Official Project Kickoff

I have been kicking around this idea for a while now, and earlier this week I opened a fresh repo and got started. Over the past year, I've gotten a lot more comfortable creating and releasing games. I've decided to really go for it and create the platformer I've always wanted to make.

This will be a blend between incremental-style game dynamics (e.g. Trimps, Progress Quest, Synergism) with the interactivity of a Metroidvania. Quality-wise, at the top of the list I'm striving for fun progression, and tight controls/collisions.

I don't plan to put a huge amount of focus on creating an enormous map - with inverted reverse dimensions and secret 102% completions - I want to focus more on the leveling. But, as I add things, and take feedback, who knows where this will lead me?

As far as development goes, over the past few evenings I have gotten a good scaffold going already. I have the world created, some character animations, controls, a dialog system, a UI, and the exponential mathematics to handle BIG NUMBER experience point/level increases. I'm ready to start embarking on the mechanics of granting experience so that some level-ups can actually happen.

There's a little sneak peak at just some of the planned mechanics. I'll be regularly updating the web embed on the game page. I am trying to work on this project every night. I've been doing well at completing projects lately, it seems the older I get, the more I can focus. I have managed to finish a book and 2 other games, so I feel like I have found my stride when it comes to achieving progress. When I finish the game, I'll probably add Steam achievements and sell it for a few bucks.

I'm publishing the game here on itch in its current state in the meantime, for fun. Controllers are supported and should work. (Microsoft/Xbox controller L and R triggers don't currently work in Godot 4 web export, but you can use Page Up/Down on your keyboard to shrink/grow. It's a known bug.)

Do you have any thoughts or ideas for abilities to add? So far I've got:

- multi-jumps
- various attacks (weapons and non-weapons)
- 'focus' system for MP-style specials
- slide
- wall jump
- shrink/grow
- fly and teleport

The first orb in the mega-alpha right now is going to level you up and unlock the first ability: Opening the stats screen and collecting experience. You will collect continuously, and part of the progression will be enhancing your EXP growth with powerups and other modifiers.

Look forward to hearing from you, and stay tuned for the next update! I expect to have EXP gain and leveling up working by the end of the weekend. Currently I'm working on a particle system to explode the orb and "converge" the particles into the player, and I'm hung up on getting that completed before I implement the stats screen.

Special thanks to ZeggyGames, who made the character sprite sheets I'm using as my placeholders for now, check out their page and assets!

Mac users note: The browser will hang and you have to click "Wait" a few times before the game finally loads. This is a known bug for Macs with Godot 4 web exports. When the game is in a more complete state, I will likely do a standalone Mac build if the bug isn't fixed.