After launching v0.3 back in mid-August we spent some time showing the Pup Champs demo to players around Europe - specifically at Gamescom and Poznan Game Arena - to see how they resonate with the game.

As a result we decided to make some core changes to how the game works in order to make it easier to play and more fun. Two big changes in this release are the reworked input, which should allow you to solve puzzles quicker and make the game feel snappier; and new sprites for all units to better show their current orientation. The latter one was an especially big pain point for demo players, and we hope this change helps improve that.

If you’ve played the demo in the past you might not feel like a lot has changed since there’s barely any new „content” (as in, puzzles) in this update, but hopefully our big under-the-hood changes will make Pup Champs better than ever :)

• Reworked player navigation to support instant movement,
• > This is an experimental feature - we’re super eager to hear your thoughts about this feature, and we have further tweaks planned in the future,
  
• > Previously, you needed to draw the movement line and release in order to perform navigation - now units start moving the moment you start drawing in order to make solving puzzles faster,
  
• > We hope this should be especially helpful for players using keyboards/gamepads :)
  
  
• Reworked unit path visuals,
  
• > We’ve done some tweaks to how the dashed line is displayed on the grid, but we’re not finished with it yet :)
  
• Reworked unit sprites to better show which direction they are facing,
  
• > Previously we only had a single set of sprites facing left or right, and we relied on an arrow marker to show where the unit is currently looking,
  
• > Now, each unit can rotate in each of the 4 directions (up/down/left/right) which we hope will help players confused by not being able to change their shooting vector while standing in place,
  
  
• Reworked line visuals showing ball trajectory while aiming,
  
• > After showing Pup Champs at events we noticed that some players were confused by the arrow and assumed that in order to launch the ball they need to perform the motion shown by it (swiping along the arrow); instead of just tapping on the target,
  
• > We’ve got some more visual tweaks coming for this feature in the upcoming releases,
  
  
• Reworked puzzles in Chapters 1, 2 and 3,
  
• > We noticed certain players getting stuck at various points during the campaign, so we shuffled the puzzles around and removed some of them for the time being in order to create a smoother experience,
  
• > While some of the hardest puzzles might no longer be playable, we hope you’ll enjoy the new ones we’ve added :)
  
• Reworked the kicking mechanic for Golden Retriever,
  
• > Previously the kick had a range limit (4) but you could decide where to stop the ball; now the kick is essentially limitless, but someone needs to intercept it or it needs to land inside of the goal,
  
• > This change was prompted by seeing lot of players solving level c2-3 in a specific way - by passing to the other unit instead of stopping it in front of the goal for a pass; after thinking about it we decided that the new mechanic should be more intuitive for everyone,
  
  
• Reworked the design for Monkey,
  
• > This ties into the instant-movement feature mentioned above - since player units now move immediately as the command is given to them, Monkeys needed to start moving in unison with them,
  
• > This change resulted in some of the pre-existing puzzles not being solvable anymore, so we tweaked some late Chapter 3 puzzles,
  
• > The design of this unit is not completed yet - expect further tweaks to the UX and rules in the future,
  
  
• Simplified keyboard/gamepad interaction when kicking the ball,
  
• > Previously, players needed to press the interact button once to enter the „kicking mode” and press the button again to confirm; now this first interaction is not needed and you only need to press once in order to kick the ball,
  
• > „Kicking mode” was necessary for handling Golden Retriever’s kicking, to allow you to select where to stop the ball; once we changed the kicking mechanic this mode also became unnecessary,
  
  
• Pug was benched from Chapters 2 and 3 for the time being…
  
• > In earlier versions of the game we felt the need to rush through introducing the full team of 4 units in order to construct bigger puzzles starting from the end of Chapter 2; after reevaluation we decided to spread them out a little bit more in order to focus on some non-unit-based mechanics,
  
• > The Pug will return after he’s done with training camp and has learned a new skill :)
  
  
• Units are automatically selected at the start of each level and cannot be un-selected,
  
• > This should make it easier to figure out who’s currently being controlled and make keyboard/gamepad navigation snappier,
  
  
• Reworked unit idle animations,
  
• > We felt that giving everyone sprite animations while standing idly was too distracting, so we opted for a simpler scale bounce animation,
  
  
• Improved tutorials in Chapter 1,
  
• > Added a new tutorial hand sprite to make it stand out more from the environment,
  
• > Added input icons next to tutorial hand when using keyboard/gamepad,
  
• > Added tutorials to levels d1-8 and d1-10,
  
  
• Added more character sprites to the Victory Screen,
  
• > This UI felt somewhat static, especially during the first batch of levels - 1-1 to 1-8 - where after every goal you had to look at the same Shiba pose over and over again,
  
• > Now each pup has 3 separate sprites which are cycled in order to make this screen feel better,
  
  
• Reworked undo to revert actions tile-by-tile instead of reverting the entire movement sequence,
  
• Updated color palette and sprites related to passing / receiving / kicking the ball,
  
• Updated sprites for bush tiles,
  
• Increased goal hitbox to make it easier to click,
  
• Added new ability icons for each unit,
  
• Added animation to unit stamina marker on the field when in use,
  
• Improved ball positioning when being held by a unit,
  
• Improved sprite reaction when Monkey is blocked from entering a tile,
  
• Replaced input icons for keyboard/gamepad prompts to make them fit the UI better,
  
• Fixed being able to scroll through comic pages too quickly when clicking on the left/right side before the button was visible,
  
• Tweaked gamepad stick deadzones to avoid unwanted moves in the other direction,
  
• Tweaked delay before showing the Victory Screen in order to show the ball actually landing in the goal,

That’s it for today - please enjoy this updated demo and let us know your thoughts!

Cheers,

The team at Afterburn