Spin Rhythm XD News

Hi Spinners,

Steve's been knee-deep in Switch optimisation, and with Shath and Dave idle we decided to put together our first DLC of shiny cosmetics and an unreleased music track by Daverwob.

A while ago some Discord members mentioned they wanted a way to support development (such as Patreon) beyond simply buying the game. We have been thinking about releasing a supporter pack for a while, and we wanted to use this as an opportunity to go through the DLC release process before our song packs go live.



If you love Spin Rhythm XD and want to support its development a little bit more, this may be the DLC for you! For $7.99 USD supporters will obtain:

• Exclusive track "Dry Dreams" by Daverwob (RemiXD difficulty by TheWay123)
  
• Note skins
  
• Track edge skins
  
• "Sunset Strip" and "Deep Grey" UI palettes
  
• Character skins for Jim Rhythm and LadyJ
  
• Gold wheel material overlay
  
• Potentially more things in the future!
  

• Two new tracks!
  - Engine Start by modus and Lights, Camera, Action by Meganeko
  - These unlock at level 8 and level 18
  
• New RemiXD difficulty tracks!
  - Beyond The Heart by Dama
  - This Is It by HyperDash
  - Raise The Black Flag by Steven of Astora
  
• New “Achievements” panel menu in level select - a way to gain XP for completing achievements!
  
• Custom note colour profiles!
  - Save up to 6 custom note colour sets in accessibility options
  - Please note the “default” button will select default game colours (profile 1), if you want a particular custom profile to reset to default colours, choose that profiles colours individually and hit default
  
• Give-it-a-spin winner skins are now available in game! These were designed by our Discord community members.
  - Snake Pit track skin by Slipsy
  - Circuitboard track skin by BananaBoiJeff
  - Chronos Wheel by Edge
  
• Revamped Skins menu
  - Note skins can be applied to all notes independently
  - High-contrast notes are now a note style instead of an accessibility option
  - New “slim” note style
  - New track edges
  
• Better feedback when equipping skins - the camera will zoom in to the appropriate track element
  
• Improved damage feedback / audio effects for better clarity of when / why a note was missed
  - Notes now scroll past the wheel when missed, making it more obvious what was missed (this is configurable in the options menu)
  - Only bass frequencies will be removed when missing notes, and only very slightly
  - The big X on the wheel has been replaced with a more subtle exploding 3D effect
  - A DJ scratch effect will play when missing a note, based on the audio of the current track (can be turned on or off with “disable audio feedback effects” in audio options)
  

• Final Boss now unlocks at level 30 instead of 31
  
• Searching for “create” now works in all languages, including searching for the language-specific version of “create”
  
• Fixed a backspin on Ginger Lizard (Normal)
  
• Editor: spin note tails will now always display a thick line in the timeline when cut off early
  
• Slightly chunkier HUD font
  
• Added sliders for clarity when editing some options
  

• Spin Superstar now unlocks at level 30 instead of 31
  
• Performance progress will now save past 10 scores (including personal best scores)
  
• Searching for a charter name will now properly show RemiXD charts in search results
  
• Re-added missing notes to Go Outside (Easy)
  
• Calibration value per device no longer resets when restarting levels
  
• Fixed a bug where judgements from previous plays could appear when restarting tracks
  
• Fixed a bug where searching with a difficulty filter enabled would cause the play button to break
  
• Fixed a bug where changing accuracy bar settings wouldn’t properly update on the HUD
  
• Fixed a bug where ‘Up Next’ did not work for tracks that had not been unlocked while search or filter were active
  
• Fixed a bug where using translation keys in custom names could force certain strings to appear in the name field
  
• Fixed a bug where letting go of a beat hold with a release and the missing the release would still allow a Full Combo
  
• Fixed a bug where missing a hold note release could still award points - they now properly count as misses and break FCs
  
• Editor: fixed bugs involving O and Shift + O function (select only beats / only notes)
  
• Editor: change timeline subdivision hotkey now displays the correct key
  

See you next patch!

Join us on Discord!

Hi Spinners,

We've had our heads down mainly doing optimisation for Switch and experimenting with some VR stuff. Daverwob has been doing some new levels including a 2Mello track included in this update!

We've also licensed new tracks by Meganeko, modus, Eli Way and two from Akira Complex

Working on some of these tracks lead to Daverwob requesting some much needed editor updates from Steve including proper swing support. More changes meant this snowballed into a pretty big editor update.

We hope you enjoy this mixed update! Details below.


[h2]FEATURES[/h2]

• New track! Cold Rock it by 2 Mello - a sick breakbeats / drum and bass tune with a smooth “secret ending”. This tune unlocks at level 8.
  
  
• Editor update!
  - Scroll the timeline with the mouse wheel! (modifiers such as alt and shift work too)
  - Zoom in and out with Ctrl + mouse wheel!
  - Change timeline subdivisions with + and - keys; no more messing with time signatures! Your current selected subdivision level is shown on the editor left panel, and this hotkey can be remapped
  - All keyboard keys can now be held for a stacking effect (to avoid repetitive tasks ie moving notes)
  - Track turns are enabled for level editors!
  > Change to the flight path using the button on the left panel, or the tilde key ~
  > WSAD and QE to set and adjust a flight path F to extend and Shift + F to retract
  > Shift + arrows to select multiple, Ctrl + arrows to move, also delete, copy and paste work
  
  
  
  
• P and Shift + P can be used in the clip info editor to slow down time
  
• Arrow keys are now supported for granular movement (with snapping!) in the clip info editor
  
  
• New calibration tool!
  - You can now tap along to a tap note string to more accurately set your calibration
  - Separate audio / visual calibration is available
  
  
• All wheel options are now testable in the options menu by clicking on the wheel “practice area”
  
  
• 4 New RemiXD levels! I See Lite (Swago), The Kraken (TreXDer), Revenger (HyperDash) and Air On Line (Pick)
  

[h2]POLISH[/h2]

• Experience a fancy new 3D spinning menu logo
  
• New taskbar icon!
  
• Added a popup window explaining RemiXD difficulty on first unlock
  
• Options sliders now operate as left = lower, right = higher (instead of the current touch-screen style)
  
• Added a few new options menu tooltips
  
• Polished the beat hold release effect to better match its look pre-particle refactor update
  
• Wheel sensitivity (previously a very small number) is now properly displayed in input settings
  
• Editor: timeline subdivisions are now only shown on editable area
  
• Editor: All drop down options can now be scrolled and activated using arrow keys and return key - this allows for fast checking of background / colour combinations
  
• Editor: clip info editor fields can now be “tabbed” through (using arrow keys)
  
• Editor: the layout of the left panel has been improved with some redundant data removed
  
• Editor: hotkeys are displayed more clearly now (with modifier keys coming before hotkeys)
  
• Editor: you can now change the colour of hold notes by pressing C with any tail note selected
  

[h2]BUGS[/h2]

• Fixed a bug where changing track speed override could look buggy
  
• Fixed a bug where entering practice mode and hitting N would jump ahead 2 sections instead of 1
  
• Fixed a bug where when deleting a track with a difficulty filter active, the chart focus would jump to the top of the list (it now jumps to the next chart in the list)
  
• Fixed a bug where “Green House” UI skin could have no highlight colour
  
• Fixed a bug where “Up To 11 Minutes” achievement could be completed with “no fail mode” turned on
  
• Fixed a bug where the HUD would disappear after failing a track and then entering the options menu
  
• Fixed “Don’t Give Up” achievement not popping
  
• Fixed a bug where editor timeline subdivisions would not display when zoomed out beyond a certain distance
  
• Fixed a bug where tabbing through difficulties in the note editor didn’t register very small f-step movements
  
• Fixed a bug where using options sliders could cause a memory leak
  
• Fixed a bug where using G in practice mode would ignore the set looping sections
  
• Fixed broken leaderboards (One Esk Nineteen Hard, Expert)
  
• Fixed broken leaderboards (The Kraken all difficulties - the tempo map was redone)
  
• Fixed a bug where enabling “rotating joystick controls” would break other inputs
  
• Fixed a bug where a glow effect was showing on one side of the wheel
  
• Fixed a bug where entering practice mode while in edit mode would maintain the editor overlay
  
• Fixed percentage display rounding up (it now truncates correctly)
  

We've applied Gamescom in Cologne in August and PAX Aus in October, so if you're around at either of those events, come say hi!

Join us on Discord!



See you next patch!

Hi there,

What a crazy week it's been! Welcome to all our new Spinners. We are blown away by everyone's response to the launch.

We've got a small patch we're pushing out before we take a bit of a break (we're all heading interstate for a wedding then taking a couple of weeks off).





[h2]FEATURES[/h2]

• Added No-fail mode in accessibility options!
  - Want to slam through a track that is too difficult for you? This mode allows you to play with full visual effects (rather than the muted practice mode background), and your leaderboard score will be locked to the score you achieved at the point of failure.
  
• Added gamepad control styles!
  - Default - A balanced, more instantaneous response
  - Legacy - Pre-1.0 feeling with some wheel inertia
  - Rotate Stick - The wheel is controlled by rotating the analogue stick - it’s back!
• Removed Burst Compilation
  - This might have far ramifications (it’s supposed to make code execute more smoothly) - but it seems to have reduced stuttering and crashing issues for many people. Let us know if you feel any difference
  
• Locked tracks now require a button press (instead of an automatic animation) - this is also skippable
  
• Added Whirlpool RemiXD level by Programmatic. Play this chart by completing the XD difficulty for Whirlpool
  
• Added tooltips! Hover over certain options to reveal explanatory text - more of these coming soon
  

[h2]POLISH[/h2]

• Some XD difficulties have been adjusted to better reflect their challenge level
  - Lovesick is now 26
  - Beyond The Heart is now 24
  - Ghost Ship is now 23
  - Time is now 22
  
• Adjusted SRTB artist links (in hamburger menu) to only recognise Songwhip URLs (we don’t want to be responsible for people embedding dodgy links)
  
• You can now speed up all menu animations properly when using gamepads
  
• Background music will now be lowered when calibrating
  

[h2]BUGS[/h2]

• Not a fix, but we noticed a bug with track speed override where it wouldn’t properly enable unless you swapped to and from another track. We couldn’t reliably reproduce this, so if you find a way to please let us know.
  
• Fixed a bug where filtering by difficulty range could still put you into difficulties that should have been filtered out.
  

See you next patch!

Join us on Discord!

Hi Spinners, thanks for your support and patience on the road to 1.0. Extra thanks to all our Discord members who helped with beta testing this release, translations, and the love and memes that keep us going.

Check out our official trailer, and please retweet our launch tweet if you can! If you haven't left a Steam review yet for SRXD, we would greatly appreciate it.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



We're finally here! Let's go through all the new features.



[h3]FEATURES[/h3]

• New tracks! We added 4 new tracks to reach 60 tracks (if you count the tutorial!) - we had another full track planned (Second Wind by L'indecis), it's licensed and the levels are made, but we wanted to save it as a free track update for the release of the Chillhop DLC so players could get a taste of that style of music.
  
• New UI - it's shinier, more user-friendly (works on all inputs properly!) and has a ton of cool skins for you to unlock and equip.
  
• Improved gamepad controls! Wheel speed increases per-difficulty with improved note tracking.
  
• New handy track list side panel which can be enabled or disabled, and can display your performance progress, leaderboards, unlocks or whichever info you prefer.
  
• New mascots! Meet Jim Rhythm and LadyJ, interdimensional... DJs? Subspace MCs? Who knows, they just up the vibe and groove to whatever track you have selected.
  
• Level up system - play levels and beat your high scores to gain XP, level up and unlock new songs, new wheel skins, UI skins and more. Currently it takes around 15 XD difficulty levels to unlock all the songs, or completion of all of the Normal difficulty levels (and a couple of Hards).
  
• Up Next system on the results screen (replaces random track selection). Keep your flow as SRXD suggests the next track to play around your current difficulty range, no more need to quit out and pick a track to play.
  
• RemiXD levels! We've been running RemiXD competition for a while now. Discord members create and vote for tough as nails versions of official tracks. These unlock when you beat the XD level, and have been added to the game as the ultimate challenge.
  
• Better practice mode! Click and drag to loop multiple sections, have greater control over playback speed and more.
  
• More options, better options! You can now change accessibility features, wheel skins and more while you play or practice, no more need to quit out to main menu.
  
• Better search and filter! Scroll to the top of the list to reveal the search bar (or use the CTRL + F shortcut - or whatever shortcut you want to bind). The filter button appears while searching, and has more and better filter options including custom difficulty ranges.
  
• Integrated customs! No more separate track list and separate edit mode overlay (access edit mode via the hamburger menu on the top right hand side of a selected track).
  
• Artist links per-track! We used Songwhip (an awesome free service) to create artists links to each track, making their music easier to find on your favourite platform. Access via the hamburger menu on a selected track.
  
• A new tutorial system! Learn how to play in real time, no more stuffy unplayable slideshow presentations. Also enjoy fun challenges at the end of each tutorial like the old days - don't worry, you can't fail these.
  
• Lifetime stat tracking! Lots of useless and trivial info such as total notes of each type, total time playing, total points etc.
  
• A couple of new achievements! And removed some old ones (like the ones that required random song selection.
  

[h3]REMOVED FEATURES[/h3]

• SpinFM - we removed this since it was a bit of a dead feature.
  
• Daily challenge - other than achievement hunting, no one was really using this so we piffed it.
  
• Random track select - this has been replaced with the Up Next feature.
  

[h3]Wow! So many cool new features, what else do you plan to do?[/h3]

We have a few things we would still like to improve or implement at some point.

• Endless mode - play a mashup of short sections of every track as the difficulty and speed slowly increase. The tech is there and working, it just needs to be implemented properly. We think this would make a really fun mode for both beginners and hardcore players.
  
• Better editor - we want to include mouse controls and cutting levels for Easy / Normal, as well as some other quality of life fixes (like swing tempo support, proper triplet charting without fiddly time signature stuff and so on).
  
• VR - sure why not? Maybe with console release.
  
• A whole lot of menu SFX we didn't implement in time.
  

[h3]What about other platforms? Where's the Switch version?[/h3]

We only have a single programmer, so all our focus was on making SRXD 1.0 on Steam as good as possible. We were still putting new features in up to a few days before launch, and other platforms are much more strict with certification, meaning we couldn't release these simultaneously. With such a small team, we figure it's better to have a complete product and then focus on porting one platform at a time.

We might focus on Switch next, we might focus on PS4/5 and possibly VR. Stay tuned.


[h3]Where's the DLC?[/h3]

We planned to launch 1.0 with Monstercat DLC. All the levels and backgrounds are made, but they wanted more time to work on marketing, so we will be launching it sometime in the future (possible alongside our first console launch).

If you have any issues or feedback or just want to spread the love, join us on Discord and let us know.



Thank you for your support and happy spinning.

Hi Spinners, this is a small update before Christmas just to give you a few new tracks and show you what we've been working on to prepare for 1.0.





While we work on our final features for 1.0 (level up system, unlockables, proper gamepad and console-friendly UI), we have kept up licensing tracks from around the place. We were going to release them all in one bunch at 1.0, but we decided to release some early as a Christmas present.

We're pleased to be able to add the awesome Au5 to our roster with Voidwalkers (co-written with Chime), along with Aussie funk pop band Supathick and their extremely catchy tune "Time". Oh and we slipped in the title track from Teminite's Raise The Black Flag album. Send them to the depths!




We have changed our UI many times since we launched. Initially we wanted something cool and dope, which evolved to cool and dope but slightly functional and finally to cool, dope but a bit all over the place. Turns out if you slowly add features to a UI that wasn't designed for them, things can quickly get complicated.




Our main goal with the UI update was to make it more controller friendly. We want to achieve this by making sure every menu has a simple flow of left to right, with options going up and down only along the selected axis.

In our current UI, it is unclear what is currently highlighted and what is selected (active). We have written some nice clean shaders to highlight both the current selected object, and the selected UI section.





We have created a new UI colouring system which lets us build unique colour palettes (one of our unlockable level up rewards). Check them out below.





The design of the track select menu now contains two distinct panels. The left-most panel can be swapped out for level up / unlock info, leaderboards, or player stats (including the selected level's run history). This should cater to more types of players whether you're chasing medals (clearing all tracks), grinding one chart until you're the best, digging into stats, or looking to unlock everything.

Difficulty is now more clear, and the flow of the menu no longer asks players to choose difficulty every time they play a level (which ends up feeling redundant). The difficulty ring now loops up to level 100!

There are "playlist" icons on the right which let players flip between base game charts, DLCs and customs without leaving and returning to the menu.

The actual level playing state has been refactored so that all options including calibration, accessibility and such are available while playing a level (accessible via pause menu). This means you will now be able to swap settings, track and wheel skins on the fly without having to quit back to menu. Neat!

Keep in mind that there's still a lot of work to be done on this new UI. Icons are missing or placeholder, polish will still be done etc.





One final thing, we are going to be shutting down SpinFM and replacing it with a proper multiplayer system some time in the future, so we will no longer be adding new tracks to the service.

See you next update.