As a developer, it can be difficult to anticipate the experience of your game from the perspective of someone playing it for the first time. That's why it was really helpful to see PhilanthroPwn's video review of Willowisp VR, which is the top hit if you search for Willowisp VR on YouTube--it's well-made, check it out! The most recent round of updates are largely based on my takeaways from that video:
1) Sword-swapping is enabled by default.
2) I noticed that some players did not notice the story in Story Mode until reaching level 4 (when mirrors are introduced), so I added an auto-play narration feature. I recognize that anything automatic has the potential to be annoying, so I built in some limitations, including: (a) each chapter only auto-plays once (resets when you restart game), (b) narration can still be turned on/off manually by pressing the "narration" button, and (c) the entire auto-narrate feature can be deactivated in by going to Options (from the starting area) and setting Auto-Narrate to Disabled (setting is saved when game quits/restarts so you only have to do this once).
3) Survival mode is now unlocked from the start of the game, so you no longer have to complete levels 1-10 or get 200 points in Demo mode to compete for a high score on the leader-boards. Survival mode is, however, still restricted to those who own the full game. I made this change based on the realization that this game is *hard*, which in itself is a good thing, but some people are motivated by competition and they shouldn't have to play for hours before getting a chance to compete. That said, I still recommend playing through all the levels first, because they include helpful tutorials explaining the strengths and weaknesses of each enemy and the tactics needed to beat them. Can you beat my high score of 185?
That's it for updates for now. I am spending most of my development time lately working on an RTS game in VR, but would like to keep Willowisp VR a priority. To ensure any changes I make are actually for the better, however, I could really use your feedback. So my question to you all is: what would you like to see next? Better artwork? Intermediate difficulty setting? Whether you own the full game, the demo, or just have Willowisp VR on your wishlist, please comment on this announcement or one of the community threads on what you think would make this game better. If your suggestion is within the scope of the project and seems like it reflects the interests of other players, let me know and I'll do my best to implement it!