Oxytone News

Hi Oxytone players! This update enhances both gameplay and user experience, ensuring smoother controls and rewarding challenges. Dive back into Oxytone and experience these new features! We can't wait to show you what's coming to Oxytone! In the meantime, we're back to work on the Android version.

• Trophy Filtering: You can now filter the Trophy menu to display only unachieved trophies, making it easier to track your progress!
  
• Trophy Progress Tracker: See how close you are to becoming a true Oxytone master with a brand-new progress indicator for your trophies.
  
• New Infinity Symbol: Before your first move, all tile changes are free! To make this clearer, we’ve added an infinity symbol at the start of every level.
  
• Keyboard Controls in Pause Menu: Pausing just got smoother! You can now navigate the pause menu using keyboard controls.
  
• Mouse Controls on Game Over Screen: You can finally navigate the game over screen with your mouse—no more fumbling for keys. Enjoy the convenience!
  
• Enhanced Camera Controls for Mouse Users: Borrowed from our mobile version, we’ve added friction-free mouse controls for a seamless experience.
  
• Pause by Mouse: You can now pause the game with a simple mouse click—another feature borrowed from the mobile version. Oxytone is fully playable with mouse, keyboard, or controller!
  

• Level Crystals-1: The scoring requirements for medals have been rebalanced. If you've already earned medals, just replay the map once to sync your trophies and unlocks.
  
• Level Crystals-3: To enhance enjoyment, we’ve redesigned this map, focusing on fun over frustration!
  

• Crash Fix (V Key): We fixed a crash that occurred when pressing the 'V' key. Though, to be fair, why were you pressing it?
  
• Sound Volume Issue: The sound volume setting now works properly on startup and when re-entering the main menu.
  
• Persistent Combo Music: Combo music will no longer haunt you after a game over.
  
• PlayStation Controller Fixes: PlayStation controller hints were swapped—this has been corrected, so you’re good to go!
  
• Screenshot mode camera fix: Now you can't broke camera in screenshot mode.
  

New crystal levels change the approach to the core gameplay mechanic of tile acquisition. Now, depending on the map, a tile can also be acquired by passing a path through a crystal pillar. Such a pass grants one additional tile, indicated by a special animation. Additionally, new sounds have been recorded that indicate the fill level of the crystal pillar. These sounds create a unique combo effect, which can also earn an achievement. When you fill the crystal pillar, you receive six additional tiles, making it definitely worth the effort.

[h2]Multiplying the multiplier[/h2]
To add depth and allow for strategies for more experienced players, each pass through the crystal pillar increases the score multiplier by 10%. For additional clarification, the multiplier increase works differently than with metal tiles—metal tiles increase the multiplier by 10, 25, and 50 percentage points, respectively. The crystal pillar increases the multiplier by 10%, which means that starting with a multiplier of x1.00, passing through the pillar raises it to x1.10, passing again to x1.21, and again to x1.33. Another example: with a multiplier at x5.50, passing through the crystal pillar increases the multiplier to x6.05.

[h2]Advanced strategies[/h2]
Thanks to the option of multiplying the multiplier (however that sounds), a new strategy has emerged for more advanced players. Now, scores on crystal maps can literally skyrocket and exceed 300,000! Players will be able to balance between two extremes: acquiring additional tiles from crystal pillars and closing them, and building long paths that pass through the crystal pillars to create gigantic multipliers. The maps are designed to allow such a balance without excessively complicating the game. Adapting to the new strategies may take a few games, but once mastered, it becomes incredibly satisfying. I am incredibly curious to see what scores you will be able to achieve on the new maps.

[h2]New Maps:[/h2]

• Introduced 4 crystal levels which modify the core tile acquisition mechanic. Players can now gain tiles by routing through a crystal pillar, earning an additional tile per passage, highlighted with a new animation.
  
• New sounds indicating the fill level of the crystal pillar, which serve as a unique combo, granting achievements upon completion.
  
• Each filled crystal pillar rewards six extra tiles, making strategic routing highly beneficial.
  
• Each passage through a crystal pillar increases the score multiplier by 10%, allowing for significant score boosts through strategic planning.
  

[h2]New Features:[/h2]

• Saving Icon - A saving icon now appears on the left side of the screen whenever the game is saved.
  
• Restart Level from
  
• Game Over Screen - Players can now restart the game from the Game Over screen using keyboard or controller input. A dedicated button will be added in a future update.
  
• Turn Off Grid - A new option in the "Unlocks" menu allows players to turn off the grid.
  
• More Sparks - An option to enable more background elements is now available in the "Unlocks" menu.
  
• Multi-color Sparks - Players can now choose multi-color sparks for their background.
  
• Gradient Backgrounds - Four new gradient backgrounds added: "Vibrant Purple," "Crystal Green," "Heavenly Blue," and "Red and Black." More backgrounds will be added with future map packs.
  
• Map Rules Display - The map selection menu now shows the starting tile count and the number of tiles received for filling metal tiles, aiding new players in understanding the game rules.
  

[h2]Changes:[/h2]

• Intro - Updated the game intro to align with console and mobile versions. The intro can now be skipped using buttons, except on the first playthrough.
  
• Background and Path Colors in Unlock Section - Corrected some background colors that did not match their descriptions. Feedback for further improvements is welcome.
  

[h2]Under the Hood:[/h2]

• Prepared for New Maps - Modified the map hierarchy to facilitate the addition of new maps, addressing significant technical debt from the prototype phase.
  
• New Saving System - Redesigned the saving system to reduce data storage and modify only changed data, decreasing the likelihood of corrupted save files, especially beneficial for console versions.
  

[h2]Quality of Life Improvements:[/h2]

• Accelerated Achievement Animation - Players can now speed up the achievement animation at the end of a stage by pressing any button, mouse click, or controller input.
  
• Scrolling in Level Selector - The level selector now scrolls one map at a time, rather than jumping between cards.
  
• Metal Tile Colors - Adjusted the colors of metal tiles to be more distinguishable and less visually jarring against gradient backgrounds. Metal colors are now clearly bronze, silver, and gold.
  
• Tile Animation Overlap - Improved the animation for receiving new tiles to prevent overlap, ensuring clear visibility of the number of tiles received.
  

Due to the ongoing Steam Summer Sale, I have decided to postpone the release of the Crystal Update to July 11th (right after the festival ends). BUT! Anyone who has purchased Oxytone on Steam can now play the beta version of the update! To do this, right-click on Oxytone in your Steam library, select Properties, then Betas, and from the drop-down list, choose crystal-update.

Launching the beta version creates a backup of the files from version 1.0.8. If you want to return to it, you will need to manually replace these files, as version 1.0.8 will not launch with the save file from 1.1.

There are so many changes in this version that writing a changelog will take me the whole day; this is the result of merging many development branches, optimizations from the Nintendo Switch, quality of life improvements from iOS, and lots of new features.

Steam achievements from 1.1 are already available, while cards, badges, emojis, and backgrounds will be available from July 11th.

For a limited time, get Oxytone at half price and experience the captivating gameplay that has enchanted thousands!

[h2]Exciting Update Alert![/h2]
Crystal Update, our first major addition to the game! This update will introduce:

🗺️ 4 New Maps featuring a mystical pillar with a crystal at the top.
🏆 New Achievements to challenge your strategic skills.
🎨 Fresh Backgrounds and trails to enhance your gaming experience.
🎁 And a few surprises just for you!

Prepare for new strategies and a fresh approach with the introduction of the crystal mechanic. Stay tuned for the release date, but we promise it will really soon! Best of all, this update will be free and exclusively available to Steam players first.

Don't miss out on this fantastic offer and the chance to experience Oxytone in its full glory. Grab your copy now and join our community of dedicated players. See you in the game!