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[KeinZantezuken]

Still planned for q1-q2 of 2015?

[aamatniekss]

Yeah q2 probably.

[aamatniekss]

Hey!
So I figured I should post an update, it's been some time.

I've been working a lot on improving the mechanics of the game. I've changed the physics of the Caveman around quite a bit. You now get a little bit less control in the air, enough to make a difference, but not too much, to change the way the game plays. The movement has a bit less friction now, previously it was almost unnoticable. And when hitting with the club the caveman stops for a few miliseconds. All these changes were made to make the game a bit more challenging. These were all things I had planned to change eventually. Also slight modifications to throwables.

Considering levels, I've finished level designing water level. Only thing left to do for it is the boss fight. I've already planned it out, just need to code it, but I'll do that some other time. Meanwhile here's a gif, of how the boss will look, except for the background, that will change. I was also thinking that the boss fight should be underwater, but decided to not go that way, as this is a bit more fun way of doing it.
 


Oh and here's a cool little chase scene, because what's a water level without angry jellyfish trying to get you! :D



I've also started work on the visuals of the next level, to take a break from coding, level designing and all the boring stuff. It will be an afterlife level, because at the end of water level, the caveman will die, and he'll find himself in a dinosaur 'afterlife' place thingy. From there on he will have to find a way to be reborn!
It's still a work in progress obviously -




Thank you for reading!

[joeyspacerocks]

This is all looking really cool now. Since I'm building a platfomer too it's always interesting seeing the gameplay elements people come up with to keep levels varied.

When you were tweaking the physics behaviour did you find that you had to go back and fix or change any existing levels you'd already made?

[aamatniekss]

Hehe, thanks man!
Yeah, I had to fix some stuff in the previous levels, but nothing much, just some places that became a bit too hard to do.

[Voltz.Supreme]

Dinosaur graveyard looks great!

[aamatniekss]

Dinosaur graveyard looks great!

Thanks man!

[toborprime]

Played the demo version - so fun!

I love the character, enemy design, and the overall look of it! Can't wait to play the finished version :]

[aamatniekss]

Thanks, toborprime! Glad you're enjoying it!

Sooo...
It's time for another update!

I've basically finished the water level boss fight! There's just some cosmetic stuff I must do, like particles and some animations.
The fight is pretty hard if you're not paying attention! It basically has 3 phases. At first phase the octoboss will shoot huge bubbles out of his eyes, that you must avoid. After that you're given a small window of opportunity to strike the boss, before he starts attacking with his tentacles. This can get hard, but if you're paying attention, they're quite easy to dodge. As they first show up underwater, and only then pop up. After that the boss delves deeper in the water(Again giving you the opportunity to strike, while it's going deeper), and after a moment surfaces randomly on either the left or the right side. Then the fight continues.
It's pretty simple, but can be quite hard if you're not paying attention!
Here's a gif -



I've revisited some of the older levels and improved them a bit again. I've done some small level design changes and additions and changed the visuals a bit - adding some moving grass, and swinging vines.



The new 'afterlife' levels visuals are nearly completed. Now i'll start working on mechanics and enemies. It will mostly be ghosts and dinosaur skeletons. Because the Caveman dies after the octoboss fight, no matter what. And he has to fight through the dinosaur afterlife to be reborn.



I've also updated Gamejolt and IndieDB(awaiting authorization, as of writing) with new demo. It's still only the first level(that won't change), but now you can try out the changed movement physics, look at mushrooms and listen to some music(will probably change).
I've also added gamepad support. It should be just plug in and play, i'd be happy if you gave me feedback on how your gamepads worked.
I also added a basic pause menu that you can toggle with <ESC>.


Oh, and I made a small little website for the game. It's still with .weebly for now, but that will change when the game nears completion.(in fact the whole website might change)
http://therewasacaveman.weebly.com/

Thanks to whoever is reading!

[aamatniekss]

Ehh, looks like eating too much turtle isn't healthy for you after all.. :/

[alvarop]

Is this going to be included in the game? And is it a mechanic à la Metal Slug?

Say yes to both questions or I'll go caveman on you.

[aamatniekss]

If you're talking about the fat caveman, then that was a April fools joke. :D

[Grog]

Don't you dare take fat caveman away from us.

[Mig (@wtfmig)]

As your biggest fan, I can only express my sadness at the lack of chickens.

[aamatniekss]

Well, can I add a fat prehistoric chicken, to make you both happy? :D

[Fenrir]

fat prehistoric chicken

It's not what we call a dinosaur? 

[aamatniekss]

fat prehistoric chicken

It's not what we call a dinosaur? 

Hah, if I think about it, that's actually true. :D

[aamatniekss]

Hey!
It's time for another update!
I have done quite a lot in this time, though not as much as I'd like, because I was participating in a local game jam for 2 weeks. I made a little action/rpg/strategy game called 'Pillagers', similar to something like Sid Meier's Pirates and Mount&Blade, the game also scored the first place in the said jam! You can check it out here if you wish - Pillagers on Gamejolt

But enough off-topic, about TwaC -
I have uploaded a new demo version for you guys to try out, it includes lots of small fixes and additions, and a few bigger things, like I have finally made collectables for the game. They are tiny dinosaur skulls that drop when you kill enemies. They are, however, purely for score, as without them the game felt kinda empty. That is not it however, Im planning on including a few more things to collect, but let that stay a secret.
You can get it at Gamejolt or IndieDB



Considering the rest of the game it's going steady. I still hope to finish it by summer!
Right now im still working on the 'afterlife' level, but a lot has been done for it already, like enemies and hazards, only level design and boss fight is left to do, which shouldn't take too long.
Here you can see a few enemies - a headbanging zombie dinosaur and flying skulls. They are fairly simple in their mechanics, but can provide quite the challenge, if you're not careful.



I made a couple of new backgrounds, including a new background for forest level as I felt that the previous one didn't do justice for the level. Other backgrounds are desert background and a snow level background, which should be it for background art, by the way.







And I finally managed to make a death animation that I like. There's still some improvements left to do, like fading in and out and other minor things.. But the core is there.



Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope that the next updates will go a bit faster.

For smaller and more frequent updates follow me on twitter @ThereWasCaveman

[lobstersteve]

I didn't play much, because i didn't have much time, i came approximatly to the point where the first alpha you posted here ended, but a few things i realized:
The presentation became a lot better of course. With the menu, better graphics and music it comes a lot closer to a finished product.
Getting used to the controls through "tutorial levels" works well. I especially liked the fancy death animation and how fast it puts you into the game again. This things made me continue playing, where i otherwise probably would have stopped.
The higher air friction, that makes the character more "floaty" takes some time to get used too, but i can't say if it's for the better or not yet.
Some problems i encountered: I don't know if you already have controller support (title screen says playing with a controller is better), but i had my xbox controller plugged in before playing and it didn't work.
Is it possible that the bone item, that you throw, dissapears when it's off - screen? I threw it on an enemy that was higher above and i think it disappeared when it was higher then the screen (shouldn't happen, as you should be able to throw it from a safe place).
The first small red dinosaur that throws 2 stones upwards is really hard to kill without taking damage. You can only have 3 items by that time you can throw at him, so afterwards you have to land very close to him to hit him with the sword. But due to the high air friction and as he stands below you it's hard to land close to him. It's not very beginner friendly and hard for the first encounter with this enemy.
Besides that, i'm a big fan of simple, but polished action platformers and look forward for more.

[aamatniekss]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it!
Ahh, that's weird xbox controllers should work. I don't have an xbox controller myself, but I've got 2 others, and they both work, and I asked 2 other people with xbox controllers to test it out and it worked great for them. I have no idea why it didn't work for you, it should be just plug and play.
Argh, yes, I should have fixed the bone thing a long time ago, I always forget.
About the first dino, it could be true that it's too hard. I guess i've gotten used to how to beat it and didn't notice that, I'll fix it.