Lorn's Lure News

This week was spent replacing a specific part of the game, and on improving the composition of the structure in certain components, along with other smaller details.

[h3]Here's my TODO list for the demo in case you're wondering what's left:[/h3]

• Visual polish / cohesion (to a certain extent)
  
• Redo cutscenes, since current ones are placeholders
  
• Balance difficulty and rewards for risks (easy path vs hard paths)
  
• Add two more easter eggs
  
• Maybe an ending cutscene
  

[h3]Some more information about the upcoming demo:[/h3]

• It will be released for the next Steam Festival (Restricted from saying the exact date though)
  
• Average play time seems to be around 1 hour
  
• There are some secrets lying around, but they're very well hidden
  
• There will not be any controller support in the demo. I am planning to add it for the final game, but I just don't have enough time to do it now, and I really want to get the demo out for y'all!
  

Some recent features I've added are below!

[h3]Stats summary at the end of the demo for speedrunners[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Redid a section to improve gameplay and visuals. Not a new feature, but this part is fun[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Mouse sensitivity controls in the main menu[/h3]


Stay tuned for more!

I've been hard at work getting the details right, so it's time for a weekly highlight!

[h3]First up, I've added a colorblind-friendly targeting reticle[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Fixed a massively annoying camera twitch bug - see the before and after below[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]I've been working on adding more life to the environment. Here is a good first step, but there's more to go[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I've also done many other small bug and gameplay fixes.

So far everything is on schedule, so stay tuned for more!

[h3]If you're impatient and are willing to provide constructive feedback, feel free to join the Discord and I'll share a key for the in-progress demo[/h3]

I've been hard at work fixing bugs and tweaking gameplay for the public demo which I'm hoping to launch in February!

[h3]What's expected in the demo?[/h3]

• The first of 5 or 6 areas in the game
  
• About an hour of play time on average (more if you try for speedruns)
  
• Hopefully bugless smooth parkour / climbing gameplay
  
• A better idea of the story and setting
  

After a bit more tweaking, I may take advantage of Steam's Playtest feature, which will allow some of you to get an early build of the demo!

[h3]If you want an even earlier build, feel free to join the Discord and ask for one![/h3]


[h3]In the mean time, I'll be:[/h3]

• Bug fixing
  
• Tweaking difficulty
  
• Improving look and feel
  
• Adding accessibility features
  

For now, enjoy some more WIP footage of the challenges you should expect to see:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

It's been a busy time since I launched the store page.

I secretly released a closed alpha for the demo in my Discord community. It yielded tons of feedback and exposed many bugs, so I have been tackling them one by one. Below are some highlights!

I've redesigned an area to be more slidey:



Changed an area close to the start of the game to be more cohesive with the environment, and clearer as to where the player needs to go:



I've reimplemented some sludge effects:



Removed jump spamming to prevent players from shadily climbing up slides:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As well as a ton of other small improvements and bug fixes.

Also wanted to show off how the reticle can be used to test if a surface is climbable in case anyone was curious why it keeps changing colors in the trailer / gifs:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Stay tuned for more!