Slapshot: Rebound News

Hey Slappers, this is a small update to address some bugs and improve the matchmaking.

- Further improved matchmaking variables based on new statistics and player feedback
- We're back in the Autumn locker room now that the Halloween event has ended
- Switched out the Island arena for Slapstation in the public match arena rotation
- Fixed the cones in obstacle practice getting highlighted like the puck
- Fixed an issue where the default stick would not always get highlighted
- Remastered the Salmon stick

GLHF
The Oddshot Games team

[h2]Halloween update![/h2]
This is a smaller patch because I took a little break this month but we've still got some fun stuff for you!
Just for logging in between now and the end of October, you'll unlock a free Halloween cosmetic "Skeleton mask".

We've also decorated the locker room to be more spooky 👻

[h2]Individual player muting[/h2]
- In the menu while in-game, a new button called "mute / unmute" will allow you to mute individual player's chat.
- When you have them muted, you won't see any of their chat (including quick chat). You can unmute them from the same menu.
- The scoreboard will show you a muted indicator on the very right.

[h2]Highlights rework[/h2]
We've tackled the highlight shader that takes care of the stick and puck highlights to be more consistent and not affect non-highlighted models.

- Before, there was a bit of transparency to the stick. This is fixed now.
- The gloves will now avoid the highlights (despite 'obstructing' the stick)
- Highlight colors are more accurate now. We've also changed the preset colors to make them look closer to what they did before (you may need to reselect yours!).

As a part of these improvements, we've also remastered a bunch of sticks: Fork, spatula, iridescent, oil, frost, zombie, Mjolnir, butcher, butter knife, bowie knife, scythe, camo, bone stick, sword

[h2]Matchmaking[/h2]
We've made the matchmaking a bit stricter on the extreme ends. This should make for more balanced matches. On Tuesday this was tuned a bit too extreme to the other end, a middle ground has been launched today that makes for a better balance between match quality and queue times.

[h2]Cosmetics[/h2]
- Added free Skeleton Face paint (log in during October to get it!)
- Added lightning stick, modern stick, zombie jersey, zombie head, balaclava, military jersey, jetpack
- Reworked the duck mouth (old version became a variant)

[h2]Other[/h2]
- Changed the API lobby limit to only count towards the limit if there's less than 2 players in a lobby
- Fixed an issue where item pictures would be influenced by the locker room lighting
- Fixed gloves not rendering in replay and spectator cameras (happened since 3 days ago)
- Fixed candy cane stick
- Fixed frost stick not applying the stick tape and base color cosmetics

Good luck, have fun!
The Oddshot Games team

[h2]Autumn is here[/h2]
As the Slappyverse is cooling off after the summer, we've moved indoors to get cozy.

[h2]Netcode[/h2]
We've made some significant improvements to the netcode which will cut down perceived latency by a decent amount. The improvements have been made to processes that handle sending and processing of packets, making them twice as fast on both client and server.

This will not change the network latency. The change will be felt, not seen in the ping number. It does not make network ping lower or higher. Online gameplay will look smoother when your fps and refresh rate are 60 or above as well.

[h2]Improvements[/h2]
- With more cosmetics being added every patch, we've increased the shop's featured slots from 4 to 5 and the daily slots from 6 to 10 items.
- Ranked leaderboards now requires you to have played a match in the last 7 days to appear on it (does not affect other stat leaderboards)
- We can now blacklist accounts from the ranked leaderboards and will remove alt accounts from it. The blacklist is on a per season basis
- Increased the networking timeout to game servers when you lose network connectivity, giving you a higher chance to reconnect.
- We have completely disconnected the game from all Unity services to reflect our lost trust in the engine maker
- Improved the video RAM usage of cosmetics with high resolution textures

[h2]Fixes[/h2]
- Switching teams during item preview no longer resets the selected variant
- The default spectator camera is now back to being the caster cam
- Fixed scorebug not displaying the gamemode specific team names
- Fixed switching teams while looking at a bundle visually showing its price as 0 pux
- Fixed cosmetics not being able to apply dynamic colors to multiple pieces of geometry
- Fixed the 'spectate' command making the player move when you move the spectator camera

[h2]Cosmetics[/h2]
- Added a dark variant to the celebration hat
- Added new variants to the camera helmet (content creator program)
- Reworked the existing pumpkin head cosmetic (the old ones are now variants)
- Fixed hair colors on the Goosan cosmetic
- Added Patreon cosmetics for October (Halloween)
- Added elegant hairstyle, superhero jersey and mask, deathknight jersey and stick, hazmat jersey

[h2]SPL Season 11[/h2]
The North American league returns. Join the SPL in its 11th season.
Signups open from Sept 25th to Oct 6th. The season starts Oct 16th.
https://forms.gle/e6xxGQxwwvKn4UQy9

Good luck, have fun!
The Oddshot Games team

- Fixed low framerate users getting strange input glitches
- Fixed controller navigation on the main menu
- Fixed default bot match length

Most of our time was spent working on performance and other less flashy but very important things.
There's still a bunch of things related to that that aren't ready yet so stay tuned for more boring but essential things!

[h2]New gamemode: Freezetag![/h2]
Freezetag lets you choose between being a tagger and a runner. This works with a 'best of' round system.
The round ends when the time rune out (runners win) or all runners are frozen (taggers win).
- As a tagger, hit the runners to freeze them.
- As a runner, get away and tag frozen teammates to unfreeze them!

This mode has no pucks, it's all about movement.
Freezetag is available in custom games. Let us know what you think of it!

[h2]Performance fixes and improvements[/h2]
Significantly improved CPU usage of the game as well as memory allocation (less/no more stutters!)
Nerd stuff ahead: The reduced memalloc produces 82% less garbage each frame, putting less strain on the GC which avoids stutters.

[h2]Quality of Life[/h2]
- Completely remade our Steam integration. Should not make a difference right now but will help us integrate with Steam more in the future (Rich presence, Steam sockets & relay for player hosted servers)
- Further improved toxicity and false positive detection

[h2]Fixes[/h2]
- Fixed some ice reflection related issues
- Fixed no goal horn playing if nobody on the team is credited with the goal
- Fixed some inputs getting discarded is they last less than a game tick

[h2]Cosmetics[/h2]
- Added cultist jersey, cat beanie, bandana (mouth), cauldron, suspenders, poutine stick, nasher jersey (stay tuned!), snail hat & jersey, facial hair: lumberjack, balbo, chad & disguise glasses
- Added new variants for Goosan, Star eyes, visor helmet, wireframe hat & fedora (will be enabled later today)
- Replaced the fart goal horn. Everyone that's bought it is eligible for a free refund for the next 7 days if they don't like the new version (⁠help for a ticket)
- Resized the league winner crown based on feedback

[h2]Other[/h2]
- Added a new loading screen by community member Rev
- Added Steam (Points Shop) & Discord chat stickers (Goosan Walk & Slapshot Smile) by Rev
- Renamed dodgepuck arena to 'Obstacles'
- Added an XL version of the Obstacles map

[h2]What's next?[/h2]
Our major focus areas are a game replay system, releasing more performance improvements and introducing new latency reduction tech.

Good luck, have fun!
The Oddshot Games team