BlastZone 2 News

This is a small update that makes the following changes:

-Cleaned up a few unused data files
-Added particle aux thread runtime readouts for the ingame debug display

A new update has been released for BlastZone 2! (v1.36.1.1) This update makes several improvements to the 2nd person shooter sequence in Mission Mode Area 5, including fixing enemy bullet bugs, and fixed effect alignment and timing. This gives an overall more polished sequence as you dodge from enemy fire, while you’re in their sights!

Here are the full release notes for v.1.36.1.1:

Improved enemy bullet firing behavior for the 2nd person enemy in Mission Mode Area 5
-Fixed alignment issue between the "charge up" animations and fired bullets from the enemy
-Slightly reduced the enemy bullet speed in this sequence
-Improved timing for charging/firing bullet events, improving animation smoothness
Improved enemy tracking bullet behavior for varying framerates
Fixed incorrect Z tracking behavior for tracking enemy bullets
-This is most noticeable for the 2nd person sequence in Mission Area 5
-This makes each tracking bullet enter the gameplay plane multiple times
Fixed some stationary enemy bullets disappearing too quickly
-Also fixed these bullets quickly shrinking after being fired, even when they are supposed to increase in size
-Many of these bullets are used in the 2nd person shooter scene
Fixed a 'divide by zero' bug when spacer sections are used for enemy firing scripts
-These are generally used when there is a long waiting period between enemy bullet firing
-Generally applies to bosses and mini-bosses

As usual, to make sure you have the latest update, launch the game and check the lower left corner for “v1.36.1.1” or higher. Enjoy!

A new update has been released for BlastZone 2! (v1.36.1.0) This update adds several technical improvements to the engine. This includes improved, more accurate and consistent physics across any frame rate. There are also a few improvements to frame time consistency, reducing frame hitching that existed in specific situations for some systems, and an improved frame limiter, for a smoother overall experience. This update also includes particle system optimizations, using an additional CPU thread for spawning particles, and reducing frame hitches when many particles are on screen.

Here are the full release notes for v1.36.1.0:

• Improved physics in a few areas of the game
  -More accurate movement calculations when accelerating objects
  -Fixes slightly different movement behavior for different frame rates
  -Affects these areas of the game:
  --Player throwbacks when firing big weapons or getting hit
  --EnemyC Behavior 4 (bouncing movement)
  --Many particle effects, including explosions, bullet trails, bullet impact buffs, etc.
  
• Improved particle spawning performance
  -Uses an additional thread to run particle spawning in parallel to other particle operations
  -Reduces particle update hitches when numerous explosions occur at once
  
• Reduced render frame hitches when many particles are on screen
  -Dynamically allows more time to buffer particle data into vram when many particles are on screen
  
• Improved CPU thread management to improve frame time consistency and reduce hitching
  -Better matches the number of active threads with the number of available CPU cores/threads
  -Ensures the graphics driver has enough CPU resources to maintain consistent rendering performance
  
• Improved precision and accuracy of the frame rate limiter
  -Uses 64 bit operations for the whole frame limiter process to improve precision
  -Reduced computational overhead for calculating the timing of each new frame
  
• [Hotfix]-Fixed Mission+ mode erroneously being unlocked by completing Survival mode
  
• [Hotfix]-Fixed some mode/ship unlocks occurring after Wave 6, now consistently requires Wave/Area 8 completion in all modes
  

As usual, to make sure you have the latest update, launch the game and check the lower left corner for “v1.36.1.0” or higher. Enjoy!

A new update has been released for BlastZone 2! (v1.36.0.0) This update adds another new game mode, Mission+ Mode! This works similar to “New Game+” in other games, as it starts Mission Mode from the beginning, but with all weapons and abilities unlocked, and all stat upgrades at level 3. To keep the difficulty balanced, this mode is always played at Veteran difficulty, and with fewer lives to start. This mode can only be unlocked once Pilot Mission Mode is completed.

Here are the full release notes for v1.36.0.0:

• Added the Mission+ game mode
  -Starts the Mission campaign with all weapons and abilities unlocked, and level 3 stat upgrades
  -Always uses "Veteran" difficulty and fewer starting lives, to offset the more powerful starting loadout
  -This serves as a new way for advanced players to play the game
  -Requires completion of Pilot Mission mode to unlock this mode
  
• Added new local highscore categories for the singleplayer and multiplayer variations of Mission+ Mode
  -Automatically migrates local highscore data from previous versions on startup
  
• Added world leaderboard support for Mission+ Mode
  
• Slight optimization for preparing draw calls
  
• Particle system optimizations when spawning new effects
  
• Fixed mismatched drawing parameter count for some objects
  -Fixes potential visual inconsistencies for some objects
  
• Upgraded a few 3rd party libraries:
  -Curl v8.0.1
  -FreeType v2.13.0
  -libPNG v1.6.39
  -libVorbis v1.3.7
  -SteamAPI v1.56
  
• Updated vertex shaders for the GL 4.X renderer to prevent potential rendering issues
  
• Fixed debug frame data briefly showing zeros for most stats when first opening it
  
• Fixed some Mission Mode script playback not being stopped when entering the gameover screen
  

As usual, to make sure you have the latest update, launch the game and check the lower left corner for “v1.36.0.0” or higher. Enjoy!

A new update has been released for BlastZone 2! (v1.35.0.0) This update adds a brand new game mode, Turbo Mission Mode! The goal of this mode is to add an alternative high difficulty way to play the main campaign that is very fast for advanced players. This increases the speed of the player ship, enemies, and enemy bullets by 35%, but keeps the ‘Pilot’ quantity of enemies, similar to the Turbo modes for Survival and Blitz. New highscore categories and leaderboards have been added for this new mode as well. Enjoy the new mode!

Here are the full release notes for v1.35.0.0:

• Added Turbo Mission Mode to the game
  -Increases the speed of enemies, enemy bullets, and player movement by 35%
  -Uses the same enemy formations and quantity as 'Pilot' difficulty
  -This new mode serves as an alternative way to raise the difficulty for advanced players
  
• Added new local highscore categories for the singleplayer and multiplayer variations of Turbo Mission Mode
  -Automatically migrates local highscore data from previous versions on startup
  
• Added world leaderboard support for Turbo Mission Mode
  

As usual, to make sure you have the latest update, launch the game and check the lower left corner for “v1.35.0.0” or higher. Enjoy!