Progress Report 5/13/2022 (Patreon)

Prepare your booties! Here's what I got done this week:

• Gave NPCs a new sprite for prototyping
• Adjusted NPCs' speeds to stay on the screen for 2.75 - 5 seconds
• Made NPCs' horizontal movement much more toned down
• Made the NPCs disappear with floating "Saved!" text when they collide with the player
• Made the NPCs disappear with floating "Sacrificed!" text when they get stepped on
• Animated the floating text to drift up and fade away
• Removed the "Version" buttons from the pause and game over menus
• Made both heroes and NPCs avoid obstacles using a redesigned avoidance system
• Added a check for WebGL version to disable the Quit button so it doesn't crash the game on itchio.
• Adjusted the camera bounds so the play area is fully visible at all times
• Adjusted foot movement so the feet stay in bounds better
• Made the movement of the feet less floaty
• Made each foot stomp early if an NPC is underneath it and the foot isn't already chasing the player

I got sick for two days this week. That meant two days to stay home and do some programming. >:D  Now then, where to begin... You know what? There's a lot to unpack here, so let's make this a lightning round!

NPC speeds: they now travel down the screen slower. The lowest time they're on-screen is 2.75 seconds, which is roughly the time it takes for the player character to get from one end of the screen to the other.

NPC horizontal movement was cut down to 1/3 its original value. It didn't feel good trying to catch an NPC that was running sideways at nearly the same speed you were. Just let me save you!

Speaking of saving NPCs, that's a thing now! Buuuut they can also get crushed-... er, "sacrificed" to the giantess. Better keep an eye on them!

The NPC and hero obstacle detection got an overhaul. Now, instead of trying to get waypoints from the ObstacleSpawner object, they use collision boxes to detect the waypoints themselves (which also have collision) and add them that way. It's far less complicated this way. Shoutout to Bombur for suggesting this solution!

Tadaaa! NPCs avoid obstacles now! :D

To keep the feet in-bounds, I previously had a FootDetectionZone object that detected when the player and feet entered and exited... it was a half-baked mess that still let the feet escape the play area with the right momentum. So, I scrapped the FootDetectionZone entirely and simply checked global positions of feet and player to determine which direction the feet should move and when they should go idle. I also added a hard barrier for the feet through code. Now even with exactly the right momentum, they won't leave the play area.

Last in my notes but not least: foot movement was made way less floaty. I already had code in place to keep the feet stationary while on the ground (after stomping), and out of curiosity I tried applying that to the feet all the time. Turns out it looks and plays a LOT better now!

If that's not enough for you, I've also been planning ahead. I've began compiling a comprehensive list of all the menus the game will have from the main menu to the options menu to the [REDACTED]. I'm usually not a fan of menu design, but there are a couple that I'm actually looking forward to! Plus I'll make absolutely sure to prototype the menus in full before adding any art. That should prevent last-minute additions like I had in Grape Escape (I'm looking at you, depth bonus!)

I also had an epiphany last night concerning a yet unintroduced mechanic. I was on the fence about adding it before, but now I think I've got a way to add it in to break up gameplay without being a complete mess! :D  More on that in the future.

So, that's been my week! I should get sick more often... Anyhoo, I'm gonna eat some Taco Bell and maybe even get myself a milkshake! I'd say I earned it this week. ^_^  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll see you guys again next week!