8.marraskuu

v1.1.3 - minor bugfixes

as expected, a lot of unexpected bugs surfaced since the 1.1 update. I've been trying to fix them one by one, and this is the third minor update since 1.1.

some people were experiencing crashes when the game tried to re-set vsync on, so I removed the vsync confirmation step. this game is designed to run with vsync always on, it will match your monitor's refresh rate and keep the physics consistent no matter what framerate it's running.

I tested it on all my systems and the game stayed at 60fps, as it should. if you notice your GPU is making too much noise and/or the framerate looks choppy after the update, please send me an email (me [at] ansdor dot com).

28.lokakuu

Slipstream v1.1 Update Announcement

Slipstream 1.1 is finally here, and it's a huge update.

The biggest change of all, Slipstream now supports local multiplayer up to 4 players. There are four game modes available for the multiplayer, the already established single race and grand prix, and...

A brand new game mode for both single player and multiplayer. It works like a mix of all the other modes: You can choose a fixed sequence of up to 15 tracks, and race on them back to back, with or without traffic, rivals and/or other racers. Everything is customizable in this mode. From racing all alone through 15 tracks to a chaotic race with rivals and traffic at the same time. But that's not all...

Every video game in 2018 needs a battle royale mode and I couldn't miss the opportunity. It's a simple mode: 16 racers, 15 random tracks. At each track, the last racer is eliminated, only one can reach the end. Available on both single player and multiplayer.

The last new game mode is a classic time trial with zero randomness and replay ghosts for the best times. This is a single player exclusive mode.

The game physics were getting buggier and weirder with each version, each time I tried to fix something it just ended up breaking something else. This time I started from a clean slate and I believe I got all the most common problems fixed, but, as always, this part might receive minor updates in the near future in case new bugs show up.

Now you can choose your own songs to play in the game, along with the OST. Just drop your legally acquired MP3s in the appropriate folder* and they'll appear automatically in the game. OGG and WAV are also supported.

The folders are:

• On Windows: [user home]/AppData/Roaming/ansdorGames/Slipstream/music
  
• On MacOS: [user home]/Library/Application Support/ansdorGames/Slipstream/music
  
• On Linux: [user home]/.config/ansdorGames/Slipstream/music

The game will look for music files in all foldes and sub-folders inside that one. Also, symbolic links work on linux, but I haven't tested in other systems. The only limitation is that only the first 256 custom tracks are loaded, the game will ignore any others beyond that number.

Some people have trouble with the drifting mechanics, so I decided to include an optional, multiplayer-exclusive simplified control scheme, in which the drifting happens automatically and you just have to guide the car around the track. This feature is intended for novice players and "party game" scenarios, in which some people may not have the time (or will be too drunk) to learn how to drift properly. I did not include it in the single player because I feel it would displace one of the game's most important mechanics and challenges.

Now Slipstream has "true" 4K support (well, as true as it can be for a pixel art game). The resolution/window settings in previous versions were a little confusing, so I tried to simplify everything. Now you can choose a window size and an internal resolution, and both go all the way up to 3840x2160. Lower resolutions provide a slight improvement in performance, but not much. The "auto" setting is recommended in all cases, as it will set the resolution to match the window/screen size.

- controller vibration now supported
- the infamous audio glitch, where all sound stops playing after a while, is hopefully corrected
- mirrored tracks are now available on single race mode
- post-race screens completely remade
- too many small graphical changes and bug fixes to list

Sadly, this will be the last major content update for this game. I'm a solo developer, and I don't have the time and resources to keep adding content and providing active support for this game anymore. I've been working exclusively on Slipstream for the past 3 years or so, I'm VERY tired of it, and there are many other games I want to make, so it's time to move on to new projects.

I consider this to be the "gold" version of Slipstream, it has all the planned features and some more, and it's complete now. It will, however, continue receiving minor back-end updates and bugfixes as time goes on, but that will be all.

I hope you enjoy the game, and thanks for the support, you are awesome!