Developer Log #3
Working on a game is simultaneously exhausting and rewarding
One of the things that always takes way too much time is the art assets. Pixel art doesn’t take too much time but the sheer amount of sprites that need to be made can often swallow several hours of a day. Of course, seeing art and code work together in harmony is incredibly rewarding, which leads us to the main topic of our post: updates! We are starting to see what the final look of the game is going to be. Today, we get to show you some updated screenshots, and even a little bit of gameplay!
How the look has changed
We have updated some key sprites, most notably the ground of the jungle, as well as the background. We’ve taken a small shift from 8×8 sprites to double that – 16×16. This allows for a lot more detail (even though small sprites are much faster to draw).
Here you can see everything is much brighter, which in turn makes it much more pleasant to look at. While the landscape is a bit barren still, we will develop that in short order.
Finally adding enemies and hazards
What good is a game without monsters or things to fight? We have a few enemies already coded and functional, though there are plenty more in the works to make the game feel more dangerous. We have your standard fare of snakes, spiders, and bats, but what else is lurking in the shadows? You’ll have to find out!
Character choices aplenty
One of the features we have implemented is the ability to unlock characters through gameplay. Some of these characters will be able to get to hidden areas that hide more treasure – which go towards more characters.
Our current selection sits at 5, but our aim is to hit 10 characters before release, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Can you unlock them all?
Five choices of characters!
What is the game about?
As you can probably tell from the character select screen, the first unlocked character should have a pretty familiar vibe to him. We are aiming for a parody/homage to the temple diving, cave spelunking, whip cracking genre that was popular about a decade ago.
Better late than never, right?
The game is set on a familiar stage, with characters that have fun with the source material they have been inspired by. We don’t expect to go into a large, overarching plot, but there will be little tid-bits of information with each character, as well as their “motivations in game”
Gameplay so simple, a toddler could play
They wouldn’t be very good, but a toddler could play the game. The gameplay is simple: press the button to progress.
“But Team Cangrejo! Don’t you mean ‘buttons’?”
Nope! This game is played with a single button. It’s a simple, streamlined skill game that requires you to time your jumps, attacks, and crouches in order to progress to the next screen. Just trust your instincts and you will do fine!
Pre-release footage of gameplay. Nothing shown is guaranteed to be in the final product.
What’s left?
With all these super cool screenshots, you might expect us to announce a release date here. We aren’t quite there yet, but we are getting there at a decent pace.
As far as things that still need doing, there is just a little bit of code to wrap up, far too much art, and music. We have a lot planned still, but with dedication, we are trucking along at a pace that hints at a release sometime this millennium.
