Dev Log #2 - The Prodigal Son Update

Dear Players,

It's been nearly two years since I've posted a devlog update, but not to worry because NiTL is still in development!

It's been a tough couple of years so far but work on the game has been slow and steady. The demos were silently updated a few times with v2.8.0 dropping last weekend. A lot of things have improved and been overhauled. Special thanks to a couple of friends giving me some much needed inspiration I'm resuming regular work on the game and will be posting more updates in the future.

Below are the release notes, I've condensed them down to the most notable changes:

General Updates:

• Entire codebase rewritten for performance, readability
• Updated project from Unity 2019.2 all the way to 2020.2
• New animated Title Screen
• Updated Credits Screen
• Updated Game Over Screen
• Added WSA Certification for Xbox One builds via UWP
• System-wide optimisations, 3-4x last update's performance
• Removed compression artifacts on some assets
• Demo 3 map layout structure is complete

Gameplay Updates:

• Fixed wall detection bug causing player unable to move
• Fixed Player Run SFX playing incorrectly
• Fixed Morph Mode bug clipping in shafts
• Fixed Camera Fade jump when entering new rooms
• Fixed Dive Bat slowing down when against a wall
• Fixed Enemy player detection
• Fixed Wall Jump freezing the game in shafts
• Fixed Crumble Blocks not reappearing
• Fixed Arm Cannon being mirrored when player is facing camera
• Fixed entering credits meant you can't go back to the title screen when using a keyboard or controller
• Wall Jumps can now be done more reliably
• Completely overhauled Crawler AI
• Finalized Player Ledge Grab and Climbing mechanics
• Player Ledge Grab and Climbing Animations added
• More reliable ground detection (Boxcast vs Raycast)
• In-game HUD redone to make it cleaner and more readable
• Pause Screen full navigable with Gamepad/Keyboard
• Changed how damage knockback on player is applied
• Increased Morph Bomb hit duration for easier bomb jumping
• Increased Morph Bomb jump height
• Dive Bat HP reduced from 10 to 8
• Enemies now have terminal velocity, no longer speed up infinitely when falling
• Added Zero Damage SFX on player attacks
• Added Zero Damage animation for Player Beam
• Added Zero Damage animation for Player Missiles
• Added Save Station animation and SFX
• Added animated Save Station prompt
• Can now save via Gamepad/Keyboard using the save prompt
• Plasma Beam penetration damage locked to 60 times a second, previously scaled infinitely with frame-rate

It's definitely a monumental task to work on finishing the whole game, but going step by step I'll finish it eventually. I'm happy to say that the third and final demo should be finished by the end of the year, a lot of the planning is done and I've finally got some money to put a budget together for the art and audio.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Visit the devlog for more content: https://nitl101.blogspot.com/
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