Progress on Finalizing Build 2 (Patreon)

Welcome back everyone - Build 2 for Tough Bippy is approaching! This month we did a lot towards providing more information here on Patreon, alongside getting some last aspects finalized for Tough Bippy!

We've updated our Patreon's frontpage this month, so for anyone looking for more information on our projects - it's readily available! Goals have also been updated to also reflect what would be needed to speed up development in regards to hiring on a few additional artists.

In regards to Build 2, we have details below regarding the last few aspects we need to finalize and prepare before we post the new test for Patreon!

We're in the process of finalizing some final aspects of Tough Bippy before we post the second test build. There's still a lot of polishing we are in the process of, ensuring any final bugs are squashed before posting it, alongside really ensuring things play and control as smoothly as possible. We've been redoing a lot of our input buffering systems to ensure players can make the choices they intend on, with the game also trying to anticipate certain actions ahead of time so inputs don't just get dropped and ignored.

Build 2 is meant to cement almost all core game concepts, the engine nearly finalized, so we can transition immediately into levels and bosses once it is ready and posted. We're very nearly there and only have a bit more to do in regards to work. As always - art asset work will be streamed on Twitch if people are curious to see development as it happens!

Before we release the new build we need to still do the following :

• Brand new menu fonts.
• Final clean up on Bippy's animations.
• Finalized special move frame data.
• Updated controller configuration screen.
• Expanded test enemy moves and AI.
• Final polishing and bug testing.

When we knock these last few things out, we'll be about ready to post Build 2 for you guys to try out here on Patreon! After the build we'll be looking into feedback that patrons provide, hoping to take care of any bugs we missed, alongside trying to optimize anything that may feel off to players in any way. We'll be showing concept illustrations for start on levels after Build 2 so for people curious about what a stage in Tough Bippy will look like - it won't be too much longer!

Bippy has a lot of new animations for movement that we're currently cleaning up!

This month we spent time adding in some final animations for Bippy's movement, While we are still the process of getting many of Bippy's animations cleaned up and finalized as pixel art, all of Bippy's movement options are animated alongside some transitional animations to let them smoothly blend between poses. 

For Build 2 there will potentially still be a handful of animations that remain rough for the sake of posting the build sooner, but we're in the process of getting any leftover roughed animations finalized in the next month. We've also readjusted the timing on most animations to give a smoother look to them, alongside improving how Bippy's overall control feels to handle. 

New special effects have been added alongside sped up movement options!

Many special effects in game have been redone or additionally touched up to bring their impact out a lot more. We've reoptimized how our effect and particle systems work so we're able to get a lot more flexibility out of visuals.

Bippy's new movement options allow for much faster movement, as well as players having much more choice in situations for things they can do. Backwards airdashing grants slight invincibility on startup, while grounded backdashing grants even more. Both of these movement tools can be utilized as a defensive option, so players can back away from an attack before going back in offensively with attacks.

Platforming is now a much more active experience thanks to all the new tools that players have been granted in regards to getting around, we've also sped up the rate that Bippy drops through platforms so players can quickly get the drop on an enemy with an attack.

Players have much more flexibility with movement with a variety of tools!

We hope for players to find all sorts of creative application for Bippy's wide arrangement of movement tools, alongside most of Bippy's special moves also doubling as movement options. The hope is that both platforming and combat can be fast, active, and exciting!

During February we are hoping to have a couple of posts here on Patreon really detailing progress towards the new build, so people can keep up with those bullet points as we knock them out. Things are very close and it has been exciting finally readying the game for major steps forward. For GOLD patrons, we'll be starting to get some new posts up as well detailing a lot of what's going on underneath the hood in Tough Bippy. 

Thank you all again for your continued support! We're really excited to see what you all think of the latest test build of Tough Bippy! Stay tuned for more information on Build 2!

~DD