Hey everyone!

Today we’re releasing v0.3.0 of AUDICA. This update is jam-packed, adding two brand new songs to the core soundtrack, as well as some sweet new features including Group Play with local leaderboards and more.

Also, as a reminder, in our last update we included an in-game VR Map Creator! We also kicked off our Community Maps Contest. There’s still time to create a map for “Decode Me” by Inter:sect ft. Noelle LeBlanc and Naoko Takamoto. Get all of the contest details on our blog: http://www.harmonixmusic.com/blog/audica-community-maps-contest-create-maps-win-prizes

Let’s jump into today’s release notes!

The two new songs available to play in Audica today are:

• Feed Me - “To the Stars”
  
• ORION - “Time For Crime”
  

https://youtu.be/y_Dv1cFUQ28

New features, updates, and bug fixes:

• Group Play - You can now play Audica with a group of friends, in-person, and keep track of everyone’s scores with our local leaderboards! No need to worry about your own overall leaderboard placement when switching off with the headset. Local players can create individual profiles with settings like target colors, height, and slot target orientation.
  
• Leaderboard Improvements
  
  • We added a cross-platform friend code system, so Steam users can add Oculus users as friends and vice versa.
    
  • There is now a score comparison view, so you can see how you stack up against a selected friend on all songs.
    
  
  
• New Arena - You can now play in a new arena we named “Mystery”. This new arena includes the first hints of the civilization that occupies this strange place. Additional arenas will be coming to the full product as part of the campaign.
  
• New Blasters - You can now select a new pair of blasters to blast away beats with!
  
• Song Info Panel - View information on a selected song including the tempo and duration of the song, details of your play history, and your top scores per-difficulty. This is particularly helpful information for those who are striving to beat their prior high scores from a lower difficulty level.
  
• Selectable Target Sound Packs - You can now switch up the sound targets make when you blast them away. Find Target Sound options included in today’s update in the settings, or even create and add your own! Here are the current options available to you:
  
  • M-Cue - Experimental electronic sounds from producer, M-Cue.
    
  • Crunch - Electronic drums with lots of crunchy grit and a hint of wood.
    
  • Destruct - Aggressively distorted drums with a long release.
    
  • HM-x0x - Classic EDM style analog drums.
    
  
  
• Valve Index Controller Support - Audica now supports the use of the brand-new Valve Index Controllers ("Knuckles"). Gunslinging spins and throws can be performed by letting go of the controllers. Your in-game hands will match your IRL hand and finger movements while handling these controllers.
  
• For OpenVR players - We switched to the SteamVR input system, which allows for custom controller mapping in SteamVR.
  
• Fixes and Tweaks
  
  • Various performance optimizations.
    
  • Fixed the physics of blasters not colliding with the ground.
    
  • Left hand custom blaster model now gets mirrored to better allow for asymmetric custom blaster models.
    
  • Practice mode now allows you to play at speeds up to 200%.
    
  
  

As always, thank you all for your continued support! Join the discussion with the rest of the community on our official Discord server if you haven’t already: Discord.gg/Harmonix. Feel free to post suggestions and feedback our Audica channels.

Keep tabs on what will come next for Audica with our Trello board: https://trello.com/b/VLEw3nkw/audica-development-roadmap

- Team AUDICA