Keeping in line with the random elements of the game, a single boss type just doesn't cut it. Our first dude just got his arsenal widened - he now works in three different phases during an encounter and is turning out to be quite the fun challenge. Furthermore, there are plans to have variations on bosses in System Recovery, each behaving slightly differently.
What we do have already, is a second boss type, codenamed "Bullet hell", which should be everything you need to figure out what his behaviour will be like.
so expect him to be far more deadly with his guns when he finally meets you.
So, what good is a boss battle without the tools to beat it? A single weapon is not always sufficient, especially if you've chosen the wrong one for the occasion! For this exact reason, the player now has an inventory for weapons, currently capable of holding two "problem solvers" at once, and is potentially extendable.
A simple tutorial has been introduced to the game, the plan is to have one for basic controls, and one for each game mode, so instead of annoying popups on your first time playing them, you can choose to figure things out on your own or spend a minute playing the tutorial. User created game modes will also be encouraged to include a tutorial.
The likely way tutorials will be built is through assigning variables to entities, like what message to give to the player. Entity variables should be one of the first features to make it into the level editor - maybe it'll be there from day one. Imagine giving a name to the units you put into your level... or specify their starting health, what team they're on, or make them follow the player!
There's still lots of things left to do. Frankly, I'm feeling somewhat pressured by the deadline I've set for myself, but I never really explained why I'm going for an early release, so I'll do that now.
Feel free to skip the rest of the article if you're familiar with the struggles of the average indie developer.
As you might know, early access for games is a very ambivalent concept these days - some people love it, others hate it, some games end up being great works of art, while others remain forever unfinished, or even abandoned.
There are two main reasons for my decision:
Firstly, almost every component of my PC is about a decade old. That's an ever-more threatening barrier rising between me and my dream goal to develop games for a living. Even my most powerful component is aging 5 and has overheating issues. I come from a second-world country, and it's near impossible to convince people here that indie game development is a realistic venture, so I don't get a whole lot of support, but that's not enough to stop me from trying. Sadly, I cannot afford to upgrade my rig, but It's still working, so I'm not desperate enough for fundraising. Ultimately, I need to have something to show for all the time I spend sitting here at my computer, so I figured an early release is fair play.
Secondly, I want to get into the video game industry before other matters drag me away from it. The longer I wait, the more likely I'll have to look for a permanent job elsewhere, and end up having next to no free time or motivation to work towards achieving my ambitions. It's enough of a distraction to receive education while working on a project such as this, and with the responsibilities gained through a release, I want to force myself into working on it full-time, instead of taking ages or eventually losing interest through a casual workflow.
Whether it's best for the game, I'm not sure, but early community interaction can be beneficial considering I'm not an expert game designer, and I hope that by broadening the engine's capabilities patch-by-patch I'll create a healthy modding community. We shall see.
That's about it for our weekly update.
See you next time!
-Dan
