Castle Crashers Steam Update 1.1

Today, the first update for Castle Crashers Steam Edition went live. We have made a few adjustments to the game to increase performance and added a few new visuals tailored for Steam gameplay. Here are some of the changes that are in the first update:

  • We’ve improved performance by correcting a memory leak that appeared to affect certain systems. We found that this was related to how specific computers handled audio, which is why this affected only some players and not all. If this had been affecting you prior to the update and it still affects you after downloading the first update please let us know by going to our support page and filling out a support ticket.
  • We’ve improved overall performance by adding Push-to-Talk support as part of a new Audio Settings menu. This lets the player Enable/Disable Voice Chat, Enable/Disable Push-to-Talk, and set the keyboard key used for Push-to-Talk.

If you have Push-to-Talk enabled, the default PTT key is “T” or pressing L3 on the primary local controller.

  • In order to get to the game quicker, we’ve added the ability for players to move through the logo and legal screens quicker when the game boots up using either the escape key, the enter key, the space key or ‘A’ button on a controller.
  • To celebrate the Steam edition, Dan has drawn some new artwork for the main menu (Woot!).
  • Checking leaderboards in the game demo will no longer cause the pause menu to break.
  • We’ve reverted to the default keyboard controls that were originally used to design the game back in the Stone Age when Ye Olde Side-Scroller was but a glimmer of a dream:

A – Quick Slash
S – Jump
D – Special Item (ie bow and arrow)
W – Fierce Slash
E – Magic Mode
Q – Shield
C – Toggle Special Item (could do both Z and C for that)

The new keybindings will not affect anyone who purchased and played the game prior to the release of the update. Your keyboard settings are safe!

If you don’t see an issue that was affecting you on this list, don’t worry! Some other issues brought to our attention by the community take longer to identify, fix, test and verify than those listed in the first update.

Our second update is hot on the heels of this one, so it won’t be long before we have more performance enhancements (Go Lance!) and other improvements!

P.S.

We’ve also updated our DLC descriptions to include the charities that the proceeds will be benefitting. If you haven’t seen it already, here are this year’s DLC charities:

The Behemoth donates 100% of DLC proceeds to various 501©(3) non-profits, including:

  • Doctors without Borders
  • Wikimedia Foundation
  • Heifer International
  • Kiva.org (Flying Spaghetti Monster Team)

XOXO,

The Behemoth Team

Celebrate Castle Crashers Steam with Us!

Today is Castle Crashers Steam launch day! We’ve had a few of these already in the past with XBLA and PSN releases, but that doesn’t mean they can get any less exciting. Can you feel that? That’s excitement! Castle Crashers has been played by over 3 million people just like YOU since its release back in 2008. Thanks to all of YOUR support days like today are possible where we get to share our four knights with the Steam Community.

To celebrate release day we are doing giveaways at every hour! Follow us on FacebookTwitter and Forums to enter the various contests for your chance to win a free copy of Castle Crashers on Steam, some merchandise, and maybe even a brand new CAR!!! (nope)

Some gaming publications are planning to join in today with the celebrations, so in addition to the large amounts of free stuff we’re giving out today, check out the following sites for even more chances to win stuff:

www.gamespy.com : Contest through their twitter
www.ign.com : Tweet your favorite character to their twitter
www.joystiq.com : Follow their twitter according to this article
www.theverge.com/gaming : Contest finished on Polygon’s twitter
Each of those sites will be doing their own Castle Crashers Steam giveaways through either their website or Twitter. Feel free to come back here later! We may have updated links to their direct giveaways.