Hello Marble Players, As foretold Marble Simulation now has an major update, but before I begin listing the changes, A few things to note:
You may have seen this post before and updates queues on steam for this game. This was due to weird porting issues with the game which lead me to to take down the update entirely and figure out what happened. Rest assured everything is fixed now.
As stated In the last post, other than bug fixes and adjustments, this will be the only major content for Marble Simulation for awhile. However, there are other projects in production and my focus will be on that for a long while. As my skill improves so will this game if it needs it.
Regarding the Update itself, to help fix any inconsistencies with existing playthroughs, Its recommended to start a new campaign.
Now on to the big updates:
NEW STAGES, MUSIC, HAZARDS, AND STATUS EFFECTS
Added 50 New stages to the game with various difficulties, hazards, and new final Eden boss.
Added 23 new music tracks including new boss tracks
There are 6 new status effects:
Blind
Blurs your screen so you can't see.
Slowed
Slows down your movement.
Shocked
Disables your movement.
Glitched
Reverses your controls.
Darkness
Completely Darkens Your Screen
Matrix Glitched
Visual Disruption of Your Screen
Game Modes
There are 5 Game modes added to the game, however you must clear certain stages in the campaign to unlock. These Game Modes are:
Boss Attack: Fight stronger versions of the bosses
Boss Rush: Fight every boss in the game till you die
Marble Maze: Maze levels with various difficulties
Pac Marble: Simulated version of Pac-Man
Lost Element: Powerups in boss form
SKINS, TRIALS, AND EYES
Added 10 New types of Skins which can be found by beating bosses and finding them throughout the campaign. You will have access to a skin type by default
Added 7 New types of Trails which can be also found by beating bosses and finding them throughout the campaign. You will have access to straight and Jitter Trails by default
Added new Eyes Skins which can only be obtained from beating Pac Marble Simulation
Skins, Eyes, and Trail Effects can be access at the main menu, pause menu, and in campaign.
NEW BOSSES AND ENCOUNTERS
As you play through the campaign you will encounter new bosses, Systems, and Levels that will get in your way. Most of these encounters won't start until you reach stage 10.
Decoders
Decoders are mini bosses that show up at stages 25 and 75. They're simple in attacking, but shouldn't be underestimated once at half health.
The Purger and The Failure System
The Purger is a boss that appears every time you die in the campaign 50 times
There will be a red counter shown up under the stage counter when you die.
Once that counter reaches 50 you will be immediately transferred to the boss to be purged. This boss is extremely difficult, but dying to this boss resets your failure counter. There is no way to remove this counter unless you die by the Purger or defeat it. Even if you start a new campaign, that counter will stay the same from where you left off from the previous campaign.
*Note that restarting a level still gives you a failure level.
The Infiltrator and The Hack System
The Infiltrator is a boss that has a very high change to appear every 10 stages. The boss itself isn't that difficult and can be easily killed. However, dying to this boss inflicts a infiltrated level on your playthrough which will be displayed on the upper right corner of your screen as the current status of the infiltration. The higher the infiltration level the stronger the Infiltrator gets.
There are 3 status to look out for:
Watched
Getting an Infiltrated level of 3 or higher, you will be inflicted with a Glitched status effect every 30 seconds. Less then level 3 nothing happens.
Infiltrated
Getting an Infiltrated level of 5 or higher, you will be inflicted with a Glitched or Blind status effect every 20 seconds.
Hacked
Getting an Infiltrated level of 10, you will be inflicted with a Glitched and Blind status effect every 15 Minutes.
*Note that these infiltration levels effect the difficulty of The Core boss as well and the Hidden Nightmares Game mode.
To check the current level of infiltration, the infiltrator will have a number above it displaying the current level.
There are a few ways to clear the infiltrated level:
Dying by the core boss
Utilizing the Trickster
Or starting a new campaign.
THE TRICKSTER
The Trickster is the X factor in your playthrough that's capable of helping or hindering you throughout the campaign. Its good practice to pay attention to how it operates.
After reaching stage 10 you will have a chance to see a pop up message:
The Trickster will spawn next to you and will give you a number between 0 and 18. You will need to figure out this number system to plan your next move as The Trickster is capable of forcing other encounters, giving you random powerups, trapping you in a maze, or straight up killing you.
SHUTDOWN
The Shutdown is a optional unique boss that can only be unlocked by retrieving its orb in stage 5.
After experiencing the encounter sequence, you will be returned the current level and will receive a dark symbol under your stage counter.
Once that is acquired, there is a very low chance to receive an encounter from it. This boss will not show up on boss stages and stages before stage 10.
FINAL SIMULATION
The Simulation itself, you will have a chance to encounter this boss once you reach stage 10. You will receive a "SIMULATION ERROR" Message and will be taken to the boss room. This boss is very long and grueling. However, beating this boss helps bypass most locked content in the game that hasn't already been unlocked.
THE CORE
The Core is a boss that you will only encounter after reaching stage 10 with a low change of its encounter, You will be given a change to refuse the encounter and continue the level. The Core is heavily influence by your infiltration level and can be a very difficult boss if the infiltration levels are too high. However, you can cleanse your infiltration level if killed by it.
The Matrix
The Matrix is a optional encounter that can only be accessed by getting near the matrix orbs on certain levels. To know if there's a matrix orb in the level, you will get a visual disruption at the start of a level which is called a Matrix Glitch. These Matrix orbs are not hard to find and can be found very close to the start of the level. Do note that completing a matrix level helps bypass that current campaign level. However, failed to complete a matrix level and you will be given a significant amount of failure levels.
BUG FIXES, CHANGES, AND OPTIMIZATIONS
Stages 25 and 75 turned into boss levels
Optimized Camera Distance to be adjusted to Enlarge and Mini Marble Abilities
Optimized Material for lighting in stages
Optimized Widgets to adapt to various computer screens.
Optimized the save system for better calculation of status
Adjusted Level Platforms for Marble movement
Adjusted the Skybox in stages to fix visual glitches
Adjust Camera Distance to be closer to the marble
Adjust Marble Speed to be slightly slower
Fixed a bug regarding Widgets not showing during stage completion
Fixed a bug regarding level sending the player back to the main menu
Fixed effects in stages
Fixed camera bug where the boost platform will disappear in and out from view angles
Fixed a bug where Eden boss (Stage50) health widget wouldn't show in rare occasions
Fix Stage Counter Inconsistences
Fixed camera clipping issues
Removed unnecessary functions and meshes in levels
Visual Mesh Issues Fixed
Added new death effects to player and bosses
Changed widgets names and functions to accommodate the added content
Added Effects to pickups and switches
Changed the end credits after beating Stage 100
Current Known Issues and Possible Additions:
Set cosmetics don't stay set when exiting the game which the player will need to reset the cosmetics
Weird motion bugs when the Marble moves too fast
New Encounter: Seeker
Toggle music Tracks
Weird issues regarding the FXs scale and size on Player Marble and bosses (this fix will take some time as I seriously don't know what is making it do that. This has something to do with uploading the game to steam.