Mission Statement + First Build Notes

This is the first of many iterations this game will go through. I considered there to be enough of a change between this and the last version of 2D Man to release it in its current state. Even if only for the new animations and combat system.

I'm still coming up with ideas as to where the story might go. So far, in the most basic sense, it'll be about a mob of kangaroo. The twists and turns and paths you'll go on are still to be decided. The plan is to work with my sister to try to deliver a satisfying narrative. She, like me, is a writer and has experienced an unnameable amount of stories. We have both played many games however where we differ is she's read more books and I've seen more films. I'm hoping that contrast in preferred mediums will bring an interesting dynamic to our writing. If we end up writing anything at all. All of this is still pending.

My hope with this project is that I make something I can be truly proud of. And not just of the result at the end but of the work that went into it and the fun that was had on the way and everything I would have learnt. My hope is that my dreams for this project aren't limited by how unlikely it all seems, aren't ruined by silly problems like fatigue or whatever reason I come up with to stop doing the things I love. My hope is to finish it. It sounds damn near impossible but I'm up for a challenge.

New Features -

New Animations 

Bouncer almost has more than twice the amount of individual frames as 2D Man had. Including a much smoother and realistic "walk" cycle, an attack and idle animation as well as new movements such as the secondary hop. The missing animations are on the way.

Combat Overhaul

The new 'combat mode' (as I'm calling it) offers a more realistic way to fight than just going straight from the standard idle position to a kick. Since a kangaroo has a very unique stance while fighting it seemed important to emulate that. Also later on when there's friendly NPC's it'll be important that you can't just attack them by the accidental press of a button. It would have to be a deliberate action as now it takes two presses with a pause in between to go from the 'relaxed mode' to launching the first kick. In my mind it makes it similar to drawing or holstering a gun in any other game.

Enemy Behaviour Improvements

The enemy character now has increased sight range which is just a general improvement. He can now also move between the two different movement modes. This was important to me because I wanted it to be that all the kangaroos follow the same basic ruleset even if some of them think differently.

Returning to Levels

This is a small change but you can now walk backwards into the previous stage.

Upcoming Features -

Adding Animations

The game is still missing a death animation, I have no idea how that's going to look as I can't find any reference footage but I didn't use any references for the last death animation I did and that turned out alright. So I'm hopeful. Also the game needs a kick impact animation so combat looks less stilted.

Improving Combat 

There needs to be more skill to it than just mashing shift faster than the enemy can kick. This might be one of the harder things I have to do as it's about designing mechanics. Which I don't have much experience with as of yet.

Reintroducing Jumping

This was one of the few things that was cut from the previous project. It wasn't working well and it needed a lot of improvements. Hopefully when it comes back it will be much more satisfying. But for now it's not a necessary component.

Those are the main features I'll be working on in the coming weeks. All this has been such a positive experience for me so far. I can't wait to continue working on towards that goal.