Code Avarice

Paranautical Activity is OUT! (of early access/beta)

Mon, 20 Oct 2014 01:37:55 -0400

by Mike

Paranautical Activity has now officially released out of early access/beta! It’s “done” and here’s what that means:

Post release support?

We’re calling PA done because we’ve put everything into the game that we can think of. We’ve got almost 20 really varied weapons, like 40 enemies, and over 100 items. There’s only so much you can do and still have the different things actually feel different.

So we’re calling it done. If we get enough cool ideas to come back to the game and do a big cool post-release patch, that will happen. I got a little inspiration in our steam forums the other day that might lead to a cool festive patch, but no promises just yet.

Necessary bug fixes will of course happen as needed.

What’s next?

Next up for us is Spinal Destination. Another old school (ish) FPS, this time leaning more towards Timesplitters than Quake. This one will have a neat low poly art style, and a little more focus on story. The story is gonna be silly. Something campy and stupid like a cheesy 80s horror movie. That’s about all I can say because that’s about all I know for sure. We’re still fleshing it out and of course there will be updates on that project right here on the CA devblog.

Trailers?

Gameplay trailer:

Release trailer:

Little Mermaid trailer:

Progressionautical Activity V1.9.1 Achievement/Progression patch!

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 20:11:27 -0400

by Mike

That title might be stretching a bit for the pun, but the fact remains that the long awaited achievement patch is here! The game now has a proper unlock system, so doing stuff in game will unlock awesome stuff. Everything from bonus modes, to items and powerups, to a cool secret bonus character.

I tested the achievements pretty thoroughly, but there’s SO many of them and a lot of them are super time consuming to obtain, so I couldn’t double check everything. It’s possible that some things might be broken so if you find anything definitely let me know! I’m supposed to send builds out to press in the next few days for reviews and such, so I’m hoping to catch all the nasty bugs ASAP.

I did end up adding a teeny bit of content to this patch, and loads of tweaks and fixes. The full changelog is below:

added elevator ding
added classic mode (no ghost. cant get to 8th floor)
added hardcore mode (ghost. can get to 8th floor)
added infinite mode (ghost. repeat ghost secret to loop back to first floor)
added randomized mystery man character
added 40 new room variations
added new texture set for the 8th floor
added more fanart and sound credit to credits
added oculus support
added basic gamepad/controller support
added adaru to final boss waves
added notification in controls menu that controls have to be rebound in the game’s launcher
fixed items intersecting pedastal in poseidon boss room
fixed omni death particle not scaling with him
fixed Adaru humping
fixed ghost showing up during the credits
fixed dhalia’s mom superboss being completely broken on some machines
fixed oar acting as a jetpack
fixed being able to escape elevators after activating them
fixed N on compass sticking through the back
fixed battle snail not damaging you if you sit inside him
fixed starfish not properly reviving you with kamikaze
fixed evil eye causing lots of tridents to spawn
fixed trident vanishing when swapping to superweapon
fixed shops and some other rooms having cracks in the corners
fixed flipper making the world end with laser shotgun
tweaked doorframes to make them glow
tweaked beard+sickle combo (nerf)
tweaked screen shake
tweaked audio balance
tweaked some boss rooms
tweaked hanz pistol
tweaked ghost (buff)
tweaked credits so they return you to the main menu instead of the character select screen

The build should be live on steam now and everywhere else in the coming hours.

Paranautical Activity modes and ahcievements

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 09:03:36 -0400

by Mike

The next patch should be dropping pretty soon, so I figure I should give you guys a heads up on what’s coming. What follows contains spoilers for secrets and unlocks in the game, so stop reading here if you don’t want to be spoiled.

The big feature of the next patch is the unlock system. You earn achievements by doing things in-game, and they unlock things in the game. Achievements unlock things like items, weapons, special bosses, and modes.

Speaking of modes, I’m adding 3 unique modes. Regular mode is just the regular game, but with no ghost. Hardcore mode is unlocked after beating regular mode, and has the ghost (meaning you can only get to the 8th floor with the ghost). Infinite Hardcore mode is the same as hardcore mode, but if you kill the ghost again on the 8th floor, and take his key to the spawn elevator again, the game loops.

Looping the game sends you back to floor one. Everything does double damage and only drops half as much loot. The ghost comes twice as fast. You can loop infinitely compounding these effects. So after looping twice everything would do 4x damage, have 25% drop chances, and a ghost would come every 1.25 minutes instead of 5. You will retain your ability to kill the ghost, so it’s not so much of a threat once you loop.

What's wrong with Paranautical Activity?

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 04:42:22 -0400

by Mike

With release approaching, it’s becoming really important to us that we find and fix all the bugs, weird stuff, and broken/unfun things in Paranautical Activity.

Respond below with absolutely anything you think should be changed about the game, and we’ll take it into consideration. If for some reason you don’t want to/can’t use the build in comments, tweet us or send us an email at admin@codeavarice.com.

Help us make Paranautical Activity the best game it can be!

Paranautical Activity Oculus Rift Support!

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:56:30 -0400

by Mike

A friend loaned me his Oculus Rift so we could implement the promised Oculus support. I’m only able to test on the DK1, and it’s a little wonky, but it works! We’ll update the game to work with the final version of the Oculus once that becomes available.

Check out a short stream I did showing off the game running on Oculus.

PA V1.9 SPOOKPATCH IS LIVE!

Sat, 27 Sep 2014 06:04:33 -0400

by Mike

The final content patch is upon us! Huge amount of content added. I say this every time, but it really does feel like a whole new game! A ghost that shows up if you take too long on a floor, gambling machines, and of course more weapons, items, characters, bosses, and more!

Check this trailer for a small taste of the goodies:

And as always full list of changes is as follows:

added 3 new bosses
added bouncer character
added 15 new items
added 3 new weapons
added superbosses
added casino special room
added a ghost that shows up and wrecks your shit if you stay on a level too long
added secret 8th floor
added new final boss fight for the 8th floor
added impact sounds for bullets
added ambient sounds for bullets
added fuse sound to bombs
added indicators in the elevators for what floor you’re on to replace the dumb HUD indicator
added random character button to character select
added vsync option to graphics menu
fixed text popup being colored wrong for powerups
fixed some superweapons not being centered on item pedastals
fixed new powerups not being able to spawn from power of the gods item
fixed explosive barrel fire going through platforms
fixed map going outside HUD bounds
fixed weapons not hitting enemies at point blank range
fixed being able to get into rooms without activating them when you have the mushroom powerup
fixed the rocket launcher not reloading properly when switching to superweapon
fixed being able to overcharge the sickle and crossbow
fixed bomb bros leaving behind fantom bombs
fixed item descriptions not being sized right after taking mushroom.
fixed random exploding sound triggering when entering some floors
fixed spawn room retaining early game textures in the late game
fixed tenchi and namenlos shooting through objects
fixed dynomite having the wrong health stat in character select
fixed not being able to pause when you have 0 health with the shell
fixed harp item’s strings not matching up to the harp itself.
fixed some spinning items not stopping when the game is paused
fixed menus being cut off at non-16:9 resolutions
fixed stuttering when looking at items for the first time
fixed options menus not returning to the root menu when unpausing then pausing again
fixed launcher image not being sized correctly
fixed scissors item being too low on pedastal and intersecting it
fixed coin sound getting ridiculously loud when grabbing lots of coins
tweaked plasma balls to make them spawn blood particles when hitting enemies
tweaked drop rates
tweaked character select to start on different character every time the game is run.
tweaked map to center it on player
tweaked final boss fight to make it harder
tweaked boss health bar to make transitions smoother
tweaked special room frequency
tweaked special floor frequency
tweaked left hand to cause it to stop superweapon ammo from dropping
tweaked gileads gun (buff)
tweaked mermaid boss (buff)
tweaked banshee boss (buff)
tweaked can o beans to do poison damage (buff)
tweaked hanz pistol (nerf)
tweaked bullet physics
tweaked HUD to show collected items
also a bunch of stuff I probably forgot.

Some PA V1.9 GIFs

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:31:44 -0400

by Mike

http://giant.gfycat.com/ImaginaryPlasticAddax.gif

http://i.minus.com/iQ09vxKjnWU2h.gif

http://i.minus.com/i7DNF7nMCByGH.gif

http://i.minus.com/ix9q1iVx3ZeeZ.gif

http://i.minus.com/ibdAOKv4dw28Bu.gif

http://i.minus.com/ibejkxqWjbjJIt.gif

This will be the final content patch for PA. After that there’ll be the achievement/progression system patch, then one last bugfix/balance patch and it should be done!

Paranautical Achievements

Thu, 04 Sep 2014 21:20:05 -0400

by Mike

If you have any cool ideas for achievements in Paranautical Activity tell us about them!

Achievements in Paranautical Activity will be linked into the progression system. Allowing you to unlock new weapons, classes, items, etc.

Paranautical Activity will be releasing in it's final form on October 17th.

Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:40:25 -0400

Hype.

Paranautical Activity Slot Machine Showcase

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 07:05:07 -0400

by Mike

Just a little something we’ve been working on for 1.9.

PA 1.8.1 minipatch

Fri, 08 Aug 2014 00:03:13 -0400

by Mike

Small little patch dropped today. Is live already on most platforms. Should be live shortly on Humble, Groupees, GamersGate, and Desura as well.

The changelog is as follows:

fixed floor staying dark when falling through a hole in a dark floor
fixed boss health bar staying on screen when falling through a floor during a boss fight
fixed mermaid killing herself
fixed snail randomly damaging player until they die
fixed not returning to menu after credits end
fixed the golden scissors powerup removing the scissors item
fixed problem that was causing occasional stuttering
fixed crosshair showing up in credits
fixed occasionally being able to see up into the level after fallingthrough a hole
fixed shop corners not touching
fixed being able to escape the elevator after sending it to the nextfloor
fixed powerups intersecting objects
added more fanart to the credits
added proper credit for sound effects
added davy jones locker item to item pool
added unique sounds for each powerup
tweaked rocket sound to make it quieter
tweaked (SECRET SPOILER) explosive barrels to make themsometimes drop bombs and the blast shield item
tweaked special room (armory&trap room) frequency. made themmore rare

Added proper credit for all the sounds we got off freesound.org...

Tue, 17 Jun 2014 20:55:34 -0400

Added proper credit for all the sounds we got off freesound.org for PA. We didn’t properly credit them before because I’m an idiot and don’t know what I’m doing.

Paranautical Activity V1.8 is out NOW! (it's about time)

Mon, 26 May 2014 10:22:00 -0400

by Mike

It took longer than I thought, but it is HUGE. The biggest patch we’ve ever released adds so much content we might as well call it Paranautical Activity 2.

The great log of changes:

added 2 new superweapons
added 11 new items
added 2 new OST tracks
added 3 new powerups
added 3 new bosses
added 2 new enemies
added weapon sway
added dark floors
added bottomless pit floors
added armory rooms
added trap rooms
added 42 new room varieties
added pillars
fixed firerate being broken when switching between super and
regular weapons
fixed canobeans?
fixed collision errors regarding particle effects and bullets
fixed spiders glitching through walls preventing the completion of
some bosses
fixed being able to escape a room after activating it, locking
yourself out
nerfed piracy
buffed cherry bombs
tweaked player icon on map to make it easier to see
tweaked david bowie class, added superweapon
tweaked tank class, added superweapon
tweaked hanz boss item drops

The patch is currently live on most platforms, and should be live in the coming hours everywhere. Just waiting on approval for some sites.

I’m still working with steam to fix the linux version not downloading properly, so it will be a day or so before that’s ready. As always linux users can email us and get a key for the humble version so they can play the game right now.

I’m getting reports that the linux build is live and functional! It’s a bit buggy, so I’ll have to work on it a bit for next patch, but you should definitely be able to play. :D

Final patch notes for 1.8. It will be releasing in the coming...

Wed, 14 May 2014 19:58:00 -0400

Final patch notes for 1.8. It will be releasing in the coming days.

Edit: No idea why I posted a screenshot of a text document rather than copy pasting the changelog.

by Mike Paranautical Activity will be receiving 2 additional patches after 1.8. After that it will...

Thu, 08 May 2014 11:23:04 -0400

by Mike

Paranautical Activity will be receiving 2 additional patches after 1.8.

After that it will be considered finished, and properly released.

This is not us abandoning the game, this is us finishing it. Sorry to those of you who were confused by trolls misrepresenting Travis’ statements.

I don’t want to hear any more brainless libel on the subject.

...

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 06:06:42 -0400

by Mike

It seems some of you are under the impression that the update isn’t out yet because we’ve just decided to be lazy and not work on the game. I guess this is a little bit our fault.

We made the mistake of working 80+ hours a week for the first year of development, setting unrealistic expectations for development pace. We pushed out huge updates really quickly because we were insanely inspired and excited to work on the game. We also were fortunate enough to not have anything getting in the way of developing all day every day.

Now we’re over a year into development. We’re at the final stretch and things are slowing down. We’ve both got stuff going on outside development, but we’re working over 40 hours a week. I’d still call that a lot, but it’s noticeably slower and I apologize for that.

To address some specific concerns: me streaming, tweeting, ect happens in my off time. Believe it or not, I’m a person and I exist when I’m not writing code. Sometimes I exist streaming with my friends. Sometimes I exist tweeting while code compiles or I’m having a lunch break. Sometimes I exist when I’m out tweeting pictures of diner milkshakes. That doesn’t interfere with development, and harassing me because of it is a pretty shitty thing to do. So don’t fucking do it.

Travis and I are both still working plenty hard, and the patch will be out when it’s out. We keep adding more content to it to make it even cooler, so our release estimates keep getting blown out of the water. I’d rather release a big exciting patch than a bunch of little boring ones. I’m not gonna make the mistake of trying to put another date on it, but there will be an update and it will be great.

I understand that the complaints are coming from a vocal minority, and I appreciate all of you patiently waiting for the patch. I do think that the concerns were worth addressing though. Hopefully this shed some light on the current situation.

Paranautical Activity Update Update

Sun, 16 Mar 2014 23:42:40 -0400

by Mike

Hey guys, just a quick update to let yall know that we’re still alive and the update is still happening. Life has been throwing lots of curveballs at us lately, which has slowed down the patch a bit, but it’s definitely still happening. It’s going to be the largest patch the game has ever seen, and change the game in lots of huge and great ways, so hopefully it’ll be worth the wait!

Paranautical Activity Update

Thu, 20 Feb 2014 02:28:54 -0500

by Mike

As I’m sure many of you have noticed, the multiplayer patch didn’t come out on the 14th. We realized shortly before the scheduled release of the patch that mutliplayer was going to take longer than we expected, so we started working on a content patch to be released in the very near future instead.

I’ve been tweeting about development of the content patch, and posting about it on our youtube channel (links to both in the sidebar) but I figured I might as well do a post here as well since a lot of people still seem to be out of the loop as to the state of the game.

The content patch will be out sometime in the coming weeks, and will be the biggest update we’ve ever done for PA by a pretty large margin.

I’ll be putting a juicy spoilery post about the patch with screeners and vids showing off the new content, along with explanations of how it all works in the near future.

Paranautical Activity Mulitplayer

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 18:53:36 -0500

by Mike

Just a quick update to break the silence. Paranautical Activity multiplayer is definitely a thing that is happening and is the reason for the lack of updates recently. We’ve been really busy trying to get MP working. I wanted to get some sort of video to show for it before I wrote up a post, but it’s been far too long since I’ve posted on here.

The multiplayer patch will be going live before the year anniversary of the game (february 14th) and after that the regular fast pace of updates should resume! :D

Paranautical Activity V1.7 ULTRAPATCH is out NOW!

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 06:17:00 -0400

by Mike

This patch has been tons of fun to work on, and feedback thus far is telling us it’s the best patch yet! 25 new items, more than doubling the previous count. On top of that the new powerup system, and SUPERWEAPONS!

Here’s a (very) short trailer showing off a few of the goodies in the new patch.

Official changelog thingy:

added 25 new items
added powerups
added superweapons