I've been putting off writing these updates largely been because I'm not 100% sure what to put in them, so I'm going to give it a stab, and if you want to know something else you let me know. My plan right now is to post an update every two weeks about the recent development that has been happening on Reina & Jericho. I've got a reminder in my calendar and everything.
The big story of the last two weeks has been level design for the game.
Now, while I'd like to be able to tell you that the level design for the entire game is complete, the truth is there are about three rooms that need to be moved. Yes, we are that close, but technically speaking we're not quite done. At the time I got my reminder to write a Steam update the entire game map was completed and perfectly aligned except for three rooms. So it won't sound quite as cool when I drop the biggest news item for this update, but here it is anyway:
The Level Design for Reina & Jericho is done except for three rooms
And they are super close as well but I didn't want to put off writing this update lest I forget
But for real, it's basically 100% done.
Level design is a big deal in a Metroidvania game. The entire world is interconnected and given the fact that Reina can travel back in time it adds a lot of potential problems that need to be taken into consideration. And now it is 100% done, except for making three rooms line up.
There will likely be minor tweaks - blocks moved a few units to the left or right to make certain jumps easier or ledges bumped up to make sure players know they can or can't go there yet, but the route through the game is basically done. Except for three rooms that don't line up.
Other big news from the last two weeks of development includes getting Jericho's 3d model dropped into the game - you might think he would be one of the first ones to be added since his name is in the title, but the truth he was the easiest one to put off until the very end. By extension: almost all of the major characters are done.
We've done a lot of work on getting the aesthetics just right for the outdoor biomes. That area has been a bit rough for a while, but the outdoor areas are so different from the rest of the game (what with them being outside and all), a lot of work needed to be done to find the right look and settings for the renderer and all that.
There's also been a ton of platforming mechanics that have been added. I've spent a lot of time dissecting what I like from other games and contemplating questions like "Why do I like the Armored Armadillo stage in Mega Man X more than all of the others". The answer is usually "going fast is fun" so we have a lot of things that allow Reina to go fast or pull herself across the screen or perform fast, majestic maneuvers easily. I'm excited for people to try it out.
Moving forward we have the monumental task of decorating the levels that have been churned out by the level editor I coded. The raw output from it is, to be blunt, offensive. That work will be ongoing right up until launch. There's also plans to start adding in more of the cutscenes and at some point in the near future we will be looking at finishing the remaining boss fights. And at that point the game will be nearly done.
We're (finally) getting close.
-Dave