Update 6
An update dedicated to items.
New Content
- Added the Medkit (AKA the Medical Lunch Box).
- It heals 10 HP per use and has 2 uses before needing 10 seconds to recharge. When depleted, you switch to your next available item automatically. You cannot switch back to the Medkit until it recharges.
- Added the Rifle (AKA the Salt and Pepper).
- It's a mid-range weapon that fires rapidly and takes down enemies quickly, but with a spread of 10 degrees, far away enemies are difficult to hit. It deals 4 damage per hit, has a fire rate of 6 shots-per-second, has 10 shots in the mag, and takes 2.5 seconds to reload.
- Added the Heavy Shotgun (AKA Papa Shotty).
- It's the opposite of the Little Shotty, firing even more pellets than Mama Shotty but is even slower. It fires 9 projectiles at 0.75 shots-per-second.
- New Loadout Selection Screen.
- Originally, the Loadout Selection Screen was a couple rows of buttons and a field of text below that changes when you hover over a button to show what the weapon does. Now the buttons scroll and there are separate fields for the item's stats and the item's description that update when you hover over the item's button. The stats field also tells you special qualities of the item you're using. I plan to add more color to the menus so it's not just a bunch of gray, so when Demo 2 releases this August, you can expect something more colorful.
Gameplay Changes
- Reload Speed is now Reload Time.
- Reload Speed was pretty vague, so I flipped it to be the total time it takes to reload. Not much effect on the gameplay, but it's clearer.
- All weapons reload slightly slower.
- Running out of shots was fairly inconsequential since you reloaded so quickly, so each weapon takes longer to reload. The Pistol and SMG take 2 seconds, the Rifle takes 2.5 seconds, and the rest take 3 seconds. However, no weapon has been slowed down by more than 0.5 seconds. I don't want the reload times to be too high because the game is meant to be fairly fast paced.
- Emergency Weapon System added.
- If you do not pick any items that are good enough to be your only defense, a pistol is added to your loadout. This is the only way to get 4 items, but it's not like you're gaming the system since it's generally good to have multiple guns in your loadout which won't be the case if you get the emergency pistol. I will be adding more items that aren't meant for fighting, so this system will be needed because I do not want to restrict your loadout to require certain items.
Future Plans for Demo 2
- New artwork and music.
- I'm going to try and have a new level aesthetic and new tracks before Demo 2 releases. Artwork isn't too hard, but music can be rather difficult because it's pretty hard for me to find good samples, which I think is just a skill issue on my part LMAO.
- New enemies.
- While the weapons bring decent variety, it's still just three base enemy types (one of which can't even use the weapons), and that's not enough, especially since they all boil down to just someone who shoots at you. There will be enemies with new behaviors that require different maneuvers to defeat.
- At least 12 items total.
- Since the core gameplay is rather simple, variety is added through lots of mechanics that the player can use, which means I need more weapons. I already have 10 total, so I just need 2 more to hit this goal. If I come up with any new items, I'll add them even if I already hit this goal.
I believe I am on track to get Demo 2 out when I want to, which is good. Not much else to say, other than that I may be slower to get things done from here on out because school is starting back up and I'll need to focus on that. However, it will not stop me.