Information about upcoming version 5.0, the "Remix Update"

This update has been in the works for a while (and still needs 2-3 more weeks) so I wanted to post here and let people know what I've been up to and what they can expect to see.



Some background: One of my biggest post-launch goals has been to create tools that allow players to create cool stuff for the game and extend it on their own. Otherwise I will continue to be the limiting factor for new content and without fresh things to do it's certain that players will lose interest over time. With this update I'm hoping to create a great new creative avenue for players that will lead to an explosion of new content.



What I'm building is an in-game modding tool that allows players to create, play, and share custom game modes. This update will let you 'remix' the fundamental rules of the game in any way you see fit.



I've broken down the vast majority of game logic into simple rules that can be assigned, tweaked, and rearranged in a near limitless combinations. No scripting knowledge will be required - you'll simply pick from a large list of rules (point values, powerups, upgrades, ball counts, trick shots, round limits, team sizes, gravity, ball size, bot size, number of lives, etc etc) and arrange them into a rule set which your game mode will follow.



You can tweak certain values along a wide range or even assign some rules asymmetrically. This can mean simple things like one team gets different powerups than the other, or more dramatic differences like one team has to score a set number of Hoops in 60 seconds while the other team tries to stop or eliminate them. You can further modify most rules based on whether they apply to a bot or human, or what kind of ball or cube a player is holding.



Sharing and testing custom game modes will be easy. All you need to do is create a room with your ruleset, and anyone who joins it will automatically grab those rules from the room data and immediately be able to play - no advance file downloads will be necessary. You can just browse the room list, see a game mode that looks cool, and join it right away.



Once you have built a rule set you like, you'll be able to publish it to the Workshop as a ready-to-use item. Anyone that subscribes to that Workshop item will be able to create new rooms using your new game mode.



You'll even be able to create new Challenge modes - 1-4 players cooperating (or perhaps competing) to achieve high scores under special circumstances. I'm not sure yet but you may be able to attach leaderboards to these modes as well.



I'm sure over time I'll get requests from players for new rules to add, and then it'll be a simple matter of adding the rule logic - but what's even better is each additional rule will create a huge array of new permutations.



So hopefully it's understandable why this update is taking a fair bit of time - I had to re-write all of my hard-coded logic about score values and victory conditions based on a specific game mode, and change it to flexible logic that sees if a rule is active *and* applies to that particular user in that particular situation. This means the bot AI had to be significantly rewritten as well so that it has a generic set of logic to follow given any possible combination of game parameters. Plus, there's some hefty UI work to do for this game mode creation panel.



But I think ultimately this could be a huge transformation for the game - instead of 8-12 game modes to play, you'll have hundreds or even someday thousands, and new stuff coming out all the time.



Let me know if you have any questions about this new set of options, or any rules you'd like to see added!









