Valley 2 Beta .716 "Control Freak" Released!

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Original: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2013/01/valley-2-beta-716-control-freak-released.html

This one is a very small one compared to the last couple of release, but it has some important fixes and tweaks that we wanted to get in your hands as soon as possible.

Gamepads should control much better now, the issues with the tutorials being able to get you stuck in the first or second turn are now fixed, and there are no longer so many level up towers right on your front doorstep when you start a new game.  Also, a hefty number of new slices!

More to come soon.  Enjoy!

This is a standard update that you can download through the  in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game.  If you have the beta on Steam, it will automatically update for you.  When you  launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found  if you're connected to the Internet at the time.  If you don't have the standalone game, you can download that here.  If you already own the first game, just use your existing license key to unlock the sequel for free!

[Aklyon]

Gamepads should control much better now

Now to see what all those new monsters look like, since I hadn't tried the previous version.

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[Pepisolo]

Just had a quick test with the analog stick -- no problems whatsoever! I think you've got this sorted now (although further testing required). Good work! Oh the new survivor dispatch system seems quite nice, too.

[x4000]

Very good to hear!

[MouldyK]

By god...they've fixed it! XD


Also, I have been kind of informing people of when fixes are being released for their compaints (2 people spotted the game-breaking one of the tutorial, which I told them was reported, so should be fixed/now is fixed). Guess I might as well put a thread there for each update linking to this one and the release notes in case the few people want to see.

EDIT: Here it is.

[maaltan]

I'm still playing with joy2key but the controls are much nicer now.  It will take me a while to remap using the game's analog input so it might be the weekend before i get a chance to try that.

One bug though:
If you are firing down a slope you will sometimes keep walking down the slope.  it is kind of tricky to get to happen but it seems jumping onto the slope (think skiing) seems to help reproduce this.  I've also had it happen when i start firing while in motion.   I think it might have something to do with the "are you jumping logic"   the animation seems to switch into the jump animation for a frame or two when this manifests.  This also happens when holding the walk button for force lockdown mode.

Also strategic mode is looking great.   About the only feature i see missing there now is maybe an undo feature and/or a move confirmation box?  i find it easy to accidentally misplace a survivor during a move.  Then again that might be a function of the way i have my controller mapped.  currently it is A to jump and B to enter/select/accept/etc.   I tried double mapping A to enter/select/accept and leaving B cancel (the semi-standard cancel button on most xbox games) but it acted wierd.  Sometimes I would get stuck at a door and jump and sometimes the door will work.   

A quickstart option might be nice?  Watching the intro over and over (i start a new world each new release) is getting a bit much:).  ( I did notice that demonica's name is now "OverlordDemonicaGameIntroPassive" which was amusing to me for some reason)    Maybe an checkbox on new world dialog that will take you immediately to turn 2 or 3?

[Misery]

Nice update, though I must point out that wall crawlers (absolutely all of them) are still the single most glitch-tastic thing in the game.   Heck, the glitches are one of the things that MAKES them a threat.   It's possible to die really stupidly (and really often) because nearby crawlers suddenly do something crazy that they're not supposed to. EDIT: I'll also point out that almost 100% of the crawlers that appear glitch out.  Tired of dying because those ##*(%&-ing pigeons bug out, stop moving, and become an unhittable turret behind a wall that can still hit ME just fine.   Or because they're INVISIBLE (and immobile) in caves sometimes.  Among other wacky things they randomly do.  To be honest, they're SO glitchy that they should almost just be turned completely off until fixed.


One other thing I've noticed:   Enemies that are supposed to stay on whatever ledge they spawn on have this tendancy to randomly fall off of it.   There doesnt seem to be even a single exception to this rule, all ground foes can do this.   This is a problem for 2 reasons:   1, it can get the player killed just because the thing fell, but also 2, it can be used as an exploit to pass by some foes without having to fight them.

[MouldyK]

This was written on the Steam Forums and he told me to pass it on to this forum for him to raise it's chance of being read.

Ah yes, definitely better controls.

A few more notes for you to pass along if you don't mind...(second impressions)

- all buttons are turbo, including jump. This is cool for skills but not so cool for jumping. If I hold the button down a bit too long I don't want my character to automatically jump when they land.

- some enemies shoot a bit too often, and some shoot a bit too rarely, making them more annoying than ( I think ) they should be. Those damn snails can only be hit when getting ready to shoot, but the delay between shots is too long to be bothered with it (just an opinion).

- has been mentioned before but the font is hard to read. It actually gave me a headache last night.

- upon entering some areas an enemy would be extremely close to me and I would get hit. This made me feel a bit cheated by the game.

- I ran into a henchman in a normal area with no warning. I was previously under the impression that they were only in level-up towers. Probably just a false assumption on my part, but possibly a bug.

- some of the enemy shots (especially the light blue ones) are really hard to see against the sky.

loving the game, and thanks for your responses.

[ShaggyMoose]

- upon entering some areas an enemy would be extremely close to me and I would get hit. This made me feel a bit cheated by the game.

I thought this at first as well, but then noticed you are invincible until you move. It gives you a chance to wait and see if anything is coming before wading in. It takes a while to get used to not moving straight away, but its a useful feature.

I haven't played the game for a few patches and just thought I would mention how much more interesting the platforming is now. Levels now feel a lot more populated and there is a wide variety of enemy behaviours. A lot of level graphics must have been replaced or refined as well, because things are looking great. The strategy game feels less contrived and clunky than it did before as well. All in all excellent progress in such a short time.

One issue I have found with the new strategy game though is that I end up with a lot of wounded survivors in the same place, all trying to batter down the same strip of obstacles. I have two clinics operating, but at the end of every turn the same guys just keep getting wounded, even if they were only just healed. Basically, I am not making any progress; the obstacles are still there and if Demonica stops by I am basically screwed... Is it possible to not have survivors get healed and then injured again in the same turn?

[Billick]

The new controls feel great!  I hesitate to say that they are perfect, but it's so much better now that it feels like a totally different experience (in a good way!).   

Thanks to Billick for suggesting that players only stop when they are actively moving

I think you mean actively firing  But thank you for implementing this.  The controls feel so much more smooth now.  I think somebody else may have already suggested this, but I can't think of who it was.

A few small issues:
If you try to build a structure, but either don't have enough resources, or don't have a survivor on the tile, nothing will be selected in the menu.  The cancel button should probably be selected in this case.
I saw a couple cases on my map where 3 level up towers were all clumped together.  Maybe this is okay (they weren't super close to the start area), but I'm not sure if you intended to spread them out more.
The warp tiles still say you can use them.
I ran into a slice where I got stuck and had to use a poison pill.  I took a screen shot, but I forgot to upload it.  I'll try to remember to upload it tonight. 

[Pepisolo]

I think somebody else may have already suggested this, but I can't think of who it was.

Just for the record, I believe it was Maaltan.

[ShaggyMoose]

A few small issues:
If you try to build a structure, but either don't have enough resources, or don't have a survivor on the tile, nothing will be selected in the menu.  The cancel button should probably be selected in this case.

I had raised this in Mantis here.

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New version!  http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,12338.0.html