Hello and welcome back to the devlog, folks! Plenty of progress to cover this time!  

Bug Fixin'

A lot of you pointed out some pretty nasty bugs in the test demo, and I’ve managed to fix many of them. For one, the sprite flickering has been mostly solved. The only time I’m getting double sprite now is when characters attack right as they take damage. I think I know a fix for this, and I’m working on implementing it now. 

Another bug was the player’s ability to sink through the floor. Jumping only made the player sink deeper and deeper into the ground like quicksand. I’ve rigged something up in the event editor that should prevent this from happening. There might be a better way to get this particular issue fixed, so I’m playing around with more solutions to see what works best.  

 Circus Troupe Sprites Complete

All of the enemy sprites, character busts, and most of the tileset art has been completed for the Midnight Circus level! A few of the sprites only needed a few minor touch-ups, some are brand-new, and others got makeovers.

Along with their static sprites, each of the enemies have poses for different actions like attacking, downed, and damaged. I couldn’t leave Moira and Apollo out; each of our protags also got plenty of new poses and animations!

New Features! 

The main gimmick of this game is that you have to work together by switching characters to solve puzzles. Each character has a particular skillset that is best used in certain areas.  

But what if you come across something that neither character can get past? That’s where the new feature—vehicles—come in.  Vehicles (more creative name pending...^^;) are summoned modes of transportation that will add a variety of benefits to gameplay once they’re unlocked.

Summoning vehicles cost energy that players will build up using another new feature called the “Dreamcatcher”. Defeating enemies will return some of the dream's stolen energy to Apollo, allowing Moira to use it and create a vehicle. When the Dreamcatcher gauge is filled to capacity, you will be able to spend the energy to summon your vehicle for a limited amount of time.

How do you unlock vehicles? You’ll have to play to find out!

I’ve finished one vehicle and have the other two down as sketches. Vehicles will be extremely useful in reaching brand-new areas, defeating special enemies, and more!

New UI Design and Layout Prototype

I changed the layout of your health meters and Star Bits (previously called Dream Candies (I realized I was calling way too many things “Dream ______”). This is a WIP, but it’s very close to how I’d like the final design to appear. Is it an improvement?

Next up on the to-do list….

1. Make a prototype of the full Midnight Circus Level. This will eventually be the next released demo!
2. Work on interiors
3. Build the “Treasured Memories” Museum & Save Loft
4. Adjust characters’ moveset
5. Add new character bios to the "Characters" page

Stay cool, everyone, and I’ll see you in the next update!

-PixelatedBree

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