After almost letting this project go, I clung to my willpower, and got back into the fray. I know I have a very volatile personality when it comes to discipline, but "anchoring" my project by talking about it routinely to friends, and even posting here, really helps keep this game in my mind.

The Games Foxes Play (github | original post | play online on itch.io)

Yes, the hallmark of this week was getting a very early alpha playable online in browser! The game may be very nascent, but already has a lot of depth to it. My composer friend has been playing non stop (I do not deserve him) and finding a terrarium-full of ridiculously obscure bugs, that I have now fixed.

Seriously, how does he do it? I'm terrified that he found out you could duplicate a certain Soul if you casted it, then kited a Serene Peacekeeper into a Soul Shard trap, then killed the Peacekeeper, and then waited for the resulting Crawling Husk to kill the Felidol that had just spawned. What brought him to do such a complex and unnecessary procedure is beyond my understanding.

As for proper new content, there is a new Modulator, the Fluffian Hover-Field. It grants immunity to floor hazards, and allows for flight in vertical levels with gravity. Really useful against goop-trailing enemies of various kinds!

There is a new enemy, the Messenger of Aculeo. Watch out for its constricting, rib-crushing hugs!

Additionally, all modulators (except one) will now grant a special passive ability to all Serene-type allies and summons. An Alacrity module will grant haste, a Selective Algorithm will grant an infectious touch that turns damaged enemies into more Serene-type allies, a pair of Thrusters will let Serene-types perform an additional dash attack, and the aforementioned Hover-Field will occasionally let Serene-types place down Harmony traps. These traps will convert any unfortunate foe stepping on it into another Serene-type ally.

This means that once a few modulators have been acquired, the player is encouraged to start off fights with the conversion/recruitment ones, and then swap to the more offensive ones when a good snowball of Serene-types has been acquired. I want a Serene-type strategy to be one of the possible "builds" that can win the game - it would resemble necromancy magic in other roguelikes.

I've made it so every game starts with a random modulator. I am not sure if some are really objectively stronger than others - yes, Alacrity is very good if you are going full blaster and fireworks, but the more subtle ones can really shine when a lot of allies are placed on the board. There's currently a few overpowered synergies and recipes here and there. I'm not quite sure if I will be nerfing them, or letting them in just because they are fun and hard to achieve anyways.

I haven't won my own game yet... My best so far was area 12. EDIT: 13 now! My friend is obsessed and has played it for hours, and died in area 17, which is in fact the very last level. I have a feeling it might get a little bit easier as I continue adding more player options - I think it's better for a designer to move from too hard towards good than too easy towards good.

The Games Foxes Play (github | original post)

Sigh, this was not a productive week. I barely made anything. Besides some bugfixes here and there, some lore descriptions I had missed, and code for a future "pushable box" object.

I wish I could say it's because I was busy saving orphans and leading righteous crusades against evil... But after someone on Discord said "hey, have you heard of Rift Wizard? It's really similar to your game's design in some ways!" I proceeded to spend all my limited daily free time trying to win it. I have a very addictive personality when it comes to optimizing "builds" or crafting synergies, and being able to choose any spell on each run was practically opium to me. I know that if I just used discipline and stopped, I would have had the thought of "maybe THIS build will do it" haunting me at the back of my head 24/7.

Don't get me wrong, it's a really good game, and has some great ideas. In fact, it's really motivating that a fairly low-budget, solo-dev game with amateurish textures is capable of forging such an interesting (and addictive) experience. I ended up winning it in the end, too, so the curse is now lifted from my soul.

Meanwhile, my music-making friend was an absolute beast and made two new tracks while I was out and about blasting pixelated monsters. He will therefore be carrying today's sharing post.

Lanterns is a horror-themed track. In the Roseic Circus branch, there's currently a segment where your FOV is reduced to 2 tiles only, while creepy arachnid creatures blink around, sneaking up on you for a stab, only to be gone the next turn when you try to retaliate. The main circus theme was way too happy for such an unnerving moment, and so, this theme comes to add variety!

A Core and its Keepers in a Field of Infinite Causational Possibilities is a soft, comforting track with offbeat and distorted elements hinting that perhaps not all is well. It contains a lot of the different musical motifs found elsewhere in the game. My composer said he wanted this one to be used as the final ascension theme. I think he is getting a little bit ahead of himself, especially considering the... discipline level of his partner.

Yeah, I don't know what is up with that ridiculously long title, or what it even means. He was probably laughing at me typing that full name in the code every time. You fool, that's what dictionaries are for.

It's really meaningful to me how much he is in love with the lore, the ideas, and is open to discussing the game 24/7 with me with nigh instant chat messages. Honestly, it's almost eerie. But, he really wants to see this thing happen. And now the evil wizards of the pixelated world are dead for good, so I have no excuse.

If any other addictive personality procrastinator like me out there is reading this - get someone involved in your project, even if it's complete strangers. Like in this thread, right here. Even if sometimes one slips up, having a community, or a partner you want to keep ties with really helps keep the project in the back of your head in those less proud moments.

I will be seeing you all next Sharing Saturday with some real content.