Hey everyone! Today we're launching Distance v1.2: The Other Side! This update features the return of custom music, two new levels (Divide and Syncopation), an added shortcut to the Nexus track Terminus, several bug fixes, and a couple secrets. We also revamped our music visualizer tech so that Boombox mode looks better than ever. Check out the trailer for an overview!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiTAfwDqDKc

v1.2 Changelog (Build 6787):

General Improvements

• New levels
  
  
  
  • Syncopation (Stunt, Reverse Tag, Main Menu)
    
  • Divide (Challenge)
    
  
  
• Custom music is now available on Windows again!
  
  
  
  • Now supports MP3, WAV, and AIFF files
    
  • Improved how folders are scanned for music files
    
  • Updated Audio options menu
    
  • Added customizable hotkeys for Pause/Play, Previous, Next (i.e. F5, F6, F7)
    
  
  
• New Audio options
  
  
  
  • Announcer: Toggle which announcer phrases you want to hear (Tricks, Death, Checkpoints, Mode)
    
  • Custom Music: Search Subdirectories
    
  
  
• Simplified menu breadcrumb (orange dot) functionality
  
  
  
  • Dots now clear immediately after clicking a level set containing an "unseen" level (or car)
    
  • No longer saved between sessions
    
  
  
• Improved music visualizer algorithm used for in-game visuals and Boombox mode
  
• Updated Observatory music track
  
• Enable Menu Animations in General settings now affects level select progress bar animations
  
• "Boom Box" has been renamed to "Boombox" to match the traditional spelling
  
• Optimized the advanced level select a bit
  
• Improved font size for Trackmogrify input menu
  
• Added overflow ellipsis to level select description
  
• Improved server name text in Game Lobby
  
• Improved default mode and level selection in the Game Lobby
  

Level Changes

• Terminus: Added new secret shortcut
  
• Compression: Fixed issue with angled holograms at start
  
• Cataclysm: Small update to fix gaps
  

Level Editor

• Added "ResetZone" which, if car is inside, resets all Animators and TurnLightOnNearCars within its bounds upon death
  
• Added Decorations/TempleButton
  
• Added Decorations/TempleButton_Empty
  
• Added Decorations/TempleButton_Top
  

Bugs Fixed

• Fixed fish not showing up in replays and made Stompers actually stomp in Observatory
  
• Fixed various issues with level set progress bar numbers being incorrect
  
• The car screen music visualizer no longer can get covered by the overheat warning
  
• Fixed bug where going into the Audio options, leaving, then returning could result in a broken menu if you had "General > Enable Menu Animations" disabled
  
• Fixed several bugs with Nexus tracks not being counted towards overall completion
  
• Fixed bug where the author "Refract" was shown for Nexus levels
  
• Fixed bug with holding Skip before the cutscene has fully loaded
  
• Fixed several issues with the "new!" orange dots not working properly
  
• Fixed bug where selecting your existing main menu level in the Garage would break the menu
  
• Fixed bug where WaterAudioZone would play splash SFX when spawning underwater
  
• Fixed bug with checkpoints and WaterAudioZone
  
• Fixed bug with upper category tabs in Garage
  
• Fixed issues where last selected level in menus wasn't being preserved between races
  
• Fixed a few situations where it would say "Earn 0 medals to unlock this level"
  
• Fixed bug where returning from Next Level in the Pause menu could close the host's server
  
• Fixed bugs with Trick menu in pause menu
  
• Fixed bug where EmpirePipeEntrance was missing its visual mesh
  
• Fixed visual bug with speedometer and circle car screen visualizer
  

EDIT (3/18): Build 6789

• Small fixes for Terminus shortcut
  
• Fixes related to ~secrets~
  

Regarding custom music being Windows-exclusive: I'd love to see this come to macOS and Linux/SteamOS but my current API doesn't support it. Perhaps one day I can work around that but for the foreseeable future it will be only available on Windows.

DEV STREAM THIS SATURDAY 3PM PT

Tomorrow (Saturday) we'll be doing another special dev stream to play the new content in v1.2, plus finally playing the DAC levels we didn't play in our previous stream. Hope to see you there!

• What: Distance v1.2 Dev Steam + DAC Part 2
  
• When: Saturday Mar. 16th, 3pm PT
  
• Where: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  

Also... something strange seems to be happening...

Systems have detected several crustacean energy signatures transmitting messages within Nitronic City’s walls.

While the intent of these entities have gone largely unknown, it has recently been determined that their outgoing messages stretch beyond the stars…

Signals end at RA 5h 34m 32s | Dec +22° 0′ 52″

The Crab Nebula.

- Jordan (with everyone at Refract)