Turbo Kid News

Here's more stuff for your eyeballs!

In this one, currency system, boss update, more Nintendo Switch news and more.

Let's jump into it!


[h2]How Much Is This?[/h2]

Scraps are the currency you’ll use to buy items in Turbo Kid. We’ve determined the number of scraps you’ll earn when defeating enemies, destroying boxes, etc. and, based on that, we’ve set prices for items sold by merchants. If you complete all side quests and explore the entire game, you should earn enough to purchase every item within the game.




[h2]For Where God Built a Church...[/h2]

Welcome to Church! This is the Preacher’s hideout, the base of operations for his sprawling cult, kind of his own personal “Vatican™”. Here, he uses the population’s need for mechanical implants as leverage to maintain control over his followers and expand his grip on the wasteland. Here is a spoiler-soft glimpse at his compound 😉




[h2]Boss: The Oozinator[/h2]

The Oozinator’s voice echoes throughout the sewer pipes leading the passerbys and residents of the Sewers to believe it’s haunted by what they call The Voice. No one knows if he can die, or what would happen if he does.




[h2]Switch Build[/h2]

It's alive! After multiple optimizations, collaborative efforts with our partners, and dedicated hard work, Turbo Kid is now up and running on the Switch. We still have a lot of work ahead of us to achieve the desired framerate and stability, but this progress signals that we are moving in the right direction.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2]Bloopers![/h2]

The burden of bugs is unavoidable when building video games so if we can’t escape them, we’ll at least have some fun with them. Hundreds of bugs are discovered and fixed each month, many of them are pretty funny (dev insight: some of them can even become features sometimes 🤫). Here’s a couple of fun ones we found recently for your viewing pleasure.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Zombie Moonwalking

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Overkill blooood!



See you again in two weeks for more stuff, and have a nice month of December!

Cheers

Mathieu Fecteau – Producer at Outerminds

It's been a while since our last update, and we are eternally grateful for your patience. Significant progress has been made on the game and we have amazing new announcements to share in the coming weeks.

Our progress on the game's skyrocketed since we shared the July update, adding more artists and programmers for the final push to complete the project in early 2024. As a matter of fact, we're set to announce the official launch date soon!

Moving forward, we're kicking into high gear and will be posting once every two weeks.
Let's jump into some news!

[h2]Boss Fights Polish[/h2]

All bosses are now fully implemented! Each one more badass than the last. There are all kinds of players on the dev team, some better than others, it's given the design team incredible data to work with. Fights are going to be epic! Super-mega-final-boss is in, too, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves! Here are teasers for The Preacher and Silver Ghost.


Who said going to church was supposed to be boring?


Seems like that wiring needs some work. Still polishing art on this one, we'll keep you posted on our progress.

[h2]Arena, the Lightning Dome Challenge![/h2]

Test your combat skills in the Lightning Dome! Defeat wave after wave of bloodthirsty enemies to win amazing prizes (if you survive). Conquer all four challenges in record time to prove how much of a badass you really are! Blood, gore, and death are guaranteed!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]The Church[/h2]

An ultimate challenge awaits the Kid in this larger-than-life church fit for a God. Here, you will face the culmination of our developers’ insane machinations. This area will showcase amazing art, accompanied by what will arguably be the best work Le Matos has put out (music currently a placeholder). Get ready to perform indescribable bike tricks to overcome what awaits within!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Flashback Scenes[/h2]

Remember the events of the movie back in 2015? Well, the Kid certainly does. Every now and then, memories will materialize in the Kid's mind and the world around him.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Skeletron Returns[/h2]

To end you. :)


Is he real or just a dark memory?

[h2]Switch Port[/h2]

A recurring and legitimate question. We are currently collaborating with Triple Boris to port the game to the Nintendo Switch. This is a complex process, and we are making good progress. Our goal is still to release it alongside the Steam launch, but it might take a bit longer. We're extremely sorry about that. Should the Switch version be released later than the Steam version, Outerminds will personally provide free Steam keys to Kickstarter backers who selected the Switch option. Whatever happens, we will do our best to communicate as we near launch!



Stay tuned on our socials and right here for more updates!

Mathieu Fecteau – Producer at Outerminds

Here's what we've been working on in the past few months, as you'll see the game is really coming together nicely!

[h2]Abilities Screen[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
You may have seen some hints in screenshots from our previous dev updates, but we now have all the screens for the “Status” menu. This one is all about your currently acquired abilities and weapons. Oops, skipped that tutorial explaining a new ability or forgot some of the details? Don’t worry, we got you covered. You can re-watch any tutorial video/text for all your turbo gear, right here, in this screen. Pretty handy, right?

[h2]Bike Skins[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
No more searching for your bike on the rack, make yours unique with these fresh customizations

Need to spruce up the ole wheels? Turn some heads as you ride through town sporting these brand-new bike skins. Collect some sweet customizations for your bike throughout your journey, available as quest rewards, from merchants, or by some other intentionally undisclosed means (wink, wink, cough, cough). Your starter bike will even vary depending on if you are playing with the Kid or Apple.

[h2]Music Player[/h2]

Chill beats to save the Wasteland/rock out to

You are all in for a special treat in this final sub-screen reveal: The Music Player. Oh boy, your ears are not ready for all these heart-pumping beats curtesy of Le Matos. Collect all the audio cassettes throughout the game and listen to them here, featuring brand new music and some previously unreleased tracks.

Headphones are highly recommended. May induce severe head-bobbing and feelings of euphoria.

[h2]Merchants[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
“What are ya buyin' Stranger?”

We talked about these fine folks before and we are happy to report that they have made their way into the game and are ready to exchange their wares with weary travelers. You can find them all over the world, help them on their way, and maybe they’ll give you a discount.

[h2]Notebook[/h2]

Who knew the Kid was this organized?

As promised, we can finally show you the fabled Notebook. This is quite the chonky book and it will be crucial to your journey throughout the game. Keep track of all the places you see, the people you encounter, the quests you need to complete, and more. If you are a lore buff, this is also where you’ll keep track of all the narrative collectibles scattered throughout the world. Oh, and let’s not forget, it also contains the Comic Book! Collect all the pages and read a brand new exclusive book by Jeik Dion right here.

With all that new content, the Turboverse is feeling more and more alive by the minute.

[h2]What Next?[/h2]
As always, you can stay up to date on all developments regarding Turbo Kid by joining our community:
Outerminds | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch | Linktree


Cheers!

Ray—Lead Programmer for Turbo Kid

Ready for another dev update? This one features what we’ve been up to since February, so it’ll be a bit less massive than the last one, but still lots of stuff to cover. Here we go, round 2!

[h2]Cartridges[/h2]
Remember these collectibles from the demo?


Shiny AND useful

They’re called “Cartridges” and are much more than some simple shiny trinkets to add to your collection. You will be able to equip cartridges to gain passive boosts like bonus damage or resistance, attracting loot around you and even modifying existing traversal skills. You’ll have a limited number of slots to equip cartridges, though, so choose wisely. Here’s a preview of the upcoming cartridges screen, with absolutely no hints to other sub-screens included. Also note that cartridge icons are not representative of final art just yet.


Nothing else to see on this screen, just cartridges, only cartridges.

Weapons & Energy
Turbo Kid is a Metroidvania, as such, one might expect it will feature quite a few upgrades & powers to unlock. One might be right. These will include weapons, all kinds of weapons. The most observant among you may have noticed the mysterious blue bar under your health bar which expands when you collect a certain item that looks like this:


May or may not contain Mutagen


So mysterious. Oh, the many secrets it holds.

That bar represents the energy you can use when firing special weapons. We have put a lot of work into making energy collection and use fun, and encouraging using different types of weapons. “Enough talk, when do we get to see the weapons?!” you might say. Unfortunately, I’m not here to spoil the fun of discovering these new weapons, but I can show you what happens when you collect one. Take a look at this beauty:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
By the power of the Wasteland, I HAVE THE POWER!

[h2]Other progress[/h2]
Many other big features are in the works but they aren’t quite ready to showcase yet. Nevertheless, here’s a small sample of other things currently in development.

[h3]Junkyard & Sewer Boss Fights[/h3]
We’ve made a lot of progress on these two boss fights and our QA and designers (and many other curious members of the team) are thoroughly testing them.

[h3]Gameplay & Accessibility Settings[/h3]
We’ve added more settings, including new gameplay (bike options) and control settings (hold vs. toggle), and a set of options for “assist mode”. Assist mode settings are simple adjustments to modify the experience and better suit your needs or preferences. Examples include modifying health or loot drop odds and modifying defense or damage.

[h3]Notebook[/h3]
Another big feature currently in progress: the Notebook. This is where you’ll keep track of your adventures throughout the game. It will contain details on locations you visited, characters you’ve encountered, your current objectives, and all of your collectibles. It’s a pretty big feature and work will be ongoing for some time so expect more info on this in upcoming updates.

[h3]Visual Effects[/h3]
We’ve been putting a lot of work into visual effects, both for in-game and for UI (menus) to capture that signature retro look and feel. Final touches are being added to all manner of feedback in-game, including weapons, collectibles, damage, etc. We’ll dive into this in the next update, lots of eye-candy upcoming.

[h2]What Next?[/h2]
That is it for this edition: progress on multiple fronts, and lots of big features currently in the works. I hope you all enjoyed the update, and I’m already hyped for the next one. As always, you can stay up to date on all developments regarding Turbo Kid by joining our community:

Outerminds | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch | Linktree

Cheers!

Ray—Lead Programmer for Turbo Kid

Hey there Turbo Kids,

We've been pretty busy here at Outerminds, working hard on Turbo Kid. We thought it would be fun to update you all on what we have been up to since the release of the Steam Demo. Not only that, but these updates will become a monthly occurrence from now on. Let’s dive in, shall we?



[h2]Sewers[/h2]
If you caught some of our streams, you may have seen a little preview of this new zone. The Sewers have their own unique atmosphere, lots of cool lore and colorful characters to interact with, some new enemies and challenges to tackle and, of course, a new Boss Fight: Oozinator. ***May or may not include super-powered turtles with headbands.***
Here’s a quick look at some of this new content:


The lovely, inviting and not at all deadly, Sewers


Possibly worse than hospital Jell-O


Just your regular human doing regular human things


Even more annoying than real flies!


…probably something they ate.


Piñatas, but the deadly kind


Boss: Oozinator, maybe they just want a hug

[h2]Junkyard[/h2]
Work has also begun on other zones within the game. One of these is the Junkyard, a really desolate populated mostly by robots and drones. Be ready for a wide variety of challenging enemies, and an even more challenging Boss Fight. Keep an eye out, someone’s junk can often be someone else’s treasure (or killer robot).


Flying drones: Ouch


Turrets: Also ouch


Driller Drones: Surprise ouch


Boss: Silver Ghost, she’s quite the scrapper

[h2]Wasteland[/h2]
This area connects everything together, it's also where your journey will begin. It features picturesque landscapes, lots of mysteries and lore to discover and some rather unique enemies. The perfect place to listen to some kickass music from Le Matos while riding around on your bike.









We’ve also been working on lots of cool new stuff to make your experience as memorable and enjoyable as possible. From quality of life improvements to brand new features, here’s a quick breakdown of all the shiny new things.

[h2]Skippable Dialogues, Cutscenes & NPC Improvements[/h2]

One of the most requested features from the Steam Demo was the ability to skip dialogues. This is a crucial feature for speedrunners and less narratively inclined players. Practice your speed-reading techniques or blaze through previously explored areas without wasting those valuable seconds.


Skippable dialogues: For players on the go

We followed this improvement up with a rework of existing cutscenes and NPC interactions. This includes text streamlining, timing adjustments, clearer dialogues and a few more background characters chiming in.


That’s some good life advice right there, free of charge

[h2]Fast-Travel System[/h2]
You may have noticed the world we have built for you to explore is quite expansive. While you do have your trusty bike to zip around on, sometimes you need something faster to travel vast distances, some sort of “system” that would allow you to “travel” “fast”...
Introducing the Fast-Travel System! You will find many of these fast-travel pods scattered across the world to allow you to quickly get from Point A to Point B, C, D… and so on.


Fast-Travel Pods: Also for players on the go, but much faster

[h2]File Selection[/h2]
Players will now have 3 save slots to choose from when starting a game. Pretty useful if you want a different save game for your speedrunning practice or your Apple playthrough. Save files will display a bunch of important info, like playtime, progression % and unlocked weapons to help you keep track of everything. It also comes with the always handy “copy” and “delete” functionalities.


File selection screen: Organizational skills not included

[h2]Gameplay Settings & Controls Remapping[/h2]
We added a bunch of new gameplay settings to help you customize your Turbo Kid experience to your liking. This includes a planned feature that we sadly didn’t have time to put into the demo, but is now finally here: Controls Remapping. So if you desperately want to map “Jump” to the “Scroll Lock” key on your keyboard, or the “Left Trigger” on your controller, who are we to stop you?


Controller Mapping: you tell that controller who’s boss


Keyboard Mapping: That “M” key was clearly under utilized

[h2]Merchant Shops[/h2]
If you played the Demo you may be wondering what all those scraps you collect are for. Merchant Shops! You can now exchange your “scraps” for some nice rewards like health or energy upgrades and maybe even some cartridges (more on those in next month’s update).


Can’t you just imagine all the nice things this person will have for sale?


Last but not least, Kickstarter stretch goal content is constantly being added.

[h2]Hall of Corpses[/h2]
The “Hall of Corpses” is ready to welcome you with its impressive display of varied corpses, as described very “creatively” by our imaginative backers.


Uncensored content in all its gory pixelated detail available in-game only

[h2]Apple[/h2]
Apple has also made her appearance in the game. With over 425 unique animations for our protagonist characters, our artists are always hard at work making sure Apple looks her very best. We even have dynamic hair physics when she is riding her bike.


Apple: BMX Pro



That’s it for this month! We hope you enjoyed this sneak peek. There’s so much more to discover in-game, including many Easter eggs and other secrets we can’t reveal quite yet. Our next update will be coming soon, make sure you don’t miss it by joining our community:
https://linktr.ee/outerminds

See you in the Wasteland!

Ray - Lead Programmer on Turbo Kid