Spelunky 2's first few levels are now friendlier
But not much!
Do you feel Spelunky 2 seeds have been a bit more generous these past few days? A little less keen to murder you the second you cross the cave's welcome mat? That's not luck with the RNG, that's the blessing of designer Derek Yu. After talking last week about plans to tweak the first few levels, turns out he quietly released a patch doing just that the next day with less fanfare. Surprise!
Wednesday's patch notes don't get into detail, because it's for you to find out, buster:
- Tuned monsters spawn chances in Dwelling
- Added more room variety in the last Dwelling level
The patch tweaked a few other level issues too:
- Fixed temple level generation (crush traps should no longer spawn next to pushblocks)
- Fixed some blocked levels generation in multiple themes
Beyond levels, you'll also find fewer problems with dice bouncing wildly, a few wee performance optimisations, explosive stuff getting a few grace frames of invulnerability on creation so they can't immediately burst ("prevents rare hoverpacks spawned from mosquitoes from immediately being blown up, for example," the notes note), and other tweaks and fixes. The Dwelling changes were only for a few bits the devs agreed were a touch too aggressive, mind. Spelunky 2 isn't your friend and is unlikely to go easy on you.
"In general, we have to be somewhat careful about how we go about changing the game based on player feedback," Yu said last week. "Ultimately, Spelunky is a game that is designed to have some sharp edges in it, and there's always the risk of removing fun along with the frustration."
Our Graham, who never stopped playing the previous game, said in his Spelunky 2 review that it "has fully replaced Spelunky 1 for me. In playing it, I have been tense, I have been excited, I have been elated. I have also rediscovered the joys of being lost, uncertain, and surprised. Spelunky 2 makes Spelunky new again: a fancier strap, more cogs, a cuckoo popping out from a hidden compartment on the hour. The correct time, as delightful as the first time I learned to tell it."