Skater XL News

What is up guys? Over the last few weeks of the Multiplayer Free Skate Open Beta on PC we have been tracking usage, speaking to players and investigating a few key things hindering the fun of the experience and have made the following adjustments to the Open Beta Branch on Steam. We will be testing these changes over the next couple weeks, while we simultaneously continue to prepare the console Multiplayer Free Skate releases.

If you are already in the Open Beta Branch on Steam, these updates should download immediately upon opening the game. If the branch does not update automatically, close your Steam client completely and reopen it.

If you have not accessed the Open Beta Branch, follow the steps at the bottom of this post.


Pin Markers

We have found that it's sometimes hard to find where the action is or where other skaters are sessioning, particularly in big maps. Pin mode will now put an easy to spot colored marker above any skater's head, regardless of if they are in pin mode themselves making it far easier to find other skaters across a map. The markers extend into the sky to help find other skaters over, or from outside of buildings.



Public Multiplayer

Often you will be playing in a public game and want to play on a different map. The current experience forces you to join, leave, join, leave and hope that you load into a new map, also triggering repeated notifications on other players screens.

With the new system you can now push yourself straight to the next available room with the ‘Join Next Map' option, removing the problem of joining/rejoining in the hope of finding a new map. Map variation has been prioritized. If a room is full, the next room created will be different to the first one. In the current state of the game, this should produce more variation in which maps are up and running.

There is now also ability for you to invite a friend to join public rooms in addition to private rooms via the ‘Join specific room’ option. Like going to a skate park or spot in real life it’s a great way to hang out with your friend while also skating with a full room of other skaters.



Some insights into the new room logic (It’s a little complex, but perhaps interesting to see how the flow works..)



Exiting the game

We realize the escape button has worked until now in an unusual way, closing the game immediately when pushed. Pushing escape on the keyboard now takes you to the menu system and there is an added ‘Exit Game’ option to choose within this menu. A tiny QOL change to mention here, but we realize this has been frustrating enough for some players that a mod with 12k downloads was even created to amend it (shout out to M4cs and TrizlyBear). This change brings SXL in line with almost every other game ever made!!



Bug fixes

• Significant across the board performance Improvements
  
• Replay jitter fixed
  
• Replay clip cutting bug fixed
  
• Other players no longer disappear when leaving a room whilst filming / watching a replay
  
• Other players are now hidden (if not in liveView) when joining a room whilst filming / watching a replay
  
• Infinite loading for Replay, Maps and Character Menus fixed
  

Gear Update

Added new New Balance and éS shoes for Tiago Lemos, Brandon Westgate and Tom Asta pro characters as well as Male/Female Standard options.







Thank you so much for your valuable feedback and suggestions on the Multiplayer Free Skate Open Beta. Please keep it coming!

To open the beta, follow these steps:

Right click ‘Skater XL’ and open Properties

Select the ‘beta - Open Beta’ branch.

Steam should start downloading this version of the game. Once it has finished, you will be able to try the update. The game name in your library should now show “Skater XL [beta]”.
If you’d like to switch back to the regular commercial release branch of the game in future simply come back to this screen and select “NONE - opt out of all betas” in the drop down.

Having fully failed to learn how to skateboard myself, I'm always a little envious when I see groups of skaters hanging out. Maybe they're sitting on some steps, watching one person pop tricks. Maybe they're going down the street together. Ah, they just look like they're having a good time. So I am curious to see that replicated digitaly inside Skater XL, which is preparing to add ten-player multiplayer. The feature's not quite ready to launch yet, but if you're feeling daring you can now try it on the public beta branch.

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IMPORTANT: Update features referred to in this post are located in the “Open Beta” branch of the game. This is a separate stream of development for us to publicly test early or experimental features in development.

You MUST opt in to play this version of the game by following the steps at the bottom of this post.

What is up guys?! We are happy to announce that today we have released an early beta version of an online Free Skate Multiplayer mode into the Open Beta branch on Steam.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

From the beginning of our development, we have always envisioned Skater XL to be very different from the linear content and challenges of skating games of the past, seeing Skater XL more as a sandbox style platform for creative expression and social interaction. Our support and facilitation of player created mod content was one step in this direction, with the next logical step being the creation of a multiplayer system.

Free Skate Multiplayer is our first step in opening up social modes in the game and features:

• Skate with up to 10 people online - Join a random room or start your own private one and invite your friends to join using a passcode
  
• Replays - Replay and save your group party lines, with the same replay editor functionality available in single player mode
  

This is being released first as a beta on PC to ‘stress test’ the system and servers at scale with a large variety of users, see what unexpected unknowns we uncover, gather data and player feedback and further develop some of features with a large user base before rolling the basic Free Skate mode out cross-platform.

There is a new item called “WebLinks” in the main menu with links to surveys and feedback forms we will be putting out over the next few weeks as certain things are tested, stay tuned for updated links here.

Please be aware that features in the Beta branch may change, be added/removed, and there are no guarantees that any particular feature will make it into the final release.

After a lot of work designing and refining the base for the multiplayer system in internal testing the gameplay is feeling very smooth, lag free and a whole lot of fun. The ability to just kick back and skate with the homies is a much needed escape from the tumultuous times we might find ourselves in, and the ability to connect with other people and skate is more important than ever.

We hope you enjoy Free Skate with other players as much as we have in testing and look forward to your feedback and to the further evolution of multiplayer in Skater XL.

Known Issues:

- Custom maps installed by copying files into the SkaterXL/Maps folder - when first opening the game these will each go through a one-time processing so the map can be identified by other computers running multiplayer. If this process is not yes complete you might have trouble connecting with friends in a specific custom map. If you have issues please give it some time and try again.

- Custom gear - on other players in multiplayer only items of gear which you have installed locally via the Mod Browser will show. Otherwise default items of gear will be assigned.

- Sometimes other characters from a multiplayer session show in the gear showroom.

Mod Disclaimer:
While we make efforts to preserve existing mods with each update, we are not able to control exactly how updates to the official game code will interact with every one of them. If you are experiencing issues with the new update, please first try removing your mods and adding them back in one by one to see if the issue can be isolated.


To open the beta, follow these steps:

Right click ‘Skater XL’ and open Properties

Select the ‘beta - Open Beta’ branch.

Steam should start downloading this version of the game. Once it has finished, you will be able to try the update. The game name in your library should now show “Skater XL [beta]”.

If you’d like to switch back to the regular commercial release branch of the game in future simply come back to this screen and select “NONE - opt out of all betas” in the drop down.

When it comes to landmarks in skateboard history, you’d be hard pressed to find more hallowed ground than San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza during the 1990’s era. Everyday, SF locals and skaters from across the globe would come to EMB to write new pages in the book of skate history on the red bricks, stairs, blocks, ledges and the infamous Gonz Gap.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Our ode to the era, is a tribute to this iconic location, packed full of all of the features that made it famous. True to the original, but optimized with additional elements of gameplay, Embarcadero Plaza is now available on all platforms in the mod browser.

An original creation of Easy Day Studios, our art and design team has created an environment that will transport you to the 90’s San Francisco waterfront, from wherever you are in the world. Whether it’s technical ledge lines or Gonz Gap glory you’re after, Embarcadero is a blend of nostalgia and newness.

















And our homage to SF wouldn’t be complete without a special drop of gear from FTC. Throughout it’s 25+ year history, FTC has kept the San Francisco skate scene thriving, sponsoring countless skateboard legends.. The capsule is now available in the mod browser on all platforms, sporting Bay Area colorways of the iconic FTC logo.



EMB is available now in the 'Maps' section of the Mod Browser, along with a new community gear drop. Just filter by 'Newest' to see the latest offerings.

Thanks as always for your support and contributions, and we'll be back soon with more news and map additions.

Fermenter Plaza is the latest optimized map to drop in the Mod Browser and is certified shred ready! Created by mod map creator @FermenterGames, this plaza is a sprawling outdoor environment, built to make your skateboarding daydreams come true.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The Fermenter Plaza creator describes the map as ‘more like a stream of consciousness improvised flow of ideas. I dream of skateboarding a lot, and often have moments where everything just works perfectly. I land every trick, and the next ledge is perfectly set up for my line. I wanted to build a park that I could essentially daydream that same perfect flow feeling in. From techy line plazas, to giant gaps, this map was designed to help you stay creative with endless possibilities.’

Utilizing tile, marble, and granite textures throughout, this map has a unique aesthetic perfect for filming lines for your next video part. Diverse terrain including big rails, technical ledge sections, transitions, unique sculptural elements and skateable rooftops will have you finding new lines with each new session.

As part of the optimization process, Easy Day worked with the original creator to update lighting, textures, and small layout adjustments, along with reworking many technical aspects of the map so that it loads quickly, fits within system memory and plays smoothly on all platforms.

We are very excited to see the video parts that come out of this map. Don’t forget to tag us and @FermenterGames in your posts on social.

Fermenter Plaza is available now in the 'Maps' section of the Mod Browser, along with a new community gear drop. Just filter by 'Newest' to see the latest offerings.

Thanks as always for your support and contributions, and we'll be back soon with more news and map additions.