Freedom, the minimalist 2D platformer, is getting some quality-of-life updates and performance boosts in some rooms. For the first version of the game, the prompt to activate talking appears even after going through the talking scene and is removed now for a much better experience.

New Filters: I was using the built-in filters that GameMaker provides, but I decided to create my own for performance reasons, which should make the game feel faster in some places.

New Sprites: Images for controls were all over the place, so I made it more noticeable to see the mapping of the buttons, both controllers and the keyboard. There are also several fixes as I updated to the newest version of the engine after working on the same version for release. This update provides a different collision system and better uses of arrays.

New Hat: There is also a new hat, the "traffic cone" as I felt it would be an excellent addition! There are a bunch of them around me as there is always construction going on, so I liked the idea of wearing one.

New Transition: Another notable change is that the restarting animation has changed from boring sliding blocks to a blocky transition effect that I liked!

There are some packaging changes, such as Linux moving from a high-performance zip build to an AppImage packaging format for portability among Linux distributions. The Mac version still cannot be played in the Downloads folder as that is an issue with gatekeeper and how GameMaker packages the OSX builds, so it still must be moved outside to run.

The full list of changes is below:

• Version is now A.1! 
• Aside: As there is a hat added, that means that although you may use the older copy of the game, if you save at any of the plants, you may overwrite the hat from after playing the newer version, and there is no way to get the hat back (through normal gameplay means anyway). It is recommended to stay on current versions and not move back and forth to not accidentally overwrite save files.
• Text changes for better readability and understandability
• A saving fix for the start of the game
• Changed the number of particles in rooms with QR codes for better camera capturing
• Updated SDKs and versions to use the final development version for Windows 10 for better compatibility with Windows 10/11
• Minor room fixes - I am using my own coded filters now, so there should be a bit boost in performance in some rooms
• Minor checkpoint changes
• Some sprite changes for easier understanding
• A different algorithm for images is used for the engine, so there should be faster loading of assets (internal change, so you may not see it)
• Added a fade instead of an abrupt transition to white for the intro
• Fixed the bug where the player would create a landing sound even when not finished landing, mostly when falling and jumping back platforms
• Non-ARM Linux targets now use AppImage for compatibility with other flavors of Linux
• Enabled hot-reloading of the Lang file (if you wanted to make changes while the game was running, they would not show up unless you re-opened the game as the game uses a local copy throughout the game, but now selecting a language will reload the local copy used, so you do not have to reopen the game each time)
• Extra cat sound added
• Warning: GameMaker already uses only 64-bit versions of Linux (excluding Raspberry Pi) and Mac, and is already recommending only using 64-bit versions of Windows. Although I will continue to offer a 32-bit option for as long as I can, if there is an update to the engine that only offers 64-bit versions, I would only be able to provide that and only provide a legacy 32-bit version to individual requests. The Windows version provided here is 32-bit for compatibility with all machines.
• Sound related bugs such as the jukebox have been fixed
• Snap and footsteps are slightly louder, and helicopter noises are noticeably quieter
• Fixed the mirror and reflection to actually reflect the player and related objects 
• Fixed the view getting shrunk on RPI during game over
• Bullet stands are now working as intended
• Watch lights now moved
• Watchtowers moved
• New restart animation
• Intro now starts with a fade
• Opening scene no longer has clipping on smaller screens
• There is now an around second-long cooldown between rooms as it allows the player to see any obstacles before moving
• The shopkeeper has a new outfit!
• Balloon Jumper score blocks are fixed
• Sun room block changed to be easier to see
• Axe redone to look more menacing
• Particles are reduced in qr code rooms
• Snow cutscene wall is moved
• General cutscene changes
• Shop items may be more expensive (shopkeepers, right?)
• There is a new error handler, so instead of crashing and giving you an error, the game closes, and the error would be available to send me in a crash.txt file
• Enemy rework to not involve as many objects, and changing reward amounts
• Laughing no longer transfers to other rooms
• Blockade scene no longer plays when you defeat all enemies before

Available now for Windows, Mac, and Linux at itch.io or the official website!