BADLAND: GotY Steam version bugs & updates

Discussion in 'GENERAL DISCUSSION' started by Flamingjazz, Mar 26, 2015.

  1. Flamingjazz

    Flamingjazz Hardcore Gamer Moderator

    This topic is all about News for the Game of the Year Edition, The console version of Badland coming spring 2015.
    Below is Frogminds statement on it.
    Please update as more info is given.

    BADLAND – GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION 1

    Hi everyone!

    Today we have B I G news for an indie studio: We are bringing BADLAND to eight new platforms! BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition will bring the game with improvements onto PS4, Xbox One, Windows, Mac, Linux (through Steam), Wii U, PS Vita and PS3. So a pretty EPIC console & Steam launch is coming this Spring!

    When BADLAND was initially released in 2013 on iPad, our goal was to create a console-quality game for tablets. Frogmind was just a team of two at the time, without the resources to enter the console market, but we always dreamed of bringing BADLAND also to consoles and Steam. Thanks to its success on tablets we can finally make that dream reality in scale. Feels good to be able to tell all the fans who have asked for a specific console/Steam version that it is coming soon.


    BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition is redesigned for the consoles and Steam. It builds on the beautiful, hand-painted graphics of the original with enhanced Full-HD visuals. But the biggest change is the gameplay. We knew that one button control would not be the optimal experience for consoles or Steam. We tested several alternatives and ended up expanding the controls with the analog stick and triggers. The Steam version supports both using controllers and/or keyboard (with multiple keys). With the new controls, the player has a lot more freedom – he can fly backwards and control the speed of his flying. This type of control felt best to us but it broke a lot of puzzles and levels that depended on the player to be able to do less. The solution was to modify every level in the game to accommodate the more expressive control scheme and that’s what we ended up doing. It wasn’t the easiest thing but it needed to be done and it was worth it. The console and Steam versions feels very much at home on the consoles. The multiplayer mode suits living room playing really well with multiple controllers and it feels great to be able to be more tactical in it with the new controls.

    The Game of the Year Edition features over 4 times more content than the original did when it was launched. It has over 15 hours and 100 levels of single-player story content and 100 co-op and 27 multiplayer deathmatch stages in an up-to-four-person local multiplayer mode. And did I mention that it looks awesome from a large TV and feels very much at home on the platform. If you saw the console/Steam version first, you would not suspect that it wasn’t initially made for them.


    We have joined forces with two other indie studios to bring about the ambitious eight platform launch. Blitworks, an awesome studio behind bringing Fez, Spelunky and Bastion among others onto new console platforms is helping on the console side and Frozenbyte, the studio behind the beautiful Trine series, is helping with QA, publishing and marketing. Together, we’ll bring the new line-up out in time and in awesome quality.

    BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition will be released in Spring 2015, exact date and price are to be announced later. For the latest BADLAND news, please visit http://www.badlandgame.com, or follow along on BADLAND’s Facebook page , where you can enter to win exclusive prizes during our launch announcement campaign.

    If you are a Steam user, check out the game’s preview page on Steam and be sure to keep posted (+ get an awesome feeling by showing your support) by following the game / adding it to your wish list.
     
  2. Taneli

    Taneli New Member Staff Member Frogmind

    Hi all! I try to notify here whenever a new version of the game is released in Steam. You can check the version of the game by scrolling to the end of the credits scene. This thread can be also used to report any bugs you might encounter. When reporting a bug, please add your system specs and possible reproduction steps.

    Update to version 1.1.5:
    - Bug fix: Pressing enter at multiplayer/coop selection screen crashed the game
     
  3. Taneli

    Taneli New Member Staff Member Frogmind

    Update to version 1.1.6:

    - When language was set to Japanese, 'HD Graphics' option was misaligned
    - When language was set to Finnish, Spanish, Italian or Czech from language settings, 'fullscreen' option was misaligned
    - Back and restart buttons did not work in mp/coop if player 1 was not playing
    - Options menu 'keyboard bindings' text did go over border in some languages
    - 'Player # fly up faster' did go over border in some languages
    - 'Player # fall down faster' did go over border in some languages
    - The title in 'Keyboard bindings' menu did go over border in some languages
    - Escape key unreadies keyboard players in mp/coop screen in order (if no player is in enabled mode, escape returns to previous menu)
    - Screensaver start is prevented when playing in OS X
    - Some missing translations added
     
  4. Taneli

    Taneli New Member Staff Member Frogmind

    Update to version 1.1.7 (Windows only):

    - Bug fix: Player who had non-latin characters in their Windows username were unable to save the game
    - Bug fix: Screensaver might be enabled if the game is played with gamepad(s)
     
  5. ShiV

    ShiV True Gamer

    Is BADLAND - GotYE the same game as Badland? Yes, totally.
    Is BADLAND - GotYE the same game as Badland? No, they're 2 completely different games.

    Both answers on this question are right in my eyes.

    Before writing something about it I thought I'd better play it through properly. Been busy with a lot of things besides that, school, work, found a possible appartment where I eventually also signed the renting contract for, so took a while to write about it. Now, 3 days ago, I finished the last mission that also was the last 1-try I needed, 300 missions, 100 1-tries were done, with 3052 clones saved!

    Let's start with the obvious; The game looks stunning. Seriously, on a bigger screen, wow. Even though I only played it on a 15 inch laptop, the beauty of this game shows. I don't really 'see' what exactly is improved, but the overall look is gorgeous. That increase in beauty doesn't appear to slow down the game at any moment, at least not on my laptop. The keys a player controls are standard up/w (fly), down/s (fall down fast), left/a (move to the left), right/d (move to the right/accelerate), and the spacebar (fly up faster).

    Similarities
    The levels (and thereby also the game) are mostly the same. There's no change in any of the names, and most levels are for the biggest part equal to the mobile version. Also the number of clones appears to be the same for the biggest part of the levels. Everything feels and breaths just as Badland as the mobile game was and is.

    Differences
    When starting up the game you notice the selection screen right at the start changed a bit, it became more controller/keyboard/mouse friendly. There are a few graphical options you can alter, and the way statistics are shown changed a bit.
    The levels, as said, are mostly the same. Yet sometimes there are some minor changes. When you start playing the game it more or less feels like things have been altered a bit just so the difference in controlling the clones can be explained. It feels a bit forced, like 'Oeh we now can move a bit to the left so you can take a size-down that you normally never would have been able to get'. So at first it feels like the movement is a bit abdundent, and for most levels you should be able to play like on mobile. Yet this change in movement is the most effecting change the game gets, and what causes the 2 answers on the same question above. More on this later.
    Most levels differ in some way by placement of some powerups. Most levels don't differ in number of clones, there are a couple though. Believe the first one I remember that doesn't have the same number is Pipeline. That one only has a few extra clones. Most levels that have a change in clones however have a number that grew exponentially. Examples of clonecounts I got that are (sometimes substantially) bigger: Jumpy (43), Clonechipper (77), Lifeless (55), Apparatus (156), Clonepower (82), Twister (137), Triangles (74), Clonedrop (123).
    Most changes in leveldesign are an attempt to make challenging parts of levels harder for the altered way how clones fly. This since a big number of the difficult things in the mobile version are gone for the steam/console-version. Some changes work, unfortunatelly for me I've got to say that even though most work, they still are easier then the mobile version. Yet for someone who never played that version these changes might still be pretty hard.
    There are a number of levels that really became a lot more difficult, some that really test your abilities. A few coming to mind now are Final Frontier (yes, like that one wasn't hard enough already at first, Jesus Frogmind! :D ), Domino, and thought Evil was difficult on mobile? Hahaha, welcome to the Steam/Console version. Though the hardest part from Evil (for me at least, where you drop down to slide to the left and hopefully are in time to push the button to activate the laser cutting through the chains, if you're playing for a high number of clones and are small at this point this one is where I failed most at mobile, restart level) became a lot easier. This since you can push down and to the left, making the clone(s) drop down and accelerate to the left a lot faster, making that part easy as pie.
    There are a number of changes in levels I really like, and some I don't really or really don't (;P) like. What's been done at Blockworks, chapeau Frogmind. I really like this edit. Even though there is one speed-up less at the start (and thereby making it easier you'd think), how this level has been altered still makes it challenging, though more clones should be able to be saved here a lot easier. About what this change is; I'd rather not say. First time I saw it I was overwelmed, just because I didn't expect this. You can see a very little bit of it in one of the trailers, but if I still had to go and play it I would want to do that before I saw it in some video or so.
    A few things that weren't possible before suddenly are. In Districts, you don't even have to get the ball falling down those portals to the right, since you can fly to the left, but... In Timescape, the way Straitorden played suddenly can be done, since you can fly to the left to hit the button to stop that saw from spinning (and before that only touch the first gravity switch, and not the second), but... Frogmind did foresee this though, and created an extra around that. Fly against (those specific) buttons, and the same effect as in mobile comes out of it. At the same time some sort of lock (dunno how to put it) will lock your clone right at that button, blocking it from flying further along. In the example of Districts this doesn't matter if you have 2 or more clones there, and only let 1 go to the switch. If you're trying to maximize your clonecount at Timescape and collect all, this will at least take 1 clone from you.
    Another thing I saw that was altered is Swampy, where the gravity-trick isn't possible anymore. The switch to normalize gravity can't be passed anymore here.

    Change in movement
    Like I said, at first I thought it more or less was used as a gimmick. I only seemed to use the normal fly button and sometimes the accelerate button. But the more you play this game (and especially when you're trying to fullfill the missions) the other buttons grow on you, and are being used. Even though I still barely use the spacebar (going up faster), the other ones I do almost all of the time. I have to say it takes some time to get used to it. I did play on a regular keyboard however, perhaps playing on a controller suits better. But once you start to know it a bit it really can be helpfull/usefull. It really can have a grand effect on a level, and in total on the game itself. This also explains both answers. Is it the same? Totally, but on the other hand the way you move also makes it a completely different game, making levels/situations different, harder, easier. It also makes up for Frogmind to have more possibilities in the way they can freshly innovate in the game, for creating new situations before impossible.

    I also have to say I really like the fly forward/faster key a lot, looking from a clonesaving perspective. In the end, when you really have a lot of clones and you practically need to play perfect to improve on scores, it sometimes can be extremely frustrating to restart a level again and again to play it aaaaall along again and again. That button makes some parts that you normally sometimes wished you just could skip easily a lot more doable (talking mostly about those parts in between 2 action scenes from a level, where you just fly without anything really happening).

    Overall, I have to say I didn't think I'd like this as much as I did really. The change in movement looked bad in my eyes, though once used to it it really can come in handy. Downside to it is that, even though levels have been altered to make the challenges challenging again, the game in itself, judged over the game as a whole, has become easier. Not easy, for new players still hard, but easier (disclaimer; that's in my eyes, any person can have a different opinion about this). It makes the hunt for clones easier, and the totals of possible saved clones noticibly larger, especially with some levels altered to allow for (substantially) increased clonesaves.

    That makes GotYE a more accesible game, easier at least than the mobile version. It still is hard, just not as hard as the mobile version was. But it sure is fun, it sure is beautiful, and it really is Badland, or at least without a doubt belongs in the Badland Universe. If you have doubts about it, don't. You really will enjoy this. Also if you already played the mobile version. Perhaps it makes you enjoy the game more again, since new possibilities open. Makes waiting for some real new levels a lot better ;)


    Oh yeah, there were some glitches/bugs I noticed, nothing big/fancy and I'm sure I've forgotten a few of them already. Nevertheless will post about those in the appropriate topic.
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2015
    n0phun likes this.
  6. Taneli

    Taneli New Member Staff Member Frogmind

    Version 1.1.8:

    - OS X: Gamecontroller detection fix
     
  7. ShiV

    ShiV True Gamer

    Been a while, especially last week I didn't play Badland that much, had some exams plus went to Defqon.1 weekend (a pretty big party in the harder dance music/EDM genre, around 60000-65000 people there). Anyway, over a week ago I decided to give some help with the spreadsheet by counting all clones for each level in this edition, and did that while going for a higher place in a new 'competition' that I totally forgot to talk about in the above post.

    There has been added something fresh in GotYE. And that is after each level completed you receive the fastest time you did in that level. By improving on the previous time (of yourself) that one gets altered, if you don't you'll see your previous best time. This adds some extra competition in the game. It isn't one that I think is just as great as the hunt for clones, but it adds some extra fun and makes you think of different approaches to play a level. In the regular, mobile version this wouldn't really have a point, of course the better players might find some ways to really stand out in this but it would most likely give a lot of results that are comparable. Yet in GotYE it's possible to alter the speed of flight, so this element adds some extra competition, and a pretty fun one to play for once. In my case (I see I've been caught up here and there, so it really adds some competition) I got to a total completion time:

    - Day 1 - 51:09.098
    - Day 2 - 1:08:55.265
    - Doomsday - 15:22.866
    - Daydream - 14:26.549

    Giving a total time from 2:29:53.780.

    I thought I'd mention this since I never read about it anywhere else. Isn't really as variable and hard compared to saving a big clonecount but it adds some extra fun to the game, and makes you really think on a different level :)

    Ps Chic0, in case you didn't see it (I also only just did), some free steamcodes are or were being given away, perhaps if you ask (that's all you were supposed to do, check the Badland Facebook page ;) ) you can still get one :)
     
  8. ShiV

    ShiV True Gamer

    Sorry I didn't report earlier as I promised, yet here are a few things I've noticed:

    - First (and most occuring/effecting) bug I came across; Sometimes when you're controlling your clone(s) in certain a certain direction and you hit the escape (pause) button, the pause menu controls coppy that direction. So say I'm accelerating the clones to the right, pause, and want to restart the level or checkpoint so press left, on the moment I let go the left key the pause menu jumps back to the most right option (resume). If I'm slowing the clones down in-game and have them flying up (so left+up) and pause, the menu automatically jumps to the upper-left option (settings), not entering it but only selecting it. When I then try to go to restart level or so and let go of the keys it simply jumps towards that option again. I've only played with a keyboard (from my laptop) so no idea if this also happens or can happen on some controllers. There are ways to make it stop, like when the menu jumps all the way left, and I press right, after a while it won't try to jump to the left anymore. Sometimes it can be a little frustrating though, like when you only want to restart from checkpoint, and it jumps all the way left, it sometimes makes you accidentally exit the level and go to the level selection menu (where it also seems to take over the effect, so if you're playing a Night level in Day 1/2 the menu goes all the way left untill it reaches a level all the way on the left). Can be a little frustrating sometimes when you almost finished some hard mission and end up having to go for it again.
    - The transition in colors from the last level in each levelpack from Day 1/2 doesn't seem to work. Normally when you play one of those levels (say Spinner in example) it swiftly switches from green too red. This doesn't happen. Only if you die in between and start on a checkpoint somewhere in that level it takes over the color it normally should have on that point, or if you don't die the transition only happens right at the end, at the point (I believe) from the last checkpoint. At that moment you see a sudden chance in color, so the starting color (in case of Spinner green) suddenly changes to the ending color (red).
    - Not really sure if this is a bug or not. Anyway, it's about those big fans in the level Robotic, near the end, the part right before the shooting saws-part. Are those meant to be the way they are? It already makes a 1-try real hard, and really narrows down the chances on saving a big number of clones. Most clones mostly get killed or blown away there. If this just is some new altered way of extra difficulty I haven't said anything, but to me it seems this shouldn't be like this.
    - Same goes for the moving saw in the level Final Frontier, not to far in. It's the saw where a player has to blow the mine in the corner right above it, so on the right some boxes get blown out of the way and the player has a path to continue (after first getting past the saw). I understand that the saw has been altered and moves faster, since you can alter your speed in the GotYE. But the saw also seems to increase its height each round, like if the center point of rotation moves up slowly. This makes it extremely hard, nearly impossible almost to pass the level in 1-try (especially since the saw that chases you further along also has been modified to be a lot faster, among other). I understand (and appreciate) that levels sometimes needed to get some extra difficulty, but if someone like me already almost can't do it, I think most regular players most likely won't ever make it...

    Those were a few bugs/glitches I remembered, not the biggest ones and not the most drastic things. The biggest part of the game just appears to be as great as it always has been, without any problems to worry about. Just a few minor things here and there. If I find some other bug I'm sure to let you know, but I doubt there will be that many more :)
     
  9. Bulldog

    Bulldog Member

    Steam Badland is absolutley stunning. The same but different. Very enjoyable!
     
    Flamingjazz likes this.

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