Magicraft Developer Log 12

Dear Magicians, greetings!

Since the announcement of our collaboration with Dave the Diver, we've received an outpouring of enthusiastic feedback from players. We are now working hard on producing the related content, and we'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you.

In this developer log, we'll be sharing some of the progress we've made so far, as well as the stories and experiences from our development journey.

Monster: Minions or Bosses

In the early planning stage, we explored different approaches for the collaboration content.

At first, our idea was to create an independent collaboration chapter that included several stages and a final boss. This approach felt the most straightforward and in line with the traditional format of crossover content.

By introducing various marine creatures as enemy targets and combining them with immersive stage atmospheres, players would be able to enjoy a focused and linear crossover experience. To that end, we designed multiple attack patterns for minion-type monsters:

Squid: Sprays ink projectiles that deal damage and obscure parts of the screen.

Mutant Squid: Sprays toxic mist, dealing damage over time while reducing visibility.

Eel Catfish: A school of small fish; when approached, a random number of them will launch attacks.

Atlantic Anglerfish: Uses its headlamp to disguise itself as an item (with subtle differences; invulnerable while disguised), then strikes when the player gets close.

Bluespotted Stargazer: Hides its body within walls, exposing only its head; lunges at players who come near but does not move randomly.

Jellyfish: Link together to form an electrified grid.

Spotted Moray: Emits electricity to dash forward and deal damage, similar to the Lightning Dash spell but slower.

Nautilus: Stirs water currents to create a whirlpool that continuously pulls in the player.

Starspotted Porcupinefish: Inflates when approached and bounces around the stage after being struck.

But during actual implementation, we found that regular monsters lacked presence—especially in the later chapters where player damage is much higher—making it difficult for them to leave a lasting impression or provide engaging gameplay.

Because of this, we decided to abandon the original plan and instead design the crossover content around multiple Boss battles.

Boss fights allow for richer player interactions, and within our limited development schedule, they also enable us to create more iconic and memorable encounters. Of course, redesigning and developing from scratch has taken extra time, so we would like to sincerely thank all Magicians for your patience.

At the BilibiliWorld2025 exhibition this July, some of you may have already experienced one of our crossover bosses—the Giant Squid. Its distinctive attack patterns, tightly interwoven with the environment, left a strong impression on many players. As the first boss Dave encounters in the Blue Hole, it will also be the very first to appear in our collaboration update.

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In addition to the Giant Squid, two more crossover bosses will also be joining the world of Magicraft. But who could they be?

We'll be revealing more details in later developer logs—so stay tuned!

Equipment: Weapons & Relics

Now, take three seconds and think—if you had to design a crossover weapon for Dave, what would it be?

Of course, it has to be a harpoon. In fact, even the crossover theme music we created with Dave is centered around the harpoon.

When we first began designing the crossover set, our weapon choice was naturally the Harpoon Gun.

Spacebar: Fires a harpoon.

Left Click: Summons a lightning strike.

The harpoon remains for a few seconds before automatically retracting.

Combined together, this creates something like the following effect:

However, once we brought the harpoon into actual combat scenarios, it quickly became one of the least-used tools. Its fixed cooldown made it feel clunky, and its operation logic felt completely disconnected from the spell-based combat of the staff—resulting in a very jarring experience.

At the core, this problem comes from the difference in genre between the two games: trying to fuse the weapon system of a fishing game into the bullet-hell roguelike framework is far from straightforward.

During development, we explored many directions in search of a solution. Some ideas leaned on the "fishing" concept, such as pulling monsters in to restore health (which quickly felt too grotesque), or dragging them over for an instant kill (which raised the question—why not simply boost the damage?). Others suggested shifting away from the harpoon entirely, replacing it with different weapons from Dave the Diver, like the underwater sniper rifle (but removing the harpoon altogether felt like abandoning a symbol that defines Dave's identity).

After extensive research and iteration, we finally arrived at the solution:

Triple Axel is a unique weapon from Dave the Diver, capable of firing three bullets simultaneously.

In Magicraft, Dave will wield the Triple Axel as his starting weapon. Each time bullets hit enemies 30 times, Dave'll charges 1 harpoon use, with a maximum of 3 charges at the start.

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When the harpoon is fully charged, players can tap the Spacebar to consume 1 charge and fire a harpoon attack, or hold down the Spacebar to consume all charges, greatly increasing the damage of a single harpoon.

While holding the Spacebar, Dave will also enter a special bullet time, slowing the flow of time to help him aim more precisely or dodge incoming barrages with ease.

This way, not only is the iconic harpoon preserved, but the Triple Axel is also introduced as a core element that better fits Magicraft's gameplay. By tying the harpoon charge mechanic to the Triple Axel's hit count, the overall combat loop feels far more natural and streamlined.

Additionally, we have prepared exclusive special relics for the harpoon. When entering the game with the Dave set equipped, players will have a chance to discover these relics randomly inside treasure chests. As for their exact effects and mechanics—those are left for you to uncover in the game yourselves!

That’s all for this developer’s log!

If you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below or join us on our official channels: Bilibili, QQ group, and Discord!

We look forward to welcoming all you magicians!

Here are our official channels for you to connect with us:

Bilibili Official Account: https://space.bilibili.com/3494364057701297

Official Game Website: https://game.bilibili.com/magicraft

Official QQ Groups:

Group 1: 851267023

Group 2: 692422128

Group 3: 917384907

Group 4: 636634632

Group 5: 631340554

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/magicraft-1029926808516309093