9xO27r4jbQja?dl=0
On top of this, the official OUTBUDDIES WIKI will be online tomorrow (I’ll pin it to the community hub!). The WIKI explains the game’s mechanics and controls in detail. It also provides a FAQ documentation, just in case you should experience technical issues. My friends at Headup and I will also be roaming the community hub and try to personally answer your questions.
Some final touches and polish on the game were done in the last days. Build 1.43 went online today, balancing some boss fights that were flagged unfair by some beta testers.
- Razoth, the Keeper: Re-arranged platforms, new rumble, and sound-Fx. Improved flow of the fight a lot.
- Tam Tam (Corridium Goblin): His state machine is now in interation 4, rendering his movements much less chaotic. He has frequently been flagged as the most annoying boss in the game
- New camera engine for Gaganom (Nautilus) fight and first Blackthorn fight.
- Buluc, the Giant: -10% health; he had been flagged as being the game's hardest boss, despite being main encounter 3/5.
I also implemented jump buffering. That’s a nifty technique to improve the flow of platforming I just learned about. Jump inputs will now read as valid, even if done before the player actually hits the ground.
In case you want to join our Discord server and chat with me and the guys from Headup about the game: A direct link is now available in the game’s start menu, opening an invitation for you.
I hope you’ll enjoy the game and I cannot thank you enough for your support and valuable feedback of the last months. OUTBUDDIES never would have reached the quality it has today without your engagement! This journey is far from over. Outbuddies is the project of my heart and I’ll do my very best to support it with quality updates, fixes and additional content in the next years.
Let’s continue this great journey, together!
Best, Julian
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1083310