Sounds good. Unrelated question, have you made any changes to the way shapes drop and slide in the last three weeks? Also, how did the shapes orientation used to work when combined? As opposed to using the fastest shape.
Firstly suika classic has its own physics so it's a bit different but in general the only drop difference was that now shapes drop at their max velocity from the start, this has been in the game for a while though, and is why I added the toggle. When the game first was made, all shapes would spawn in the default orientation, in the live version it takes randomly (whichever shape's collision gets processed first) an orientation from either shape. I fixed it days ago at this point but I haven't been putting out updates to itch for a few days because of the steam crunch. Today I'm working on steam integrations, I got local scores listing out for any possible gamemode you choose
This is what the mode select panel will be like, I haven't added any fancy visuals for it though. Right now normal mode has made triangles and squares bigger (~7-8%) and small mode is their old size. I was thinking of making a mode called evolution or something instead of small where each double watermelon clear you get, the size slightly increases for all shapes by 4% or so, and it would display the current size on the screen. Rising floor and all the modifiers you see there can all be played with any shape or shape combination but leaderboards are limited to non custom shape combinations, and there are no leaderboards for bouncy/slippery/low gravity.
I was considering making swap a default option but ultimately decided against it, since it seemed a bit too straightforward to do well with it so instead people can choose it if they would like to use it. I did end up making it so the next 2 shapes show though on the current version
Hmm, so they're not any less slippery? I've noticed the triangles seem to get suck it the position they drop from, rather than flipping upside down, which seems different compared to how it was back when I initially got my high score. I've been trying to beat it again but the triangle don't want to flip over, instead sitting like this:
At first I thought it was a consequence of combined shapes picking the fastest moving ones orientation but it seems to happen even when just dropping the shape, albeit it's rarer. This isn't an issue at the start but the longer the game goes on, the more likely those shapes will get buried under others and remain like that.
I'm also curious why you're set on making the game harder, at least for the "main" modes? Is it just to make it more like the original, where double watermelons are something most players don't get or is it a personal design choice?
173 days ago(+1)
I'll double check later but it should be the same. There is a chance the friction was increased a bit. In general I want to aim for the modes to be barely possible to beat, so that the very best players won't be able to go infinitely on them. In the original game there are players that have gotten a double watermelon clear twice in one run for example, but none in my version even though the sizes should be (just about) exactly the same. Assuming this is a legit score ( I didn't watch so carefully just skipped through), it caps out at 9999. My main point is if even better players came along they could probably just loop forever if I am not careful. There's also maybe a social media effect if all the modes are hard to clear and players take time and struggle to clear them (but it's eventually possible
I want to still provide a different gamemode that allows for multiple clears more easily so the evolution type gamemode was what I was thinking of currently. I know you said you liked multiple clears in a run so if you have any ideas here I'm open to suggestions
That makes a lot of sense. I do like multiple clears, perhaps have it as an option for one of the modified runs? Kind of like like how bewjeweled has an infinite mode, it's less competitive and there's no real high score but it lets you do things that are otherwise impossible in the main game. Not to say I want the same here but having a small shapes mode for people who want to get multiple clears could appeal to some people. Especially if you find the main game frustrating or too difficult. That said, I'm not a game dev and I can only speak for myself, so maybe I'm weird for feeling like this?
Yes I was saying I that instead of a smaller mode I'd like to have an "evolution" mode or similar so you'd maybe play the game at 12% reduced size to start and every loop it would increase, -8%, -4%, 0% , 4% bigger etc for every double watermelon clear, or similar. I haven't decided what numbers yet but it would hopefully not feel like a secondary mode to normal, like a "smaller" mode would. Just smaller shapes feels like playing on easy mode and I am guessing players wouldn't like it as much, but the size would gradually increase it would just be a mode made for long play that anyone could enjoy without feeling any guilt.
To give an example for triangles mode, its current size would be starting on the -8% size, so the new mode would start you with shapes a bit smaller than that (-12%), you'd complete a loop and get to the current itch size (-8%), and then another double watermelon clear would be a bit larger but still within reason to clear (-4%), then it would be hard (0% or the standard size), and after that it would be close to impossible or impossible (4%). Realistically a person would clear up to 4 times in a session, and 5 max depending on if it is possible on the mode.
Btw I checked the friction values at least and they haven't changed
171 days ago(+1)
Ah, I get it. That sounds cool, kind of like different levels, you beat the first "level" and move onto a harder one, for as long as you can manage. So it wouldn't get stale like a set easy mode might.
Do you think the rotation difference would affect it? I wish I kept the older versions to reference, it would have made it a lot easier to know if I'm just crazy. Either way, I'm curious to see what slippery mode will be like with triangles, perhaps that'll eliminate the issue anyway. Looking forwards to the 27th.
Slippery mode will probably be pretty crazy and more of a joke mode. I'm not super sure on the specifics of how much the rotation change matters. I just am pretty sure it is the best change going forward how I have it on the steam version now, since it gives players the most control. It's unfortunate I messed up the update for the itch version