First off I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates here on Steam. I have been posting status updates to the game's Kickstarter every two months for over a year now, but it didn't occur to me until recently that I should be sharing that news with everyone here as well!
If you'd like to see what you've missed, all previous status updates can be viewed on the Kickstarter's updates page.
I will be posting the latest update right here though! In it I discuss a big new feature coming to the game and the next character to be added, who will make their debut in version 0.4! When is 0.4 releasing you ask? Soon! February 2024 at the latest, but possibly sooner. Keep reading for more details!
Sound Propagation
Something I've never been super happy about with Baldi's Basics is the way sound works. Unity's built-in audio system is very basic and so it can't do much beyond very simple attenuation and panning based on a sound's location relative to the camera. This means that sounds have always ignored the level layout and passed right through walls. I'm sure many of you have noticed that in the game you can hear anything that's nearby even if there are several walls between you and the source of the sound that should affect it. What I've always wanted to do was have sounds wrap around the walls so that players hear where they are coming from, not where they are. For a stealth game, this sort of sound propagation is a big deal.
For example, if you're in a room with a single door, all sounds from outside should be heard coming from the doorway. Even if the source of that sound is closer to the wall opposite the door, the sound should only be able to pass through an opening, not a wall. There are plugins available that try to solve this problem, but many of them either don't work with procedurally generated scenes or utilize expensive (On the CPU, not expensive monetarily) raycasting techniques to achieve a more realistic sound, which would be overkill for Baldi's Basics. I have for a long time felt that, due to the simple grid-based nature of Baldi's Basics levels, there had to be a good way to achieve what I wanted, and while I had several ideas on how to tackle the problem myself they were either too complex to tackle any time soon or would put too much work on the CPU and hurt performance.
That is until I stumbled upon a sort of algorithm/technique sometimes referred to as Dijkstra maps! Without getting too technical, this technique involves creating a sort of map that points to the shortest path to the player's location from any other location in the level. You only have to generate this map once whenever the the player moves or whenever the level layout changes, and then it can be used by as many things that need it as often as they need it. This means that the game can calculate what route a sound needs to take to reach the player very quickly, much more quickly than other pathfinding algorithms, which means lots of sounds can be processed at once without impacting performance!
In this screenshot, you can see this system in action! The lines from Baldi are an approximation of the shortest path from him to the player (Who is at the red X). The audio source gets placed at the end of the cyan line so that the sound can be heard coming from the door, even though Baldi is technically in the opposite direction.
I was able to develop, polish, and debug this system in just over a week. Performance testing shows it runs just as well as I was hoping. I was not expecting to get this done so early, but now it's likely it will be yet another big improvement to the game that will ship with Baldi's Basics Plus version 0.4!
You might be wondering, besides the fact that it's really cool, what is the point of this? Well there are several reasons why I believe this is a big improvement over the way audio used to be:
Sounds you hear are now more relevant - Just because you hear Baldi on the other side of a wall doesn't necessarily mean he's close to you. There might be a long winding path between you and him. With this system, you will now only hear sounds from things that are truly close to you!
You can now hear where sounds are coming from - With the old system, you can roughly tell where a sound is, but not necessarily which direction it's coming from. With sound propagation, you can better tell which way to go to get closer to, or run away from, a sound.
It makes captions less overpowered - Many people have noted that captions are a bit overpowered in their current form since they not only point to where a sound is at, but easily visualize how it's moving as well. Captions have been updated to reflect the new sound propagation system so now they don't provide as big of an unintended advantage while still providing useful info for those who need them to play the game properly.
It improves the game's atmosphere - The game is now a bit more quiet overall which, combined with other factors, raises tensions a bit more.
Sound design is one of my biggest passions in game dev so I could keep going on about how excited I am about this feature, but I'll go ahead and move onto revealing the next character!
Spoiler Warning!
If you're trying to avoid seeing the new character before 0.4 comes out, turn back now! If not, scroll down!
Oh, and please be mindful when discussing the new character online by posting spoiler warnings as well so that people who don't want spoilers can more easily avoid them!
Presenting the next Baldi's Basics character...
Dr. Reflex!
As many of you guessed, the next character will be Dr. Reflex, who I first talked about way back in a Kickstarter update I posted just a week after launching this campaign! I mentioned that the name was "definitely pending" but I ultimately just decided to leave it as-is haha.
What I didn't leave as-is are his game mechanics! The character works very differently than what I initially described in that previous post, as the idea evolved a lot since then. Dr. Reflex wanders around the school just like any other character, and when he sees you he'll rush over and, if he catches you, force you to take a reflex test in the form of a timing minigame. After a few moments he'll open up both of his hands and you'll need to quickly click on the correct one (Obviously there will be an indicator showing which hand is correct, but I haven't settled on what that will look like quite yet). If you click the wrong one or take too long to react the minigame will reset, and it will continue until you win, which will earn you some YTPs!
You might be thinking that that sounds a lot like Playtime, but Dr. Reflex has a big difference that sets him apart. Unlike with Playtime, you aren't held in place and can just walk away whenever you want. Baldi getting too close to wait for the test to begin? Just walk away! What negative consequence could you possibly face for leaving before completing the test?
Well that's when Dr. Reflex gets really interesting! If you leave before completing the test, Dr. Reflex will get angry and head back to his clinic (A special room that will generate in levels he is in) and grab a giant percussion hammer (You know, one of those weird reflex test hammers doctors hit your knee with). With this in hand, he will begin hunting you down, and if he catches you he will hit you with it several times and squish you!
When you're squished, your character will be half their regular height, and the things you'll be able to interact with will become limited. You'll still be able to open doors and solve math machines, but you won't be able to hit buttons, pick up items and notebooks or enter lockers among other things. This effect will wear off after some time, so you'll have to be extra careful until you regain your normal height.
You're not the only one who can get squished though! In his fury, Dr. Reflex will squish any character he comes across, including Baldi himself! When a character is squished, their interaction with you will be limited. So, for example, Baldi won't be able to end the game, Principal of the Thing won't be able to send you to detention, etc. If other characters get squished, make sure you take advantage of the situation!
Once Dr. Reflex squishes the player, he will return to normal and, after a cooldown, the cycle will repeat.
Dr. Reflex's programming is already pretty much complete. From what playtesting I've done, he can create some really funny - and terrifying - scenarios, so I can't wait for when you all will be able to meet him in-game!
What's not complete is the artwork and sounds. Similar to First Prize, Dr. Reflex will have a sprite that rotates based on what angle you are seeing him from. This is not only cool looking, but it's also important for gameplay as, unlike other Baldi's Basics characters, he can only see you if you are in front of him or in his periphery.
The difference though is that his sprites will be animated! I explained some of this in an earlier update, but the plan is to use stop motion to animate him from eight different angles, which is looking to be a lot of work, but I think it will be worth the effort! I haven't done any animation yet, so for now I just have these static placeholder sprites to show off.
I also have yet to do voicework. I haven't settled on how I want him to sound yet, all I know is that his catchphrase will be "Thiiiiiiink... Fast!" which he'll yell as he first chases you down and starts his minigame.
I think that's about everything there is to know about Dr. Reflex at the moment. So, I'll wrap this status update up!
Wrapping up
Recently I said that a January release for Baldi's Basics version 0.4 was a pretty safe bet, and I'd say that's still likely! However I have yet to sit down and make a bunch of rooms for the new level generator (Largely due to sound propagation stealing my attention for a bit!), so between still needing to do that and Dr. Reflex's animation work, things may take a tiny bit longer. 0.4 will come out in February at the latest, but January is still a real possibility. I will keep everyone updated as we get closer to those dates.
Aside from all that, I've also been doing the usual bug fixing and polishing as needed. The changelog for 0.4 is going to be massive haha.
We are happy and proud to release version 1.3.0.2 !We ‘ve read all the feedback provided by you, and took the constructive ones to heart. We’ve been working tirelessly in these past weeks to improve the game experience as a whole and make the game become as good as it can be.Heads up: this update may be surprising at first if you play the game the same way you used to! You will likely be grabbed more often. We strongly recommend taking some time to learn the timing of the vulnerability frame windows in each weapon's adjusted melee attacks.For now, we’ve got some nice improvements that we hope you will all like. Please find below a list of the changes made in this update:- Global Game Balance: skill points awarded are rebalanced and more coherent;- Global Game Balance: Taps required to escape grabs nerfed on all difficulties (more so on hard)- Global Game Balance: Adrenaline won’t be pumpin’ so often 😅 (adrenaline meter takes more time to build up)- Global Game Balance: Reduced Broken status duration- Global Game Balance: Player starts more levels with the pistol as their default ranged weapon- Global AI adjustment for enemies to better close in the player- Global AI adjustment to mitigate AIs getting stuck around the levels- Global AI adjustment: increased ranged enemies' fire rate- Global AI adjustment: adjusted ranged enemies' damage per shot- Global AI adjustment: Human enemies detect the player instantly if too close- Global AI adjustment: Walkers detect the player more quickly if too close- Global AI adjustment: Human enemies detect the player more quickly- Bug Fix: Fixed certain conditions that were bugging human AI detection- Global AI adjustment: Human enemies' now take damage and are hit-stunned when jumping to the side- Global combat balance: Adjusted input buffer on heavy attacks;- Global combat balance: Player now may take damage when attacking depending on the animation frames that they are hit on by enemies- Global combat balance: Player now may be grabbed by idle walkers if the player misses an attack (Whiff). Example: There are 03 walkers close to player, player swings an attack and hits 02 of them; the 3rd one might grab them.- Global combat balance: Helmets’ health are drastically reduced- Global combat balance: Vests’ health are drastically reduced- Global combat balance: Rebalanced the pistol and the sniper rifle according to feedback provided by players;- Global combat balance: Heavy attacks damage is buffed- Global combat balance: Sledgehammer is buffed (Faster animations, more damage)- Global combat balance: Increased Machete’s thrust attack reach- Global combat balance: Improved Fire Axe attacks’ animations- Global Combat Balance: Added a limit to the ammo the player can carry;- Global Combat Balance: Reduced amount of ammo added with every ammo pick up.- Hard Mode Balance: Enemies health heavily nerfed- Hard Mode Balance: general detection time increased- Hard Mode Balance: Fixed a bug that messed up skill points awarded- Skill Balance: Nerfed Beth’s Shadow skill (50% to 15%)- Skill Balance: Nerfed Beth’s Ghost skill (50% to 10%)- Skill Balance: changed Carl’s skill tree order- Skill Balance: Nerfed Shane’s Dustmaker skill (12 to 8)- Skill Balance: Nerfed Rick’s Scavenger skill (3 to 1)- Skill Balance: Nerfed T-Dog’s Steamroller 1 skill (from 85% to 33%)- Skill Balance: Nerfed T-Dog’s Steamroller 3 skill (from 70% to 40%)- Skill Balance: Buffed Merle’s Stubborn skill (60% to 90%)- Skill Balance: Nerfed Dale’s Rifleman 2 skill (Auto Rifle clip size increases to to 48)- Bug Fix: Fixed a bug that awarded too many skill points - Bug Fix: Skill isn't unlocked under certain conditions- Bug Fix: Fixed the bug that caused SFX and VOs to disappear after adjusting any options;- Level 06: What Lies Ahead - Fixed Point of Interest to show walkers dropping from the highway- Level 07: Bloodletting - Fixed Heavy Walker losing track of player- Level 07: Bloodletting - Fixed Heavy Walker getting stuck on a table- Level 07: Bloodletting - Removed objects from the gymnasium area- Level 07: Bloodletting - Added Walkers in the Heavy Walker section- Level 8: Haunted - Human AI Enemies behavioral improvements - Level 8: Haunted - Swapped the sniper rifle for a shotgun after reaching Rick's room- Level 8: Haunted - Improved the experience by fixing AI bugs - Level 8: Haunted - Removed the gurneys after visiting Rick’s room- Level 16 - Changed enemies positioning in one area- Fixed bug: game now allows the player to partially reload the weapon during the Level 10: Better Angels boss fight;- Fixed the wall of fire that prevented the player from seeing enemies from the watchtower in level 23;- Bug fix: Fixed a bug that heavily impacted aim sensitivity- Bug Fix: Walkers occasionally spawning onscreen after the level started;- Gameplay Improvement: Aim Snap is activated only the first time the player aims;- Gameplay Improvement: Added a visual feedback to the detection moment to better convey the message that the player is being detected. - Gameplay Improvement: Adjusted environment colliders in Rick VS Shane boss fight to provide better cover;- Gameplay Improvement: Added stronger feedback to show when the player gets shot;- Gameplay Improvement: Standard aim assist is now set to low.- Bug Fix: Fixed Morgan acting weird on top of the roof in level 21;- Bug Fix: Fixed Rick and Shane boss fight AI losing track of the player;- Bug fix: Fixed wrong lines being said in the tutorialThat is it for now! But we are not done yet - you can expect more improvements coming soon!Thank you for your support and feedback
Good Pizza, Great Pizza - Cooking Simulator Game - yuni
Winter Festival (12/21-1/3)
The North Pole Express is in town! Get ready to make pizzas for Jingles the Elf and his winter friends this holiday season!
Here's a sneak peek: • Brand new holiday animal friends! • New winter orders, return of Jingles and new story! • New Animal Hearts Poll feature! • 50+ Winter themed decorations! • 4 NEW Animated decors with the 'Jolly Holiday Set' premium bundle!
Ver. 5.3.0 Release Note: Winter Festival (12/21-1/3)
New: • Limited time animal characters, decorations and story! (12/21-1/3) • New holiday orders + animal orders! (12/21-1/3) • New exclusive event rewards! (12/21-1/3) • Limited time animated premium decorations! (12/21-1/3)
Other: • Crash issues, translation fixes and optimization
Upon working together actively with Steam, the issue regarding with the "Buy Button" has now been resolved. Roguenarok has finally begun! It is officially out now with a 10% Discount! ːsteamhappyː
Thank You All So Much for your love and support! I really appreciate all of you. I hope you have a fun experience with Roguenarok and I would be very happy to know your experience.
I want to give a special thanks to @Nosteru for the encouraging and kind words.
the pools outside were frozen, so it is a day for ICE
some vibe work, re-did the game-end screen a little bit, removed some of the information to make space for a poem-type thing - in the future this will be dynamic based on stuff that happened on the path / elements you picked etc - detailed stats are something I'd like to have more of, and maybe put them somewhere else, as they wouldn't end up fitting on this screen anyway
new prestige class, Berserker, Ice + Blood, applies Berserk when dealing Ice / Blood / Death damage to self or adjacent unit, deals Ice / Blood / Death damage to self on attack
new prestige class, Uspori, Ice + Poison, applies Paralysis when dealing Poison / Ice damage, sets speed to minimum and dodge to 1
new prestige class, Dreamer, Ice + Psychic, performs game turn effects on stand still and applies Dream to self, applies Dream to attackers equal to current Dream on self
Dream now lowers speed by 2 per stack
Brazen eye is now a levitating eye, counts as a bare fist
