Hello everyone and welcome to Dev Log 6 by me, Dylan Levy-Gantt. Being the game designer for this student run title has been a very insightful experience for me and I'd like to share the progress the team has made over the past 2 weeks from the last sprint! We are almost done with the semester with only 2 more weeks to go so my anxiety and hope that this game becomes a reality is steadily increasing. 

First, some major changes to the maps.

LOST SANDS

So to start off with we have the second level in the game, Lost Sands. Finally I was able to place my hand in the design and physically make the maps I wanted to from the start. Every world has a different feel and I want the player to enjoy the subtle background movement. This level centers around a pond in middle of the desert, surrounded by plants and some sandy pyramids. I think this gives off the energy I wanted to because every world needs its own unique qualities. Huge shout out to the modeling team for creating such rich assets.

SCORCHED EARTH

Next is Scorched Earth, the volcano world. In this world, you play on the inside of a volcano that is constantly having its own platforms disintegrate beneath you. There are intentionally less scenery parts to the map because I want the player to feel like they're in a barren world inside a deathly volcano.  Again, I wanted a huge emphases on feeling like you are literally traversing worlds to get to the end of the game and I think these scenery pieces do a great job.

ANCIENT FOREST

This world is the first world the player's experience when they jump into the game so it was important to give the most attention to this one. This level is also where the player's learn all the mechanics they need to continue to progress through the game. Wall jumps, ability dashes, and quick thinking will teach the player everything so again, it was important to make this level the most paid attention to revolving around scenery and platforms.

TORCHES

Next, a big change involving the switches needed to unlock the next room. Before, we had orange balls that represented the collectible to progress to the next room but now the objects are torches the players must light up. This change was much needed as now the players finally see something they can interact with rather than a random disappearing orb.

THE TEAM

Finally, lets thank the amazing team for all of their hard work and countless hours of bug fixing and testing. I literally could not have done it without the team. Thank you all so much!

This devlog was a little shorter than usual because the upcoming weeks are all for implementation and bug testing. There are little to no new assets we need to create for the game so from here on out we will be buried with implementation to get everything feeling right.

Thank you and we will see you in two weeks for our launch blog! 

Elemental Studios