Let's get right into it!

Updated Tips

The tips in the first few levels were quite keyboard/mouse-oriented, and the controller glyphs weren't dynamic either. I removed most of them and just put on-screen button displays at the bottom to highlight a new action. This should work much better, as it doesn't throw a popup in your face.

Improved Controls Overview

The old controls overview was quite frustrating, so I changed the layout completely. You can now click the "tabs" at the top and the overview gets displayed below and it stays open. The controller glyphs are dynamic too!

Old:

New:

Control Scheme Option

There are now two control schemes, they only switch the buttons for sending seekers and turning squares.

Control Type A:

• Send seekers: Right click
• Turn squares: Left click

Control Type B:

• Send seekers: Left click
• Turn squares: Right click

I hope this helps people to pick the one that fits best for their playstyles!

Soundtrack DLC

Three music tracks have been added for endless mode and challenge mode. One track includes samples by TaskBeenden, and the other one is a longer version of the upcoming trailer track by KAON. I will leave these as a surprise. :D

I also prepared the soundtrack DLC, so Valve could approve it in time, but alas... I was too late!!

It would now be released on February 21st, 4 days later. NOOOO!

But - I asked Valve if they can move the date to an earlier time, and they said they'll help me align the dates after the DLC went through review! YAY!

I will have to listen to all tracks again on other devices and adjust a few things here and there, but then it's done and can also be released on Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc.

3D Sound

Okay, it's not really 3D sound, but I've had the idea to pan the sounds left or right depending on where the sounds originate from. I gave it a try, and I thought it made the game feel a bit more "alive", if that makes sense. It could also help with sounds being played on top of each other, so it's a bit clearer in the mix. For example, a creator shooting from the right, while you're collecting crystals on the left. You can get a sense where things are happening a bit more intuitively.

Of course, this is nothing new, I'm just surprised it's taken me this long to implement this. But now it's there!

Other Updates

Apart from the bigger changes, here's a list of everything else:

• Fixed resolution check when starting the game for the first time. It will now load the closest windowed resolution, instead of the smallest (thanks FindTheStrawberry)
• Added visual aid in cutscene 4 to show what broken squares look like (thanks FindTheStrawberry)
• Added visual aid in cutscene 2 to show how to turn squares and destroy enemies  (thanks FindTheStrawberry)
• Added option to override controller glyphs for Xbox, Steam Controller, Switch, PS4 and PS5 (thanks FindTheStrawberry)
• You can now press ESC in several more menus (i.e. achievements) (thanks Nungy)
• Added "return to title" button next to the menu button to reduce number of clicks (thanks Nungy)
• Improved chain reaction performance by removing old numbers faster (Text is expensive)
• Level Editor: Clicking upload shows which username it is going to use before you actually upload, and the current stats if it's already uploaded (total plays & likes)
• Fixed issue where clicking retry wasn't possible anymore in Challenge Mode (thanks NikSynaly and Hector)
• Endless Mode: Background changes every 10 levels with music
• Further improved sound output when various sounds get played at the same time (especially for challenge level 13) (thanks NikSynaly).

7 Days Left

Turnament will be released in 7 days, I can't believe it. I hope players will enjoy it. There will be some updates afterwards. But I think I'll take a week off, we'll see. I definitely learned a lot again with this project. My future games will all be based on this. Another stepping stone in my plan to take over the world.

What will I do these remaining days? Well, I'll fix some bugs, and probably play it for a bit and see if anything else is broken. I'll make sure the soundtrack is ready. I'd like to do a livestream before release, but I can't say if that's possible just yet. Maybe I'll get more feedback from betatesters (especially for Steamdeck).

But I think that will be it.

Hope you're ready for a few more emails and notifications in the coming week!

To be continued... 💎