Can you pet the cat? (progress update)

tl;dr: part 1 is content-done, testing phase active, player dyeing, entity blessings, and a cat

It's all testing now. All the content for part 1 is done, there's just brushing up, bugfixing, and balancing left in preparation for a build. This usually takes a week or two, and since it's the first dark sub-region I'm going to guess it'll lean more towards two.

Spooky subregion progress

The estimates in each section are guesstimates, and the work may take less or more time. We're currently 6 weeks in.

🟦 Testing/bugfixing (1-2 weeks)

I've begun working on testing now. Making sure all the entities behave the way I want them to, and that the level design isn't frustrating, and so on. I'll have the chance to make changes/expansions if I feel like it's needed.

✅ Dress Ghost Lady entity (1 week)

She's basically done. I might draw one more sprite while testing, but otherwise she's there. As part of the testing I'll be making sure her move set is balanced and there aren't any bugs.

✅ Shadow Man entity (1 week)

He's done now. I might make some tweaks during testing, but nothing else is planned.

✅ Level design (1-2 weeks)

The overall level design is done. It's mostly just testing left and I might decide to change some things following that.

Otherwise, the rest of the level design will be in the part 2 update and centered around getting to the boss, as well as doing the boss arena itself and the entrance to the next sub-region.

✅ Spooky trade hub (2-3 days)

It's done but there are a few bugs, they'll be taken care of during testing.

✅ Quests (2-3 days)

These are implemented now - the clock tower and a shadow man defeating quest.

✅ Use old entities (1-2 days)

This is done.

🟦 DELAYED: Wave arena (2-3 days)

I actually did have some ideas for this so I've started working on it. Nothing to show yet though! Will be in part 2.

⬜ DELAYED: Looker Eye entity (1-2 week)

Will be in part 2.

⬜ DELAYED: New spell (3-5 days)

Will be in part 2.

⬜ DELAYED: Ghost Man entity (1-2 weeks)

Will be in part 2.

Otherwise

Old monsters have been tweaked a bit. The slime lady slime wall now has a visible weak point you can hit, meaning you'll have a way to stop it blocking you. The night seeker lady now moves back before throwing magic fire towards you, making it more likely to hit if you're close.

I've been working on implementing hair, skin, and eye recoloring via dyes. Currently, hair dyes work, but the others are coming along too. I'm hoping to have it at least partially implemented in terms of dye selection by the part 1 release - it's mostly just coming up with color schemes for each dye color and each part.

I've been experimenting with monster blessings, which would do the reverse of what blessings normally do: they can make some entities a bit tougher. You can use your own blessings to mitigate them. A couple already exist, but to fully flesh out the idea I'll have to draw some more art.

The final thing I've done is start work on a short sorceress one-piece dress, and a leather skinsuit. I'm hoping for one of them to be the next outfit piece, we'll see which one gets fully drawn (or if another sneaks up!)

That's it for now! I was gone for a few days (partly away, partly sick) but I don't expect that to happen again soon, so I'll see you towards the middle of November - hopefully with a build!