Figured I'd give this devlog thing a try. A lot has been happening with Dewdrop behind the scenes. Besides doing a ton of marketing (the boring stuff no one wants to hear about), I've been adding lots of new features and fixing bugs.
Here are some of the things I've been working on:
New Sound Bank: Mushrooms - The next sound bank will feature mushrooms as the "leaves" on the vines, complete with new colors and sounds!
Tint Shader - I've replaced the current color correction option with a new tint shader. It makes the visuals a lot easier to see and looks better in my opinion. You can see it in action in the screenshot below.
Save/Load GUI Overhaul - The save and load interface is being redesigned to be more creative and aesthetically pleasing.
Glass Shader for UI - I've added a glass shader to all of the UI buttons. I know not everyone will like this, so there's an option to disable it, but I think the shader will give the game a really shiny Frutiger Aero feel. I still need to test the game's performance with it, though.
Puzzle Mode - That's right, there's going to be a puzzle mode too!
Puzzle Mode
When I first made Dewdrop, it was purely a musical sandbox where you draw vines and place spawners to create music. After sharing it with the community, though, I realized something. People genuinely enjoy that aspect of the game and love how easy and relaxing it can be to just make music, but they don't stay engaged with it for very long.
The game needed something more. Based on this feedback, I decided to explore adding a puzzle mode. This will actually become the primary game mode, with sandbox available as a secondary option. I'm planning to create somewhere between 50 and 100 different puzzles.
How It Works
The objective is to guide each colored droplet into its matching vortex while bouncing off the required number of vines shown below it. You're limited in how many vines you can draw based on the total hits needed across all vortexes. Levels can have multiple color-coded vortexes with different requirements, plus obstacles that make things trickier. And while you're solving the puzzle, you're still making music.
I'm also considering a points system that rewards you for using fewer vines than allowed and avoiding unnecessary bounces. To tie everything together, progressing through puzzle mode will unlock new vine types and sounds you can use in sandbox mode.
Much Much More
There's even more I have planned for Dewdrop, and so many features in the Sandbox mode I didn't even mention, but that's for another post! I hope everyone is enjoying the game so far and having a wonderful holiday! Talk to you soon.