- Switching to Free Pricing - 20 July 2023
After a couple of years in which I haven't been able to devote any time to this project, I've made the difficult decision to give ROCKJACK away for free. I never expected to make any money with this game, but I've come to the conclusion that charging for it has only impeded the growth of its audience. I do hope to add new features and fix the few bugs that exist in the game, but I won't be too actively updating it. I want to thank everyone who did buy the game, and I will push an update at some point where I add your Steam names to the credits. I will also try to think of some other way to say thank you. Perhaps I will enable some feature only for you in a future push; I don't know yet. Thanks again, and good hunting out there!
- Hotfix for v0.4.3 - 6 October 2021
I didn't like the way the new shield was behaving, so I fixed it.
- Rockjack v0.4.3 is now Live! - 5 October 2021
With this version, I've updated the Unity version I'm building on, and switched to the new Universal Rendering Pipeline. This entailed rewriting a bunch of code that relied upon renderer features no longer supported, so it took me a while, but in return I believe the game looks better than ever! In addition, I am better insulated against Unity updates breaking the game in the near future. Added new sound for when plasma armor takes a hit. Added a new debris type. Added new asteroids texture for much improved appearance. Make more important items easier to see in the minimap. Increase rate of neutron armor regeneration. When mines or time bombs collide with mines or time bombs, they explode now. Seeker Missile improvements: smaller seek window, will not seek powerups. Upgraded to Unity 2021.1.7f1 and switched to the Universal Rendering Pipeline for improved graphics. Fixed buggy options…
- Development Update - 2 September 2021
Greetings, Rockjacks! I have been busy upgrading the game to a newer version of Unity and a new rendering pipeline, and, as often happens with these things, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is, the new rendering pipeline is incompatible with a lot of the visual effects in the game; they have either disappeared or they look lousy, so I'm going to have to do some work to rebuild them. For example, I lost the green glow of the exotic asteroids. The good news is, the game looks absolutely stunning in the new rendering pipeline, and the effects that still work, really pop! So you're going to be in for a treat when I finally do finish the port to the new pipeline! I can't wait to share it with you! In the meantime, I've got a bunch of new gameplay updates incoming shortly. The roadmap currently looks like this: v0.4.3 update - gameplay upgrades and quality of life improve…
- Rockjack v0.4.2 Is Now Live! - 10 July 2021
Although I'm calling this a minor version, I'm actually really excited about this one, because I've been painstakingly tuning the game lately, and I feel that this update improves playability so much that it deserves its own major release number. However, I'm keeping those for big features, so I hope you'll forgive me and just enjoy the game! Please let me know what you think in the comments! Player-visible changes Missiles will no longer explode upon colliding with explosions. This eliminates the problem of chain explosions, which I liked in the abstract, but in practice it just made the game feel more random than it really needs to be. Added some entropy to the powerup allocation process, and spread out the available powerups across a wider range of rounds. This made the powerup process feel more natural and challenging. Reduced the frequency of the Extra Ship Powerup. I felt this one…
- Rockjack v0.4.1 is now live! - 4 July 2021
A minor release with a lot of feature polish. Player-visible changes Powerup spawn logic was overhauled so that the player will see fewer powerups which they can't immediately use. Added the PowerShot powerup. This will give your shots additional momentum, which will allow you to push back some of those tougher enemies more easily. Reduced the damage multipliers per skill level. Enemy sounds are more clearly doppler-shifted, so if you listen carefully you can tell whether they are moving toward you or away from you. Side-swipe collisions will now be less damaging to the player. Picking up a cow gives the player a $1000 bonus. Overhauled the asteroid allocation logic to stretch the late game. Reduced the multipliers for the thrust augmenter and the fast reaction wheel. Added Recovered Resources View on the main screen. Added currency symbol selection to the Options screen. Improved visib…
- Rockjack Version 0.4.0 is Now Live! - 2 May 2021
I'm very excited to announce this new version of Rockjack! I've swapped out (most of) the old text-based UI that marked the early development of the game, and added a more attractive, colorful, easier-to-read and altogether more professional graphical UI. In addition, I've added a couple of new powerups and modified the bonus ship system, and made a bunch of tweaks along the way to help make the game look and feel more like a professional product! ROCKJACK RELEASE NOTES version 0.4.0 - 2021-05-01 Sat A milestone release with a major UI refresh. Player-visible changes Initial release of the new Status UI, mostly replacing the old text-based UI which the game first shipped with. Colorful icons and animated health bars now show your ship's status and your progress toward acquiring powerups in a much easier-to-read fashion. The ships display in the upper left corner will display progress to…
- Teasing the Next Release - 27 April 2021
I've been working on the UI for ROCKJACK lately, and I wanted to share my progress with you in anticipation of the upcoming release. I'm sorry that I inflicted my MVP ("minimally-viable product") text-based UI on you for so long, and I've finally gotten the chance to make something which is more fun and more appealing. I think you'll agree with me that this will be a huge step forward! I'm really enjoying this new UI, but as you can also see, it's not complete yet, and I want to get it into a more complete and polished state before releasing it. Along with the UI changes, I've also made some significant gameplay changes which I hope will address mid- and late-game problems I've noticed. I've also fixed a large number of bugs and added a lot of small touches to a bunch of things. Each of those changes don't amount to much by themselves, but together, they really add a layer of shine to t…
- Rockjack 50% Off This Week! - 22 March 2021
I feel the game has progressed to the point where more people should give it a try and let me know where they would like the game to go. Therefore, I'm offering a weeklong discount on Rockjack to help bring new Jacks into the fold. Check it out!
- Rockjack v0.3.3 is now Live - 22 March 2021
Player-visible changes Fix bonus bug. Change minimum time warp factor to 0.5. Changed the way debris is created, and added the following types: L Ring Bolt Rebalanced the powerup tree: Postponed shield availability until round 10. Postponed magnetic field (dependency on shield) availability until round 15. Postponed Shield Regeneration (dependency on shield) availability until round 20. Postponed Shield Augmenter (dependency on shield regen) availability until round 25. Added ships bell when the player buys or picks up a new ship. Changed powerup announcement position to help the player see. Large Saucer will now die in a Huge Explosion. Added Credits. Added Cow. Increase saucer aggressiveness and improve Giant Saucer accuracy. Removed penalty upon picking up Sensor Scrambler. Use less vulgar language in ratings. Tweak the filter for Geiger counter sounds. Time bombs are slightly smalle…
- Rockjack Version 0.3.2 Update - 7 February 2021
ROCKJACK RELEASE NOTES version 0.3.2 - 2021-02-07 Sun This is a minor update with a few quality of life fixes and a minor new feature which I liked implementing. Player-visible changes Added tabs to the Options screen. The options screen was getting pretty crowded, so I broke it into tabs with a selector up top. Added a Geiger counter to the game. Your ship is now equipped with a Geiger counter which will click near radioactive or exotic asteroids. There is no impact on gameplay, but I think it's cool and adds some atmosphere to the game. Added jump-to-section buttons to the tutorial. Their behavior is still pretty rough and I will need to spend some time improving that, but they work pretty well already. Added a reminder to the player that if you have the reverse time powerup, and you pick up another reverse time powerup, the powerup is cancelled (because two negatives make a positive!…
- Hotfix Update to v0.3.1 - 1 February 2021
This is a hotfix for a bug identified during testing of v0.3.0. There are also a small amount of performance fixes. Happy Rock Hunting!
- Rockjack Update v0.3.0 - 30 January 2021
I'm very excited to share the v0.3.0 update! I've added a full tutorial, so new players can get up to speed quickly with the game, and I've added a new enemy, the Time Bomb! I hope you enjoy the new changes! Full Release Notes version 0.3.0 - 2021-01-29 Fri Player-visible changes Added a tutorial so players can quickly learn everything they need to know to get into the game. Added a new enemy to the game - Time Bombs! These are larger than seeker mines, but they also seek the player, and will explode on contact OR when their timer runs out, with a very powerful explosion! Added a "power-up!" sound when the player picks up a powerup. Made some behavior of unstable asteroids independent of time warp. Added HUD scale option to Options Screen. Harmonized a bunch of icons so that the same symbol appears on the powerup object as on the scanner. Improved the operation of the Advanced Stabilize…
- Update to v0.2.12 - 17 January 2021
... you all know the rest. Changes this time: Improve the appearance of the ship when it has a lot of damage Fix bug: could not pause between death of one ship and spawn of the next. Add menu to paused state. Player can go to the Options menu from the paused state. Change shield augmenter functionality: shield size does not change, but the augmented shield protects against a lot more damage. Fix shield augmenter icons. Added Magnetic Field powerup and rebalanced powerups generally. Added audio volume controls to Options menu.
- Update to v0.2.11 - 13 January 2021
Bug fix for when shields and plasma armor active, player ship disappears. Added lights to saucers Improved blink logic for Powerup announcer
- Update to v0.2.10 - 10 January 2021
Improved Powerup Announcement shows the icon for the powerup just retrieved and a graphical status indicator for permanent acquisition. Improved the power of the Shield Augmenter. Minor efficiency improvements. Added graphics quality to Options menu. Removed Time Warp Precursor.
- Update to v0.2.9 - 9 January 2021
Responding to User Feedback, I have added some UI goodness to the game and I have continued to implement new powerups. I think you're gonna like this update! Some folks wanted a way to better visualize the motion of the ship, as it seemed disorienting to them to have the ship not appear to move when they used their thrusters. In response to this need, I have added a light green grid to the game, which indicates the motion of the player against a fixed coordinate system. Some people will like this, others will hate it, which is why you can go into the Options menu and turn it on or off as you choose. The size of the scanner view in the game can also now be tweaked from the options menu. I have added a new powerup called DOUBLE SHOTS. It's just what it says: it gives your ship two shots where you previously only had one. Unlike its cousin TRIPLE SHOTS, this one will not be time-limited, a…
- Minor update to v0.2.8 - 7 January 2021
I had hoped to make 0.2.8 a more major update, but 0.2.7 introduced a performance issue and I felt compelled to address it. This issue should now be fixed and the game should run as smoothly as ever. If your experience differs, please let me know!
- Update to v0.2.7 - 6 January 2021
Added new intro music (credit: Theo Griffin) Player ship will morph its texture to indicate the level of damage the hull has received. This is a nice-looking effect which may help the player realized how much trouble they're in before it's too late! Added better-looking plasma armor to the player ship. Added better-looking shield to the player ship. Cosmetic improvements to player ship texture: increased contrast and drawing a spine when the damage code takes too many pixels away from the player texture. Changed default zoom level. When applying powerups to new ships, make sure Powerup Helper, if available, is applied before other powerups which might reference it. Reduced the factor by which the Shield Augmenter increases the size of the shield bubble. Fixed a bug with seeker mine sound prioritized incorrectly.
- Update to v0.2.6 - 29 December 2020
Added Powerup Helper powerup, which doubles the amount of time which certain time-based powerups are active, e.g. Plasma Armor duration is doubled from 30 seconds to 60. The total number of powerups is now 23. Many more are in various stages of completion. Added Targeting Computer powerup, which replaces the reticle on the HUD pointing to a target with a reticle indicating the direction the player should aim to hit the target (i.e. it takes the target's distance and speed into account). Seeker shots need targeting computer as a precursor. Targeting HUD tracks mines as well as saucers. Many texture updates and fixes for minimap and main screen. Changed some of the availabilities of powerups (first round available and dependencies) to improve game balance. Enforce condition: Big dumb saucer should always be the first one the player sees.
