leafygreen

 I remade the home level in Godot 4 with some of the newer features. My new system actually let me use sdfgi. I hope to bake in the lighting for performance reasons once the lighting is set. I need to tweak some of the environment according to some feedback, but that'll be an iterative process, just like everything. Also updated Sera's sprite due to some feedback. In general there's been a good bit of work on tweaking values, adding particle effects, sound effects, tweaking the animations, and a few bug fixes. 

 I spent some time drawing Sera (almost) all the way through since I knew what I wanted for her design, just missing weapon designs now. It was a pretty big challenge using an Intous but I finally figured out the trick to getting decent line art on it. In addition, I redesigned the dialogue system so that it would be easier for me to write dialogue. Before, it was formatted in json which was a massive headache to write, so I changed it into something that is far simpler, shorter and is one line. I was thinking of finding a plugin but I'm already having some issues with the scatter plugin so I figured I'd just write the tool so that I'd know how to actually fix it if it breaks due to a new version.  The screenshot below has bilinear filtering on it, hence the horrible quality since I lost my GPU recently. my CPU was already on the weaker side back then and now its 10 yrs old so working with the integrated graphics is a real struggle. I'm planning on moving to a far bette...

 Mostly a ton of particle effects for hits and some sound effects. Some of them I'm not too pleased with, but I'll stick with them for now. It definitely makes a huge difference in terms of feedback. I made some small changes that would make the special launch work properly, and adjusted some animations on the boss.

 As usual, lots of stuff, but I forgot to update regularly. I added in all of the basic special attacks. I'm still missing a fair bit of sound effects and particle effects, but I added in the base ones needed to just tell what the boss is doing. I tried to keep the GUI near the player. So invincibility is an effect around the player/boss. Weapon swaps can be seen above the player's head. Only the HP is shown in the right corner. Fixed a bunch of annoying bugs, still have a few minor ones. Added in a new attack for Sera that hopefully challenges players in dodging. Still have one more attack I want to implement for Sera then I think the prototype boss fight design is set and I just need to polish. The die state is in for the player and the dialogue can now have effects on the environment. I was going to switch to a plugin but given that i'm already having some issues with the scatter plugin I'd rather use my own solution for now. I think I'll probably rework my dialo...

 I'm trying to keep up with the weekly posts, but I just kinda forget. But I am making a lot of progress and I'll have a video very soon. The recent updates involve some tweaks to Sera so she can't be corner infinite comboed, generalizing the attack system so I don't have to put in a bunch of tedious (and error prone) entries - the combo system is much more flexible now and you pretty much have a continuation attack on every single attack - except for the ones that are combo enders. Those are purposely left slower (but more powerful). I've got a few more ideas for this combo system but that'll probably be after release of prototype. Fixed a few nasty bugs that only showed up after I generalized the attack system. Added another attack for Sera when she has her upgraded weapon - I think it helps challenge the player more and requires them to dodge it in a more complicated way than just dashing to the side or jumping. Sped up a few of the projectiles so you actuall...

 Got a bunch of nasty bugs fixed, started putting in a ton of graphical assets. Weapon steal is done, though my pickup system isn't quite there yet (doesn't spawn pickups in places randomly), and I want to add 2 special attacks to the boss when she's got her upgraded weapon. I'll start polishing things soon (fixing bad animations/particle fx/sfx, etc). Going to move to a dialogue tool cause I don't like my own and don't feel like spending anymore time on creating one. Here's how things look right now in the environment. I still want some larger structures in the background and need to replace the placeholder stage. Lost the water foam (depth texture seems to have disappeared in visual shaders and linear depth texture doesn't seem to do what I expect) on transfer to 4, so I have to rebuild that at some point.

I have been completely forgetting to post updates, but I have actually been working on stuff this entire month. I've added in the new special weapon system with a set of basic animations and particle effects, but the twist is the boss also has access to it - albeit in a different format. The goal of this is to make the player scramble for something vs the boss so that it injects a bit of freshness and alternative goals into the fight. I haven't implemented all the stuff I would like for it yet, but I'm getting close. I've also fixed a few other obscure and strange bugs that have existed since Godot 3 (one was a nasty race condition one) and made the projectile system more flexible. I'm starting to import some of the models into the Godot 4 version, so I should have some screenshots and videos in the next couple of months. Sera still needs a few more enhancements to her controller to make her prioritize certain things but I think I should have a working demo soon and...