Waiting for Daylight Windows, Mac game

This week we tried to make our game more visually appealing and less monotonous to play altogether. We added several unique pathways on the way towards the sun pieces that will hopefully keep the player more engaged in the game and it’s atmosphere. There is also a new checkpoint system which will allow the player to keep some of their progress after death. Another addition is the monster ramp up difficulty when a sun piece is grabbed and when the player runs out of their flashlight, as we want to stress these two moments when they happen ingame. Some other small additions include a better endgame cutscene, a re-work of the bat’s spawning, and a new type of enemy.

Moving forward we plan to finalize all of the visuals for the game making them seem and feel completely natural for the player. We also plan to use any feedback gained from playtesting to continue balancing the game as best as possible.

In the past week, we decided to scrap the log collecting and river bridging mechanics because players didn’t seem to enjoy that aspect of the game. In an attempt to add to the horror aspect of our game, we added a new enemy that stalks the player over a large portion of the map and cannot be killed. Because of the introduction of this new major antagonist, we tweaked the mechanics on the bat and coyote enemies to make them a little easier to kill. We also adjusted the map layout and added a tutorial scene to help guide the player better at the start of the game. We also switched to a grid-movement system in an effort to make movement more consistent.

Going forward, if players seem to enjoy the existing mechanics and game progression, we will probably shift our focus to the game’s aesthetics. We might add some music and change our art to give a game a spookier feel.
Things we would like to add:
Better animations for enemies
Better title screen / winning or losing screen
Possible flare mechanic to throw flares and be able to distract enemies
More depending on playtesting!