Hey all!
The first thing I want to get out of the way is that I'm gonna delay the public Itch demo release some more. Instead, I want to focus on doing another Test Build in the Discord, meaning you get new content faster instead! I'll still be working towards a public Itch demo release and Steam page, of course, but it will take some more time - I want to polish things a bit more.
The Test Build will become available for Insiders first, then anyone else a week later. This content likely won't be part of the first public Itch demo, so it's semi-exclusive content.
π¦ Flower Lady
I fine-tuned her moves a bit. I didn't get to do much sprite or animation work here because I focused on a new entity, but the animation is close to being done.
π¦ Pink Slime Lady
I've given her a charge-dash type move that pairs well with her slime wall. The moves both need some more fine-tuning before I consider them done.
π¦ NEW: Night Rabbit
I've started working on a simple new entity here. Like the Night Seeker, she only appears at night, but she runs away and uses bushes to get away from you. In terms of artwork, I've started working on her jump/walk sprites and idle pose, I still need maybe one or two more sprites after they're done. The core animation is also coming along well, but it's not done yet. She'll be part of a quest.
π¦ Level design
The main work is done, now I'm mostly just doing small touch-ups every now and then alongside the other work.
π¦ Quests
I've added a quest for the obstacle course. The Night Rabbit's quest hasn't been started just yet.
π¦ Timed obstacle course (new minigame)

This is basically done - it works, you have to beat it in a set time, and you can see your old performance as a magic ball flying alongside you, or hopefully somewhere far behind you as you beat your old time. I might add an NPC for this and better tie it to some sort of story, but that's future work. Otherwise, it's just testing and making sure it works reliably now.
π¦ Deep Maze arena
I've started experimenting with this, but I haven't really landed on anything I like yet.
I've started working on layered outfits. For example, being able to wear the upcoming slit dress on top of other things, as well as wearing bottoms like pantyhose, and hats like ears or horns. I've drawn an example bottom and hat to show off, but they're not fully fleshed out and might not be in the next Test Build.
I've added a bunch of new eye/mouth expressions to the player dialogue faces, that mainly show up during animations
I've changed and fixed spell behavior, from fixing side dashes stopping mid-air randomly, to tweaking the jump pad, to preparing the upcoming up-dash spell move
I've fixed a bug where a second entity's animations would shake away from where they were supposed to be
The last save you used is now remembered and automatically selected when you launch the game again
That's it for this one. As usual, next one in two weeks time, see you then!