Alright, it took me a while to get everything to a satisfactory state. I had a short list of features that I wanted to quickly get in before I considered it demo-worthy. Sadly, those are likely the last features that will be implemented for quite some time.
Download:
Bear Hero Demo v0.4 [Win]And here's some stuff to look at!
Also, I'll probably upload a video in a couple days showcasing some other things.
And here's a big ol' changelog. The general thrust of development has been toward adding more action and impact to the gameplay. A lot of the tedium and waiting inherent in the old system has been gutted. Also, plenty of new stuff has been added such as Arena mode, a tutorial, five classes, five gods, and too many new enemies, spells, and relics to count.
System Changes
+Title screen and main menu added.
+New mode: Arena! Fight waves of monsters in pre-determined maps. Recommended for experts.
+Two arena missions added: Burnt Offering, Tainted Emissary.
+New mode: Tutorial. Walks new players through the basics. Won't teach you everything, but should give some guidance.
+New mode: Practice. Take half damage from all sources. Enemies drop apples occasionally. No other changes. Recommended if things feel impossible.
+New classes added: Antipaladin, Archer, Mutant, Reaver, Veteran.
+Class select catalog implemented. After playing a class once, it will be permanently unlocked in the catalog, allowing you to choose it from a list by pressing Up in the class select menu. You can even see a special description of each class. Try to unlock all the classes for a full catalog!
+Morgue files added. Upon death or victory, a detailed text file record of the game is recorded in the Data/Morgue folder.
+Press Confirm on the Status screen and then Up/Down to view additional explanation for each line of displayed info.
Gameplay Changes
+New combat system: Combo
+Gain gold at the end of a level based on combo meter value
+Hitting enemies builds combo meter
+Not hitting an enemy for long enough decays combo meter
+Getting hurt rapidly decays combo meter
? Rationale: Time-based gold rewards after fights put pressure on the player to move forward, but weren't the right solution for every fight. The real thing I want to discourage is waiting around for the stars to align for a perfect opening, but I didn't want to simultaneously punish being careful or being weaker than average and thus never being able to make it in time for a bonus. The combo meter's decay time is set so that you won't exceed it if you're normally running around, but you just barely might if you hesitate too long or chicken out of an opportunity.
+Mutation system implemented. Gain them by being a mutant or buying mutation items from shops.
+Attacking an enemy from below awards significantly less gold on kill. Ankle biting isn't lucrative!
? Rationale: Hitting an enemy from below on a ladder or from below go-through-ground is one of the most simultaneously effective and un-fun strategies out there. This discouragement might not be enough, but it's a step in the right direction.
+Hitboxes and hurtboxes of all enemies separated. Their 'attackable' regions are now larger than their 'damaging' regions, in general.
? Rationale: Fixes ugly cases where visually clawing an enemy's sprite wouldn't inflict damage since their collision box was smaller than that, which was necessary at points for tall enemies like knights and mages to fit into one-space gaps. Now that it's separated, you can claw them in their heads and they can walk under small clearances, no problem.
~Curses now bind equipped relics. These relics can't be unequipped until the curse wears off (by gaining experience).
~An indicator shows where the player is at the start of each level.
Dungeon Changes
+New branch: The Swamp
+Replaces the Ruins. You'll have to find out how to reach it yourself.
+Full of poisonous traps and new enemies such as the Drake, Ogre Jelly, and Rogue.
+Many, many more relics and spells added.
+Significantly more level maps added.
+Monsters can now be 'plus-ified', giving them a '+' at the end of their name and increasing their overall nastiness.
+Certain Monsters can now be 'huge-ified', making them bigger, healthier, and stronger.
+Altars can now be found around the dungeon. Interact with one to view the description and powers for a god, and join them if you wish. Each confers unique benefits that will make it worth your while.
+Five gods added: The Shining One, The Three, St. Poison, Tyrant, and Enthor Faelor.
+Shops have made their debut in the dungeon. Interact with them to view and purchase relics with your hard-earned gold.
+Tips and Tricks are now displayed upon death. 44 unique tips are currently implemented.
+Coins are scattered on the ground throughout the dungeon now. Someone should really pick them up!
+New trap: Spike trap. Dangerous spikes shoot up from the ground with consistent timing.
+New trap: Slime trap. Balls of poisonous slime fall from a slimy point on the ceiling with consistent timing.
+Stationary poison mushrooms added, which can be destroyed. Release a cloud of spores upon destruction!
~Generally, enemy HP has been raised and their attack speed and frequency has been increased.
? Rationale: This is in response to the player now having mobility, much faster attack speed, and many more ways to deal with enemies in general.
~The Jumpshroom's spore pattern has been reworked to enhance the way interactions with the enemy play out.
? Rationale: This enemy was super boring to fight before. Now, you at least have to perform some weaving in/out of their attacks to hit them.
~Skeloses now occasionally gain a large burst of speed, signified by slowing down beforehand. Their explosions also leave behind dangerous projectiles that must be avoided.
? Rationale: This enemy was pretty easy, and the explosion almost never hit. Now it will prove less trivial, but not super powerful still.
Player Changes
+Monsters can now be 'stomped' in traditional platformer fashion. Damage dealt per stomp is dependent on Strength.
? Rationale: Not being able to bounce was a disappointing weakness in the overall feel of the game. Bouncing won't replace your attack, but it will increase your angles of approach for many scenarios.
+Hit an enemy with the tip of your claws to deal bonus damage based on Dexterity and apply extra hitstun.
+Hold up or down while attacking to perform an angled attack.
+Hold the attack button to perform a charge attack. Deals bonus damage based on Strength.
+The player can now be launched upon taking a large enough amount of damage (More Strength will help resist this launching effect).
+While launching, use Left/Right to slightly influence your trajectory.
+Right before hitting the ground, press Down to attempt to recover. Pressing the button with good timing results in a quick recovery and long invincibility. Failure means much shorter invincibility.
~Air/Ground horizontal/vertical momentum during attacks restored.
? Rationale: Freezing in mid-air really killed the flow of movement. Now you can zip around to your heart's content while attacking.
~Lag after attacks reduced to the point of almost complete removal.
? Rationale: Waiting around for an attack to refresh for three seconds wasn't fun or meaningful. All the rest of the changes in this section generally stem from tackling this truth. The player can now attack freely which really makes the game feel more kinetic.
~Damage formula for attacks modified. Dexterity now most directly governs single attack damage. Strength's forte is single devastating charge attacks.
? Rationale: With the huge wait time after an attack gone, Dexterity and Strength didn't have a meaningful difference. Since Dexterity should be about a flurry of blows, it became the 'attack as much as possible' stat to have, and Strength gained the role of single, powerful blows. Strength now lends itself to high risk, high reward playstyles and heavily rewards knowing your enemies inside and out. In short, it's harder but more rewarding!
~The HP/MP of each class was generally increased.
~Walk speed increased significantly. Walk turnaround time increased.
? Rationale: New players walk all the time, and seldom run. This is fine of course, since it gives you more control. But when running was literally double the speed of walking and everything was balanced around it, walking was one of the least useful things in the game. Now walking is still situational, but much quicker so that new players won't get stomped quite as hard and running won't feel quite as jolting. Walking can also now be used to turn on a dime without moving at all (super useful for landing behind enemies and not wanting to bump into them as you turn to attack).
~Generous windows added to the slide dodge and duck animations to cancel into a walk/run/attack/jump/ladder climb.
? Rationale: Slide dodge can now be integrated into movement seamlessly, whereas before it had a lot of lag at the end. The challenge with the dodge should be managing to space and time it properly at all, not trying to figure out if you'll be safe on the other end of it for half a second.
~Attack windup dramatically reduced.
? Rationale: This windup was just a nuisance that made attacking feel more sluggish.
~A window to cancel a spell cast animation into an attack has been added.
? Rationale: Berserkers mistakenly casting spells can do the right thing and give up on them now.
~Control while running dramatically improved. Can now turn around on a dime.
? Rationale: Just to make baiting out an attack easier, so you don't have to start your turnaround early lest you carom into something.
~Attacking on ladders is now possible.
~Gained minor invincibility during the downswing of an attack.
~Migrated elemental resistances to be pip-based (discrete), instead of continuous.Let me know how you fare!
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