andy

I went to a gamedev expo last weekend and felt out of place being a member of the general public. I didn't want to be the one checking out games, but instead part of the ones exhibiting them. It was incredibly crowded for an event like that, though I didn't talk to anyone. It was kind of lonely. I've been feeling lonely.

Now I think that this loneliness may just be that I'm not doing this. Making stuff. I've been doing some other things, like taking cooking classes or exercising. Mostly working, though. I don't think these things are bad, but it feels kinda directionless. When I think about what I'm doing this for I come up with "to feel better" or "personal growth", which is alright I guess but it lacks identity. Like I'm doing all this is for someone else, not me.

But then tying your whole personality to the things you make may be even lonelier. More so if what you make isn't that impressive.

I've always thought of making games as a hobby and I don't want it to be anything more than that. I certainly wouldn't want it to be my job. But I can't help but wonder how things would be if I took things more seriously.

Not to make this post a checklist, but I've finished a lot of tasks and wanted to share.

The video below shows (in a test room) two new mechanics: super dash & parry. The super dash works by holding the dash button. It's kind like a jetpack. The parry on the other hand uses the brake button. If you brake just before you get hit, you don't get hurt and also recover a bit of your life.

Of course, you need a way to get these new abilities. So there's the shop for that. The bunny seller sells you lives, guns & new moves.

I also implemented the pause menu, which was easy to do since the options and controls menus are their own objects.

Finally, I added a scrolling credits scene and some cutscenes.

Got input remapping working and the options menu in the main menu. I still need to make the pause menu, but then I'm done with menus, I think.

Though It may need some polish, I think I'm done with this mini-boss. The general battle loop is: shoot the hands, shoot the sarcophagus avoiding the bandages, and then shoot the mummy. It's simple & cliché, but different enough from the other battles to make it interesting, I hope.

I decided Agave is a Moon Witch instead of a Moon Priestess. It makes a bit more sense. This mini-boss has two attacks: teleporting and then shooting small projectiles, and creating those light pilars you see in the gif. The pilars have different patterns so that they aren't trivial to dodge.

So I've been thinking a bit about the last 3 mini-bosses. I've decided they are going to be a werewolf named Leto, a moon priestess named Agave and a mummy called Tumanoton.

I'd drawn Agave and Leto before but didn't really decide to put them in the game. I came up with the mummy monster today.

These mini-bosses are going to be really simple (like two attacks at most) & will have little health.

No design is final (though it probably is).

Apart from that, today I touched some parts of the new level to add backtracking and added the white outline that was missing from the final final boss:

I was wondering why she was so hard to see!

So... there's still a lot of work to be done to release the Paralunar update. It's not like I've been working on this thing for 2 years, but it kinda feels like it.

The final boss is done, the final final boss too. I made an "enemy spawner" recently and I've been working on some menus

Working on these menus hasn't been that bad. In part because I've made objects that just take a property from the Game Manager and edit it directly. Godot's UI nodes help too.

Anyways, I still need to put them properly in the game.

I think I'm going to scrap the middle phase in the final battle. Not having it won't make much of a difference. And I can always add it later if I feel like it.

What I need to focus on is all the interactions needed to get to this new zone. Also, the mini-bosses.

Here's a short list of things that need to be done:

Bunny Seller teleport to new zone interaction

3 mini-bosses

Battle zone before final boss

Add tutorial & options to the main menu

Input Remapping menu

Implement a pause menu

Ending & Credits screen

At least 2 cutscenes

ALL OF THE MUSIC

And some nice-to-haves:

More weapons

Seller upgrades (this includes a menu)

Secret Boss

Animation polish

Some new mechanics like Parry & Super-Dash idk