Brains...
...I hunger for the flesh of the living. Though I'm one of them - I'm still alive.
What have I been doing since my last post?
A question that haunts every single one of my blog posts.
One thing's for certain: I've been taking my time. Therium-2 is something I always take the time to develop. I hold no schedule for myself, and will take things as slowly as I need to. It's quite obvious, from my current pace of blog posts.
But hey - here's a quick and important development.
Therium-2 is being expanded.
As I got a small amount of feedback from one of my beta testers (thanks Jackie), I decided that the gameplay time in Therium-2 is simply not long enough.
I've done the math based on my average playtimes on each level, and I've written it all down. The results:
- The A path can take from 43 to 60 minutes.
I've figured this is due to cutscene levels taking up the majority of the A path. In these levels, the only gameplay is clicking through each line of dialogue. In fact, there's only one level in the S2 section of the A path that isn't a cutscene.
- The B path can take from 55 to 71 minutes.
Every single level of the B path is a gameplay level, meaning there are enemies to encounter either through combat or stealth. Not only that, but there's a significant difficulty spike in the S2 section of the B path which I won't spoil.
In my opinion, this is not long enough.
Therium-2 has enough cutscenes, but cutscenes don't take long to see. For each cutscene level, I've calculated it takes about 1-2, maybe 3 minutes. Gameplay levels, however, consistently have a lot more replay value and 'length' to them.
Either path is still longer than my times on the Lugaru campaign, but in my opinion the Lugaru campaign is a bit short.
I could easily be biased in my tests, though - I am extremely experienced in Overgrowth's combat system, not to mention the fact I designed and made the levels myself.
So what am I going to do about it?
Gameplay Level Expansion
I am going to add more levels to Therium-2.
-
The A path
- S1: I'll add two levels, bringing the total level count for the S1 section of the A path to five levels.
- S2: I'll add three gameplay-centered levels. This'll bring the total level count for gameplay levels in the S2 section of the A path to four levels. Including cutscenes, the level count will be seven.
- Ending: There won't be any additional ending levels in the A path.
-
The B path
- S1: I'll add two levels, bringing the total level count for the S1 section of the B path to five levels.
- S2: I'll add two levels, bringing the total level count for the S2 section of the B path to five levels.
- Ending: There won't be any additional ending levels in the B path.
The S2 section of the A path is in desperate need of gameplay expansion. As I mentioned, every single level (save for one) as of now is a cutscene level. I don't like this. It limits replayability, and gives an un-satisfactory feeling to the player.
The S2 section of the B path, however, doesn't need too much expansion, considering it's already pretty gameplay heavy. At the same time, I feel like it deserves a better 'final level' to transition into the Ending section.
So hopefully the long periods of silence isn't too annoying to those following the development of Therium-2. To those who are still patient with my progress, thanks a ton. I'll see you in the next update.
But Therium-2 when?
No official dates yet, but my goal is "before Overgrowth is released and out of beta".
