Well hey there stranger! Long time no see. Today marks a whole YEAR since we launched into Early Access.. and a whopping eight months since our last public update. Now, a lot of you have been playing on our Beta branch since February, but there's plenty new here for that lot as well. So let me shed some light on what's been going on at the Lab:
Following our 'Physics Update' last October, we got straight to work on a modular board setup so players could customize more than just colors. In refactoring the board setup we created a LOT more work for ourselves & had to essentially rework every system in the game to accommodate.. and while doing that I revisited the question "should we add a skater?" since doing so would likely require similar reworks.
After poking around the concept for about a week, we had some promising (yet very janky) results and decided to go all in. That was in mid-december - and since then a ton of work has gone into just making everything fit together again. While most of those changes have been to the back-end of things, we haven't slept on improving some things that were lacking in audio, physics & mechanics, and even some new game modes. It breaks down about like this:
Characters & Gear
a complete overhaul
Characters
First, a disclaimer.. We've gone all in on a system that includes selectable and customizable characters, but haven't fleshed out things like animation & full customization. Hence, the simple 'Human' & 'Hand' characters are marked as Beta features with very basic color customization. Beyond those, the classic 'Ghost' character still benefits from the new system with motion to the ankles and the ability to walk around off-board. We've kept our Slip Ons & Mid Tops with a handful of new sock options.
Gear
At last, the board setup is fully modular. Pick from a handful of skate AND fingerboard decks, grip, trucks, and wheels at different shapes, sizes, & colors. Build your ideal setup, mix & match to put together something different. Naturally, each setup will skate slightly different - things like deck sizes, truck widths, wheel sizes, wheel base, will make differences not unlike what you'd feel irl.
Board Wear
Deck and Trucks wear & tear as you skate, and can be reset from the Gear Menu with R3.
Profiles
We're introducing 3 different board profiles you can easily swap between. Just press X/Square in the gear menu to select & customize one of the three.
Physics & Mechanics
Improved stability, refinement
Crouch & Prewind
This is now integral to the pop mechanic. To crouch in regular stance, pull your front foot towards the center of the board. The further you pull back, the more you crouch & the higher you'll pop. While crouching, pull either trigger to prewind for a quicker rotation off the pop.
Auto Catch
There's now an Auto Catch stat which, when enabled, will catch the board if your trick input is complete (both sticks return to center) and the board is oriented grip-up and aligned with your rotation.
Boned Ollies
Moving both sticks forward or backward during ollies will extend the legs into a boned ollie position.
Auto Revert
When enabled, this will apply a momentary torque upon landing to align the board with your movement direction, resulting in improved stability & flow.
Reworked Powerslides
Powerslides (both sticks inward or outward while on ground) have been reworked to limit the sideways angle & return once released. Add trigger input to continue into reverts.
Grind Stabilization
Huge improvements to grind stabilization, and a corresponding Stat (0-10) to adjust intensity. This makes grinds much less likely to slip off.
Improved Flip axis & stability
Particularly, kickflips and heelflips flip more consistently on-axis. Still as before though, their leveling and rotation is highly dependent on input timing and direction. My personal tip: The ideal timing is likely later than you think!
Truck Stiffness
Adjust your turning sensitivity with a new Truck Stiffness Stat (1-5)
Push Type
Players can now choose between a single push force, or the classic continuous push (more analogous to fingerboarding)
Reworked Audio
New sounds that reflect irl skateboarding on a variety of surface types - Concrete, Wood, Metal, and Grass
New Game Mode - Skill Games
From the Maps Menu you'll find the Rat Race obstacle courses! These are prototype levels that work to 'gamify' our mechanics for a little something different. In the future you can expect some different types of Skill Games with things like physics puzzles, time trials, etc.
UI
Replay Diagnostics - Press D on your keyboard while in replay to load a diagnostics visualizer, which shows the board control forces at play during playback.
Descriptions have been added to relevant Stats
Gameplay tips added to Pause menu
Control Overlay & Haptics Toggles now live in the Options Menu
Replay UI has been updated for improved clarity
Multiplayer
Unfortunately Multiplayer is still under maintenance following structural changes, and is temporarily disabled from the Pause menu. In its current development state we have the board replicating properly as before, but character/animation replication needs more work. Peer to Peer multiplayer should still work fine on the Pre-Character branch.
Beta Branches
Moving forward, we'll maintain our Beta branches publicly with the option to stay on the main public branch, roll back to previous branches, or follow the latest beta builds. From SkateLab's properties in steam, just navigate to the Betas tab & choose a specific game version.
What's Next?
Looking forward, we'll continue to put a strong focus on physics & mechanics; adding some needed content - new maps & map extensions; and fleshing out character animation & customization. Having gone through the entire project with a fine-toothed comb - it's more organized than ever under the hood, and we're able to move more flexibly and quickly.
THANK YOU for reading, for playing, and here's to another year of progress!
- Van