Hey everyone, I am back with the most exciting update yet, the "You've got Options!"-Update! Along with the ability to customize your game, this update features the first two game modes, an interactive tutorial and fresh, new UI among other improvements. As always, I will guide you through the highlights of this update.
Introducing Labs
The time has come to finally introduce Labs into Spread! Labs are game modes that you can mix together and experiment with to design unique playing experiences. Create highly strategic rules with the Fog Lab, where every spread can lead right into the opponent's trap; or maybe you want to create a very stressful mix, in which players have to decide the best move within five seconds on a board filled with boxes. The power is yours!
Prototype 3 is featuring two new game modes, so you can experience the power of Labs right away. More Labs will be introduced in future major updates for more diverse, unique and interesting mixes. Let's take a closer look at the first two Labs.
Box Lab
Play on ever-changing boards in Box Lab. Boxes are obstacles that can spawn at any point during a match, temporarily blocking connections between cells. When a Spread charge gets in contact with a box, both get destroyed, opening the connection back up again. Boxes can also stack, requiring multiple Spreads to open the connection up.
Boxes will require you to adapt to a changing environment and add even more depth to a long spread chain, requiring you to consider your moves carefully, as otherwise you might get stopped dead in your tracks or grant your opponent the opportunity for a counterattack.
Fog Lab
Work your way through the dark in Fog Lab. In this game mode knowledge is power, as your visibility relies solely on the cells you own. You are better off when you have more insight about your opponent cells then they have on yours, so this mode will encourage you to scout through the dark and place charges even more strategically than before.
Fog Lab hides boxes by default and will also integrate with future Labs. This will enable you to have highly strategic gameplay, as you are required to operate from your opponents' shadows and adapt to the circumstances you will find yourself in.
Fresh new UI
Previously the UI in Spread was kept rather simplistic, it was a means to an end rather than an actual part of the game's design and it looked alright until it inevitably didn't. Which is why the entire UI visuals got remade from scratch to be more cohesive, readable and colorful. It contributes to Spread's bright and fun visual design and provides a better player experience.
There is always room for improvement and I am looking forward to someday - for example - bringing more life into the UI animations, nonetheless I believe this is already a huge visual upgrade to Spread.
Options Menu
One of the key additions of this update is definitely the new options menu, used both for the game's general settings like graphics and audio, but also for the newly added Labs. It provides the means to customize the game, which is an integral part of the Spread experience.
Now you are able to adjust the game's volume and most expensive graphics settings or change the turn time limit in a Spread match. Of course, there is a lot to expand on and new general game options as well as Lab options will get introduced in future updates.
Pause Menu
Do you need a break? Well, you can't technically pause a multiplayer game, but you can review the rules or adjust the options with the new pause menu! When trying out all sorts of different combinations of rules in Spread, it is essential to know what rules you are currently playing with, so adding a pause menu was vital for this update.
Furthermore, it is difficult to keep track of upcoming, match-related events on your own, which is why the pause menu will take care of that for you. Currently the Box Lab's respawn event is the only one featured in the game, but more events like for example spawning items will probably appear here in the future as well.
Tutorial
Get introduced to the world of Spread by the primitive-looking, self-proclaimed Spread expert Carlos. In this short interactive tutorial you will learn about the most important concepts of the game, so you can start playing your first real match in no time.
What's next
With Prototype 3 complete we will start testing and gathering feedback to further improve the game, especially for new players. Furthermore, there is finally enough to show to setup a store page and start advertising the game, so in the coming weeks the focus will start shifting towards preparing and creating assets, reaching out, etc.
Soon, work on Prototype 4 will begin. It will involve features that are necessary to possibly start a beta, such as CPU opponents, matchmaking, more input support, more integrations, and so on. There will also be more improvements and polish for new players who want to get into the game.
There is lots to look forward to and as always, I hope you are as excited as I am. I am getting back to work, but thanks a bunch for reading my devlog. ːluvː
P.S.: There is an official Discord server now, if you'd like to be notified about news or just want to chat!
Changelog
Highlights
- Play Spread on an ever-changing board in Box Lab! Boxes will temporarily block connections between cells, switching up the board dynamic
- Work your way through the dark in Fog Lab! Opponent cells are lingering in the mist, so tread carefully
- Experience Spread the way you want to, by customizing your game and matches with your very own rules
Features
- Review the rules with the all-new pause menu! Never leave a match on accident ever again... unless you press "Leave" instead of "Options"
- Meet Carlos to refresh your Spread basics in the newly added Tutorial
- Get a look behind the scenes and learn about the assets used in the new credits screen
- Do you feel the breeze? Decoration may now sway in the wind
Changes
- We have improved the user interface throughout the entire game, to give you a more cohesive, colorful and readable experience
- We have also continued improving the performance and gave you options for the most performance-heavy features
- With the magic of caching, we were able to massively reduce the replay file size
Fixes
- The game may no longer crash when not using Discord, whoops!
- While working on this prototype, we noticed the UI actually had visual effects the whole time. We made sure they are actually working now
- The game will now be able to skip over eliminated players while counting turns
- Fixed various funky UI glitches
Changed files in this update