Devlog - Demo #2

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Demo Progress

Since the last DevLog, a lot of progress has been made on the game. There are also a lot of moving parts surrounding the project.

What I have now are 3 levels (market, level 1-1, and level 1-2). Those levels will be brought to a presentable level (vertical slice), and together with the menu, this will become the demo of Solveland. In order to launch the complete demo, there still has to be done some work. The entire menu (including the functionality, options menu, and the visuals), visual effects, sound effects & ambient sounds, multiple events, more assets, animations, and fine-tuning of all those elements.

If you would like to follow the progress of the game, you can follow me on multiple platforms.

Solveland Discord server

Twitter

YouTube

What is new or improved

The basic menu is implemented. There is a main menu with controller support. The game will have a save game slot feature, which has been implemented already. There is also a simple pause game feature. The options menu is still not implemented, which I hope to have done for my next devlog. Visuals of the menus are not final.

Tutorial

I have been working on a tutorial. During the first few puzzles, the player will get to understand the core mechanics of the game, and how the controls work. There will be pop-ups of the controls. The player is able to gain powers and this will be taught in the tutorial area as well.

Collectibles

The game will feature 2 types of collectibles. You will be able to collect coins, which are located all over the place, some are better hidden than others. Those collectibles will have an impact on your gameplay in some form that I will keep secret. The other type of collectible will be Artifacts. Artifacts will be well hidden and hard to find, but there will be only a few per hub. Artifacts will not have an impact on your gameplay and will be purely implemented as secrets for those that like to explore the world. Artifacts are not yet implemented!

Atmosphere/Setting

The overall atmosphere is another element that I have been working on. The game will have some points of environmental storytelling, conveying the connection between the world and the player. I also worked on the post-processing, although it is not final yet, it has been a big improvement compared to the previous build.

Puzzle Overview Board

The puzzle overview board was placed at the start of each puzzle. Showing the player the overview of the puzzle they are currently in. However, I came to the realization that it was tedious to constantly move back to the board to see the overview of the puzzle again. Especially when puzzles become larger, it will be fairly annoying if you constantly have to move to one place to take a quick look at the state of your puzzle. Therefore, it will now be an item that the player can hold, and it will be updated in real-time.

Improved UX more

Floating pillars were already in the game in the previous build, but they have been greatly improved. They are constantly bobbing, so it is a real eye-catcher. Besides that, they will light up when the player enters the puzzle area of that pillar. There are now also smaller pillars, that will also light up when the player enters the puzzle area.

Save points do have a visual representation now. This is not final, but a big improvement nonetheless. The player just has to walk on one to activate it. It will light up, and the game will be saved.

Thank you

The reason why I write those devlogs is to log my work publicly. To give a sense of pressure to me. However, I am always open to feedback and constructive criticism. If you have a question or feedback, feel free to leave it below! Thank you again for reading!