Happy New Year & Status Update on Version 0.83

Hi, everyone!

In our last announcement, we established November as the likely timeframe for the update to version 0.83 to be made available. However, the introduction of the new Jawbreaker-based bonus level proved much more demanding than expected – as it usually is with new features, but you know, we're optimistic – and now, on the verge of the new year, we’re still working hard on the said version increment. Fortunately, we’ve been making good progress, and we’d like to share a bit of what we’ve been up to lately, as well as leverage this opportunity for a new year message to our dear players.

We intend to include a new bonus stage every few version increments, until we reach a total of 5 different minigames. The current version, 0.82, let’s the player enjoy an arcade-inspired bouncing game when 10 pills are collected in any regular stage – and that’s where the new bonus level, a tribute to Jawbreaker, will come into play: with the update to 0.83, bonus plays will switch between each special level every time the full score is achieved.

There are still details to add, and a few rough edges to trim, but, after a lot of tweaking, we think the game flow feels right. Click here to view a quick capture of the 2nd bonus stage in action.

We also intend to create a different music track for each bonus level, and the idea is to maintain the style of the track we used for the bouncing stage, i.e. a bit less chiptunesy and a little more organic compositions with a blues/Latin rock feel. Click here to check out the very WIP, as-is, export of the track we’re making for the new bonus level.

Still regarding bonus stages, a few players made us a question we did not really expect: what are those bonus levels for? We sincerely thought the opportunity to play a different style in a difficult-to-reach level would be a reward in itself, but those comments made us wonder what we could do not only to reward the player’s effort, but also to further tie-in that bonus content with the whole experience. Here’s what we have come up with so far: when a (local) highscore is achieved in any give bonus stage, the player obtains a powerup that allows reviving Bernie once and continuing after death, without returning to the start of the level. This is not something will implement in 0.83, so please do let us know if you have any ideas for this system while we try to figure this out. ;)

Shifting focus to another feature we’re working on, not many of you seem to be aware, but the game already features one hidden level, and future updates will deepen a very mysterious subplot for those who search hard enough. The second secret level will be introduced in v0.83, and, even though giving away details about the secret stages is not in our plans, we’d like to share the first half of this extra-dificcult challenge to fuel your curiosity: click here to see a preview of the 2nd secret stage on Imgur.

Well, that’s it for now. Let us know if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments – we’ll do our best to reply in a timely manner.

We wish you all a wonderful 2016, full of happiness, health, and personal growth. It’s been an honor for us to have you along for the ride, and we have each and every one of you to thank for helping us create ‘Bernie Needs Love’. When the new year comes, we’ll raise a toast to you, our dear players, who enjoy beating the challenges we come up with, see poetry in pixel art, and somehow seem to get our silly yet acid sense of humor – thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Cheers! :)