Development Log 2/4/19: Limit Breaking

Happy February everyone and welcome back to another development update for Hero Soul!

I'd like to start this update with a delicious art update. To top off the forest level I had some concept art done for the loading screen. Overall I think it turned out great! What do you guys think? :D This was done by the talented artist PenelopeLovePrints, check out her work if you are interested, she's great! Here's her site!

Moving on, as the title of the update hints at, I worked almost exclusively on the Break skill system I talked about last week. Essentially this system acts as a Limit Break in a sense being an attack that does a lot of damage but charges over time. A challenge with this system was not really the implementation, but rather planning the animation that went along with it. For those of you who aren't familiar with Limit Breaks and skills like them in JRPGs, they are essentially over the top choreographed skills that add a sort of cinematic feel when used. I really wanted to capture that feeling since it's those skills in my opinion that make JRPGs so satisfying to play. So I present Cecilia's, the only playable character, Break skill Dragon Talon. Included in this video will be what using a Burst spell looks like, the new look of the new larger rooms, as well as the new heavy attack system and Break skill system. Enjoy!

I think overall it's pretty good, just need a lot more polish and effects. Some of the animation is still a bit off in my opinion but the overall feel is good. You may notice that there are multiple ranks to fill for the Break meter, and in fact you can go up to 3 levels, with each rank increasing the damage or effect of the break. In an ideal world, I'd like there to be variety in the break skills, by I'll just focus on that. I would love to hear feedback if anyone has any!

Other than working on this system I've been also working on pushing out more levels to play! This time I'm working on another dark level like the cave because I really liked how the lighting worked out for it. However, this time I wanted to make this level feel more man-made. Meaning there will be less unique shapes and more straight lines in this level. I think that this is pretty exciting since it lets me do some fun architecture. Anyway's here's some early pictures of the level I'm currently calling the Trial of Heroes.

Well, that's it for this week. I look forward to seeing you guys next week for another development update.