Vessels Of Decay News

Here’s the last news update of 2022!

Since I’m (finally) done with the platforming, I could move on to fix bugs and work on other areas you gave feedback on during the playtest.

One very important feedback you gave was that the enemy attack telegraphing needed improvement. So, I have worked on improving the telegraphing for both the Mara (Jumper Enemy) and the Slime (Spike Enemy). Some of you felt like the troll boss had too few attacks, so I've done some work on that as well, adding a new attack, as well as having the troll choose between different attacks based on what the player is doing/positioned, rather than cycling through them as it was before. This makes the Troll feel much more alive and calculated.

I have also changed up the level design to include the new platforming, which I think turned out really well. It makes the levels feel more interesting and creates a fun challenge between the fighting and the story elements. Which is something I’ve been striving for since the beginning of this project.

Many many many more minor things have been tweaked this week, but some of the more important ones I've listed below.

• Updates and Implemented Features this week:
  
• Improved level design for intro area.
  
• Better telegraphing for (Spike Enemy).
  
• Better telegraphing for Mara (jumper enemy).
  
• Enemies “Shake” on hit for an extra punch.
  
• Enemies only enter a stunned state if they can be executed.
  
• Fixed enemy hit state.
  
• Added delay SFX along with reverb for better room presence.
  
• Music does not restart when entering a new room with the same music.
  
• Tweaked intro cutscene timing.
  
• Shortened intro cutscene text for readability.
  
• Can abort sit/wait state with attack input.
  

I’m really looking forward to next year when I will finally have the time to start working on new enemy types and to continue with the expansion of the world in Vessels of Decay.

And in case I forget (🍹 🍸 🥂 🎆 🍾 ) tomorrow! I wish you all a Happy New Year!

God Jul everyone! In Sweden, we celebrate Christman on the 24th, and so our Christman newsletter will too! So Here are some Christmas lore!

It’s Christmas! And now is your chance to glimpse into the future using some old magic. But first, you must all face Gloson, the ghostly boar of terror.

To do this, you must fast in isolation for a whole day. After your fast, you must head to your nearest church. No one can see you, or the magic will be ruined. While hugging the church wall you must walk three laps counter-clockwise around the church. While doing this, you will start to see visions of the future, and supernatural beings will appear around you. You must be careful, for they will try and stop you.

When you are on your final turn, you will meet Gloson, the ghostly boar of terror. Her back is razor sharp, and from her mouth comes smoldering fire. If you are not fast enough, she will run through you, and split you in two on her razor-sharp back.

I will personally NOT be seeking out Gloson this year! Instead, I will be enjoying the food, drinks, and the company of my family. Merry Christmas to you all!



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What I've been working on
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The last quirks of the new platforming system are finally done! And the sonic placeholder sprite is sadly no longer in the game. On the other hand, we do have an actual animation now!

Another thing I’ve worked on is another feature asked for from the playtesting. Which is resizable text, So I worked on that This week. This actually meant I had to implement a whole new text renderer, and so it took quite some time to do.

I have also worked on the boss fight hinted about in the last update. And it’s going to be a really cool one.

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Implemented Features This Week
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• Resizable text.
  
• Platforming fully implemented.
  
• "Secret" boss fight.
  

Merry Christmas!

🎄 News and Christmas Event!🎄

Christmas or ‘Jul’ as we call it in Sweden is closing in and we would like to do a Wish-for-a-ingame-feature-for-xmas event!

Are there any features you would like to see in Vessels of Decay? Tell us about it in the comments and your feature might end up in the game!

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👷 What I've been working on👷
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This week I’ve continued to work on the platforming. I have also implemented some new audio effects and done some visual improvements.

The platforming bit is mostly technical and makes level design easier. To put it simply, there are two separate objects for platforms you can climb and “edges” you can only fall down.

The audio effects are something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time: reverb. That is, when you enter a building, all sound effects have a reverb to them (like a soft, immediate echo). This improves the atmosphere in the game immensely and really makes it feel like you are moving through old abandoned concrete ruins.

The visual improvements are also something I’ve been thinking about for a long time: do I use side walls or not? I feared using a forced perspective like that wouldn't fit the game's graphical style, but I finally decided to try it out, and I think the change is for the better. (this also makes a certain boss fight waaay better!)

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📰 Implemented Features This Week:
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• Reverb for SFX when inside buildings.
  
• Side walls for better depth perception (Visual only).
  
• Minor tweaks for the new platforming system.
  

Until next time!

I might have gone a bit overboard and gotten a bit sidetracked with the platforming, but I take your feedback seriously. I think this will make the game so much better, and makes for better and more intuitive level design.

New platforming features:

• Sprite for jumping.
  
• More precise platforming.
  
• Walkable beams now makes the player enter a “balance” state.
  
• Player can climb up on “half-levels”, making level design more interesting and intuitive.
  

To get into the christmas spirit, I will give some lore updates in the coming days. Some which are directly connected to the Scandinavian Jul(Christmas).

Until then!

The playtest is over, and I've been going over all the bugs and feedback you all gave. It was really awesome that so many played, and the feedback was really helpful!

The most common feedback people had was that the platforming elements were not very intuitive and that the keyboard controls were not very user-friendly. So I've been working on improving just that!

To make the keyboard controls feel better I rewrote how the game interprets player input. And instead of going straight in the direction the player is pressing, the direction changes smoothly during a short period. The same goes for movement speed, which adds up to the max speed during a short period. This creates a very smooth experience using the keyboard as well as a controller. Key rebinding is still in the pipeline and will be added at a later date.

To make things more intuitive the platforming now features:

• A JUMP BUTTON SPECIFICALLY FOR PLATFORMING!
  
• Climbable pillars.
  
• ledge grab.
  
• balance on edge of platform.
  

Since Vessels is a fully 2D game, I had to really think about how to pull this off! I still have some quirks to solve and sprites that I will need to animate. (don't tell SEGA!)