v1.2.9 Alpha
Visuals and SFX Overhaul Update
Gameplay Visuals and Sound
- New shrink/fade clear animation with expanding white silhouette outlines, coordinated chain highlights and refreshed Bomb, Cross and rainbow Tesseract effects.
- Added broad Flashwave pressure distortion around floating attack numbers: cumulative outgoing damage after cancellation controls strength, starting at 1,000. Score-only modes use score gained per move.
- Reworked score, attack, healing and shield/cancellation popups, including stronger entrances, cumulative updates and an individual-number Minimal option.
- Reworked defeat presentation with falling board/HUD, separating gems, gradual rotation and a dark-grey alternative when collapse is disabled.
- Replaced many SFX with royalty-free alternatives, added gem landing sounds and improved visual/audio synchronisation. Premove no longer replaces swap feedback.
Gameplay Pace and HUD
- Smoother gem falling, quicker successive grey clears and grey-to-colour transitions. Grey clears allow falling to continue while fading.
- Distance-based special projectile timing and corrected initial-match counting in extended Bomb clears. Tesseract-special combinations merge into the destination cell.
- Speed Challenges now use 1.5x animation speed. Animation timing changes intentionally affect gameplay pace.
- Shield MULT uses one continuous tier-local progress segment with Classic-style gain/depletion glows and completion flashes.
- Lethal queued damage produces a persistent fading red glow. No new moves or attack packets can begin after either side is defeated.
Menus and Options
- Standardised buttons, windows, controls, tooltips and scrolling across Options, startup, Tutorial/Tests, configuration, pause/results, Challenges, leaderboards and Multiplayer lobbies/browser.
- Consistent forward/reverse zoom and blur transitions; fixed abrupt arrivals, duplicated returns and countdown visibility.
- Added music title/artist search and in-game custom-track editing. Removing uploads preserves remaining assignments, with G3ms defaults when no base tracks remain.
- Sharper skin previews, fixed Back controls and stacked Game Options categories for gameplay/menu effects. Touch setting rows briefly show help.
- Signed-in startup offers Play then logout; username changes have a dedicated screen. Bot Duel settings reset on launch.
- Fixed Tutorial counter placement, two-board demo layouts, residual sounds and DT navigation/performance. Improved mobile dialogs and challenge buttons.
- Improved large-clear/falling performance, startup preparation and defeat startup. Fixed defeated boards layering above results.
Compatibility and Follow-Up
- Older recordings affected by gameplay/detonation timing changes are marked incompatible. Visual preferences alone do not change replay rules.
- Deployed live Multiplayer replay validation and broader physical-device/browser testing remain outstanding.
