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[Rebusmind]

We've been busy bees again and completed another level (minus balancing and final polish) in a week. That leaves six more levels on the todo list to have the minimum levels for release.

The newest level is the swamp, a dangerous place to go wandering around, as it is filled with deceptive demons and puddles of mud that slow you down more and more the longer you stand in them.

Previous victims of the swamp have turned into these hideous
creatures and hide in the mud to attack you if you come too close.



Don't be fooled by their innocent looks...



In this level there are rivers that you have to
cross by building a bridge over it.

[Rebusmind]

This week I've been mostly working on the second boss of the game, a big hellhound with three heads that likes it hot. Again it's a bit tricky to find out how to beat him, but it shouldn't give you headaches.

In other news: We also started working on the next level, which will be a bit happier than the last few, as you're going on a cruise! :D

[Rebusmind]

This week I worked on the sea level some more. This level is a bit more tricky, as we had to do some extra work to make the normal items that are in every level (like the chest or jewels) work with the new environment. It's still a little rough around the edges, but here are some impressions.

[Rebusmind]

This week I've been working on finishing the third boss in SwapQuest, a giant kraken with eight arms. Now the sea level is complete and I can move on to something a little more arid...

Let me introduce: Mama Kraken



Danger from below


RUDE!

 

[gambrinous]

Congrats on getting into the Indie Showcase for Develop Conf! Saw you on the list today. I was hoping to make it too but alas did not. Looks like a great conference to be at too!

[Rebusmind]

@gambrinous
Thanks a lot!
Too bad Guild of Dungeoneering won't be there, would've loved to play it.

[Rebusmind]

Yay, a new level! Again I've tried to capture what makes a desert 'interesting' and work it into the various elements of the level. Here's a little selection.

(btw. I'd really love to hear your feedback from time to time. Has been kinda lonely here lately, so drop a line if you have the time.)

Sandstorms will get you to a new position, whether you want it or not.



A little hommage to a great game. Don't stop or the vulture will come for you.



Another hommage. Can you guess the game?

[jamiebell]

Oh man, the Kraken is giving me so much nostalgia for Star Tropics! Awesome

[edmundmk]

Just waiting patiently for a chance to give you my money!

Love the perspective effect on the whirlwind.  It's really impressive how you've worked out a unique boss fight or scenario for each area.

Keep updating!

[Rebusmind]

This week has been a bit slower due to preparations for the Develop in Brighton conference (a lot of suspended bug fixing and some new invisible features to improve the level generation). But we also worked on a new level, which you can see below (no gifs this time, though).
Next week I'll be in Brighton then, so don't expect much new stuff.

A sunny winter day...



You can get frozen by certain attacks.



You're walking on thin ice.



Don't get hit by the icy wind.



The weather is getting worse and night is coming down.

[Rebusmind]

Who's not a fan of some nice menus in games? Well, I've been working on a first version of the merchant in the game. Right now it still looks a bit boring, but for now I wanted the mechanics to work so that you can finally spend your hard-earned jewels on something nice.

[Rebusmind]

I have great news:
SwapQuest won the Indie Showcase award at the Develop conference in Brighton! That's the first award I've won in my life and it felt (and feels) amazing. It was really a big surprise, there were many great games in the indie showcase.

We also finished another level this week. It's an ancient temple full of traps, forgotten machinery and treasure.
That leaves us with only two more levels to go. Hopefully I can show you the next one next week.

Here are some impressions.

Levers open doors, like in real life



Can anybody guess where the inspiration came from?



The promised traps



They almost seem alive...

Hope you like it! Would love to hear some feedback from you!

[Rebusmind]

Some time has passed since the last update, but we haven't been lazy. The second last level is almost complete and we're already working on the last level - which also has the last boss in it! - and a little cutscene, which always eats up a lot of time (if there's a cutscene in the game, I want it to be as epic as possible).

I'd love to show new gifs here, but I don't want to give away everything before you actually played the game, so nothing new today... sorry.

After we have finished all the levels, we will get back to the following tasks:

• Create the second half of the world map
• Revise all the menus
• Finish the caravan (right now only the merchant works)
• Create an intro and ending
• Balance the hell out of the game

If everything works according to plan, the game will be finished in September or October. Wish us luck.

To make this post less boring, here's a little image I threw together in five minutes. That's dedication!

[Rebusmind]

I've been working on the last boss for the last two weeks to make sure it's as epic as possible. So far I'm really satisfied. It's certainly the most complex boss so far, but at the same time I tried to structure is properly so people won't get confused. This time the boss actually has a more coherent narrative than the other bosses, where the actions you had to do where more disconnected from each other. I hope, this helps to make the last boss feel special and worth the effort.
I challenged myself to finish the boss this week, but as it's already Friday I don't think I can make it. But it's very advanced, so I should be able to start with the end phase of this project very soon. I'm so excited for this, as it means the release in October is still possible.

I will also do a beta phase in September, so if anyone is interested to test the game on iOS or Android, leave a message here.

[Rebusmind]

Great news: We finished working on the levels and now officially entered the last phase of development!

I took some time to wrap my head around a way to localize the game and it's already mostly in place (the mechanics, not the actual localization), while Jussi finished the second half of the world map in only five days!

For the localization I'll be using the popular table method, where you put all the lines of the game in a huge excel table, with one column for every language. Makes translating really easy. I also wrote a little tool to transform the entries into a format that Game Maker understands. It's nowhere near perfect, but does the job.

Jussi also finished the second half of the world map and I finished all the paths and markers today, so that you can finally play through the game without cheating.

Next week I will be working on the missing challenge levels, which will take a few days, as there are only two of them in the game right now (leaving at least 10 to do).

Hope you guys have a great weekend and if you join the Ludum Dare, good luck!

[oodavid]

Well done on getting to the last phase! I'll be downloading this for Android ASAP

[King Tetiro]

Likewise! I have been keeping an eye on this for a long time. When shall we see a release?

It is nice to see another Game Maker user on the forums

[Rebusmind]

Soon the beta testing will start and if you want to be part of it, please sign up here (or click the image).



I will send you an email when the beta test is all set up. Please only sign up if you want to help me find bugs and make the game better, not if you just want an early try. I need serious feedback.
You can select if you want to test the Android or iOS version. If you choose the later, I also need the UID of the device you will be using to test the game, so I can set everything up in Testflight.

The last two weeks I was busy with cleaning up the project and creating the challenge levels that appear after you complete a level. I also found a way to optimize the amount of texture swaps and vertex batching, which is really nice.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

[Rebusmind]

I've finished the caravan this week, which was the last thing stopping me from balancing the game. So now I've got everything influencing the difficulty (enemies, bosses, status effects, currency flow, etc.) in the game and I will start balancing next week.

Here's a little walkthrough for the caravan. The background and some assets are still placeholders.

• Merchant - Here you buy new equipment (weapons and armor)
• Trainer - Here you can upgrade your abilities, which will increase some of its properties (like the speed of your dog)
• Enchantress - The enchantress can - well - enchant your weapons and armor, so that they deal or prevent status effects with a certain propability
• Bank - Here you can deposit your jewels, so that you don't lose them should you die in a level

Also don't forget that you can still sign up for the beta test of SwapQuest. Due to some personal matters it will be a bit later than I wanted it to be, but hopefully it will start at the end of September.

You can sign up here.

 

[oodavid]

Singed up for beta