Changes From Platform Racing 2 to Platform Racing 3

This page documents changes between Platform Racing 2 and Platform Racing 3.
Notes: 
*Updates made to PR2 after PR3's release are ignored along with any changes made to PR3 in unofficial clients. 
*Completely new features (such as the general addition of custom blocks) are not included.
==General==
*The preloader automatically starts the game when its finished rather than having to be clicked.
*No jiggmin.com ad.
*New EXP Bonus stat, which multiplies a player's experience points by a maximum of x2.0.
*Minimum rank requirements to play certain levels have been removed. The campaign however features a similar system that blocks levels until players receive a certain number of gold medals.
*Administrators have been removed, with Jiggmin now being the only person who can promote others to moderators. Temporary mods are also absent.
**Usergroup colors have also changed: mods are brown, members are black and guests are sky blue.
*Maximum number of players allowed in a course has been increased from 4 to 8.
*Framerate has been increased from 27fps to 30fps.
*Native resolution has been raised from 550x400 to 675x480, making the game slightly wider.
*Servers can hold 250 people at a time rather than 200.
*Sound effects can be muted separately from music.
**Turning off music now mutes the lobby theme.
*Support for WASD controls has been added.
==Blocks==
*All block types have 6 default variants to match corresponding backgrounds.
*Start blocks are now optional and any amount can be added to a level. If none are present, players spawn at the last added safe block instead of the map's top left corner.
*Basic blocks 2, 3 and 4 have been removed. Since they're still in the SWF with unused descriptions though, they were possibly intended to return.
*Breakable blocks (brick/crumble) have an added crunch sound effect when they shatter.
*Crumble blocks always need at least two hits from players to be destroyed now. Items can still destroy it in one, however.
*Custom item blocks can give out specific items instead of random ones and have a specific limit.
*Mine's knockback has been vastly lowered, fixing many of its associated glitches.
*Move blocks: 
**No longer light up to show which direction they'll move in. 
**Move every 2.5 seconds instead of 6.
**Can move in spots already occupied by players to allow greater flexibility with custom variants.
**Creators can set patterns and its move frequency for their custom move blocks.
*Rotate blocks: 
**Turn the map in the opposite directions they did in PR2.
**Creators can make custom variants of the blocks that turn the map 180° if they set both its "bottom" and "bump" properties to rotate. 
**The rotation effect is much smoother, as the game doesn't switch to "low" quality for it and keeps the camera focused on the player during it. It does take slightly longer to play, though.
*Water blocks: 
**Players are now required to have their feet in them to swim. 
**Have added sound effects for entering, exiting and swimming in them. 
**The default blocks are always transparent rather than only when being swum in.
*Arrow blocks: 
**Move players at far quicker rates, no longer allowing them to run backwards on left or right ones (though their descriptions still say you can, implying this wasn't intended). Their speed determination seems to partially rely on the player's acceleration stat, as they hardly move at all on them while wearing a Cowboy Hat. 
**Down arrows also allow you to perform a short jump while on them (their description suggests this also wasn't intentional however).
*The animation for bumping solid blocks from below is less pronounced. They also don't stay raised if players hold up while crawling beneath them.
==Items==
*Laser Guns have less pushback when fired.
*Lightnings now remove an opponent's hat in addition to stunning them. 4 lightning bolts come out of the player who uses the item too when the screen flashes.
*The Mine item has been renamed to "Portable Mine" and has its own unique design.
*The Speed Burst's green sparkle trails are roughly half the size they were before.
*Swords can also break bricks, mines and crumble blocks from below occasionally due to a glitch. Their swoosh effect has also been made smaller to more accurately reflect its animation/hitbox.
*Teleports only teleport you 3 blocks ahead instead of 4. It also has an extra glowing effect of white trails that circle the player for several seconds before fading away.
==Hats==
*EXP Hat has been renamed to "Baseball Cap" and its EXP bonus has been halved due to the universal EXP Bonus stat.
*Propeller Hats now increase your maximum super jump height rather than lower your fall speed, with the new Parasol Hat having that power instead.
*The Cowboy Hat increases your stats to numbers far highly than anything obtainable in-game rather than just 100.
*Crowns will fall off after 1 use due to the new deathmatch mode. It also no longer stops players from taking knockback from mines and weapons.
*Santa Hats freeze every block with no exceptions. It also immunes players from the ice block's slipperiness, no longer gives them a +10 speed boost and the 4 second buffer period for refreezing blocks has been removed. As such, standing still on a block will not periodically refreeze it.
==In-game==
*While a level is loading:
**Music no longer plays, instead starting after the countdown finishes.
**Prize pop-ups also aren't shown until the countdown.
**Zoom buttons have been added for players to more accurately preview the level quicker.
*The minimap has been moved to the bottom of the screen and now shows each specific block used in a level instead of a generic black bar.
**It no longer rotates with the level after players bump a rotate block.
*Players must press "Enter" to access the in-game chat to prevent issues with WASD controls and using items.
*The in-game song list has been removed, although it's still possible to change music through a glitch.
*A player's current item and its remaining ammo are no longer displayed in the top left corner of the screen.
*The "players in this level" list is displayed for the duration of the match rather than only while it's loading and as players individually finish or forfeit.
*The chances for random prizes has been altered. Its percentage is tied to every player in the level's average time for their last 10 matches. If any are below 2 minutes, it decreases for each player. Thus if all are below 2 minutes, no prizes will ever show up, while they always will vice versa. In consequence, this makes it impossible to find prizes when playing alone and finding them rarer overall.
*The maximum attainable speed through stats has been lowered. (<- not sure how it's stored in either game, but add the actual internal numbers/difference if possible)
*The acceleration stat has been changed to act more like ice blocks. Players will now slide around when trying to stop in addition to accelerating slowly the lower their stat is.
**To prevent players from getting trapped, their acceleration stat no longer affects their vertical swimming speed in water blocks.
*Super jumps take 3.5 seconds to charge instead of 2 to enhance the Aviator Cap's power.
*Players have more space to stand on blocks, allowing them to perform jumps out of crawl spots.
*Player avatars don't have idle animations for standing still or while crouching.
*The "level complete" pop-up now displays the level name and the person who made it.
**Leveling up has been made more obvious: a cheering sound effect plays once it happens and players are immediately taken to their account tab when they return to the lobby, with a flashing arrow sign pointing out their new stat point.
**The EXP bar is also no longer animated.
*Winning prizes you already have gives you a 50% EXP bonus instead of 5 EXP.
*Falling off the course uses the Teleport's sound and animations when the player is brought back.
*Opponent positions on the map are always updated in real-time no matter how far away they are from the player.
*Playing on April Fools' day replaces the player's hat with a fake Cowboy Hat that doesn't work (at least mostly) instead of reversing their controls.
==Level Editor==
*General:
**Entering the level editor while logged in to a server lets players use their avatar while testing levels instead of a generic one. This also allows them to test their maps while wearing hats.
**The countdown no longer plays when players test their map. The "Restart" button has also been removed.
**New levels start with a randomly chosen background instead of a generic purple one. The color picker for blank backgrounds has also been removed, with a white color being the only option.
**Pop-ups reminding the player to save their level/block to avoid accidentally losing work when they click "new" or "exit" have been removed.
*Blocks:
**A visible grid is no longer present when placing blocks. 
**Existing blocks can now be overwritten while placing new ones, as the block selector/erasers are separate modes.
**Block limit has been removed.
*Layers:
**Players can create their own art layers with custom depth and transparency settings rather than being limited to 3 predefined ones.
**Stamps have size and rotation options similarly to the text tool, though it does technically add a limit on their size.
**Players can adjust their brush and eraser's transparency. The brush tool has also been modified so its smallest size "1" makes it act like a pencil tool, allowing for more accurate/detailed designs.
**Unintended art limit bug was fixed.
*Settings:
**A permanent "random" option for music has been added.
**Maximum settable time for a level has been raised from 999 seconds to 1 hour.
**Players can set the chance of Super Flying Cowboy Mode for their level, with it being turned off by default. Matches no longer have an in-game intro screen to note when the mode triggers.
==Lobby==
*Lobby design has been altered to have 1 tab fit on-screen rather than 2.
===Customize===
*"Account" tab has been renamed "Customize".
*Added welcome pop-up that lets new players more easily start the tutorial level.
*New players start the game with 3 sets instead of 9. The classic set has also been removed. Which body parts they'll be wearing from the 3 sets when they first log in is chosen randomly.
*The tab now lists each body part's name along with a short description of the player's current hat.
*It's no longer possible to type in the stat number areas.
*The "Jumping" stat has been renamed to the more descriptive "Jump Height".
*The color picker has been upgraded: featuring a new color slider and eyedropper tool that lets players easily choose nearby colors. It also remembers your choice for your body parts instead of resetting to black after the lobby is refreshed.
===Campaign===
*The number of levels has been vastly increased from 9 to 50.
*While it still has its own tab separate from the multiplayer hosting lobby, the campaign is intended to be played alone rather than with others. Players can however race ghosts of people on their friends list after they've beaten a level once. The campaign maps themselves can also be hosted in the multiplayer lobby, though they act as normal levels and don't have support for medals.
*Set prizes for each level have been replaced by a medal system. Every map has set finish times for players to receive either a gold, silver or bronze medal. After they get a certain number of gold medals, they'll automatically receive a body part or hat depending on the amount.
*Chatting has been removed and experience points aren't gained while playing.
*A "retry" button has been added, letting players restart the level without it having to load again.
===Multiplayer Lobby===
*The layout of levels has been overhauled. Rather than having pre-determined courses appear under specific tabs, it has been simplified to a single area where players can host a map they pick themselves and have others join them.
*Players begin by clicking "Start Game", which opens a pop-up with the classic PR2 tabbed layout (Campaign, Newest, Search, etc.). While selecting a level, they have options to choose who can see their match in the lobby, including minimum/maximum rank and whether or not they're on their friend list. They can also set the maximum amount of people who can join before the level automatically starts.
**Only the match host can begin the game otherwise, so other players are unable to press "play" to force it to start after 15 seconds pass.
**9 page limit while searching levels has been removed.
**New "My Levels" tab, which also allows players to host unpublished levels of theirs.
**The hoverable area to view a level's information has been altered to only include its description and play count. The other information (title, creator, rating) is still available outside of it, however, with the exception of what number version it is.
*The lobby also has "Practice" and "Quick Join" options. Players can select a level and play by themselves for the former, where the latter automatically joins a hosted match for them.
*Joinable slots in the lobby now show the player's avatar beside their name and rank.
*Due to only 1 tab fitting on screen at a time, a small permanent chat window is always beside the lobby, similarly to PR1.
===Chat===
*Several improvements have been made, including:
**Warnings have been replaced with "silences", which effectively serve as more flexible bans from chatting only.
**Players can see who is in a chatroom in the full screen chat tab.
**Typing "/report" will send a recent chat log to moderators.
**While creating custom chats, players also have the ability to add a note to show up when others enter.
**Existing rooms can easily be joined by clicking them on the dropdown menu rather than having to manually type them.
**Room creators can kick someone out with "/kick"
**Ban, silencing and moderator promotion messages don't appear in chatrooms.
**Guests can't create chatrooms.
**"Mod" and "admin" rooms are no longer exclusive names for moderators and administrators, respectively.
*Profile pop-ups now:
**Show the player's avatar.
**No longer show their number of hats or whether they're online.
**Have options to send someone a copy of one of your levels or custom blocks for them to edit, publish or use for collaboration purposes. 
**Show the amount of times the account and IP address have been silenced/banned to mods.
===Players===
*Online, friends and ignored lists (along with PMs and the level lists in the level editor) load in a paginated format instead of all at once with a scroll bar.
*Lists are sorted alphabetically instead of by rank. "Rank" and "Hats" can't be clicked to reorder them, making alphabetically the only option.
*A new search tab is available, allowing users to look up one another or someone with a similar name.
===Messages===
*PMs can now have titles and are displayed in a smaller list format similarly to emails, requiring players to click the title to view the actual message.
*Prior messages are included when replying.
*Players can also report PMs to mods.
*Guests can access the tab, though are still unable to send messages.
*Players can delete multiple or an entire page of PMs at once instead of having to delete each one individually.
===Moderate===
*New tab exclusive to mods. Lets them view the ban log and reported chat logs/PMs in-game rather than outside it.
===Title Screen===
*Background no longer moves.
*Options to login, create an account and view credits have been removed, instead being on Sparkworkz's website.
*A button to enter the level editor without having to login to a server first has been added.
Category:Lists
Category:Platform Racing 2 Articles
Category:Platform Racing 3 Articles