-Update 3-
What I've done & why:One of my first goals was to finish a gameplay loop: Land Phase transitions into River Phase > someone loses > they can go back to play in the land phase. I wanted to get that loop finished before really working on/finalizing each individual system (e.g. chopping trees, combat, rowing, spawning obstacles on river). Now that I have a basic version of the essential mechanics ready, I feel comfortable with narrowing my focus.
What I'm working on now:Land PhaseI'm currently updating the tree chopping system. Right now, hitting the chop button near a tree cuts it down immediately. Now, hitting the chop button near a tree will spawn a short series of arrows below the player. As shown in the video clip (above), once a player hits a tree, an arrow spawns underneath them. That's all I've got so far. My plan is for 4 arrows to spawn, one by one. The player has to press the corresponding button on their controller's d-pad. The more correct inputs & speed in which the buttons are pressed yields a better reward.
Other NotesRiver PhaseThere's a bug in the river phase that I'm trying to deal with while working on the tree chopping system. Rocks & tiles spawn in from above the screen and move downward. Eventually, some of them will freeze in place & there will be gaps in between rows of tiles. In the video clip (below), a gap appears quickly.
DemoI wanted to release a playable demo with the first drafts of each system & mechanic by now. I'm going to put it off until the game plays more how I envision it. I can't give a date just yet, so I'll speak more on it when I'm closer to feeling comfortable about releasing it.