The pace at which player weapons are unlocked is now significantly different. First of all, you start with only one weapon instead of three. This is to help first time players learn the combat system more gradually, just one new weapon at a time. Second, some weapons now unlock earlier in the game. Players can now use a Beam weapon very early in the game rather than very late. Death Blossom shows up right before it’s most useful: before the minefield rather than after.
Level 1 Changes
The different weapon pacing led to a couple small adjustments to compensate. For example, the first level now introduces a small enemy that requires more damage. This is mainly to help you appreciate the power of the Double Sniper you’ll unlock shortly after. It also adds a little more variety to the first battle of the game.
More critically, one enemy type was incompatible. Instead of a lateral attack requirement, which is now impossible at the beginning of a campaign, the first level’s miniboss type was swapped to allow a forward attack. It also now drops a weapon unlock before you arrive at a full boss because the starting Quad Blaster is just too weak to be fun. As a bonus, this miniboss is also more fun to fight than the previous.
Intro Polish
The new cinematic intro received a little more polish. It doesn’t play so frequently which was annoying if you continued several times in a row to get through a tough section of the game. Further, the combat HUD is now hidden away during the opening sequence since it served no purpose for this section.
GAH! I Broke It
Frustratingly, the ending of the game is currently broken. If you defeat the final boss, it may not trigger at all. This is a high priority fix for the next version but I didn’t want to hold up the release this week. In the meantime, just know that I think you’re a winner. (:
For a more thorough list of known bugs and further details on work done to the game, see the REVO Change Log.
Want to Play?
Try out the new weapon progression and help me decide what’s fun and what needs work.