Originally posted on my blog here.
A lot of small but significant quality of life changes have happened in the latest Puzzledorf update, as well as significant changes to the beginner puzzles. You can see some of the changes in the new trailer above.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed a bug where there was a big delay when quitting the game, and you could still move the menu selector
- Fixed a bug on the menu where if you double tapped to go to a level really quickly, unexpected behaviour would occur
Other changes:
- New smooth movement – you can change the movement speed in the options menu
- New walk animations to suit the new movement style
- The world name now appears in-level
- Small changes to the UI layout in-level
- The number of beginner puzzles has been reduced
- Some achievements were affected, but rather than being removed, they have been modified, more info below
New Movement
You can see in the trailer above that there’s a new movement system that’s much smoother, rather than the old style that instantly teleported you to the next grid space. I liked that the old style was very snappy, but I always planned a smoother movement system – I could just never get it to feel right until now. I think it improves the feel of the game a lot, and is smoother while still being snappy. And if you want it a bit quicker or slower, you can adjust that in the options.
Currently there’s no way to play with the old movement system, though if people really want me to include it as an option, I can add that in a minor update.
Also, as mentioned, there’s a new walking animation. It’s a lot more detailed now, animating both arms and feet and his little head bobs around, giving the little guy a lot more character and life.
Refining Beginner Puzzles
Before I had beginner puzzles, some players were getting stuck too early in the Classic puzzles. I felt Beginner Puzzles were needed to ease in new players. On reflection, however, I decided some puzzles were too similar and that too much hand holding was slowing down the pace of the game. After removing them, the game feels much better.
Examples
Below are 2 levels being removed, the old 0-6 and 1-1. You can see they are both very similar.
The old level 1-2 below, which will become 1-1, fulfils the same basic function of the above 2 levels. Keeping just this one level improves the pace of the game, making sure the puzzles keep introducing new ideas to stay interesting.
There are a number of other levels I removed from the beginner puzzles because they felt too similar or otherwise redundant. The result is that the beginner puzzles feel a lot more solid and fun now, with players able to move through them a lot quicker while still getting the teaching benefits.
Achievements Affected
As stated above, I tried to avoid affecting any achievements, but several were changed rather than removed. The changes, however, are minor, and if need be will be easy to get back. The total number of achievements remains the same. If you have already completed the conditions, then they will be retained without having to do anything. They are:
- Total number of puzzles
- Complete Level Number X in World 1
- Highscore: beat 1-4 in 12 moves, Beginner
- Highscore: beat 2-2 in 24 moves, Beginner
The total number of puzzles was 170 before, it’s now 140. If anyone has already unlocked the achievement, it will still be there.
There were 4 completionist achievements for simply beating a Level in World 1 before. As there are on 2 levels left in World 1, this had to be modified. The new levels to beat to retain / regain those achievements are:
- The new 1-1 (previously 1-2)
- The new 2-2
- The new 2-3
- The new 3-2
Anyone who has already beaten the relevant levels will retain these achievements.
The old Level 1-4 and 2-2 are being removed, so their Highscore achievements will no longer be retained. The new achievements to replace them will be:
- Highscore: beat 2-4 in 23 moves
- Highscore: beat 2-5 in 22 moves
Ruins & Console
Thanks for your patience with these quality of life updates. The game now feels in a much better position ready for console release, with a much smoother intro for new players. I hope to release the Ruins update over the next few months in time for a console release coming soon.
If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to check out the game on Steam: Link.
