Core Gameplay Update (Mar 24 - Apr 8)

Patch Notes - March 24 to April 8, 2026

This update focused on tightening the core gameplay loop. The wave system was rebuilt from the ground up with a new hierarchical structure, and all 27 waves across World 1's three sections were rebalanced. Tower interactions got a major overhaul, the snake now smoothly squeezes between towers at any speed instead of getting stuck, and the node draft pickup animation properly tracks the slot being filled. Economy got retuned with per-wave currency drop rates replacing the old guaranteed drops, and Bruisers took a well-deserved nerf. Under the hood, the warping grid and wave transitions were optimized to reclaim frame budget.

Gameplay

• Currency drop rework: Enemies no longer guarantee currency drops (default 25% of a wave will drop currency)

• AdjustedBruiser nerfedBreach damage reduced from 25 to 10.
• AddedDifficulty selectionAdded Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty dropdown to the world select screen. Selection persists across sessions.

-Worlds 2-4 locked: Disabled from level select while content is in development.

Snake & Tower Mechanics

• Tower squeeze rework: Snake no longer gets stuck between towers. Works consistently at all speeds and approach angles.

• Empty slots don't collect: Empty snake body slots no longer pick up orbs or node orbs. Only the head and filled segments trigger collection.

• Node orb pickup animation: The fly-in animation and camera now target the actual empty slot being filled, not the tail of the snake. Pop-in VFX plays on the correct slot.

• Tower territory indicator: Contextual input icons (mouse/keyboard/controller) shown when a tower is placed off player territory.

Wave & Level Design

• AddedWave sequence refactoredNew hierarchical structure with starting points, spawn stages, groups, and enemy entries. Stages respect execution order across lanes.

• Parallel lane spawning: Multiple lanes now spawn enemies simultaneously instead of sequentially.

• Lane loop support: Lanes can now loop for repeating wave patterns.

• AdjustedLane visualsOld lanes no longer blink; they erase as the last enemy passes through. New lane entrance has improved visual feedback.
• AdjustedWorld 1 rebalancedAll three sections (27 waves) updated with new enemy groups, adjusted timing, and directional tiles.

Orb System

• Timer-based orb spawner: Orb spawning moved from kill-based to timer-based system with configurable intervals.

• FixedMax segment fixesResolved issues with segment cap tracking and orb spawning when at capacity.

Performance

• Warping grid optimized

• Baked edge mask at grid build time

• Early exit when grid is at rest (skips entire spring-force pass)

• Skips texture upload when max displacement

• Wave transition spike eliminated

• Early-out when grid size unchanged between waves

• Batched texture updates

• Pre-computed DFS lane paths during downtime.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed autoloads not being registered.

• Fixed race condition in enemy spawner from parallel starting point spawning.

• Fixed between-wave timer not resetting correctly.

• Fixed orbs spawning outside playable bounds.

• Fixed pulse ring crash on wave clear.

• Fixed chill signal reconnection after enemy hit.

• Bullet and sniper projectiles now properly destroyed at grid edge.

• Fixed HUD timing display issues.

• Fixed object pooling issues with frost tint effect.

• Adjusted rocket lifetime and projectile behavior.

Visual

• AddedFrost tint effectNew visual tint applied to chilled/slowed enemies.

• Eye emotions: Snake head now displays contextual eye expressions.

• Tier pip redesign: Tier indicators now use stars.

• Rocket particle effects polished.