Skater XL News

What is up guys? Today, we are excited to be sharing a NEW MAP REVEAL with the announcement of “Easy Day High School”. Included in the 1.0 game launch on July 28th, Easy Day High School is the quintessential skateboarder’s playground, capturing the California schoolyard vibes and terrain where much of skateboarding’s roots come from.

At approximately 11x larger than the L.A. Courthouse map, here you’ll find a utopia of picnic tables, stairs, handrails, manual pads, and banks, offering lines that are limited only by your imagination.

The level comprises a mix of areas and spots including ones we designed from scratch, and also more than 25 real-world spots from high schools and elementary schools that are staples of skate videos and magazines over skateboarding’s history. We've got the Wallenberg ‘Big 4’ in there, the famous Clipper ledge, the Lockwood Elementary bank-to-benches, The ‘Leap of Faith’ and pieces of a lot of other recognizable locations from throughout skate history.

One thing we learned over the course of building the game is that exact one-to-one replicas of real spots can look great, but don’t often provide ideal gameplay. Given that Skater XL has a completely new game mechanic based on physics and independent foot control and that our core philosophy has always been to prioritise gameplay first, we decided to go back to the drawing board on how we approached level design for 1.0.

Easy Day High school is the result of months of work figuring out how to unlock the most gameplay in an environment. Through countless testing and play sessions, we've learned how each real-world spot can stay true to their real life counterpart, while optimizing them to get the most fun and variety in gameplay. So the angles, the distances, the way things fit together and the combinations of elements are arranged in a way to make sure that there's a lot of runs and as you finish one trick, there's always something more to do next.

Check out the teaser video for a deeper look at Easy Day High School, and check out preview on Game Informer and GamesRadar+ for even more information.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Thanks again for your continued support and we couldn’t be more excited to bring 1.0 to everyone on July 28th. Stay tuned for even more big news over the coming weeks!

What is up, guys! We just wanted to let you know that 1.0 will be launching on July 28, a few weeks later than the original date.

Despite our best efforts, and due in part to things out of our control, we will be moving the launch of Skater XL 1.0 on Steam, as well as the physical and digital launch on Playstation 4 and Xbox One, to July 28th. We will also be announcing a new launch date for Nintendo Switch in the coming weeks. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to finalize the game.

Not to worry - between now and July 28th, we will be showing more unreleased content and features that will be available at launch of 1.0, continuing to polish the content and features, and make Skater XL the game that you all deserve at launch.

We appreciate your understanding and want to thank you all for your support! Here is a first look at Easy Day High School to hold you over. You can also see more in a sneak peak from Game Informer 🙏

IMPORTANT: Update features referred to in this post are located in the “public beta” branch of the game. This is a separate stream of development for us to test and get feedback on early features before committing them to the main product.

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! As we prepare for the 1.0 game launch on July 7th, we wanted to start by saying thank you for all of your support and feedback throughout Early Access. Your comments and feedback have gotten us to where we are today, and where we will continue to go in the future.

Just to reiterate, anyone that has purchased Early Access on Steam will receive the 1.0 update automatically at no additional cost. This represents a 50% discount on the 1.0 price and is a small token of our gratitude.

We also want to make the note that while 1.0 is considered by most to be the ‘official release’ of the game and will be packed full of new content worthy of full launch, we look at it as just the beginning. We will not stop working on new features, new content, and new updates to Skater XL for the foreseeable future. We encourage you to keep sending us your feedback and feature requests as the game moves forward post 1.0 update.

Today we are releasing more of your requested features into the Public Beta, and giving you a chance to hone your skills before the 1.0 launch. These mechanic updates will give you even more control, more customization and make your skating look much smoother.

All features that were added in the 0.2.0.0B Update have been moved to the default Public branch, and will no longer require opt in.

Check out the trailer:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

NEW FEATURES

Transition grinds (roll-in / roll-out)
We want Skater XL to give people access to every style of skateboarding including transition and ramp skating. This update includes the ability to roll in and out of grinds on transitions and ramp coping using similar controls to grinds/slides on other objects.

• Moving either or both thumbsticks in any direction directly prior to hitting coping will initiate a roll-in coping grind.
  
• Position your board as you get on coping by using the sticks to tweak and angle your board similar to other states (when in air, when grinding etc).
  
• To exit the grind/slide click the thumbstick on the side you want to pop out/roll in on. If you wish to roll out the opposite side, click the thumbstick on that side to roll out
  

Mini Ramp Test Map
In order to properly give you the ability to test the new transition features, we have built a special warehouse test environment that houses a new miniramp for you to shred. While not a fully fleshed out map, it is super fun and will give you the chance to hone your ramp skills in preparation for the 1.0 update. You can access the map from the ‘Maps’ section in the main menu.



Transition Grinds in Mod Levels
We’ve added automatic detection for any grind objects that have shapes that look like they should have roll-in grind ability. Old mod levels with ramps and quarterpipes that have grind edges on the coping should work with the new transition grind mechanic without any changes, but we’ve also given level creators the ability to update their levels with tags to override our automated system if they wish.

Board Customization
We know that one of the best things about skateboarding is customizing your setup and picking each component. To that point, we have added the ability to customize your deck, trucks, wheels, and griptape with a few options for each to start with. We have a ton more (see Brands/Customization trailer) coming down the pipe, but this is just a starting point to test and get you familiar with the mechanism.

• Access this feature in the main menu and select ‘Gear’.
  
• Press A/X to make your gear selection in each category
  
• The RB/LB buttons can be used to advance to the next component category in the menu
  

Folder for Mod Board and Character Gear Textures
As with previous updates, we want to continue to facilitate mod inclusion and make it as easy as possible. As with the ‘Custom Maps’ menu that allows you to easily access your mod maps directly from the game, we have added the ability to easily access and implement your modded gear textures from all your favorite fakeskate brands.

• To add custom clothing and gear textures in the gear menu, take any texture which has been named according to the new naming convention, create a folder in your Windows drive’s Documents folder at \Documents\SkaterXL\Gear and place the texture files in there.
  
• Note that we have alerted mod creators how to correctly name files prior to this update and hopefully more and more content will become available on the modding Discord with the correct naming. A complete guide is in Mod Gear Naming Rules Guide.
  

For more on modding, visit the SXL Modding (https://discord.gg/4eMjGRG) or FakeSkateXL (https://discord.gg/E8kK5uZ) Discord Servers.

Animation Fixes
With the addition of new animations in the last update, there were a few that left something to be desired and needed a bit of tweaking to bring them to more realistic looking movements. Many of the fakie and switch animations have been adjusted as you can see in the gifs below.

Fakie Setup Old


Fakie Setup New


Switch Setup Old


Switch Setup New


Select switch and fakie grinds
Switch 5-0 Old


Switch 5-0 New


Switch Back Crook Old


Switch Back Crook New


Switch Front Crook Old


Switch Front Crook New


Switch and fakie manual animations have also been improved

Bumping out of grinds
Another highly requested feature added in this update is the ability to exit grinds early by ‘bumping out’. This allows you to pop out of grinds with a small nudge rather than an exaggerated pop out.

• To exit a grind/slide early, click either thumbstick to pop out on the corresponding side. The left stick press makes you bump out to the left, right stick press makes you bump out to the right in this mode.
  

New Tutorial Structure
As an important onboarding tool for new players to get comfortable with the controls, we have improved our tutorial. The tutorial now first allows the player to move the feet and see the independent foot control of the game without the skateboard present, then walks them through the basic trick movements which they repeat themselves before moving onto the next. The game will recognize when a trick has been done successfully three times and allow the player to move on. This will give the player hands on experience with the game rather than just watching it be performed on video. To access this feature open the Main Menu and select ‘Tutorial’.



Replay Editor Moved to ‘Select’ Button
As one of the most used features, we have made the Replay Editor more accessible by taking it out of the menu, and moving it to the ‘Select’ button. Now you will have one touch access to the Replay Editor without having to scroll through the Main Menu.

Language Selection
The game menus have been translated and now support English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Portuguese. To select your language please visit ‘Settings’ in the menu.

Bail when landing sideways with speed
We have tweaked the system to trigger a bail when you land sideways with enough momentum, to more closely mimic real world scenarios.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed hoodie and shirt UV layouts
  
• Fixed board getting stuck sideways in certain states like pushing
  
• Bug
  
• 
• Fix
  
• 
• Fixed hover foot after exiting menu
  
• Bug
  
• 
• Fix
  
• 

Known Issues:

• Broken foliage textures in many mod maps related to Unity upgrade to 2018.4.17.
  

Mod Disclaimer:
While we make every effort 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.

StatsMenu, BabboSettings, XXLMod(version v1.3a not 1.5) and XLMapEditor have been tested and are working.

Jboogie’s SoundMod has an update scheduled for release today which will fix functionality with 0.3b. SilentBaws’s Multiplayer mod is also updating today with an awesome ground-up rebuild that’s 0.3b compatible. Check it out here https://github.com/silentbaws/XLMultiplayer/releases

Any other mods that access gear and player skins will likely experience issues, please check the Modding Discord for further info .

To open the beta, follow these steps:

Right click ‘Skater XL’ and open Properties

Select the ‘beta - public beta builds’ 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.

Thanks again to everyone for you support and feedback throughout Early Access. We look forward to hearing your feedback on these new features and updates!

What is up guys? We have some big news dropping today that we think you will be very stoked about. As you may have read in the title, Skater XL 1.0 will be launching on July 7 for digital release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and to brick and mortar retailers on PS4 and Xbox One. Preorder for Xbox One and Playstation 4 discs is available at select retailers.

As we said in our previous post, all PC Early Access supporters will receive the 1.0 content update free of charge, so no need to worry. And if you don’t own it yet, now would be a good time to get in and save when 1.0 launches in just 63 days.

In addition to the news of the exact release date, we also released a new trailer showcasing the hundreds of ways that you can customize your character, in addition to playing with pros Evan Smith, Tiago Lemos, Brandon Westgate and Tom Asta.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We worked hard over the last 12 months to secure official partnerships with skateboarding’s best brands, and are stoked be able to bring real product from 27 different brands into the character customizer. The list of partner brands includes:

• New Balance – Numeric Shoes and Apparel
• Etnies – Footwear and Apparel
• DC Shoes – Footwear and Apparel
• Santa Cruz Skateboards – Decks
• Vans – Shoes
• Primitive – Decks and Apparel
• Element – Decks and Apparel
• Independent Truck Co. – Trucks and Apparel
• Venture – Trucks
• Thunder – Trucks
• Spitfire – Wheels
• Lakai – Footwear and Apparel
• ẻS – Footwear and Apparel
• Emerica – Footwear and Apparel
• Grimple Stix – Decks
• Sk8Mafia – Decks and Apparel
• SOVRN – Decks and Apparel
• Enjoi – Decks and Apparel
• Blind – Decks and Apparel
• Almost – Decks and Apparel
• Ricta – Wheels
• Mob Grip – Grip tape
• Bones – Wheels and Apparel
• Crupie – Wheels
• Grizzly – Grip tape and Apparel
• Dickies – Apparel
• Old Friends – Apparel
• Transworld Skateboarding – Apparel
• 411VM – Apparel
• The Nine Club – Skateboards and Apparel

In addition to revealing our brand partners, we have also shown new clothing items including crewneck sweatshirts, long sleeve button ups, shorts, denim pants, new hat styles, and shoe models. Not to mention that you can customize every part of your skateboard setup including deck, trucks, wheels, and griptape. We have also shown the number of different customizable characteristics including gender, skin tone, and hairstyle.









As always, we want to say thanks so much for your support of Early Access and helping Skater XL create the amazing community that it has become. We sincerely appreciate every piece of feedback, mod created, and hour played from each and every person that has contributed.

We have a few more announcements to make between now and July 7th that we think you’re going to like, so be on the lookout and be sure to subscribe to our email list at SkaterXL.com so you are sure not to miss anything. Be on the lookout for more updates in the coming of weeks!

Thanks and Happy Skateboarding!

What is up guys?! Before we get into today’s big Skater XL news, we want to take a moment to say that we hope everyone is staying healthy and hanging there with the current global pandemic situation. As easy as it is to get wrapped up in our world of digital kickflips, we know that the well being of the community and your family and friends is paramount, and we hope everyone is safe and taking the proper precautions to ride this thing out.

With that being said, today we are excited to make some BIG announcements about the future of Skater XL. We hope that you are just as stoked as we are on today’s news! You can check out the full release and new game trailer here on IGN!

Firstly - we have set the release of the full 1.0 version of the game for July of this year. Although this might seem like an eternity for those of you that have been patiently awaiting our launch, it is only a few short months away and it’ll be on your screens before you know it.

The full 1.0 game will be launching at an increased price point, but as early supporters of Skater XL, you can rest assured that owners of the Early Access game will receive the 1.0 game and all it’s content at no additional charge. We are extremely grateful for your taking a chance on an Early Access skateboarding game, and we are happy to confirm that you will be automatically updated and benefit from the new content when the game launches.

And not to worry, we will be continuing to update the Early Access game between now and July, so you will still be the first to test and give feedback on new features.

In addition to the 1.0 launch date, we have also announced coming playable pro characters! We couldn’t be more stoked to have skate icons Evan Smith, Tiago Lemos, Brandon Westgate, and Tom Asta as ambassadors on our journey. Each a legend in their own right, we are thrilled to bring them into skateboarding’s digital ecosystem, and are looking forward to the clips that the community will create. The pro characters will be available in addition to creating your own in the character customizer. More news on that soon….










And last but certainly not least is our unveiling of a map based on Downtown Los Angeles.
Downtown LA is so iconic to skating and it’s urban West Coast vibe was a no brainer to choose as of the main maps to launch with Skater XL.

This map is 15 times the size of the Early Access LA Courthouse map and is packed with 100’s of spots throughout it’s blocks of plazas, government buildings, and corridors.

With a focus on tweaking and optimizing for great gameplay, we spent considerable time capturing critical details to recreate its many legendary spots as well as taking some creative license to incorporate some of our favorites from around California and the West Coast.

Palm trees, blue skies, smooth concrete and classic spots, we think that DTLA has everything you could want in a street map and fits the vibe of what Skater XL is all about!
















And while we are all excited about getting 1.0 into the hands of the community, we consider it to be just the beginning for what Skater XL will become. As a living product, we have a roadmap to include content and feature updates for the foreseeable future, as the game, community, and skateboarding itself continue to grow and develop.

These announcements are a culmination of more than a year of focused development, and while we have been quiet at times, we have been working constantly on our commitment to bring the community the skateboarding game that has been missing from all of our lives. We couldn’t have done it without your feedback, suggestions, and support and we would not be here without you. We can’t wait for the future of Skater XL and of the skating genre, let’s gooo!!!