Devlog #5 11.09.21

Brief introduction

The development of the game is going well, 90% of the sprites have been integrated, 90% of the gameplay mechanics have been coded, 80% of the polish has been done but 0% of the sound design has been done for the moment :/ but don't worry, it's the next step !

I was also able to playtest my game, a friend gave me very good feedback on his IG feeling in the current state of the game, I was able to make some modifications accordingly.

Development of the day

Polishing, polishing and more polishing, I spent the last few hours adding all kinds of effects to the player's interactions, it's not my favourite part but it's necessary and it gives the game some character. I keep saying it but polishing your game as much as possible before release makes all the difference to the players. 

Questions of the day

After the playtest, one of the feedbacks was really important to take into account: the player didn't feel in danger while exploring the level. He wasn't really paying attention to his life bar and even allowed himself to run into enemies, knowing that he wasn't taking any risks. 

In short, retrieving the gears was not really challenging for the player and that's... rather annoying. My traps are not there to look pretty, I want BLOOD! So I had to make some changes in the level design by removing some checkpoints and increasing the damage received by the player. I have to try to make the enemies a bit more resistant too, to make the fights a bit more challenging ^^.

Art of the day

Along with the polish, I've integrated new sprites like destruction animations, a variant for spikes and most importantly: a spaceship! Which finally replaces the ugly grey rectangle that was used as a placeholder. I'm very happy with the final result, the level of detail is just right for the AD.

Conclusion

To finish this post, I recommend you to polish your games thoroughly, it's a must have and then to make playtests as soon as possible to test your main mechanics and the concept of the game.I'm working on the sound design, it's part of the polish.

Enjoy the game !