I was so pleased to  see  the release of renaissance last year. I bought the original many years ago before it became free to download and loved   the innovative ideas that were included.  I'd just like to say thank you for the Steam key. I prefer playing my games via  the Steam client, so was pleasantly surprised when I  saw your email  about the update to the game, which I   downloaded once I'd signed into my Itch.io account, then I saw the  offer of a Steam key. Very much appreciated as I've been on a very tight budget for the past year..

I have   a massive collection of  breakouts, but most are  either sub par,   or lack something that makes them a great breakout. I think  your game has the makings of  one of the best (my favorites include the Ricochet  franchise, Arcon Toys, Breakin, Incrediball - The Seven Sapphires, Ploing 2, Little Gods, Rival Ball Tournament, all of which were made around the same time as  your original game and all have something  special about them. There are others, but  I've forgotten the names of them offhand). The only issue I have with  Renaissance is the  ship speed. It always feels really sluggish.  I also think the initial ball speed is very slow.  Would it be possible to include the ability to select different start speeds for both the ball and bat/ship at the beginning of the game via the options?   I'd also like to see  the ability to select different shaped ships/bats  and  balls. This would give the ball movement  a more random  bounce from  either the ship/bat  and when it hits   the various objects/brick  in the game.  Adding different types of  missiles such as  guided missiles,  lock on missiles etc, exploding balls, mines sweepers and satellite balls that revolve around the main ball would also be nice to see in the shop.

Regards Stephen (my Steam name is Whiterabbit-uk)

Thanks for that Stephen. I tried to add you on Steam many months ago to discuss some of your ideas, but it must have been lost in the void?
Agreed that the initial ball speed is slow (maybe I slowed it down a bit because I'm slower now I'm older? lol), but it speeds up fairly soon into the game to gradually pick up the pace. The bat speed is limited for all control methods (including the mouse). Imagine if the mouse player was faster than the game controller players - it wouldn't be fair. Imagine if the game controller could move as fast as the mouse, it would be impossible to control / stop. If it was any faster, you could just swipe left and right and never miss a ball due to the game physics (in other Breakout games the bat just passes through the ball - in PowBall it physically knocks it back into play - I don't want to be like other Breakouts). It's also to force you to plan ahead, aim, and be ready for when the ball bounces back. It probably feels a lot different to other Breakouts games that you've played, but be assured that a lot of thought and testing was put into the way it currently plays and has already undergone 1000s of tweaks.

As for your other ideas, they sound like something to include in PowBall 2, since Renaissance is a reboot of the original and needs to stay similar to the original concept. So, watch this space :-) 

I appreciate the ball being "slow" (could be even slower for all I care... great idea: having the ability to use slow-motion during the game) One of my main gripes that prevented me from truly enjoying the Breakout genre was mainly the ball speed, too hectic and stressful for someone that just wants a casual experience. All the effort of designing all the levels goes to waste if 80% of the players are only able to reach level 2 or 3 at most before quitting in rage. Also, another aspect that I really loved about it was the cash/upgrade system, I wish there were more games out there with a credits/upgrades system like this, so much potential yet to explore in many genres. Upgrade system expands replayability factor exponentially.