Velocide Overdrive - Update 1.2.1

Update 1.2.1 is here!

Hey Drivers! The 1.2.1 update for Velocide Overdrive is here. It brings many bug fixes, balance changes for several power-ups, visual reworks, performance optimizations, and improved controller support — especially in Steam Remote Play Together.

Power-up renames (clarity)

• AddedShield → Reflectorthe power-up wasn't just blocking, it was already bouncing every projectile back at the attacker. The new name describes what it actually does.

• Zombie → Virus: the name Virus better matches the concept of propagation.

Gameplay balance

Flamethrower (buff)

• Range 45 → 68 px (+51%).

• Duration 4 s → 5 s (+25%).

• (New) The caster slows to 90% during use, giving a better mobility / area-control trade-off and giving pursued players a chance to escape.

Tesla (buff)

• Electrocution chance per tick 5% → 7%.

• (New) Each Tesla tower now displays a dashed circle showing the bolt range. The Tesla also got a visual rework.

Pyramid (buff)

• Attack-speed ramp boosted by +25%: max attack rate is now reached in ~16 s (instead of ~21 s).

Smoke Screen (buff)

• Smoke cloud size +20%, final death-explosion puff +20% — the fog is slightly denser.

Virus (nerf)

• Contact contagion aura: -40%.

• Pestilence cloud 62 → 45 px (-27%).

• A zombie's death no longer triggers the eliminated player's standard elim effect on top of its pestilence cloud.

Nuke (visual rework)

• The nuke bomb visual has been refreshed.

Meteor (visual rework)

• Meteors have been visually reworked.

Reflector (visual rework)

• New visual: a shield bubble surrounding the player.

Readability & comfort

• Special-round descriptive subtitle (Frenzy, Negative, Team, x2): the rule is shown on screen before the countdown.

• Start-direction arrow during the countdown: the player's name automatically flips below the character if the arrow indicator points up.

• Space Gates: two arrows on the entry side now show that the portal is bidirectional (you both enter AND emerge through it).

• AddedEasy Modenew visual icon.

• Default skin: a small golden star twinkles every 3 seconds to remind the player they can pick a skin.

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug in the player-name input: some characters weren't registered under certain conditions.

• AddedMatch endthe Restart button now hides as soon as a player has crossed the score limit — only New Match and Back to Menu remain available.

• Tie at the top: if multiple players reach the score limit with the same score, a tiebreaker round is now played (flagged with a dedicated banner).

• AddedSpace Gatesfixed a bug where you could cross the elimination zone at a near-perpendicular angle without teleporting or being eliminated. Players shouldn't get stuck inside, they should reappear at the other available portal.
• AddedRandom arena (🎲)the same arena can no longer come up two matches in a row, except in the specific case where only a single arena is available.

• Fixed a bug that, in specific cases, could assign the same color to two different players.

• AddedBrightnessthe default brightness is now 50% for new players (was 90%).

Power-up icons

• 22 power-up icons unified: previously some appeared as system emojis (rendered differently across Windows / Steam Deck / SteamOS). Now identical on every platform, both in the selection menu AND when the power-up appears in the arena.

Performance

• FixedTomahawkthe in-flight effect wasn't optimized and was lagging the game even with a single tomahawk in flight. Now fixed.
• FixedBananathe freeze when picking up the power-up is fixed (lighter halos and trails).

• Smoke Screen: smoke sprites are pre-baked once, to prevent lag spikes especially when many smoke power-ups are active simultaneously.

• RemovedMatch initializationoptimized the cleanup of effects between matches and removed unnecessary caches for some effects.

• Elim effects with 3+ simultaneous deaths: adaptive LOD with low priority, so the surviving players' experience isn't impacted.

• Audio: audio and GPU pre-loaded at startup, fewer freeze/lag hitches the first few times sounds and effects play.

• Sakura arena: optimized the static decor.

Controller stability & Steam Remote Play Together

Significant improvements to controller stability in Remote Play Together:

• Unique controller identification: their ID will no longer change.

• Controller indicator in the menu: red (missing), orange (waiting for a first input), solid green (detected), pulsing green (sending input). The player can see at a glance whether their controller is connected and whether the game recognizes it.

• Cancellable detection: pressing Esc or clicking outside cancels the detection and assignment of a controller.

• Controller reconnection: in some cases, it is no longer necessary to restart the match or the game after a controller disconnect for it to be detected again.

• FixedDouble-bind detection on two physically identical controllersdetected and corrected automatically.

• Support for some older DirectInput controllers. If issues persist, please check the controller's physical condition or its OS compatibility.

• In the menu, a controller plugged in after a disconnect is now detected without restarting the game.

• Steam Remote Play Together

  Steam Input integration. Guest controllers can be bound on the first attempt, without having to touch the Steam panel.

  A guest's controller is labeled Remote

  .

• Any Remote controller can drive the menu — previously, only the one at the first OS slot could make changes.

Translations

• Steam Input manifest localized in 19 languages: the Turn left / right and Back to menu actions are now translated in the Steam Input overlay when a player wants to remap their buttons through the Steam interface.

Coming next

The next update will be a major one and will deliver the Boss Battle mode mentioned in the previous patch — multiplayer fights against unique bosses, each with their own signature abilities. The goal is to provide a real challenge, playable solo and in co-op for up to 4 players.

Thanks to everyone who plays Velocide Overdrive and helps me improve the game.

Welcome to v1.2.1