Lights up!! - SWING BOY v2.1.7 Update

This is sort of a “boring” update, but I promise that I do have some big plans for Swing Boy coming up, but they will likely take more than one week to implement.

This update was more for me. The last 3 updates have been about creating levels. This time, I wanted to take a look into lighting, even though I know this is usually something that comes later.

Fret not, upcoming sprints will include adding more levels, a boss battle and some story elements.

New features:

• Removed death from level 1. Explanation: Based on watching some playthroughs, I realised that level 1 was a bit tricky for a first level. So the spikes have been removed. Level one now acts more like a training ground for getting used to swinging around without penalties.
• Made level 2 easier. Explanation: People seemed to be getting stuck on this section. I decided that in order to make the raise the difficulty more gradually, that this should be made more simple.
• Added ability to toggle fullscreen window from settings menu.

Visual updates:

• Added lighting system (oooh aaaah)
• Improved appearance of level select screen
• Updated title screen
• Added new menu sounds
• Added level transitions
• Updated logo sound clip
• Added new background bricks and tiles
• Removed background ladders (confusing for player)

Bug fixes:

• Changed level loading system to not store references
• Fixed “Replay” button to replay the current level

The 9 levels that are available now for free will likely be the limit for the free-to-play levels. Since I do plan on expanding this game, and making a Steam release (likely under a different game title), I think that the rest of the game will be available only in the paid version. However, any improvements made to these first levels will of course still affect the free version.

I have added some donation tiers to the game page in an attempt to raise some funding for the project. Right now I am working on Swing Boy in my spare time, in addition to my full-time job as a software developer. So anything that goes towards the game is a good incentive to spend more time developing it.