Last week I got 2 video critiques of the Early Access game (version 0.34.3).
It didn't go well.
But you know what? That e-kick to the rear was exactly what I needed. None of the criticisms were wrong. I knew I had developer blindness, but I didn't know I was *that* blind.
So... Here comes version 0.4.3!
NO MORE UNICORN HORNS
For about 3 months now, I've been haunted by this weird graphical bug in the cat models.
Holy Jesus... What is that? What the f*&# is that?! ~Gunnery Sergeant Hartman
That kitten has an issue with its forehead. ~Flamez
The culprit? Deletion of the cat model's eyes, because I wanted a certain "hollow" look to their eyes. But if I have to choose between all-black cats or some eldritch horn comin' outta their heads, it's an easy choice.
No "Speedy Oil Change" Stages
Inappropriate for this game.
Before this update, you could clear a stage in literally 2 seconds if you were lucky enough. Take a loot item, dash to the exit, and that's it. No exploring necessary.
Now, you need to find a Stage Key as well as 2 loot items instead of 1.
The worst part about this is, I actually thought of a Stage Key or Stage Loot during early development, but was like "nah, that'll be too hard for the player." I ended up with something way too easy.
Revamped Tutorial
One of the streamers who played KoF kept dying from the Moth cat. He didn't know that if you turn your flashlight off, it can't hurt you (unless it's Fear Mode).
It meant I failed at my mission for this game: you know exactly what kinds of enemies you're up against, but you still get spooked (and Game Over'd).
The revamped tutorial covers all enemies, including the fake cats that exist just to screw with your mind.
Power-Up and Dark Sphere Info
Another huge complaint was power-ups and Dark Spheres (the "trap or treasure?" feature) not working.
It did work... but the game told you nothing if you already had that power-up active or available.
Here's how it goes now:
Miscellaneous QOL
More updates in the latest release:
- A few of the cats got sped up and/or have longer ranges of vision. Overall, the game was too easy, so I beefed up the enemies.
- Cursor lock for the mouse. howdidiskipthis.jpg
- Subtitles for Classic Mode and Fear Mode intros.
- Quick Play stages are numbered so you know what order they're in. And the Dev stage says "BEAT CLASSIC MODE TO UNLOCK" instead of "N/A."
- Added some data on the pause menu. Now you can see total items collected, threat level, and whether or not you took the Stage Key.
- Adjusted sounds in the tutorial stages. Some of the cats were too loud.
- Lowered the "got a power-up" volume.
- New background for the Lore section.
- Victory Logs are by current locale time instead of Coordinated Universal Time.
What now?
I will continue to tweak things a bit further... but what I want is the game to not look like mud.
If you've read this far, consider checking out my Indiegogo campaign. Pretty much the only thing I really need help on is graphics.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for your feedback!
~gitb