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Graceful Explosion Machine - Version 1.1.0 on Switch now, update detailed, game hits Japan tomorrow

by rawmeatcowboy
26 July 2017
GN Version 5.0

We worked with our friends at Kakehashi Games to bring GEM to Japan for Switch, PS4 and Steam. Switch players won’t even have to wait: GEM will be available on the Japanese eShop tomorrow!

After launching GEM, we were overwhelmed with how enthusiastically everyone took to high score chasing, S-ranking, and sharing scores on Twitter, so we started thinking: how can we make this even better?

We started by redesigning the score screen to give a clearer breakdown of your score, weapon usage, and additional stats that better reflect your play style. It’s both fun and functional.

We also wanted to make it easier to capture and share those clutch GEM moments. Once you’re in the zone, we know it’s hard to stop the game even for a few seconds to grab a screenshot, so we had to come up with a really creative solution.

Or, more accurately, a really technical one: We designed an AI system to pinpoint the most exciting moment of your run, which we then automagically screenshot and display on the score screen. You can fullscreen it, add it to your Album, share it, etc.

(Oh, one more thing! I got really excited looking for a new programming challenge one day and optimized the heck out of the loading code. It started as a quick, easy-peasy thing, but then it kinda spiralled out of control. Long story short: the game loads almost twice as fast now.)

These new features are coming to PS4 and Steam when the game launches on August 8th, but are available to Switch players right now! We hope you enjoy, and we’re looking forward to checking out your killer scores and gorgeous screenshots!

[Link]