Welcome to March’s monthly update for Akuto: Mad World. This month I completed all the tasks I had planned to complete, tested out new features (physics-based movement), and removed some features (physics-based movement. You can read on to see what major updates were released in March, with a full list of updates following that. At the bottom of this post, you will find what I am planning for next month. And remember, if you like the game, recommend it to your friends or leave us a nice review.
Akuto: Mad World is now available from Steam or Humble Store.
New Content in March
Juggernaut game mode
Become the juggernaut to score points for kills. The first player or team to reach the score limit wins the match.
King of the Hill game mode
Capture and hold the hill to gain points. The first player or team to reach the score limit wins the match.
Player Physics Movement
I tried implementing the physics-based movement last week, and continued working on it this week. However, the longer I worked on this, the more the gameplay and feel of the game changed, and not for the better. I tested it out with several people, and found that most of them found the game more difficult to play and enjoy with the new movement. One of the things I am most proud of the game is how accessible it is for anyone to pick up and enjoy, and this new movement was leading me in the opposite direction.
I don’t think this would have been a major issue if I started the game with physics-based movement from the beginning of the development. But since I am halfway through development, it was much harder to implement. I could potentially do it, but this can take at least a few months to ensure that it feels good. But even this does not guarantee that it will work correctly 100% of the time. And this will definitely push me back in my development schedule. To give an example, my original movement took me around six months of developing and testing, to make sure it feels good and works correctly.
Therefore, I have decided to remove the physics-based movement.
Capture the Flag game mode
Capture and take the flag to the capture areas to score points.
Fixes and Updates in March
- New game mode (Juggernaut)
- Removed advanced attack
- Blood particles can be changed to color cubes to make the game more kid-friendly
- Steam leaderboard upload issue fixed – earlier builds would only upload first score in a new level and then not upload any more scores
- Survival mode updated – You can now gain lives for surviving X amount of waves (X differs depending on number of players playing)
- Aim – players can now aim by holding L1/LB button (default button but can be changed in settings)
- Pixelated death effect – for when colored cubes doesn’t make the game kid-friendly enough
- New game mode (King of the Hill)
- Death effect (black bars) cannot be turned on or off – it will be shown for the last kill of the game only
- New mutator (Max Ammo)
- Player movement is physics-based
- Updated movement, attack, and roll speed for players and bot
- Updated collider size for player
- Removed player physics-based movement
- Maze level redesigned
- Fixed bug when restarting level with level intro off would crash the whole game
- New game mode (Capture the Flag)
Plans for April
I have nearly completed this milestone (Versus Game Modes), and will soon start to begin working on the next milestone (Mini-Games). I have one new versus game mode to add, which I am expecting to complete around mid-April. After that, I will raise the price of the game again. It will be around $1, but more for certain countries due to the Steam tax hikes. You can read more about the Steam tax hike here.
And remember, if you like the game, recommend it to your friends or leave us a nice review.