Slender Multiplayer v1.5 is out!

Crazy new changes!
3rd Anniversary / Halloween Update!

Texture changes:

• Live Player & Server Count
  A new text on the bottom left of the main menu now shows how many players are currently playing the game and logged in to a lobby.
  
• Updated text for joining/creating lobbies
  
• Slight change to Slenderman's teleport progress bar
• Many small changes, making sure all texts are pixelated, etc...
• Fixed a big problem with layering issues
  Now you can stand next to multiple objects and have a proper z-order. It used to be that you would go under the objects, like in this image:
  
• Added some more fades
  When the host starts the game, it no longer instantly goes to black, as well as when transitioning to another map
• Updated the text that shows when someone wins the game
  
  
• Updated the Start Game button
  
  It also shows the current map and has a menu showing all available maps.
  
• Changed the buttons in the main menu screen
  The old font was a little hard to read, and the buttons looked a little outdated, so I decided to remake all the buttons.
  Here is a before and after picture of one of the buttons:
  
• New main menu layout
  Since there are now new buttons, I decided to clean up the main menu, and get rid of the unnecessary buttons. The text for typing your name in has also changed, and the box is no longer a nasty yellow color. The weird scribble text has been replaced with a much more readable pixel font. The changelog button has been removed since the dev blogs on itch.io are much more detailed and easier to make changes to.
  
• Made your ping visible in the multiplayer lobby
  Now you can see your connection strength to the host, only non-host players can see their ping since the host would have 0. It is located at the top right of the multiplayer lobby. It looks like this:
  
  The host of the lobby can check the ping of other connected players by right-clicking on them in the lobby. This brings up the 'kick player' menu but also shows the player's ping.
  

New Additions:

• Improved Slenderman's AI
  To make the game more intense, and to keep Slenderman a threat, some changes were made:
  - Slenderman no longer teleports when you look away from him
  - Slenderman slows down faster when you look at him, but also speeds up faster when you look away
  - When he is close to you, he is more likely to teleport
  - His teleport is much more strategic and will try to get closer to you or teleport in front of where you are going
  - When looking at Slenderman, your screen fills with static faster
  - He gets a small speed boost when in range of players
  These effects are also applied to the player controlling Slenderman
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• Sprinting!
  Players can now hold SHIFT to sprint. It should make closing the gaps between pages much easier. However, Slenderman also got a slight speed buff, so make sure you don't run out of stamina while he is chasing you!
  
  Your stamina recharge rate is based on your activity, so if you are walking it will recharge slower, and if you are standing still it will recharge much faster.
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• Improved Flashlight Charging and Battery
  Hopefully, the flashlight charging is now balanced, as it takes only 20 seconds to charge from empty to full battery. The battery capacity has been reduced by roughly 30%, meaning that you will have to charge slightly more often, but it still won't take too long. Since the flashlight is less powerful, as it won't make Slenderman teleport away, having more flashlight battery doesn't necessarily mean you are safe anymore. Those who conserve battery are still at an advantage since they won't have to charge as often, meaning that Slenderman won't track and find them as often.
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• Slenderman CPU Difficulty Levels
  There is a new configurable difficulty setting below the CPU option in the multiplayer lobby.
  There are 5 difficulties, Easy, Normal, Hard, Extreme, and Nightmare.
  
  The difficulty level controls Slenderman's speed, teleport distance, teleport frequency, hunting range requirement, and the speed at which the static covers and clears your screen.
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• Singleplayer Options
  Repurposed the 'Changelog' section in the main menu to be the new Singleplayer Options screen. This will be where you start the singleplayer games rather than just clicking the 'Singleplayer' button.
  
  You can select the map and difficulty from this screen just like you would be able to in a multiplayer lobby.
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• Updated the Slender Forest Map!
  Some major changes have been made to the old Slender Forest map, which includes:
  - Updated tilemap, with more textures to make the road to grass transition smoother
  - Very dense forests. The new performance and layering improvements mean that there can be more objects and they can be closer together to make a nice dense forest effect
  - More respawn points since they were practically impossible to go to. There are now 16 respawn points, and they are much closer to dirt path
  - Much easier to follow road design. The road no longer has massive holes all throughout it
  - The land outside the fence has also been populated with little grasses so it's not too flat to look at
  - Better spawn locations for players and Slenderman. You will no longer spawn in the woods, only on the road as Slenderman
  - Hidden easter eggs scattered all over the place :)
  Here are some pictures of the new map:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  There are many things to discover in this map, and every area is loaded with grasses and trees which will make running through the forest a less viable option.
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• Character Customization Menu
  Now you can customize your look without needing to join in a certain order in the lobby. You can change your shirt, pants, shoes, hairstyle, skin color, and flashlight! The customize character menu is available in the main menu. You can also unlock unique skins by doing certain tasks or getting achievements in the game. You can use WASD and 'X' in the menu to make your character walk in place to see all the different animations.
  Here are some pictures of the skins and the customize menu:
  
  
  
  
  
  There are so many different combinations of skins, and there will definitely be more in the future! You can use the arrow keys or just simply click the arrows to switch between tabs or scroll up and down if you have a bunch of skins.
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• 8 Player Lobbies!
  The lobby size has increased from 6 to 8, allowing for some more friends to squeeze into your lobbies.

Bug Fixes and Small Changes

• Fixed a bug where CPU Slenderman would spam little teleports in the bathroom on occasion
• Hopefully fixed the bug where some players using Chromebooks wouldn't be able to type in their name on the main menu
• Added some spooky sound effects as more pages get collected
• Some performance improvements as well, now only objects around you get loaded rather than the entire maps objects all loaded at once
• CPU Slenderman now stops moving after the game has been won (or lost :P) to prevent jittering
• Emotes can now be used in Singleplayer mode
• The red text in the lobby now only stretches up to 6 lines and no longer flickers when multiple lines are written at once
• Reduced the randomization in Slender's red arrow (when players charge their flashlight) by 50%
• Fixed a slight text issue where the 'a' was very similar to 'o'
• Fixed a bug where multiple people couldn't charge their flashlights at the same time
• Fixed a hitbox problem with the Slenderman CPU where you'd get static when you weren't looking directly at him
• The host can no longer start the game while an 'invalid' player is in the lobby. This happens when a bad connection is made, and you cannot see their name since they can't send the host any updates.
• Made the battery display bigger, and it no longer jitters when you walk around
• Added a small tutorial at the start of every game (for both survivors and Slenderman) to show how to use the flashlight, sprint, teleport, and open the options menu
• Slightly decreased the saturation of the wooden textures (trees, logs, benches)
• You can no longer see player emotes through walls
• Added some fades in the main menu when you start / join a game

As always, be sure to check out my Construct Discord Server, since I post about new games I'm making as well as sneak-peeks into what's coming for the next update. I'm always very open to suggestions and new ideas to put into the game, please let me know!
Discord Link

If you are having any issues with the game or want help with setting the game up feel free to join my discord and I'll respond and help you. I am always active on Discord so if you find any bugs be sure to let me know and I'll get right on it.

The idea for this game started on October 26th, 2018, and I am surprised to still be working on it even 3 years later!

Thank you all for the support! Your kind words really inspire me to keep updating this game!
Peace out, 
- Grassboii