Currently for invited test players
Soupaflow is now in the technical proof of work state and after 16 months of development we proudly present a very first version to test play to invited test players.
Requirements
In order to be able to play Soupaflow, your pc should have moderate 3D power. How much exactly we try to find out in the test phase.
For your orientation: In our entry level gaiming notebooks (< 1000 EUR) works a 6-Core AMD Ryzen 5 5600H (3,3 GHz) paired with a 4 GB NVIDIA RTX 3050 and everything is running smoothly at a resolution of 1600x900 and with balanced quality settings (default after installation).
A test with the integrated Readon graphics of the AMD CPU (512 MB VRAM) revealed the following: Soupaflow is starting, FPS in menues and lobby is ok but in the Flow island game level everything happens in slow motion, estimated at 3-5 FPS even at the lowest resolution of 1280×700 and the lowest quality settings, so Soupaflow needs at the current time the power of the dedicated graphics card to play.
Soupaflow currently runs with EPIC’s Unreal Engine 5.2.1 and in order to be able to use all the nice new features such as Lumen Real Time Illumination, your graphics card should master D3D12 and Shader Model 6.
Fixed at 30 FPS
Soupaflow’s frame rate is for the best possible equal opportunities during the race fixed at 30 FPS.
The installation goes via installer
After reading the installation notice please click on the download button to download the installer. Once the installer is downloaded doubleclick on soupaflow_setup.exe. After a little while this window usually pops up: (the text in the screenshots is in German)
Reason: Since we are not a verified Microsoft publisher yet (we are about to change that), Windows blocks the installation first. Meanwhile you can change Windows mind like so:
After the click it takes a while (up to 10 seconds) and finally this window pops up:
…and then the installation can start:
…accept license…
…enter the password you got along with your invitation
…Next…
Select the installation folder
Pre-selected by us as installation folder is D:\Yoganble (Soupaflow is in the Yogamble folder) because we had to specify something when the installer is setup but you can install the Yogamble folder anywhere on your computer.
Recommendation from us: Install it on your fastest hard drive. If you have a SSD hard drive install it there if possible.
If you install Soupaflow on your C: hard drive, because that is the SSD disk, then our recommendation to install it in your user folder is because it can then also save your scores, the game screenshots taken in photo mode and your game settings. It cannot do that if you install it in one of the program folders.
How to install Soupaflow in your user folder
… click Browse …
… and select your user folder. Here in the example it is the user named Info but your user name will probably be different.
To keep things organized you can create a folder called Game in your user folder beforehand and, of course, you can also install Soupaflow directly in your document folder.
…once the appropriate folder is selected, click Next…
…You can now create a desktop icon if you want. Then click on Next…
…before starting the installation there is a summaty. Then click Install…
…Soupaflow installs itself…
…when the installation is complete click Next…
…click on Finish and Soupaflow will start. That’s the plan ;-)…
When Soupaflow starts for the first time, Windows reports that it has prevented network connections, which Soupaflow needs as a multiplayer game. Click here to allow access.
After the installation, Soupaflow starts windowed with a 1600×900 resolution. You can change this via the menu settings, e.g. set fullscreen or a smaller or larger resolution.
The installation is now complete and you are in the Soupaflow main menu.
Now is a good time to read further down this page how to play Soupaflow standalone (solo as listen server).
Dear test player,
you now know and you are now sitting in front of your pc? …then go
The download is currently for invited test players and needs a password to install
Once we are also a verified Microsoft publisher and the Soupaflow code is signed there will also be a demo version available for everyone to download.
Download size about 1.2 GB
For the installation Soupaflow needs about 1.44 GB
Maps
This first playable version of Soupaflow comes with two maps: The Flow Island map with six overflow domes, vulcano, cave and dive areas and a Demo map with one overflow dome and a simple circuit to race.
Flow Island map view
Demo map view
Gameplay
During a 10 minutes race (5 in the Demo map) on your Soupaboard (which can also hover on land) you try to collect as much soupadrops as possible.
Soupadrops can be found about collecting soupafruits (and a carrot) and about the weakening of the overflows (overflows in the sense of exaggerations of any kind) by shooting them with Soupaflowerpower-Mindballs. The current high score is about 1 900 000 Soupadrops (Flow Island map). If you crack it we look forward to a screenshot.
When passing a checkpoint you raise your soupadrops multiplier and every time you cross the start finish line your collected soupadrops will be doubled.
Watch out for the octopuses (they give out pretty bad hits), the volcano (bye bye many Soupadrops), the buoys and the nasty aiming overflows because if they catch you your score goes also multiplied downhill …and in the level there is also a shortcut with a 50/50 chance.
So a shot with a Soupaflowerpower-Mindball or a jump costs Soupadrops too but only relatively little compared to it if you come across any of the above candidates.
A tip: Let go of the W key every now and then, the curves can be cut so more tightly and this can also help to get back into a different flow because that with the flow is such a thing. In some phases the soupafruits with higher scores fly in front of your board like roasted pigeons and sometimes you don’t even catch the ones with 50 points because the rhythm somehow does not fit.
Standalone and multiplayer
Soupaflow was designed as a multiplayer game and at the moment you can either play Soupaflow standalone as listen server or you can meet on a LAN party to play together.
How Soupaflow behaves in real life multiplayer conditions is one of the very exciting questions but one thing is already clear, as a racing game it is naturally dependent on a good ping.
If possible, the ping should be below 100 ms. We also tested it with pings between 100 and 200 ms, but then forward-looking surfing and shooting is announced. However, lag is not an issue when playing standalone or when playing together on LAN, here you can look forward to jagged moves in both cases.
Play as a listen server (standalone)
After the start of the game you are in the main menu. To play solo as a listen server click on Host game…
…and then on Host lobby (Let Max players and Connection type just as they are)
Then you are in the lobby. Here you can change your avatar and make other settings and enter a username.
To start the game for yourself now tap the tab button in the lobby level to get to the lobby menu and then click on Start game. After a short countdown you will then be added to the race level and you can enjoy the view of the map while the Soupabar lift takes you down to Flow island.
As soon as you have arrived at the island the Startzonebeam takes over, which will automatically get you into the race. After the race you have a few minutes of flow time and you can yogamble around in the level, surf and take photos (F-key).
Multiplayer
That’s what Soupaflow is all about. At present up to four players can join the level and race together.
How you play together on LAN
The first player clicks on Host game in the main menu while simultaneously playing the part of the server (listen server) and the other players click on Join game in in the main menu (wait for short until the server is displayed in the server list of the server browser and then click join) and then in the lobby menu (tab) they click on Ready up to signal to the server that they are ready for the race.
The one who has taken over the part of the server sees when all other players are ready and then clicks on Start game in the lobby menu to start the game together.
Depending on the equipment of the PC it may be too much for the hosting machine to work simultaneously as a player and as a server. In this case we recommend that the hosting computer only works as a server and does not play around at the same time and watch what the others do. For the next race one of the other players will take over the part of the server.
Conversely this also means, that if the computer that takes over the part of the server is full of power, it has slight advantages over the other players because the response is instant and without network delay.
Keymap
- W forwards + S backwards
- Mouse left right turning
- Left mouse button: Soupaflowerpower-Mindball
- Spacebar Jump
- With E it goes on and off the board
- Mousewheel zoom
- F activates the photo mode
- Right mouse button activates the alternative around board camera
- Enter chat
Our recommendation is to play around with the alternative around–board–camera in peace, e.g. in the flow time after the race in conjunction with zooming because it creates very nice views also from underwater to the board etc.
The chat module (Enter) is still available in the test phase of the Flow Island map but due to the youth protection and the associated complex chat control it will be switched off in the public release. In the demo it is not activated.
Photo mode ( F-key ) …experimental
On the keymap the photo mode is not yet marked because the plugin was added only recently. Try it out with the F key. Best not during the race but in the flow time afterwards. Tip: The time-freeze mode of the Free-Camera …and if after or during your photo session your avatar is a bit snapped on the board because of the time freezes, just jump down and back on the board with E again.
You can find your screenshots here:
[Your Soupaflow installation directory]/Yogamble/Soupaflow/Screenshots
Our conclusion so far: The making of a multiplayer game like Soupaflow must be teamwork, so we look forward to your feedback.
Have a nice summer and …
