Apr 30, 2019
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove! - Nap
Greetings
Hello to our favorite Earthlings!
We’ve been working hard over here at ToeJam & Earl HQ to continue supporting Back in the Groove. As you all continue to play and give us feedback, we are continuing to improve the game, fix nasty bugs, fine-tune presents, and balance Earthlings and the overall difficulty of the game. We are here to talk about a few of those exciting changes making their way into version 1.4.0 of the game.
We’ve already released a larger patch for all platforms (v1.2.3), but we have plans to release more very soon! The next patch 1.3.1, out today on PC, will support the Peabo and Lamont Surprises, for all you backers who pledged at a tier or higher that included these in-game items. We’ve begun rolling out BackerKit emails that include redeemable Steam codes for the Peabo Surprise and the Lamont Surprise! Make sure to keep an eye out for those. If you are expecting these codes and do not receive them about a week after we post this update feel free to contact us: support@humanaturestudios.com
Peabo/Lamont Surprise DLC
Now what do these surprises consist of exactly? Well, in case you missed it in our previous update here’s a short run through:
Peabo’s Surprise is the ability to dance on command. You activate this by using the Quick Chat menu and selecting ‘Dance’. When this happens all the trees and bushes around you will dance as well (similar to what happens when you open a Boom Box). When you do this the music track will also change. We can’t wait to see y’all bust some funky moves online.
And now for the Funkopotamus himself - Lamont’s Surprise! This is a super cool Lamont costume headpiece that all the Funkotronians can wear! While wearing the Lamont head you will also get some special dialogue that unlocks while wearing it. This functions similarly to ‘Earthling Disguise’ where you can still wear your Power Hats under it.
We are aware that some of these may be sought after by those of you who didn’t back to unlock them. We are considering giving these rewards away to contest winners and outstanding/active members of the community. Stay tuned for more info on that!
Currently the Peabo/Lamont DLC only works for the Steam version of the game. We are looking into making the DLC work for consoles at a later update but unsure if we can make this happen. For now this is how you redeem the codes on Steam:
Please make sure ‘ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove!’ is fully closed and do not launch the game until the download is finished.
1. Launch the Steam client software and log into your Steam account.
2. Click the Games Menu.
3. Choose Activate a Product on Steam on the bottom left of the window.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
Up to Speed with 1.3.0
So with that out of the way let’s talk version 1.4.0. The consoles that do not currently have 1.3.0 will have all the fixes and improvements introduced in those versions which include:
Fixes for Difficulty not being chosen when starting a new game, no more double Elevators spawning on top of each other, speeding up Santa’s dialogue a bit, fixes the Level 0 Mini Map glitch, Ghost’s should be revived when reaching Funkotron and no longer haunting the game from ending, sound going missing on the Secret Level, Spanish (European) language options, volume adjustments for some of the louder sound effects, and a bunch of other small tweaks.
Slingshot/Tomato Present NEW Aim Control
You may have noticed that we have yet to roll out the new Slingshot and Tomato controls. We are sorry this is taking longer than usual but due to the changes we made we had to redo all the animations for each character family, this delayed them a bit but we are very excited to get these into your hands. Currently the new controls for the Tomato Present make the throwing function similar to Game 1 where your character stays rooted in place while firing. The Slingshot Present functions more as a ‘run-and-gun’ similar to what we currently have but with a reduction on movement speed while firing so you don’t bump into the Earthling you’re trying to pop. Both presents now retain the direction you’re facing while firing, no more snapping to face the screen when you let go of the directional input. Also, both presents allow you to hold A to stay rooted while you pick a direction and fire away!
1.4.0 Content Update
So now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: version 1.4.0. Well what exactly is it? OUT WITH IT!! Fine, we will tell you, stop poking us with that stick. Version 1.4.0 is shaping up to be the definitive Back in the Groove experience, especially for console players. With this update we will be introducing 3-4 player local play on all versions of the game. They said it couldn’t be done, but just like getting split screen to work with the original ToeJam & Earl, we were determined to make it happen.
In order to get this to work we unfortunately had to limit the amount of distance between players if they fall a level. The game will now only allow players to fall 3 levels apart from other players in multiplayer. If you jump off that third level you will be transported back to the start of it, meaning players who would rather jump than take a hit still have that option. And if you guys find a present that will help you get to Level 0 you can both jump down together to visit the secret area.
1.4.0 Balance Updates
1.4.0 also comes with a ton of balance changes. We’ve been hearing that a lot of our veteran players find the game too easy if they use all the new mechanics to their intended effect. There are a ton of changes coming and most of these are in mind of making the game a little more difficult without making it too difficult for our casual players.
First up is Present changes. We are changing all Amped ‘Show X’ presents to be ‘Jump To’ presents instead of staying in your inventory. This means that instead of Amped ‘Show Wiseman’ giving you two uses, the Amped version will ‘jump you’ directly to the Wiseman. This applies to ‘Show Elevator’ as well and we have changed ‘Jump To Ship Piece’ to ‘Show Ship Piece’ with the Amped version being the current ‘Jump To Ship Piece’ present. Amped ‘Show Hidden Paths’ will reveal the Hidden Paths and reward you with an XP Boost based on our Present Skill stat. We are making these changes because players would keep the ‘Show X’ presents in their inventory the entire run hoping it would become Amped-This-Level so they could use it throughout their run infinitely. These changes will hopefully make the presents more unique and balance out the unintended behaviors they were providing.
We are also reducing the time you have ‘Icarus Wings’ for by 10 seconds in regular and Amped versions and a slight move speed decrease only on the Amped. We have been hearing from players that this present makes it too easy to clear multiple levels without touching the ground. The regular version of ‘Icarus Wings’ is now intended to get you out of sticky situations and clear gaps if you get stranded on an island. The Amped version is now intended to be the present you use if you want to clear out a level or two.
Another change regarding ‘Icarus Wings’ is that Backer Islands will no longer always have free Icarus Wings on them, they will have a random mobility present such as Hi-Tops, Spring Shoes, Rocket Skates, Timed Teleport, etc. This change is to make it so players don’t just land on the island to collect the free wings then safely fly through the rest of the game. The present was only there in order to help get you off the island when you visit the Backer. But hopefully these new presents will help you out.
We know the Football Player has been the cause of numerous frustrating deaths. This Earthling will now do a reduced damage but knock you really far to make him more unique and less frustrating to deal with.
These are just a few of the balance changes we have coming up and we have many more we are excited to share with you. We will be closely monitoring these changes and eager to hear any feedback you may have.
PS4 Theme (Americas)
As some of you know, we’ve been trying to get PS4 themes for folks! We have now gotten them for the Americas and they should be popping in your email inbox in the same place you got your game PS4 codes.
Unfortunately, that being said, we were not able to create codes for the European version of the game. The folks at Playstation have been absolutely awesome in helping us get the codes for the Americas, however the system in Europe handles themes completely differently and making codes for them is not possible. If this is a Total Bummer for you please contact us at support@humanaturestudios.com and we will try to make it right. We never wanna leave folks hanging!
Hyperlink Madness!
Wow you made it this far! You deserve to be rewarded with some hyperlinks!
Our Instagram is still going strong with tons of fan submissions at https://www.instagram.com/toejamandearlart/ - be sure to drop a follow or just swing by to peep all the crazy dope artwork all our fans have been creating.
Feel free to submit all artwork to us on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/toejamandearl where we will ALWAYS retweet your submissions then add them to the Instagram. We also get into some crazy shenanigans there!
As always don’t forget to tune into our streams every Tuesday and Friday at 4PM PST/7PM EST at: https://www.twitch.tv/toejam_earl. Maybe we will do something cool for our 2,000 follower milestone like some cool giveaways and have Nap shave his head live on camera. He is definitely due for a haircut.
Be sure to join our community Discord and chill out with all the fans or leave some feedback: https://discord.gg/GNjXpxS
Also, it’d be super helpful to report any bugs or leave suggestions for features on our Canny: https://tjande.canny.io/. You can vote on the bugs or features to push them higher in the priority for us to focus on.
Oh yeah! We will be at BitSummit in Japan June 1-2 as we gear up to launch Back in the Groove in Japan! Come hang out with us in Kyoto.
Telethon May 26
Don’t forget we are still doing the Telethon on May 26th. It’s looking like Mixer will be home base for this event. We have tons of wacky mini games planned to mess with our celebrity guests as well as giveaways and prizes to win. Be sure to tune in and witness gaming history!
Hello to our favorite Earthlings!
We’ve been working hard over here at ToeJam & Earl HQ to continue supporting Back in the Groove. As you all continue to play and give us feedback, we are continuing to improve the game, fix nasty bugs, fine-tune presents, and balance Earthlings and the overall difficulty of the game. We are here to talk about a few of those exciting changes making their way into version 1.4.0 of the game.
We’ve already released a larger patch for all platforms (v1.2.3), but we have plans to release more very soon! The next patch 1.3.1, out today on PC, will support the Peabo and Lamont Surprises, for all you backers who pledged at a tier or higher that included these in-game items. We’ve begun rolling out BackerKit emails that include redeemable Steam codes for the Peabo Surprise and the Lamont Surprise! Make sure to keep an eye out for those. If you are expecting these codes and do not receive them about a week after we post this update feel free to contact us: support@humanaturestudios.com
Peabo/Lamont Surprise DLC
Now what do these surprises consist of exactly? Well, in case you missed it in our previous update here’s a short run through:
Peabo’s Surprise is the ability to dance on command. You activate this by using the Quick Chat menu and selecting ‘Dance’. When this happens all the trees and bushes around you will dance as well (similar to what happens when you open a Boom Box). When you do this the music track will also change. We can’t wait to see y’all bust some funky moves online.
And now for the Funkopotamus himself - Lamont’s Surprise! This is a super cool Lamont costume headpiece that all the Funkotronians can wear! While wearing the Lamont head you will also get some special dialogue that unlocks while wearing it. This functions similarly to ‘Earthling Disguise’ where you can still wear your Power Hats under it.
We are aware that some of these may be sought after by those of you who didn’t back to unlock them. We are considering giving these rewards away to contest winners and outstanding/active members of the community. Stay tuned for more info on that!
Currently the Peabo/Lamont DLC only works for the Steam version of the game. We are looking into making the DLC work for consoles at a later update but unsure if we can make this happen. For now this is how you redeem the codes on Steam:
Please make sure ‘ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove!’ is fully closed and do not launch the game until the download is finished.
1. Launch the Steam client software and log into your Steam account.
2. Click the Games Menu.
3. Choose Activate a Product on Steam on the bottom left of the window.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
Up to Speed with 1.3.0
So with that out of the way let’s talk version 1.4.0. The consoles that do not currently have 1.3.0 will have all the fixes and improvements introduced in those versions which include:
Fixes for Difficulty not being chosen when starting a new game, no more double Elevators spawning on top of each other, speeding up Santa’s dialogue a bit, fixes the Level 0 Mini Map glitch, Ghost’s should be revived when reaching Funkotron and no longer haunting the game from ending, sound going missing on the Secret Level, Spanish (European) language options, volume adjustments for some of the louder sound effects, and a bunch of other small tweaks.
Slingshot/Tomato Present NEW Aim Control
You may have noticed that we have yet to roll out the new Slingshot and Tomato controls. We are sorry this is taking longer than usual but due to the changes we made we had to redo all the animations for each character family, this delayed them a bit but we are very excited to get these into your hands. Currently the new controls for the Tomato Present make the throwing function similar to Game 1 where your character stays rooted in place while firing. The Slingshot Present functions more as a ‘run-and-gun’ similar to what we currently have but with a reduction on movement speed while firing so you don’t bump into the Earthling you’re trying to pop. Both presents now retain the direction you’re facing while firing, no more snapping to face the screen when you let go of the directional input. Also, both presents allow you to hold A to stay rooted while you pick a direction and fire away!
1.4.0 Content Update
So now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: version 1.4.0. Well what exactly is it? OUT WITH IT!! Fine, we will tell you, stop poking us with that stick. Version 1.4.0 is shaping up to be the definitive Back in the Groove experience, especially for console players. With this update we will be introducing 3-4 player local play on all versions of the game. They said it couldn’t be done, but just like getting split screen to work with the original ToeJam & Earl, we were determined to make it happen.
In order to get this to work we unfortunately had to limit the amount of distance between players if they fall a level. The game will now only allow players to fall 3 levels apart from other players in multiplayer. If you jump off that third level you will be transported back to the start of it, meaning players who would rather jump than take a hit still have that option. And if you guys find a present that will help you get to Level 0 you can both jump down together to visit the secret area.
1.4.0 Balance Updates
1.4.0 also comes with a ton of balance changes. We’ve been hearing that a lot of our veteran players find the game too easy if they use all the new mechanics to their intended effect. There are a ton of changes coming and most of these are in mind of making the game a little more difficult without making it too difficult for our casual players.
First up is Present changes. We are changing all Amped ‘Show X’ presents to be ‘Jump To’ presents instead of staying in your inventory. This means that instead of Amped ‘Show Wiseman’ giving you two uses, the Amped version will ‘jump you’ directly to the Wiseman. This applies to ‘Show Elevator’ as well and we have changed ‘Jump To Ship Piece’ to ‘Show Ship Piece’ with the Amped version being the current ‘Jump To Ship Piece’ present. Amped ‘Show Hidden Paths’ will reveal the Hidden Paths and reward you with an XP Boost based on our Present Skill stat. We are making these changes because players would keep the ‘Show X’ presents in their inventory the entire run hoping it would become Amped-This-Level so they could use it throughout their run infinitely. These changes will hopefully make the presents more unique and balance out the unintended behaviors they were providing.
We are also reducing the time you have ‘Icarus Wings’ for by 10 seconds in regular and Amped versions and a slight move speed decrease only on the Amped. We have been hearing from players that this present makes it too easy to clear multiple levels without touching the ground. The regular version of ‘Icarus Wings’ is now intended to get you out of sticky situations and clear gaps if you get stranded on an island. The Amped version is now intended to be the present you use if you want to clear out a level or two.
Another change regarding ‘Icarus Wings’ is that Backer Islands will no longer always have free Icarus Wings on them, they will have a random mobility present such as Hi-Tops, Spring Shoes, Rocket Skates, Timed Teleport, etc. This change is to make it so players don’t just land on the island to collect the free wings then safely fly through the rest of the game. The present was only there in order to help get you off the island when you visit the Backer. But hopefully these new presents will help you out.
We know the Football Player has been the cause of numerous frustrating deaths. This Earthling will now do a reduced damage but knock you really far to make him more unique and less frustrating to deal with.
These are just a few of the balance changes we have coming up and we have many more we are excited to share with you. We will be closely monitoring these changes and eager to hear any feedback you may have.
PS4 Theme (Americas)
As some of you know, we’ve been trying to get PS4 themes for folks! We have now gotten them for the Americas and they should be popping in your email inbox in the same place you got your game PS4 codes.
Unfortunately, that being said, we were not able to create codes for the European version of the game. The folks at Playstation have been absolutely awesome in helping us get the codes for the Americas, however the system in Europe handles themes completely differently and making codes for them is not possible. If this is a Total Bummer for you please contact us at support@humanaturestudios.com and we will try to make it right. We never wanna leave folks hanging!
Hyperlink Madness!
Wow you made it this far! You deserve to be rewarded with some hyperlinks!
Our Instagram is still going strong with tons of fan submissions at https://www.instagram.com/toejamandearlart/ - be sure to drop a follow or just swing by to peep all the crazy dope artwork all our fans have been creating.
Feel free to submit all artwork to us on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/toejamandearl where we will ALWAYS retweet your submissions then add them to the Instagram. We also get into some crazy shenanigans there!
As always don’t forget to tune into our streams every Tuesday and Friday at 4PM PST/7PM EST at: https://www.twitch.tv/toejam_earl. Maybe we will do something cool for our 2,000 follower milestone like some cool giveaways and have Nap shave his head live on camera. He is definitely due for a haircut.
Be sure to join our community Discord and chill out with all the fans or leave some feedback: https://discord.gg/GNjXpxS
Also, it’d be super helpful to report any bugs or leave suggestions for features on our Canny: https://tjande.canny.io/. You can vote on the bugs or features to push them higher in the priority for us to focus on.
Oh yeah! We will be at BitSummit in Japan June 1-2 as we gear up to launch Back in the Groove in Japan! Come hang out with us in Kyoto.
Telethon May 26
Don’t forget we are still doing the Telethon on May 26th. It’s looking like Mixer will be home base for this event. We have tons of wacky mini games planned to mess with our celebrity guests as well as giveaways and prizes to win. Be sure to tune in and witness gaming history!
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