Hey folks - the 1.2 patch for The Burton Equation, the final planned patch, is now out. It features a small bevy of game-side changes, with more emphasis on meta additions like open-sourced code, an example addon for modding the mod, and older branches made available on Steam for people to try.

First, we'll go into the open-sourcing and branches added on Steam.

Open Sourced Code

The code for The Burton Equation is now public on github, at this link: https://github.com/Kralich/the-burton-equation-mapbase

This means you can now look at how features like the powerups or different weapon mechanics were done. You can use this code in your own mods, or even use it when making a mod of some kind for TBE. Just be sure to credit all of the programmers in the credits for TBE (so 1upD, Blixibon, arbabf, and Barcode Scanner).

Steam Branches

In addition to the code, many older builds of the mod have now been made available on Steam; one build for each year of development, plus a build for the 1.0 release of the mod. This was at the request of a few individuals specifically interested in cataloguing the development history of the mod. These can be accessed on Steam, via "properties", then "betas", and selecting the build you'd like from the dropdown list.

Example Addon - Black USP

There's been a handful of people expressing interest in modding TBE, and although I enabled file/addon posting, people still seemed confused on how to upload addons and where. I created this quick sample addon so the section will now show on the main page and as an example for others. If you like how it looks, you can download it here: https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-burton-equation/addons/tbe-example-addon-black-usp

That concludes all of the modding/meta additions to TBE; now for the actual game additions.

Item Glows

In the release, health vials and most ammo pickups glowed to help with visibility in some chapters and also add to the arcadey vibe of the mod. In this release, the health kit was given glows as well, and the explosives added to many chapters were also given a special glow-type.

Physics Kicking

Since the player doesn't have a gravity gun, physics-based combat mainly boiled down to explosives and other map-based events. With this code change, the kick will now propel held props at the same physics force as if it were on the ground. It's not a true "gravity gun", but can be used to great effect with certain props.

Charge Punch

Melee combat is not necessarily the main way to kill enemies, but I feel the punch-punch-kick combo is a pretty fun one to land now and then, and have always felt a lot of the fun in TBE is trying to use the tools available to kill enemies in different ways than just shooting them. You can now charge up a "super punch" which does more damage than the kick, with the alt-fire button; so, a kick and a charge melee will now dispatch most enemies (or, softening them up with a pistol or other environmental damage first). It also has a similar amount of physics force as the kick, for punching dudes off of buildings or down flights of stairs.

And that's all for the 1.2 patch. Thanks everyone who followed the mod's history, who has provided feedback, any interest, and of course everyone who contributed to making the mod happen. If you do anything interesting with the mod's code, assets, maps, and etc, please feel free to get in touch with me on Discord with the username kralich.