The 1.0.1 update is now live. It turns out the benefit to submitting jam games early is that you can update them! First of all, here's the changelog:

• Added ability to restart from the in-game menu
• Footsteps occur less often
• Added assist mode options:
  • Gasoline speed (normal, slow, slower, and none)
  • Tower generation (normal or easy)

That's all you really need to know. If for some reason you're curious as to why I made these changes or what the assist mode options entail, read on.

Assist Options

Gasoline Speed

This changes the rate at which the gasoline will raise. Normal is the previous behavior. Slow increases the total time by 40 seconds (33% slower than normal) and slower increases the time by 80 seconds (50% slower than normal). None removes the gasoline entirely.

Tower Generation

Easy tower generation modifies the tower generations in a couple ways that should make it easier to beat the game. It removes the pyramid pieces (which are the "most difficult" piece involved in generation), and it modifies the flat pieces to be thicker, so that it's easier to jump on them when they're on their side.

Why Assist Mode?

These options could have easily been wrapped up in difficulty settings. I didn't do that for a few reasons. 

First of all, I want to discourage their initial use. I want this to be a difficult experience. I want people to try again and again before they win. I do not, however, want it to be impossible. If someone is having trouble with the game because of any reason that is limiting their ability, I want it to be doable. I want people to struggle beating this game, but I'd like everyone to be able to beat it.

Secondly, this is the two minute horror jam. In the unmodified game, each run is guaranteed to last two minutes or less. With the different gasoline speeds, it can make each run longer. It feels less like I'm breaking the jam's rules if they aren't difficulty settings.

Third, I want to leave myself open for adding more assist options in the future. What helps one person may hinder or bother another. By decoupling these from rigid difficulty levels, I'm giving myself more room to let people mix and match.

Final Thoughts

I thought what Celeste did with its assist mode was very cool. Celeste itself was a great experience, and while I didn't personally use the assist mode, I'm glad that more people got to experience the game. If there's more options you'd like me to add, feel free to ask. The ones I chose initially were the ones that were quick for me to implement. While I can't promise that I will end up adding everything, I'll try to give everything a shot.