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[Ottbot]

Will there be story elements to it, such as reading discarded logbooks to learn about the facilities you're exploring?

Thanks, SirNiko!

Yes, there will be story elements pretty much exactly as you describe; lore about the world, and what happened to it, will be pieced together from logs/signs/writing littered throughout the facilities and ruins. Although not intended as a story-heavy game, there's some cutscenes and dialogue present... we'll have a bit of this to show in time for the kickstarter!

Today, here is a sneak-peek at the first 1x2 creature, the Megaroach:

It's functionally similar to a standard roach, but with more HP and a stronger attack. Unfortunately there's still some animations and mechanics I need to complete for it, so it won't be ready in time for the demo.

[Ottbot]

Suits are an item type that I haven't talked about yet. Suits confer various defensive benefits, and also change the character's appearance.

One example is the Hazmat Suit, an especially useful item that confers immunity to radiation. This is quite handy with toxic waste being such a common hazard! However, if you take damage, the suit will be torn and rendered useless:



I've since fixed the issue with suits not aligning properly in the HUD.

[KaiTheSpy]

Been following on Twitter so I thought I'd follow here too.

[SirNiko]

Is there a way for the player to know what a button does before they press it?

[Ottbot]

Thanks, Kai!

Is there a way for the player to know what a button does before they press it?

Currently, no... this was an admitted design flaw in the first game, as well. I've been thinking about adding something like this:



Not sure how readable it is? Too much visual clutter? Let me know what you think!


While I'm at it, here's a look at a datalog for an enemy:



Using the mouse, you can click on things to pull up more information about them at any time. The formatting still needs a little work, but it functions.

And here's a peek at the WIP titlescreen:



That's all for now!

[Ottbot]

On the topic of visual clarity, I’ve actually had to try to make the grid a little more obvious than my original design. The first floor tiles I had made were pretty seamless, and it was very difficult to see how many tiles you were working with when solving a puzzle. The new ones have a vague grid outline, and I’ve added a feature to toggle a grid overlay as well:

[battlerager]

Is there a way for the player to know what a button does before they press it?

Currently, no... this was an admitted design flaw in the first game, as well. I've been thinking about adding something like this:



Not sure how readable it is? Too much visual clutter? Let me know what you think!

Looks alright, but why not go the "toggle grid overlay" route?
You could add a button that shows the connections so it's not cluttered during gameplay. You could, like, show the connections as brighly lit, blinking/moving dotted lines, "flowing" towards the door. That way, you could have them super obvious when you want to see them, and completely out of the way when you don't want to.

[Ottbot]

Brilliant, battlerager, I will likely do just that!

Thanks for the input!

[charliecarlo]

If you're talking about the wires; I think they are perfectly readable and their dark color/the fact that they are on the floor don't really contribute to the clutter.
But maybe different levels would have more obfuscation of the floor, in which case I'd recommend doing both; Having them on the floor and having a toggle-able overlay.

[battlerager]

Brilliant, battlerager, I will likely do just that!

Thanks for the input!

I'm glad I could be of help! Lots of games I play (generally strategy) come with tons of different map modes you use real quick  to check stuff, so it seemed pretty natural to me.


You could even have a set of different colors and use different ones if two "streams" cross, if there's still readability problems in terms of "intersections" (if that even exists).

[Ottbot]

I know I said Oct 1st for the demo release, but it will be a couple more days... I hate to delay, but trust me, it'll be well worth it. At this point I'm polishing the puzzle design and doing some testing, and then I will let you have at it. Trust me, the extra time will be worth it.

Here is the final cut of the title screen, in the meantime:

[Ottbot]

Sorry for the delay, there were some major technical issues... computer is back up and running, though!

Puzzle Depot Demo now available for download!
(Windows only for now, should hopefully be able to provide a Mac version soon)



I didn't get everything into the first build that I wanted to, but rather than delay any longer, here it is! I've already gotten some great feedback, but more is appreciated.

Here are some of the changes I'd like to make for the next version:

- Use of WASD for movement, in addition to arrow keys.
- Grid Overlay toggle moved from 'A' to SHIFT, to allow use of WASD
- Quicksave/Quickload options are not very useful... they were more important in the predecessor, Depot Dungeons, with its larger and more intricate rooms. Rooms in Puzzle Depot are smaller and play faster, so it really doesn't seem very necessary as restarting a room is not as big of a deal, and I'm not very happy with how it works. Instead, I will likely implement a checkpoint system.
- Restarting a room will simply require pushing the button, not holding it... this is another carryover from Depot Dungeons, where it was easier to accidentally hit 'R' as there were other buttons nearby you needed.
- Not happy with the mouse controls for examining objects, and this will likely be replaced with a keyboard-based system.
- Improvements to TAB menu.
- 200 pts per heart at the end of the run, instead of 100... oversight on my part.
- Addition of Hard Mode at some point, featuring remixed rooms.

Give it a play, I would love to hear what you think!

[Noyemi K]

Characters and objects have a "candy"-like quality to them; I love the bright artwork. It looks like a lot of fun!

[Ottbot]

Characters and objects have a "candy"-like quality to them; I love the bright artwork. It looks like a lot of fun!

I like that description a lot! I tried to make objects easy to recognize, and with consistent color palettes that stand out against the background. Clarity is so important is this kind of puzzle game!

[KaiTheSpy]

I tried the demo and it was awesome My only issue was that I couldn't use WASD or something else to move because I have awkward small arrow keys on my keyboard.

[Noyemi K]

I like that description a lot! I tried to make objects easy to recognize, and with consistent color palettes that stand out against the background. Clarity is so important is this kind of puzzle game!

And it's fantastic visual design, hope you don't mind if I put out some enthusiastic recommendations. Couldn't help it 

[SirNiko]

It would be nice if WASD was an option as well.

I really liked the variety of ways you could solve puzzles - depending on your goal, you could choose to take damage to save steps, or perform complex sequences of moves to preserve a useful item for later.

I take it that it's not possible to get all the bonuses in a single run? I managed to do all the bonuses except for "No Damage" and "Under 10XX Moves", which seem to be mutually exclusive anyway.

This is super lovely and I really don't have any suggestions to make.

[Ottbot]

Thanks for playing, everyone! Sounds like WASD controls are in high demand... I'm surprised I hadn't thought to add this before, really.

I take it that it's not possible to get all the bonuses in a single run? I managed to do all the bonuses except for "No Damage" and "Under 10XX Moves", which seem to be mutually exclusive anyway.

You can't get them all in a single run... in the complete game, it will track which goals you've completed for each dungeon, with rewards unlocking for completing them. Pretty sure you're right about those two being mutually exclusive.

And it's fantastic visual design, hope you don't mind if I put out some enthusiastic recommendations. Couldn't help it 

Go for it! :D

I did find a bug today, skipping the 2nd cutscene at the wrong time had me spawn inside a wall! I'll have to fix that in the next version, too

[Jasmine]

Played through the demo!

Rating:

As far as C.C., perhaps there could be a warning when a player has exceeded their step count? Flashing red, or an error bubble for overworking or something. I got to the point where I was just pushing barrels and not even paying attention to the step count information in the upper right corner.

Aside from that, I don't really have much to critique. I wish I could continue after closing out, ha.

P.S. - Kudos to your composer/sound designer! The music and atmosphere are wonderful!

[Bahototh]

Aaah, nice pixel art to rest the eyes at.