Spread: Transmission Preview update for 15 August 2022

Hey there, it's me again!

In the previous update I have introduced the ability to load maps from codes like this one "06c06c0/6d7ed7c/57d57d5/3fbfbf9/03c5690/003f900/0001000". Copying this to your clipboard and clicking on "Load from clipboard" as the host in a lobby would load the encoded map. Originally this was just for playing new maps without having to create a new version of the game every time.

I was kindly reminded, however, that maps are in-fact generated from images (it's true!) which can actually also be copied to the clipboard.. so I spent an entire day porting my map generator to C# and struggling with clipboards, to enable all of you to make and play your own maps right away.

I have outlined the basics with Crossroads as an example map.

[url=https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42253722/2d929786ac09bc5e26940b9fd493985d96c8cab4.png]Feel free to download the original Crossroads map as a starting point for your own map![/url]

When loading a map from the clipboard, the game checks whether the contents contain a valid map. If your map violates any of these rules, the game will not load your map:

• The background has to be transparent
• Cells are represented by 4x4 pixels
• Therefore, the map image width and height have to be a multitude of 4 (16x16, 20x24, 28x28, etc.)
• The fourth row and column of every cell currently has to stay transparent
• Maps currently have a minimum size of 4x4 cells (16x16 pixels) and a maximum size of 16x16 cells (64x64 pixels)
• Each cell has to be reachable from every other cell, except for cells with only a single batteries
• Cells may only point to other cells

In the future, you will be able to create maps directly from within the game and use the Steam Workshop to share your maps with the world and download custom maps from other players, very exciting! I am thrilled to see what you all will build.

While working on this small (yet surprisingly elaborate) feature, I managed to spot some bugs that sneaked into the last release, check out the changelog to learn more.

Thanks everyone for your continuous support, I will be back with more news soon! ːluvː

Changelog

Features

• Level up! The game can now convert image files to maps too

Changes

• Improved GPU performance
• Slightly adjusted default brightness

Fixes

• Fixed rare render issue
• Fixed several issues with the new replay controls
• Fixed event feed refusing to open when receiving multiple events at once
• Fixed "--low" argument not working as intended