BeardedBear - Update n°10 - New Demo and Closed beta available! news

Hi guys, Alberto here, with a new update for BeardedBear!

Let's talk about the important things first: we are now in closed beta!(more like closed alpha tbh)
if you want to help us out testing the game and giving us suggestions or ideas, just send us an email at elkiwydev@gmail.com , and we will give you an unlocked version of the game with all the levels playable from start to finish.

Remember that all you will see in this article is ready to play in the new demo 07, available right here:

So, let's start going through all the new things in this demo:

• Balancing
  We greatly rebalanced the game, enemies, weapon, unlocks and damages. Now the game is playable and beatable by all the three of us and the difficulty level is challenging but not frustrating. In the demo there are only four levels so it's barely noticeable, but if you sign up for the closed beta you will be able to experience this with your own hands (and maybe give us feedback on what else to fix).
  We also changed the weapon unlocks so that now for each level you unlock only one weapon and one bullet type, and we made sure this will slightly change your playstyle from one level to another.

• Score system
  
  
  
  
  
  You can finally compete and compare your runs with a score system!
  It's exp based, meaning that the score increases when you collect exp. It's also affected by the combo system with a multiplier.

• Aspect ratios
  Now the game can be played with all types of screens and not just with 16:9 ratios.

• Reworked walker boss
  
  
  
  
  
  The walker boss has been reworked for a more fun and challenging battle. Again, sign up for the closed beta too see it in action.

• Double gamepad support
  
  
  
  
  
  You can now play with two gamepads in coop mode! (the game is totally playable with keyboard, but we think that with a gamepad it's all more smooth and comfortable).
  That's all for the general balancing and tweaking, now let's talk about the fun stuff:

• Portal effect
  
  
  
  
  
  I like this. I like this a lot. It's awesome and also makes the portal more noticeable and less "flat". Also now the "time tempest" sucks you into the portal.

• New weapon types
  
  • Bees
    
    
    
    
    
    A new bullet type that you unlock early on, bees made into the game somewhat randomly but stayed for how good they are. Use them combination with automatic weapons like the autopistol and you can go to the next crate while everything on the screen dies. With the minigun or the flamethrower they are absolute joy.
    
    
  • Lightning
    
    
    
    
    
    These are fun. A bullet type for the mid game, very powerful and with a little homing to nearby enemies.
    
    
  • Bits
    
    
    
    
    
    Another bullet type, this time for the late game. Fire deadly data to the enemies!
• Shoot flash
  A little thing to enhance the feel of the weapons.

• Portal sound
  The portal now has a spawn sound that make it sound more aggressive and powerful. Not definitive though.

• Music fixes
  Little changes to all the music in the game.

• Enemy spawn sound
  Enemies now make a sound when they spawn. This one is totally placeholder as I don't really like it as it is now, so expect it to change in a later version of the game.

• Shooter and cocoon spawn effect
  
  
  
  
  
  In previous builds you didn't notice when and where a shooter or a cocoon will spawn, causing you to collide with them as soon as they spawned. We solved this problem by adding a visual spawn effect for shooters and cocoons.

• BeardedBear spawn effect
  
  
  
  
  
  I didn't like how in previous builds the levels started with the bear just standing on a platform. How did it get there? Now when the level starts a portal will spawn and the BeardedBear will proudly jump out of it!

• Different sprites for beards and bears
  
  
  
  
  
  This is only a programming fix, you will not notice it ingame. Beards are now separate from the beard sprite, decreasing the BeardedBear sprite count form 200 to only 20 sprites for the various bears. It slightly impacts loading times and the game size but greatly improve the access to the code and future changes.

And that's it for this demo. Remember to leave a comment if you want to tell us something or mail us to gain access for the closed beta. Be sure to follow us on twitter at @ElkiwyDev for more updates and playable demos. See you!