Overview
As I continue to iterate on The Perfect Bowl, the vision and direction of the game gets ever slowly clearer. This time round, I've been (again) testing out new mechanics and changing existing ones to get the experience to be closer to what I would like it to be.
On the art side, we've settled on a look for the assembly portion of the game that makes it look more cohesive with the character art. Although we had to sacrifice my original vision of it, I think in the grand scheme of things this would be the better way forward.
Art
New Character Art
Meet Kosuzu! A wonderfully eccentric and fruity man late in his life. Not the sharpest tool in the shed but knows how to bring out the zest in life.
Character Sketches
Some early character sketches.
New Hand Drawn Textures and Outlines
It was a tough decision but we decided to forgo the strong DOF (background blur) in favour of a more illustrative look to match with the character art. Due to limitations of the engine (and probably my skill) alas I cannot have my cake and eat it too.
Features
Special Response Menu for Flavour Dialogue
I added a response menu that is specific to Jim's response after serving the ramen. The menu would show available responses but not be selectable. The hope is that it would encourage players to add toppings beyond the minimum requirement knowing that a certain combination of flavours will unlock different dialogues.
Summary of Customer Conversation When Selecting Polaroid to Talk to with Dad
When reminiscing with Dad, there would be a popup to show a summary of what Jim's conversation with his customer was about. The idea is that it would give the player some indication of what Jim's conversation with his Dad will be about and also further reveal what Jim is like as a person.
Updates
No More Limited Ingredients
For this iteration, I've decided to remove the limit to ingredient quantities. Once you buy it from the store, you have it indefinitely. I think the actual assembly itself already has enough limitations even without adding an additional feature to manage. Plus from recent playtests, having a limited amount of ingredients doesn't seem to do anything for improving the gameplay or experience.
