Thank you so much for your enthusiasm for our game! :3
First, we are at $167. If we reach at least $200, we'll do another progress report to let more folks know we're closer to our goal.
So, currently $333 away from adding Sedusa boss fight *nods*
And yes, any more donations that we receive, we will still add names to the Special Thanks section in the credits :)
We're happy that so many people have compared this game to the classic flash games made for the show ^^
Yes, our animator is a fan of the "Geshundfight" episode and he had to make that reference!
And we will let the music composer know how much you enjoyed their track :)
We went back and tried to address as many bugs as we could.
We were not able to recreate the milk carton bug. Was it a laser that triggered it? I think her milk drinking animation is programmed to ignore damage from baddies, but maybe it doesn't work for lasers.
Some of the sound issues we were not able to reproduce as well. We've noticed the music glitches while playing on FIrefox browser, but not others.
We did add a program block so that ice breath will destroy fires, though. And we spaced out the Brocoloid in the Townsville level so that Robin can't eat it while super giant.
Thanks for your suggestions! A combo system might be out of the question. Our programmer is a bit of a purist and really tries to keep the game screen from having too many bars and numbers.
But we will try to make our boss fights tougher, or at least have additional phases :3 And we'll try to scale the difficulty better.
Thank you again for all your input! This has been very beneficial :)
Thank you for your prompt response and game updates. It shows you are developers who care about the quality of your games and that you're not the "fire and forget" type. I appreciate that, so I have given you the $333 you need to reach your goal. =) I haven't donated through Itch.io before, so please let me know if you received the money. What kind of boss fight will Sedusa be, if I may ask? How will it function? Also, out of curiosity, do you have any other goals after that one?
In trying to recreate the milk carton bug I had previous described, I found another one: if Robin drinks the milk within a second or two after getting hit, she becomes completely unable to move or attack. What's more, when she shrinks back down to regular giant size, enemies will pass through her and not deal any damage. The only way to fix it is by refreshing the page and restarting the game. On a related note, I've also noticed that sometimes the page needs to be refreshed either once or a few times for the game to run at all. I don't know if that's just a problem on my end or if anyone else has encountered that.
I also encountered another new bug when playing through the game again: the first time I entered Mojo Jojo's boss fight, the visuals were incredibly laggy to the point where they barely updated at all, but I could still hear the sounds of the boss fight happening so the game was still running mechanics-wise. When I inevitably died, the game then crashed. It worked fine the second time, so I don't know if that was a once-in-a-blue-moon bug or something that could happen again, but I thought I should let you know regardless.
Regarding the sound issues, I am using Firefox so perhaps they only affect that browser. Also, there's a Broccoloid right near the start of the first level, so it's very easy to see him suddenly scale up in Robin's hand when she's super giant there.
As for the combo system suggestion, I can understand wanting to keep the user interface as clean as possible. Perhaps, if your programmer doesn't want to use bars or numbers, they could try varying the impact effect when hitting enemies by using different colours and/or shapes to convey an increasing combo streak, with it resetting back to the default yellow four-pointed impact effect when the combo streak is broken? They could then have the score and any relevant details placed in result screens at the end of levels to really convey that old-school flash game arcade feel, with a final results screen when the game is completed. That'd be a way to convey the required information to the player without cluttering the screen with any additional user interface elements.
Thank you for taking my feedback on board and I'm pleased to hear that you're planning to further improve the game. I hope my donation will help with that. Oh, and, Merry Christmas. =)
Donation has been received, and we will begin the progress :) I'm assuming you want to be credited as "THEONLYDarkShadow?"
And yes, we have a very dedicated animator/programmer on our staff *nods*
We will take another crack at the bugs you mentioned, though many of them likely arise depending on the browser.
Combo system may not work in this type of game, since most enemies die with a single attack. But we'll consider something like that if we do another old school arcade game like our Whack-A-Mole simulator.
Our next project will likely be a brawler, or Cuphead style boss fighter with Jenny (XJ-9)
As for this boss fight, we are playing around with ideas. Possibly having the Powerpuff Girls fight her at the start of the game, before the intro scene begins.
Maybe each one individually flies at her, taking out smaller Sedusa heads, and then attacks her in a similar way to how Him gets finished off (first giving her brain freeze, then screaming in her ear, then punching her). And finally the girls come together to deal the final blow.
If you have any thoughts, please let us know :3
We'll do an updated progress report this week to let everyone know that the Sedusa boss has been fully funded.
Thank you again so much! I hope you will enjoy this special bonus boss fight :)
Glad to hear you received the money. Yes, "THEONLYDarkShadow" is fine. =)
It was more the large number of enemies rather than enemies that take more than one hit (although having enemy types that take more than one hit to beat is not a bad idea) that made me think a combo system could potentially be feasible, since there's times that multiple enemies can be hit in quick succession.
A game involving Jenny/XJ-9 could be neat, though I was actually asking if you had any additional goals for this game now that the Sedusa boss fight goal has been reached.
Speaking of which, personally I thought it was going to be a boss fight that Robin would face after defeating Him. Maybe, to make it a bit more special, it could be unlocked by fulfilling a certain condition like destroying every building in every level or by finding the three Egyptian artifacts that Sedusa used hidden inside certain buildings like the milk cartons are, with one artifact in each area.
For an idea of how the boss fight itself could work, it occurred to me that a mechanic that hasn't been used yet in a boss fight is the super giant mechanic. Perhaps the boss fight could involve Robin having to avoid Sedusa's attacks until she can find milk cartons since Sedusa would only be vulnerable to Robin's attacks when she's in a super giant state? Since the state is temporary, this creates a gameplay loop where Robin is going back and forth between avoiding Sedusa's attacks and dealing damage until she's defeated, with Sedusa's attacks becoming faster and more intense as the battle goes on. For a bit of extra aesthetic flair, maybe each of Sedusa's phases take place in each of the different areas, giving the impression that her and Robin are fighting all across Townsville? If you want to have cutscenes for it like the other bosses, you'd have a great opportunity to depict a Sedusa shrunken back to normal size (or even tinier if you wished) looking up at a super giant Robin, making Robin look really huge.
If you like that idea for the boss fight, or have any feedback on it, I'd like to hear it. =) I tried to come up with something that could make for a neat boss fight while also not taxing your animator/programmer too much. Oh, and you're welcome. I look forward to the boss fight. =D
Hmm, no other goals for this game at the moment. Our team is ready to work on the next game, when we wrap up the Sedusa boss fight :3
A friend suggested creating another playable character, like a giant Mitch. But for now, we're ready to close the books on this game *nods*
Actually, making Sedusa a secret boss fight could be fun. Nice reference to the episode.
Yeah, giant Robin running around the three levels, dodging Sedusa heads and giant foot stomps could be the way to go. Would also make it easier for our animator and programmer :)
Possibly, instead of going super giant, Robin can just target the artifacts (necklace, cane, and crown) to shrink Sedusa and then wear them herself to go super giant for a special cut scene ending.
Just thoughts, but thanks for the feedback and ideas!
We'll likely get a start on this in January, but we'll post updates either on DeviantArt and/or Twitter.
The idea of another playable character springs to mind another idea: co-op mode, Robin and Mitch teaming up to lay the smackdown on the bad guys. They'd have to share the Powerpuff Girls, though it would help to emphasise teamwork between players. =D
Nice to hear you like the ideas of Sedusa being a secret boss and that Robin fights her across the three areas. =) I saw the work-in-progress preview of her on your Twitter account and she is big. Judging by the ground (or is that the rooftop of a large building) also in the shot, she towers over even Robin; perfect for a significantly harder secret boss. From the preview you posted, I can picture Sedusa having a variety of attacks: swiping the ground and air with the staff, her snakes striking from above and the sides and her smashing her other fist down; in addition to the beam attacks from the tiara and necklace and the electric attacks from the snake head. That's what I picture, at least. It's your game, after all, and I'm curious as to what you've got planned for it. =)
If Robin wears the artifacts as a giant after defeating Sedusa and causing her to shrink, then Robin's going to be really big to her. Then Sedusa will know how it feels to be loomed over to such a degree. =D
By the way, I discovered that this game came about because it was a commission via the "Bigger Than The Multiverse" tier on your Patreon. How does that work, exactly? It might be neat to help bring more size-themed games into existence, so I'd like to know details on how that process functions to know whether its something I'd like to sign up for or not.
Glad you're enjoying the progress :3
Well, the tier costs $110 per month. Every month you are subscribed, our animator will take a day to work on an animation or video game.
But we only accept projects that would be fitting for our channel or game site. You can send a private message on our patreon if you have an idea that you'd like to check to see if it fits our guidelines.
Getting this far in the game took maybe 7 or 8 months subscribed to the tier (close to $900)