Mercenary Leto News

Howdy y'all!

There is NO BUILD THIS QUARTER, but I did want to show you what's coming down the pipe!











The text also flows differently - it takes pauses and breaks as the sentence is said. It's really cool!




I also added some fun font effects just for some NPCs - Issac often gets a 'bounce' text effect for some things!


Melody has a permanent 'shake' effect...


And Kiki has both pink text, a wave, and hearts added to the end of her dialog.




I can also highlight text blue for when we are talking about dust...


It also works during FMVS! I'm going to have to go back and maybe merge how these two text systems work, but for now, just know it's planned, but need to figure out the best way to do it.



And I've done a first pass for the entire text in the game! All the way to the end!



I still have more effects to add, but just know I'm having a great time, and can't wait for y'all to play it!

Thanks for reading! As always, you can find me in the Discord.

~Summer

STORY STUFF
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Three new songs - one for shenanigans, another for panicking, another for sad Alma background

There are 3 dragon eggs total - were added to the lava level, end of Issac's ship

When you face Kaiden for the first time, the background flickers to show his face

Added fmv slides for Issac giving Schloop to Lily

Fixed a few missing dialog options for this section (corkboard)

When Scylla calls John Mule for the first time, added a Leto wearing helmet sprite, vibrate the helmet via animation, new pax angry animation

When Issac is laying in the hay, he has a "hand to face" animation, now

When Issac approachs the team, he has a bunch of new animations that play

He also has an 'ow' voice line that's used during his boss fight, plus when Kaiden throws him against the wall

Started on the Day 10 cutscene - world map changed, Issac and Tabs are in their final armor, Zaanlith got some added artwork for when you see her off the bow of the ship

Shelly/Shelby exist near the end of the game, now


GAMEPLAY STUFF
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Tabs and Issac have Game Over screens while in their end game armor

Items dropping through the floor was fixed, added better drop rates in general

Shut off the NPC talking icon when talking

Added a command for Leto to face an object when a cutscene is going


CHORES
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Cleanup up a bunch of unused variables
Maybe I fixed tile glitching (who am I kidding)


Thanks for reading, expect another update in the fall!

As always, you can find me in the Discord.
~Summer

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Lots to celebrate! (dances)

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Debug Chan -
Keyboard - X + E + Q
Xbox - B + Both Triggers
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Complete Update Log
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======== MAJOR ===========
Started the sixth and final level!
Last level of the game was laid out - includes new monsters, rock climbing holds, and the return of JELLYCATS
The finding Alma cutscene was added
Last last level got new tiles and camera work
(Multiple charge jumps, or the ability to chargejump after a wallclimb hold. If you touch a wall or a ring or any monster you can ride, your charge jump resets!
Title screen was redone - the layout is WAY better and makes more sense
When you beat Kaiden for the first time, rough cutscene art was added
Fixed when you fired bullets, the music would desync problem
Messed with the save game flags when you update all objects on john mule. There is still some lag there, but it's better!

======== MINOR ===========
Tabs, Issac, and Scylla now have bullet shells
When you die, the active companion will 'respawn' next to you
When you duck, the active companion will duck down with you
'Endgame' Issac and Tabs both have companion sprites
His weapon was messed with a bit, too! His bullets will appear in front of you, always. They also move a bit faster, too!
When you fight Kaiden - and die - Issac will yell at you. What a nice guy.
Gilbert bullets are back in the object pool + despawn correctly
DRGN-DPYERS make sounds when they see and fire upon you
When Xer gives you the dash boots, his cutscene panel is not blurry anymore
Alma will animate better when you see her in the caves (also hid the song note when you normally see her everywhere else in the game. Really weird that was happening...)
Alma's landing beep and jellycats are back in the sound mixer, where they should be!
The caves had a few areas where you could see off the level... oops....
Moving platforms in the abbo level was made bigger, so it's easier to jump on
Lurkers liked to spin ontop of Leto. Again. I think I fixed it for real this time. Maybe. We'll see.
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Thanks for reading! As always, you can find me in the Discord. :]

~Summer

MAJOR -

Audio work : all sounds should be in the mixer (okay I missed three sounds, cut me some slack...). Leto jump, charge, dialog... all of it.
They were also optimized via an Object Pool, so that's nice!
Fixed some memory leaks with charging bullets and said audio blips.





Scripting work -

John Mule Cutscene - Comforting Lily cutscene flows a bunch better.
Valuna Cutscene - the cutscene for when you meet Scylla was cleaned up.
John Mule Cutscene - when Issac first attacks - Scylla has a few more animations and some of the dialog has been tightened there. Her tail wags when she is mad. Very cute.
John Mule Cutscene - when you talk to Issac with Tabs in your party - that has been cleaned up and flows better. Issac yells more. It's great.
When Scylla is on John Mule, she gives you the poster in a less wonky way





MINOR
When Kaiden dies in combat, he won't spin off screen anymore. He still stands there like an idiot, however. Next update...
Kaiden isn't a cheap boss anymore - he'll indicate where he's moving after he ceiling attacks
GameOver screen has a new animation when Scylla is out
Tabs gives you space when you talk to NPCs. (I made him more shy! He still likes to float off the floor sometimes...)
Xer smiles at you when he gives you the dash boots. It's great.
Xer has a new idle and laugh animation
Scylla has a new angry animation
Dragon egg in the microwave has a dope-ass animation now
Leto has a more pissed off portrait
Tabs, when he's first transformed for the Valuna cutscene, snarls a bit
All companinion particle effects shut off during dialog
Sad Alma sprite was updated
Leto's room posters were updated






NEXT - Sixth and FINAL level! And more cutscene work! And bug fixes!

Thanks for reading! As always, you can find me in the Discord or on cohost!(https://cohost.org/dragonGlitchGamesLLC).

~Summer

Pumpkin spice season is here, and with that fueling me, here is another update for Leto!

Major

Companions are a big smarter and try to stay out of walls. Tabs still likes to jam himself into walls when you talk to NPCS, but hey, it's a start!
All Melody gashapons have artwork for them!
Charge jump was completely reworked - it now acts like a double jump!
Valuna got a glow up - worldmap and the level itself has all new artwork!

Minor

Kaiden introduction cutscene now has artwork for it!
Tabs cleaning up Xer cutscene has more animations in it
Game icon for your desktop got updated!


Most importantly -

Gilbert now washes his behind in a few cutscenes. Because he's a cat.


NEXT - More cutscene polish. Across the entire game. Last few things to tidy up before I start on the sixth and FINAL level!

Thanks for reading! As always, you can find me in the Discord or on Twitter (https://twitter.com/dragonGlitchLLC).

~Summer