Box Kickers X: all the new features! Hot from the press.

Box Kickers X, a local multiplayer game I have been developing the past few months as a sequel to Box Kickers, is nearly finished. I originally developed the game as an update of the original (similar to Micro Massive+) but the amount of content grew so steadily it became it's sequel instead. That also explains the high version number- I continued the version numbering from the original Box Kickers.

The game will be released soon, so here's a rundown of all major added features to Box Kickers X. Visit it's Trello board for a more detailed rundown.

Four player multiplayer. The most important upgrade is the maximum amount of players per match, which has been doubled! Matches get even more frantic now. There is a new keybinding menu now, so each player can map his keys to their liking. Controllers are still supported, so two players can play on the keyboard while others use USB-controllers. There's also a mouse option you can toggle on, where the players walks & kicks towards the cursor.

Isometric perspective. The original Box Kickers used a top-down perspective, but most new levels in Box Kickers X will use a new isometric perspective. Boxes may look huge, but their actual hitbox is but a fraction of it, and sloped walls will create more unpredictable scenarios. Pretty cool what a change of perspective can do!

New levels! So far I've created four isometric levels: Rainbow Rooftop, Boundless Battlefield, Donut Dome and Pillar Palace II. Pillar Palace was the most frantic map in the original, so I've recreated it, and the result is slightly different, but it still makes a cool level. Pillars become transparent when something goes behind it. All levels from the original Box Kickers are also playable. If you ever get tired of the built-in levels, you can make your own! That's right...

Level Editor and Custom Levels! You'll be able to build your own, 'Flat' style levels with a tool included in the game. The level editor is built to be as simple as possible, and allows you to freely experiment with all possibilities. Four of these levels will be included with the game, which you can both play and edit if you're in need of a reference.

Lots of polish and graphical detail! The game has a wonderful new interface, a player select that secretly teaches you how to play, a 'BAM' text bubble when the bomb explodes, boxes that leave flashing trails, menu screen animations, spinning doughnuts, a doubled framerate, better colors, screen shakes, a flashy last five seconds countdown timer and more! The result is that the game looks way more professional than the original game.

Single Player minigame! Don't have any friends on your floor right now? With the Vase Breaker minigame, you can get some practice done just by yourself. The goal is to destroy all vases within the least time as possible. Your kicking cooldown is slightly lower in this mode, but the levels get pretty hard quickly.

Cool small things! For example:

New level elements like sloped walls, conveyors and ice blocks! Also usable in the level editor!
Boxes change into your color when kicked! They also have stickers now to tell them apart!
Stats on the result screen! Who got hit the most often by their own box? Who had the most kills per kick?
Fart mode! Press F12 in the game and all players will fart when kicking! (Seriously! Try it out.)
Update notifier! Game got better? The game notifies you on the title screen. You can also see the changelog.

Box Kickers X will launch as soon as I have had the game properly tested, which is most likely this week.