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[kevin andersson]

I've been up to some new stuff during the announcement and the week that followed!
Some general editor improvements and some visual buttons on screen. I've looked over the planning and I think my next step is to prepare a demo, not for a specific event or so but I think it's good in general to have something playable in hand if something comes up.


Button help
I've removed the debug colors and tried to add some icons depending on the controller that you're using.. at least that's the end goal. Right now I'm using the Xbox buttons.
So I've got support to switch between different input icons (not sure what I should call them). Let me know if you have any other cool ideas or improvements on these.




Undo & Redo
I just got this part done and I think I introduced some bugs along with it. But it's an important one! Undo and Redo for the editor, I've never done something like this before but the way I'm doing it is that I'm storing the entire level in a list. So instead of saving it to different files I can quickly swap between any of the stored versions in this list.

Here you can see it in action, the shaking is the current level being scaled down and the new one scaled in.



Tiling Castles
One thing that I'm trying to achieve is an easy workflow for the players when they're making their levels. So the castle tiles and backgrounds will automatically tile no matter where you place it. Here's one of my testers level. Next step toward a castle environment is more props which is on it's way. So this is the barebone of how a castle could look like.



And as you know, the game can be wishlisted on Steam and I'm developing the game live on Twitch every Tuesday and Wednesday!
Have a great day!

[oahda]

Nice to see this thread updated again! Wow! A lot has happened. Looking really good now.

[JobLeonard]

What Prinsessa said!

I'm still impressed that you basically are mking a QWOP-like platformer look fun

[kevin andersson]

Nice to see this thread updated again! Wow! A lot has happened. Looking really good now.

Thank you so much! Yeah I've decided to fully commit to doing updates a few times per month! And thanks for the kind words, I'm so happy for the visual updates.

What Prinsessa said!

I'm still impressed that you basically are mking a QWOP-like platformer look fun

haha I'll do my best, between you and me.. so far it's fun to play. Hope to keep it on the right track!

[kevin andersson]

I've decided to also try and make a video version as well of my updates. I'm still trying to find my style with these videos. I appreciate if you take a look and give me feedback 

[Vidak]

Nice, the core mechanic looks pretty interesting! Local multiplayer looks like it might be fun in a competitive setting. Are you planning to have any competitive multiplayer modes, or just co-op?

[kevin andersson]

Nice, the core mechanic looks pretty interesting! Local multiplayer looks like it might be fun in a competitive setting. Are you planning to have any competitive multiplayer modes, or just co-op?

Thank you! Yeah there is local multiplayer but not that many game modes, right now there's only "King of the Hill" and I've been thinking about a "the floor is lava" game mode as well. So any more ideas are appreciated 

[kevin andersson]

So I've been preparing for the demo I talked about before. It's more or less finished, I just need to add some Twitch features if I'm sending the demo to streamers. But that will come later this month I think.

Jetpacks (still w.i.p.)
So people have suggested pickups since I started with the project and I was at first hesitant of adding it but after trying out a jetpack I had too much fun to ignore it (classic). Since the game is set in a medieval setting I think the jetpack should be some magical potion, it would then fit the story of you being a wizard who made a mistake.

Also, here's a short preview of turrets in the game, they fire physics objects that push you around and the coolest part is that they can trigger buttons just like a player can.



Main Menu
So this part isn't as cool but I think it's important to just bring it up. Making a main menu will make your game feel more like an actual game. Booting it up and being able to navigate the menu properly and then start playing. I tell you it's worth it.



So my friends let me know that my solution to Undo/Redo wasn't that perfect, could cause some major memory issues down the line so I've started to rebuild that part. Not the most fun so it'll be something I'll work on from time to time as the editor becomes more and more improved! Which is what I'm working on right now and I like the direction!

[kevin andersson]

I was trying to record some gameplay in the new playground level and it turned out cooler and smoother than I expected! So I just wanted to share! This level is ment to be played around in by the testers to make sure that the controls are fun and find what's annoying with them.

[JobLeonard]

I think you might be getting too good at your own game, you'll definitely need playtesters to make sure the difficulty curve is ok

[kevin andersson]

I think you might be getting too good at your own game, you'll definitely need playtesters to make sure the difficulty curve is ok

haha I think you are correct, I have 5 levels that I think are good starters but the last one of them turned out to be a bit too difficult for a level 5. Luckily it's an iterative process!

[Vidak]

Thank you! Yeah there is local multiplayer but not that many game modes, right now there's only "King of the Hill" and I've been thinking about a "the floor is lava" game mode as well. So any more ideas are appreciated 

"The floor is lava" sounds good. Maybe a fighting/wrestling mode, if your punch/kick physics are set up to support that kind of thing, or a racing mode, now that you're adding jetpacks?

[JobLeonard]

Smash Brothers style knocking people off the stage

EDIT: wait, is that what "king of the hill" means?

[oahda]

Would be fun to see some multiplayer footage too. c: Also nice menu. And looking forward to that demo!

[kevin andersson]

Smash Brothers style knocking people off the stage

EDIT: wait, is that what "king of the hill" means?

I mean.. it could be, could also be "floor is lava" :D

Would be fun to see some multiplayer footage too. c: Also nice menu. And looking forward to that demo!

I'll remember to capture some footage! Also need to make some coop and party levels soon as well!

[kevin andersson]

I've been silent for a while and it's actually because I'm going to give a talk at the Nordic Game Conference in a month so all of my focus has been on that. But I managed to spend some time with the game and the biggest thing I added is actually pretty small... it's that when you test the level from the editor and go back to the editor the camera will be where you left it. It's insane how many small things that nobody is going to notice but they would most definitely notice it if it wasn't there.

Right... there's also the pause menu, it's a simple one but it's doing it's job. It's a good start.

Anyway here's the gif.

[JobLeonard]

Wooo! Congrats! Looking forward to see the video capture afterwards! (I'm not good at being on time for live-streams)

it's that when you test the level from the editor and go back to the editor the camera will be where you left it.

This isn't small at all, it's a MAJOR annoyance when those kinds of things are absent in mode-switching interfaces. Good work!

[kevin andersson]

Wooo! Congrats! Looking forward to see the video capture afterwards! (I'm not good at being on time for live-streams)

it's that when you test the level from the editor and go back to the editor the camera will be where you left it.

This isn't small at all, it's a MAJOR annoyance when those kinds of things are absent in mode-switching interfaces. Good work!

I guess you're right! :D Luckily it wasn't that difficult!

I hope that they add it online somewhere for free in the future, right now it's going to be streamed for those who bought a ticket.

[kevin andersson]

I feel like I've been bad at posting longer updates, sure I've been busy so hopefully that's over now. I do have made some progress since last update so let me get into it.

Feedback From Testers
Some friends and selected viewers from my stream got to try the game and had some feedback on the level editor. Much appreciated folks! The changes were to right click to remove objects, visually improved grid for better overview of the scale of a character. Then also a quick shortcut to start a level by holding left ctrl + Enter. There are more things on the list but I tried to pick off the quick and easy ones first to get a sense of progression which felt important to me right now.

I added a dumb thing that won't be in the game so don't worry but it was fun to try haha! So the camera just follows the players rotation... I could only last 60 seconds before I gave up.



Ice Physics
The biggest change is the new ground friction, I've added ice so the player can slide around. It's a lot of fun and adds more variation to the levels I'll make and the players in the level editor! My viewers have already shown a lot of interest in this addition to the game!





Level Select Update
Lastly for this update, I spontaneously decided to update the level select. I really wanted a screenshot of the level so I had to change the layout from a 3x4 grid to something like this. It's easy to manage and will be flexible once I add more levels. Worst case I'll just add different tabs if I split it up in chapters or something like that.




I've got news that I can't share yet that really lifted my motivation to finish this game so I'm beyond excited to make more progress over the coming months! Thank you all for your support!

[oahda]

Looks so good! And yeah, anybody even slightly prone to motion sickness would have a bad time with that. Ice physics looks like a great addition, seems fun! The level select looks nice as well, and I'm excited to hear more about those good news; congrats anyhow.