Spelunky 2 Patch Changes Olmec Boss Fight And Makes Dozens Of Fixes

Spelunky 2 has had another update, and it’s made some big changes that will make some parts of the game a little easier, and others, perhaps, a little harder. Patch 1.15.0 is now available on Steam and PS4. The biggest changes have been applied to the Olmec boss fight, although whether they help you beat the fight or not will depend on how you usually fight it.

The Olmec boss fight has been tweaked so that the boss will now only throw bombs at a player when they are below him. This means that bombs are only thrown when they might do some damage, which could make it harder to take Olmec down. However, the floaters sent out by the boss have had their HP reduced down to 1HP, so they’ll be easier to take down now.

Layer doors have also been added on the right in Olmec’s level.

The patch contains a long list of fixes and changes, too. The physics are now a bit more forgiving and less likely to crush players, and players will find that grabbing something in a hurry is now more responsive. Some other changes target exploits, like spamming the attack while climbing.

Here’s the full list of changes and tweaks introduced in this update.

Spelunky 2 Patch 1.15.0 Notes

  • Olmec will now throw bombs in phase 2 only if the player is below him
  • Reduced Olmec’s floaters life to 1HP
  • Added layer doors to the right part of Olmec’s level
  • Added leaderboard blocking: see filters/depot_filters files after accessing in-game leaderboards
  • Physics should no longer crush the player as easily as before
  • Trying to quickly pick something up should now be more responsive
  • Bombs can now be tossed while the player is holding one in their hands
  • Players can now grab ladders and ropes while attacking
  • Fixed Vlad’s cape behavior on the quicksands
  • Dismounting in the air after the mount’s second jump while wearing Vlad’s Cape won’t make the mount jump a third time
  • Pressing down+rope should now send ropes downward without having to crouch first
  • Fixed issue where the attack could be spammed while climbing
  • Players should no longer be able to change directions while attacking while falling
  • Fixed some weird issues when tossing stuff diagonally with the pitcher’s mitt
  • Fixed issue where players could shoot when leaving through the exit door while on a mount
  • Fixed issue where dropping a bomb with the pitcher’s mitt was being done with too much force (even breaking regenerative blocks)
  • Fixed issue where the bear trap’s gold nugget seemed to fly after triggering the trap
  • Prevented a hard boss from processing a specific projectile if it doesn’t see the projectile
  • Track Star achievement will now try to re-unlock on just beating 30 seconds mark
  • Fixed jetpack
  • Fixed powderkeg journal’s unlock on whipping it
  • Ghist shopkeeper journal’s entry will no longer unlock if entering uncursed
  • Fixed mummy’s journal entry unlock on killing it with a bomb
  • Fixed Duat’s dust wall rendering
  • Prevented duplicate characters when using the random option on the quick select
  • Fixed Arena’s crash when multiple players played with the same characters
  • Fixed lasers’ infinite generation issue in the last game theme
  • Fixed issue with music not playing properly when reaching Olmec through the first shortcut
  • Profile Win% now takes all kinds of wins into the equation
  • Fixed issue when pushblocks spawned right in front of arrow traps
  • Shields will now protect from firebug flames
  • Paste bombs should no longer bounce off of corners
  • Fixed punish ball interaction with pipes
  • Fixed issue where Dice shops could sometimes soft lock
  • Prevented soft-locks on being thrown by a vendor or yeti with the punish ball
  • Fixed issue where certain corners could mess with the jetpack and other stuff
  • Players will no longer be considered vegan if they consume the elixir
  • Prevented vendors from angering when touching a level generated cobweb
  • The player ghost is now able to flip and shake during the dash
  • Prevented magmamen from spawning on a tile of lava where they immediately fall down
  • Made cursed pots a lot less likely to be accidentally destroyed on Neo Babylon
  • Fixed punish ball behavior in the Tiamat’s special exit
  • Star challenge generation should now be guaranteed
  • Prevented some projectiles from tossing stuff backwards
  • Adjusted grabbing point for climbing gloves and climbable entities
  • Hard Boss will no longer destroy metal or light arrows stuck to walls
  • Fixed first theme boss rolling up the side of the level
  • Fixed floating orbs’ collisions
  • Fixed issue where spikeballs damaged players before moving
  • Fixed coop crash when flag carrier wasn’t the first player and Hired Hand carried the idol to the exit
  • Fixed UFO’s sound in the character selection screen on starting a new game
  • Fixed issue when lasers collided with armored Olmites
  • Teleporter backpack’s base price is now 12000 (down from 15000)
  • Hoverpack’s base price is now 12000 (down from 20000)
  • Black Market items are now sold at base price (cheaper)
  • Landmines placed or triggered by players will now enrage vendors
  • Fixed Yeti Queen incorrectly spawning in the Yeti King’s floor
  • Prevented some NPC conversations from being triggered from different rooms
  • If a partially blocked door can be entered, it can now be entered from both layers
  • Increased gold coins’ shape slightly so they can be pushed away with the whip
  • Fixed issue where falling platforms would sometimes break on pets without dealing damage
  • Fixed issue when the true crown triggers the teleport while inside a pipe
  • Fixed loyalty of cloned players
  • Added “back” button hint on the main menu
  • Prevented yeti king from freezing the players while they are crossing a door
  • Fixed flying arrows with rotation
  • Localized some extra texts
  • Tossing a cursed pot against a specific enemy during his attack now correctly curses him as well
  • Fixed crash when a land mine was brought to the ending sequence
  • Fixed some crashes in the Dice shop
  • Capped leaderboard resource usage
  • Fixed black market issue where the middle row shops were using the wrong floor
  • Equippables will now ignite on any magmaman contact
  • A certain minister generation should now be guaranteed
  • Renamed Bear Trap to Totem Trap
  • Renamed Snap Trap to Bear Trap
  • Removed a couple of sprite artifacts
  • Optimized CPU usage of AI
  • Changes to prepare audio system for multi-context update
  • Audio system optimizations
  • Invalidate input on opening any popup to prevent auto-selection
  • Prevented posse rooms in Duat
  • Prevented secondary rooms from spawning inside challenge rooms
  • Fixed tile for the small sapphire and small ruby

Apex Legends: Kings Canyon Leaves Rotation For Season 7, So Get Your Last Matches In Now

Apex Legends Season 7 is just hours away from starting, with the new season projected to land at 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET, November 4. With the start of a new season, one of Apex Legends’ best–and definitely its most iconic–maps will be sent to the vault for a while, meaning you have just a few hours to play on it.

Kings Canyon will not be a part of Apex Legends Season 7, meaning that in a few hours it’ll be locked away until a future season. The map, which has changed over time as new seasons and events have shifted the landscape, is a beloved classic–and it’s worth dropping in for a last round or two before it goes away.

This season launches later than most, but there’s an upside if you want to run around this map again.

Season 7 of Apex Legends will bring a new hero, Horizon, to the game. You’ll be able to use her on the new map, Olympus, that is rolling out later today.

Apex Legends is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and will be playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X at launch through backwards compatibility. The game is also coming to Switch in 2021, and has been previously announced for mobile devices, although it’s been a while since we heard news on this version.

Halo Infinite: See How They Recorded Weapon Sounds

While Halo Infinite has been delayed to 2021, developer 343 Industries is filling the time with a special behind-the-scenes look at how sound of the game’s sounds were recorded.

In this newest video, we get a closer look at how the audio team captured the “small arms” weapon sounds for Halo Infinite, and it’s very impressive. The team recorded in all manner of locations and situations, using weaponry that runs the gamut from hand-held slingshots to long rifles. There is an exciting sequence in the middle where a developer hunkers down behind a wall as bullets whizz overhead.

The Halo series is known for its strong audio design, and this video seems to demonstrate how that should continue with Halo Infinite. Check out the video above, but note that some of the scenes in the video were published on Instagram earlier in 2020 and back in 2019.

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Crash Bandicoot 4 Composer On Making Music For The Iconic Franchise

After working on the soundtracks for mega-franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Killzone, Total War, and Splinter Cell, composer Walter Mair was brought on to write new music for Activision’s Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. The music in Crash 4 does a good job at staying true to the origins of the franchise–you’ll hear lots of marimbas and percussion instruments–while updating the music for a more modern feel. We recently spoke with Mair about this an a number of other topics about Crash 4’s music.

In our interview, Mair speaks about how he became attached to Crash 4 in the first place, how much access he had to the development team and what the collaboration process was like with Toys For Bob, and the varied instrumentation he used to score the game.

Mair composed unique music for each setting and character, and he went to some interesting places to nail down the right sounds for each. For Dingodile, Mair used a clumsily played tuba and double bass to describe the character, while Mair used electric guitars and bass guitars through massive stacks of guitar amps and a drum set to create the music for the N.Gin boss fight.

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Among Us Clone Shoots To The Top Of The Charts In China

A new game called Werewolf Among Us has become the most downloaded free game on the App Store in China this week, the South China Morning Post reported. It overtook gaming behemoth Tencent’s Honour of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite to claim the top spot.

The clone boasts similar, if more cutesy graphics to Innersloth’s surprise hit Among Us, and is set in a medieval castle instead of in space. Developed by a relatively unknown company called Shenzhen Youliang Technology, the game dropped on October 28 and has since racked up over 478,000 downloads, becoming the most popular of a number of Among Us clones being rushed for the Chinese market.

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As a relatively small indie game, Among Us so far has not been translated or localized for the Chinese market. Its place in English-speaking gaming world was cemented when Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez streamed herself playing to a huge Twitch audience. The game has an odd reputation in the Chinese-speaking world, however, where party game Werewolf was incredibly popular well before Among Us shot to popularity in the west. For many gamers in China, Among Us is simply “Space Werewolf.”

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Xbox Says Game Pass Comparison To Netflix Is Flattering But “We Think About It Differently”

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service has drawn comparisons to Netflix, with some calling it the “Netflix of Games.” Xbox’s Jason Ronald said in a new interview that he is flattered by that comparison–as Netflix is one of the biggest and most successful entertainment brands on Earth–but he also pointed out that it’s not exactly a great comparison.

“To be compared to somebody like Netflix is flattering, but we think about it differently,” Ronald told Inverse. “It really comes down to how can we find new ways to get more people to enjoy the art form that we all love. Plenty of people prefer physical media, and we support that with Xbox Series X. Then you look at something like Game Pass, which gets people trying and playing more games. Maybe you’re new to a franchise, or have limited funds to devote to entertainment. With Game Pass, we eliminate that barrier. That’s what we’re really focused on–how do we reduce barriers so more people can find and play games they love?”

Before this, Xbox boss Phil Spencer also spoke out about how calling Game Pass the “Netflix of Games” is not quite accurate or even what Microsoft is trying to achieve.

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WWE 2K Battlegrounds Adds Batista, Ultimate Warrior, And 8 Other Wrestlers This Month

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is growing its roster this month with 10 new wrestlers. The roster will expand across three dates in November, and of the new characters, 5 will be unlocked automatically. The others will have to be purchased with in-game currency.

On November 6, 11, and 18, new characters will join the game, 2K has announced. These include some major figures like Goldberg, Batista, Ultimate Warrior, and Trish Stratus–all of whom will be available to everyone.

Here’s the complete list of new wrestlers joining the game’s roster this month. This is part of the game’s promised free DLC.

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