Dev Log #1: The "Chroma-Shift" mechanic is working!

Hey everyone! I'm brand new to game development and I'm starting my first real project, a 2D puzzle platformer I'm calling "Chroma-Shift."

The main idea is a "Chroma-Shift" mechanic, where you can press Shift to change your color (and the world's color) to solve puzzles.

This week, I got the core mechanic working!

• The player can shift from Blue to Red.
• When the player is Blue, they can stand on blue platforms and collect blue gems. Red platforms are faded and you fall right through.
• When the player is Red, the opposite is true!
• I also hooked up all the sound effects, music, and a main menu.

The Big Bug... and The Fix!

I ran into a massive bug: if you were standing inside a "faded" platform and pressed Shift, the platform would become solid inside you, and you'd get permanently stuck.

To fix it, I had to add a "safety check":

1. I added an Area2D "bubble" around the player.
2. Before shifting, the game checks if that bubble is overlapping an "inactive" platform.
3. If it is, the shift is cancelled, and the game plays an error sound and flashes the player red to let them know it failed.

It's a small detail, but it feels so much better and makes the game's "rules" feel clear.

Here’s the new, polished mechanic in action!

It feels really solid now. Next up, I'm going to finish polishing Level 1 and start designing Level 2.

Thanks for reading!