Multiplayer, Performance Enhancements, XP System, Upgrades

Multiplayer, Performance Enhancements, XP System, Statistics and Upgrades

CITS next update is going to be huge. 

It's been a while since the last update so it is time for a new one. This time I took plenty of time to change a lot on the game. One of the biggest changes internally is that now the rendering is now up to twice as fast as it has been before. This will lead to a higher frame rate and better responsiveness on all devices.

Multiplayer

From the gameplay side, there is also a brand new thing for CITS: Multiplayer! Compete with your friends at the same time. You can grab their coins and specials away, bomb their platforms or slow them down with Bullet Time while you jump around with full vitality. It's fun and exciting, and definitely something to try!

XP System, Statistics and Upgrades

Now, for every single game that you play, you will receive experience (XP) points. The most important aspects for the amount of points you get is, of course, the score, the achieved game level and the skill level (+100% on insane). Another good point of the XP system is that it is not required to submit your score to the highscore system.

While accumulating points your personal player level will rise, enabling you to get some upgrades for your cow; i.e. that you can collect more special items.

Additionally all of your in game progress will be stored in your personal statistics, so that you can proudly look at the progress you've made.

Full List of Improvements

Based upon changes to the last beta version.

• Multiplayer mode with Peer-to-Peer networking.
• Up to 100% higher FPS.
• XP System
• Upgrades, including larger stack size for specials, auto-parachute, resistance to damage etc.
• Joystick scales to your devices size (good for tablets)
• Elevator platforms can go up now as well.
• Platforms horizontal distribution method changed for more exciting gameplay.
• Loading is faster now.
• Instead of starting with a MedPack you have now the chance to pick up a BulletTime, Bomb or MedPack at the beginning of each game.
• After taking damage from a red platform, the cow will be immune to any other damage for a short period of time.
• The cows immunity is indicated by flashing it.
• Damage is now indicated by a red flash around the screens border.
• The background is darker now and looks more like a shaft.
• Support for small screen sizes (i.e. 320x480) has been improved.

Date of Release

The game is about to released as a beta version within the next 5 days. The release of the final version is scheduled for 10 days later.

Version 1.2.0 Public Beta Released

Dear Friends,

it is time for a new step of the game. The beta version of the upcoming 1.2.0 release is now available at Google Play.

Here is the Link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beta.timopp.CowInTheShaft

Features:

• 6 different kinds of platforms, including: Red Spikes which damages you, a Jump-Pad, an Elevator and a Conveyer Belt.
• Special items to pick up (i.e. Parachute or Bullet-Time).
• Medpack: Can save you in case of emergency.
• Bomb: Destroy a platform! If you hit a red one, you'll get a reward.
• Bullet Time: Use it to slow down the time while moving.
• Parachute: Slow down your fall. 
• 6 difficulties 
• 25 levels per difficulty. The game gets faster with each level. 
• Collect coins for extra points and hearts to heal up. 
• Collect coins for extra points and hearts to heal up.
• Save your progress with the personal highscores table and challenge your friends on the global highscores.
• Control the cow by a virtual joystick or virtual buttons.
• In the main menu your current rank will be shown for each difficulty.
• Make the cow jump by pulling up your device. 
• Background music.
• Can be played online as well at www.CowInTheShaft.com

Changes since version 1.0.7

• All difficulties behave like the Speed-Up mode in the previous version now.
• The joysticks adjusts its position accruing to your touch. So it's easier to control.
• Increased visible game area by removing the advertisement from the gameplay screen. 
• Introduced another difficulty called 'INSANE', which is even faster than 'Forget It!' to address advanced players. 
• Balancing adjustments (i.e. the acceleration of the platforms is slower now).
• Improved graphics and effects.
• Improved sound FX.
• Integration of background music. 
• Improved clipping and collision detection.
• Performance and memory optimizations.

Cow In The Shaft ONLINE!

Now you can play Cow in the Shaft online! Here it is:

Play "Cow in the Shaft" ONLINE
http://cowintheshaft.com/play/

Version 1.0.7 Released - With Speed-Up-Mode!

There it is!

- New Design
- New Speed-Up-Mode, with 20 different levels
- New For-Kids-Difficulty
- Some bug-fixes

Coming up: The Speed-Up-Mode

In the next release version there will be a new Difficulty called "Speed-Up". In this mode, the game gets faster and faster the longer you survive. There will be 20 Speed-Levels and the maximum speed will be approximatley the same as in "Forget-It".
When leveling up you will notice, that it not only gets faster but other things change as well. For example, the number of platforms will decrease over time, the jump-platforms won't throw you as far in the air as before and the rolling platforms will become faster. This all happens in tiny, but noticeable steps 20 times.
While testing I found this new game mode is really cool and a lot of fun. It is also more challenging, because you don't want to start over again but reach the next level again.
The highscore of this mode will also be a bit different: Still, there will be a score like in the other game modes as well, but more important than this score is the level you have reached. So it might happen that a player as 123 points and has reached level 4 but another player has just 100 points but has reached level 5. The second one will be ranked higher.
So this also implies that the leveling up does not depend on your score. The score ist just a finer way of differentiation.

Now with Sounds: 1.0.4 Released

The first version with sounds is about to be released... There are a few sounds still missing, but the most important ones are in. The next version may also have some music.

Version 1.0.3 is coming

Version 1.0.3 is coming

This is mainly just a quick bug-fix release. 

Changes:

• Display of local highscore works again. 
• Optimized some graphics:
• Top-Special-Item-Indicator icons are now smoother
• The arrows which indicate the direction of a rolling platform are now moving smoothly. 
• An extra effect indicates the usage of the special item. 
• The left-right-arrows of the Joystick has been redesigned.

Version 1.02 Released

Version 1.02 Released

New in this version:

• New Platform! The new "Elevator"-platform will move down when the cow steps on it.
• You can't go out of the screen on the sides anymore.
• Moved the Joystick-control a bit down, so that it covers less screen space. 
• Removed the functionality to trigger the special with the joystick, so that you can't trigger it by accident. 
• All entries in the local highscore are now highlighted.
• Fixed a bug with the "button"-input, which caused that you could activate the special item by accident. 

Cow in the Shaft for Android is coming soon

Cow in the Shaft for Android is coming soon

I've just created this Blog to announce the upcoming release of Cow in the Shaft for Android. It will just take a few more days until the game is finally online.

This blog will be the official blog, supporting the game and ready for feedback.