Hello everyone!

It's been a while since the last update, and I wanted to let you know what I've been working on and what's coming up next. My main focus over the past few months has on a fully animated character model. The game will still be in first person, but you will be able to see the arms and legs of the character. The goal is to make the gameplay feel more thrilling and exciting and make every action feel more impactful. Additionally, this will help with perceiving distance, especially when close to walls. Here's a sneak peek of an early version of the character model:

If all goes as planned, the character model should make it into the game sometime in October. Aside from the character model and animations, I've also been working on several other features which I'll be posting about in future blog posts, so stay tuned!

Welkin Road is now available on Mac OS X as well and should work on versions 10.8 and newer. Along with this comes update v0.24.3 which addresses the bugs that were found recently.

Changelog:

• Changed the save location on OS X to ~/Library/Application Support/Welkin Road
  
• Fixed bug where the player could catapult infinitely while grappling the same orbs
  
• Fixed bug that broke respawning when the level was restarted while respawning
  
• Fixed bug that exited the options menu when cancelling a key binding change with ESC
  
• Minor level modifications
  
• Fixed bug where mashing the options button would sometimes lock the game
  
• Grappling a white secret now displays a white beam instead of a red one

This small update fixes the bug that prevented the "Welkin Road" achievement (that you receive for completing all levels) to be updated. When first running this version of the game it will check your progress, and update the achievement retroactively. If you previously completed all levels, running this build should unlock the achievement on Steam.

Changelog:

• Fixes bug that prevented the "Welkin Road" achievement to be updated and unlocked
  
• When this version is first run it updates the "Welkin Road (completed all levels)" achievement progress
  
• Adds progress display for the "Every nook and cranny (all secrets)" achieveme

To give you an update on what's going on with Welkin Road at the moment, I'm working on a rather big update and I'll be able to share more details soon!

I'm excited to let you know that the Linux build of Welkin Road is now live. You should be able to play the game on at least Ubuntu 12.04+ and SteamOS (mouse is still required for now), but it should also run on most modern Linux distributions. If you encounter any bugs with the Linux version, please let me know.

Update v0.24.1 is now live as well and includes a couple of bug fixes.

Changelog (v0.24.1):

• Fixed bug where the level intro screen wouldn't disappear in speedrun mode if pressing a button repeatedly
  
• The correct level number and color is now displayed on the speedrun summary page

I'd also like to bring the game to Mac OS X, so I'm looking for some beta testers. If you're interested, let me know in the comments or in a forum post!

Hi there!

This is a rather big update and it includes a bunch of new features. The first addition is controller support. It features fully rebindable inputs, horizontal and vertical sensitivity settings and an option to invert each of the axes. To make the new control scheme easier to use two helpers were added: aim assist and camera assist. Aim assist helps to track the orbs while camera assist helps to adjust the camera when wall running and wall jumping. Both of these helpers can be turned on and off (for both controller and mouse) in the options menu. The controller inputs are, by default, set up for the Xbox 360 controller, but any other controller should work as well after modifying the bindings. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the new control scheme and what I can do to improve it.

The wall run mechanic has been redesigned. The biggest difference is that while wall running, the view direction now determines the direction of the jump. If you're used to the old wall run, this might take a bit of time to get used to, but I think it's an improvement overall since it gives more control to the player.

Leaderboards have been added to Steam and can be found here. Scores will be automatically posted whenever you complete a level in exploration or speedrun mode. Because the gameplay and level design is likely to change before the full release, at least one leaderboard reset will be necessary.

Along with this update, Steam trading cards have been added and will start dropping the next time you play.

Changelog

• Introduced controller support (control scheme can be selected in the options menu)
  
• Overhauled wall run mechanic, player can now jump in the direction he's looking at
  
• Introduced Steam leaderboards for exploration and speedrun modes
  
• Introduced aim assist (can be turned on/off in the options menu)
  
• Introduced camera assist that helps orient the camera when wall running and wall jumping (can be turned on/off in the options menu)
  
• Introduced 180 degree turn (controller only)
  
• When using a controller, the catapult mechanic can be activated with one button
  
• S rank now requires at least one secret
  
• Level balancing
  
• Hints now change depending on control scheme
  
• Magnet orb sound effect now stops playing when the orb becomes
  
• Updated crosshair to stand out more from the background and to make grapple range easier to see
  
• Added graphics menu option to control the grappling beam quality
  
• Updated to engine to Unity 5.3.4 from 5.3.3
  
• Minor performance optimizations
  
• Fixed bug with restarting a level, which could delete campaign progress
  
• Fixed bug where crouching while wall running would give the player extra height
  
• Fixed incorrect behaviour when standing on the ground, grappling an orb, moving away from it and shortening the beam
  
• Fixed bug where the grapple beam would flash for a frame when first used

If you have any thoughts or suggestions about the update or the game in general, don't hesitate to post in the forums as that helps me steer the game in the right direction.

Thanks again for all the support,
Greg

Edit: Originally posted on May 3, re-posted because of a bug with the Steam website.

Hello everyone!

After the Early Access launch last week, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for supporting and showing interest in this project.

This is the first update to the game and it addresses the issues with level 5. In the updated version the awkward sections were removed and replaced with sections that focus more on pace.

Changelog:

• New Level 5 with a focus on more pace and less wall climbing
  
• Modified swinging mechanic to allow for more control, making it harder to spin around in loops without the appropriate velocity
  
• Slightly modified wall jump mechanics to make it easier to gain height
  
• Various small level changes to improve balance
  
• Fixed bug that removed all momentum when the player grappled and shortened the beam at the same time
  
• Fixed bug where the wind sound would sometimes start abruptly
  
• Added option to enable/disable bloom

There are other issues that were brought up in the discussion board and I'll be addressing them as soon as I can. Again, I'd like to thank you for the great feedback!

Have a nice weekend,
Greg