New year, new updates!

I know I haven't updated since October but I have been doing a lot of backend work that's not really showy, so I wanted to wait to have a nice juicy update for ya'll.

We got scene transitions! And I changed up a lot of how the first level is designed. Most notably, there's some verticality so you're not just looking at a flat plane. I'm also using these large towers to break up the spaces so you're not overwhelmed with detail.

What this? Stairs down? I made a hub area that directly connects to the first level. Right now it's pretty sparse, but soon it'll fill up with lots of things to do.

Oh look! My dialogue system works with interacting with characters now. When you interact with them, the camera swoops in a bit closer and Lion looks up or down at the person he's talking to.

Need a faster way to get back to the Hub? Say you have a quest to turn in, enough money to buy something, or need to replenish your items? From the pause menu, you can get there in a flash.

"Huh? What's this weird door? WHOAH where am I? I got a crystal thing."

"Looks like I need a fast time if I want the present, though. Grrr, I can't seem to beat it!!"

"Maybe if I Slide Dash? ....!! I got it! Woo!"

These are Subspace rooms. If you clear it, you'll get a Shard of Lucidity. You'll need to collect a lot in order to progress up the tower. Get a good enough time, and you'll get a special gift that you can give to NPCs. Do your best and use your head to clear them all!

Hey I made some new interactable level things too! There are Blue Crates that can be pushed around, allowing you to block things or push switches without you having to. Then there are Lasers! Hazards that hurt and block your path.

There are circular ones too! Try your best to use Crates and Switches to get where you need to go despite these hazards.

One last thing; Sometimes presents will be hidden around in the tower proper. Keep a look out for them and any invisible paths you might need to find to get to em. (They won't be so visible in the final)

So whaddaya think? There's a ton more updates that I've done, making the camera and player smoother (hard to see in gifs), lots of backend stuff with saving and loading, etc. but If I stopped to mention all of these this update will be way longer than it already is lol.

Thanks again for your support everyone, I'm so excited to keep trucking along.

-Yama