Devlog No.007

Most of the progress I've made in these past two weeks were made in the first week. I think it's no surprise that the holidays have slowed my progress, but I had hoped I might've been able to get a build up with the two bosses in it before the end of the year. I'm not sure if that will happen, but I'm going to try in the next few days.

In regards to what I've actually gotten done, I sorted out more of the gargoyle boss's AI. I also mapped out and finished up the special shrine you can get into if you beat her after inflating her. I think the ledge grab code is working well, it just needs testing and whatnot. I do also need to configure the item that allows ledge grabbing so that it unlocks it, but that shouldn't take much of anything at all to do. Just need to input it into the database and have a toggle for ledge grabbing.

I also started her hammerslam attack which is coded to use the zones I talked about in the other devlog. She'll detect where Aria is, then use attacks based on it. The hammer is currently coded so that she'll use it if she's above you and you're below her. As well she'll use it if she has Aria cornered, leaping into the air enough for you to run under her before slamming the hammer down. I have a small .gif that shows how the hammer attack looks too. When she slams the hammer into the ground, it create a short range shockwave in either direction and jerks the screen too. Aria will also be forced to hop a short distance similar to the golem head slam. The biggest difference between the two is that the gargoyle is actively trying to smash you. (Also, if you get hit dead on by the hammer you'll suffer a lot of extra damage)

I haven't programmed her melee attack yet, but I got all the sprites for it done too. I'll upload them as well as the hammer sprites too so patrons can see how the sprites are coming.

I haven't talked about it yet, but in the previous preview I had of the gargoyle's jumping AI, I displayed her boss room. With the golem head boss, he releases energy diamonds that will heal you whenever you do enough damage giving you a soft incentive to be aggressive, but not punishing you for being safe. (You get the diamonds no matter how fast you go, it gives them off at set HP intervals) In the case of the gargoyle though, you'll be encouraged to think about the arena a bit since the only HP items are present when the fight starts. So you can get your HP back whenever you like, but in a limited amount. I'll adjust this if it's not enough, too much, or just too hard to avoid picking up.

Something else I just want to quick point out is that I do have plans to add an aspect ratio option to the graphics just so that you're aware. If you have a special resolution, feel free to tell me about it. If you think some of the screen is being cut off, let me know. As of right now I plan on adding the most common resolutions I can find and I will be adding in the steam deck aspect ratio too. (I'd like the game to be steam deck compatible so I'll find a way to test it and make sure it work!) In addition, I'll try to add an auto detect feature for the very first time you start the game. (I'm sure this kind of thing isn't too hard to do, but I haven't done it before)

I think that's all to discuss for now. I hope to have another build soon which will let you test the new bosses. When I do this build, I'm likely to offer a secondary 'dev build' which will let you cheat a bit too and also teleport to the bosses if you want to just test them directly. It shouldn't be too hard to do. Thanks everyone! Have a wonderful new year!