Major Update Ver 1.3.0

Heli-Cats's third major update is here with changes that aim to give the player a slight edge on the battlefield, several quality of life improvements, and better compatibility for those of us on macOS!

Version 1.3.0 Notes:

• Added a 5-frame window to the player helicopter for split second emergency bombing before a hit is registered.

• Slightly reduced the collision size of enemy bullets to allow for more leniency.

• Added a "Restart Run" option in the pause menu and single player continue screen to instantly redo a run from mission 1, which also counts the previous run for Steam leaderboards up to that point.

• Using a "Restart Run" with armor mods active will deduct any armor lost from the current run for the new run if it is still above 3. (e.g. An initial run with 30 armor mods that restarts after losing 5 armor will begin the new run with 25.) The new run will never be lower than the default 3 armor.

• Boss mid-battle explosions that signal major damage to the boss now also destroy all enemy bullets for a brief period, allowing a window to reposition or escape a difficult barrage.

• Added an "Armor Bonus" message that appears when getting an extend every 400,000 points.

• Added a "Time's Up" message that appears when running out of time on a boss.

• Destroying a hidden beacon sends out a visual shockwave that will remove all enemy bullets on screen (more on what beacons are in a later post...).

• Added an option in Display Settings to turn off "How To Play" before starting arcade mode.

• Increased the maximum system credits that can be unlocked beyond 9.

• More native compatibility for game controllers on macOS Sequoia (Steam Input should still be disabled on macOS due to Steam Input being recognized as a duplicate controller).

• Added another attract demonstration screen for mission 2 that will show after leaving the title screen untouched (for those of us who have this running on an arcade cabinet).

NOTE: This update is also a major change in the underlying architecture of the game for modern operating systems. * If you have remapped your controls before, you will need to remap them again in the Options > Controls Menu. *

Otherwise, this revision should not affect the experience for users. In fact, it should run better for those on macOS. This revamp of the game allows me to continually add more updates going forward whenever I discover development tricks with my other newer games. However, if you encounter any strange behavior, crashes, or difficulty running it on an ancient machine, please report it. Thank you.

If you haven't played Heli-Cats in a while, try version 1.3 out! And if you have it in your wishlist, perhaps it's time to get the game!