The Man in the Cape - Major Update Released (Rebalance Update)

A updated demo is also available. It can be downloaded at the IndieDB page.

After weeks of work, The Man in the Cape has been updated with a complete rebalance. It is available for only $1.99!

Why a rebalance? What are the major changes?

After a few months of feedback, the biggest complaint about the gameplay was that it was too difficult, frustratingly so. After reading some emails and talking with some players back and forth, it seemed that the idea of having to play through a stretch of tough rooms to get to save points was idiotic. It created a feeling of stress, rather than challenge. Ultimately, it distracted from what the game I envisioned MitC to be.

This lead me to replay the game after some time away from it. After some contemplation, I made the decision to add per-room saving and rebalance the difficulty of the entire game.

Here are probably the most notable changes in this update:

  • Per room saving: When a room is cleared, the game saves your progress. Now, you can easily pick up and play the game.
  • Difficulty rebalance: The game has a more sweeping increase in difficulty as you advance. Enemies walk speeds, health, and bullet speeds have all been tweaked to compliment the new save system.
  • Treasure revamp: Treasure has less of a chance of dropping, but when they do drop, they live longer. Bosses give less treasure and instead reward straight points. This makes the player more reliant on completing treasure rooms and defeating bosses to aid in the purchasing of the big ticket items.
  • Special weapon tweaks: Bullet speed and ammo amount have been changed for MitC’s pickup weapons to go along with the difficulty changes. Weapons have a slightly lower chance of dropping. A new weapon has been added.
  • New and changed rooms: Former save rooms are now regular rooms. Other unneeded rooms have been removed or made regular enemy rooms.

What else is in the update?

Playing through and rebalancing afforded me the opportunity to address some problems that I didn’t deem important enough to retread over, for one reason or another. These range from minor to somewhat significant.

  • Precache changes: I’ve increased the number of assets that are precached in the game. MitC takes more RAM on average (about 15MB more), but there should be less hard drive seeking and less stuttering. This will benefit minimum spec systems the most.
  • Changed Enemy walk seeking code: Enemies target the player and move on an internal 8 axis layout. Before, their sight was based on an ugly, inaccurate rectangle bounding box system for each axis. Now, it uses a true “octagon” bounds check. This results in a more accurate walk routine, making enemies tougher to dodge as they close in.
  • Recoded bullet trails: Minor change. Before, bullet trails would spawn after a certain flight time. This would never spawn a consistent bullet trail. The new spawn calculations are now distance based and stay consistent, regardless of frame rate.
  • New splash and intro screens: A splash screen was added with my name, as well as a tiny game intro to give the player a story refresher. I realized that MitC didn’t have any of these, so I thought it would proper to include these.
  • New loading screen: Looks better, I hope!
  • Ability to clear progress in game: This used to be accomplished by running the CapeManConfig.exe utility, but now it done in game. This should make progress clearing a little more friendly for Linux players.
  • Other misc changes, bug fixes, and optimizations: New pistol sound, changed HUD color, fixed screensaver from coming on while using a gamepad in Windows, etc…

Can I used my old save or do I have to start a new game?

This update breaks the old save system, so you will need to delete the files in the /save directory or clear your progress at the title screen before playing.

Where can I find out more?

Take a moment to read these past posts for more information:

http://anthonydev.tumblr.com/post/37639969640/the-man-in-the-cape-next-game-update-rebalance

http://anthonydev.tumblr.com/post/37924125169/the-man-in-the-cape-rebalancing-update

http://anthonydev.tumblr.com/post/38471541680/the-man-in-the-cape-on-sale-rebalancing-update-2

http://anthonydev.tumblr.com/post/38959972551/the-man-in-the-cape-rebalancing-update-3

http://anthonydev.tumblr.com/post/39938189960/the-man-in-the-cape-rebalancing-update-4

http://anthonydev.tumblr.com/post/40608963645/the-man-in-the-cape-rebalancing-update-5

http://anthonydev.tumblr.com/post/41127782704/the-man-in-the-cape-rebalancing-update-6

With this update, I believe The Man in the Cape is a more fully realized game. My goal was to increase your enjoyment of the game, period. Hopefully, I have achieved that.

If you would like to discuss the game, leave me a message, or just shoot the breeze, there are a number of ways to get a hold of me:

  1. Follow me on twitter @themaninthecape.
  2. Send me an email at welovethemitc[at]gmail[dot]com.
  3. Visit the game’s forum at the IndieDB and start a thread.

Also, if you run a review blog or a YouTube channel and would like a free copy of The Man in the Cape to write about, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me!