Progress & Thoughs - 30 (Patreon)

Hello there!
I've been working on making some of the main/common enemies lately. Take a look!

Pushing blocks mechanic.
This has been on my mind for a while, I though pushing blocks was kinda slow and tedious. So pushing the block with your strong legs felt right. I think it's a good way to convey how strong Zoria really is.

Getting sprites done.
I most of the time leave sprites unfinished if I don't feel really like them at all, and may change them in a future. I feel this one is a little stiff.

Changing bombs into crystal bombs.
I wanted to be a little bit more original with my usables, so I though of changing the bombs to some explosive crystal, I plan to change it so it detonates on impact. Also I think they need to rotate to look better.

New usable - Amara's Scepter.
This new usable's mechanic is to generate an energy pulse, it deals damage to enemies. (It's kinda OP because you could just spam it to clean rooms, may need to nerf it.) It also turns astral blocks into solid for a few seconds.

Adding shader effect to the pulse.
Nothing like a good shader to make everything look better.

Animation concept + Block WIP.
It's always fun to prototype these kind of stuff, I had to tweak the duration of the blocks in order to make the platforming more challenging.

Opening new paths.
We all know Metroidvanias use tools to open new paths around the map, in this case, you'll have to use the Scepter to activate these paths. but you'll have to be fast, since those last just a few seconds!

Do particles make things better?
Particles are tricky, but are a good way to decorate stuff.

Scepter Sprite + Final particles.
I added these particles to make it look like the blocks are made out of astral energy. IDK. Also worked on the Scepter animation.

"Sand" concept.
I wanted to make something with falling blocks like sand. At first I though about adding a shovel that would destroy blocks under the player.

Using the autotile code.
This code I made long ago is always useful :D All you need is a texture!

Destroying sand.
Decided to take inspiration in Zelda - Minish Cap. The gust jar is a good tool, and I never really though of using Zelda tools for inspiration until now.

Basic mechanics.
The concept is really simple, the sand blocks will shake until they lost all their "HP" and destroy themselves if in contact with the succ area. Just had to add some particles that travel towards the player position.

Vase of Assimilation Sprite.
I used the Minigun sprite I made some time ago to make this one.

Here's the Minigun I made for fun (Not for the game.)

And here's a discarted concept of the first design for the vaccum thingy.

Playing around with moving platforms + Water.
I was thinking of some mechanics for the Vase of Assimilation, so I took my moving blocks and gave them water floatability.

Puzzle Mechanics.
This was the obvious movement after. I can imagine having to navigate through some are with Lava or acid using these.

Bonus.
I think this would make a very cool bridge area.

Water Mechanics/Puzzles.
Thinking of those areas fillex with Acid/Lava made me think of having to lift the water levels in order to progress. The more puzzle mechanics the better!

Puzzles using more than 1 tool.
Talking about puzzles, I really liked the idea of having to use 2 tools in order to solve a puzzle. Here you can see infinite falling sand,  so you have to use the Scepter to block the falling sand.

That's all folks! Hope you like it! Any suggestions are always welcome!