Alright, so as we all know, the Don't Die! alpha has begun and I already have so much good feedback that I really think will clean things up a bit with the game. Let's go over the recent developments.
Recent developments and changes
- So, as expected and before the alpha began, abilities went through another rework. Originally, the abilities had a cooldown that was streaming between levels. If you finished a level with 10 seconds left, you began the next level with 10 seconds left until that ability can be used. (This was often over shadowed by the exploit that if you complete a level before the ability comes off of cooldown, it won't be on cooldown the next level. This was then changed to 1 use per attempt and that being the only draw back, however that quickly made things stale and so the Dust system was implemented. This system is described more in detail in the current quick reference guide.
- Speaking of that, we have a quick reference sheet for you to use for your daily Don't Die! grind!
- It is still undecided whether to use random levels, linear levels, or free choice when it comes to level select. More data will be gathered on this and probably tested in future builds.
- As of now, no bugs to report! (yay!)
- UI hasn't been updated to a GUI and likely won't be done until after the test is over. Got some good ideas for it, however. The default UI present is so boring.
- Music is also in the works. Had to pull from an old project and that music will get a bit stale so once more music is created, a playlist system will be crafted. (Also with this, an update will roll out soon that instead of stopping the music, it pauses, so the song doesn't play at the beginning after a delay when muted.)
- Still gathering input on what kind of data to save in your save files. This will likely be decided upon once the ability situation is sorted out.
- Slowly but surely, more levels are being added. Still not able to create modding software yet so send me your ideas!
Overall, getting plenty of input on the game and what routes to take. I'm going to continue to monitor over the course of the next week and see what's good and start tweaking as I get closer to polishing. Got a lot of assets to work on and a small team to do it with a small amount of time, but we're still nailing away at that early fall deadline!
Keep posted on my Twitter or the Templarius Games Studios Twitter for updated information in realtime.
I'll keep you all updated on future updates!
Michael "Arylos" Cox