Hi all! We've been busy updating and improving the game, and now the update is out! We've been listening to your feedback and fixed some of those things, thanks alot for the reviews and suggestions! Some of the improvements/changes in this update are:
Better sound!
- 3D surround sound support - More dynamic sound
Better 3d models!
- Lots of models and textures are updated with improved quality (and more are also on the way), here is an example of the difference:
New languages!
- Russian - Simplified Chinese
Updated camera control!
- Now you can control both left/right and up/down with thumb and zoom with fingertips :-)
Checkpoint progress is saved!
- If/when you rage quit, now you can continue that level from the last passed checkpoint the next day when you're calm again, instead of having to restart the level from the beginning :-)
New render settings menu!
- Here you can tune the graphics how you like it :)
Apart from this, some have asked what things are new and/or changed in Switchball HD, compared to the original game. Quite a few things actually! We have compiled a list of all the stuff here:
Changes in Switchball HD
Uses the most recent levels of the old versions (PS3 version)
- We first developed Switchball for PC. After that, we ported it to XBox 360, and finally PS3. During the porting we streamlined and improved the levels, as we learned new things for each port. The HD version contains the best versions of the levels, now finally on PC.
Tweaked physics for better responsiveness
- The old game was made for a 30 fps experience. When we decided to improve the rendering to 60fps, the old physics felt a bit sluggish. So we re-tweaked all of the physics to feel better with the new 60 fps experience.
Simplified camera control for improved user experience
- Improving does not always mean to add more things. Sometimes itâs better to remove stuff thatâs superfluous or working poorly. The old camera had several modes, with each mode having both pros and cons. It also got a lot of critique. So we decided to simplify it, and put the control in the players hands instead. That way you have full control, and the camera never does something unexpected.
Added 64-bit and Windows 10 support
- The old PC version of Switchball was made for 32-bit processors on Windows XP. A lot has happened since then in the PC-space, so weâve rewritten the engine to support 64-bit processors and the modern Windows 10 operating system.
Added wide-screen and 4k support
- Back in 2007, wide screen and 4k wasnât a thing on PC. The most common monitor type was 4:3 and 1024x768, so we optimized the old PC version of Switchball for that. In 2021 things are quite different, so we added support for wide (and ultra-wide) aspect ratios, as well as high resolutions such as 4k.
60 fps support
- The old versions of Switchball was hard limited to 30 fps. This was mostly a technical constraint to be able to guarantee that the physics was stable and behaving as expected (for the most part :)). In 2021, thanks to increases in processor speeds, we could increase that to a smooth 60 fps experience.
All in-game textures have been remastered from 1k to 4k
- The old PC version was made to work with GPUs having 64MB of RAM. Today, mainstream GPUs have about 100x that! So for the HD version, all in-game textures have been remastered from their original 1k resolution to 4k.
HDR rendering with logarithmic tone mapping (much less clipping to white)
- For more information about tone mapping, see this link: Tone mapping NOTE: this is NOT the same as support for HDR displays - Switchball HD does NOT support that yet.
Improved shaders with more faithful material rendering
- For example, metal materials now looks more like actual metal instead of shiny plastic
Color grading
- Added contrast and saturation to improve color reproduction
Performance improvements and better scaling
- Simplified renderer to use fewer rendering passes, resulting in better performance - Improved batching to reduce draw calls
Depth of field-effect
- Helps to separate foreground and background elements
Colored depth-fog effect
- Gives nice colors to distant geometry, and blends it with skybox a lot better
When you encounter frequent crash/flashback/stuck, you can try window mode (currently it will be easy to when you frequently switch to other apps)
When you encounter black screen, try pressing F11
You will need to open a new savedata after updating the version. It is very likely that you will encounter other problems when loading the old savedata.
Update Content
Fixed a BUG where villagers would sink into the ground
Fixed some bugs that caused the game to crash
Fixed a BUG where putting down the shrine would cause the villagers to get stuck
Optimized the performance of vistas, now the building frame count is higher
Fixed a BUG where some items dropped by monsters would not be picked up
Optimized some BOSS monster attack animations
Added a setting where warehouse managers would help each other and help each other carry items
Reduced the power of the senile BUFF, and will now retain half the power of the young
Added screen prompts when monsters attack
At the same time, I hope you can understand that the current game DEMO is not perfect. We really appreciate and need your support, which can help us find more bugs and help us improve the game.
If you have any bugs or feedback you'd like to share with us, please use the Steam discussion, or join our official Discord channel.
ATTENTION: Crashes/Froze Reports
When you encounter crashes and froze, please pack the save data and latest crash log together and send to the dev via carlchou1992@foxmail.com. The save data files's path should be C:\Users\your user account name\AppData\Local\GodSimulator\Saved\SaveGames, and the crash log's path should C:\Users\your user account name\AppData\Local\GodSimulator\Saved\Crashes (just pack the latest one when your game crashed)
Catch up with us around the web for more information about our game:
Researchers today announced that their trials which had been showing promise for years broke down. Their field of study was simulation-theory; the idea that we live in a universe run as an immensely complex simulation. Dr Bostrom suggests that being unable to replicate previous results is evidence for, not against their ideas, and suggests that âmaybe somebody upgraded the engine.â The group admits that they must start at square one, but insists that they will continue their efforts.
ERS sued for planned obsolescence
ERS faces a lawsuit for planned obsolescence. Features included in the Nuclear-Assisted Gimballed Hall-effect Thrusters were found to have no function but to regulate their functional lifespan. CEOs claim middle management looked to their own advancement with a profitable technology, while project managers insist the orders to implement the features came informally from the top. As an intermediate step, the features can be removed free of charge at any service center, and should greatly improve the lifespan of these thrusters.
Official registry of the Bald Eagle
Formerly considered a dangerous and unauthorized ship customization, the so-called Bald Eagle has nonetheless dominated the Ring Racing scene. To prove their design is sound, the originator of the customization manual (wishing to remain anonymous) has completed safety trials. The results describe the customized vessel as âvolatile, but fundamentally sound.â Though its recognition from the dealer is an important landmark for ringracers, the dealer will not carry unauthorized design mods. Those wishing to obtain one of these vessels are encouraged by Ring Runner Racing to seek a custom ship-crafter from within their community.
Maintenance Records
Updated the game engine to latest stable Godot Engine 3.3.2, which improves performance, enables M1 support, and fixes a number of stability-related bugs. Improvements are visible across the board, but will be most noticeable on systems using AMD or Intel GPUs and M1 CPUs.
Number of performance and stability improvements.
5 more story encounters.
Additional crew interactions.
Fixes to the audio system, eliminating clipping and popping sounds.
When returning to Enceladus, your ship will now use the reactive mass it claims to need, including the ÎV requirements for anything you hold in cargo and drone manipulators.
Pods and drones attached to your ship wonât confuse autonomic autopilots anymore.
Pirates wonât expose their transponders when you are talking to them anymore.
Derelicts are more rare now, but you can interact with them more often.
Fixed a display glitch that caused your ship to display different values depending on how you looked at it.
Limited charge for ringstorm discharges, so an unlucky hit wonât fry your entire ship anymore.
Pulse laser will now have all pulses visible even if your physics FPS setting exceeds your physical monitor refresh rate.
Fine-tuned physics settings to avoid cargo clipping through ship hulls.
You can disable adrenaline boosters now in the OMS menu.
Increased durability of Nuclear Assisted Gimballed Hall Effect Thrusters.
Fixed a bug that caused big asteroids to be marked as ore sometimes.
Added a dealer description and specs for Bald Eagle.
You can now pay individual crew salaries if overdue.
Cargo Container, Mining Companion and Claim Beacon upgrade menu simulations will now show your hardware deploying.
Salvage Manipulator update menu simulation is now zoomed in.
Thank you for playing our demo! We are happy to introduce some changes based on the feedback we've collected up until now - make sure to check them below!
As we receive a lot of very valuable feedback we do what we can to make sure that the demo version of our game is as polished as possible. We're introducing further changes designed to make sure that your enjoyment is increased and to ensure that your experience with the game is better.
One thing however does not change - we still await your feedback and can't wait to hear from you regarding your feeling after playing through the demo - now improved!
Check the changes below:
Changelog:
Player will no longer be immortal after the pulsating reactor sequence
Vision will no longer be improperly blurred after certain actions
Tutorial infographics have been reinstated and are properly translated to all languages
It is no longer possible to exit the playable area near the end of the demo
All player tasks and waypoints are now properly translated to all languages
Game now warns about high RAM demand of certain settings
Fixed issue with player being able to pickup some redundant items
Fixed issue with checkpoint inside the elevator shaft not being registered properly
Numerous player path and collision fixes
Minor tweaks to audio mastering
Thank you for your continuous support and all comments you send our way!
Kind regards, Chernobyl Liquidators Simulator Team
"Be seared in the flames of our loyalty to the Emperor!" â Sanguinius, Primarch
Sanguinius, the Great Angel and Primarch of the Blood Angels receives a new artwork commemorating his actions during the Siege of Terra!
Discover his new voice lines and exclusive collector's card back. Don't miss the chance to get this alternate artwork as part of a constructed deck in a time-limited deal this weekend!
Will you rally the forces of Terra and take flight against treachery?
Added visual feedback to "clicking" with the keyboard cursor.
Changed the emporium, farm and factory theme colours for the classic UI theme.
Decreased the saturation of the pop-up overlay colours in the classic UI theme.
Added locational indicator colour strip that appears in the shop, showing the ui theme colour for each location that a category belongs to.
Added hard background colouring to the shop focus menus.
Added visual glow effect to the page buttons in the shop to stand out more.
Added pulse button movement effect that occurs when the page arrows are pressed in the shop.
Added coloured strip that lays behind the wheel spin animation to tie it in with the new shop UI.
Slightly changed the pixel alignment of alerts to prevent tiny discrepancies between sprites.
Added occlusion to the emporium and factory as a whole against the grassy platform.
Made the tutorial text box have a heavier dark backing colour to make the text easier to distinguish.
Added text highlighting to key words in the tutorial.
UI:
Removed "{" and "}" from being used in emporium save titles.
Added new inventory tabs for more convenient sorting: "Hoppers", "Processors", (Factory) "Other".
Changed where the emporium decoration tab is positioned in the tab hierarchy.
Made the shop's categories location-dependent, with a setting to revert them to their old "global" state (or function-opening shop).
Added secondary tooltip to the shop to inform the player about what categories will be viewable upon opening it.
Added brand new tasks system, replacing the old quests. Multiple task tracks can be done simultaneously and each task rewards money, xp and an unlock or free item(s).
Changed task list to show completed and available tasks on it.
GAMEPLAY/BALANCE:
Strawberry bushes now act like nodes and will be demolished after their yield limit has ran out.
Decreased the capacity of containers: 100 -> 80.
Decreased value of strawberry bush sprouts to reflect their now impermanency: 450 -> 325.
Changed the level experience requirement curve to be significantly less steep later, at the cost of the slightest increase earlier on.
Retired original method of obtaining the Totem of the Cosmos, Cosmic Vase, Amethyst Liquidator, Amethyst Hopper and Amethyst Pyramid in favour of integrating them into a task track.
Completely re-did the entire tutorial, now running more thoroughly through several mechanics and introducing the task list.
BUGS/TECHNICAL:
Fixed the resource menu closing if scrolling with the keyboard cursor enabled was attempted.
Corrected the missing importer alerts.
Fixed bug where sealed pipes and construction lights would let light through them if a wire was behind
Optimised the rendering pipeline for lighting in the factory (making lighting only queue when rebaking).
Fixed factory lighting bug where lights would randomly appear through items that should be occluding it (was caused by a computer floating point inconsistency in the shader).
Fixed bug where hovering a non-interactable item when editmode is closed would cause it to render on top of other things it was obscured by briefly.
Made the factory update order consistent with an update rule of top to bottom, left to right, rather than being volatile and ocassionally random with items sharing a cartesianal row.
Reconfigured conveyor belts to have a consistent precedence rule relative to their orientation; i.e. they allow items from the rear first, then left, then right.
Fixed item teleportation desync visual bug that happened ocassionally in the factory.
Changed the reset button to become unusable while the button is compressed.
Changed both the multi-harvester and multi-reaper to use the "use" button rather than the "activate" toggle.
Made shop reset its offset when opened so that previous sessions don't carry over.
Altered the iternals of inventory to include zero as a tab to prevent certain issues.
Fixed bug where using the prize wheel would cause any offer blubs to instantly rejoice and leave as if their offer was accepted.
Fixed bug letting the zoom tooltip show through other UI elements if your zoom was min/max.
Removed erroneous alert showing gumball machine unlock via level-up which is no longer possible.
Corrected the arctic blue padded stool labelling itself as a pale blue padded stool in the catalogue.
Added separate hour counters for the three locations.
MISC:
Added phrase ender character for cosmic script.
Changed the default "default camera zoom" setting to be 2X rather than the minimum (1x).
Renamed the quest list to the "Task List", better reflecting its nature.
Added a phrase written in cosmic script viewable when focusing on the cosmic checkout.
Added additional jingle that plays when a task is completed.
Changed camera to stop all momentum when pop-ups are opened to stop the camera strangely resuming movement after.
Renamed shop to the catalogue to make better sense to its purpose as one.
Changed sale counting special items to state "counts <item> sales" rather than just "counts <items>".
Slightly increased the duration of silence after the tutorial: 1s -> 3s.
Skipping the tutorial no longer shows mass alerts for items.
Slightly altered wording for role in credits.
Altered desc of task list to fit its current name.
Added "Falling Aslumber" to the primary music pool.
