Update 15
Less is more, but so is more.
New Content
- Added switches.
- These devices switch on and off when shot. They'll be used for both level progression and as a mechanic for combat rooms.
- Added explosive barrels.
- These barrels explode upon taking any damage, dealing great damage to anyone nearby. Don't get too close!
- Semi-walls added.
- These are like walls in that people cannot go through them, but different in that attacks go through.
A mock-up example of a switch that would unlock a door when shot.
A mock-up example of a table (semi-wall) and some explosive barrels.
Weapon/Item Changes
- Most weapons have double the ammo per mag.
- According to my playtester (I only have one person that I consistently have playtest), there was way too much reloading which meant too much time where you had to stand back and reload. I doubled the mag sizes to make this issue better.
- New semi-auto/automatic system.
- Weapons are now either semi-auto or full-auto. Semi-auto weapons require that you press the button each shot while full-auto weapons let you hold down the fire button like before. Most weapons became semi-auto weapons, though the rifle, minigun, and SMG remain automatic.
- Removed the heavy shotgun, mini cannon, metal gloves, and shield.
- The heavy shotgun and mini cannon were removed because they got merged into their regular counterparts, which I will talk about later.
- The metal gloves and shield were removed because they sucked. I might make a sword that can do both, but I might just put melees to rest instead.
- Standard and heavy shotgun merge.
- The heavy shotgun's stats have been merged into the standard shotgun. This new version has 3 shots per mag, fires 10 shells (each dealing 3 damage), has a fire rate of 1, and has a spread of 20 degrees. I felt the standard shotgun had little appeal and the one-shotting of the heavy shotgun was too difficult, so I just combined them.
- Mini shotgun changes.
- The mini shotgun fires 6 shots per mag, fires 5 shells that deal 3 damage, has a spread of 15 degrees, and has a fire rate of 1.25. I felt since the other shotguns (or now just the one) could kill really fast, the mini version needed some edge.
- Any weapon that took 4 seconds to reload now takes 3.
- 4 was too much time to reload according to my playtester, especially with the old mag sizes.
- Crossbow changes.
- The damage has been doubled, meaning you can now one-shot enemies with the crossbow. I made the reload time 2 seconds so it's not too OP.
- Cannon and mini cannon merge.
- The new cannon fires 2 cannonballs at 1 shot per second. I couldn't do a damage increase because that would make it OP and make the crossbow obsolete.
- Since it's pretty much just the mini cannon, I removed the mini cannon.
- More weapon changes, mostly fire rates and stuff.
- I changed the pistol, rifle, SMG, and more for things like fire rates. There are some other small changes, but this section is too wordy so I'll skip over them.
I really condensed the weapon selection, now there's only 14. I think I'll just add two more, then leave it be. That would mean 15 actual weapons and one joke weapon (hydrogen bomb my beloved), which is pretty good IMO. I decided I won't be doing the claw gun because it wouldn't be very good as a weapon. I'm also considering adding alt-fires to most weapons to make them more interesting, especially since I most likely won't be going above 16 weapons now. I redid some menus as well and added a music manager that lets me have music persist across levels and menus. Finally, I'm considering doing an early access session (up until release) instead of additional demos. This would make my changes more visible, give anyone following this game's development more content, and let me build up a community better. Overall, a bunch was changed and I'm pleased with the results so far.