Update v.29 release!

We did it bois, v.29 is complete! Told you it'd be a week at most ;D To all ye naysayers that may or may not exist, I smite thee!

UPDATE v.29 GOALS

-Continue The Great Rework™
-Implement save system
-Rework and improve the 2nd boss battle
-Implement Charge Shot secondary chip (can be obtained by defeating Boss 3)
-Implement the new UI designs for the Main Menu, in-game HUD, AND Map screen
-Implement several reworked animations for Alicia (two different Jumping animations (one while standing, one while running), crouching animation, ledge grab animation)
-Fix more minor issues

As you can probably see, this update didn't have a ton of new things going into it - but every single one of them was *super important*. WE HAVE A REAL SAVE SYSTEM NOW HOLY SHIT. AND THE MENU LOOKS SO GOOD AAAHHH there's currently no way to manually save, but running over a checkpoint pad will auto-save the game for you. In the interest of getting this update out fast I didn't test this new save system thoroughly, so please let me know ASAP if you ever run into issues with it - I'll be supporting this update with hotfixes as always. As for plans on our next major update..

UPDATE v.30 GOALS
-Continue The Great Rework™
-Finish reworking all of Alicia's basic animations
-Finish the new UI, including Options and Status menu
-Finish the 2nd boss fight rework
-Finish retiling and redesigning Summit area
-Implement H-mechanic changes
-Prepare for new public demo release
-Fix more minor issues

As you can see, the 2nd boss fight is mentioned again. While I did get the 2nd boss working well, and the fight is SO much better than it was before, there was still some more I wanted to do with him - adding these things would take another few days of programming and testing and balancing though, so in the interest of releasing now after you've all waited so long, I decided to hold off on it. Aside from that, I also delayed retiling the Summit area into v.30, and I'm glad I did - I decided last minute I want to move the Dash ability to BEFORE the second boss fight rather than after, which will inform how I redesign the levels as well, since the Dash is a rather potent movement ability.

v.30 will also include the H-mechanic changes I've outlined in our Discord, the completed UI overhaul (which will include things like graphics and sound options, better keyboard and gamepad customization, and a finalized system for changing blaster chips), and the last few reworks of Alicia's main animation set. After this update, we'll be getting pretty close to a new public update. Exciting times these are!

Alright, that's enough outta me for now everybody. As always, the download link will be in a post for $10 patrons after this post, and I'll also be sending it out to anyone who pledged $10 since December. Let me know if there's anything wrong with this update and I'll get a fix out as soon as I can - until then, ciao!
-A42


UPDATE v.29 MINOR FIXES
-Return to Main Menu option is now finally working properly, and has been enabled
-Fixed issue where collecting a B chip blaster upgrade always switched you to the Rapid Shot, instead of the chip you just collected
-Flying Aliens should no longer continue creating their "flying effect" when in an H-scene
-Tar Rain added to the Summit areas before you defeat the boss there
-Player can now do a dash in either direction if attempting to dash immediately after a slide, rather than being forced in the same direction as the slide
-Horizontal arm while using Wire Shot was clothed even when Alicia is unclothed; now fixed
-The Map menu has been completely reworked with new UI and a more robust text editor with pasting and Ctrl+Backspace functionality. In addition, notes that are just spaces will now be auto-deleted, rather than leaving behind an empty note
-Fixed choppy movement with continuous scrolling on the map screen
-Camera shifting downwards is now based on the player holding Down, rather than being in a crouched state, allowing the player to look downward at any time