Sep 23, 2020
Gone Viral - Skullbot Games
EARLY ACCESS UPDATE 0.5.0.rc.1
Good lord, it’s here! The official update for Early Access! Which we already know we’ll probably tweak once or twice.
Now, you may say - Skullbots, is all this gonna go to your head? Being new and trending, actually going to Early Access? Well, probably! But our 3-person small-but-mighty team (with assists from a bunch of buddies of course) is gonna keep on cranking out regular mini updates and occasional Big Honkin’ Updates because that’s how we roll. Heck, Early Access hopefully lets us become a bigger small-but-mighty team.
In fact, we’re already working on a new class for Update #1….woot! Time to start cranking out yet more CONTENT! In upcoming weeks we’ll talk about our roadmap for new classes, new levels, new content, and more coming out over Early Access.
But it’s the final bit of Beta! So here’s a bit more polish and even a new feature as we enter Early Access! Introducing COSMETICS!
To give you a bit of control over your visual flair, you can now use your character sheet to thumbs-up and thumbs-down various cosmetic options for yourself. How do you get these new options, you ask? Well, just for joining Early Access you’ll get a set of Announcer Shadez - and, to thank early adopters, every major update there’ll be a unique cosmetic permanently unlockable the first time you play.
At EA launch, unlock the Founder Crown! Once we introduce our next major update, the Founder Crown gets locked away from the latecomers and all folks who play get to unlock a new thang (I’m rooting for a Tutu, but it’s up to Andrew).
Play at least once per update, and you’ll collect em all as our thanks for feeding our ravenous need for gathering data and feedback.
And speaking of thanks - as we wrap up Closed Beta (yep, until the 23rd you can check out the latest candidate build - do realize that save files won’t carry over from CB to EA, however!)...
THANK YOU! As a tiny indie team we 100% couldn’t have done it without the thousands of folks who have played, praised, critiqued, and sassed us along the way.
You rock.
Enjoy!
Features:
-- Cosmetics system added!
-- Logging on at any time during Early Access unlocks the Announcer Shades cosmetic
-- Logging on before Major Update 1 unlocks the Founder Crown cosmetic
-- From the Murderpedia, you can enable any unlocked Cosmetics to turn em on/off across all characters
-- Each Major Update, we’ll give a new permanent cosmetic to anyone who plays at least once
-- More to come! We’ll tweak the cosmetic system as we add more goodies to it, so feedback welcome
Content:
-- Added Spanish, French, and Korean language settings
-- Added font support for the new languages
-- Added in-game advertising... but... not the bad kind... the funny kind... I swear
-- Added many new Tips and Shoutouts
----We now unlock any tip or shoutout early* and flag it as "common" if it contains your Twitch name (even if you aren't streaming/connected/Oauthed)
---- Note that if your Twitch name is set to "Tip" or something similar then you will unlock a LOT of tips. Nice going, "Tip" - if that's your REAL name.
---- *note that Tips are served dynamically - Early, you get basic tips. As you unlock elements of the game, we begin to show few if any basic tips and start to show mostly expert tips/design philosophies/shoutouts, etc.
Combat:
-- Bubble Wand projectiles now can knock around creatures or physics objects with more force/farther - feels much more kinetic (feedback welcome) (Good suggestion from Wanderbots stream)
-- Recovery from explosive Knockdown is much quicker for the player at all insanity levels. Much more reactive - but maybe too easy to recover? Feedback welcome. Thanks @Ceapa_Verde @Seebo and many others
Twitch:
-- Re-ordered the Twitch Oauth option to be grouped with the other connection info for clarity
-- Added button to Twitch Settings to send automated whispers to active dev accounts (helpful to unblock dev access if you have whispers blocked from strangers by default and don’t wanna hunt down one of us on stream to whisper to enable cheats)
Polish:
-- The Juggernaut now cleans itself up better if he dies while flying
-- Switched the 4th floor Da Champ boss fight arena over to the new gameshow lighting
-- Barbed wire wall toppers will no longer cast glitchy shadows
-- Fixed an issue where ambient and combat music was restarting from the beginning every time they were swapped to
-- Updated various UIs to say "Early Access" instead of "Closed Beta"
-- Which is incredibly exciting
-- And if we hotfix between now and then this will be quite confusing, but luckily we have highly intelligent testers, and @[AG] Buddy
-- Gold material updates
-- Locked door replacement
-- Pickup glow adjustments
-- Wallop arrow adjustment
-- Stone floor brightness adjustment
-- Exposure settings tweaks
-- Main Menu rim light tweaks
-- Chest pickup rim lights
-- Updated localized strings to have the latest translations
-- Added mesh for Announcer's sunglasses for cosmetics
-- Hooked up tile variants for the basic gameshow tiles
-- You can no longer enter the escape menu when in the end of level or end of run UIs
-- Lowered the chance of the new gameshow base tile variations spawning
-- Final elevator has a Champ Belt letting you know you're about to win!
-- Fix for widescreen UI issues found by redditor /u/Forgot_my_pa5sword (thanks for the find!)
-- Fixed the destructible mesh settings for the gameshow wall TV
-- Fixed an issue where silhouettes would stick their wall blocking geo into other rooms (thanks @Seebo)
-- Fixed an issue where silhouette wall blocking geo was not tall enough to hide the bottom of arena walls
-- Wall adverts now randomize their "swap" time
-- Fixed an issue where breaking a wall advert during the static transition would leave broken screen pieces with permanent static
-- Updated all language localizations to the lastest strings
-- Updated Game Over screen to send folks to steam in general since wishlists ain't a thang soon!
-- Hmmm, we should only send folks to steam for recommendations if they actually WIN a run. Losing runs = nope, don't recommend now. Dang, wish we were more evil.
-- Gameshow advert decors now take up a little more space on the walls to allow some breathing room near corners and each other
-- Fixed several bugs with decor overlapping door frames
-- Doors now block out decor in a more exact area, meaning less oddly blank walls near doors
-- Scooted the gameshow advert decor panels back into the wall a bit
-- Allowed the larger gameshow screen decor items to spawn even on the fence covered walls
-- Tweaks to the Founder Crown
-- Fixed an issue where decor being removed during level load was giving you carnage
-- Adjusted Early Access text and spacing to be more consistent on main menu
-- Acid Bots and other things that drip acid or flame or other stuff no longer drip while being walloped - and no longer purge other buffs while doing so (good catch @Seebo)
-- Slightly toned down the bubble knockback as @Doug was concerned we'd make the game too easy for y'all
-- Disabling the Post Process Quality video option as it does not play well with the new gameshow lighting (thanks @Retromation)
-- Cleaned up Murderpedia sections of various elements and pruned a few items that aren't yet achievable (thanks for notes @Seebo )
-- Updated the main gameplay theme and combat music to the newest significantly longer versions
-- Any Achievement is automatically Mastered as you achieve it, even if you don't win that particular run (to keep you from having unmasterable achievements like First Death).
-- Added a fix to Murderpedia buttons that may fix an odd case where Abacus mastered its (blank!) starting armor. Seriously, WTF.
-- Cleaned up gamepad movement on the in-game run and character sheet menus
-- Switched the boss fight music over to the newer song
-- Cut the advert transition time in half
-- Adjusted the advert decor spawning to appear half as often
Developer Notes
-- [DEV] Minor tweaks to god commands
-- [WIP] Removal of beta icons
-- [DEV] Redirector cleanup
-- [DEV] Further Beta icon and text tweaks
-- [DEV] Updating the game version to 0.5.0.1
-- [DEV] Fixed several issues with escape characters and French
-- [DEV] Gathered new localized strings for translation
-- [WIP] Founder Goodies/cosmetic unlocks underpinnings
-- [DEV] Added a save versioning system to the account saves and the game
-- [DEV] Added a save upgrade system to the account manager
-- [DEV] Added (but did not enable) a save reset system for the conversion to Early Access in the future
-- [DEV] Removed some log spam for an audio queue
-- [DEV] Completely changed how decore slots are gathered
-- [DEV] Changed how walls handle being marked as plain
-- [DEV] Fixes for cooked build compile issues
-- [DEV] Updating the game version to 0.5.0.0-rc.1
-- [DEV] Updating the dll and pdb
-- [DEV] Updated the detector box for the advert decor to be the correct size
-- [DEV] Added logging around spawn pool chances
-- [DEV] Added the latest strings to the localization system
-- [DEV] Removed a ton of old / unused music
-- [DEV] Twitchworks dll
Good lord, it’s here! The official update for Early Access! Which we already know we’ll probably tweak once or twice.
Now, you may say - Skullbots, is all this gonna go to your head? Being new and trending, actually going to Early Access? Well, probably! But our 3-person small-but-mighty team (with assists from a bunch of buddies of course) is gonna keep on cranking out regular mini updates and occasional Big Honkin’ Updates because that’s how we roll. Heck, Early Access hopefully lets us become a bigger small-but-mighty team.
In fact, we’re already working on a new class for Update #1….woot! Time to start cranking out yet more CONTENT! In upcoming weeks we’ll talk about our roadmap for new classes, new levels, new content, and more coming out over Early Access.
But it’s the final bit of Beta! So here’s a bit more polish and even a new feature as we enter Early Access! Introducing COSMETICS!
To give you a bit of control over your visual flair, you can now use your character sheet to thumbs-up and thumbs-down various cosmetic options for yourself. How do you get these new options, you ask? Well, just for joining Early Access you’ll get a set of Announcer Shadez - and, to thank early adopters, every major update there’ll be a unique cosmetic permanently unlockable the first time you play.
At EA launch, unlock the Founder Crown! Once we introduce our next major update, the Founder Crown gets locked away from the latecomers and all folks who play get to unlock a new thang (I’m rooting for a Tutu, but it’s up to Andrew).
Play at least once per update, and you’ll collect em all as our thanks for feeding our ravenous need for gathering data and feedback.
And speaking of thanks - as we wrap up Closed Beta (yep, until the 23rd you can check out the latest candidate build - do realize that save files won’t carry over from CB to EA, however!)...
THANK YOU! As a tiny indie team we 100% couldn’t have done it without the thousands of folks who have played, praised, critiqued, and sassed us along the way.
You rock.
Enjoy!
Features:
-- Cosmetics system added!
-- Logging on at any time during Early Access unlocks the Announcer Shades cosmetic
-- Logging on before Major Update 1 unlocks the Founder Crown cosmetic
-- From the Murderpedia, you can enable any unlocked Cosmetics to turn em on/off across all characters
-- Each Major Update, we’ll give a new permanent cosmetic to anyone who plays at least once
-- More to come! We’ll tweak the cosmetic system as we add more goodies to it, so feedback welcome
Content:
-- Added Spanish, French, and Korean language settings
-- Added font support for the new languages
-- Added in-game advertising... but... not the bad kind... the funny kind... I swear
-- Added many new Tips and Shoutouts
----We now unlock any tip or shoutout early* and flag it as "common" if it contains your Twitch name (even if you aren't streaming/connected/Oauthed)
---- Note that if your Twitch name is set to "Tip" or something similar then you will unlock a LOT of tips. Nice going, "Tip" - if that's your REAL name.
---- *note that Tips are served dynamically - Early, you get basic tips. As you unlock elements of the game, we begin to show few if any basic tips and start to show mostly expert tips/design philosophies/shoutouts, etc.
Combat:
-- Bubble Wand projectiles now can knock around creatures or physics objects with more force/farther - feels much more kinetic (feedback welcome) (Good suggestion from Wanderbots stream)
-- Recovery from explosive Knockdown is much quicker for the player at all insanity levels. Much more reactive - but maybe too easy to recover? Feedback welcome. Thanks @Ceapa_Verde @Seebo and many others
Twitch:
-- Re-ordered the Twitch Oauth option to be grouped with the other connection info for clarity
-- Added button to Twitch Settings to send automated whispers to active dev accounts (helpful to unblock dev access if you have whispers blocked from strangers by default and don’t wanna hunt down one of us on stream to whisper to enable cheats)
Polish:
-- The Juggernaut now cleans itself up better if he dies while flying
-- Switched the 4th floor Da Champ boss fight arena over to the new gameshow lighting
-- Barbed wire wall toppers will no longer cast glitchy shadows
-- Fixed an issue where ambient and combat music was restarting from the beginning every time they were swapped to
-- Updated various UIs to say "Early Access" instead of "Closed Beta"
-- Which is incredibly exciting
-- And if we hotfix between now and then this will be quite confusing, but luckily we have highly intelligent testers, and @[AG] Buddy
-- Gold material updates
-- Locked door replacement
-- Pickup glow adjustments
-- Wallop arrow adjustment
-- Stone floor brightness adjustment
-- Exposure settings tweaks
-- Main Menu rim light tweaks
-- Chest pickup rim lights
-- Updated localized strings to have the latest translations
-- Added mesh for Announcer's sunglasses for cosmetics
-- Hooked up tile variants for the basic gameshow tiles
-- You can no longer enter the escape menu when in the end of level or end of run UIs
-- Lowered the chance of the new gameshow base tile variations spawning
-- Final elevator has a Champ Belt letting you know you're about to win!
-- Fix for widescreen UI issues found by redditor /u/Forgot_my_pa5sword (thanks for the find!)
-- Fixed the destructible mesh settings for the gameshow wall TV
-- Fixed an issue where silhouettes would stick their wall blocking geo into other rooms (thanks @Seebo)
-- Fixed an issue where silhouette wall blocking geo was not tall enough to hide the bottom of arena walls
-- Wall adverts now randomize their "swap" time
-- Fixed an issue where breaking a wall advert during the static transition would leave broken screen pieces with permanent static
-- Updated all language localizations to the lastest strings
-- Updated Game Over screen to send folks to steam in general since wishlists ain't a thang soon!
-- Hmmm, we should only send folks to steam for recommendations if they actually WIN a run. Losing runs = nope, don't recommend now. Dang, wish we were more evil.
-- Gameshow advert decors now take up a little more space on the walls to allow some breathing room near corners and each other
-- Fixed several bugs with decor overlapping door frames
-- Doors now block out decor in a more exact area, meaning less oddly blank walls near doors
-- Scooted the gameshow advert decor panels back into the wall a bit
-- Allowed the larger gameshow screen decor items to spawn even on the fence covered walls
-- Tweaks to the Founder Crown
-- Fixed an issue where decor being removed during level load was giving you carnage
-- Adjusted Early Access text and spacing to be more consistent on main menu
-- Acid Bots and other things that drip acid or flame or other stuff no longer drip while being walloped - and no longer purge other buffs while doing so (good catch @Seebo)
-- Slightly toned down the bubble knockback as @Doug was concerned we'd make the game too easy for y'all
-- Disabling the Post Process Quality video option as it does not play well with the new gameshow lighting (thanks @Retromation)
-- Cleaned up Murderpedia sections of various elements and pruned a few items that aren't yet achievable (thanks for notes @Seebo )
-- Updated the main gameplay theme and combat music to the newest significantly longer versions
-- Any Achievement is automatically Mastered as you achieve it, even if you don't win that particular run (to keep you from having unmasterable achievements like First Death).
-- Added a fix to Murderpedia buttons that may fix an odd case where Abacus mastered its (blank!) starting armor. Seriously, WTF.
-- Cleaned up gamepad movement on the in-game run and character sheet menus
-- Switched the boss fight music over to the newer song
-- Cut the advert transition time in half
-- Adjusted the advert decor spawning to appear half as often
Developer Notes
-- [DEV] Minor tweaks to god commands
-- [WIP] Removal of beta icons
-- [DEV] Redirector cleanup
-- [DEV] Further Beta icon and text tweaks
-- [DEV] Updating the game version to 0.5.0.1
-- [DEV] Fixed several issues with escape characters and French
-- [DEV] Gathered new localized strings for translation
-- [WIP] Founder Goodies/cosmetic unlocks underpinnings
-- [DEV] Added a save versioning system to the account saves and the game
-- [DEV] Added a save upgrade system to the account manager
-- [DEV] Added (but did not enable) a save reset system for the conversion to Early Access in the future
-- [DEV] Removed some log spam for an audio queue
-- [DEV] Completely changed how decore slots are gathered
-- [DEV] Changed how walls handle being marked as plain
-- [DEV] Fixes for cooked build compile issues
-- [DEV] Updating the game version to 0.5.0.0-rc.1
-- [DEV] Updating the dll and pdb
-- [DEV] Updated the detector box for the advert decor to be the correct size
-- [DEV] Added logging around spawn pool chances
-- [DEV] Added the latest strings to the localization system
-- [DEV] Removed a ton of old / unused music
-- [DEV] Twitchworks dll
Share: 
