Progress Report #5

(Please note that the stage in the above footage is designed to show off what's been worked on as succinctly as possible — stages in the final game won't be as condensed)

Oh no, the progress report... I got so caught up in what I was doing I forgot all about it...! They're gonna kill me...

In better news, progress towards the upcoming "sandbox"/challenge playable build seems to be moving forward nicely! Nearly all the critical features have been implemented, with only resetting a room if Puro dies, a couple animations, grounded enemies, functional menus, and one (1) song being left. It shouldn't take long to add these, but I'm making my personal deadline later this month so I can make sure this build has more, you know, playable content when it's launched, lmao

Gameplay:

• Puro can now enter/exit doorways in the background
• Moving and rotating paths are now functional
• Added floor switches
• Enemies now deal and receive damage, die (enemies currently have no animations for this)
• Magjumping with a weapon now produces a shockwave that can damage enemies

MAJOR GAMEPLAY CHANGES:

• Weapon durability has been completely scrapped. However, certain actions and hazards can still cause your weapon to instantly shatter — it just won't break from constant use anymore.
• Some enemies and objects have what is tentatively called a "glass guard" — they are invulnerable to normal attacks and can't be grabbed, but can be defeated/destroyed by any attack that causes your own weapon to shatter (magjumping/throwing), which does considerably more damage than before.
• Getting hit by certain attacks will cause your currently held item to instantly shatter. These will share a unique effect to let you know they're coming, though some bosses may be able to shatter your weapon instantly during a phase change.

Polish:

• GAME NOW HAS DEFERRED RENDERING, allowing me to do more fun visual effects
• There's a very slight bloom now, but it's not too noticeable, except on glowing objects, especially in dark areas
• Puro now twirls when magjumping
• Added effects for weapons hitting things
• Fixed an issue where certain parts of Puro's model would flash WILDLY when bloom was enabled
• Puro responds to pressing against walls while airborne
• Set up a bunch of shader stuff for VFX, as covered in this tutorial 
• Pausing now has the word "pause" on the center of the screen
• The LEDs that make up puro's face no longer render in front of her hat and other very close objects, now properly appearing only when viewed through her monitor
• Added visual effects for enemies taking damage, dying
• Lots of actions that didn't make sounds now make sounds. The sounds are temporary, but what i'm trying to emphasize here is that I set it up so they work at all, SEGA please don't sue me for what I've sampled

Back-End:

• Hitboxes for attacks have undergone considerable changes, making them more predictable and fair.
• Fixed issue where some inputs would occasionally be dropped, most notably Puro's jump if the button was pressed even a single frame before landing.
• All inputs outside of menus now have a small window of forgiveness — if you press the button a couple frames too early, but haven't released it before the action can be performed, Puro will still do it. This also allows the player to easily perform optimal melee combos.

Fixes:

• Fixed error caused by grabbing enemies when they've just barely made it on to the path while respawning
• Fixed shatter effect for certain weapons going in one direction

Experimental:

• Added a dedicated zoom button, which isn't necessary for gameplay, but is there just in case you want to get a closer look at Puro or something nearby.

As always, thank you so much for your support!! It's been a real treat to work on this, and I'm excited to be approaching the first playable build!!

(Song source: Volk Factory, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil)