Release Notes 2012-04-18

Now with Blast Processing!

Spiral Knights has received a significant performance boost! SEGA has shared with OOO the secret of ‘Blast Processing’ and it has result in faster, smoother gameplay across the board! (Ok, maybe we just introduced a bunch of graphical optimizations.)

Many players will find they now have greatly increased framerates in even the most hazardous of levels, such as the Ironclaw Munitions Factory. Please note that this boost will not necessarily be noticeable by every player, though some will see a dramatic change.

If you had problems running the game in the past, or know someone who did, now is the time to jump back in and see the action in a whole, new way!

Height and Eye Modifiers

New items are now available that allow you to change your height and eyes. These items work just like Personal Color items and are consumed once used.

Eyes change your eye type across any helm you wear, however not all helms allow you to see your eyes, like the Spiral Pith Helm.

Height Modifiers only affect the visual height of your knight and have no gameplay implications of any kind. They do not make you a larger/smaller target, offer greater/reduced reach, etc.

[Height Modifiers]

• Normal Height Modifier
• Tall Height Modifier
• Extra Tall Height Modifier
• Short Height Modifier
• Extra Short Height Modifier

[Eyes]

• Normal Eyes
• Almond Eyes
• Cheeky Eyes
• Closed Eyes
• Determined Eyes
• Dot Eyes
• Exed Eyes
• Happy Eyes
• Jolly Eyes
• Pill Eyes
• Plus Eyes
• Angry Eyes
• Sad Eyes
• Sultry Eyes
• Shifty Eyes
• Sleepy Eyes
• Spiral Eyes
• Squinty Eyes
• Vacant Eyes
• Starry Eyes
• Delicate Eyes

These items are available via lockboxes with the exception of the Normal, Short and Tall Height Modifier and Normal, Almond, Determined and Happy Eyes, which are for sale in Vatel’s shop in the Bazaar.

Mirrored Lockbox

A new lockbox will now randomly drop from the Prize Wheel, the Mirrored Lockbox. The Mirrored Lockbox contains an assortment of character modification items. These include:

• All Height Modifiers, excluding the Normal Height Modifier
• All Eyes, excluding Normal Eyes

Mirrored Lockboxes require a Silver Key to open.

New Items in Iron Lockboxes

New items are available inside Iron Lockboxes. These include:

• Cool Parrying Blade
• Divine Parrying Blade
• Regal Parrying Blade
• Military Parrying Blade
• Heavy Parrying Blade
• Fancy Parrying Blade
• Dusky Parrying Blade
• Toasty Parrying Blade
• Volcanic Parrying Blade
• Prismatic Parrying Blade

• Cool Round Shades
• Divine Round Shades
• Regal Round Shades
• Military Round Shades
• Heavy Round Shades
• Fancy Round Shades
• Dusky Round Shades
• Toasty Round Shades
• Volcanic Round Shades
• Prismatic Round Shades

Additionally, there is a small chance of it containing one item from the Mirrored Lockbox.

Charge Attacks

When a charge attack has reached 'max charge,' it can no longer lose charge to damage, only to death. Players who had experienced 'missing' bombs or charge attack misfires will no longer experience these issues.

Levels

• The Prize Wheel has been added to the end of Mission levels
• You can now access the Hall of Heroes Missions when your energy total is below 10

Graphics

• Added a 'Cull Transients' toggle to the Advanced Video Options. This is an experimental toggle which could improve game performance in complicated levels. When enabled, there will likely be some side effects where certain graphical and audio effects will not be played.
• Adjusted mipmapping on player eyes to make them slightly sharper at distance.

Bugfixes

• Fixed the incorrect damage values on the Dark Thorn Blade’s charge attack. It will now output less damage, in line with all other swords in its series.