v0.49.1

Gameplay & Balance

• Checkpoint flags no longer drag rounds out. When everyone still in the race is just respawning on checkpoint (Second Wind) flags and nobody's pushing for the goal, the round now triggers its hurry-up collapse instead of stalling — the closing lava burns the flags and forces a finish. A racer who's leaned on a respawn counts like a downed racer for the "last one standing" timer; touching a flag while still actually racing for the goal doesn't, so you keep your shot at the win.

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v0.49.0

Map editor

• New hazard: Magpie Drone. A thieving drone that patrols a rail and snatches the ability you're holding the moment it touches you — then flies off carrying your loot in plain sight (you'll see the stolen ability bobbing above it). Get it back by punching the drone: a solid hit makes it drop the ability onto the ground as a pad anyone can grab — so a stolen Bomb or Star can change hands mid-race. A re-grabbed ability arms after a brief beat, so mashing punch to free it won't fire it off by accident the instant you scoop it back up. Catch it while you're empty-handed and there's nothing to steal, so it just zaps a chunk of your stamina instead. A drone that's already carrying loot is harmless until someone frees it, so the steal → punch → grab-it-back scramble is the whole game. It rides its rail like a Moving Bumper, so you can time your dash through the gap — but if you're holding something good, give it a wide berth. Authors place it from the hazards palette and draw its patrol rail by dragging the rail-end handle — aim it and set how far it ranges in one motion, from a short hover to a long sweeping patrol. Rival AI racers carrying an ability now keep their distance from a hungry drone.

v0.48.0

Map editor

• New placeable: Zipline. A two-post cable — a boon. Drive onto the start post and you're carried along the line, sailing over everything beneath you: lava, hazards, water and rivals all pass harmlessly under you while you ride (you hang from the cable on a little trolley), and you can't be punched off. It's a slow, deliberate glide — slower than driving — so it's not a fast-travel shortcut; it's a safe one, trading speed for a lava-proof crossing. Punch to drop off early — and however you leave the cable (early, at the far post, or if you run out of juice) you keep the line's speed and fling forward off the end. The catch: holding the cable drains your punch meter, and if it empties you're dropped right there — so a long zipline is a real gamble over whatever's below. Authors place it from the boons palette with two clicks (the start post, then the far post), which sets the cable's direction and length. Rival AI racers understand the cable and route through it when it's genuinely the best way across (e.g. a lava chasm they can't drive), but skip it on open ground where driving is faster.
• Map balance check now catches zipline traps. A zipline auto-grabs anyone who drives onto its start post, so one placed on the natural racing line over open ground is a trap — a racer driving the line gets snatched onto a slow ride and loses time. The fairness/balance score now measures that setback and docks the map for it (a catastrophic one fails outright), showing the author a ziptrap line and dropping the map from Featured until it's moved off the racing line — while a cable that genuinely spans a gap (a lava crossing) is left alone. Ziplines must also start and land on solid ground (the cable itself can fly over lava/water/holes, but boarding on or landing in them is rejected).
• New placeable: Lily Pads. Drivable stepping-stones over deep water — a boon. A pad is solid to drive across (you skim over the water instead of having to punch-swim), so a cluster of them makes a path across water that would otherwise slow you to a crawl, and standing on one recharges your punch meter faster — a quick breather to win back the strokes the swim cost. But a pad sinks while you stand on it — linger and it slips under, dumping you into the swim below — so you have to keep moving from pad to pad. Step off and it bobs back up, ready again. Authors place them from the boons palette (over water only — enforced) and can resize each pad with its handle — big stable stones or tight skip-stones — to shape a route across the deep. Rival AI racers understand a pad path too: they'll skim across a line of pads instead of taking the slow swim around, when it's the faster way to the goal.

v0.47.0

Map editor

• New placeable: Warp Pads. Paired teleporters — a boon. Drive onto one pad and you're whisked to its linked partner across the map, keeping all your speed and heading, so a well-placed pair is a real shortcut; the linked pads glow in a matching colour so you can tell which goes where. It's not instant — you commit on contact and ride a brief warp: the camera pulls back and sweeps across to the exit, then you emerge there (invulnerable while you travel, so you can't be knocked out of the portal). The trip is longer for a longer hop, so a cross-map jump really feels like a journey. The catch: the exit throws you out facing whatever way you came in, and an author can aim a partner's mouth right at lava — so punch a rival onto a pad whose far end opens over the fire and let the portal finish the job. Stepping in plays a rising "vwoop" and popping out a bright chime, and the combat feed logs who warped. You won't bounce straight back — a pad won't grab you again until you've rolled off it. Authors place them as a pair (click pad A, then pad B) from the boons palette, on solid ground (not over lava, a hole, or a locked door); the editor and the next-map preview draw each pair in its in-game colour so the preview is accurate. Rival AI racers understand the link and route THROUGH a pad pair when it genuinely shortens their way to the goal — but the warp's travel time means they'll skip a pair that barely helps.
• Map balance check now catches bad teleports. A Warp Pad whose far mouth sits right on the natural racing line is a trap — a racer driving the line straight hits it and gets flung all the way back toward the start, even though the map's "best" time looks fine. The fairness/balance score now measures that setback (using the real warp travel times) and docks the map hard for it (a catastrophic one fails outright), so the editor's balance overlay shows a warptrap deduction and the map drops out of Featured until you move the exit mouth off the racing line (a side pocket is safe). Place teleports as genuine shortcuts, not line-of-fire traps.

v0.46.2

Bug fixes

• Phone layout fixes. On phones the map list and the map editor no longer run off the side of the screen — the map browser fits the screen instead of scrolling sideways with its header clipped, and the editor's action buttons (Preview, Copy, Upload…) all stay on-screen and reachable. Editing in landscape now shows a much bigger map: the toolbar packs into a single row instead of stacking, freeing the space for the canvas. The in-game settings menu also lays its options out in two columns in landscape so they all fit on screen instead of clipping off the top and bottom. And the lobby's mode/sign-in banner now stays a readable size on phones instead of shrinking to tiny text. The in-game settings gear has also moved out from under that banner (it now tucks beside the fullscreen button), so they no longer overlap in landscape.

v0.46.1

General

• New chill track. Added a dreamy synth tune to the calm music rotation, so the laid-back maps have a fresh backing track in the mix.

v0.46.0

Map editor

• Three new Boons: Launch Pad, Barrel Cannon & Slingshot Rings. A trio of helpful placeables that send you flying. Drive over a Launch Pad to be flung through the air in the direction it points — while you're airborne nothing can touch you (lava and hazards included), and you land wherever the arc drops you, so authors aim it across gaps and over danger. A Barrel Cannon scoops you in DK-style: the barrel spins on its own with a burning fuse, and you time your punch to fire in whatever direction it's pointing — or let the fuse burn all the way down and it launches you automatically. It's a longer, committed flight than the Launch Pad, and in the editor a dashed ring shows how far it throws so authors can place it. Slingshot Rings give you a speed burst as you drive through them, along the ring's axis; the more centered your pass, the bigger the kick, and hitting a row of rings in quick succession stacks the boost into a real launch. Authors place all three from the Boons palette and rotate them to aim; as with every boon, rival AI racers drive straight through them, and each switches to a watery look when placed on water.

v0.45.0

General

• Sentry Turrets can now be punched out. That fixed gun emplacement isn't invincible anymore — land a solid punch on it and it's smashed offline for the rest of the round (a grey debris burst and a metallic crunch, leaving a cracked, dead wreck). The charge-up is your opening: rush it while it's locking on, or pick it off from outside its firing arc where it can't shoot back. Rival AI stops avoiding a turret once it's been knocked out.

v0.44.0

General

• Bots can now solve locked-door maps. AI racers understand keys and doors: when a locked door is sealing off the only way to the finish, a bot will break off, fetch the matching key, carry it to the door and unlock it for everyone — then get back to racing. The rest wait at the door ready to pour through the moment it opens, so locked-door maps work in bot-heavy rooms instead of stalling at the barrier. Bots also treat a door as an optional shortcut: if the goal is reachable the long way but opening a door would be meaningfully shorter, some bots will peel off to grab the key and cut through while others race the open route — including snapping up a key another racer dropped if it's a worthwhile detour.

v0.43.0

Map editor

• New hazard: the Sentry Turret. The first hazard that shoots back. A fixed gun emplacement tracks the nearest racer inside its firing arc, charges up with a warning glow, then fires a glowing bolt at them with its own zap-and-thunk sound. The bolt doesn't freeze or kill you — it bursts on impact and knocks you off your line — but a shove into lava or off a ledge does the rest, so it's brutal guarding a narrow pass. The charge-up is your tell: break out of the barrel's line while it's locking on and the shot fizzles, so juke across the arc rather than crawl through it. Duck behind a wall or fence and you're safe — a barrier blocks the turret's line of sight (it won't even fire at you) and stops any bolt already in the air. In an Antlion round the turret also targets the antlions — a hit knocks them back, so a well-placed turret helps fend off the swarm. Authors place it from the hazards palette and aim its mount facing (the centre of its firing cone, shown right in the editor); rival AI racers keep out of the line of fire. Lightning rounds leave it alone (it's a stationary, timed hazard).
• Editor: placed objects are selected right away. Drop a hazard or boon and it's immediately selected in the cursor tool — grab, rotate, resize, or delete it on the spot without first clicking Select. Place the next one by picking it from the palette again.