Multi-threading has some neat side-effects! When shots orbit around the planet, their trails are recorded in memory. In some cases they’ll flash this ghost image for a split second. Normally this data is meaningless, but this does give us a great idea for a new weapon…

Pew pew! Max sits cozy as he rolls around in a Dredge tank, the Defender. Nimble and powerful, the Defender is driven using dual-stick controls (Robotron, Smash TV, Geometry Wars). There are a few variations of Defenders with different weaponry. Located on a planet in the Arcadia Galaxy, there sit 4… just enough for a rolling squadron in multiplayer.

We had a bit of fun recently and experimented more with post-processing. By altering brightness, contrast, and saturation on the final image, we can get effects like the one pictured above. There probably won’t be a need for such extreme usage, but subtle implementation would enhance the mood of a galaxy. The hot galaxy could get a sunburned high contrast look, whereas colder environments get more of a desaturated effect. Nuclear weapons (spoiler) could invert the image temporarily. I personally like the pink bad guys.

We’ve just started revisiting all of the planets in Max Blastronaut. Originally they were pretty basic spheres, with nothing too complex while we focused on combat and shooting. Now we’re working on environment-specific gameplay, and here’s one of the first examples. Nestled deep in a crater on this Mars-inspired planet is a Dredge Command Center. While active, it controls seven satellites in orbit searching for any threats on the surface. When locked on, a satellite fires rounds until you’ve managed to escape its red dot laser beam. Take out the Command Center to disable the satellites, or run around as bait to let the incoming fire destroy any bad guys nearby.