v 1.0.2 -- Getting BUFF(ed)

How's it going Broombotters!? For those who don't know (because you don't follow our socials -- shame on you), the development team took a little weekend trip to Boston, MA for PAX East 2023 this past month and it was such a surreal, inspiring, all-around INCREDIBLE time!

We met so many great players, content creators, and fellow devs, and by the end of the convention we had a loooot of feedback to sort through. By the time we made it back home in one piece (except for our Broombot friend who got taken apart by airport security, r.i.p.), we were already hard at work on some brand new features and improvements for the game -- which we will be sharing with you RIGHT NOW!

Here is what's new in version 1.0.2 of Broombot Battlegrounds!

NEW FEATURE: Single-Joystick Controls

This was one of the most requested new features by far! We hope this new control option will help players who have been struggling with our default twin-stick movement.

• Players may now toggle between Twin-Stick and Single-Stick movement controls in the Customization Screen

• Each player can set their own movement controls independently No need for everyone to play the same way!

NEW FEATURE: Automatic Docking

• Players can now toggle whether or not they need to press a button to begin depositing their dust in Gameplay Settings

• If automatic docking is enabled, depositing dust in Clean of the Hill mode will start as soon as the player enters the vicinity of their docking station with at least one dust collected

NEW ACHIEVEMENTS!

Ace in the Hole: Play a game of Pool in the Basement Putting on the Potty: Do some golfing in the Bathroom

Map Improvements

Classic Diner

• Utensil Cup now increments the score of the player that pushed it over if an opponent's balloon is popped by one of the hazards in the cup

• Utensils can be moved/launched by powerup effects. If this results in a kill, the player using the powerup will be credited to kill

• Adjusted scaling of booth seats

Box Factory

• Gave destructible boxes a brand new look and functionality

• Destructible boxes now contain packing peanuts and other tasty goodies

• Destructible boxes can now be destroyed by powerup effects

Island

• Added electricity particles around power outlet (watch your knives)

Playpen

• Electricity particles added to power outlet here as well

Classroom

• Adjusted collision under the table

• Blocked off area behind the big teddy bear so that he can't swallow players whole anymore

Attic

• Adjusted collision on ironing board stand

• Improved visual effect for electrified wet floor

Basement

• Added new destructible boxes to the level to give players on the outskirts of the level something to break (AND you can suck up the packing peanuts for points, yumm)

• Adjusted collision behind washing machine for better maneuverability

Sudden Death

• Replaced the knife hazards with buzzsaws because buzzsaws are way cooler

• Adjusted playable bounds

Powerup Improvements

We beefed up a TON of our powerups for better utility and readability! Also they just look plain better now.

Repulsion

• Can no longer be used through walls and floors

• Visual effect now changes depending on player color

• Opponents are now temporarily stunned for 2 seconds when hit by the repulsion effect

• Added an electrical particle effect around players that are hit by the repulsion effect

Dust Vortex

• Players are no longer invincible while the effect is active

• Opponents are now pushed away much more consistently by the vortex force

• Fixed issue where using vortex causes the player to spin out uncontrollably in certain areas

Mine

• Mine explosions now ignite oil slicks. Players caught in the resulting fire go out in a blaze of glory.

• Oil fire goes away after 10 seconds. Oil slicks can be reignited multiple times

Teleport

• Added a brand new, much juicier visual effect for the powerup to increase readability and awesomeness.

• User now destroys surrounding opponents at the moment a teleport has finished executing within a certain radius. Nearby opponents who are outside of this area of effect are launched away instead

• Fixed issue where balloon is able to clip into the Broombot after that player has used the teleport ability.

Gun

• Added a new muzzle flash effect

• Bullets now break and pass through destructible boxes

Hyper-Dash

• Added a slick new electricity effect to the dash trail

• Hyper-Dash users can now charge through opponents to destroy them rather than having to aim for balloons. This effect goes away after the ability has been expended

Quality of Life Additions

• Added a controls diagram to Warmup Round that new and returning players can refer to

• Added additional flavor text to Warmup Round to distinguish it from other modes

• Added new carpet meshes to improve readability of slowing areas

• Added map difficulty identifiers to the Level Select screen to help newer players

• Added button indicator to the powerup HUD icon to help new players learn how to use abilities

• Added more menu options to the Pause Screen and Win Screen for easier navigation

• Improved visual readability and collision for all oil slicks and slippery water puddles

• Made Easy AI players even easier because even at that difficulty they were still terminators

Game Balancing Changes

• Dust spawn rate now increases based on how much time is remaining in the match during Clean of the Hill mode

• Halved the stun duration from knife-to-wall collisions

• Reduced dust bag capacity to 400 in Clean of the Hill mode to encourage more map rotation via returning to the docking station

Miscellaneous Bugfixes and Random Juicy Bits

• Added a dust cloud particle effect that appears behind the Broombot when charging up a dash

• Water now creates a splashing effect when any physics object falls in, not just the Broombot. It even goes "splish splish"

• Added controller feedback for when players pop a fake powerup balloon

• Fixed issue where Vortex powerup HUD icon disappears before effect has ended

• Added code to help prevent players from being able to clip into each other during certain collisions

• Fixed a major camera glitch in splitscreen mode caused by controller misassignment

• Fixed issue where Broombot debris pieces weren't affected by the conveyor belt

• Fixed issue where amount of games played was capped at 50 in the Stats Screen

• Added code to help prevent incidence of issue where the player's balloon separates from its body

• Began prototyping new gamemode

• Programmed the Broombots to feel pain