Hello everyone!

I’m trying to get back to more frequent releases, even if that means less new things… Although this one is jam packed with new features!
So I guess it’s not always a linear relationship between time spent working and observable changes. (in reality, it probably is because the more laborious parts such as optimizations are not necessarily highly visible but still nonetheless important for the whole experience, or that the payoff comes later in the form of more easily and rapidly implemented features)

But enough rambling, let’s get to it!

Game modes

So first thing is I added different game modes ! Modes are selected on the startup screen using the d-pad left and right arrows.

For now all modes are directly unlocked, but I’m thinking about tying them specific achievements. Scores are kept separately for each mode.

Let me know if you have ideas for more game modes!

Normal mode

Nothing much to say here, it’s the game as usual

Daily mode

Nothing much here either, it’s an option that already existed that allows replaying the same game (same terrain, enemies, bonuses, etc) multiple times on the same day and that will allow to compete with other players on a daily leaderboard.

The floor is lava

The terrain is covered in airships and touching the ground directly hurts.
How far can you go bouncing from airship to airship?

RAILerBlade?

Is controlling the RollerBlade and shooting enemies at the same time too demanding?
Try this rail shooter mode: the RollerBlade hovers high above the ground and you only have to shoot and slice! But beware, explosions and getting shot only slow you down now, and you still have to pick up speed somehow!
Oh, and I nearly forgot: to make up for the added training wheels I may have turned up the dials on the enemies spawn rate…

Let her rip!

Not for the faint of heart!
In this one everything is let lose! Every enemy type starts appearing in the first stage and their rate of spawning increases twice as fast as in a regular game. The 40fps cap that is usually set to keep the game smooth and regular is disabled and the game will run as fast as possible (but with eventual variations in framerate in very busy screens)

Oh no! You broke da gun!

I get it, you really wanted to play Tiny Wings on your PeeDee.
Can’t find it on the selection screen?
¯\(ツ)/¯

Gameover screen

Still a work in progress, but I guess it’s already nicer than what we had.
Without any shame I absolutely stole the crank-to-buy ®™ mechanic, up to the ticking sound, to start a new game ^^ (but this is not final and will definitely change). Anyway, I guess it is part of the UI/UX grammar of the console!
I also added a crank indicator there, as well as in the game and menus when the crank is docked, because you obviously cannot play the game without the crank.

Misc changes in gameplay, physics, mechanics

The biggest change here is the game over condition.
Now even with your energy entirely depleted you still have one last chance to recover and save yourself. But any hard collision with the ground (or coming to a full stop) and it’s lights out!

Speaking of hard landings, I added a sound effect for hitting and rolling on the ground. I also tweaked the gun firing sound to make it more punchy and dynamic.

Missiles no longer propagate explosions, you’ll have to shoot them all down one by one!
Ehh… no don’t worry, you can now clear them with a burst of laser! Also, their explosions are a bit bigger and hurtful.

Speaking of the laser, charging the boost is back to being quicker.

Airships are bouncier, which was much needed for the keepy-uppy game mode.

Optimizations, bug fixes

I redid the entire player shadow, which now not only looks nicer but is also lighter on the CPU! I also made it to fade in and out at dusk and dawn.

The plane sounds were not behaving exactly right so I fixed that.

Direct front hits on enemies would sometimes launch the player straight up very high and this should be somewhat mitigated.

Airships would sometimes explode when firing the laser even if the player wasn’t shooting at them. This should be fixed too.

See you next time for some new content, and I hope you have fun with the game!