Hey, everyone! Ryan here, creator of Wicked Seed.
I can't believe it's already the end of May! It's been a very busy month balancing creating new content, fixing issues and addressing feedback for the demo, and preparing for Next Fest.
That's right, Wicked Seed will be in June's Next Fest running from June 9-15!
Spoiler Warning
I'll be discussing new features and additions to the game, but nothing story related.
Please remember Wicked Seed is still in active development and any current or planned feature could be changed.
What I've been working on
- Well when we left off last month I was in the planning stages for a new dungeon area and its enemies. I've finished that area and am happy with how it turned out. It provides a slightly different combat feel since it features some enclosed spaces. You may need to rely on blocking and/or parrying more if you find yourself cornered. The level is complete with item pickups, puzzles, enemies, notes, and a new boss encounter with mechanics.
- As explained in the demo update posts, I added Despair difficulty to the demo which hopefully adds a fresh experience compared to Normal and Hard.
- Also included in the demo is a new costume viewer, allowing you to hide the UI and go through a few different view angles. While I think it's pretty good where it's at, a free camera control would be really nice to get in for launch.
- Added a Flanking system to combat. Hitting enemies from the sides or from behind will trigger a flanking attack which deals extra damage and stagger damage. Certain enemies have weaker flanks and part of the progression will be learning where it's best to hit a given enemy.
- In addition to the costumes I added to the demo, I also finalized the costume list for the main game and it's at 43! (including the default look)
- I added in a new feature that lets you use the rusty coins you've been picking up. While it won't be available in the demo, you'll get the opportunity to use them shortly after when the full game launches. It's a mysterious vending machine that dispenses high quality, and unique, items, parts, and accessories based on the number of coins you've inserted. If anyone is familiar with the mini medal system from Dragon Quest, it's similar to that.
- A bunch of boring marketing and promotion prep for Next Fest!
- While I always knew the main story beats before development started, I finalized every story point and when and where I want to disclose everything.
What's next
Well I am preparing some fixes for the demo and also sneaking in some new adjustments I've been working on.
- Changed the death respawn mechanic. Previously you had the option to "Return to last save point" but that will be swapped with "Retry" and it will just stick you outside of the encounter you died on. At closer examination, and with the changes to enemy respawn behavior, there really were no obstacles or challenges between the save point and back to where you died and just wasted time running back.
- Swapping to a new weapon in the quick action menu while not in combat will no longer trigger a reload animation.
- The flashlight has been adjusted to be brighter and illuminate at a wider angle. Additionally it can now be forcibly turned on and off as you see fit. And while I don't intend to overuse this mechanic, some enemies will have reactions to light such as changes to their aggression.
- Minor blocking adjustments: Blocking an enemy attack will now incur a bit of stagger damage that will vary based on the enemy attack. While I have plans to incentivize blocking in other ways, I'm hoping this might make players think about wanting to block some attacks if they have a lot of stamina.
I'm aiming to have the above changes included in the demo over the next few days.
Ok, so for non demo related stuff, here's what I'm planning to work on in June:
- Keep working on new content. Next up is another dungeon area with some optional side exploration similar to Wyatt Park. After that is an area that will focus a bit more on puzzle solving and world building similar to the Seaside Six.
- Brutal Counter combat mechanic. An upgrade you'll get that allows you to perform a fast Brutal Attack when parrying an enemy that staggered them. The Brutal Counter doesn't reset their stagger like a Brutal Attack giving you the options to move, shoot, or perform another Brutal Attack.
Well that wraps it up for this month. New features and mechanics are just about buttoned up so the majority of my time now is just cranking out new content!
I think it'd be fun to end each progress update with a sneak peak at a costume!
Until next time!
-Ryan