Hello Players!
While we keep working on DOWNHILL, we're happy to release a small, but important update for our demo! Let's get right into the list of new things.
Gamepad and Steam Deck support
The demo is now playable with gamepad controls, as the full game will be. Many people have said they prefer playing it this way, so we're very glad to make it happen!
The new version should be compatible with all kinds of gamepads, but for obvious reasons we were not yet able to thoroughly test it. If your particular gamepad isn't working as intended, and you feel like helping out the devs, please let us know in our discord server.
New Fade Animations
Fade's sprites were some of the first ones created for DOWNHILL, so our artist has significantly improved her skills since their creation, and we want our main character to look her best as she's always present on your screens. But aesthetics aren't the only reason for the changes: this time we've put more thought into Fade's Player-granted abilities, such as Blinking and Resurrecting. Here are just couple of the new animations to give you an idea of the direction we've taken:
Death. You can see the Player's presence escaping Fade's body as she dies.
Resurrect. Now it actually feels like you're doing something wicked by bringing Fade back to life, it's not all that innocent.
Note: It will be possible to disable the flashing background in the settings in the full game, but you can't do it in the demo yet.
Following the redesign of Fade's sprites, all other human characters have been remade as well to fit the same aesthetic and quality, but that's something you'll have to see in the full game!
PERSUADE Variety
We've added a bit of extra dialog for those who prefer to choose PERSUADE over AGREE and FORCE. Now, you'll have a few options to choose from, and the level of Fade's trust you must have to pass the persuasion check may slightly vary depending on the argument you've chosen. This means only a few new lines in the demo, but it now better demonstrates the way this mechanic will work in the full game.
Other changes
We've made a complete rework for the collision system! It's an invisible change that may not sound as exciting as other things, but not getting stuck between objects and beyond walls is definitely a good thing.
A couple of extra dialog lines have been added for Fade during the Player's first encounter with her. Very minor though.
You can't spam the blood saber attack anymore, and if you don't hit the second slash to make this kind of double mini-combo, there will be a small cooldown between the attacks. We're hoping for it to make the combat a little more balanced.
That's all for now. We weren't originally planning to release any demo updates and intended to fully focus on the main game only, but this version is more up-to-date and is a better showcase for DOWNHILL. Hope you like it!
-love, Sisterhood