Greetings, Dreamers!
Quite some time has passed since you heard from us. And today we are going to share a lot of progress to make it worth the wait. The game received a lot of changes, went through several builds, and some of the game’s systems were completely redesigned. And, of course, new content was added!
Core Combat Redesign
This anchor sunk us into the dream, yet it holds our hope, a hope both sure and steadfast and a one which enters within the veil.
We thought a lot about ways to make our combat system deeper and more engaging. To encourage the player to use all sorts of tactics when facing different opponents. The other goal was to make the combat loop more interesting — encouraging players to combine available abilities as they see fit.
With this in mind we designed a new combat system.
Enemy stamina. Now enemies have stamina that can be drained by your heavy strikes. Some of the enemy attacks drain their stamina as well. When the stamina drops to zero – enemies can be stunned and knocked back.
This allows for a more cunning and risky fighting style, interrupting the enemy attacks mid-swing and sending them flying to nearby spikes or off the platform.
Weapon archetypes. To add another layer to the stamina system we split weapons into two types: light and heavy. Heavy weapons are slow, but hard-hitting, damaging both enemy health and stamina significantly. Light weapons hit fast and often, compared to heavy weapons, resulting in a higher DPS, but have less range and can’t affect stamina.
This makes heavy weapons more useful for zoning and crowd-control, while light weapons are effective at finishing off stunned enemies or poking them with lower risk of getting hit. All attacks can be freely woven into combos, allowing you to switch the playstyle on the fly.
Movement Tweaks
I always advise the left hand path as a matter of principle.
We’ve also implemented a set of changes to the locomotion, improving the flow of platforming and movement in general. After all, the Dreamer will be expected to both move a lot in combat and while exploring the levels. And as such, this requires making character control and movement as smooth and convenient as possible. To achieve this, several minor changes were made:
- Dash move was replaced by the Slide move that dodges enemy attacks and allows movement through low passages.
- You can now grab the ledges and cling onto them.
- New animation states and quality-of-life features to make movement more responsive and consistent
But movement is only a half of the platforming experience, with the other one being… well, platforming itself:
- Grab points that you can latch onto between jumps
- Pass-through platforms that can be jumped through
- Blood vials that you can spin around to launch yourself further
Enemies
Only through blood can we wade through the valley of the shadow of death.
Enemy changes focus on making them challenging, but fair. This means redesigning all enemies in the Cathedral to make their attack cues more readable, while also buffing some of their attacks to be more of a threat. But we’ve also added new encounters: one regular enemy, a mini-boss and, of course, a fully finished two-stage bossfight.
The new mini-boss has been lurking somewhere within The Cathedral, waiting for you to pass by it at the right time to strike. It will break some of the rules you have come to learn about the combat system and challenge you to engage it in a different way to survive. All bosses and mini-bosses have their own musical themes and will affect the environment in unique ways.
A new regular enemy, called The Ghost, is considerably weaker and can hardly pose a threat to you. But you will encounter it often and, sometimes, in groups. When you’re up against four or five enemies, Ghosts can pose a threat simply because you have too many attacks to dodge. However, Ghosts are so light they can be easily launched with heavy weapons into other enemies.
And later, once you’re familiar with your arms and strong in your faith, you will meet the challenge you deserve, a formidable foe and a danger to the Collective Dream.
As things are, anyone who makes a wish will be corrupted.
Visuals and UI
Ever since the very stars themselves have fallen from the heavens down to our kingdom, I have tried my best not to look up for fear of what I might see.
The game now has a new lighting system making visuals more striking and atmospheric. We also made several changes to the placement of decorations near the player paths, to improve the sense of depth.
Another significant addition is the new fully-fledged UI. The map, tutorial windows and found notes – everything you come to expect from a metroidvania, as well as essential elements like main menu, settings and other navigation elements.
New Content
Well met, brother. I see you’ve resisted the temptation of the stars and stayed true to the Blood.
Of course, you won’t be traversing only the magnificent halls of The Cathedral. We’ve also added a new area: The Undercroft, with its dimly lit tunnels, lying deep below The Cathedral. Overgrown and infested with corruption, this place still impresses with its grim beauty.
In the future The Undercroft will connect to two other adjacent locations — Babylon and The Great Forest of Gilead. These locations have succumbed to corruption, yet still remain hauntingly enthralling.
The Dream is a nightmarish place corrupted by the blood, but it doesn’t mean that every creature you encounter wants you dead: some of the inhabitants are willing to guide you, help you or simply have something to say, be it other Divers, friendly inhabitants or messengers from powers you don’t yet understand…
The final aspect of our progress is the narrative. The story of Being and Becoming presents many questions. Who exactly are the Divers and the Dreamcatcher? What is the Collective Dream and the Blood that corrupts it? All will be answered in due time through your progression along the main storyline, but your exploration, conversations with various characters, and discoveries will reveal a deeper narrative beneath.
That is all for now. As you see, the game is steadily taking shape, getting new features and mechanics, locations and characters…But there’s even more under the veil. Some things stayed beneath the surface, but for a reason. After all, every revelation first needs a mystery.
Stay tuned for future announcements, they just might be the reveal you’ve been waiting for.
See you soon, O Dreamers…
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1917990/Being_and_Becoming/
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