Weekly Roundup 122 - 16/09/2022 - New Playable Build with Gameplay Tweaks

Hi Everyone!

This week I'm showcasing the work done to tweak the moment-to-moment gameplay experience. 

There's a new build up to play that's rolled in the last two weeks of changes. Go check it out!

1: What's New?

The main goal of this week was spent implementing a series of changes to the gameplay to make the game more fluid and fun to play.

Mainly that involved making changes to the Beat UI, the Willpower (Health) bar and the Stamina System.

The main change you'll notice is the bottom middle of the dungeon UI. There's now a "Hearts" UI displayed under the Bindmancer. Currently there's 3 hearts but I made it so it could add more as a sign of progression as the player continues to play.

Here's some examples of how the UI reacts:

Taking Damage:

Warning Pulses of taking damage when in mini-games and trapped:

And Regaining Hearts:

And here's the other new updated changes:

• The Stamina Bar and being stunned by running out of stamina has been removed for the time being. I think the stamina concept still has it's place, but I didn't like the existing implementation.
• The beat UI only appears when it's contextually relevant to use it now. Such as freeing wall mounted prisoners and opening chests. I think having it tied to moving around the dungeon ended up being more of a distraction then a positive gameplay aspect.
• Struggle animations have been improved for all states in which the Bindmancer is helpless.
• The tentacle trap animation is more polished and more responsive to your interactions.
• The Game Over screen now stops in-game time which stops bad sound effects playing. Which stops unwanted sound effects playing over it.

Overall I think these changes have improved the gameplay experience. 

Let me know what you think! :D

2: What's Next?

In about 5 weeks time I have a big international move. I'll be moving from Canada back to Australia. That all occurs around the 20th of October. Of course weekly updates will continue as usual right up to moving day.

I think I'll be out of commission for a period of two weeks. (Oct 20th to November 4th) So I'd be back online and making content early November. 

I already have my own rental property arranged and I'll have internet hooked up soon after, it's more so the process of buying new furniture and computer parts to get a home office back up and running.

So what I do want to do is create something I can release just before that two week blackout that people can enjoy. Maybe a new animation pack?

I'll have a ponder of it over the weekend. 

Cheers!

- Caroo