World Map, Parallax, & Bug Fixes

Still a long way from "The Big Update", but I wanted to share a progress update on itch since it has been a few months. If you are interested, I also post to a devlog on the Playdate Squad Discord more frequently.

Shiny Feathers

Each level will have 3 shiny feathers you can collect. These will be used as a method for unlocking certain power ups and a secret game mode.

World Map

I've started work towards developing a world map and integrating that into the existing parts of the game. You move the Corvid Express truck between level markers to select levels and cannot progress past unbeaten stages. The 3 squares on the left of the level marker indicates how many shiny feathers you've collected from that stage.

Parallax

Another RobertCurry library to the rescue! With the help from panini and input the Discord devs, I was able to implement and tune a parallax effect in the current levels. I enjoyed tinkering with the parallax and am happy with the depth it has added to the levels.

Bug/QoL Fixes

While these aren't as visually fun as the above, it is necessary to get through these bugs and quality of life fixes.

• Player flip state saved between human/bird transitions.
• Some data was not cleaned properly if the game was exited before the game cycle ended. This sometimes resulted in bad address data when starting a level. 
• Radio animation wouldn't always end on intended end frame.  
• If you entered a mini game right when the timer hits zero, it would freeze the game cycle and not let you progress or exit. 
• General cleaning of code structure, tabbing, and constants. It was a bit messy from the initial jam version.
• Extended radio dialogue graphic, recentered, and bolded the text. 
• Coming from 1.0 or 1.1 with existing save data would result in a crash. Put in a check to cope with this and update the save file.
• Last safe location saved between human/bird transitions. Prior to this, if you turned into a bird while over a hole, you'd spawn back over that hole as a human with 0 momentum and fall to your death. This didn't feel like a fair way to die.

Future

Continuing work on items from my bug/qol list and trying to get a solid foundation for the levels and world 1 map. After I feel like these are polished, I plan to dive more into building the additional worlds and mini games. My aim is to have 6 worlds in total, each with 8 levels. If you have any ideas always open to input! Thanks for reading <3.