HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed News

Action Heroes,

We’re incredibly proud to announce that Hypercharge won Best Multiplayer at Brazil’s Independent Games (BIG) Festival, the largest independent games festival in Latin America! We could not have won this award without the continued support of our amazing fans. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

And as always, we're listening to your ideas and suggestions, so please keep them coming! We've noticed a lot of you have been requesting a... Freeze Ray, 👀

Have a wonderful weekend ahead. - Joe
-Digita Cybercherries

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Welcome, Small Soldiers!

Live Stream (We're handing out keys every hour when live!)
https://steamcommunity.com/broadcast/watch/76561197989243780

Wow. What a year it has been! Honestly, it’s been tough. And not just for us, but for everyone. I truly hope you’re all coping well. It’s likely there are a lot of new eyeballs on this announcement, so I'd like to start by posting a previous message about Mental Health. It’s something that’s very important to us. You can read more about that here.

Right. So, there’s a second ‘wow’. IGN Full Exclusive! Can you believe it? We can’t…. This next bit gets a bit wordy, so bear with me. From a failed Early Access Launch in 2017, to rebuilding the game from scratch with the community which we dubbed ‘Early Access 2.0 in 2018, to then leaving Early Access in 2020 and becoming a Top Seller on Steam. And now look where we are. The front page of Steam with an IGN Full Exclusive. For those of you who do not know, we’re a team of five indie devs. Anything is possible with hard work and determination. We have huge plans for the future of Hypercharge, including a Survival mode coming later this year.

Please note: If you encounter any bugs when playing, please let us know on our Steam Forums or Discord. We will do our very best to iron them out, ASAP.

Available now, past and current players of Hypercharge will be able to enjoy the following:

Notable changes:

• Player Bots to Cooperative Waves mode and Deathmatch
  
• Third-Person Camera Modes
  
• New PvP Game Mode
  
• Two New Maps (Shed of the Dead and The Missing Isile)
  
• New Weapon (Plasma Cannon)
  
• New Play Menu UI
  
• New Unlockable Action Figures
  
• Vastly improved player movement and animations
  
• New DLC Pack (Two Action Figure Sets)
  
• And so much more!
  

New Content & Improvements

• Added unlockable Nebulon character from Shed map.
  
• Added new Stat-Based unlocks for new Nebulon character skins.
  
• Added new secret Bobble heads in various maps for Nebulon heads.
  
• Adjusted player movement responsiveness slightly to try reduce motion sickness for some players. Adjusted Air Control to match and feel a bit less sluggish.
  
• Disabled some expensive animation blending and tracing if they're not onscreen.
  
• Fixes for navigation meshes for Bots and AI in lots of maps.
  
• Optimised dust particles on a few maps to improve performance.
  
• Fixed bots using Prize Machine too much in some levels.
  
• Fixed flashlight attachment not updating if socket has changed.
  
• Fixed some animations events triggering after enemies and players had died.
  
• Added interpolated movement to Tanks, Big Tanks and UFOs to fix networking snappiness in dedicated servers.
  
• Localization fixes and updates.
  

As always, thank you so much for your support! - Joe

- Digital Cybercherries

Small Soldiers,

I know, I know... This is quite a beefy Hotfix. Nonetheless, it contains a lot of well welcomed improvements! The major highlight being the new Play Menu Layout. It's now way more intuitive and easier to navigate. We still have further tweaks and visual improvements to apply, but thanks to your feedback, we're heading in the right direction. Oh, and we fixed that pesky Tutorial bug that was preventing players from accessing certain secret areas. Right, that's it for now. As always, thanks for your support and patience.

Please let us know your feedback either on Discord or Steam Forums.



[h3]Added[/h3]
Added new Play menu layout to improve game functionality and consistency between game modes.
Added new menu garden map.
Added change Camera prompt to Tutorial - automatically changes camera to demonstrate.
Added listing the number of bots in a server.
Added menu background darkness to help readability on sub-menus.
Added new menu game-mode sound FX to seporate each game mode.
Added missing Shed powernode cable.
Added HUD message if the player has not sprinted in a while.

[h3]FIXES[/h3]
Fixed common crash bug related to pickup cleanup.
Fixed crash issue related to enemy ragdolls.
Fixed tutorial, missing props and broken lighting.
Fixed tutorial localization issues.
Fixed Map Selection screen showing incorrect text/icons for Charger and Slot machine.
Fixed incorrect UI bind button when being told how to build.
Fixed collectable and secret power node location in Tutorial.
Fixed 'A' Key being displayed for Walk Forward in tutorial.
Fixed missing pickup event function that could result in a double-battery pickup.
Fixed server List not listing servers by player count.
Fixed server list not filtering servers from the wrong Game Type (Cooperative vs PvP filtering)
Fixed lobby showing incorrect server player counts.
Fixed cargo plane diorama missing frame holder meshes.
Fixed stuck spots in shed and broken collision boundaries.
Changed Singleplayer to Offline in non-coop modes.
Disabled weapon choice in online Plague servers.

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]
Improved server browser layout to show more servers.
Improved menu focus functionality and snappiness of animations.
Improved Thirdperson to Firstperson camera change, keeps rotation relative to last aiming target.

Thanks again and hold on a little longer, it's nearly Friday! - Joe

- Digital Cybercherries

Please Note: This is not the Survival update. We originally planned to launch it as Major Update #4. However, we shifted it back to give us more time to focus on it. (Date TBA) This also means you get to enjoy some new content whilst you wait. For those who are unfamiliar with our plans for the Survival update, you can find more information here.

Attention, Small Soldiers!

We are excited to bring you Major Update 4. With it, comes a wealth of content and improvements. This includes a music track, maps, skins, weapons, and enemies.

As always, we're eternally grateful for your support. Hypercharge keeps on getting better and better. The overall gameplay feels much more balanced, especially with the addition of Bots in our last major update. Our focus is now on Major Update #5, so please keep sharing your ideas and suggestions. You can reach us on our Steam forums or Discord Server.

Have you followed us on Steam? It’s a great way to stay up to date on anything new we’re working on.

The Shed is a small map with lots of jumping, tons of verticality and many shelves to use as cover.

Drones are quick and deadly. Be careful not to get cornered and watch out for when their cage breaks.

“Max, we have a problem”. Space Men have entered the atmosphere! Keep your eyes up, soldier.

Sometimes, a rifle doesn’t cut it. Atomize your foe with the Plasma Cannon! (Gameplay balance pending)

With great power comes great responsibility. Be warned, the Plasma Beam can bounce back and hit you!

[h3]New Content & Tweaks[/h3]

• Added new enemy type "Drone"
  
• Added new enemy type "Space Men"
  
• Added 2 new Cyberfury heads "Samuri" and "PsyClone"
  
• Added 2 new Insectoid heads "Charlotte" and "Squirm"
  
• Added 2 new Cyberfury skins "Dungeons" and "The King"
  
• Added 2 new Insectoid skins "Jacket" and "Ritual"
  
• Added new Music Track for Shed map.
  
• Added new Multiplayer Map "The Lost Isle" - The tutorial level has now been reworked and expanded for use in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Plague.
  
• Added new Cooperative and Multiplayer map "Shed of the Dead" - The claustrophobic level from part of the new level series we're building, this bonus map introduces some new enemies.
  
• Added new weapon "Plasma Cannon" - Delete your foes from existence! (Multiplayer Balance Pending, Batteries Not Included)
  
• Added HYPERCORE Shield Effect (Can now see if shield is active)
  
• Added local multiplayer options to the singleplayer menu, so you can play PvP against bots.
  
• Added missing GameRules for customising Weapons and Attachments in Multiplayer.
  
• Added more feedback particles to enemies and varius game events.
  
• Added improved tutorial loading screen image and map preview image.
  

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Improved overall loading system of the game, results in much faster load times, less stuttering and overall better memory usage.
  
• Improved many NPCs' AI and Animation performance.
  
• Improved gameplay on all levels, included new weapons and NPCs in base levels.
  
• Improved bot navigation on all levels.
  
• Improved PvP spawnpoints in a number of levels.
  
• Improved reload and firing animations for players in thirdperson.
  
• Improved lightmap resource usage on a few maps.
  
• Improved Garden pond rocks for AI navigation.
  
• Improved performance in a number of areas.
  
• Improved performance of zombie blood FX and brick-break FX.
  
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed crashing issue related to pickup cleanup.
  
• Fixed gliderplanes being able to have their AI disabled on damage.
  
• Fixed players getting hit markers for enemies that died later than their last damage.
  
• Fixed impact particles blinding the players view.
  
• Fixed server list using full players count to give incorrect server version.
  
• Fixed missing materials in first level.
  
• Fixed Demolisher getting stuck in the Garden and Kitchen levels.
  
• Fixed stuck-spots in a few levels.
  
• Fixed some formatting issues in the end of round UI.
  
• Fixed PvP ranks going black at end of the round.
  
• Fixed Meanbot pathing on Tutorial map.
  
• Fixed Dust particle not being removed on Low/Med.
  
• Fixed lighting issues when running the game on Low in Kitchen and Garden.
  
• Fixed UFO blast and collision physics.
  
• Fixed ArmyMan parachute issues.
  
• Fixed Yanks not turning properly sometimes.
  
• Fixed Chungus animations and missing morph targets.
  
• Fixed UFO bullet impact damage events.
  
• Fixed LODs for ArmyMen and Soldiers dioramas.
  
• Fixed holes in the wall in Airhockey_Shuffle.
  
• Fixed airhockey pathing to try help bots not fall off the edge as much.
  
• Fixed turning wobble in low FPS situations.
  
• Fixed not being able to build on Turret Bases when in a server.
  
• Fixed ghost buildable outline bug after a turret is destroyed bu the build tool
  
• Fixed invisible jump-vents on Kitchenn map when in a server.
  
• Fixed DK mode cheat not working anymore.
  
  

Cheers for your support and have fun! - Joe
- Digital Cybercherries.

[h3]This message is not about Hypercharge, or what it has achieved throughout this year. It’s aimed at you, our community, your friends and family.[/h3]
https://twitter.com/HYPERCHARGEGAME/status/1344701830056599552


As we close in on 2020, I hope more game developers talk about this, rather than the success of their game. 2020 has been a hard year, especially for those not fortunate enough to work from home, or at all.

MentalHealth is very real and you are not alone.

The past year has been a devastating rollercoaster, full of heartache and pain. Many people have lost their loved ones, jobs and their sense of purpose. Depression, Suicide & Anxiety is at an all-time high, and we have faced a challenge that has tested our willpower in ways we have never experienced before.

Personally, for me, it has hugely affected my mental health, my energy, my mood and my motivation. There have been many highs and lows, but what I learned most is that you must talk about how you feel. It’s okay not to be okay. There is no shame in crying or being open about your feelings. The worst thing to do is bottle it all up inside.

Playing games can often act as a coping mechanism to let us temporarily forget about our mental health problems, and just escape into another reality. Although this can be a good thing, please remember it’s not a long-term solution or strategy.

As for tips that helped me, remember the following:

1. A thought about yourself is an opinion, not a fact.
2. Create a routine that you can follow throughout the day.
3. You are good enough, and you deserve to be happy.

My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered throughout this year.

I’m sure I can speak on behalf of everyone at Digital Cybercherries, we wish you the very best as we prepare for 2021. If you are alone for this New Year’s Eve, please add me on Steam Friends. Let’s talk and play some games together!
https://steamcommunity.com/id/JoeH04/

Joe Henson
Head of PR, Hypercharge: Unboxed