Broombot Battlegrounds update for 8 March 2023

Broombot Battlegrounds Update 1: Hotfixes, Balance Adjustments, and other goodies

Howdy folks! We've had a wild couple of weeks since our game officially launched back in February, and it's been an absolute joy seeing all the support for the game we've received thus far. Can't say it enough -- THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Since release we've received some fantastic constructive player feedback, and we are currently working to provide steady improvements and additions to the game based on suggestions and comments y'all have been providing. Today's is just the first of several free updates we have planned for Broombot going forward, and we hope you guys will stay tuned as we hope to have a lot more to share very soon!

With that out of the way, here's what's new in version 1.0.1 of Broombot Battlegrounds!

Keyboard Support Improvements

• Added key prompts to all menus and in-game that replace button prompts if keyboard input is detected
• Adjusted keyboard controls to be a little more user-friendly

Game Balancing Improvements

• Reduced wall collision rebound force so that it's easier to navigate precarious platforming areas
• Increased jump height slightly to make platforming a bit easier
• Reduced respawn time by 1 second so that you can get back into the action faster
• Lowered default AI difficulty to Easy because dang those bots are evil
• Added invincibility frames after you deposit dust so that one annoying friend you have can't wait by your docking station and pop you immediately after you finish putting dust in
• Reduced the scale of the Knife's hitbox so that it isn't able to reach as far
• Reduced cooldown on environmental collisions, preventing some weird physics happenings

Menu / UI Improvements

• Fixed significant performance issues caused by main menus. We're not trying to melt GPUs out here, we swear.
• Adjusted background colors in Credits to be less harsh
• Added a fun little screen that reminds players that we are compatible with Steam Remote Play (and that you need multiple controllers to play multiplayer)

Powerup Adjustments

• Significantly increased the spawn rate of powerup balloons when frequency is set to Chaotic.
• Powerups can no longer be used while depositing dust in Clean of the Hill mode

Gun

• Adjusted vertical positioning of the spawn point of the bullet, making it easier to hit its target

Level Improvements

• Doubled amount of Powerup Spawn locations for more variety
• Added/adjusted collision in certain areas to prevent issues
• Removed material striping issue caused by incorrect shading in certain areas of the level

Garden

• Shrunk hitboxes on thorn bushes so it's harder to get popped by them
• Added foliage elements and better borders for muddy sections of the map because it looked nice

Classic Diner

• Chef's knife no longer phases through reality to hit its target
• Lowered the amount of time it takes for utensil hazards to be phased out
• Made it so that Utensil Cups can be affected by physics impulses from powerups

Aquarium

• Adjusted placement of elements inside the drainable tank

Island

• Added more visual details to the broken blender and sink

Hardhat Zone

• Added a killbox underneath the forklift platform so you get crushed when it lowers
• Added additional visual assets to highlight certain level hazards

Playpen

• Added a hidden hint that will help you guys find one of the secret achievements

Kindergarten

• Made the same adjustments to pencil cups as utensil cups in Diner (affected by powerups and phasing out sooner)

Home Gym

• Lowered fan intensity
• Dust will no longer spawn on the treadmill belt
• Added more boing sounds when bouncing off of stuff. Gotta love boing sounds.

Attic

• Dust no longer spawns on spike-boards, making it easier to recover

Achievements

• Fixed "Not in Kansas Anymore" so that it triggers properly
• Adjusted verbiage of "Unlucky" to properly reflect the unlocking condition of that achievement

Thank you for reading the notes, you are rad. As a reward here's a little glimpse at some OTHER stuff we've been cooking up in the Broombot kitchen. Stay clean, Broombotters!