Weekly Update! 8-5-18 (More Status menu, Skills, new NPC)

Hello one and all, and welcome to another weekly CPE development update! Much like last week, a lot of this week's work was spent on behind the scenes stuff like finishing off the Status menu and implementing the new Skills system, but that doesn't mean I have nothing to show off!

The video above showcases the first ability you can unlock for the Flare Shot. I'm still figuring out the perfect name for it, but functionally, it causes Alicia to be surrounded by up to 4 orbs of fire that spin around her, burning enemies they come into contact with just like the Flare Shot itself. If Alicia fires the Flare Shot while surrounded by any orbs, the orbs will explode, dealing damage and instantly igniting any enemies close by, no matter how resistant they are to fire. This functionality does take a chunk of ammo to use, but it offers a nice way to light up dark areas while offering some extra damage and protection for Alicia. This combines particularly well with one of the abilities I teased last week, that makes enemies take more damage from other sources when they're set on fire, giving the Flare Shot a devastating amount of utility when combined with other attack options.

There are 15 total skills in Crisis Point - 5 for the Force Shot, 5 for the Flare Shot, and 5 that offer utility to Alicia's base moveset in various ways. I'll probably tease one or two more before this update comes out, but you'll be able to see most of them for yourself once v.31 releases!

Here's a few screenshots of what the Status menu is looking like now that it's much closer to completion. The Skills menu is a set of 3 tabs, one for each category of skills - for the Force and Flare Shot trees, you must unlock earlier skills before you can unlock later ones. The first skill on the far left of each tree costs 1 skill point to unlock. The two upper skills in each category tend to offer large upgrades that add to or change the functionality of abilities in great ways, and cost 3 skill points each. The bottom two tend to be simpler, offering things like increased damage or faster ammo regeneration, and cost 2 skill points each.

Over in the Upgrades section, you can see descriptions of and explanations for the various upgrades you've obtained, from the Force Shot to the Kilogrip and everything inbetween. You can also see how many health upgrade pieces you've collected, and how many Skill Points you have to spend. (The number of slots there isn't necessarily indicative of the final game's upgrade count, by the way - everything is subject to change at this stage.)

The last thing I have to show today is a new NPC - meet Birch! You'll meet him very early in the game, and as a scientist, he'll be helping in a number of ways, including letting you.. research enemies you've come across.

Well, that's about all I have to show off today everyone. For those wondering about our next streams, we plan on streaming again on the same days at the same times as last week, Tuesday and Thursday at 1 pm EST. Both Orexius and myself will be there, so hopefully you can stop by during those and hang out for a bit!

As always, thank you so much for your support everyone - things are feeling really good for me right now, and I have all of you to thank for it. I really cannot stress enough how amazing you all are. See you next update! <3
-A42