Hello again Rabbits! It's been a hot minute since the last blog post! I've been working hard at various parts of the game. Last March was animation month for me; almost every planned enemy in the game now has animations! I think in the last Dev Blog I vaguely hinted at showing a little bit about the game's Story Mode, but uh, I got a bit distracted making other things instead. Like a few important shop items! Let's talk potions, upgrades, and this smug looking cat. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/e8eeef20155b6f142212fdccc6a00f17f31938df.gif[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/1795bf805ef2f6919ddc1bf5a539d6bd8d65eed2.png[/img] Starting from the left, the cat. Her name is Asha, and she's a shopkeeper. She shows up at the beginning of each stage except the first one. I don't really know what her deal is. She isn't for sale. Next, we have the two items in the top left that feature in every store: a [b]Full Heal[/b] and a [b]Level Up[/b]. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/e4ae28c06903ac901b6f4894017d3a6aee69892a.gif[/img] In Rabbit & Steel, health is a very precious resource. Generally, the game is balanced so that all damage is avoidable, and health is very difficult to recover. Loot items that restore health are few and far between. So, the [b]Full Heal[/b] here is your primary health recovery option for the game. If you've lost a lot of health and don't think you'll last until the next store, be sure to pick one up! But if you don't think you'll need it, that's 10 gold that can be spent elsewhere. The [b]Level Up[/b] is exactly what it says. As mentioned in a previous post, each level equates to a 1% damage increase to everything you do. Generally, the other items in the store will be a better use of your gold, but if absolutely nothing else strikes your fancy, then buying a level or two is always a good fallback. Next up, the potions! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/007fc41bf94ae7bdb4bd71ea87dd605c7d5cb1a2.png[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/6b83c7999042d7578336fa788cc20e312d8eac94.gif[/img] Potions have powerful effects that give you a sizable upper hand. For example, the [b]Evasion Potion[/b] reduces the size of your hitbox to a [i]negative number[/i], meaning that you can graze slightly into projectiles and AoEs without taking damage. The [b]Swifthand Potion[/b] speeds up your GCD by 10%... which basically means you're doing 10% more damage. They have a drawback though: their effects only last until the end of the current stage. Meaning they are a temporary boon to get you through a potentially tough spot. Finally, ability upgrades. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/b2550bfb1a75abfd459ccc7ae33ef5ec15d87074.png[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/b63e0daed812efaaa6aa2c01fa70bf978ea2fc45.gif[/img] These will upgrade an ability until the end of the run. But, you might ask, what kind of upgrade? That depends on the upgrade gem, as well as the character you're playing. There are 5 different kinds of gems: Opals, Sapphires, Rubies, Garnets and Emeralds. Then, there are 4 abilities unique to each character: a Primary, a Secondary, a Special and a Defensive. Each store contains a gem to upgrade each ability, but the type of gem is randomized. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/b26ed54e5e22d1b4f7f798db0a0c4bb03c3138bd.gif[/img] Purchasing one of these gems will upgrade the corresponding ability with the gem, giving it powerful new effects. Sometimes it's greater damage at the cost of speed, sometimes it's a random chance for something wacky to happen, and sometimes it completely changes the ability to a new one! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/cbf3bb32fb82797e8019405c924b9b2698ec4918.png[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/17d83605a2b82cde19f3eb5e84a94902235e51e6.png[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/712a2814c6a28ab539f643f9960ad4a0c31be33d.png[/img] Even the same upgrade gem in the same store will have differing effects depending on the class you're playing as. There are quite a few interesting combos to try, so I look forward to seeing everyone's builds! Oh yeah; the game *is* multiplayer. And the store page says players need to roll on loot from treasure chests. Is the same true for stores? Uh, no! Asha's brought enough full heals, upgrade gems, and potions to share. So spend your gold how you'd like; you won't be inconveniencing your allies. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43296890/956fa5d4ca3a6152f406ea9c8aa7f47b71844270.png[/img] That's all for today! In the next Development Blog, I'll show off... ...Uh, actually, I don't know yet. After I finish working on the ability upgrades, the next thing I'll probably work on is the netcode, which might be a dry subject for a blog post. Unlike my previous game, I'd like to have netplay in the demo before I release it; so that's the main obstacle in the way of a free demo. There's some other stuff I'm also waiting on like music and SFX, and I'd like to give the game a bit of a polish-pass before a demo as well. So, I can't promise that all of that will be done by the next Steam NextFest. But, hopefully I'll have it ready by the NextFest after that. Hopefully. No promises!