Polychoron 0.0.6 alpha released

It's time for another Polychoron alpha update. This update focuses on audio and the most noticeable change is the added menu music by DavilOne. A lot of new sound effects have been added as well.

I have made some changes regarding my plans for power-ups. Initially I wanted to reset all power-up effects between levels but I've realized that it ruins any sense of progression. On the other hand I don't want to have persistent cumulating upgrades that would require ramping up the difficulty exponentially. The solution is to have persistent upgrades that have limited use and "wear off" eventually. I call them ship modules. Icons in the bottom right HUD show installed ship modules at any time and their color indicates module's condition.

Currently there are two such modules: Shield and fire rate increase. The shield absorbs 50% of damage and wears off after taking certain amount damage. Fire rate increase does what you'd expect but now only for the next 100 shots.

The future of the mobile version has been a bit uncertain as I've been waiting to hear if people think it's worth keeping alive. Although I got very little feedback on it, I have decided to keep updating it. From now on, the mobile version has it's own separate high score table, because there is no point in having touch screen players compete with players using mouse and keyboard. I have also made the enemies in the mobile version a bit more forgiving.

Here's full list of changes since version 0.0.5:

Added intro/menu music by DavilOne.

Added ambient cockpit sound loop.

Made score power-ups automatically move towards player.

Open menu automatically to pause game if mouse capture is lost unexpectedly.

Improved ESC key behavior in the web version.

Play thruster sounds directly based user controls (less realistic, feels more responsive).

Stop all looping sounds when game is paused.

Added looping sound to active teleports and changed teleport entry sound.

Added better ship collision sound with multiple variants.

Changed player ship damage sound.

Limit laser trap looping sound audible range.

Added shield module power-up.

Made fire rate increase power-up persistent between levels but only last for 100 shots.

Show active ship modules in the right HUD.

Made multiplier power-up look like an X instead of plus sign that people mistook for health.

Use a separate high score table in the mobile version.

Fixed sentry gun projectile damage not increasing with enemy "toughness".

Made mobile version enemies a bit easier.

Show random gameplay tips at bottom of menu.

Added sounds on missed projectiles hitting maze walls.

Use Butler to push updates to Itch.io (works much better with Itch application).

Rewrote power box placement logic to avoid overlapping lights and other wall texture details.

Added random panel meshes on walls.

See Polychoron game page for more information. Direct downloads have been updated on Itch.io. Android version update has been uploaded on Google Play and will be available shortly.

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Posted on 2020-08-30