0.7.0 - Stage 6 at last

I managed to get Stage 6 to a playable state after much creative and motivational struggle. This is a “final exam” stage featuring much harder encounters with elements from all of the previous stages.

The heroine, Amelia (Amy), has returned to the capital of her father’s empire, where she will meet some of his cruelest and deadliest troops, but also some unexpected support.

The game is 5% off until Sunday, November 18.

Highlights

• There is one new normal enemy, the assassin. They run fast, they throw triple daggers (often at the flanks and rear), and they don’t like traitors:

• All other normal enemies are slightly upgraded.
• The fire bomber has brought two beastgirls to his barbecue. If Amy stops him, more rebel humans can help her save the girls.

• Amy can bomb boats right after sinking them in the canal for extra destructive fun.
• The bishop hides in his cathedral and sends his orbs to spin spirals of bullets around Amy.
• On the way to the cemetery Amy must beware of lance charges from behind as well as head-on.
• The elite guards are the least frightening things in the cemetery. Amy can avoid the dead lying in wait, but when their patience runs out…

• The deranged undertaker reanimates Amy’s mother, Queen Alexandra. He commands the queen to rain corrosive liquid death while he barrages Amy with soul explosions, the first attack that Amy's bomb cannot block. Amy has no choice but to destroy her mother's body to free her.

Other Changes

• Gameplay
  • Amy now charges some extra bomb energy for doing touch damage to enemies.
  • More exciting teammate movement during a bomb. They will keep moving instead of staying centered on one enemy all the time.
• UX
  • Game pauses if game window loses focus.
  • Fix cases of dialogue bubbles still appearing briefly when skipped.
• Level
  • In stage 4 (underground) filled in some blank space before the de-monsterization chamber. Added a little reference to CAVE at the start.
• Audio
  • Improved music quality using MAME’s YM2612 sound chip emulation. (currently in Windows only)
• Graphics
  • NPC red damage tint pulses so their visibility isn’t compromised.
  • Enemies indicate taking cover by turning dark (again for visibility) instead of transparent.
  • Improved stunned/drunk blur shader. Made it compatible with Raspberry Pi and other GPUs with reduced shader features.

A preview of the upcoming cover art by chesisbest https://www.instagram.com/chesisbest/ Amy’s face is the new application icon.