Animations, Fonts, Gameplay Changes, and Build 2 News! (Patreon)

February has come to a close and it's time for another WAN WAN UPDATE!

Tough Bippy's second test build has been a major priority and has been taking a bit more time than we had previously anticipated...

( We will be pushing Build 2 back to around the end of March in order to finalize it... )

We're still in the process of arranging some final art assets and last bug fixes for Build 2 and will be fleshing it out over the course of March. You can also expect a post halfway through the month giving an update on where things are at, as we wish to keep you all informed with each bit of progress we make until everything is fleshed out and set to go!

Build 2 is going to be marking a major milestone as it finally establishes the point we get to carry on towards laying out levels and setting up bosses, the core game engine essentially being ready to go. Be sure to keep up with streams on Twitch if you want to see where progress is at and what we're currently working on in regards to the game.

Last month we had a checklist of what we needed to do to have Build 2 ready to post. While there's still some work that needs to be done, we at least have a shorter list of what is left to do at the end of this month :

• Final clean up on Bippy's animations.
• Updated controller configuration screen.
• Final polishing and bug testing.

After Build 2 we're hoping to transition right away towards getting levels started for Tough Bippy! Feedback from our previous test build was immensely valuable towards development, and by ensuring Build 2's quality, it will prioritize feedback that can hold relevant as we're setting up stages and challenges for the game.

While we still have a bit of work ahead of us for March, we did manage to get a lot done here in February! Scroll down for information regarding what kind of changes and updates we made to Tough Bippy!

This month was a big one for visual polish - a new interface font, new movement animations, and some finalized clean-up being done on various animations! Of the 1100 frames of animation Bippy has (currently) - we've managed to get about 500 of those frames cleaned and readied! While we don't expect to have all of Bippy's animations entirely finalized for Build 2, we at least hope to have most of his core animations (the ones you'll see on screen the most) cleaned up so you can get a good idea of how the game will look.

( Backdashing allows Bippy to escape from enemy attacks quickly! )

Some small timing bugs we found on a few of the animations in-game which have been corrected now. If animations may have seemed a little too jumpy or felt like they were strobing a bit before, timings have been improved and some single frame hiccups have been overhauled and corrected.

( Backwards airdashes give Bippy a burst of speed while jumping! )

Additional tweaks or changes have been made to some of the animations, adjusting either their timing, the reach of certain attacks, or to give some final polish. Bippy is an extremely expressive character and will easily be housing the majority of animation in Tough Bippy. It has been important ensuring that all of the animation in-game flows very naturally, often goes interrupted, and can seamlessly blend together to really give the right weight to Bippy's movement through play control.

( Here's a work-in-progress from Sneep of Bippy's backwards walk cycle! )

While we've readied a lot of Bippy's animations, there are still a few we're hoping to get cleaned up before Build 2 drops. We've also been working on a couple of new animations to assist smoother transitions between different movement states. We have also gone through the process of updating hitboxes for all of Bippy's animations both old and new, so collisions in-game are much smoother with some attacks having repurposed priority and advantages!

( Hitboxes have been updated to go alongside finalized animations! )

Frame data  on various attacks have been altered and updated leading to a much more flexible combat system regarding timings, combos, and buffers. We've also reworked the dash cancel mechanic to behave a bit differently than the first test build. By pressing DASH after landing a hit, Bippy will dash cancel and continue to carry horizontal momentum briefly. The modified dash cancel mechanic should open the door to a lot of new possibilities while fighting enemies, as well as balancing combat out a bit further thanks to how it decreases your momentum after usage.

( You can now spawn a copy of Bippy to use as a training dummy! )

We have expanded on our debugging menu in Build 2 and have implemented the option to spawn an NPC at your current location, whether it be a punching bag or a copy of Bippy. Testing with a clone has been helping a lot in regards to fixing bugs and maintaining consistency pertaining the combat system. 

( Bippy utilizes dash cancels to reset his auto-combo! )

The flow of combat has drastically changed since some of the prior builds with momentum being much more of an emphasis. By dashing into an attack, Bippy can slide forward with his punches making it easier to chain hits together! Try taking advantage of Bippy's flexible movement to string large combos together!

( Julian put together this new in-game font that you'll see used in menus! )

The menu you'll find inside menus and the pause interface has been updated, now sporting a lot more flair and a larger scale than our previous placeholder font. In March we'll be working on finalizing controller configuration screen assets, closing off the last bit of what is needed regarding interface before Build 2 is readied.

Keep checking back in March for more and more details regarding Build 2, as we're hoping to post more frequently with each bit of progress we make. The hope is that we can work through the last few things on our checklist before March ends. 

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting us as we work on this game, and we really hope you guys end up enjoying how it ends up playing!  We are looking forward to your feedback on Build 2 when it releases! 

~DD