GameDevBlog: Energy Hook Update version a3.70

There's a method behind the madness to my update labeling scheme. The a is for alpha. The first number is what source control system iteration I'm on - I never meant to go to a third system, but circumstances warranted. (I lost the admin password to the second one. :P) Then the number after the dot is the version / changelist number.

So, it's been over two months, and over 70 revisions (I don't even remember how many changes went in before the source control system switch), so I have lost track of all the new stuff that's gone in. But here are some highlights:

You bail if you hit a surface too hard, and ragdoll physics takes over. That was a stretch goal we never reached. And I did it anyway! Instead of just finishing the damn game!
New levels! Keegan O'Rourke's Sky Gardens, Killst4r's A-Star Island AKA Dark City, and Antonio Revard has been giving the challenge levels a makeover. Those challenge levels are now separate individual challenges scattered throughout the game, like the more abstract levels from a Mario game.
More sound and music work by Brian Luzietti.
Macro game stuff. You earn "cred" by placing higher in challenges and finding geocaches, and that cred then unlocks new teleporter gates and levels up your gear.
Speaking of gear, new red-and-silver gear has been modeled and textured by Jim McAllister III and Israel Evans. Looks better and renders faster.
The jetpack and jumping has been tweaked to feel "punchier" - it still has a ways to go, but it's better.
But I also nerfed the jetpack! I giveth and I taketh away. The cooldown is longer so you can't judiciously manage your fuel and basically fly. Hanzai called me on that on the forums and I finally dealt with it.
When doing a trick attack challenge, you don't have to cash in your last trick before time runs out, it'll automatically cash in for you without you losing the points.
Upgraded to Unity 4.3.

And that's not all.

There are a couple obvious bugs you'll notice right off the bat, and don't have to report, because I already know about them:

if you have a Mac, the graphics are messed up. They're doing weird banding in some levels, and the contrast is out of control on other levels.
it's easy to get her locked into her crouching about-to-jump pose and stuck there.

If you're interested in seeing ALL THE BUGS I know about, there's an eye-glazing list here. Lower priority numbers mean I'm going to get to them first. Yeah, it doesn't make sense. Anything under 1 I currently consider absolutely must-fix, so ... I better get on that. There's 84 of those. How many can I fix per day? We'll find out.

Once I fix those - and any new ones that crop up in the meantime - I'll be willing to call the game "Beta" or "Content and Feature Complete."

And don't worry, I don't expect you to check the bug list before giving me feedback. Go ahead and give it to me, on the forums -- http://happionlabs.com/forums -- and I'll sort it all out later.

So. If you're already a backer, enjoy, and if you aren't, what are you waiting for?