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If it's a highly enough requested feature, and it makes sense to implement it, then I don't see why not.

Multiplayer isn't planned. The entire game was designed from the ground up as a single player experience, and it wouldn't work well with multiplayer either due to the high precision physics based gameplay which never translates well over a network.  It would end up being a clumsy mess. 

Hi, I'm so happy that you are enjoying the game. Sorry you are running into issues with this old build. It was later discovered that the spider drop ships cause massive framerate drops when many of them start appearing. I won't go into details why this happened but lets just say the game could drop from 500fps to 20fps. It was an easy fix once it was discovered and is gone from the full game that is appearing next week. 

Thanks for being into us people, but it's really just me. I'm a solo dev. :D

Looking forward to seeing you over on the game's Steam forums. http://steamcommunity.com/app/780390/discussions/

❤ Okay.

Thanks for the feedback Vlexa. Don't forget that this version of the game is the very old pre-alpha preview from nearly a year ago.  Just about every aspect of the game has changed since then.  

In the full game (about to be released on Steam), control of the lander has been tweaked in many ways, but it's meant to take time to master especially once you have loot attached to it. The game is physics based, and ensuring that you load up your lander with loot in a balanced way is part of that mechanic.

In the full-game it's no longer possible to get replicon parts inside the ship. 

You said you didn't play the game for long. The game is based around the mechanic of practice makes perfect.  If things are too easy, challenge is removed and with it the sense of progression as you improve.  I don't think any of your issues will still be issues with a little more practice.   For example, you say that it's really easy to die. This is true, and deliberate, but every way you die is easy to avoid once you know that something is dangerous. It's also very easy to upgrade to titanium armor inside the first 5-10 minutes of play which has a 50% damage reduction.

You'll die in many different ways, but never the same way twice unless you are being reckless. Every danger and hazard is easy to avoid with practice. The gameplay is all about learning what is dangerous and how to avoid it. 

Once again, remember that this is an old test version of the game that is missing nearly a year's worth of balancing tweaks and improvements that have happened since.  For example, the way that Bob, and his lander, take damage has been dramatically altered since this old release. 

In this old version collision damage was based only on the speed of impact, whereas in the full game collision damage takes into account the angle of impact. So in this build, if you barely scrape a wall at high speed you will still take high damage, but in the full game you would take nearly no damage from lightly brushing against something even at speed.  There are lots of other similar tweaks and improvements in the full game. 

There are no plans to update this old free version. It was released early in development mostly to gauge player interest and get some early feedback. The full game is a very different beast. Thanks again for the feedback though, it's all useful.

Quick update. The game is launching on Steam on Feb 23rd 2018. You can view it here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/780390/Space_Bob_vs_The_Replicons/

I like that idea about throwing things. I'll keep that in mind when designing future replicons.

At first I thought you meant replicons that shoot things, like bullets, but I'm trying to avoid that because it would feel frustrating to be shot from off screen while zoomed in with the camera. Throwing crystals and junk at you, or just randomly throwing them around, is a neat idea though. 

Thanks.  

Hidden inside bases are planned for Act 3. That's been on my planned list for a long time.  These will belong to the mysterious new Archic race. though not the Replicons.

The new Rask replicons already cut your ropes when they spin. You can only grapple them for about one second. They jump and spin constantly. The Rasks are the alien dragonfly spinning things. They are deadly and kill me so often. They can jump massive distances and only need to touch Bob for a split second to destroy half his health. Fighting 2-3 of them at once is super dangerous. 

Enemies that can throw things? I've considered that too, and it still might happen, but I'm leaning towards a flying enemy that throws itself. Maybe something that attacks like an eagle.   We already have plants that throw things in build 0.7. The new purple planets have a seed that they launch if they detect the player. This bounces around before exploding. 

"Mess with cargo"? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but trying to figure it out gave me some good new ideas.

New DevLog Update on 9th Sept 2017 : https://paul-intravenous.itch.io/space-bob-vs-the-replicons/devlog/9996/a-quick-...

Includes a video of version 0.7

"Can I buy the game in advance?"

Yes. If you buy the game here on itch.io, and pay $10 or more for it, you will get the final game for free. Think of it as a pre-order. I'm expecting the 1.0 version to cost $15 and be released in Feb/Apr 2018. 

There's also another way to support development. Space Bob is not my first game. My first one was NeonXSZ, and you can buy that on Steam. It's a very different game, that took 4 years to make,  but if you like the look of it you can buy that one to help support development of Space Bob. 

"I think, planets and asteroids must have vary parameter of gravity for transporting differences. "

I thought the same thing when I first implemented gravity. The game already allows for different gravity per planet but it was not fun to play. It makes the game inconsistent, confusing, and sometimes even annoying. Maybe it will be used on special bosses only if it feels okay.

 "Not only replicons, lava and acid drops is enemy (in addition to knocking myself to death)."

Agreed. I'm now adding lots of new content and the latest build already has new dangers. There's a plant that spits seeds that bounce around and explode. There's also a cactus that explodes it's spikes everywhere. Some objects are also now radioactive. Expect plenty more hazards like these in the final game.

"Maybe weather conditions too"

I've been thinking about weather recently. Maybe acid rain or radioactive weather. It's something I'd like to add if there is time.

_______________

Thanks for the ideas, keep them coming. 

Dev Update - May 22nd 2017:

Firstly, thanks so much everyone who downloaded the game over the last few months. It was great fun showing this early slice of the game to you all and your feedback and encouragement was invaluable. The very high conversion rate from page views to downloads also showed that the game is on the right track which is fantastic. This was one of the primary reasons for releasing this alpha preview, to gauge overall interest, and it was a huge success.

Unfortunately, the free updates have now come to an end. The current build of the game (version 0.510) will remain here on itch.io, and will always be free, but no further updates will be made to it. You'll have to wait for the final release now. Yeah, I know, it sucks, but the game couldn't remain free forever. I have to put food on the table somehow. 

Development will now focus on massively expanding the game's content with a planned final release scheduled for early 2018.  Some form of beta is also planned for late 2017. If you would like to follow development then keep checking back here on itch.io. It will be periodically updated with news about the games development, the beta test, and the eventual release date once it's finalized. 

The next phase of development will be to add plenty of new planets but more importantly to add lots of new stuff to discover and interact with on those planets. Exploring all the new planets isn't much fun if the only difference between them is in visual variation so I've already got a huge list of weird and wonderful objects that will be added to reward exploration in numerous different ways. The goal is to make every playthrough different depending on which planets the player visits. 

New bosses are planned along with new enemy types. Secret bosses are also planned that may require the player to find rare items to allow them access to those bosses. However, combat and beating the bosses will be semi-optional in the final game. If you prefer exploring, collecting and salvaging loot then that will be a perfectly viable way to play. 

With all of that said, game development is not an exact science. New gameplay content and features may sound fantastic on paper but could prove to be the exact opposite in practice. As more content is added it may influence the game's direction in a new more interesting way so there is no way to know for sure what will and won't be part of the final release. Only time will tell. 

When the time comes, I'll likely be contacting those who offered the most useful feedback a chance to test the beta build of the game. It's not too late to get involved. Feedback is always incredibly useful so be sure to leave your comments here in the itch.io community section if you would like to be considered for the beta and then keep an eye on your itch.io inbox later in the year for an invite.   

If you would like to help support the game, there's no better way to do that than to tell others about it. One of the hardest jobs for a solo dev, on a tight budget, is getting news about the game out to the world. I can't thank you enough if you can help with this and it will ensure that the final release is a success that will in turn allow for plenty of post-release free content. 

Thanks again to everyone who got involved with this alpha test. I can't wait to show you the final game. 

That's an interesting find with grapple points on the spiders. Obviously it's not game-breaking so no need for an instant fix. I'll look into it next week.

I like the cute Replicon sounds. Spiders are cute!

Seriously though, I'll try giving wasps a slightly scarier sound, and then I'll make each new enemy type sound more menacing as they are added in the future. I think it makes sense to make the more dangerous enemies sound more scary. Did you notice that the Replicon drop ships have much deeper, scarier sounds especially when they first appear?

Ooops. We can't be having a bug like that.

A hotfix has already been deployed and is ready for download.

There was a previous bug that could allow the landing pad to descend out of the main ship and sit in empty space. The fix for that introduced this new bug. It's fixed now and the repair lasers work in build 0.501.

Thanks for letting me know so quickly. It would have been a shame to have a game-breaking bug like that at the start of the weekend.

"but I must not Replay, but Continue Training firstly, from Crystal chapter."

Oh. Yes. I know why that is happening. It's only going to happen for those players who completed the tutorial on previous builds. This new build records your place in the tutorial differently. If you complete the tutorial in this build, the 'Continue Replay' button will change to read 'Replay Tutorial' and it will start from the beginning again.

"I can sleep in the end of Training with Lander outside and wake up on ground of another asteroid."

Ooops! That happened to me too while testing. I meant to fix it and forgot all about it. I'll fix it for the next build.

The ability to restart training has been added to the latest build. Version 0.500.

Sneaky indeed. If it's super sneaky then it's not what I think it is.

I've seen this too, but I wasn't sure what caused it. I think you gave me the clue I needed. Thanks for your other feedback too.

Great feedback again Kastuk. Thanks.

That's a damn good score.

As for when the next build will arrive. I wish I knew. Audio work is extremely time consuming to get right and the game feels strange while some things have audio but most still don't. I'm hoping that in a week or so enough will be done to release something. Stay tuned.

That's great to hear. Thanks.

I love the idea of a long-term survival mode too. It's a fantastic idea and one that I seriously considered during the design phase.

There's plenty more planned than what you see now though. Beating the first boss will not be the end. It's just the beginning. It simply the first goal for the player and the section of the game that I'm focused on tuning and polishing during this free alpha version.

Many more bosses, secret bosses, more enemies, and dozens more planets with their own challenges are still to come.

Thanks for your ideas Victor. Don't worry about having to start again each time. It's designed and balanced to be played that way.

Each game is meant to last about 30-60 minutes. If you haven't escaped through the jump gate before that time, the Replicons will be all over the system and will likely kill you. Have fun exploring and trying out new things, and expect to die many times before you learn the skills required to escape.

Update 7 is now available and the bugs you found have been fixed. You'll be pleased to know that it's now possible to grapple replicons and other objects into and inside the refinery. This proved to take far more effort than expected. Bugs were cropping up everywhere once grapples were still allowed to be connected to objects being refined. It was worth the effort though and allows for lots of interesting new gameplay possibilities both now and in the future.

Let me know if you run into any problems. Everything should be fine though.

I like that you are testing out crazy ideas and finding new bugs while doing it. I'll look at fixing them today. Expect another update before the weekend.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I'll be looking into solving the couple of glitches you mentioned this week.

Edit: Both bugs are now fixed in Update 6.

Space Bob vs. The Replicons was released here on itch.io on 3rd Feb 2017 as an alpha preview. The intention of releasing so early in development was to confirm player interest in the game's concept and gameplay. Initial results have been very positive.

Here's some conversion rate data:

• Over 1000 players downloaded the game in the first week with a conversion rate of 29.7% between page views and downloads. The concept of the game clearly appealed to a significant percentage of players.
• The conversion rate improved to 34.6% over the following two weeks during development of Update 3.
• During the week following the release of Update 3 (the liquid simulation update), the conversion rate jumped to a whopping 66%. It has climbed a little higher to 68% since the recent release of Update 4.

These figures are highly encouraging and confirm a strong player interest in the game's concept and current direction.

The intention moving forward is to continue with updates to refine and evolve the game's core concept and gameplay while listening to and acting on player feedback.

This will likely continue for the next month or two before development switches focus towards content creation. The back-end systems have been developed with rapid content creation in mind so the final release is expected to have approximately fifty planets to explore. Ideally, every planet in the system map will be unique before final release, combined with new enemies, new bosses, improvements to existing biomes and totally new biomes added.

The expected price for the final release will be $10-$15.

Thanks so much to everyone who has taken part so far.

A quick update about the incoming liquids update. I mentioned both here and on r/SpaceBob that I've been working on some new far more advanced liquid tech than currently exists in the game. Here's a quick gif of how things looked at the end of last week:

https://gfycat.com/AngelicAfraidAlaskankleekai

Lots more work has been done on the tech since then. All the various types of liquid are now working: Water, Lava, Mud and Quicksand. Geysers are also now implemented along with bubbles and full interaction with the various other objects in the game. Splash effects have been improved, and everything is generated automatically so that the tech is super quick to add to new planets. Moving through the various liquids now slows objects down depending on liquid density.

A pool of liquid can now be set up in just a few seconds, with all of the above effects being generated automatically. This type of automated generation is essential for the future as we plan to add dozens of new planetoids.

The video options panel now also has a Liquid Quality setting which controls the resolution of the liquid simulation or it can disable the dynamic effects entirely so as to enable potatoes to still run the game without issue.

There's still more to be done though. I'm planning to add some underwater effects for the geysers and possibly bubbles streaming off objects as they enter and move through liquid.

Once that's all done I'll be looking to make some tweaks like lander aerodynamics and fix a couple of bugs that have been reported. It's going to be a bit of a squeeze, and there's no guarantee, but the plan is to get the update released before the weekend.

No. I'm guessing they damage the lander. I'll remove that. It's not intentional.

Wow. That's ingenious. That gives me some ideas for future secrets.

Thanks for the info on the connection bug with the drop pod legs. I'll take a look at why that is happening and sort out a fix.

I've run into grapple connections that become unselectable too. It's super rare so I've yet to find the cause. If you find any way to recreate that bug please let me know because then it's easy to fix.

Water is going to have a quality setting in the video options panel. On the lowest setting you will be able to disable it's dynamic surface, and then the performance hit is negligible.

Enemy drop pods do give something if you destroy them but I never expected anyone to try and lift an entire pod to the refinery ship. Is that even possible? Does it even fit into the refinery area?

You like to experiment with what is possible I see. It's great that you do. I'm sure you'll let me know if you run into bugs while testing all this stuff out.

You'll have something new to play around with soon - hopefully by the end of next week. I've been working on a new liquid simulation to add water and even oceans to the game. It will also allow simulations of stuff like thick mud and will replace the current lava implementation that I was never fully happy with. It can also simulate stuff like quicksand that I'm planning to use on a desert biome in the future.

Here's a sneak look at progress so far: https://gfycat.com/AngelicAfraidAlaskankleekai

Did you run out of fuel?

That third pic.http://imgur.com/KA7VYxF lol. Just hanging around...Such a great bug pic.

I tested again on that planet. Everything works fine for me. I even tried to make it happen and failed. I wonder what's going on.

No, that's far from normal. Gravity should always pull everything towards the center of the planet no matter where you are on it.

I have seen this bug happen once before though. I was watching someone play on Twitch. They got out of their lander and fell away from the planet for no obvious reason.

It's one of those rare bugs that makes no sense. It should never happen. I imagine it's caused by some unusual combination of actions.

So don't worry. You should be able to go to the other side of the planet and not fall off.

" I enjoyed playing ... on the upper side of the planet." - Lol.

I went to fix the fuel bug you mentioned Almis, but couldn't recreate it at all. I've also never seen it. Fuel levels are stored to 4 decimal places internally, and they didn't move at all. I'm happy you're enjoying the game though. That's great and thanks for letting me know. It's important to hear both positive and negative feedback to properly balance a game

Thanks for the feedback. The tutorial has had some significant updates and now includes checkpoints and a speed-up hotkey that can be used to skip through the messages. I also took on board your suggestion to speed up the gun's reload time and you were dead right. It feels much better now even though it technically does no additional damage per second.

Maybe you could download again and let me know if this solved your issues and I'll keep in mind your other points of feedback for later updates.

Update 1 & 2 Notes: https://itch.io/t/60660/updates-1-2-released-update-notes