First Things First
These past few weeks, I've been observing more and more people as they play the game and give me their feedback. One thing I've noticed consistently in people's playthroughs is a general frustration with certain levels. Many of them suddenly appear as great cliffs on the difficulty curve, and I'd like very much to smooth the curve out. This update, with the release of Adventure Mode, I wanted to dedicate time to reworking many of those hard levels, making them less punishing. If you had trouble with the game before, and grew frustrated, I urge you to please try the game again! I think you'll find that the levels are much easier now.
That's not to say, however I want the game to be without challenge! In the near future, I'd like very much to release an update that to players who are at a higher level have something to work towards. The idea is simple, if you complete a chapter in Adventure Mode and collect all of the gems in the chapter, you'll unlock a "Hard Mode" variation of the chapter. Each level will have a much higher difficulty level, providing a greater challenge to players who are looking for it. This is a lovely "two birds, one stone" solution for me, as it will allow me to reward players AND provide more content for the game. Be on the lookout for such an update, hopefully next month!
Now, onto the changelog!
Changelog
New Features
- Replaced Time Attack mode with Adventure Mode. Adventure Mode utilizes an in-game timer that counts up instead of down. Time Attack has been removed for the time being, and will be added back in at a later time. Due to the nature of this change, I'm afraid that your high scores from Time Attack are not transferable to Adventure Mode. The good news is, Level Select high scores remain unaffected. Thank you for understanding.
Modifications
- Most levels in "A Foot In The Dungeon" and "Overgrown Ruins" chapters have been reworked to be easier, and/or more streamlined. Harder variations of these levels will be added to the game in a future update as unlockables.
- Collision detection for characters is now handled with boxcasts instead of raycasts. This will provide more accurate collision detection.
- Greatly reduced the size of the gooncopter's Hurt Box. This should reduce the number of times a gooncopter kills you when you don't expect it to.
MAJOR Fixes
- Characters should always face the correct direction now when a level restarts.
Minor Fixes
- Crumble Blocks now activate even if a level restarts with a character already standing on them.
What's Next?
New Chapter with a New Mechanic
Early in the month of April (hopefully next week), a new level pack will be released called "The Carniverous Caverns". This level pack will feature a brand new game mechanic that I hope you will all enjoy named the Venus Floor Trap. I've spent alot of time tweaking the game to work with this new mechanic, and with the new changes made to the engine, it should make the next mechanic I have in mind much easier to implement!
With that said, this upcoming chapter will most likely be a shorter one. Alot of my development time this month has been devoted to the reworks, and it has left me little time to create new maps. I anticipate this map pack being along the size of A Foot In The Dungeon, around 10 levels. If however, I feel the map pack doesn't live up to being enough content, I will delay it so I can create a better one.
Custom Mode
Custom Mode (Name Pending) is the next planned mode for the game. It will feature a way for players to create their own challenges, which can be shared with others. Players can design their own rulesets and level sets, which can then be shared online with the community. Each of these custom modes will feature their own online leaderboards, so you can battle to be the best in your own challenge set! Here are some rule ideas that are currently under consideration:
- Timer Never Stops - The in game timer will not pause when a player dies or starts a level.
- 100% Only - The exit door will remain locked until all gems in the level are collected.
- Limited Lives - The challenge is failed if the player dies a certain number of times.
- Limited Time - This will essencially serve as the Time Attack replacement. Time counts down, and the challenge is failed if time runs out.
- No Dashing - The player's dash is disabled for the challenge.
- No Double Jump - The player's double jump is disabled for the challenge.
I am curious what sort of rules you would be interested in having in Custom Mode. Please, reach out to me and let me know what you'd like to see! FYI, you will not be able to submit a challenge online until you beat the challenge yourself, proving it is possible.
Last Words
To be serious for a moment, I hope that everyone is staying safe in these strange and scary times. No one knows for sure what the future holds, but the present is very different from what we're used to right now, and I hope you're all adjusting to the new normal. I'm very fortunate that for the moment myself, and those around me, are all safe, and I hope the same for you and yours. Please stay safe everyone, be smart, and let's beat this thing together.
Happy Dashing,
-Kevin