What was originally going to be a small patch to add in objective markers, ended up being another major update!

To start off, this update doesn't necessarily add new content but rather a few quality of life improvements and some new player movement abilities. 

Let's start with the objective markers. The number one complaint from new players has been "where do I go". While the levels in Orb Runner are fairly linear, they do seem to offer a little bit of confusion as the levels progress. So to help out the new players, I've added in objective markers that will highlight your current objective in the level. The 4 objectives are: Level Finish, Checkpoint, Key, and Door. The marker will only display the most direct route to the finish and will never point you to the side paths or to hidden objects. The player will also receive a lower XP rate with this option enabled as it will be holding your hand the whole way. The finish this bit off, only the bonus level will feature no objective markers due to the nature of the level. Those who have played this level, will understand exactly what I'm referring to.

Up next we have some changes to player movement. Players will now be able to perform charged jumps and slides. Charged jumps can help you get that little extra power in your jump to reach even higher elevations and Slides will allow you to gain that extra speed on a straight path. Simply hold LCTRL and release to perform a charged jump and hold LCTRL while falling and then keep it held while your landing to perform a slide. With these additions, player movement should feel less clunky and will certainly help you out on your runs to obtain even faster times. Did I mention that there's 2 new achievements for these new mechanics?

Video quality settings have received some love for those playing on low end systems. The most resource intensive object in Orb Runner is the lighting which has been all realtime previously. Now, all the lighting is baked but also runs with realtime to still provide those amazing visuals. So due to the baked lighting, lower end systems will now be able to run the game at higher framerates as we can now disable the realtime lights without having our levels be in complete darkness. Lower settings also have a smaller texture resolution going as low as 1/8th where previously we were running at only 1/2.
Lowest - No realtime lighting, 1/8th texture resolutions
Low - Partial realtime lighting, 1/4th texture resolutions
Ultra - Increased shadow draw distance

Changelog:

• NEW Charged Jumps
  •  Charge your jump by holding LCTRL for 0.7 seconds and release to jump at a greater height than usual. Normal Stamina is required for use.
• NEW Slides
  • While falling, hold LCTRL for 0.35 seconds and continue holding until you've landed to perform a slide that will accelerate you forward. Normal Stamina is required for use.
• NEW Objective Markers
  • Getting lost or stuck? Turn on the objective marker in the game settings to see what your tasks are for each level.
  •  Players receive lower XP rates with this setting enabled.
  • Bonus Level contains no objective markers due to the nature of the level.
• 2 NEW Achievements
• Improved Quality Settings
  • Lower quality settings are now more optimised with even lower texture resolutions.
  • Lowest has no realtime lighting and  1/8th texture resolution
  • Low has little realtime lighting and 1/4th texture resolution
  • Ultra has increased shadow draw distance