MULTIPLAYER
- Improved precision, minor jitter should be fixed
- Reduced bandwidth usage
GRAPHICS
- Improved performance on all graphics settings, mainly on weaker hardware
- Improved graphics on all quality settings
- Added shadows and post-processing to "light" quality settings
- Improved vehicle PBR properties
- Reworked grass textures & wind, added tree wind
- Reworked trails behind vehicle when drifting (both visual and performance), added dirt trails
- Improved performance in menus
- Fixed trees in the desert biome
- Reduced build size to 2,79 GB
SOUNDS
- Readded effect of wind when passing by an object
- Readded fans cheer
- Added Doppler effect

MULTIPLAYER
- Improved precision, minor jitter should be fixed
- Reduced bandwidth usage
GRAPHICS
- Improved performance on all graphics settings, mainly on weaker hardware
- Improved graphics on all quality settings
- Added shadows and post-processing to "light" quality settings
- Improved vehicle PBR properties
- Reworked grass textures & wind, added tree wind
- Reworked trails behind vehicle when drifting (both visual and performance), added dirt trails
- Improved performance in menus
- Fixed trees in the desert biome
- Reduced build size to 2,79 GB
SOUNDS
- Readded effect of wind when passing by an object
- Readded fans cheer
- Added Doppler effect

MULTIPLAYER
- Improved precision, minor jitter should be fixed
- Reduced bandwidth usage
GRAPHICS
- Improved performance on all graphics settings, mainly on weaker hardware
- Improved graphics on all quality settings
- Added shadows and post-processing to "light" quality settings
- Improved vehicle PBR properties
- Reworked grass textures & wind, added tree wind
- Reworked trails behind vehicle when drifting (both visual and performance), added dirt trails
- Improved performance in menus
- Fixed trees in the desert biome
- Reduced build size to 2,79 GB
SOUNDS
- Readded effect of wind when passing by an object
- Readded fans cheer
- Added Doppler effect

Many thanks to all that have tried the free demo! The feedback from the Steam community, Discord, etc has been super helpful.

Notable demo updates since launch a few days ago:

• The mountain’s pull has increased, and now female warriors have arrived at the lodge
  
• Add ability to find a mountain cave entrance and enter directly from the forest/explore mode
  
• First time players will need to find a mountain cave this way once, which helps prevent too-early mountain entry (and near certain death) on first goes
  
• Simplify town area names for Camp and Arena
  
• There are rumors of a new circusman wandering inside the mountain… I wonder what he has to offer…
  
• Dwarf duellers now punch with the correct amount of fingers, but surprisingly still deal significant damage

These changes are live now in version 0.8.3. Enjoy!

• Fixed the massive FPS drop when warping at the same time as having an Orrery Map visible on the Holo Display.
  
• Claire did some more gardening on E Deck.

1/13/2025

9.9.5 Misc

Balancing:
Increased base gold cost of building
upgrades from 2000 to 5000.
Increased enemy dexterity by 10%.

Misc:
Fixed ghost town graphic issue when
entering police station.
Fixed pathing issue in Psuedo Hell.
Fixed screen issue when re-entering Lazik
Forest.

• Changed the SeaAz of Encyclopedia No. 97 to a gimmick fish shadow
  
• Shortened the reappearance time of fish shadows

• Fixed bugs related to fishing rod effects
  
• Fixed other minor bugs

Well Folks,

Its been a journey to recover Landmine Larry. Along the way, I've taken the time to make some changes for the better -- And I'll Post Some Video to showcase some of it.

For the most part; Everything is re-coded and ready to go from a game core perspective... I'm in the process of fine tuning the levels, and making sure they flow correctly.

Some of the Updates To Landmine Larry, And Will Be In The Next Release

- Larry got a much needed model update, and showcased in the title screen:
- Reworked Introduction on "New Game"
- Level Selector is changed -- And Global Leaderboard functionality added for level complete times:
- Level data is saved as a steam stat now.
- Larry's Jump animation is fixed and actually works
- Powerup system, rewritten - Powerups now stack cleanly.
- Player controller has been completely reworked, and Gamepad support has been added.
- All new UI implemented.
- Monsters operate the same, but some cooler effects for some:

---

Started implementing Steam Landmine Larry Emotes, and Trading cards as well. You'll see them at release time.

Smaller updates are shared on X.com -- Be sure to follow along https://x.com/H3Games

I’m thrilled to share that I’m hard at work on a complete overhaul of the platformer mode ! This isn’t just a small update—it’s a ground-up reimagining of the mode, inspired by your reviews and feedback. As a solo developer, this kind of transformation takes time, so there won’t be any major updates for the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience and support—I can’t wait to show you what’s coming next!

Hello Drifters,

This update focuses on achieving two main goals: Offering an even smoother experience on Steam Deck than we already do, and preparing the game for porting. While there are many optimization challenges associated with porting (the focus of the next update), I'm particularly excited to share the game experience with mobile and Switch players.



A few highlights from 1.1:

• Reworked the Settings menus: Each category section is now a tabbed page
  
• Fonts are crisper & more readable, especially at non-native / small resolutions
  
• Ensured all controller glyphs, tutorials, and messages are accurate, large, and clear for Steam Deck and future consoles and mobile devices
  
• Reworked unlock progression, improving the pacing for players of varying skill levels
  
• Support for virtual keyboard high score entry on Steam Deck
  
• Many bug fixes

Here's the full change log.

Now that I've had a fair bit of time to recover from launch and play with a few other projects, I'm feeling ready to start thinking about new content for Nova Drift again.

Last month, we previewed a few ideas for Nova Drift Weapon Mutations.

I've continued iterating on what Weapon Mutations could be, and have arrived at a experimental concept for each existing weapon. The challenge is balancing unique weapon identity with the difficulty of tuning effectively twice as many weapons as the base game has. It still sounds insane to me, but... I'll figure something out?

Here are a few more experimental concepts:

• Blaster Mutation: Kinetic Blast
  
  • Kinetic Blast is an innately-charging, hard-hitting, close-range weapon that fires a pair of focused blasts ahead of you. These blasts can launch enemies
    
  • Kinetic Blast automatically charges up while you move, gaining charge from your speed. While equipped, mobility reductions don't affect you
    
  • Kinetic Blast fires either manually or triggers when you collide head-on. In the latter case, its damage is also scaled by your crash damage modifiers
    
  • Targets launched by Kinetic Blast can collide with other targets, dealing additional blast damage to each-other on impact, based on their respective hull strength and velocities

• Grenade Mutation: Sticky Bomb
  
  • Instead of exploding on impact or proximity, Sticky Bombs attach to enemies and explode after a short fuse, triggering all other nearby Sticky Bombs
    
  • Stacking additional Sticky Bombs on a target that already has some increases the fuses of the other attached Sticky Bombs
    
  • Sticky Bombs triggered by other Sticky Bombs increase their damage and blast radius for each reaction in the chain
    
  • Compared to Grenades, Sticky Bombs have a greater rate of fire, and deal more damage, but produce no cluster explosives

• Dart Mutation: Harpoon
  
  • Instead of dealing splash damage or burn damage to targets they're lodged in, Harpoons deal burn damage via a searing hot tether strung between them and their shooter
    
  • Compared to Darts, Harpoons deal much more impact damage, last longer, and have a much slower rate of fire

• Swords Mutation: Greatsword
  
  • Instead of deploying a pair of Swords, you deploy a massive Greatsword
    
  • Compared to Swords, Greatsword is slower, larger, much more powerful, and indestructible, but cannot create Spark Projectiles
    
  • Greatsword deals more damage the more missing hull you have
    
  • Wielding a Greatsword provides a small amount of armor and damage reduction
    

I'm sure these ideas will change and evolve as I experiment with them. My current estimation is that Weapon Mutations will appear in Nova Drift's first DLC, which may ship alongside all new Gear.

A few years ago, I received this amazing piece of fan art, and I never got it out of my head:


Shield Gear: Chakram, by Arch_Imedes

If there's time, I'd love to introduce something like this to the game. Since there is considerably more Weapon and Body Gear options in the game than there are Shield Gear, maybe this DLC could include a small Shield Pack to even it out.

On BlueSky (My preferred platform), Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok


We've got quite an active discord with a very chill and inclusive community. The dev team is also pretty active there. There are channels for #ask-the-devs and #feedback. I also enjoy the #game-dev-help channel, which is a space for current and aspiring developers to learn and collaborate. So... come chat with us!

Steam Reviews really help! As a tiny operation, Nova Drift relies on its quality and reputation to sell, and fantastic reviews help people choose games with less exposure. Please do take a moment to fill out a short review, even if it's only a few words. It just might make a big difference.

To everyone who has patiently awaited the release of Nova Drift throughout its long development, I appreciate you! It wouldn't be half the game it has become without its community, and I thank you for the opportunity to do what I love for a living. I can't wait to show you what I've got planned for the future. Good luck out there, in the cosmos!

Jeffrey (Chimeric)