Powerups and Progress Stuff! (Patreon)

- Cheshire apparently has everything done for the C++ build that we wanted to add in this particular demo besides the new enemy + the old enemy's new attacks that we didn't get in the first time, so we're getting closer to the release!

- I'm 90% done with the maps, then I'll be showing them to Triangulate/Cheshire to make sure we're all agreed on the initial setup, and then once he gets the enemies in, I'll add those to the maps, and I'll be done with the maps! (By the way, I'm really happy with these maps; I feel like this new map layout system has let me really go kinda crazy with the layouts, letting me do stuff that wasn't possible before, so I'm pretty proud of them. Despite that, we'll still be redoing the maps for the levels over time as we add new features that would require map redesigns, etc.)

- Triangulate, as usual, is continuing to work on all the art needed; I realize each update this sounds like he's not getting anything done or something, but honestly, the rate he puts out art is just staggering. It's more like I can't really say what he's specifically doing because I know he's working on 10 different animations and tiles and all that at once, and making steady progress on them, so yeah :P

We planning to try and release the demo between July 9th (earliest) to July 23rd (latest)!

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And now, for the powerups! This time around, we've got three powerups in a set, and two standalone ones, all of them Defense powerups!

If you missed the first powerups post on how powerups work, go back and look at it patreon.com/posts/4840446 there!

To note again, these objects are not the actual physical representation of these objects; picking them up doesn't actually give Talia a set of dumbbells, etc.

To start off, we have three powerups in a set, all under the theme of "Bodybuilding";

#1 - Protein Drink (Defense Powerup)

So, this is the "western" or "American" powerup, and this mainly originates with the obsession the west has with these kind of things; of course, other countries have protein drinks and diets and all that stuff, but America goes WAY overboard with an obsession over "liquefy the shit out of everything before you eat it". I'm not saying this is BAD, though; hell, I'm guilty of this too!

The boost it gives is "Each health orb that Talia picks up will give 10% more health." Being that protein, of course, is used to build mass on the body after a workout, it's only appropriate that a protein drink would allow Talia to get more bang for her buck when picking up health orbs.

#2 - A Pair of Dumbbells (Defense Powerup)

However, bodybuilding as a sport originated in Greece, as well as the first recognized modern bodybuilding competition originating in the UK (which, despite it not being part of the EU anymore, is still part of the European landmass legally, being a nearby island and all), means that the classic dumbbells fit perfectly here.

The boost it gives is "Each health orb that Talia picks up will reduce the damage Talia takes on her next hit by 5%, up to a maximum of 50%." As dumbbells are used in exercises to bulk up the body, a powerup allowing Talia to take less damage relative to how much "she packs on" (aka health she picks up), fits pretty well. 

#3 - Treadmill (Defense Powerup)

As a contrast to the UK and America though, the people of Japan are often very slim, with impressive amounts of walking done each day by the average citizen. Having visited there myself, I can say it's a hell of a workout just to get from one place to another, so the treadmill fits here.

The boost it gives is "Every room that Talia goes in (only counts for the first time) in a level increases her defense for JUST THAT LEVEL by 2%. Upon going to another level, this resets." A powerup centered around increasing Talia's defenses relative to how many rooms she's cleared (how far she's traversed, basically) matches the treadmill here.

And with those three powerups, the set boost you get if you have all three is "Talia can now get a "overheal"; if she's at 100% health, picking up another health orb will cause her to gain 25% of the health she would have gained, up to a maximum of 150%. This extra health slowly ticks down back to 100% over time, at 1HP every 3 seconds.". While this may not seem like much in the earlier levels, having this extra health will definitely be a boon in the later levels, whether you're trying to speedrun the game, or tank through enemies that you just don't have the skill to deal with that well, so on.

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And now, the two remaining stand-alone powerups;

#4 - Scaevi Libri Exitium Tempi (Defense Powerup)

I actually had someone versed in Latin translate the original name I had for this book from English into Latin. Given this particular powerup's relevance to the storyline, I wanted to make sure I got it right.

The boost it gives is

"Every 2 minutes this powerup is held, one of 4 possible effects will be swapped in;

• 1) Defense is brought to 50%, enemies drop 2x as many healing orbs.
• 2) Health drops to 1 HP & healing orbs don't work, enemies only do damage by collisions.
• 3) All enemy projectiles do 3x damage, but health regens at 5 HP/s after not taking damage for 10 seconds.
• 4) If Talia is moving, her defenses are increased by 25%, but if she is not moving, they are cut by 75%."

This is a very unorthodox powerup compared to the rest of the powerups talked about so far, but again, it's central to one of the plot points of the game.

#5 - Peace Symbol (Defense Powerup)

And for something much more straightforward, the peace symbol. Belonging to no particular nation, and its original meaning (for nuclear disarmament) now of mostly non-relevance, it's become a universal symbol, even in the future.

The boost it gives is "If Talia has not attacked an enemy, then its attacks to her will deal 1/3rd less damage." Pretty simple; this is another way to deal with enemies that are particularly giving you a hard time. Just don't attack them, since you're having trouble killing them anyways, and progress onwards!

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That's it for now; we'll have another powerup and update post soon! :D