v045 - California!

Wow, it's been a little while! After our amazing time at GEXCon, we took a little break to relax and enjoy the summer. Oh, wait. No. No, we didn't. We got a ton of work done. But we're about to! Well, no we're not because we'll be super busy... in San Jose, California at Oculus Connect 6! Wooo!

We're just racking up the awesome news lately. We were recently accepted to Oculus Launch Pad! It's a fantastic program by Oculus that will further our development efforts and provide us with additional resources. That's huge. It also feels fantastic to be recognized for our efforts., So, thanks! (Seriously, you all rock.)

Our flight leaves tomorrow and we'll be soaking up the sun (indoors, at a convention hall, but I digress) for a few days of Launch Pad activities. Then we'll be attending Oculus Connect 6 later in the week. Super stoked. In fact, we're so excited that we've pushed out another update to Super Hockey Ball!

The updated demo is pretty rad, if you'll permit some more of my cheesy, faux-youthful parlance. You'll find some great features like animated hands in the menus. Which is a big deal, because it means you'll get to waggle your fingers around with those fancy Valve Index controllers (Knuckles)! Auto-sprint was added, so you don't have to rely on those clunky thumbstick/touchpad clicks to get going. A bunch of bug-fixes, tutorial improvements, audio and visual updates, performance tweaks, and usability enhancements round out the latest offerings.

Then, we've got the all new Power-Ups! Play around with the Magnetic Ball to pull those coins in and get as many points as you can! More power-ups will be coming soon. But this should give you a taste of the direction things are heading here in Super Hockey World.

Anyway, I hope you're done reading this because all that's left is a BIG list of changes. Skip this, unless you're a nerd. If you're a nerd, we super love you and we got you this:

v045 - DevLog

Gameplay Adjustments
+ Simple grips are now used in non-arcade builds
+ Added auto-sprint
+ Removed sprint tutorial
+ Improved aim assistance to feel more natural
+ Full Valve Index (Knuckles) support
+ Grips now animate hands in menus
+ Added sequential drop control hints
+ NEW Power-Up system
+ Added Power-Up: Turbo Speed
+ Added Power-Up: Magnetic Ball
+ Added option to disable Tutorials

Graphics
+ Added "Demo" or "Arcade" branding to corresponding builds
+ Added spinning ball to main logo
+ Improved bush/cloud models
+ Increased effect of wind on bushes/trees
+ Added Oculus Rift S controller models
+ Updated button map graphics for all controller types
+ Improved menu frame model
+ Improved speed lines model
+ Improved goal model
+ Stick animates properly in transition scenes
+ Added particle effects for Victory/Defeat
+ Coin details are now more visible in dim settings
+ Clouds now fade out at a distance

Audio
+ Added option to mute UI sounds
+ Added new sound effect for Power-Ups
+ Added new sound effect for cheating
+ Added new music while Powered-Up
+ Added haptic intensity setting (yes, this isn't audio. But this category was so lonely!)

Performance
+ Reduced triangle count
+ Adjusted sidewalk meshes
+ Laser performance improved

Bug Fixes
+ Improved SteamVR support
+ Hands are properly hidden when transitioning between menus
+ Tutorial for turning clears properly
+ 4.23 regression bugfix: Collision trace workaround
+ 4.23 regression bugfix: SteamVR stereo layers aligned properly
+ 4.23 regression bugfix: WMR now loads properly in packaged build
+ Clamped input values to prevent excessive speed
+ Room now only recenters on SteamVR when HMD is worn
+ WMR hints now function properly
+ Pausing/Unpausing no longer skips control hints
+ Simplified Stick Rotation Bias
+ Coins destroy actor when collected

Other
+ Disabled unnecessary plugins
+ Added RHI Functions to InnerLoop Plugin
+ Updated to UE4.23
+ Updated encryption tokens
+ Added kiosk control actions