I've added new bosses for level 1 and level 2: CARPY DIE 'EM and MAW MAW.
Currently they spawn randomly on any run after you've beaten their respective levels once. That's proven pretty torturous in testing. In the next patch I plan to let you choose which boss you fight before you get to that part of the level.
As I mentioned earlier, I've got a lot more updates planned than these bosses, and I'll be going over those shortly. But first, this alpha's change notes (alpha 0.8):
Levels can now have one of multiple bosses. Defeat one to unlock the next!
Added fish boss: CARPY DIE 'EM
Added factory boss: MAW MAW
Increased level 1 boss healths
Improved spear squid attack hit detection
Improved enemy beam attack canceling
Improved level randomness for repeated runs.
Fixed Perry's parry potentially persisting past player press
Fixed enemy bullet z-order conflicts just after firing
Fixed unexpected behavior after some enemy deaths
What's Next
My next major focus is going to be improving level pacing and giving you more decisions mid-level.
I've got plenty of ideas for how to better detect "gaps" in levels, either because of generation or an especially murderous player. Then I'll have the level spawn things earlier or outright fast forward the level's scroll progression. We'll see what works best!
This first implementation of mid-level decisions will be represented via friendly targets that fly up to you in world for you to activate, either to pick a route/boss or purchase an item with your coins. It's simple enough, but I hope it'll add extra choices without pulling you out of the gameplay as much as another menu would.
While I'm excited for that general focus, content additions like more player upgrades, more enemies, and more minibosses are also planned for the next alpha! Increasing player choice should make playing with all of that a lot more fun!
Thank You!
Thanks so much for playing Match Shot Chimera, and for your feedback! I hope you enjoy these new bosses and have a good holiday season.
I will be moving over the holidays, which will be hard. But eventually I'll be spending a lot less time working on moving and selling house. I'm looking forward to it!