Devlog No.022

I've talked about needing sounds before I'm sure, but I don't think I've mentioned just how difficult it can be at times. (And very time consuming) It's not so much that it's hard to find sounds, but the sounds that I think are appropriate. Usually I have to take a sound that's been combined with others and just tightly crop it to get the desired sfx. There are a few sounds in the game which are like this and there will definitely be more.

So with that said, I'm happy to say that watching sites like humble bundle for really cheap software is pretty good I'd say. Currently Ovani has a bundle up for a couple more days which was very cheap for a lot of sounds and that's very helpful for me to keep building out my sound library. Though honestly, good transformation/inflation/expansion SFX are quite hard to come by. Thankfully I do have a decent sum set aside.

Unfortunately I didn't find a really good jelly bounce sound so I may need to come back to the sound itself. For now it does have a SFX which should be good enough unless I can find something better

But back on the game, I got a surprisingly good amount of stuff done these couple weeks. That's in spite of updating the game and patching it repeatedly and working a bit on a commission. I managed to develop quite a LOT of the candy tileset and several objects as well as their background variants.

But that's not everything. I also managed to program in crumbling platforms (Crumbling cookies to be specific) and destructible cookies that have 3hp. The destructible cookies are more like square cookies so they would look good stacked on top of each other. The platform cookies that crumble are more like chocolate chip cookies!

The functionality of the square destructible cookie is basically like the cracked dirt/stone pieces. The difference is that its sprite is set to just 3 to show its HP. So each hit damages it. Also, if you are a blueberry on top of this cookie, it will rapidly degrade and break under you so you need to be quick.

The crumbling cookie platforms though will be destroyed immediately by her blueberry form and you will plummet. Otherwise, the crumbling cookie platforms get a bit more damaged when you stand on them as regular Aria. Eventually they collapse and you will fall down to whatever pit is below.

But not all cookies are crumbling cookies. Some of them are normal cookie platforms that you can just stand on. I tend to have some decoration on these cookies to show they are safe. I'll try to find a way to make it more obvious which is which, but for now, it's mostly in the sound and the effect.

I've also added in molten chocolate milk (Or hot cocoa if you prefer). If you stand in it, you will lose energy like being hit. The upside to this is that you don't get stunned by the damage and you can keep moving freely. It's also an opaque liquid which means you'll vanish 'into' it if you move into too deep of liquid. I'll be careful not to let you get stuck without being able to see Aria of course, but that does also mean that if you see a pit of molten chocolate milk filled to the brim that it's likely just a pit that will burn a safe fall charge or knock you out.

Again, that's not everything though! I also programmed in a new type of switch that'd dedicated to Aria in blueberry form. This can act as a bit of a challenge timer to get from point a to b while still being a blueberry. It won't be too prominent just yet, but it'll show back up again later too.

And finally, the last thing to mention is the jelly bouncers. These act a bit like a trampoline, though you don't need to hold down your jump button for it to go higher. Instead it does it automatically. If you want to slow your bounce, you can attack while you are still falling and lower your bounce velocity. As well, you can get bounced up and down directly, but from the side you will just get gently pushed. And you do need to land fairly accurately on the top middle of the jellyblock or you will do a weaker side jiggle bounce.

Oddly enough, the one feature I didn't get to was the black licorice candy which stuns you. That'll be next on my list though, and then I will design some more levels and see about starting on the enemies for the area. Like I said before, most candy island enemies will be a bit more simplistic to compensate for the more hazardous stages.

Ah! Something I DID forget to mention is that for a while now (And in the last build) you're able to walk up stairs by holding down the UP button while moving horizontally. Currently you can ALSO use this to hook yourself onto some platforms you can't fully reach (But you have to be moving horizontally and holding up) which I am not sure if I should leave in or go back over the code to remove it. I'll keep my eye on it.

And that's really all to discuss now. I do have a little video that I'm going to post for patrons just to show some off. (there is no music, but I will get a new track when I can. ) Feel free to comment your thoughts on these new additions!