So it's been while but I've been really busy ... and stressed out. I'm just going to pretend the whole world is seeing this and give it my best! Yeah! Pokemon! - wait, sorry.
Now to dive into the technical issues.
I've redesigned alot of graphics, from tiles to guns to hats! And added more stuff so that the campaign is now a little bit fun and is feeling all roguelite-ish.
Some things I've added:
-pressure plates
-locked rooms
-tnt crates
-posion traps
-a radio!
-spikes
-buttons (as well as pressure plates, they open locked rooms)
-double jump(animated as flip)
-appropriate screeshake on landing
-cracks to damaged tiles
-falling to far causes damage
-a scoring system with a placeholder star
Still to do until I release a new beta:
-levels 1-5?
-boss battle 1
-emotions for the new sprites
-add more bullets (easy peasy, I might do this right now :P )
Some tips I've picked up along the way of developing this dusty battle beneath:
-Keep a game world responsive
Everyone hears "make a game responsive all the time but now I'm saying what some people already know and what some others don't. Make the game WORLD responsive. Try and make game world feel alive. When the player does something they should get feedback from the world that their actions had an effect. It didn't change anything gameplay wise, but it felt much better when I added cracks to tiles as they get damaged. Making the spikes blood soaked when something dies on them, etc. This is similar to make a game immersive, this is more of a "how to make the game immersive kind of tip". One major way of making a game immersive is to add response to the players' actions. As much as I - I mean you - WE - can :)
-Control health
Now this depends what type of game that's being made is. I had a big lifebar of 100. That time it was meant to be a multiplayer 2D shooter, but when I decided to make it more roguelike like (haha, everyone knows (roguelike+like) = roguelite) when playtesting floors it was preeeettttt boring. Then reduced the health ... TO 6. Now every move feels like it needs care. Every jump down a tunnel could end you up on a spike, every unprepared encounter could end your life. Spelunky (funny enough I hadn't even played it (classic) until recently, so I wasn't really basing my game off it, but it's a good goal) has you start with only 4 hearts, you could die (your character..not you) before you even get to the 2nd level. It feels like you're playing a mini strategy game.
-Control the environment
The environment, what is it? It consists of the challenges and rewards in the game. The balance of nature. CONTROL IT!! At first I made my spikes an instant kill, but then I realised it didn't make sense in a game that's a little bit on the fast-paced side. so I made it just take away 2 precious health points. Though a game like spelunky can make spikes an instant kill because it's a game about being careful. Landing on a spike, even for new players, can be easily avoided with ropes, carful movement, etc. Landing on a spike when I gave a friend to test it out was mostly unavoidable and ended up killing him immediately. By making it not an instant death but reduce 2 health the spikes became something to fear, not something to loath :P ... Maybe they're still something to loath. I dunno. Things like reducing accuracy of enemies for a fairer fight instill balance.
The challenges should fit the game. Every challenge should come with a reward. Whether it's gold, new equipment, information, progress or the blood of your enemies, a reward should be waiting around the corner of a challenge. That's why right now I'm battling to do something with empty rooms at a dead end. Even the tiniest reward can help. Get past bats and spiders just for a nugget of gold in Spelunky? Walk through a dark cave full of lava so you could get that cobblestone in Minecraft (you do?) Kill a bunch of ogres to find an ogre shaman that you've never seen before waiting there to wonder you to death in Brogue. Collects stars for a new level/area in a bunch of mario games? Reward! Challenge! Balance! I am ... the Avatar - wait, no.
chess?
I gave advice so nice I'll say it twice (wha...?) See you, next time! (He didn't say it twice...)