Hey everyone, it's been a while since I’ve done one of these, so let’s catch you up. After the last devlog development on Planet Morph things started to get a little tricky. I realized that in reality, the engine wasn’t exactly easy to work with, rooms and objects took a while to implement, and all around the game could be polished up in a lot of ways. So I took a development break and focused on other things for a while, such as updating my other game, Color Soul: Memories, to version 1.2, which included features such as controller support, achievements, and other improvements.
After that break, I was ready to tackle Planet Morph once again, and this time I wanted to do it right. So, for the first few months, I really just took the time to thoroughly optimize code and detail the existing content I had. Such as, for example, further simplifying my event system to make it easier to create new events. Each event is broken up into steps. I select which steps happen and in what order, do a little configuration if necessary, and I’m done. This has made events such as character dialogue or doors opening much simpler to create.
As I mentioned, I also added details to content I already had created. If you watched the first look video of Planet Morph I published on Youtube a bit ago, you’ll notice a difference in this room.
I thought it would be nice to see a little more of the laboratory outside of the testing chambers. You can also see other ISS-RR robots attending their various duties walking around in that back hallway.
I also made some slight improvements to the on screen graphics in battle. HP is displayed in a cleaner way and now comes with a nice animation when damage is taken. There’s also an icon now to show which enemy you are locked onto.
After a bunch of optimizations, and a lot more work, I finally finished section 2 of The Laboratory. The demo will be complete after a few more sections are finished, but no timeline on the demo’s release just yet. I will end this devlog showing off the newest creature transformation in the game, the Starvurrl!
This creature generates lift with a fast spinning motion. The Starvurrl can gain height and glide throughout its environment, making it the very first Planet Morph creature with the ability to jump! This will of course make its way into the puzzles of section 3 and beyond.
That’s all for the May 2022 devlog. Thanks for reading, and if you want more frequent updates on the game follow my Twitter! I’ve been posting about the game frequently there. See you in the next update!