Hey everyone! It's been a while since the last update on SUPERBUG. We have a lot to share about Plumicorn Digital and the future of SUPERBUG! 

What's New at Plumicorn Digital?

Since the last time you've heard from us, back in July (wow!), a lot has changed with the team at Plumicorn Digital. We were all friends in the same home town, but after that summer, 50% of Plumicorn Digital has started college, and 50% has moved! I can't speak for others, but I went all the way from Minnesota to Colorado. With the team dispersing across the country, our new average location is...

... Bruce, South Dakota?!?  

There's not much to say about Bruce, but I for one am loving it here in Colorado. We have ravens, crows, pigeons, AND magpies!

What's more, we've also created new OFFICIAL Plumicorn Digital accounts for Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube! Check us out, and give us a few follows for more updates! We are trying to post relevant content to the development cycle of SUPERBUG and our other games, for those interested.

SUPERBUG: MUTATIONS

There is a lot in store for the next update of SUPERBUG! I'm super excited to show off what we have planned. It's not going to get into too much spoiler territory, don't worry! First, for the big reveal:

SUPERBUG 1.1.0 will be titled the MUTATIONS update!

To start with, I want to share my plans for controller support. There's a lot to it, so grab some snacks and a water.

When we first made SUPERBUG nearly a year ago, controller support was actually one of the first things I tried to add, even before keyboard + mouse controls! But unfortunately, it proved to be too cumbersome for the fast, chaotic gameplay of SUPERBUG in it's final form. For the Mutations update, we wanted to bring back controller support, but add it in a way that compliments SUPERBUG's momentous style. That means multiple different cursor modes for controller users to choose which way to play is more comfortable for them, as well as plenty of aim assist, and accessibility options abound. I will let the developer notes speak for themselves here:

Aim Modes:
- Cursor Aim Mode (CAM): The controller aims by moving a cursor much like the way it works with KBM.
- Radial Aim Mode (RAM): The controller aims by rotating a cursor around the player, like a twin stick shooter.
- CAM has the advantage of precision, while RAM has the advantage of speed.

Aim Assist for controller:
- Cursor "dislocates" into two separate parts.
- Part A is the real position of the player's pointer, either in world space (CAM) or fixed around the player (RAM).
 - Part B is the "assisted" position of the player's pointer, which snaps to the closest enemy either in a max radius around the cursor-pointer or in a max degree away from the radial-pointer.
- Aim Assist values are independent of weapon-specific aim correction mechanics.

The aim mode should ideally be determined by the player in the settings, as well as the strength of Aim Assist values. Aim Assist should have a generous minimum and a fairly strict maximum, such that controller users arent put at a disadvantage but also dont have a significant advantage over KBM users, but players should also have the option to turn it off entirely, ideally independently for each aim mode.
- Perhaps there could be a keybind to force Assist Cursor to find a different target.
- Perhaps Aim Assist could be implemented in such a way that each "mode" is not independent of each other; instead, it would switch modes automatically depending on the LOS and the cursor's distance. This would have the advantage of forcing CAM to continuously aim at enemies within LOS, which RAM does by nature.

Ideally this degree of mechanical freedom will allow controller users to play SUPERBUG comfortably, without any advantage or disadvantage over keyboard users. I'm particularly hyped for the implementation of aim assist modes, but it will be quite the headache to build! Hopefully it'll be worth it in the end - maybe we could even port SUPERBUG to the Nintendo Switch LOL

Next up, we have some minor features that have already been implemented since the last update. These are paving the way for new content, but I can't say exactly what, so you'll just have to guess!

SUPERBUG color palette expanded to include 3 new, highly saturated hues!

We have a reload bar!

These little features are not much, but the quality of life improvement counts. If you can guess what they're for, I hope you're as hyped for the MUTATIONS update as we are at Plumicorn Digital! Believe me when I say it's going to be a big deal for the state of SUPERBUG.

As a final reminder, remember you can join our Discord Server to discuss Plumicorn Digital, SUPERBUG, and my Risk of Rain 2 mods. Thank you, and have a good day!  -  With love, Borbo and friends.