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[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #85
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What contributes to playing a game and having a great time while doing so? With Stellar Stars, the focus is on creating an awesome gameplay experience! With that said, how will today's new update take the first step towards that path?.




To begin, take a look at this screenshot of the character selection screen.




Now compare it with this new version.




It may not be obvious at first glance, but the font used in the character selection screen has been changed! With a new consistent font, the overall look and feel of the character selection screen is much better!

In addition to the character selection screen, the options screen has undergone the same makeover too!







And by popular demand, you can also now turn the screen shaking off (default is on)! This means that the screen will no longer shake when you attack enemies!

This is when screen shaking is on.



And this is when screen shaking is off.


While today's update only changed the character selection and options screen, the entire game will slowly phase towards using the same font design!

So what do you think of this 1st small step in creating that consistent gameplay experience? Expect more changes towards that direction!

To experience it for yourself, grab the updated playable demo now!

Enjoy and have fun! Cheers!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #86
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Today's update for Stellar Stars continues with the path of creating an awesome gameplay experience for you! And that includes even things like using a consistent font design throughout the game.

When you play the game for the first time, you might notice that the 1st stage is kind of empty. And that's because there is a small hands-on tutorial, which takes less than 30 seconds.

You will also notice that with this hands-on tutorial, you are essentially learning the game by doing stuff. And that's why you will see notifications like this.




Besides the hands-on tutorial, other notifications such as when you have unlocked a new character, or when you collect a new star, have all been changed to use the new font design!







And since Stellar Stars is going to be using this new font design everywhere, menus, which usually have more text on them, is a great place for that! Say hi to the new pause menu/screen!




So while today's update for Stellar Star doesn't amount to much in terms of game content, it is another important step in creating a better gameplay experience for you.

Therefore, to experience it yourself, grab the updated playable demo now! Cheers!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #87
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What happens when you die? Would you want to know the answer to that? However, death is not something that can be controlled. But in Stellar Stars, it is! Today's update takes a close up look at the new death animation!




Before sharing how the new death animation came to be, let's take a quick look at it first!






Did you enjoy it? The new death animation has a lot of things going on at the same time. But the first and most obvious is definitely the slowing down of time.

This is when time passes normally.



This is when time is slowed down.



For the death animation, the aim is to create that slow motion effect which you can definitely see in many action and sci-fi films. This makes that specific moment stand out easily from others.

You might also notice that the camera zooms in to where you are during the death animation. While this camera action seems straightforward, it actually consists of 2 parts.

The 1st part requires making the camera zoom in from where it is at (i.e center of screen).




The 2nd part involves moving the camera to your current location.




And when you combine and run these 2 at the same time, you get the animation effect of the camera zooming in to where you are at!




The last component of this new death animation comes in the form of 2 simple black bars. If you are wondering what black bars I am talking about, think back to the character selection screen.




Notice that there are two black areas on the top and bottom of the screen? The new death animation essentially reuses them and animates them for that dramatic (and cinematic) effect!




And when you combine everything above, you get the new death animation as shown in the YouTube video above! So what do you think? Do you feel that it will make dying in Stellar Stars more memorable?

Lastly, to experience it yourself, grab the updated and playable demo! Have fun!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #88
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Are you tired of sticking to the same routine time after time? Sometimes being spontaneous and random can be fun! In addition to displaying new random messages when you die, today's new update for Stellar Stars is also a special Reddit edition!.




If you haven't heard of Reddit, it's a place where you can create your own community! You can also vote on which stories or discussions are important to you. You can comment on each and every thread and community members are also contributing back to it!

And so that is why for Stellar Stars, it is one of the ideal places to build a community where you can enjoy sharing and discussing anything related to the experience!




For example, if you were having some difficulties with a boss, or if you just want to share a moment in Stellar Stars which you think is funny, http://www.reddit.com/r/stellarstars is the community for you!

To celebrate the launch of the Stellar Stars Reddit community, today's update has been made to be a special Reddit Edition!




This version includes a new start menu for you to choose between starting the game immediately or jumping to the new Stellar Stars Reddit community! This makes it easier for you to ask anything related to Stellar Stars if you so desire.

Now what about the random messages? What is that about? Before going into that, I would like to first invite you to feast your eyes on this next image.




Yes it is the moment of your character's death! This new death animation, which was added in the previous update, has now received a new little addition to it!




Now when you die in Stellar Stars, you will always see different messages being displayed as a fun way of interpreting the situation.




And if you were wondering how many messages there are, here's a sneak peek!




While it's still a relatively small list, it will only grow so if you have any fun messages that you want to see in the game, let me know!

And lastly, experience today's awesome additions and changes here! Cheers!

[alvarop]

I think someone mentioned it very early on and there is really no point in bringing it up again, but...

Why are you going so deep into copying Nuclear Throne? Don't you think it cheapens your game, overall? With all the hard work you're putting into this project, why not dig deeper into finding its own identity?

I'm really being genuine here and not trying to be negative. But "You have not reached the Stellar Skies" sounds cheap and pretty bad.

[WhiteSponge]

I think someone mentioned it very early on and there is really no point in bringing it up again, but...

Why are you going so deep into copying Nuclear Throne? Don't you think it cheapens your game, overall? With all the hard work you're putting into this project, why not dig deeper into finding its own identity?

I'm really being genuine here and not trying to be negative. But "You have not reached the Stellar Skies" sounds cheap and pretty bad.

Hey there! From reading what you have typed, it is rather obvious that you did not really see through what Stellar Stars is about / read the latest updates .

It's a totally different game from Nuclear Throne.

Firstly, Nuclear Throne is a top-down view shooter game with rogue-like elements. Stellar Stars is not.

Stellar Stars is an arena-based roguelite shooter/platformer with focus on allowing you to change/improve how your character plays/interacts with the stage/enemies. That's what Stellar Stars' identity is about.

This makes it possible for multiplayer vs/co-op mode to be implemented in the near future.

Which is why I don't understand why do you think that I am copying Nuclear Throne. Everything if not most of what you can see in Stellar Stars came out from my brainstorming sessions live on TwitchTV. Just ask my followers on Twitter/TwitchTV and you will know.

If you're still not convinced, let me ask you something then.

Can you make your characters jump higher or run faster in Nuclear Throne? :D

Please try to see what Stellar Stars is really about before jumping to conclusions. Sometimes it helps to look beyond just the surface.

By the way, "You have not reached the Stellar Skies" is just something I was testing with. I am also curious as to why you did not mention anything about the other messages beside that. Does Nuclear Throne have random messages that appear, besides "You have not reached the Stellar Skies"?

If you still have anything that you wish to know about Stellar Stars, ask away. I'll be happy to clear your doubts ^^

Until then, have a great day!

edit: Maybe it's better for you to experience the game yourself first. That might help. You can try the demo from http://whitesponge.com/games/stellarstars. Just use the orange button to start the download. Have fun!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #89
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Do you wish that you could jump higher or run faster? You can definitely do that in Stellar Stars! When you have defeated enough enemies, you get to level up ~ And that's when the magic happens!.




Today's update for Stellar Stars is all about leveling up. After you have cleared all of the enemies in the current stage, getting to the door will bring you to the new character level up scene (if you have leveled up once)!




Besides the obvious new design, you might also spot a new little animation here.




Making the words jump here draws your attention to it. As a result, you will immediately know what this scene is for - choosing a growth to improve your character!




You might have read about this but character growths is what's really special about Stellar Stars. They provide you with a fun way of changing or improving how your character plays/feels like, and how he or she can interact with the world of Stellar Stars!

And that is exactly why you can expect more character growths to come in the near future! However, if you have any fun ideas or suggestions for character growths, drop a tweet at @WhiteSponge!

To experience today's update, grab the updated playable demo now!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #90
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Today's update introduces a new character growth that messes with gravity! But what is it exactly?.




The law of gravity states that whatever goes up, must come down. This means that if you jump up in the air, you will fall down to the ground moments later. But let's pause for a second here and imagine this - what if you could increase the speed of your fall?




And that's the new character growth - Sinker, is about! Sinker accelerates the rate of your fall right after you have reached the highest point in air after jumping! Compare the 2 GIFs below.

Before learning Sinker



After learning Sinker



In addition to empowering you to clear stages faster, Sinker becomes really handy in situations such as the following.




Falling faster allows you to essentially avoid getting hit by projectiles when enemies spot you.

So what do you think of today's update? Comment in the comment boxes below or drop a tweet on the Twitter channel!

As always, experience it yourself and have fun!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #91
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Have you ever thought of doing something but felt that it was too cumbersome? What if you could have a chance at an alternate and faster way of achieving it? Today's Stellar Stars' update is just about that!.




While the previous update (v0.091 Alpha) introduced Sinker, a new character growth that allows you to fall faster, today's update brings along a new character growth of a different nature.




Say hello to Shortcut! Shortcut gives you a chance at reducing the attack delay to zero! But how does it help you?

Without Shortcut?



After learning Shortcut!



Notice how you need to wait for the attack delay in the first situation before attacking again? While it does not activate every time, Shortcut becomes especially useful in dangerous situations such as when you are facing multiple enemies or when an enemy is really closing in on you.




It also opens up new ways of playing Stellar Stars! Think of the possible combinations with the other character growths (hint - blue)!

So what do you think of this new character growth? Do you like it? Or hate it? Share your thoughts below if you can!

And lastly, experience it yourself!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #92
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Stories are what give meaning - you have your story, and I have mine ~ And the story of Stellar Stars, has only just begun! Today's update finally brings the animated intro cutscene to you!




Do you remember seeing this when you first choose "Start Game" from the game's menu?




The new animated intro story/cutscene of Stellar Stars now takes its place! Watch the YouTube video below to see it in action!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqZ2-hohSZs&feature=youtu.be

You might have noticed that it is still missing background music and some sound effects. That's because it's still a work-in-progress!

You might have also noticed that there are some emoticons that are animated as well.




These adds tone to the story cutscene and gives you an insight of the emotions of the characters involved in the story.

So what do you think of the story animation? If you have any suggestions or ideas to improve it further, drop me a tweet or use the comments below!

Lastly, experience the animation yourself now!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #93
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If you were wondering who Big Teeth is, he is the first big bad boss to stand in your way! In addition to having really big teeth, he has a variety of attacks at his arsenal! And today's new update gives him a visual facelift!.




If you have challenged Big Teeth before this update, you might remember him looking like this.




With today's update, v0.094 Alpha, Big Teeth gets a visual overhaul!




In addition to having bigger and sharper teeth, mutated rocks have also been added all over his body!




Notice how the mutated rocks move and rotate along with Big Teeth? And that's not all! See what happens when he is attacking!




His mouth now opens bigger when spawning minions or shooting projectiles. This makes Big Teeth more lively as compared to his previous non-moving mouth!

So there you have it - today's update which brings a visual facelift and more animated version of Big Teeth to your door steps!

But there is just 1 more thing. If you were paying attention, the first image right at the top doesn't have anything to do with  Big Teeth's facelift! It is in fact, a scene from the animated story cutscene!


Do you still remember the previous update where the animated story cutscene was introduced? In addition to fixing some bugs in it, it has also been improved with new dramatic sound effects! Check out the new YouTube video below!





So what do you think? Experience it yourself now!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #94
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Today's update for Stellar Stars involves improving the visual aspects, making gameplay changes and fixing some bugs for the game! To start with...

Do you remember how Big Teeth, the boss of underground caverns, got his facelift in the previous update? Well the boss of the ice wasteland is getting a visual facelift too!

This is what the undead summoning boss used to look like.




With today's update, he looks even more badass!




And why stop at screenshots? Here's the undead boss in an animated GIF!




As with Big Teeth, this undead boss comes packaged with multiple attacks. In addition to shooting his frost breath, he can also summon undead minions!




And if you did not know, these undead minions are unique to this boss stage! This means that you won't be able to find them anywhere else in the world of Stellar Stars!

Besides giving the undead boss a visual upgrade, the casting delay for Heavy Wave has also been increased! This means that after using it, you will need to wait slightly longer before being able to attack again.




And lastly, today's update also fixes some bugs such as:

- Where on Windows the game would get stuck on the beginning of the animated intro story cutscene

- Where the screen would sometimes shake even after you have been defeated in a boss stage

- Where the screen would shake slightly faster than when Big Teeth (first boss) lands on the floor again after jumping

So what do you think of today's update? Be sure to experience it yourself here!

Cheers!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #95
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After a week of celebration for Singapore's 50th birthday, I'm back on full drive with working on Stellar Stars! And today's new update involves adding a little spice to improve your gameplay experience!...




To start things off, when you reach a new world, a nifty little animation now appears on the lower right corner.




This little animation displays the name of the current world! So if you arrive on the frozen wasteland or the robotics labs, you will see these instead.







Moving on to the main highlight of today's new update, background ambience has now been added to the Underground Caverns! Just listen to this.





When the earthquakes occur, you can now hear them shake in action! This improves the gameplay experience in the audio department.

So what do you think of today's update? Experience it yourself now and have fun!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #96
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What do you think makes a fun game? If you ask me, it would definitely have to have extremely challenging bosses! Therefore, to make Stellar Stars even more challenging, today's update gives a preview of what the new boss of the Robotics Labs looks like!...



If you recall, this is what the Robotics Labs looks like.




And this is the highlight of today's update - the new boss!




While it seems like it is good to go, the new boss is still a work-in-progress. It only has a single attack at the moment. It can shoot out energy particles in all directions!




Notice how the energy particles move really slow and glow at the same time? This makes it hard for you to dodge them!

If you do manage to reach this new boss, challenge yourself to defeat it if you can! As the next few updates will involve adding new attacks and behaviors to it, this new boss will only get more challenging!

So what do you think of today's update? Or do you prefer to wait until this new boss is completed before challenging it? Be sure to experience it yourself! Cheers!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #97
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While you have gotten a preview of the new and upcoming boss of the Robotics Labs in the previous update, today's update brings it up a notch by adding a new attack for the boss!.




To start, do you remember this?




While releasing slow-moving energy particles can be considered as a rather nasty attack, it definitely pales in comparison to what you'll see in the youtube video below.





Yes the new boss of the Robotics Labs now has a new laser beam attack! How awesome is that!? The laser beam animation actually has many parts to it. So let me give a brief explanation while trying to contain my excitement!




To begin, the boss moves or hovers to 1 side of the stage, while playing a laser charging animation at the same time. This gives the idea that the boss is about to fire something across the stage.




And after which 4 lasers will each be fired from the 4 diamond-looking shapes located at the center of the boss's body. Did you also notice that during the laser beam animation, as the 4 diamond shapes were moving, the lasers moved along as well?




Lastly, as the boss finishes up its laser beam attack, the lasers diminish in size until they are entirely out of sight.

So what do you think of this new laser beam attack? Do you think that it makes the boss too powerful? Let me know in the comments below!

Don't forget to experience this new update here! Cheers!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #98
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In the past few updates, you have seen the new Robotics Labs' boss and its various attacks, while in its attacking mode ~ However, for today's game update for Stellar Stars, you will be looking at an entire new mode and a new laser beam attack!.




Before getting to the juicy part, do you remember the boss and its laser beam attack?




If you thought that that was the only laser beam attack, think again.




Yes the Robotics Labs boss now has a new cross laser beam attack! While both of the laser beam attacks span a huge area, the new cross laser beam attack moves the lasers in a rotating sweeping manner.

In addition to releasing energy particles, this creates a sense of variety when the Robotics Labs boss uses its overpowered laser beam attacks. But what happens if the boss decides to not attack but to defend instead?

Say hi to the new defending mode!




When that happens, the boss undergoes a mode changing animation (shown in the animated GIF above)! So what does the boss actually do in this new mode?




In the new defending mode, the boss defends itself by deploying its forcefield while hovering. It is literally saying, "Come and attack me if you can".

So as you might suspect, the boss is invincible while in this defending mode! Do you think that this will be overpowered, or do you feel that this will be a fun challenge?

I will leave that verdict to you but don't forget to experience it yourself! Have fun!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #99
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What do you think are the main differences between bosses and the usual enemies? Besides being extremely challenging, bosses usually come packaged with a variety of attacks! In Stellar Stars, bosses have the ability to spawn minions! So in today's update, let's take a look at the new minion of the Robotics Labs boss!.

Before getting to the new minion, do you remember how the boss of the Robotics Labs comes equipped with different modes?







From releasing energy particles in its attacking mode to deploying a force field in its defending mode, the boss switches between them randomly. However, a new mode has arrived for the boss - the spawning mode!




As you might have already guessed by now, in spawning mode, the boss spawns minions by opening up the hole at the center of its body.




So let's give a warm welcome to the new minion - the Laser Minion! When spawned, the Laser Minion flies immediately to its target location, where it will continuously hover up and down.




The Laser Minion also comes equipped with a tracing ability where it will constantly detect your current location. Take a look at how its animation changes depending on where you are.







As its name implies, and when combined with its tracing ability, the Laser Minion constantly fires lasers at you (regardless of where you're at)!




Therefore, be sure to defeat it as fast as possible when you do get the chance to do so. They can become irritating if you leave them hanging around!

So what do you think of today's update? Remember to give me any sort of feedback if you can!

Lastly, to experience it yourself, click here! Have fun!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #100
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I have a small confession to make - I might be slightly sadistic because I really like creating extremely challenging bosses! With each new boss, it only makes sense to make it tougher than the previous ones ~ And that's why the boss of the Robotics Labs is getting 2 different types of minions!.




As you might or might not have known by now, the bosses of Stellar Stars have the ability to spawn minions. For example, Big Teeth, the first boss of Stellar Stars, spawns minions from his mouth. 




On the other hand, the boss of the Frozen Wasteland uses magic to summon undead minions.




But notice how the 2 bosses above can only spawn a single type of minion? This is where the new Robotics Labs boss is different. It has the ability to spawn 2 different types of minions!

First, the Laser Minion - a small floating cube that has the ability to shoot lasers at you, regardless of where you're at!




And as the 2nd minion, the Electric Minion releases multiple electric charges at you when its count-down timer reaches 0!




Be very careful around it because if you get hit by 1 of those charges, you can be rendered unconscious!




So what do you think of these 2 minions? As a tip, always try to defeat them as soon as possible! They can get irritating really quickly and they do drop stars, health and mana orbs when defeated!

And with the addition of these 2 minions, you can now finally clear the Robotics Labs by defeating the new boss! Challenge yourself now! Cheers!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #101
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While today's patch/update for Stellar Stars has already went live, I would like to take a moment to reflect back on the path taken since starting on Stellar Stars ~ And of course I would also like to share about the plans moving forward.




Ever since I have started creating Stellar Stars, the plan was always to have at least 8 playable worlds for you to challenge. This means that 5 more worlds are needed in order to make that a reality.

When you start the story mode, you are always first greeted by the Underground Caverns.




And if you do manage to defeat the boss of the Underground Caverns, the Frozen Wastelands awaits.




Overcoming the undead boss of the Frozen Wastelands will then advance you to the Robotics Labs, where you can find highly intelligence robotic enemies.




While the decision to have them in that order appears to be random, it actually isn't. I have intentionally created the worlds to be in that order because there is actually a hidden story to it.

And if you are able to guess it right, drop me an email. I have a special prize for you.

Now going back to the number of playable worlds, while it seems like a no-brainer to just proceed with creating the 4th world, let's take a step back and think about it.

In my perspective, adding more playable worlds equates to adding more game content. And that is definitely something good in my books. However, I would also like to leverage on the existing game content, and create new gameplay experiences for you just based on that.




Say hello to the new starting menu for Stellar Stars! So instead of just having "Start Game" and "Join Reddit", I have changed it to "Start Story" and added a new "Challenge VS" menu item to it!

While it is still a work-in-progress (as indicated by the "Coming Soon!"), the multiplayer versus mode will be added to Stellar Stars throughout multiple game patches. This means that for the next patch, you might get to create your multiplayer user name and for the next patch after that, a screen to maybe let you glance at all of your multiplayer stats at once.

So what do you think? Do you like this style of adding the multiplayer versus mode? Or do you prefer it to be added only when it is completed? Let me know your thoughts!

Now before ending today's blog post, there is just 1 more thing.

Remember how you can jump from 1 platform to another by pressing your Z key or your A button on your XBox One controller?




Now you can jump further by running beforehand!




By using the inertial from the run, you are now able to cover a bigger distance when you are trying to jump towards a direction! And if you thought that this was just a simple change, think again. Since you are using your inertial to help with jumping further, it is possible for you to jump even further by learning Runner's Feet (which increases your running speed)!

So remember that you can have the first-hand experience here! Cheers!

[WhiteSponge]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #102
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As I have shared in a few updates ago, the multiplayer vs mode in Stellar Stars will be spread throughout multiple game patches ~ And today's patch gives you the ability to create your user name in Stellar Stars!.




Before getting to today's juicy part, remember this?




While the "Coming Soon!" is still visible in today's update, you can now press enter to get to a new scene - creating your new user name!




This new scene is where you can create your new user name. So what happens when you try to type anything?



However, remember that you have to have a minimum of 6 characters for your user name!




So once you have entered the user name that you want, press enter and wait for the confirmation.




Once that happens, you will be automatically brought back to the starting menu. As the multiplayer vs mode is still a work-in-progress, you can only create your user name for now.




Once your user name is created, pressing enter on "Challenge VS" will no longer do anything as the game has detected that you have created an user name.

If you want to reserve a special user name that you think is rather popular, it is better grab it now fast!

So don't wait anymore and grab the new game patch now! Enjoy!