What's coming up in Feature Release v2.0

[chrislo27]

Hello everyone, I hope you have enjoyed the Polyrhythm Mania game. We're just past the one year anniversary of the first public release!

There is one more feature update in development, Version 2.0. Actually, it has been in development since early May 2022. Originally, it was planned to be released around this time (the one-year anniversary) but myself and others have been quite busy, so we're opting to take our time. We don't have a release date or timeline that we can share right now — but it'll be out when it's ready!

First of all, this update's development was only made possible due to donations — thank you! Development is not free, unfortunately. Obviously, it takes a lot of volunteer time, but certain assets are being commissioned to make this project as high quality as it can be. If you would like to help out, even with a small donation, it would be much appreciated! You can donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=9JLGHKZNWLLQ8

Next, some bullet points about features being added. Note that all these features are subject to change, and not every single feature being planned is on this list.

• Story Mode
  • The meat and potatoes of this update, so to speak...
  • At least 25 custom made levels are being planned and integrated into Polyrhythm Mania: Story Mode (tentative name)
  • This story mode was inspired by Super Mario Maker 2 and Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion's singleplayer modes
  • These levels contain features and gimmicks not seen anywhere else, not even in the Editor
    • Including but not limited to: Limited Lives, Defective Rods, Hard Inputs, and a very evil level gimmick...
  • There are also levels involving the other game modes found in the Extras menu...
  • These levels offer a wide range of difficulty — both casual and hardcore Polyrhythm fans will enjoy these levels
• New Editor Features
  • Some new features and blocks are being added to the editor
  • The new Spotlights section lets you illuminate your level and add some difficulty and flair
    • You can also change the lighting colours
    • 
  • You can now have up to 5 custom texture packs
    • 
  • The new Camera Zoom block zooms the camera in and out
  • All blocks that have transitions (Palette Change, etc) now support different curves
    • 
  • You can now set the colours of rods and pistons separately, per row
    • 
  • The number of FX tracks has doubled, from 3 to 6
  • You can now set a "Flashing Lights Warning" toggle
• Quality of Life improvements
  • Lots of in-game UI elements have been improved and cleaned up
    • 
  • Endless Mode now has more indicators to show when you lose a life, gain a life, fail to gain a point, and speed up
  • Daily Challenge now warns you if you may not be able to upload your score to the server
  • And Daily Challenge also supports multiple game versions, even if their random level generation differs
    • Note: It will differ in Version 2.0 due to new patterns being added to the pool
    • 
• More polish and bugfixes
  • Overall, most parts of the game have gotten a polishing pass
  • Polyrhythm: Assemble has new sprites for widgets
  • Polyrhythm: Dunk has a slightly different scene and is more responsive when you score
  • Built to Scale: Solitaire has new SFX
  • There are several bugfixes also, including the long-standing [Bug]: Keys pressed at the very same frame will not register correctly (likely platform specific to Linux) #24 related to simultaneous inputs on Linux
  • And many more things...it would be too numerous to list out!

Overall, the bulk of this update is dominated by Story Mode and its associated side features. There are also other features in consideration but not on this list because they are not confirmed yet.

I want to give a huge thank you to the team working with me on this update. Their feedback and cooperation has been fantastic! Additionally, a lot of the internal guts of the game are being refactored and rewritten — this doesn't really have much immediate impact to players but makes working on the game much easier. Thank you for your patience!

Finally, while Version 2.0 is the last planned major update, if support and overall reception are good post-release, there may be one more update as a sort of "stretch goal". Some ideas include integrating the Story Mode gimmicks into the regular editor, for example.

If you like what we do, consider a donation to help out with development costs. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=9JLGHKZNWLLQ8