Switchcars

Switchcars Update 6 - Nuclear reactor, contextual powerups and lots more!

Version
Update 6 - Nuclear reactor, contextual powerups and lots more!
Version Date
April 8, 2016
Links

Patch Notes

Update 6 - Nuclear reactor, contextual powerups and lots more!

Hey everyone!

This is one of the bigger updates, mostly focused on gameplay balancing and bugs, while also introducing some new features.
  • Nuclear Reactor has been added as a new powerup. Being an infinite power source, but inflicting constant damage, it's great when your vehicle is out of fuel but having a full hitpoints bar. Installing it will slightly decrease the vehicle's speed, but the more massive it is, the longer it will last. Nuclear Reactor is now natively found powering Submarines and Aircraft Carriers.
  • Powerup leveling has been added. Installing the second Nitrous or Teleport will upgrade it to a Durable or Powerful variant. Durable variants will consume less action ability bar, while the Powerful will have stronger effect.
  • Contextual powerups are a new addition, making certain powerups more useful. Rail Wheels, Hull, Skis, Fire Extinguisher and Medikit will be given when the game estimates you might actually need them. Also, speed of Hull and Skis has been increased.
  • Radar has been improved with new features, marking objects with different colored brackets, based on their category. It will help you be able to tell locked from unlocked vehicles, and useful from dangerous objects.
  • Spikes have been improved too. To further encourage players to bounce aliens without interruptions, their fall damage gets reduced the more they bounce (the faster they fall). Also, dead aliens will no longer cause any damage to a Spikes-equipped vehicle.
  • Helmet no longer breaks if it didn't save player's life. However, it is no longer viable to try and hoard many helmets, as vehicles won't give you any once you have one equipped or in your deck. Regarding other vehicle-given powerups, chance of getting one that you already posses has been dropped to 25%.
  • Aliens and alien world had some changes too, based on your feedback. Two aliens can no longer spawn sooner than 5 seconds apart, while alien worlds won't appear at all before stage 4, giving players enough time to prepare before encountering one. To make traversing the alien world a bit easier until rideable alien animals are implemented, teleport frequency in it was increased too.
  • Alien Pollen got an alternative use. Sometimes you have it, but the time has already ran out, however it can now be used to force all present aliens to jump, giving you tactical advantage at the right moment.
  • New player character damage screen effect has been added, now more visible on the edges and less obstructing the view.
  • Upgraded vehicles look much cooler now, as new upgrade graphics were made for those that are long. For example a bus will get two sets of tracks instead of one, or a locomotive will get 8 offroad wheels instead of 4.
  • 2 new rare oldtimers are now available in the game. They were added in update 1.004, but accidentally set to never spawn (and thus weren't counted in the database either). This has been fixed and they can be found in the game now.
There have also been various bug fixes, most notably making spaceships work in space, and being able to get into main menu after dying, even if your body is still rolling.

Read on for a full changelog:

Gameplay:



- Added Nuclear Reactor powersource
- Infinite fuel but inflicts constant damage

- Added powerup upgrading
- Installing the second Nitrous will create Durable Nitrous or Powerful Nitrous
- Same with Teleport

- Added contextual powerups
- Given in moments when the game thinks they could be useful
- Applies to Rail Wheels, Hull, Skis, Fire Extinguisher and Medikit

- Improved Radar powerup with new features
- Shows locked and unlocked vehicles in different color
- Shows non-vehicles in different color
- Shows useful and dangerous objects in different color

- Improved Spikes powerup
- The harder the alien falls on spikes, the less damage to vehicle (encouraging combos)
- Dead alien does no fall damage to a Spikes equipped vehicle

- Helmet now breaks only when saving life
- Increased player health to 25%, after having life saved by helmet

- Aliens can no longer spawn sooner than every 5 seconds
- Alien world no longer appears before stage 4
- Increased teleport availability in alien world

- Vehicles no longer give helmets if player already has one (in deck or equipped)
- Reduced chance of getting a vehicle-given powerup to 25%, if already having that powerup in the deck

- Using Alien Pollen causes all aliens to jump, making it useful after time has run out
- Stacking more Solar Panels now makes vehicle faster
- Limited effectiveness of Spoiler to 240 kmh
- Improved speed of Hull and Skis upgrades

- Brake regen on battery vehicles now only works with non-empty batteries
- Can no longer hold throttle and brake at the same time, to prevent a rare regen exploit
- Increased powerup capsule availability
- Using Shield now puts out fire
- Drilling now forces the player vehicle to move
- Improved steering at low speeds on hovering vehicles (e.g. helicopters)
- Set tutorial powerup to always give Nitrous
- Added more powerups to specific vehicles
- Rebalanced powerup availability
- Increased speed of tracked motorcycle

Juiciness:



- Upgrades on long vehicles now use new graphics and look much better (new wheels, tracks, etc.)
- New human damage indicator graphics (more visible on the edges)
- Smoother representation of damage when dying
- Added camera shake when using ship horn

Interface:



- All stackable powerups now have so written in the database
- Vehicles that don't spawn in traffic are now labeled as "Rare" in the database

Bugs:



- Fixed two new oldtimers never spawning (and not being listed in the database)
- Fixed being unable to get into main menu after game over, if being pushed by another vehicle
- Fixed spaceships and plasma vehicles unable to fly on the moon
- Fixed Cooldown powerup not refilling entire extended ability bar
- Fixed helmets not being broken by falling aliens
- Fixed Road AI not going for refuel and repair stations
- Removed vibration from "Grapple powered!" message
- Fixed used vehicles showcase not being centered on 16:9
- Fixed tutorial vehicles having newer dates than the year it's taking place in
- Fixed rubble sound not stopping when briefly touching a crater
- Fixed plasma vehicles making braking sound when out of fuel
- Fixed "Laser requires fuel" alert coming up on fuelless vehicle, even if not trying to use laser
- Improved some pixel art on a few recently added vehicles
- A few more bugfixes and tweaks

That's it for this week's update! As usual, if you have any questions or comments please post on the forum.