[img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/2623ee5b8bea6c43e1e475f0a66b6bb8437d0cb6.jpg[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/eb161850bb56ac8167707f303717da781d359579.jpg[/img] Keeping it short and sweet this month, I did a huge amount of playtesting to go over the structure of the game to get it solidified for the upcoming beta. Aside from the content left to add and the loose ends here and there, I'm really happy with where it's at in terms of the gameplay loop: Survival mode has a clear direction and flow now, something that it had been lacking for months. Visuals and content are now the prime focus moving forward to get them up to scratch. [h1]Hazards[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/623c9b21cba05e34e1d6e8e7541f90171973e1a2.gif[/img] While playtesting, one big thing that stood out to me as needing improvement was the level design: there was a lack of platforming elements and hazards to dodge. The old islands were in general very easy to traverse at top speed without much concern for dodging or platforming. Boss fights were made too easy because of this and in general I want the player to build mastery over the movement and platforming mechanics, not just the aiming and shooting mechanics. Some of the first hazard types have been added this month: spike traps, falling platforms, spinning lasers and slamming cliff traps. In Survival mode they will be randomly chosen on each island so there are many combinations that can change how it feels to move through familiar areas. Hazards hurt both players and enemies so it can be a good strategy to lead enemies through them! Hazards will also be added to Racing maps, creating more challenge and variety there. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/609a319e740faffc51ec9e18cc07a6993e449f07.jpg[/img] [h1]Alpha Playtests[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/4712c3fe10c4dcabd15cc2a7cc48c7e56c5df7d2.gif[/img] I spent a good chunk of time this month doing playtests to ensure that the game is playing as expected in multiplayer scenarios, especially at high latencies. I'm happy to say that these went really well with latencies tested as high as 320ms being smooth for all players. It was also great to get reassurance that the major changes in structure over the last few months were for the best. While playtesting, I did a huge balance pass on weapons, enemies, map layouts and more. There'll be a few more alpha playtests as I finish up more content and then... it's beta time! It's fun to see how the game plays differently in multiplayer with tougher enemies needing teamwork to take them down and how discussions are had at chests and shops to figure out which pickup works best for each player. [h1]Improved Visuals[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/87e17d5a93c50023b72a591823933961e905c80b.jpg[/img] It's been an interesting process to try and get a clear read without going too stylized with the visuals. While I love photorealistic graphics, many games suffer from the problem of having too much detail that can take away from the clarity of the game. I wanted to avoid this heavily in CC while still keeping an appealing aesthetic. Not quite there yet (no real detail assets in the worlds yet, just broad shapes) but it's going in the right direction! [h1]Survival Mode Quality Of Life Improvements[/h1] [list] [*] Crystals are now auto collected after an enemy is eliminated: you no longer have to go and physically collect crystals (the only exception here is if the enemy was eliminated by a hazard without taking damage from a player: in that case they will drop their crystals as before and the player can physically pick them up when nearby). The amount of crystals auto collected is given proportionally to the damage that each player did to the enemy- this prevents the previous issue of one player doing all the work but another player being nearby and finishing the enemy off, collecting all of the crystals [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/57e95949cf1a00e4e8dc6cbaf8e3669a3ef529ff.gif[/img] [*] You can no longer knock back teammates: this was something that happened quite a lot with projectiles and other AOE attacks and while it sounded like it could be fun on paper (to allow for rocket jumping), it was really annoying in practice [*] Shops now have separate sections for each category of pickup, making it easier to find what you are looking for [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/391ba1691508501313ce8f56ad034ff284766f7d.jpg[/img] [*] Potions have been removed, and hearts now both heal AND increase max health. Hearts have also been removed from the chest loot pool and can only be found in shops (shops are guaranteed on the 4th and 9th islands of each biome) [*] Weapons have undergone a huge balancing and cleanup pass. Many weapons that were too similar to others have been removed for now in order to ensure that each weapon serves a specific purpose and new players aren't overwhelmed with similar weapons to use [*] Weapons have been removed from the chest loot pool and no longer have rarities. This change may seem drastic, but I realized that the weapon mods do all the work when it comes to the power of your weapon, and the actual type of weapon used by the player is more down to personal preference. A guaranteed weapon chest now drops after completing the first island and weapons can also be obtained in the weapon section of the shop [*] Weapons can now affect the movement speed of the player [*] Destructible rocks now fire projectile shards in random directions when exploding, creating more chaos and making them less predictable and more dangerous! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/6fc60b10e635e75d6365c7a3bb80f51dbf9dd1a8.gif[/img] [*] Enemy spawn logic has been much improved with better pacing and selection across each biome. Previously, a greater number of enemies would spawn after each island without getting reset after each biome, leading to extremely tedious late game islands [*] Enemies now all have at least 3 attacks, anything from simple ranged and close attacks to special attacks like spawning lesser enemies or teleporting (Ignore the janky attack animation here haha) [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/6d99e55b44eeb176a83b486b6e9822bf96b58180.gif[/img] [*] Players now take damage when stepping into ice, fire, acid or lightning damage areas that they created by exploding projectiles or shooting destructible rocks. Be careful when throwing those lightning grenades! [*] Temples now are guaranteed to spawn on the 8th island of each biome (8th = Temple, 9th = Shop, 10th = Boss). Previously, Temples required a key to enter and simply gave the player a reward instantly. I've significantly changed how temples work in this update- they are now one of the most difficult islands in a biome as you must traverse a platforming challenge while fighting off enemies. This way the reward in the temple is earned and the build up to the boss fight is intensified. [/list] [h1]Upcoming Survival Mode Features[/h1] I started a bunch of the final features that are planned for the beta this month including: [list] [*] [b]Companions:[/b] Get support from friendly Puffins, Penguins and more on your Survival runs. They can equip weapons but be careful: they may cause more trouble than they are worth! [*] [b]Challenge Runs:[/b] An alternate Survival sub mode with the goal of finishing a run with specific conditions such as having to escort a very unstable companion to Crab Island or having to finish a run without a weapon but hazard spawns are pushed to the max (all enemies must be lured into traps to progress) [*] [b]Giant Spider:[/b] A new powerful enemy type that can be found on the Sand biome [*] [b]Head To Head Mode:[/b] A competitive Survival sub mode where players compete on the same team for the highest score when the run ends OR to be the last alive- whichever happens first! A fun mix of risk and reward [*] [b]Mini Objectives:[/b] I want to add more life and depth to some of the islands with small secondary objectives occasionally appearing for various rewards [*] [b]The Forge:[/b] As part of a balancing pass, I'm considering adding a forge to shops which will be the only place that players can equip and swap weapon mods, adding a layer of strategy and deliberation to builds. Currently you can swap mods at any time even during battle which is powerful and fun in other ways so I'll be putting a lot of thought in before deciding whether the forge will go ahead or not [/list] [h1]Duel Mode Free For All[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37274156/16e5f4833b0084d494ff75968e244ff643544d1a.gif[/img] Free For All is a newly added sub mode to Duel, allowing players to skip the round based Duel format and simply battle it out against other crabs to be the first to hit 25 eliminations! In the future I may expand to other party style sub modes such as Gun Game and Infected! That's it for this one, seeya next month! Join the Crab Champions Discord server: https://discord.gg/crabchampions Follow Crab Champions on Twitter: https://twitter.com/crabchampions Join the Crab Champions subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CrabChampions/