Hello lovelies. It's time for another Friday HUPDDAAAAATE.
We're chomping at the finish line like a starving deer chomps a head of lettuce.New arrivals on the ENEMY scene this week are the Nudibranch (or nudi, as we call him internally) and the Manta.
The Nudi is a jumpy critter that leaps around on the level, splatting out goo as he goes and blocking terrain from being easily walked upon. By himself he isn't much of a big deal, but put two or three of them together, in combination with some Angler fish (who fire laser beams) and some Eels (who shoot projectiles), and you'll find your choice of evasion to be of paramount importance.
The Manta, on the other hand, is an up close killer. He drifts around, flapping his devil wings, until he gets close enough to charge. When charging, the manta has a weak sense of homing and will chase you down lest you perform a perpendicular dodge of some sort.
We think these two enemies, in conjunction with their rare forms, really round out the combat interactions in the game. Further, we've actually modified combat.
People were regularly dodging to their doom. Dodge was the only way to effectively block an attack as well as the only way to get over gaps and move quickly. It was less of a dodge, then, and more of a combined Sprint / Block. So, after some experimentation earlier this week, we've actually decided to split the mechanics!
There's now a button for blocking which creates a bubble around the player. This bubble absorbs a hit and then pops, only becoming available again after a brief cooldown. Dodge is now inexhaustible, so you can inksplooge around the map by holding the button and not worry about running out of jetting power before cross a platform.
We've also made big updates to the UI and are in the process of completely revamping the menu screens, which is the big task for next week. Finally, we'll be doing all the in-game store stuff so that we can actually feed ourselves (HEYOOO!).
Also, here's the icon that'll be gracing devices with Quadropus. If you have any feedback on it I'd love to hear it.
