Boll's Journey News

[p]Hi all[/p][p]Another week, another devlog. [/p][p]This time with a closer look at enemies, scenes and powerups. Last week there was a halfway promise on an Early Access release date somewhere in the past week, but as you may have noticed it wasn't there. This week, however, it'll be there. You can expect an update in the Wednesday/Thursday timeframe![/p][p]Now, let's head into the content...[/p][p]A game like Boll's Journey wouldn't be complete without some Powerups. It's one of the first things you'll come across, next to the Shapes. [/p][p]There currently are five Powerups in the game:[/p]

• [p]Attack [/p]
  • [p]The Attack Powerup lets you do more damage to a Shape when shooting at it. This translates to skipping one or more colors.[/p]
• [p]Attack Rate [/p]
  • [p]The Attack Rate Powerup lets you shoot faster. [/p]
• [p]Defense [/p]
  • [p]The Defense Powerup lets you keep your moves when shooting at Shapes. This is not to be confused with the next Powerup[/p]
• [p]Shot Defense [/p]
  • [p]The Shot Defense Powerup lets you keep your moves when Shapes are shooting at you.[/p]
• [p]Speed [/p]
  • [p]The Speed Powerup increases your Speed.[/p]

[p]Each of these have their icon showing on the top right corner of the screen, after picking them up. In the pause menu, you can also already see a greyed out placeholder for them.[/p][p]Powerups are scattered all across the world. In some cases you'll have to choose between 2 or more Powerups, while other times you can just get them all.[/p][p]There are currently a handful of enemies that directly or indirectly influence the choices you'll make in the game. The most common enemy is the Shape, which we've discussed in the first Devlog. The second common enemy is the Dud, which was discussed in the second Devlog. But there are others.[/p][p]I'll be introducing a special scale for the enemies: the ASS, which stands for Annoying Shape Scale. Seems a fitting abbreviation, since annoying things are a pain in the ASS. ːsteamhappyː[/p][h2]Shape[/h2][p]For the sake of adding them on the ASS, we'll have an honorary mention of them again here. Since they're easy enough to deal with,, they're ranked 5th on the ASS.[/p][p][/p][h2]Duds[/h2][p]As mentioned in the second Devlog, they're probably going to be the most annoying enemy, making them be at the top of the ASS.[/p][p][/p][h2]Appearing Shapes[/h2][p]These Shapes will appear out of thin air when you move around in the world. They can literally show up anywhere and anytime. They might be ranked second on the ASS because of their ability to just show up when you least want them to.[/p][p]Other than appearing, they pretty much function the same way as any other Shape does, with the added 'bonus' of not being able to be attacked.[/p][p][/p][h2]Eating Bushes[/h2][p]These aren't really enemies in the literal sense of the word. And they aren't really annoying to deal with, as you'll find that they'll only get the Shapes that are in your way. The slightly annoying part might be that once they've got a Shape, an actual Bush will grow in their place.[/p][p]Since they're not really a part of the Shapes, they don't get to be on the ASS officially, but if I'd had to put them somewhere, I'd probably put them on third place, together with the next enemy.[/p][p][/p][h2]Reverse Shape[/h2][p]The Reverse Shape is exactly what the title says: a Shape in reverse. I'll keep it a surprise where you could find them, but they pretty much also do what the name suggests. Where a regular Shape would die on Green, a reverse Shape dies on Black.[/p][p]Why aren't they higher on the ASS? Simple: once you know what they are, it's pretty easy to deal with them. At most you'd only lose a half dozen of energy to them.[/p][h2]More...?[/h2][p]These are the currently known enemies, but there are more coming. Boll's world is big, and the Journey is long, so there's a lot of opportunities to throw in more enemies, without making it seem more chaotic than it needs to be. Don't believe me? Play the game when it comes out. You'll see how calm it really is.[/p][p]Boll's Journey is going to be a big game, spread over several Scenes. The current ones in the game - Garden, Suburb, Highway and Forest - are only a taste of what's to come. But, what exactly is to come? [/p][p]The intention is for Boll to Journey across the world, which means all sorts of different kind of scenes. The story up until now - which I'll talk about more in the next Devlog in full detail - has Boll running around in a forest. [/p][p]From there, Boll will end up on a Mountain, which you'll have to get up on and do things a certain way to be able to continue.[/p][p]In the near future, there'll be more scenes, such as Plains, a Channel, a Main Road, a city, Industrial area, Factory, Airport, and more. You'll be able to read all about how this will tie into the story in next week's Devlog. But for now I can say that it's all about the Guiding voice, the other dimension, and more.[/p][p]That's it for this week. Stay tuned for the Early Access release news post somewhere half next week. The post is prepared, it's just depending on the state of the game at this point, it'll be there Wednesday/Thursday.[/p][p]Wishlist Boll's Journey now to get updates delivered in your News Hub, because next to the Early Access update, next week's Devlog will be about the story, and the current puzzle elements in the game.[/p]

[p]Hi everyone![/p][p]It's that time of the week again, and as promised last week, we'll be looking deeper into the story elements, collectibles and Duds. [/p][p]If there are any other things you want to know more about, let me know in the comments![/p][p]Before we'll look into the three promised topics, I figured it's a good time to talk about the current state of the game.[/p][p]The game, as mentioned last week, has three scenes ready to play. There are some finishing touches being implemented in terms of timing, collectibles and powerups.[/p][p]These are required to make the gameplay as clean as possible, and as tight as possible. While Boll's Journey is mostly a casual top-down game, it doesn't mean that it can't have some action, strategy and timing in it.[/p][p]The expectation is to be done with the finishing touches somewhere next week, meaning the game will be ready for Early Access somewhere in the coming weeks. I'll be posting a separate post with a one week mark when it's time, so wishlist now to keep updated.[/p][p]Also, a quick note on energy: while there's no on screen gauge (like a number or a health bar of some kind) you still will be able to visually see where you are on your energy: the less energy you have available to you, the smaller Boll will be.[/p][p]Duds are probably going to be the most annoying enemy the game has to offer, but they're also the most interesting to talk about. You won't know the difference between a Dud and a Shape just by looking at it. Any Shape you see could be a Dud - although most won't be.[/p][p]What exactly is a Dud, though? A Dud is a Shape that when fired upon, won't die. Instead, it will start cycling through all of it's colors in an infinite loop. The fact that you won't be able to see the difference between a Dud and a Shape is what makes them an annoying enemy: you think you'll be able to move on, but you can't.[/p][p] [/p][p]-- A Dud compared to a regular Shape[/p][p]A Dud works in a similar way as a Shape when it comes to energy, in that when you hit it, you lose energy. The difference comes in the form of how much energy you lose. A Dud will take as much energy as the power it has. (Example: You encounter a Black Sphere, it turns out to be a Dud, you'll lose 9 energy)[/p][p]Doing the finishing touches meant having to get ready some collectibles as well. They are scattered across all scenes, some more obvious than others. As you'll play, you'll be reminded to keep your eye out on the collectibles.[/p][p]Below you can find a handful of prepared collectibles and in their natural habitat (obviously zoomed in so much that you won't really know where it is until you actually see it steamhappy) [/p][p] [/p][p]-- A few Baybayin Symbols in their natural habitat[/p][p]This batch of collectibles comes from the Baybayin script. A script that was widely used in the 16th and 17th centuries on the islands of Luzon - which is part of the Philippines. It was used to write Tagalog and Visayan languages. [/p][p]For the purpose of the game, I've picked a special modernization of the script to base my symbols on, to be able to get a full alphabet.[/p][p]What the symbols will be used for in the game, and how you'll use them, is a secret for now, the only thing I will tell you, is to keep your eye out for them, as you'll need to collect a certain amount of symbols.[/p][p]In a way, the story part of the game is also a collectible - you'll be able to find a whole story written out in the collectibles tab in the pause menu (after getting far enough). This story somewhat follows the story you're seeing on the screen as you go.[/p][p]You'll find out, when you get to play the game, that there are currently three voices:[/p]

• [p]A guiding voice - the voice you're starting out with when the game starts.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]An angry voice - the voice in the grayish dimension[/p][p][/p]
• [p]A friendly voice - the voice in the transparent dimension[/p][p][/p]

[p]So far, without any sounds in the game, it may be a bit confusing to know what is what, but you'll notice that there's a subtle tint to the subtitles for each of the dimensions. Eventually, when sounds do get added, the intention is to make it more obvious to know which is which, as I intend to get some voice over work done in the future, to make the game a bit more lively.[/p][p]For now, this is all I'm willing to say about the story, as I believe it is more fun to find it all out yourself. [/p][p]Next week, I'll be talking about a few other types of enemies, as well as a bit more about the scenes mentioned last week with the addition of the Forest. I'll also be talking about the Powerups and the system behind it.[/p][p]Maybe somewhere during the week I'll be able to drop an update on the Early Access release for Boll's Journey, so: Wishlist the game if you want to be the first to know about it![/p][p]Stay tuned for more and if you haven't already, go over to the Steam page for Boll's Journey and hit that wishlist button to get all the latest![/p]

[p]Hi everyone!

Here's a first update on the development of Boll's Journey.[/p][p]Since this is a new game, i felt it important to give out as much information on how to play the game, as well as screenshots of the various scenes. This should give new players a solid view of the look and feel of the game.[/p][p]The gameplay can be pretty much mentioned in one sentence: It is a point-and-click game. However, it doesn't mean that the game is that easy. There's a lot of different features when it comes to Boll's Journey, which we'll be looking at in this and coming devlogs.[/p][h2]Shapes[/h2][p]The main enemy in the game are the Shapes. They come in all sorts of colors and shapes. The combination of colors and shape show their strength. There are currently 9 colors, and 9 shapes.[/p][p] [/p][p]-- The 9 colors: Green, Orange, Red, Yellow, Purple, Pink, Blue, Cyan and Black.[/p][p]Each of the Shapes have been divided into 3 groups:[/p]

• [p]Easy[/p]
• [p]Medium[/p]
• [p]Hard[/p]

[p]What this means is, the first three shapes to appear are 'easy' to kill - in that they only use 1 energy. The 'medium' Shapes use 2 energy, while the 'hard' Shapes use 3 energy.[/p][p]The difficulty doesn't come from the colors, but from the Shape, As the image below shows, the first three (Sphere, Triangle, Square) are the 'easy' ones. The next three (Pentagon, Hexagon, Heptagon) are the 'medium' ones, and lastly the Octagon, Nonagon and Cylinder are the 'hard' ones.[/p][p][/p][p]Every shape can have on of the 9 colors, and will cycle through them from where the current color starts.[/p][p]For example: the Black Cylinder will become Cyan upon Boll's hit (and use 3 energy), then Blue, Pink, Purple, Yellow, Red, Orange and lastly Green, at which point the Shape will become a Black Nonagon, at which point it will cycle through the colors again until Green, to become the next Shape after, and so forth, until the Green Sphere. After the Green Sphere, the Shape will die. [/p][p]The Shapes are obstacles in the world. Boll will have to clear the Shapes in order to continue on his long Journey.[/p][h2]Energy[/h2][p]Now, before I continue talking about the energy in the game, I'll put one thing to rest right away: It is not meant to be the same kind of energy as you see in mobile games, where you'd have to wait x amount of time before you're able to continue playing the game. [/p][p]There also won't be any microtransactions whatsoever to have the player buy energy to continue in the game.[/p][p]In general, yes, the energy will work similar like it does in mobile games, however, you ARE able to get through scenes and play continuously if you use a bit of strategy, the less energy you use, the further you're able to get in the game.[/p][p]First and foremost, it will be used as a gauge, to see how far the player is able to get with a certain amount of energy. This means that everyone will start out with the same amount of energy, and that energy will recharge over time. (you get 1 energy per minute back)[/p][p]On my own playthroughs, I can manage to get through each and every scene without ending up on the game over screen, so once you're able to play it, know that it IS possible.[/p][h2]Top-down[/h2][p]While most of the game is top-down, there are some parts that are deliberately different, this is done to deliver a better vibe while playing. Some scenes, in the future, are likely even going to be first-person, to really deliver on the vibe the game requires.[/p][h2]Scenes[/h2][p]Lastly, here's some screenshots of the game's current scenes. They are not always during gameplay.[/p][p]As it currently stands, there's a good 3 hours of gameplay, over 3 scenes. The last of which is probably the most hectic one.[/p][p]The current three scenes are:[/p]

• [p]Serene Garden[/p]
  • [p]A calm garden scene, with a road and some pathways splitting it in 4. [/p]
• [p]Desolate Exurbs[/p]
  • [p]A suburban scene with similar houses where Boll will have to move through, going in and out of houses with an increasing amount of Shapes.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Abandoned Highway[/p]
  • [p]The Shapes and Bushes are in full war with each other, with Boll being able to get through the firing of both sides. The Shapes are probably going to end up being more of a problem than the Bushes, however.[/p]

[p]On the next Devlog, we'll be looking at some other features, like the story elements, another type of shape called the Dud and different types of collectibles.[/p][p]Stay tuned![/p][p]And be sure to wishlist Boll's Journey if you haven't yet.[/p][p][/p]