Most recently, we ported the game to Nintendo Switch and, with the help of our friends at 8-4, we also released the game in Japan and Korea. Check out our Japanese trailer, directed by Derek Lieu, with help from 8-4:
[previewyoutube=Qm7mVhzdjE4;full][/previewyoutube]
Arena Mode Online!
Another big addition to Spelunky 2 is the ability to invite friends to play Arena Mode online! It works similarly to co-op - just enter the in-game lobby and from there, you can invite people to play via Steam or Discord (just tab out and either DM a friend or check out our matchmaking channel).
Recently, XanaGear held an anniversary stream for charity and he and Phinq set up an online Deathmatch tournament for the stream that was actually quite competitive! Spelunky eSports begins now?! But in all seriousness, I hope to see more Arena Mode tournies in the future, because it was a lot of fun to watch.
[previewyoutube=f3OIBEzeKr4;full][/previewyoutube]
Crossplay, Please?
Apologies for crossplay not being released yet! We planned to have it ready in the first half of this year, but it ended up taking long enough that we had to move our focus to the Nintendo Switch port. Now that that's done, we can prioritize crossplay again.
Currently, the plan is to release a private beta on Discord in the next week or so to try and track down a difficult bug. Aside from that, we need to satisfy the various requirements of each platform and get final approval. Our goal is to have crossplay between PC, PS4, and Switch before end of year so that everyone can play together during the holidays. We'll keep you updated on our progress!
Changes from Patch Series 1.21 to 1.23
Well, I can't think of a better way to sign off this post than a massive list of changes. Hope you've been enjoying them! Happy Spelunky-ing!
ːspel2caverː New features:
- Reworked elixir
- Added in-game feats screen
- Added new languages: Russian, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Japanese and Korean
- Players should now be able to exit to the title screen after playing the daily
- Added button auto-repeat to some UI screens (like leaderboards)
- Added cross-progress between Switch and PC
ːspel2caverː Arena:
- Added different selectable personalities to the AI
- Players can now add one bot at a time, up to three
- Added ghost deathmatch timer
- Added DM remaining lives counter
- Added new “End Match” option to the arena
- Added skip option to end a match in case only bots are alive
- Added back button to the team selection scene
- Added player indicators during the start of the match
- Arena will no longer spawn generic crates on level generation
- Added new 12/12 and 24/24 bags
- Added new items to the list
- Added “Very High” crate frequency setting
- Ghosts now spawn in deathmatch even if you’ve run out of lives
- Added new arena “Final Ghost” option
- Implemented configurable player ghost breath cooldown
- Added punish balls to the arena
- Fixed arena player ghost bounds
- Arena rules won’t be set as “Custom” unless a value actually changes
- Arena level previews now correctly flip conveyor belts on all rooms
- Fixed softlock when using “Level Select” after changing rule to “Take Turns”
ːspel2caverː Level generation fixes:
- Dirk’s spawn is now guaranteed
- Prevented giant spiders from spawning on thorny vine ceilings
- Traps should no longer generate on top of existing cookfires (or any other items, for that matter)
- Prevented cosmic orbs from spawning right next to pipe entrances
- Sliding walls no longer spawn hovering above spikes as if these were solid floor tiles
- Duat’s special altar is now guaranteed
- Fixed issue where totem traps were being generated inside water pools
- Improved scenario where blowing up the entrance to Waddler could also blow up a nearby vault
ːspel2caverː Performance improvements:
- A lot of performance improvements of implementation-details and rendering
- Performance improvements to multiple areas: warp particles, firebug, blur of UI shadows, quicksand, journal, lava levels, and more.
- Minor RAM usage optimizations
ːspel2caverː Gameplay fixes:
- Fixed orb skip
- Fixed tossing system issue (skulls were being destroyed by ribcages)
- Fixed issue where a seemingly safe teleport could sometimes still crush the player
- Projectiles such as shotgun bullets now burst poison bubbles
- Fixed mole state on being stunned while it is leaving or entering a floor tile
- Fixed mole state after being killed by an explosion
- Fixed mole being crushed on receiving whip damage inside a floor
- Front layer players should now be moved to a safe spot when the eggship is taking off
- Enemies in the area will now be killed once players enter the eggship
- Fixed issue where tossing stuff against arrow traps immediately after exiting a layer door wasn’t triggering them
- Fixed issue where the drill at the bottom of the level was still generating weird collisions and could force bombs explode on contact
- Fixed issue when flipping over Olmec while near a wall
- Fixed issue where players could sometimes move through Olmec
- Fixed issue where hang spiders could very rarely be left in an idle state after destroying their hanging thread
- Fixed issue where mounts inside quicksand weren’t behaving correctly
- Bombs stolen by Leprechauns can now also be paste and power bombs
- Fixed issue when tossing something downwards while standing
- Falling into spikes now reset fall timers (needed when teleporter backpack saves you instead)
- Players climbing ropes and ladders now trigger bear traps
- Fixed issue where teleporting could sometimes force tossing the currently held item
- Sun challenge force fields will now be disabled on challenge failure
- Fixed caveman waking up suddenly when the player barely touches him
- Fragile stuff thrown at armored Olmites now correctly breaks
- Player ghosts blowing things such as a boomerang and hitting someone will now count as the player’s fault
- Shields and other blocks will no longer be able to push honey
- Fixed gold iframes in the hard boss level
- Prevented players from receiving poison damage continuously when they are mounting a mech and they are attacked by a scorpion
- Toggling the hoverpack will now immediately stop the player’s fall
- Opening a locked door from the back layer no longer automatically forces the player to enter (same behavior as with front doors)
- Fixed issue where hitting a magmar could tag it forever, making shopkeepers blame you on contact
- Fixed issue where the teleporter could be used downwards while standing during the throw animation
- Fixed pipes issue on destruction
- Fixed collision issues when stomping monsters that are riding mounts
- Slightly increased the size of small gold nuggets and gold coins so they can still be whipped while over thorny vines
- Held entities are now repositioned smoothly after being pushed by walls (fixes several issues)
- Prevented cavemen from continuously swapping equipped backpacks
- Fixed issue when players climbing ladders tried to jump and attack at the same time
- Olmites now correctly drop from their holders’ hands when frozen
- Shrunk giant fly’s collision shape
- Fixed turkey’s shop skip
- Fixed some issues when destroying trees or mushrooms
- Holding jump while stomping a frozen monster now makes the player jump slightly higher
- Proto shopkeepers now correctly deal damage when tossed
- Prevented crush traps from being set on fire
- Fixed axolotl not being able to enter a pipe while underwater
- Throwing a lit torch will no longer burn the rope you’re currently climbing
- Fixed issue where hugging a wall from the left made a nearby spring trap not trigger
- Fixed issue where untamed mounts could rarely squeeze into 1-tile gaps
- Fixed weapons issue where they could damage the mount of your holding player
- Fixed players receiving damage by thorny vines in some cases while wearing the climbing gloves
- Fixed issue where tossed eggplants were sometimes not damaging other entities
- Players can no longer keep walking if their punish ball is being held and the chain is extended
- Players now drop any held punish ball if the owner is too far
- Fixed teleports while having a punish ball
- Punish balls are now dropped when entering pipes as they were causing too many issues
- Fixed issue when a player with a punish ball gets bubbled
- Fixed hired hands rescued in the Gold City being carried as a corpse to Duat and the subsequent levels
- Fixed issue where Anubis could get stuck after being bubbled
- Tweaked Anubis’ ice cage and bubble size
- Players can now hang from smaller edges (reduced necessary margin)
- Fixed issue where mosquitoes pushed by orbs could sometimes get stuck indefinitely
- Olmites will now unstack if they get pushed horizontally
- Prevented the giant frog from killing some recently spawned tadpoles when closing its mouth
- Fixed player stomp check sometimes failing when colliding with monsters right after jumping
- Vendors will now anger if a player using the climbing gloves drops anything over their heads
- Prevented players from grabbing bear traps from another player’s hands
- Fixed issue where mounts weren’t letting players unmount while near a platform
- Fixed issue where players couldn’t drop items after tossing a bomb
- Bombs coming out of treasure chests will now be correctly tagged
- Fixed issue where broken eggsacs could be pushed away by blocks
- Fixed issue where shooting arrows while being held could damage your holder
- Fixed special end when players bring a land mine with them
- Fixed issue with thrown entities when ink was involved
- Boomerangs now stop following their owner on layer change
- Pangxie’s claw chains now deal damage the same way the claw itself does
- Fixed issue where being killed by a Lamassu could sometimes show a different death message
- Improved the way arrows ricochet in certain situations
- Arrows bouncing off of robots and armored Olmites now correctly play the ricochet sound
- Fixed issue when picking stuff up during the throwing animation
- It should now be harder for Anubis’ special shot to just linger in place after not finding a suitable target
- Fixed crush traps’, elevators’, falling platforms’ and sliding walls’ issue where touching them with a weapon (like the whip) would tag them to the attacker, potentially voiding pacifist runs
- Overhauled ghost opacity system so killing becomes more consistent
- Black market shop bounds will now be more symmetrical
- Tiamat’s attack made entities invulnerable for too long
- Players should now be able to start a challenge when the merchant is on top of a door
- Fixed issue where Dirk’s coffin was spawning in the wrong spot.
- Fixed issue when entering pipes while climbing
- Fixed issue where torch flames weren’t processing collisions
ːspel2caverː Online:
- Add hourglass icon to identify when a client is running slow and causing soft desyncs due to clock drifting
- Fix sprite flickering and interpolation flushes when playing online
- Improved player ghost position interpolation during online matches
- Fixed player position glitch when a player is rescued from a coffin on online matches
- The camera will now move to the back layer when a player takes the eggship during an online match
- Determinism improvements to prepare for cross-play support
- Protocol improvements to reduce problems with some routers
- Protocol improvements to reduce disconnects on setups that were suffering from ISP microcuts and wifi background scans
- Ankh animation should now be correctly skipped if the reviving player gets disconnected
- Fixed issue when playing an online arena match after having played locally with bots
- Fixed crash when restoring screen settings to default in some setups
- Fixed issue where players needed to press “Exit” twice while on the daily game over screen
- Online arena should no longer keep on resetting rules after each match
- Added more specific platform icons
- Fixed journal page recap team size
- Arena can now be played online
- Removed server information
ːspel2caverː Crashes:
- Fixed random crash in Arena mode, playing with bots
- Fixed crash on using repeated characters in Arena
- Fixed crash when backpacks fell on a conveyor belt
- Fixed crash when trying to start a challenge when the challenge door has exploded
- Fixed issue when an explosion occurs near the bottom of the level
- Fixed memory overrun when there were too many hired hands
- Fixed multiple crashes due to a text-related race condition when changing levels and playing online.
- Fixed issue where jiangshi assassins could sometimes crash the Cosmic Ocean.
- Fixed crash when changing the button icons setting
- Fixed crash when synchronizing cross-progress
- Fixed potential crash when killing a UFO
ːspel2caverː AI:
- Fixed hired hands jumping into the lava on trying to reach a very far target
- Arena bots are now able to push blocks
- Improved AI dangerous detection for Arena mode
- Prevented hired hands from picking up turkeys delivered to Yang
- Prevented HHs from attacking mummies
ːspel2caverː Minor / Visuals fixes:
- Fixed visual glitch when picking up a blinded player
- Made Arena results screen unskippable until the button prompt appears
- Fixed some glitches on the main title screen fire particle emitter
- Fixed particle animation glitch while the game was paused
- Made certain graphical effects work independently from the current resolution
- Removed more texture artifacts
- Fixed whip animation frame position for a specific character
- Changed the “1” to a “2” on the dice shop sign
- Fixed issue where the torch’s flame looked weird when the torch was picked up by a caveman
- Fixed block on entering into the arena when the main character in the character selection screen was a bot
- Fixed visual glitch on the lobby scene when cancelling the “Enter Code” prompt
- Vlad’s Castle sliding walls will now use the proper chain metal color
- Fixed issue where Pilot looked taller during his entering/leaving doors animation
- Updated some Switch buttons
- Successful shopkeeper clones now play the same sounds as regular shopkeepers
- Fixed issue when whipping while on top of a basecamp table
- Fixed issue where toggling the hoverpack could sometimes still show the spring shoes VFX
- Moved daily challenge to “Online” section
- Fixed issue where a back door leading to a locked door wouldn’t show a button indicator while holding a key
- Stun birds will now disappear during door transitions
- Added invincible effect when a rolling lizard is whipped
- Opening a locked door from the back layer now correctly plays the opened sound
- Added missing tile decorations on Abzu
- Fixed lingering light in Neo Babylon
- Fixed very rare case where an angered Yang could sometimes speak when he happens to be near a shop while the player goes through the door
- Fixed punish ball chain visual glitch when picking it up
- Fixed eggplant child name in French
- Removed some artifacts from Colin’s ghost
