Before I recorded the new voice lines I got sidetracked again because I made a big change to some of the mechanics. To free up some space and also make the lantern powers more interesting I removed the block button and changed it to one of the lantern modes. This way the lantern button on the controller is where the power button used to be, and now both power buttons are on the left trigger and shoulder. This doesn’t change much on the keyboard but I find it to be an improvement for the gamepad controls. With that the shield is its own power, so it will be up to the player if they will use it often.
After spending some time working out where to put the shield icon yesterday, I removed it entirely and used the image for the new power. Placing it at the top of the resource bar, I had to decide on a new lantern color. For now I am sticking with grey because I don’t wanted a more neutral color for the shield. It wasn’t too hard to unplug the block input and then put the parry and shield into separate functions. Since I had it working on its own it flowed perfectly. Now the parry is its own separate power that doesn’t cost anything. It might be a bit strange to have it as a separate power instead of its own input but I think this should be an interesting change in mechanic that will have players be more aware of the importance of switching lantern settings.
I had to update a lot of the controls, inputs, settings, functions, and defaults since I essentially moved power 2 and 3 one number up. It was time consuming but not difficult at all.
The block input was removed entirely so that freed up space for controls and it does feel better and more active. Instead of holding the shield button all the player would have to do is press it once. I did have to add two more tutorial messages. Hopefully it isn’t too overwhelming at the start for new players, but for people doing story mode they shouldn’t be too worried about the mechanics. For players doing the standard difficulty they should be prepared for a challenge.
Once I was done adding the new tutorials I recorded the new voice lines and added them into the function. It is looking quite large but that isn’t an issue for me. I found an issue with the dash that I fixed. If the player wasn’t locked-on they would automatically dash forward even if they weren’t trying to go forward. I want the default direction of the dodge to be backwards. It has to feel natural and intuitive. I don’t want the character to do something that the player doesn’t expect.
While testing the third stage I found an issue with some objects that would break on their own. I changed their collision settings and hopefully it shouldn’t happen anymore. I also made sure that the puzzle had to be solved in order to fight the boss. It was previously possible to get into the boss room without the necessary steps I intended.
For awhile now I have been wrestling with a death mechanic that is both interesting but not too punishing. I was alright at first that I didn’t have one, but after playing some games I felt that I needed something to be affected by dying. The mechanic I thought of was inspired, or really stolen, from Transistor. I’m going to make sure that the last power the player was using won’t be available until they are able to enhance their Primelight. It should add another layer of challenge, and that would mean they might be encouraged to try out different powers. This will need a lot of testing but I think this is a step in the right direction for a death mechanic that fits the game. So that’s what I will be working on going forward.
GoldenGratus Games 