Soundodger 2 News

Hello Dodge Fans!

The day has finally come. Soundodger 2 is now 1.0.0! No more Early Access. All features and songs and levels and dreams in general are in the game, ready for you to dodge to your heart's content. Thanks to everyone who has helped the project out along the way, including the lovely folks from the official discord, countless friends and family, and of course the incredible musicians and level creators who joined the team to bring you the amazing experience we now have.

I'll keep this short so you have more time to enjoy the game, so from all of us here, please enjoy!

♥Bean
changelog v1.0.0
Game

• Added 27 Achievements
  
• Added 15 new songs & 45 new levels
  
• Added heart gain/loss to heatmap
  
• Removed Seventeen & Something expert (...for now)
  
• Tweaked ending of Crowds expert to be less impossible
  
• Minor tweaks to Talk About It, Modular Origami, safety in the sun advanced, ShinShinjuku expert
  
• Major revisions to Shibuya advanced
  
• Updated audio for Sophomore Slump
  
• Added 2nd heart to Sophomore Slump challenge
  
• Fixed inconsistent graze score math
  
• Added 2 unlockable modes
  
• Added ability to hold arrow keys to quickly scroll through levels
  
• Fixed stream patterns sometimes firing while paused
  

Level Select

• Fixed jpeg thumbnails not displaying
  
• Tweaked position of grade quotations
  
• Fixed thumbnail preview for album art not coloring correctly in some situations
  
• Added 40 album art images (1 for each song)
  
• Adjusted unlock requirements for most songs/levels
  

Editor

• Fixed text that was sent away via gravity staying in its last position when time jumping
  
• Improved performance when too many extra markers
  
• Fixed text getting stuck on screen when time jumping
  

Ahoy Dodge Folks!

The time has almost come. After 3 excruciatingly fun years, I'm proud to announce Soundodger 2 will be leaving Early Access and reaching that golden 1.0 status on April 10. That's just 2 weeks away! I won't scare you with how much work there still is to do on the game, but rest assured this is always how it goes no matter how much time you give yourself.


I'll let this shiny new trailer do most of the explaining, but basically you should have one last goodbye to your socks before they are blown off.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


The Soundodger 2 Soundtrack page is also now live and ready to be wishlisted. It'll launch on the same day as the game (April 10, remember?) along with every track, including the ones you don't even know about yet...

The team and I have been working hard and have plenty more wonderful work to tend to in these final 2 weeks. Please pardon us if we more or less stay silent until then.

See you in a couple weeks!
♥Bean

Hows It Goin Fellow Dodgerydoos?

A substantial-yet-small update has gone live for the Beta branch. The only thing of interest here is auto-restart, one of the most-requested features since Soundodger+ launched 10 years ago. I've always been against the idea and still have no interest in using it, but uh... here you go! Enable it via Options > gameplay.

A major major update is coming next month! Please look forward to my silence as we scramble to make sure it all goes smoothly. Until then, patch notes below!

♥Bean

changelog v0.5.11 [BETA]
Game:

• Added autorestart to Options > gameplay (ignored in zen mod and in editor)
  
• Changed heatmap border to be more visible on bright backgrounds
  
• Changed crack visuals in later stages of low health
  
• Fixed cracks not displaying in fragile mod when losing a heart or restarting practice
  
• Fixed shattering fx not displaying if particles are turned off
  
• Fixed flickering squash animation on player when hitting arena wall with hori movement active
  
• Fixed being able to shatter when unpausing to pick a new practice point
  
• Fixed being able to shatter when unpausing to quit
  
• Fixed graze amount not resetting when restarting practice
  
• Fixed center enemy collision deactivating after an enemy is done shooting, but still visible
  
• Fixed bullets that have been stopped not being able to stop again when restarting in practice
  
• Fixed shatterproof mod not recording hit for heatmap
  
• Fixed jittering visuals on score circle when choosing new practice point while having an imperfect score already
  

Editor:

• Added error message if exluded enemies in settings contains incorrect characters (and prevents softlock)
  
• Fixed distribute button not lighting up when shift-selecting markers
  
• Fixed center enemy's preview cone aiming incorrectly
  
• Fixed world aimed preview cones not updating when dragging playhead
  
• Fixed streams reading amount2 value from previous bullet pattern type
  
• Fixed softlock when zooming to hilight while nothing is hilighted
  
• Fixed misaligned hitboxes on +/- buttons in Editor Color window
  
• Fixed not being able to use controller to test forced powerups in fullscreen preview
  
• Changed preview cones to extend as arena size increases
  
• Improved performance when dragging playhead
  

Level Select:

• Fixed visual error on mod window buttons
  

Howdy Dodgerinos!

Our latest update certainly packed a doozy of a changelog, but there's one aspect I felt needed its own space to breathe. Of course I'm talking about everyone's favorite mechanic to have feelings about - shattering.



[h3]What is shattering?[/h3]
First off, you now take damage when getting hit. This appears in the game as cracks in the player. The cracks heal over time, and getting a heart instantly heals fully. If you get hit too often in too short a time, you will shatter. When you shatter, the song ends and you're kicked out. From there, you can either play again or go back to the menu.

[h3]How can I improve in a level if I keep shattering before seeing it all?[/h3]
Luckily for you, we've added a handy heatmap of your gameplay, including marks to indicate every time you got hit. Simply hover over the heatmap and click to jump into practice mode from that point. You even get to hear an audio preview of the song to know roughly where it is. (This heatmap has also been added to the results screen in the bottom left, so you can still see your damage and jump in to practice even if you finish a level)

[h3]Why add it to the game?[/h3]
This is something I've wanted not only in this game, but in Soundodger+ and even Overpass. Rhythm games, music games, and generally every video game has a fail state built in to give you an out if you're not ready yet. The first Soundodger used to have a fast-forward as a punishment for getting hit, which was odd, yes, but served this purpose. Once I added smooth listening mode and almost every player used it, that punishment was gone. Any player, regardless of their skill level, would always make it to the end. Sometimes a good score, sometimes bad. It's generally not good game design to rely on players to self-motivate themselves.

This also creates a new milestone for players to work towards - simply finishing a level. Before, you'd always make it through, get your grade, and move on. Now, a player can feel the pressure of having to perform well, celebrate making it through alive, then worry about their score another time. It's also a lovely indicator that you just might not be ready for this level right now. And that's okay! I'd much rather be kicked out of a super difficult level early rather than get an F and feel empty inside. (There are mods to allow you to play through an entire level, see below)

[h3]Why add it now?[/h3]
Hey, this is still Early Access! Anything can happen at any time. And for your information, an early version of shattering has been in the game files since day 1, albeit disabled. It was a lives system. It was not good. Anyway, I really felt this needed to be added to the game before 1.0 and make it a better product because of it.

[h3]What if I don't like it?[/h3]
Well, the good news is, once you get better at dodging stuff, this won't really be an issue. You can always practice as much as you want. We added a few collision mods to help as well. Zen mod of course lets you play without any score penalty when hit. There's also shatterproof mod, which still takes score away, but you'll never shatter. This is essentially how the game used to be. This is ideal for nearly impossible levels no one will ever beat, so you can brag about your score and share your results screen. Keep in mind this is a mod, so your score isn't saved. Lastly, there's fragile mod, which is just a 1-hit shatter for the masochists out there.

So that's that! We hope you enjoy the new shatter system and learn to love it as much as we do.

Happy Dodging,
♥Bean

Hello.

It's been a couple of months, so here's a couple of months of updates! Lots of small QOL fixes can be found below, such as holding shift on the Pause screen for additional options, but there are some major additions to the game you probably wouldn't have guessed would ever be added. That's right, you can now shatter to pieces right in the middle of a game. But don't worry, there are plenty of ways to practice, get better, and show those mean bullets you came to dance.

In fact, I had more to say about shattering than could fit here, so please read through this Shatter FAQ if you have any questions. I hope you enjoy it!

I also might have mentioned some "bangers" arriving a month ago, which you've surely noticed are absent from the game. Rest assured they will arrive in a later update. They need a little more time in the creator oven. Thanks for being patient!

♥Bean

changelog 0.5.10 Gameplay

• Added shatter / health system (shatter FAQ here)
  
• Added heatmap to Shattered and Results screens (hover to preview audio, click to practice)
  
• Added practice points to all levels in main game
  
• Added , and . for choosing practice points
  
• Added results animation skipping. Press any key or click
  
• Changed center enemy to push out player in progress movement challenge
  
• Fixed squash direction of player in vert movement challenge
  
• Fixed header reading invisible line breaks
  
• Fixed lasers not colliding with updated shield radius
  
• Fixed blank practice points displaying an empty text box
  
• Fixed clears not firing when in pause/unpause animations
  
• Fixed invisible center enemy having a hitbox during intro animation
  
• Fixed invisible center enemy pushing player outwards with progress movement active
  
• Fixed shadow clones being able to collide with domes
  
• Fixed erroneous-looking pixels in shadow challenge icon

Editor

• Added obey stops to advanced bullet deck
  
• Added undo/redo buttons (and ctrl+z/y), removed other defunct buttons. Undo is still WIP, use at your own risk
  
• Added functionality to all remaining tool buttons (and removed some, too)
  
• Added select all by type button to Extras toolbar
  
• Added transparency support for outline color
  
• New Project: Added more checks to prevent folders from opening
  
• New Project: Added error message if project already exists
  
• Changed Stop to be its own extra (stop clears from 0.5.3 are converted automatically)
  
• Changed stop event icon to be consistent with others
  
• Changed bullets back to not animating as gravity affects them
  
• Changed text extra input box to match selected font
  
• Separated OOB and ignore border into 2 things
  
• Color window: Fixed invert color when non-color1 is active overriding that slot with color1
  
• Fixed reset anchor value not updating input box
  
• Fixed survive rewind button not having its own tool tip
  
• Fixed dynamic event view not updating when reversing event anchor values
  
• Fixed clear events sometimes firing multiple times
  
• Fixed text wrapping of [exclude enemies] input box
  
• Fixed softlock when canceling the load xml window when current project is unsaved
  
• Fixed dome inconsistent dome thickness between preview and fullsize game windows
  
• Fixed wrong x values for placing/dragging markers on ultrawide monitors
  
• Fixed visual offset of waveform in timeline
  
• Updated [set prefab trim to playhead] icon to match the playhead better
  
• Improved performance when selecting all
  
• Changed various input text boxes to not display rich text
  
• Fixed not being able to paste bullet markers in prefabs

Level Select

• Added collision mod: choose between zen, shatterproof, or fragile (1 hit death, oh boy!)
  
• Added better coloring when hovering over a level with a transparent outline color
  
• Changed "classic" tag to appear on all legacy levels
  
• Changed mod window hover sfx to play uniquely to prevent overloading
  
• Changed powerup button hover sfx to change in pitch
  
• "---" displayed for unfinished level that's been played
  
• Fixed odd behavior when holding shift and selecting a level
  
• Fixed unlocking level/difficulty sfx being muffled
  
• Fixed folder music not looping
  
• Fixed wrong powerup colors shown when selecting blast/shield
  
• Fixed hovering over non-focused level switching to unreadable white text
  
• Removed "new!" in score position of level buttons

Misc

• Options: Added page 2 to How to Play (and next/prev buttons)
  
• Options: Added controls page (under gameplay tab)
  
• Pause: Added shift key holding to get alternate options for certain buttons