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Full Punch Bomb update
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Repeated intro
Hey Everyone! It's been a while, and it's been a rough year. Between getting the flu, mono, and a busted up foot (one hindrance after the other), I've been pretty slow-moving. I'm really sorry for being quiet, and I take full responsibility for that - that's not cool of me. The goal from here on out is to post a progress report at least every other week whether I have a new build or not. I AM working on the game, and I am posting progress pictures and videos on Instagram (@oraclefish) fairly frequently as well as live streaming on YouTube (chrisfolea) when I can if you always want the latest!
What changed
- Gameplay
- Compatibility
- Maps
- Balance
- UI and audio
Punch Bomb changes
---In terms of new builds---
I was waiting until I had a bit more done, but there were compatibility issues with Windows Mixed Reality and Unreal Engine 4.18 - so I updated the game to Unreal 4.19 and added it as a beta branch titled "publicbeta" (not public beta as in "free" for people who don't own the game - I didn't really think the name through when I created it...) - I don't want to make it the main branch until I've had time to thoroughly test it better. However, if you want to try it out, all of my progress on Descend is now in the publicbeta branch Just right click the game in your library, go to properties, go to the betas tab, and select "publicbeta" from the dropdown. No password necessary.
---What progress have I made?---
I re-wrote the map generator to be more efficient and much easier to work with.
All 3 zones are in the game now! The blue zone and the green (plant) zone were already in, but the destroyed zone is also there now!
Energy Pods - you now have to collect energy pods to keep your fuel levels up (don't worry - it's not super punishing, and there are plenty of pods to be found!) Also, if you collect all of them on a stage, you gain one health.
I've added end of zone stats showing a variety of details - and if you collect all of the energy pods, you gain a health. It'll eventually give you a score bonus if you collect all of them and have full health. You can also lose the game now by running out of fuel or health.
Controls have been swapped from pressing the touch pads to pulling the triggers to increase or decrease speed. You have 3 speed levels - slow, medium, and fast - medium being the default.
A VERY VERY early version of the boss battle is in. I've spent a LOT of time modeling, rigging, and animating this guy, but there's still a LOT to do here (sound design, more varied attacks, better pacing), but if you can make it far enough, you can see what it's like to interact with him. Just keep in mind he's still VERY heavily in progress.
---What's next?---
The next focus will be more enemy design - I really want each of the 3 zones to feel individual and unique - right now there's too much overlap. For example, this weekend I've been working on a door with a popout spring mechanism for the green zone - you have to punch it back into place to open the door before you smash into it:
And of course the boss battle is a high priority. I'm hoping to make some significant progress here over the next two weeks in terms of pacing and sound design. After getting the first "full" build of this mode done, there are still some clean-up/"nice-to-have" items on the other modes I'll be tackling...as well as more unlockables before leaving early access. Stay tuned - I promise the next progress report won't be as far off - and thanks for bearing with me!
Source
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