Almost there (powerups & progress update!) (Patreon)

- Cheshire is a bit hung up on one of the enemies for the Ice Level; namely, the small Celodst. The jumping attack we wanted them to do (wall jump, etc.) requires pathfinding, which is something we haven't had in the game until now. Those of you who program know how time-consuming this is to program for a game with a landscape for its maps like Future Fragments, so what we'll be doing is likely releasing the demo without this particular attack in, and saving it for the next demo. The pathfinding though, once done, will make future enemies easier to program in, as some of them will require pathfinding as well. Outside of that, everything seems to be fine programming-wise :)

- I've shown the maps to Triangulate/Cheshire and they've signed off on them; personally, I think they're some of the best maps I've made for the game yet, but you'll all of course be the judge of that. :P 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 has nothing left to do for the Ice Level demo, so he's just continuing to work on stuff for the Electricity Level.

We should have the demo out by the 23rd if all goes well!

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And now, for the powerups! This time around, we've got four Defense powerups that are all stand-alone, and one Negative powerup.

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 bar of soap, etc.

To start off clockwise from the upper left, we have the Negative powerup;

#1 - Mind-Reading Brain Implant (Negative Powerup)

This powerup actually ties directly into something else in-game; the POV animations you get if you find all the silver databanks in a level (there's now two types of databanks, gold ones, which you'll need to find all of to get the true ending for the game, and silver databanks, which aren't needed for the good ending, but if you want the POV animations, you'll need to get the gold AND the silver ones.)

One of the databanks tells about the mind-reading implants that are stuck in anyone working for the WORM; they allow the WORM to constantly monitor the thoughts of all the employees (higher level employees have the option to turn these off, as a luxury of sorts). Finding all the databanks in the level will mean that you'll trigger an alarm which will cause the higher ups at WORM to instantly scan the memories and thoughts of all the enemies in the level to find Talia... but instead, all they get are thoughts of the enemies wanting to fuck Talia, which is then broadcast through all the monitors in the "in between/transition" level, much to Talia's embarrassment/shock, as well as the humiliation of the higher-ups.

The boost it gives is "When an enemy comes into view, they're permanently aware of/chasing after Talia at all times (again as long as they're on screen only) and she is now stunned if she only takes 20HP damage, and finally, breaking out of stun becomes twice as hard and she takes twice as much damage from orgasms too. However, Talia can now see all secret walls in the game automatically, and she also knows whether things are booby trapped or not, as well as what powerups lie in what objects/enemies." 

This gives Talia powers that give her serious intel on her enemies and the level map as a whole, but being that it's a negative powerup, the strain on her mind and body that this powerup puts on her (even though it's just a figurative one) weakens her significantly as well.

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And now, the four remaining stand-alone powerups;

#2 - Pomegranate (Defense Powerup)

The Pomegranate, believe it or not, is the national fruit of Iran, and as the Middle Eastern countries have barely been included in this game, this became one of the food items and such included.

The boost it gives is "Talia now regenerates health for the first 5 seconds she enters a room for the first time, at a rate of 6 health per second." This powerup lets you start off maps with a small health boost of 30 HP essentially; it's not much, but when paired with other powerups that amplify healing, it could give you potentially a full heal at the start of a room. Pomegranate itself is said to have various properties that give vitality, especially to the heart, so that's why we went with this.

#3 - Antipsychotic Medicine (Defense Powerup)

This powerup falls in the category of "storyline powerups", so it doesn't belong to a specific nation. As the story goes on, you'll see exactly why/what this is for. ;)

The boost it gives is "Defense is locked at what it normally is, regardless of anything else in the game affecting it (enemies, powerups, etc.)" This an extremely strong powerful for those wanting to go through the game with a Negative powerup (and there's even a reason for this plot-wise too!), or any other otherwise debilitating powerup. 

#4 - Bar of Soap (Defense Powerup)

Yep, you guessed it, this is another "storyline powerup" that isn't linked to a particular nation.

The boost it gives is "Having an orgasm from a sex animation/breaking out of sex animations/constant struggle loops will all cause 0 damage now." Being an item that gets you squeaky clean, this item represents pretty much nullifying something that most perceive as dirty, aka sex. (This powerup is also in here if you want to just continually watch sex animations in-game instead of in a gallery.)

#5 - Poutine (Defense Powerup)

I'm sure most of you know where this one comes from, but this is sort of the unofficial "national food" of Canada; almost everyone who visits Canada has to try it at least once!

The boost it gives is "The first time Talia reads a Databank, she heals for 20 HP." This is something that should keep you fueled up during your journey, and this was picked to represent how poutine is normally aten while sitting down at a bar or diner something else of that sort, hearing other people's stories; afaik, it's not a "loner food", as usually people will want to share it.

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