Hello my fellow Metal Heads.
It has been a while, so have a look around, and allow me to keep you up to date.
BOSS FIGHT OVERHAUL
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The boss fight mini-game is getting an overhaul! In it's current state, the boss fight is...OK, but not only does the boss just look like a boring walking metal bucket, the boss fight is just not finished yet, so I've been working hard in my little spare time to ensure that the boss fight feels more finished, more polished, and more FUN! Currently the boss UI is a place-holder, so the last few days, I wanted to change that. It's still not finished yet, but here are the results so far, along with a comparison of the old UI. NEW
OLD
As mentioned, the boss model also is getting an upgrade, and while it still needs textures and some finishing touches, it looks a hell of a lot better than before.
NEW
OLD
I also re-did all animations for the boss, and made new animations for the new actions/attacks. Here's a teaser of one of the attacks.
For those wondering, there will be 3 attacks each for A, B and X buttons (or equivalent buttons/keys), and there are now indicators on the boss that show the level of attack (based on how long the button/key is held for), so that the boss player knows which attack they are doing, and metal head players have some idea also.
Currently, whether the boss wins, or metal heads win the boss fight, the same silly outro plays of the boss exploding and shutting down, which is super confusing for a lot of people, the whole thing feels unfinished and janky, so I went ahead and made a few relevant outro sequences that will be chosen based on how the round ends, for example, if a metal head is knocked off the edge of the platform, rather than dying on the platform, a different animation will play, I intend to do more outro's over time to add variety.
If players are coming from the board game mode, there will be a stats screen eventually too, but I don't think that will make it into the next update.
There are a bunch more gameplay changes I will be making to the boss fight and experimenting with, and testing with the Discord community, but not stuff that can easily be shown here, i'll mostly be balancing and testing the "fun factor".
Lastly, players will not have to play the board game in order to play the boss fight, I am in the process of making a menu option in the lobby/game mode selection where the host can go to, and players can opt-in to play as the boss or a metal head. If multiple players opt in to play the boss, then the boss player will be randomly chosen from those players. If nobody opts in, I hope to make some AI for the boss, so players can all team up against boss AI that HOPEFULLY proves to be a challenge.
Whether the boss AI will make it into the next update, I'm not entirely sure just yet, I don't want to keep you all waiting too long for this update.BOARD GAME CHANGES
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The board game mode is getting changed, I won't go too much into what changes are being made as I'm still coming up with ideas as I go, but I intend to make the board game into a much quicker, more enjoyable experience that feels way more polished. Some changes were included in the last public update that helps with the overall quality of the board game mode, but more changes will be coming, so that hopefully there will be less "ugh" and more "HELL YEAH!" when it comes to playing the board game mode. The next update will likely see some work in progress changes to the gameplay, but it won't be completely overhauled. I would like to progressively release updates for you all as currently the updates are MONTHS apart, where they used to be hours or days apart (back when I wasn't working full time hours at a day job).
MOVING HOUSE...AGAIN
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Again!? YUP! But it's for the best. There will be better internet at the new house, and SHOULD facilitate a better development environment for me with less distractions. The move is happening in 2 days from now, so for about a week or so, I won't be working on the game, I'll be too busy moving house, but then once I'm settled in to the new place, I'll be straight back into development again.DAY JOB, THE LIFE OF A SELF FUNDED SOLO DEVELOPER
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So the last news update I talked about my day job, and that was when I first started it...it has been ~4.5 months since then, and the hours at the day job only increased. I applied for a casual position so I could continue working on Metal Heads, but due to a number of factors, I have been working full time hours since starting, which is great financially, but not so great for my time to work on Metal Heads, but more importantly, my energy to work on Metal Heads. Unfortunately the work-place is somewhat toxic, not just due to in store politics, but the actual air I breathe there, I think I breathe more dust and disease than actual oxygen, so even after 30mins, I am left feeling exhausted, but am working for 8 hours each day, so when I come home, I'm a zombie. Thankfully the business is hiring more staff, so that should alleviate my working hours and allow more time to work on Metal Heads. Other factors that slowed development have been pretty bad mental health due to some real nasty life things that occurred just after the launch of the game. It has taken a huge toll on my mental health, which slowed development to a crawl. I won't go into the details of it all, but what happened put me at rock bottom, to the point where a decision was made, and that decision was to live, I made the right choice. Thankfully, I bounced back stronger over time, I am happy to say that I am in a much better mind, I am focused, I am determined, I am back on track, and I feel great! I still have my down moments that drag me into a depressed state (we all do), but I am finding over time, they are becoming more and more fleeting. If you are suffering in silence, please speak up, please talk about it, seek help, and remember that no matter how crappy life gets, you are the ruler of your own world, you decide what life you want to live and lead, and life is absolutely worth living. Don't ever give up.WHAT IS NEXT?
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For the next week or so, I'm moving house, then once I'm settled in, I will continue working on the boss fight, and get it to a point where it is playable, functional, fun and as bug free as possible, after that, I intend to work on the board game's gameplay loop and get it to a playable point as well, which I am hoping won't take too long, as I'm already almost finished with the new general gameplay loop for the board game mode, but it needs testing, online multiplayer adaptation and bug hunting before I do a major update. That is my main focus, getting the boss fight up to scratch, and the board game brought to the next stage of it's development.QUESTIONS?
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If you have any questions, feedback etc, please don't be afraid to jump onto the forums, comment below or use the Discord server to share your thoughts. I am much more active on Discord and will generally answer within 24hrs, however since I don't get any notifications on Steam if someone posts on the forums, I may not see your post for a few days unless I get into a habit of checking every day.If you would like more regular updates, please head on over to the official Discord server and join.
OFFICIAL DISCORD LINK
THATS ALL FOLKS!