Eigengrau news & patch notes

Happy New Year! It took a bit of time, but the new update is finally here. It introduces a ton of new features, improvements, fixes and a replay system.

• added replay system
• added jukebox unlock
• added new achievements
• added rapid fire toggle button for twin-stick and mixed control mode
• added a new option to configure water quality
• added a new option to configure particle effects
• added the missing amount of time for the next higher medal to the time-bonus screen
• added a hard alternative way to fight the true last boss without collecting all the fragments (1CC without shield)
• changed game speed to only affect actual gameplay situations (not transitions, summaries, or other events) to prevent timing and audio issues
• changed keyboard movement keys to cancel each other out instead of prioritizing one direction per axis
• fixed an issue where enemies would sometimes be attackable while not on screen
• fixed best time on the classic summary screen displaying an incorrect value for a full play-through
• fixed incorrect mission medal calculation for area 8
• fixed rapid fire not working as intended when using certain temporary weapons
• fixed occasional vegetation popping artifacts in the background
• improved boss health clarity by splitting the health-bar into different phases to highlight important transitions (where it is possible and makes sense)
• improved stability and performance when playing at any game speed other than 100% or any update frequency other than 60 Hz
• improved overall gameplay precision, timing and determinism
• improved overall gamepad menu navigation
• many other improvements and fixes

Eigengrau now supports Replay recording and playback for Classic Mode. Replays are automatically recorded and can be saved and organized locally. They are also uploaded to the Classic Mode leaderboard for others to download, watch and verify (if available). Full play-through replays have been successfully tested across AMD, Intel and Apple Silicon CPUs, across Windows, Linux and macOS, and under various other conditions. If you still find issues, please let me know in the community forum and I will try to address them. The game now also features a Jukebox, as many players wanted to re-listen to certain tracks later in the game. It can be unlocked after hearing every available music track at least once or with the password ISABELLINE. A couple of new general Steam Achievements have also been added. It should be enough to load-up a compatible save-game to unlock them, if you already fulfilled the requirements. Thank you and have fun! Martin

This update includes many quality of life improvements, some changes based on feedback, and the second new player weapon.

• added Wave Mortar player weapon
• added single-button control mode
• added rapid fire button for original, mixed and single-button control mode
• added dialog to import demo save data on first launch
• added a dummy HUD to the configuration menu outside of the game to show how some of the options affect the layout
• added new localization for Simplified Chinese (简体中文) and Traditional Chinese (繁體中文)
• changed damage immunity in the intro to be only active on the very first play-through
• changed twin-stick input during screen rotation in stage 4-2 and 4-B to make shooting more intuitive
• fixed an issue where the combo bonus and last chain at the end of a stage were not added to the stage highscore
• improved loading performance with shader disk caching (especially on Intel GPUs)
• improved player visibility by erasing distortion effects near player ships
• improved boss movement during yellow attack in stage 0-B to make direct aiming easier
• improved gimmick clarity in stage 3-2 by adding more visual and acoustic cues
• improved the additional time bonus screen in stage 5-B to better communicate the meaning
• improved enemy movement and gimmick in last phase of stage 7-1 to prevent some annoying situations
• many other improvements and fixes

The Wave Mortar allows you to shoot into multiple directions at the same time. It can be unlocked later in the game or with the password JADE. Single-Button Control Mode makes it possible to shoot and turn your ship with just a single button based on your movement. Thank you and have fun! Martin

With the last update the game crashed sometimes when trying to capture it with OBS Studio on Windows. This should be fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

This is the first major update for Eigengrau. It contains a lot of fixes and improvements, and also the first new player weapon.

• added Pulse Cannon player weapon
• added mixed control mode
• added option to toggle vsync
• added badges, trophies and best medals to the stage-selection menu
• changed attack patterns in stage 3-2 on easy difficulty (to make it less boring and more fair)
• fixed displaying the wrong text when remapping a button/key
• fixed broken menu navigation if gamepad input is duplicated (e.g. when Steam Input injects virtual controllers)
• fixed some animations getting stuck during a boss explosion at very high refresh rates
• fixed enemy-objects created in stage 1-B not getting destroyed at the end and causing a crash when interacting with them
• fixed yellow attack in stage 2-B on co-op mode not correctly targeting the second player
• improved trophy menu navigation by making it possible to select and play a stage directly from that menu
• many other improvements and fixes

The Pulse Cannon is a slightly slower but wider weapon with a strong charge-attack. It can be unlocked later in the game or with the password MAUVE. Mixed Control Mode is a combination of twin-stick and original control mode that exposes all available actions at the same time for greater customization. Thank you and have fun! Martin

• fixed another crash on startup (on some Intel GPUs)
• fixed bullets in final phase of stage 8-B flying too far on certain game-speeds
• fixed some sound-effects cutting off too early on certain game-speeds
• fixed an issue where the blue Helper was sometimes invisible in stage 7-B
• improved and restricted which keys and buttons can advance the various summary screens (to not accidentally blend-out the summary while taking a screenshot)
• improved performance significantly on low render-quality setting

This update should fix the last major crash I know of. If you still have any problems, please don't hesitate to report them.

• fixed a crash on startup (on some Intel CPUs)
• fixed a crash when entering stage 6-1 or 6-2 (on some Nvidia GPUs and Apple Silicon)

Thanks to everyone who reported and helped me fix those issues!

• fixed a crash in stage 1-3 when the big enemy causes the players to spin around
• fixed some enemies in stage 5-1 going out of screen and preventing the player from advancing
• fixed gamepad-cursor in stage-selection menu skipping over an area if all stages of that area are not yet unlocked

I'm still investigating a crash on startup and a crash when entering stage 6-1, and will try to fix them as soon as possible.

It seems the macOS build did not start properly due to a missing file, this should be fixed now.