20XX Beta Has Begun on Steam, Full Update Notes

Developer Batterstaple Games has announced that the spiritual successor to Mega Man, 20XX has launched its Beta today.

20XX is a game built to feel like Mega Man X, but with procedurally generated levels, random powerups, permanent death, and multiplayer.

The game uses a procedural level generation algorithm that builds levels from a certain number of mechanics at a time; switching rapidly between playing like an action game and playing like a platformer, mixing precision jumping with fevered combat.

Add in permadeath and over 100 powerups to find in between agonizing deaths and you’ve got hours of nail-biting jumping-and-shooting goodness on your hands.

Also, 20XX features full co-op. Play with your buddy on the couch or over the interwebs.

Here is the Beta Trailer:

In addition, there was a huge update today along with the Beta launch.

0.785 Patch Notes:

BIG CHANGES:

• A new mode has been added (Casual), aimed at smoothing the getting-into-20XX experience out a bit.
  • Casual mode runs begin with the player choosing three of his unlocked passives to start with. Any three! No duplicates.
  • Casual mode runs are not Leaderboard-eligible.
  • Casual mode is available for any number of players (local or online). In online co-op, whatever the host picks is also awarded to the client.
  • Normal mode awards slightly more Soul Nuts than Casual.
• Arctech (Frostor) has received one million changes.
  • Complete visual overhaul! (There’s still a lot of tiling polish to do.)
  • Many/all level bits have been cleaned up, improved, or totally overhauled.
  • Enemy placement diversification +1000%.
  • New Hazard: Motion Traps (name pending). They’re basically flame geysers that only trigger when you pass in front of the trap.
  • Teleporters now transport the player much faster.
  • Targeters now reset when the player takes damage, preventing the terrible double-whammy scenario. This includes fall damage. (The actual rule is “the targeter can’t target the player during his invuln frames.”)
  • Targeter damage no longer scales (capped at 1).
  • Beta Creepers (late-game exploding spiders) no longer also explode on death.
  • All Creepers now explode much faster once activated.
  • Penguins now require line of sight to start dashing at the player.

SMALL CHANGES:

• Kur’s fire breath attack now only fires off one salvo before level 5.
• Kur’s Quintlaser attack now fires 2 cubes before level 5 (down from 3). The cubes now move 25% faster at all levels.
• Death Lotus now no longer damages players that bump into him while he’s hiding.
• Touching lava (and lava-like things) now sends the player back to his last safe landing, even if the player has recently taken damage (in which case no further damage is incurred).
• Starting the Daily Challenge/Hardcore no longer clears your Soul Nuts. Additionally, Soul Nuts no longer display during challenges.
• Added a “really continue?” prompt when you try to start a game in Normal/Casual, but could still afford to buy something with your Soul Nuts. This prompt does not trigger during online play.
• Added tooltips for the various game modes and for the Skulls menu.
• Added in some bonus Skytemple level pieces!
• Improved the corner of Skytemple’s track platforms that’d bump you upward as the platform changes direction. (It still wobbles a tiny bit.)
• Revamped the boss gate visual.
• Dialogue/Lore’s taking a nap until we’re sure of how to do it right.

BUG FIXES:

• Fixed a bug causing Rollster Gamma’s late-game split ability to produce lame offspring.
• Fixed a bug causing the Mace Knight’s shield to continue to block Ace’s attacks for a bit after the shield falls.
• Fixed an issue where lategame bosses with Undying would bug out the boss HP bar.
• Fixed a bug causing Ace’s Axe to deal no damage in net co-op if the player is not the host.

KNOWN ISSUES:

• The new Penguin Boss sometimes gets a saw blade stuck in his mouth.
• One Arctech chunk has been disabled (due to not being tiled yet).
• The drop-down tooltips at level starts and boss fights will have a boss portrait accompanying them; they don’t yet.
• Arctech’s End Chunk teleporters display a little oddly.

20XX is currently on Steam Early Access.

Related: 20XX Announced, Beta Begins Sep. 15

Source: Press Release

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Galit Gordon

I’m a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I’ll be sure to get back to you.

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