Version 0.3 has just released, the Speed Up-date!
The focus of this update was not adding new content, but making improvements to existing content. It might not sound like much, but some of the improvements made are literally game changing!
The main change is that the overall game speed has been increased and the game has been re-balanced! This change was something I've wanted to add for a while, but I didn't want to take it lightly. It's a big change and I wanted to make sure it was done right, and I think it was. The reason for this change is simply that with the larger levels and longer time required to beat the game, using the speed of the original game proved to be a bit too sluggish. Of course, I was also careful not to make the game too fast, as Baldi's Basics is meant to be a slower, more methodical experience than most other games. I think I managed to get that balance just right. I've had a handful of people help test the new speed and they've all agreed that it's a huge improvement over the old speed. Of course the speed of Baldi has also been increased, so almost everything else in the game has been tweaked accordingly. Even things like detention now count down faster than real seconds. When you first start playing this update, the new speed might seem off-putting at first, but please be sure to try playing the game a few times and I think almost everyone will become used to the new speed and agree it's a big improvement!
Among all of the following changes, I also want to mention that I have a couple more big things planned to release via minor updates in the coming weeks. First off, with the revamped field trips I was not able to finish the new farm minigame in time, so I opted to leave it out for now but it will be added shortly. Second, I plan on completely changing the way pre-made maps are saved (In development) and loaded, which will future proof them and fix the bugs currently found in them. I'm sorry for the delay on these features and thankful for your patience!
[h2]Adjustments and Additions:[/h2]
- Increased the overall game speed and re-adjusted overall game balance.
- Added a save and continue feature! Whenever you're in the elevator while playing Hide and Seek, you'll now have the option to save and quit your game. The next time you select Hide and Seek mode, you'll continue exactly where you left off! Saved games are saved to your file, so you can even close the game and come back later and you'll still be able to continue.
- Field trips are getting revamped! There's a new camping minigame, and a new farm minigame will be added in a minor update to be released in a few weeks. The new field trip minigames are designed to be simpler and quicker, but also more fun and engaging.
- You can also play an endless variant of the new minigame when you play it through the Field Trips mode!
- Because of the field trips being completely changed, old high high scores will be erased!
- Items are no longer lost when losing field trips.
- While using a controller, you can now press and hold the run button to increase the speed of the virtual cursor.
- Changed the ending to something much better... But it's still a placeholder (The dab was never really intended to be in the game at release).
- You might be able to see some cool new shader effects in action in the new ending...
- Reworked how Baldi moves. His speed is now controlled completely independently from his slap rate. His speed as his anger increases is also now controlled by a curve, and each level has its own curve to allow for a more finetuned difficulty per-level.
- Baldi will now always reach the same speed once all notebooks are collected, no matter how many are collected before he spawns. The player still gets an advantage when notebooks are collected before he spawns, but once the last notebook is collected he will always be at the max speed for the level.
- Instead of spawning NPCs once the player walks a certain distance away from Baldi, Baldi will begin counting down from 10 once the player leaves the elevator area, and when Baldi finishes counting, all NPCs will spawn.
- Furthermore, NPCs (With a few exceptions) can no longer spawn near the player. If an NPC tries spawning while the player is nearby, they will wait until the player wanders away before spawning.
- Made improvements to the level generator:
- Added decorative objects
- Large rooms will now always have swinging doors placed on opposite sides if possible
- When generating extra hallways, sometimes they would stop at large rooms and not connect, creating very bad dead-ends. Now these will be forced to connect, reducing the chances of dead-ends generating in levels
- When picking up items with a full inventory, the currently highlighted item will now be swapped with the item you picked up, instead of the highlighted item being destroyed.
- When solving a Math Machine, Baldi will now stop and give the player positive reinforcement. While he is stopped, collision with him will not cause you to lose a life. If Baldi is hot on your heels, this could save your life!
- Math Machines use a new sound for correct answers.
- Changed a Kickstarter backer photo at their request.
- Vending machines will now run out of stock when used.
- Note that currently, vending machines in pre-made levels will not display signs when out of stock.
- Each level now always generates with a static number of notebooks, instead of a varying number. Level 1 always has 4, level 2 always has 7, and level 3 always has 9. The only exception to this is in rare cases where not enough class rooms generate to place all notebooks.
- 1st Prize's subtitles are now cyan.
- Reduced the price of the map on levels 1 and 2.
- Added some more game testers to the credits. Give a big thanks to Josh, Padre Snowmizzle, LiNX 4, Dave Microwaves Games, and JayskiBean for offering their feedback on the game changes!
[h2]Bug Fixes:[/h2]
- Fixed coin doors occasionally spawning in blocked off areas, potentially trapping players.
- Added many missing subtitles and fixed some typos.
- Fixed a bug that could cause extra halls to generate without being connected to anything, creating small areas completely blocked off from the rest of the map.
- Fixed a bug that caused objects next to a library to be silent.
- Fixed a bug that caused Mrs. Pomp, Beans, and 1st Prize to not stay in the Principal's Office during the party event.
- Fixed the water fountain blocking NPCs lines of sight.
- Fixed a bug that caused subtitles to behave weirdly when entering the library.