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​Crash Fix

​One of the final remaining crashes would happen after a game was won and the level was switching.  We believe we have finally fixed this for good!  With this crash fixed, we believe the game is now 99% stable.

Update Interval

​The auto-update library we are using had an odd limitation of only allowing your game to check for an update within 1 hour of previously being loaded.  This didn't allow for hot fixes and getting auto updates after recently playing the game.  So, I got the auto update library's source code, fixed the issue myself, and built our own version of the library that doesn't have this limitation.  Now, the game will check for an update within 30 seconds of previously being loaded.

Auto-Update Fix​

​One other weird issue is that some people were not getting auto updates (even though many other people were and the system was working fine).  Although I was not able to replicate the issue, I suspect it had to do with our web server caching the .xml file that streams the current update version.  Therefore, I have removed all file caching from our web server to ensure every user gets an updated stream of the latest game version information.

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​Music and Sound Effects Volume

​Now you can adjust the volume of the music and sound effects individually from the in-game escape menu.  You can now turn down the default level music and crank up your own tunes while blasting away in the game.  You can also adjust the sound effects volume to get the perfect mix with your own voice while streaming.

Display Settings​

​We've added a slew of awesome display settings including resolution, fullscreen/windowed mode selection, window borders selection, and window mouse lock selection.  The settings are available from the main menu after logging into the game.

Not only can you finally play the game at 1920 x 1080 but you can also optimize the game for Twitch streaming.  For Twitch streaming, you can simply set fullscreen to false (to enter windowed mode), set borders to false (to remove them), and set mouse lock to false (so you can move your mouse across different displays).

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Rail Gun

Added an amazing new weapon called the "rail gun."  This gun rounds out our core weapon offering and adds a high powered, accurate, fast, and long range weapon to the game.  This thing is deadly and fun.  Enjoy.

Hit Points

Added a new algorithm to the hit points that appear above a player's head after taking damage.  The hit points now stick around longer and fade out more naturally allowing you to get a better read on how much damage you have done to another player.

Contra Skin

Fixed up the Contra Easter egg skin to be the correct size.

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Bug Fixes

We fixed the following bugs:

• Can't hear dash sound on remote player.
• Can't hear melee sound on remote player.
• Melee should not be usable when you are dead.
• Melee needs to not do damage to invincible players.
• Rail gun sometimes makes it where you can't switch guns, pickup ammo, fire, etc.

We are working on some cool new features next and look forward to bringing you the next update.

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Player Levels

Players are now assigned a level based on adding up the levels of their armed strap, aug, and mod.  For example, if you have a level 5 strap armed, a level 3 aug armed, and a level 4 mod armed then you would be at level 12 (5 + 3 + 4).  You can see other players' levels while playing the game so you know how powerful a player is that you're fighting against.  Killing a player of a higher level gives you more coin for the kill which leads us to the next section...

Extra Coins

You now get extra coins when you kill a player at a higher level than you.  Anytime you kill a player at a higher level than you, you get your 5 base coins plus 1 extra coin per the difference between your level and the higher level of a player you kill.  For example, if you are a level 5 and you kill a player at level 10 then you get 10 coins for that kill (5 base coins + 5 extra coins).  Lower and equal level players to you still give you 5 coins when you kill them.  This system allows lower-level players (noobs/beginners) to get more credit for killing higher-level players thereby making their initial gameplay more fair and rewarding.

Auto Arm Level

Now, when you purchase a new item from the HQ Bay, it automatically arms the highest level of that item across all of your player configurations.

Secure Updates

Our domain https://atomiclollypop.com is now secure with SSL.  We have updated the auto updater to use the new secure SSL channel to update your game.

New Website SEO

Our new website is now live and secure at https://atomiclollypop.com.  It is also "search engine optimized" now and appearing in Google search results.

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Lighting Toggle

Added the ability to turn on/off lighting in the settings window so lower-performance computers can run the game at 1080p and a solid 60 frames-per-second.  We found the trade off is well worth it as Netblast gameplay is best experienced at the highest frame rate possible.

Extra Blood & Guts

We wanted to give people even more satisfying bullet hits and kills so we added 4x the amount of blood emission, 2x the amount of guts/gib emission, randomized exit direction, and added 4x the emissions velocity.  Oh yeah!  Expect to be splattered with massive carnage.

Bouncy Grenade

Added a new gear item called the bouncy grenade.  You can toss the grenade in the direction of your gun and it will bounce around causing direct and proximity damage to it's victim.

Double Jump

Added a new gear item called double jump.  It's basically a vertical dash where you can boost your jump for a second to achieve greater heights in the game and in life.

New Bling

Added some amazing bling such as a Bunny costume, our community member Rembo's hair/shirt/pants, and our community member Shadowhawk's mask/shirt/pants.  I think it's pretty awesome to get yourself into a fricken video game.  Box checked!

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Health & Shield Bars

Added small health and shield bars under each player.  Now, you can see exactly how much health and shield you and your opponents have at a glance.  These new health and shield bars aid in feedback, knowledge, and strategy while playing the game.

Laser Sight

The new laser sight gear allows you to emit a laser beam from the end of your gun into the distance to improve long, medium, and short range aiming capability.  The laser sight can be attached to any gun, turned on and off, and emits a tone when it hits another player.

Bug Fixes

The main bug that was fixed was the super annoying endless dirt-impact sound that would happen sometimes.  This has been fixed finally!

EDIT:

Just added a new gameplay video, to the first post, to show off the latest gameplay.  Hope you like it and please let us know what you think!

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Gun Aim

After adding the laser sight, it became apparent that the gun, bullet, cursor, and laser sight were not perfectly aligned.  This has now been fixed and your overall gun aim/accuracy should now be greatly improved.

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Spectator Smooth Camera

Added smooth camera movement to spectator mode.

Spectator Player Tracking

Added the ability to automatically track individual players in spectator mode.

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​Animated Backgrounds

​In order to make the levels feel more alive and give us extra graphical eye-candy, we have added some amazing new animated backgrounds to the game.  You will now see moving clouds, fog, wind, rain, and other cool stuff while playing the levels.

Ambient Music

​We have added a new option in the settings menu to enable "ambient" music.  This gives a different type of immersion in the game where the sound effects stand out more and give the game a more Quake/Unreal Tournament soundscape.

Miscellaneous​

​We fixed an exploit where you could spam the melee attack, made the server list larger and resizable, made it so the rocket launcher doesn't auto equip on pickup, and added more particle effects when your bullets hit walls.

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​Crash Fix

Fixed a major crash that was happening during gameplay when grenade or other explosions occurred.

New Music

​Added a cool new track to the player select screen to replace our old Castlevania tune.

Knock Back

​Revamped the entire "knock back" system in the game.  Improved the knock back due to gun fire, bullet hits, explosion hits, etc.

SMG Fix

​The new knock back system also fixes the long standing problem of the SMG recoil being excessive and sending your player flying across the screen.

Screen Shake

​Added much more noticeable screen shake to give the weapons and explosions a more powerful feeling.  Also added different types of screen shake for gun fire and explosions.  This effect added with the new knock back gives the guns and explosions a much more satisfying effect.

Melee Fix​

​Increased the number of times melee can be pressed per second to bring back the satisfying melee spam mechanic.

Bug Fixes​

​Fixed a bug where players could not exit from the spectator mode when tracking another player and increased the updated interval to 300 seconds to avoid issues people were seeing with the auto updater.

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Elo Ranking System

In an effort to amplify competition and progression within Netblast, we've added an Elo-based ranking system.  This is the same system used in Chess to rank players based on their skill.  The more matches you win, the more your skill increases (especially if you beat higher skilled players).

An "Elo" ranking system means that you get more skill points if you beat a higher skilled player but you don't lose many skill points if you lose.  It also means that you lose more skill points if you lose to a lower ranked player and you don't gain many if you win.  In summary, the ranking system factors in how skilled the player is that you beat thereby making it a better indicator of actual skill.

We have also created a system of "ranks" and "badges" to indicate your skill level in the game.  We have 10 ranks as follows:

• Blaster
• Leader
• Master
• Destructor
• Destroyer
• Decimator
• Crusher
• Lord
• Legend
• Myth

We also have three sub-tiers for each rank as follows:

• Bronze
• Silver
• Golden

The lowest skilled players are "Bronze Blaster" rank and the highest skilled players are "Golden Myth" rank.

Your skill points in the game are given as percentages relative to the top skilled player.  For example, if you have a skill of 50% then that means your are 50% as skilled as the highest skilled player in the game.  As you win matches, your skill points will increase (especially if you win against higher skilled players).

Player skill ranks and badges are fully integrated throughout the game.  You can see other players' ranks while fighting them and also see your own game-to-game increase or decrease in skill points between matches.

We really hope you enjoy this new feature and we look forward to improving it as time goes on.

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New Crosshairs

You can now select a custom crosshair cursor in the main menu settings.  The new crosshair cursors are higher visibility, larger, better shaped, and don't mix in as much with the new animated backgrounds.  This should help out a lot with aiming and overall tactical firing.

Higher Visibility Pickups

Pickups now appear fully "lit up" in the level so that they stand out more and don't mix in as much with the new animated backgrounds.  This should help out with strategy and positioning in the matches.