Hello everyone! A little update with some new features mostly around options and to give you an early glimpse of the work-in-progress on the new Vector mode.



Yip, I couldn't resist getting your feedback, so I exposed an option to change the theme between the normal modern vector illustration style graphics and a more raw classic vector style. It's still very much a work-in-progress so be gentle. I still have to do work to swap out more shapes/symbols, particle effects (explosions/missile trails), fonts, and of course the main title, but I'm interested to hear what you like and don't like with the direction. Eventually I want to support additional themes too, so I can put in a nod to my old workhorses, the Commodore Amiga and C64, and hopefully some other classic systems as well. You can change the theme from the Effects menu, or for the brave, you can switch while in the heat of battle with the T-Key or DPad-Up, which are the default controls mapped to the feature.



There are also a few smaller updates focused on some usability enhancements requested from players and Youtubers. You can now fine tune the sensitivity of the thumb-sticks and triggers for the supported game controllers. This shows up as Thrust/Rotation Sensitivity options under the Controls option menu. In addition, you can also tone down the power of the thrusters if they're just to much for you to handle using the Max Thruster Power option. It's also fun to dial it down just for more deliberate thrusting experience and a different feel, but unfortunately, if you dial it down too much, you're bound to take a beating from random debris and bullets!!

Come visit me in real-time on the (Solaroids Discord Server), and give me your thoughts about what would make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter on the planet.

Also, don't forget to sign up on my Early Access Page to be notified at full launch across all platforms.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad (kiates)

• Enable experimental Vector mode. Note this is really early-early-access. It can be turned on either from the Theme option under the Effects category, or by pressing the DPad-Up button or T-Key if keyboard is being used. The control used can also be reconfigured like other controls per Control Style.
  
• Max Thruster Power option - Adjust the maximum thrust on a player by player basis. This is both useful to tune to your comfort level, and when taken to the extreme, makes for some fun times trying to change trajectory to avoid incoming debris!
  
• Thruster/Rotational Sensitivity control options - Adjust the sensitivity of the controls used for thrusters and rotation when assigned to analog controls like thumb-sticks and triggers. At 100% it will behave as it has, while at 0% most of the control will be at the end of the pull/push, and at 200% most of the control will be at the start of the pull/push. This is also per player.
  
• Reset Controller Layout option.
  
• Display version and EA disclaimer on the in-game option screen.
  
• Add Solaroids logo to the in-game option screen.
  
• Use machine based-translations, denoted with a (*), as stand-ins for text that hasn't been proofread/localized by a native speaker. Yes I finally pulled the trigger on this one and actually put the machine translations in until I can get the real ones sync'd up.
  
• Allow the viewing and configuring of player options and controls from the main menu, not just the in-game pause menu.
  
• Move Autofire and Aim on Fire options from the Gameplay category to the Controls category. They are now configurable per player instead of global options.

• Fix title graphic style/size when starting up under a non-English locale.

• Fix regression in camera handling at the edge of the arena when Seamless Wrapping is off.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great winter and holiday season. We're still buried under snow, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Not a lot of updates for Solaroids for Steam, so my apologies for that. I've been adjusting the infrastructure of the game to support multiple platforms, so mostly hidden work behind the scenes. I'm also working on the promised Vector Mode from the Early Access Roadmap, and Monthly and maybe Weekly leaderboards. I'll hopefully be able to wrap those up soon, but either way will share some progress as it gets more concrete.

With that said however, I was able to spend time to finish a set of Steam Trading Cards that Valve approved late December. So if any of you were wishing for some extra Solaroids "bling", those are available to collect. I tried to make them both showcase some of the artwork I created, as well as be useful for players. As such they include design notes and descriptions of the capabilities of some of the enemy types. They are English only for now, but I would like to commission localization where there is enough popularity and if Steam will let me add them. Here are a few samples from the set of five available.




For those into starry-scapes, in addition to the trading cards, I created several Steam Profile Backgrounds to go with the set. You can collect them while crafting trading card badges. Here's a preview from the set of five available.



There is also a set of Steam Emoji Icons in the Solaroids theme. Collect enough to spell out Solaroids before I do! (SOːsolaroidsLːːsolaroidsAːROIːsolaroidsDːS)

Thank you for supporting me on my journey to try and make the Best Asteroids Style Space Shooter. If you ever want to chat about Solaroids with myself or other players, or brag about your top scores and share tips, join the (Solaroids Discord Server). It's quiet there now, but maybe you can help change that!

I've also created a dedicated Early Access Page filled with, gifs, links, and a place where you can sign up to be notified at full launch.

Cheers and happy blasting!

Chad

• Performance enhancements for Linux/OSX.

• Fixed issue where soundtrack wouldn't advance on Linux/OSX.
  
• Fixed issue with camera when Seamless Wrapping Mode is turned off.

• Change mouse cursor from "hand" to a cross-hairs.
  
• Balance volume of mine alarm sounds.
  
• Fix issue with camera on resolution change.
  
• Updates to core open-source libraries used on Linux/OSX versions.
  
• Default to Stage-2 graphics, can be changed from the options.
  
• Default to a maximum of 3-continues. Can be adjusted from the Gameplay options menu.
  
• Updated title graphic.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Hello! Another small update to release a few small fixes and a couple of new features.



I've added a new type of mine I call Mini-Mines. These are smaller weaker versions of the larger mines already in game, but don't unleash a plasma wave when detonated. They also have an interesting feature where their lights blink the closer you get and make an audible chirp. I may add this effect to the larger mines too, since some times they are a little too stealthy. What do you think? They are now introduced on the level the existing mines were, and I've moved the existing mines a few levels later.

Another feature is the addition of an option called Player Spawn Position to choose where new player ships spawn. This is mostly for multiplayer scenarios, but like other options can also be used in single player as well. The default has always been for players to spawn near the sun. Under multiplayer situations, especially Player vs Player setups, this isn't always ideal. So now there are two other modes available under the Gameplay options menu in addition to the default of Near Sun. Random will spawn player ships at a random place on the map, and Near Other Players will spawn player ships near the average of the positions of other players. This later mode is useful when playing Co-op.

I hope you enjoy the tweaks.

• Mini-mines. Now introduced where normal mines were, with normal mines introduced at a late level.
  
• Player Spawn Position Option - Choose alternate player spawn positions.
  Pick between the original near the sun location, a random location on the map, or near other players.
  
• Camera shake is now used at key events like destroying bosses/mines regardless of how close the player is.
  
• Increased amount of camera shake (still adjustable).

• Fixed issue where rumble could get "stuck" when playing in shared screen mode.
  
• Fixed issue where camera shake wasn't working when taking an impact.
  
• Fixed issue where explosions were not being drawn in certain situations.
• Minor changes to the new threat display (justification/sorting).

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Hello everyone!



I've got another small update to incorporate a few new noteworthy features that I wanted to get wrapped up before the Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE). Yes, that's right... Solaroids will be showcased at PRGE this year thanks to the Portland Indie Game Squad. This is the first event for Solaroids outside of my local community, and I'm excited to show it to the retro gaming lovers at PRGE.

Well enough with the ancillary commentary, let's get on to the update.

First, I'm happy to present a new "shared" screen Local Multiplayer option. In this mode, rather than split the screen into up to 4 smaller screens, you can play with or against friends in a single screen. The camera will pan and zoom to keep all active players visible. Dueling has never been better.

The down side is things can get on the small side if players a long way from each other. Use the reticle to keep your direction straight - it always stays the same size and now displays the primary ship color. I'm still working out how to make power-ups readily identifiable when zoomed out for easier identification. You can find this new option under Gameplay in the option menu.

Second, I'm starting to map out additional stages and levels, and I just couldn't wait to share some new background elements with you. For now, I've added an option under Gameplay to select the "Stage" for the background elements to use. Ultimately this will be incorporated into the campaign along with additional enemies and other hazards, but for now it just adds an alternate view. Please let me know what you think and if it's the right direction.

Finally, a message is now displayed to compliment the final level wave warning sound. Players have all too often wondered what the warning sound means the first time they play. In addition, in Free Play mode this message is accompanied by a list of the end-of-wave baddies your about to face. You'll have to let me know if you find it useful to be able to anticipate the onslaught your about to face and possibly be defeated by, or just find it useless noise.

• Shared-Screen Mode - Play on a single screen instead of splitting the screen.
  
• Stage Select - Pick Stage 1 or Stage 2 (only affects background graphics)
  
• Indicate the end of the level with a message in addition to the alarm sound.
  
• List end of level threats in Free Play mode.
  
• Adjust end of level waves.
  
• Adjust Free Play mode difficulty. It gets a lot harder after a few cycles than it used to which was already pretty hard.

• Fixed a bug related to positional audio and seamless wrapping.
  
• Fixed a bug related to particle effects (explosions) and seamless wrapping.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

I hope you enjoy the new features, and once again, happy blasting!!

This release is dedicated to YouTube player/reviewer Big Joe Bear who was kind enough to both make me aware of a key issue now fixed in this release, and to also make a stellar video tour de force of Solaroids. Note to self, cause internet outages around the world to entice more players to play!! If you can, give his channel a look and support him if it interests you:

https://youtu.be/l9pLqZpr_SA

Hello Everyone! Things have been quiet on the Solaroids update front lately. Work hasn't stopped, but I've had to focus on some other aspects related to the game that are outside of the game itself. Stay tuned.

Some things I'm working on, but aren't ready yet, are additional leaderboards. I'm considering weekly and monthly boards, as well as per control type boards. I will probably be adding daily leaderboards once I have the planned Daily Challenge game mode implemented.

• Reset parallax in multiplayer when doing a cut transition.
  
• Don't show initial tips (in a ring around the sun) in free play mode.
  
• Tuning of score multipliers:
  
  • Modern Control Style gets a 1x base multiplier now instead of 0.5x, with increased adder and increased decay factors.
    
  • Classic and Hybrid control styles stay mostly the same but get an adder boost.
• Turn agility power-ups now increase (a little bit) the maneuverability of the ship in Modern (dual-stick) control style.
  
• Fade in/out of per player stats / leaderboard displays.
  
• Update framework libraries for Linux and OSX versions. These are big changes, especially with respect to audio, so please report any issues.
  
• A bunch of internal changes to prepare for new features.

• When playing with keyboard or mouse+keyboard, the mouse cursor is now locked to the game window during gameplay so you don't accidentally move it outside the window in the thick of combat. This is also in effect when borderless mode is active. So, for those of you that play borderless full-screen on a multi-monitor setup, you'll no longer accidentally scroll to the other screen and click on some other window with catastrophic results. Note that the mouse won't be locked to the window when pausing or from the main or exit menus. Thank you Big Joe Bear for communicating this issue to me.
  
• Fix an occasional 1-frame visual glitch when detaching outriders and exploding complex enemies.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Happy blasting!!

Hello Everyone! Just a small update to release a few new features, and round up a few bugs -- some of which were released as hot-fixes several weeks ago.

As players rack up more and more impressive scores, I thought it would be cool for you to be able to compare the control style you typically use with those of the other players. Classic and Hybrid (single-stick) control styles are the purest and most challenging modes, and as discussed in a previous update, come with some scoring advantages. Now you'll be able to see what control style a given score was achieved with. Next to scores in the global leaderboards you'll see a symbol denoting which control style was used: (C)lassic, (H)ybrid, and (M)odern. Note that this is only computed for new scores going forward, so any current scores are classified as Unknown and won't show a symbol until you beat your previous bests.

• The Control Style used to achieve a score is now recorded and displayed next to the high score. (C)lassic, (H)ybrid, (M)odern. You have to have played in a particular style most of the time for it to count.
  
• German translation updates.
  
• Cleans up old log files when debug logging is disabled.

• Ensure friend leaderboards immediately update in-game.
  
• Adjust thruster sounds for Modern (dual-stick) control style.
  
• Tune bullet sound effects.
  
• Fix issue where the top-X scores were shown instead of an empty list when you don't have any friends that play Solaroids (what a shame ːsteamsadː).

• Fix issue with Control Style text in HUDs overlapping when multiple players are choosing their control style at the same time.
  
• Fix crash on some machines/locales when player stat displays are generated.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

I hope you enjoy the new refinements and features.

Once again... Happy blasting!!

Hello everyone! Happy June and congratulations on the great scores!!



It is awesome to see the competition getting fierce on the leaderboards as well as players taking advantage of the new Control Styles and score Multiplier. That's the good news... the bad news is that 10 of the slots are being removed from the in-game list to make room for a small Friends leaderboard ːsteamhappyː&ːsteamsadː.

If you enjoy Solaroids, please consider leaving a review as it is critical to the amount of exposure provided by steam and could really help spread the word.

I'm happy to release some new features focused on competition. I've had statistics behind the scenes for some time, but I've always wanted to present them in-game. Showing the last/best score in the HUD was one such feature, and I'm happy to report that now several other useful (and maybe some non-useful) statistics are now readily displayed while playing alone or with friends.



The current set of stats are shown once a round has been completed and before continuing (or while requesting to forfeit). For player 1 (normally tied to the steam account), It will display the recorded Overall steam stats in addition to showing temporary session stats for Current, Last, and Best, For players 2-4 only stats for the current game session are tracked. If there are particular stats that you think should replace some of these, let me know in the comments or community hub.

In addition to stats, I've also decided to give each player their own mini high score listings to show their overall ranking. This includes Local, Global, and Friend listings.



What's a game based on a competitive score mechanic without more ways to rank yourself? I hope you enjoy 1-UP'ing your friends, or at least knowing at a glance who's the best!

I also managed to get a couple of smaller features in based on community feedback. If you are one of the players that had wished for "classic" twin-stick style controls (aka Geometry wars / Robotron) when using the Modern (dual-stick) control style, then you might enjoy the new Fire on Aim option under the Gameplay menu. Fire on Aim augments the Autofire setting to start firing just by aiming the ship. One consequence of this though, is that it is harder to conserve your Primary Weapon ammo. However, if you're careful not to fully press the thumb stick all the way, you can actually aim without firing as well.

Another set of small features relate to a recent request by a player to "simplify" the arena. I think they were longing for an experience closer to some of the retro games long ago, without backdrop clutter competing against energy bullets etc. As such, I've made it possible to adjust the background elements, such as the stars and nebula, to simplify, fade, or turn them off completely. Find these settings under the Effects options menu.

• Fire on Aim Option. When turned on automatically fires when aiming the ship while in the Modern (dual-stick) control style -- similar to simple twin-stick shooters.
  
• When using the Modern (dual-stick) control style, Dynamic Braking will not be engaged unless you release the aiming control (i.e. right thumb stick). This allows you to perform drifting strafe maneuvers similar to Classic or Hybrid control styles.
  
• Stars Option - Adjust the number of stars.
  
• Stars Opacity Option - Fades background stars.
  
• Background Opacity Option - Fades background elements such as nebula, galaxies, and planets.
  
• Global Friend high scores. Note this reduced the number of global high scores displayed in-game.
  
• Per player high scores and stats:
  
  • Shown between sessions, and independently for each player.
    
  • High scores include Local, Global, and Friend scores.
    
  • Presently, the following stats are shown:
    
    • Player Kills - The total number of times you have killed another player.
      
    • Killed by Players - The total number of times you have been killed by other players.
      
    • Asteroids - The total number of asteroids of any type destroyed.
      
    • Small Asteroids - The total number of small asteroids destroyed.
      
    • Outriders Held - The maximum number of outriders held at once.
      
    • Primary Ammo - The maximum number of primary weapon bullets held at once.
      
    • Secondary Ammo - The maximum number of secondary weapon shots held at once.
      
    • Defensive Ammo - The maximum number of defensive weapon shots held at once.
      
    • Powerups Collected - The total number of power-ups collected of any type.
      
    • Bullet Efficiency - Percentage of bullets that hit a target vs. bullets fired.
      
    • Missile Efficiency - Percentage of missiles that hit a target vs. missiles launched.
      
    • Survival Efficiency - Player kills vs player deaths.
  • Stats include Current, Last, Best, and Overall values.

• The default control style is now Modern (dual-stick) instead of Classic.
  
• Fix issue with missile collisions.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

I hope you enjoy the new refinements and features. Let me know in the comments what you think so far, how it should evolve, and if you have any favorite stats.

Once again... Happy blasting!!

Hello everyone! This is just a small update to release a few features that I didn't want to wait for a bigger update.



First, watching players at a local gaming event, and on YouTube, I fast tracked an idea I had for helping to identify power-ups that can be used. Now if a power-up can't be collected, or wouldn't be useful to collect, they will be drawn ghosted as an indicator. Cases where power-ups can't be collected are when you're maxed out on a capability such as bullet rate/velocity/strength, or for repair power-ups, when your already fully repaired. In the later case, previously it would collect it anyway, but I felt that was misleading since other power-ups would just fail to collect. I hope now it will be more clear when to chase after the buggers!



I also improved the ability to swap outriders for fresh ones. If you have a bunch of outriders and one of them is more damaged than the one your about to pick up, they will be exchanged. Previously it wouldn't always swap them out.

Oh and one more. After watching Space Game Junkie do infinity circles around two of the early bosses trying to get their own missiles to hit each other, I just had to enable it. So now after a short delay, enemy missiles can actually hit enemies if your adept with the piloting skills!

I hope you enjoy the mini-update and have a great weekend!!

• Drifting power-ups are now transparent "ghosted" if you will not be able to pick them up -- for example if you have already maxed out the capability. This includes repair power-ups, so no longer will you feel like you have to chase something down to only find out that it wasn't useful at that moment.
  
• Adjusted floating power-up effects to make the central icon graphics more visible.
  
• Enemy missiles can now be used against them. After a delay, their missiles can hit enemy ships including the source of the missile.

• Swapping outriders for outriders of better health wasn't working as intended. You should now be able to swap a damaged outrider for one in better condition.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

It's finally here!! In addition to the expert control and challenge of the classic Asteroids® controls, Solaroids now has more modern control styles for your (or your friends) enjoyment! I'm happy to introduce Hybrid (single-stick) and Modern (dual-stick) control styles.



If you enjoy Twin-stick shooters, now is the time to test your skills against veteran players. Just select the Modern (dual-stick) control style before joining or from the player options menu while in-game. Use one thumb-stick to thrust and orient your ship, or both at the same time to perform advanced dodging and strafing.





If you almost like the classic controls but wish you could use one of the thumb-sticks to control the orientation of your ship, we have you covered too. Just select the Hybrid (single-stick) control style.

If you're a classic player and worried about new twin-stick cowboys besting your scores, have no fear. This version now supports score Multipliers and taking direct control of all the ships thrusters via Classic controls has a few rewards. While using Modern (dual-stick) controls there is a bit of a multiplier penalty, and the multiplier increases and decreases at a less advantageous rate. These aspects may be adjusted over the coming months as necessary to balance things.

Another requested feature by several players has been to add "drum brakes". While I can't literally add them, it is space after all, I've done the next best thing. I've added lateral thrusters that you can use manually for advanced strafing maneuvers, but you can also activate all thrusters to dynamically slow your ship regardless of the direction it is facing. In Modern (dual-stick) mode this happens automatically whenever you release the movement stick. For Hybrid (single-stick) and Classic modes it can be engaged by pressing both forward and reverse thrusters at the same time.



But wait, that's not all! All these control styles are also available using keyboard and mouse. Yes, that's right, if you prefer to use the utility of the mouse to aim and fire, both Hybrid and Modern styles are augmented with mouse controls along with the ability to re-bind the mouse buttons to your liking.

In addition to mouse support in-game, the main menu and options menus have been re-written to support the mouse as well so click away. This also includes the control layout editor, so now you can click controls to re-bind them instead of having to hold the existing binding to activate reconfigure mode. Something that you may need if you have a controller that doesn't have some of the default bindings.

With the exception of the mouse movement, all thumb-sticks and buttons are reconfigurable to your tastes so if you don't like the default layout I've chosen, mix it up!

These are the big features, however there are a lot of other little features that have also been tweaked or introduced. Let me know if I hit something you like, or if the feature you've been hoping for is not available yet. I'm totally open for suggestions, and most have found a way into the game in one form or another.

I hope you enjoy the update. Let the blasting commence!

• Alternate control styles:
  
  • Classic - This is the original control scheme as in the original Asteroids, aka "tank" controls.
    
  • Hybrid (single-stick) - Orient the ship with the left thumb-stick or use the mouse to both orient and fire your primary and secondary weapons.
    
  • Modern (dual-stick) - Orient the ship with the left thumb-stick and control your thrusters with the right thumb-stick.
• Lateral thrusters for advanced pilots.
  
• Increase power of all thrusters.
  
• Dynamic braking. In Classic and single-stick mode, holding down both forward and reverse thrusters will slow the ship gradually to a stop. In dual-stick mode dynamic braking is automatically engaged when idle.
  
• Basic score multipliers. They go up for each kill and go down gradually when idle -- or really fast when you take a hit.
  
• If the spawn location near the sun is congested, spawning will be retried at an alternate location.
  
• Moved some options that were under Video to Gameplay and a new Effects menu as the video menu was getting crowded and too broad.
  
• Allow changing game play options while in-game. Now you can tweak friendly fire/collisions after starting.
  
• Early access reminder/disclaimer shown before title. You can skip it the same as the DynF/X Digital splash screen.
  
• Early Access version is now displayed in the lower right corner of the title screen.
  
• Beta is displayed when running an alternate build.
  
• Mouse navigation support in the main menu and option menus.
  
• You can use the mouse to pick the control to reconfigure which is especially useful if your controller doesn’t have the same buttons to “hold down”.
  
• You can left click the mouse button to skip the splash screen and early access disclaimer screens.
  
• Default parallax is now 200% instead of 400%.
  
• Adjusted layout and flow of HUDs:
  
  • Forfeit dialog is now within the player's HUD to not disrupt the flow of other players.
    
  • When joining, allow the introduction of minimal configuration choices before entering the game.
    
  • Move ship color selection to a dedicated step in the HUD.
    
  • Add control style selection as a step within the HUD using Left/Right on the D-Pad/Keys.
    
  • Add ability to navigate to next and previous HUD.
    
  • Display icons indicating which directions on the D-Pad/Keys can be used to change options.
• Rapid fire power-up now responds to the recharge rate power up, increasing the rate of fire. Very satisfying!
  
• Steam profile icon now displayed for the player tied to the steam account (player 1).
  
• If stand-in machine translations are used, they will be indicated with an asterisk (*) until they have been reviewed and/or translated by a real human.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).

It's finally here!! In addition to the expert control and challenge of the classic Asteroids® controls, Solaroids now has more modern control styles for your (or your friends) enjoyment! I'm happy to introduce Hybrid (single-stick) and Modern (dual-stick) control styles.



If you enjoy Twin-stick shooters, now is the time to test your skills against veteran players. Just select the Modern (dual-stick) control style before joining or from the player options menu while in-game. Use one thumb-stick to thrust and orient your ship, or both at the same time to perform advanced dodging and strafing.





If you almost like the classic controls but wish you could use one of the thumb-sticks to control the orientation of your ship, we have you covered too. Just select the Hybrid (single-stick) control style.

If you're a classic player and worried about new twin-stick cowboys besting your scores, have no fear. This version now supports score Multipliers and taking direct control of all the ships thrusters via Classic controls has a few rewards. While using Modern (dual-stick) controls there is a bit of a multiplier penalty, and the multiplier increases and decreases at a less advantageous rate. These aspects may be adjusted over the coming months as necessary to balance things.

Another requested feature by several players has been to add "drum brakes". While I can't literally add them, it is space after all, I've done the next best thing. I've added lateral thrusters that you can use manually for advanced strafing maneuvers, but you can also activate all thrusters to dynamically slow your ship regardless of the direction it is facing. In Modern (dual-stick) mode this happens automatically whenever you release the movement stick. For Hybrid (single-stick) and Classic modes it can be engaged by pressing both forward and reverse thrusters at the same time.



But wait, that's not all! All these control styles are also available using keyboard and mouse. Yes, that's right, if you prefer to use the utility of the mouse to aim and fire, both Hybrid and Modern styles are augmented with mouse controls along with the ability to re-bind the mouse buttons to your liking.

In addition to mouse support in-game, the main menu and options menus have been re-written to support the mouse as well so click away. This also includes the control layout editor, so now you can click controls to re-bind them instead of having to hold the existing binding to activate reconfigure mode. Something that you may need if you have a controller that doesn't have some of the default bindings.

With the exception of the mouse movement, all thumb-sticks and buttons are reconfigurable to your tastes so if you don't like the default layout I've chosen, mix it up!

These are the big features, however there are a lot of other little features that have also been tweaked or introduced. Let me know if I hit something you like, or if the feature you've been hoping for is not available yet. I'm totally open for suggestions, and most have found a way into the game in one form or another.

I hope you enjoy the update. Let the blasting commence!

• Alternate control styles:
  
  • Classic - This is the original control scheme as in the original Asteroids, aka "tank" controls.
    
  • Hybrid (single-stick) - Orient the ship with the left thumb-stick or use the mouse to both orient and fire your primary and secondary weapons.
    
  • Modern (dual-stick) - Orient the ship with the left thumb-stick and control your thrusters with the right thumb-stick.
• Lateral thrusters for advanced pilots.
  
• Increase power of all thrusters.
  
• Dynamic braking. In Classic and single-stick mode, holding down both forward and reverse thrusters will slow the ship gradually to a stop. In dual-stick mode dynamic braking is automatically engaged when idle.
  
• Basic score multipliers. They go up for each kill and go down gradually when idle -- or really fast when you take a hit.
  
• If the spawn location near the sun is congested, spawning will be retried at an alternate location.
  
• Moved some options that were under Video to Gameplay and a new Effects menu as the video menu was getting crowded and too broad.
  
• Allow changing game play options while in-game. Now you can tweak friendly fire/collisions after starting.
  
• Early access reminder/disclaimer shown before title. You can skip it the same as the DynF/X Digital splash screen.
  
• Early Access version is now displayed in the lower right corner of the title screen.
  
• Beta is displayed when running an alternate build.
  
• Mouse navigation support in the main menu and option menus.
  
• You can use the mouse to pick the control to reconfigure which is especially useful if your controller doesn’t have the same buttons to “hold down”.
  
• You can left click the mouse button to skip the splash screen and early access disclaimer screens.
  
• Default parallax is now 200% instead of 400%.
  
• Adjusted layout and flow of HUDs:
  
  • Forfeit dialog is now within the player's HUD to not disrupt the flow of other players.
    
  • When joining, allow the introduction of minimal configuration choices before entering the game.
    
  • Move ship color selection to a dedicated step in the HUD.
    
  • Add control style selection as a step within the HUD using Left/Right on the D-Pad/Keys.
    
  • Add ability to navigate to next and previous HUD.
    
  • Display icons indicating which directions on the D-Pad/Keys can be used to change options.
• Rapid fire power-up now responds to the recharge rate power up, increasing the rate of fire. Very satisfying!
  
• Steam profile icon now displayed for the player tied to the steam account (player 1).
  
• If stand-in machine translations are used, they will be indicated with an asterisk (*) until they have been reviewed and/or translated by a real human.

• Borderless window option is only implemented for Windows right now.
  
• Disconnecting an external audio device being used by the game will cause a crash/freeze on Linux/OSX.
  
• Some options and more recent prompts are English only or machine translated right now. If machine translated, they are indicated with an asterisk (*).