TO THE DEATH – V 1.6 (CROSSFIRE UPDATE)

This update adds lots of new features to the game, including major enhancements to co-op gameplay.


CROSSFIRE MODE
This unique game mechanic allows two or more players to damage enemies by crossing their Aim Mode laser sights over each other. When two laser sights touch each other they switch from a red beam to a damaging white beam. The white beams will cause explosions at any point where a robot crosses their path, even through walls, and requires no ammunition to use. Encourages co-op players to co-ordinate their attacks against enemies.

Crossfire mode also plays a role in single player. Several Player Vs Bots arenas now have laser sight beams randomly built into the arena architecture. The player can cross their own beams over them to damage enemies.

PLAYER HEALTH SHARE
During co-op games in Player Vs Bots arenas, players can touch each other to share their existing health. On touch, the two players’ health amounts are added up then evenly divided between them. This play mechanic can be used to save a co-op friend whose health is so low they’re at risk of dying. Like crossfire mode, this encourages co-ordinated gameplay tactics in multiplayer. Feature is disabled in PvP gameplay.

PLAYER BOUNCE
Players can now use each other as a bounce pad by jumping directly on top of each other. Works in PvP and Co-op modes.

NEW BOT ARENA – THE BLACK HOLE
This dark arena is the first Player Vs Bots arena to feature dark rooms in which players must use their flashlights to see their surroundings. Beware enemies hiding in the dark. Four rooms, each with their own graphical style. There are now nine PvBots arenas with more to be added soon.



SPIDER NAVIGATION
Spiders were frequently getting trapped against walls and corners when pursuing the player. They now have both sidestep and jump abilities if they encounter a close obstacle. They can sometimes even reach you on very high ledges.

MORE ARENA LAYOUT RANDOMZATION
All bot arena now feature randomized layout generation for all rooms. Previously bot arenas 6, 7 and 8 had a fixed, unchanging layout. In a future update PvP arenas will all have layout randomization too.

TURRET ADDITIONS
The Spawnable Strong Turret (spawn it by throwing a collected turret spawner while in Aim Mode) now has an Aim Beam the player can tactically use to with the Crossfire mode mentioned above. Both types of spawnable turrets now have more health. The spawnable strong turret will now also shoot at players in PvP matches.

A new Fixed Strong Turret (identifiable by their hexagonal base plate) is now built into some bot arena generation. These are stationary turrets that shoot at any player or robot that crosses their path. Use them tactically to kill enemies, but beware they don’t kill you. They can be destroyed, but have a lot of health.

New Fixed Aim Beam turrets. These are smaller environmental features in some arenas. They project a fixed Aim Beam that doesn’t shoot at anything, but players can use them in combination with their own Aim Beam to trigger Crossfire attacks. Can also be destroyed.

NEW MUSIC
Approx eight new mixes added.

PLAYER MOVEMENT
Player can now jump approx. 25% higher. Player can now move approx. 40% faster when using Aim mode, but still slower than normal movement.

GRAPHICS
Dozens of new environmental textures added.

ASSORTED BUG FIXES

All fourteen weapons now have two fire modes, effectively doubling the number of weapons in game, while allowing the player to make use of four fire modes when holding two weapons. The new fire modes are used when the player enters Aim Mode during battle (see in-game control menu if you're not familiar with the aim mode feature). These new modes are often very different to the main fire modes and most of them allow for new tactics in gameplay. The fire modes are as follows:

1. SHOTGUN - Normal Mode = short, but wide blast. Aim Mode = concentrated blast at longer range.
   
2. RIFLE - Normal Mode = green rapid fire lasers. Aim Mode = shoot damaging glueballs, which can trap an opponent in corners or block their path.
   
3. STARBURST - Normal Mode = Short distance shot thatslows and explodes in firework display. Aim Mode = Longer Distance shot that detects players or enemies it pases by and shoots secondary fireworks in their direction. Also makes large explosion at end of its directional path.
   
4. PISTOL - Normal Mode = Powerful blue bullets, but low rate of fire. These bullets can bounce off one wall only. Aim Mode = Adds more damage power and changes bullet colour to a more purple tint.
   
5. SWORD - Norman Mode = Swingable laser sword that causes small explosions on contact with players, enemies or spawners. Aim Mode = Sword can be thrown. Damages enemies on impact and sometimes comes to rest on floor and can be collected and reused.
   
6. REBOUNDER - Normal Mode = Yellow lasers that travel slowly and do low damage, but can bounce off walls up to four times. Aim Mode = Higher damage orange lasers that can bounce up to six times. Cause medium explosions on contact with players / robots. Lower rate of fire than Normal Mode.
   
7. WALL PENETRATOR - Normal Mode = Pink / purple energy balls that travel through walls, but have limited range and are blocked by shields. Aim Mode - Faster version with longer range.
   
8. GRENADES - Normal Mode = Black and yellow grenades that bounce and explode after a set amopunt of time. Aim Mode = Orange grenades that instantly explode on impact with a player, robot or spawner.
   
9. MINES - Normal Mode = Throws black mines that explode if a player or robots passes close to them. also self-destructs after 20 seconds. Aim Mode = Metallic mines that act in the same manner, but are more sensitive to nearby movement and cause a cluster of explosions when detonated.
   
10. FLAMETHROWER - Normal Mode = Flames that do rapid damage, but limited in range. Aim Mode = Shoot a slow moving, but powerful fireball. Explodes on impact.
    
11. INFLATABLE BOMBS - Normal Mode = Rapid shooting of small white grenades which expand like balloons befor exploding. Aim Mode = Shoot one very powerful balloon grenade at high speed. Very low fire rate. Causes high damage, pushes enemies back and bounces rapidly around the arena for a couple of seconds.
    
12. ROCKETS - Normal Mode = Fire rockets upward. They arch back down to the ground, causing medium explosion on impact. Aim Mode = Fire an accelerating rocket horizontally with no gravitational falling.
    
13. SPAWNABLE TURRETS - Normal Mode = Create a player-coloured turret which can be directly controlled and fired by the player (see in-game control menu) and self-destructs after three mins. Aim Mode = Create a silver, rapid-fire, turret that automatically shoots if a robot passes it's path (also shoots at players in PvP battles). This turret has a metal brace at the back which players can jump into and use to move and aim this turret.
    
14. SHIELDS - Normal Mode = Hold out a large shield. Press again to place the held shield into the worldspace. Explodes after approx one minute. Aim Mode = Hold and place the same shield at a 90 degree angle. When placed becomes a platform that can be jumped on (perhaps allowing the player to access higher ground they otherwise can't reach. Stack them like stairs to get to much higher ground)

A variety of other small improvements have been made to the game. Too many to list here, but here are some.

PUSHABLE AUTO-FIRE CANNONS - These now have higher health and easier to move / aim, and can even be pulled.
IMPROVED WEAPON EFFECTS - Applies to a handful of the weapons, such as better looking flames.
IMPROVED APPEARANCE ON SOME ENEMIES - particularly the black flying drone and the larger flame trooper.
HOVERBOARD IMPROVEMENTS - Higher rate of fire and higher health.
COLLECTIBLE SPAWN RATE - Weapons, health kits and ammo are now thrown less frequently into the arena. Increased player ammo by 70% to compensate.
ARENA GENERATION - Some small bug fixes to prevent spawners appearing high above ground, corrected a few overlapping texture glitches.