0.4.0 Major Update

Announcement

Hello everyone, this is LIFUEL. In this update, our focus is the addition of Dr. Wolf's Phase 2.

The appearance was completely scrapped and redesigned, which led to an extension of the overall development cycle. However, we also took this opportunity to add various new action systems, striving to bring everyone a clearer and refreshed combat experience. At the same time, we have optimized Phase 1 of Dr. Wolf to make the overall performance and flow transition more smooth and natural.

Next, we will explain the specific combat flow:

Combat Flow

In previous versions, after defeating Dr. Wolf for the first time, players would enter the Developer Room and return to the game's ending; when encountering Dr. Wolf again, a special plot would be triggered.

This update maintains consistency in the overall flow, but changes the"Developer Room"to connect directly with the in-game story.

After defeating Dr. Wolf for the first time, the Doctor’s final lines will appear, followed by entering the corridor area. Here, you can not only view the original Doctor’s records but also find new story content related to Dr. Wolf, completing a milestone ending.

This area is the end point for the first playthrough of the main story. Afterward, you enter the loop again, and upon reaching Dr. Wolf for the second time, you will encounter the still-living Dr. Wolf again. When he is defeated again, it will no longer directly lead to a death ending, but instead transition into Phase 2 combat accompanied by a brand-new animation sequence.

That is to say: Dr. Wolf must be defeated twice to enter Phase 2.

The scale of Dr. Wolf's Phase 2 will be significantly increased, with HP reaching more than twice that of Phase 1, while attacks are stronger and have a wider range. This may feel like a sudden spike in difficulty, but this design is mainly aimed at multi-playthrough players, hoping to bring more variety and fun to those seeking a challenge.

Meanwhile, to avoid unreasonable or sudden deaths, we have added various special mechanisms as a buffer. As long as you can clear Phase 1, theoretically, any player can complete the challenge.

Action Mechanisms

We have added several action mechanisms for Dr. Wolf.

Scar

After an attack ends, a huge scar will be left on the axis of the attack direction, which will explode after a certain period of time and deal damage.

Parrying

The second new mechanism is Parrying. In Phase 2 attacks, an additional purple area will appear; if hit within this area, the player will enter a Parrying state.

After entering the Parrying state, you need to rapidly press buttons to block Dr. Wolf's attacks. You can mash the directional keys, attack key, jump key, etc., to fill the progress bar. Filling the progress bar within the time limit is considered a successful parry, and the damage that should have been taken will be reduced.

It should be noted that the more times you parry, the higher the progress bar requirement becomes; once you fail, you must bear the full damage.

Since the overall damage in Phase 2 is extremely high, rational use of this mechanism will become an important strategy. At the same time, this mechanism effectively reduces instances of being one-shot, so we hope everyone can try it with confidence and actively take on the challenge!

Ultimate Skill

The third new mechanism is theSteam post image Ultimate Skill. When HP reaches a specific stage, Dr. Wolf will release an extremely strong special attack. In this state, the rhythm of battle will be completely dominated by Dr. Wolf. At this time, Dr. Wolf enters a cocooning state, and the damage he receives will also be significantly reduced.

Berserk

The final new mechanism is Berserk. When Dr. Wolf's HP drops to a specific value, he will enter a berserk state, where his attack speed and intensity are greatly increased, parrying checks will no longer trigger, and high-speed continuous attacks and teleportation attacks will be added.

If you successfully survive for a certain period of time, Dr. Wolf will enter a severe weakness state for about 8 seconds, during which he is completely defenseless.

New Ending Room

Previously, after defeating Dr. Wolf, players would enter the Developer Room; now it has been adjusted to enter the area behind Dr. Wolf's office. The loop will also take place in this area, returning to the base from here. (The original Developer Room has been hidden within this area and can still be found through exploration.)

Phase 1 Fixes

Dr. Wolf's Phase 1 was originally characterized by cunning, irregular rhythmic attacks, but some performances were slightly blurry, so optimizations were made. We will continue to polish details in the future.

• Removed cell-throwing attack → Changed to laser attack

  • Attack trigger range reduced (ensuring it appears within the screen)

  • Increased wind-up and recovery

  • Added new VFX effects

• Optimization of some frame resources & VFX enhancement

Dr. Wolf’s Phase 1 will continue to be optimized in subsequent small updates; your feedback is very welcome!

Beta Version Adjustment Content

Thank you for the valuable feedback provided during the nearly one-week testing period; we have implemented the following optimizations based on your feedback:

• Improved visibility of the background and Phase 2

• Increased the growth speed of the progress bar during parry mashing

• Added directional key hint icons to the parry interface

• Phase 1 HP: 20,000 → 25,000

• Phase 1 Ultimate Skill (Giant Bomb) changed to be used only once and deals 50% less damage.

• Phase 1 Berserk mechanism adjustment

  • Triggered in conjunction with the Ultimate Skill

• Optimization of some hitboxes/judgments in Phase 2

Bug Fixes & Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue where Max HP increase from the Omega Project would decrease when returning to the title screen

• Fixed an issue where the BGM would stop during consecutive miniboss battles

• Adjusted so that the barriers on both sides disappear after the Doctor Wolf battle ends

Summary

With the addition of Dr. Wolf's Phase 2, the scale of this development is no longer just simply adding a new phase, but is close to rebuilding a brand-new Boss. We repeatedly reflected during the design process on how to increase the challenge while avoiding it being too difficult or seeming unreasonable. For players playing for the first time, we added various buffer mechanisms so that everyone can try the challenge more easily; for hardcore players, we added more details with depth and space for research. We hope everyone can experience it as much as possible. If there is any feedback, we will also actively perform optimization and adjustments; please feel free to provide your valuable opinions.

Additionally, because we once entirely scrapped the appearance of Dr. Wolf's Phase 2 and aimed to create the largest Boss in Ovis Loop so far, the overall time consumed was quite long. This also led to a delay in the development of some quality-of-life features and minor content. Related content will be pushed forward collectively in the next small update.

Thank you for your support.