Do you remember a few weeks ago, when I made a post about a bunch of different challenges? The Spinsect Challenge was one of them, and what I posted then went like this:
"Challenge #2: Crystal Bug Madness: In this challenge your goal is to direct a bunch of spinning crystal bugs onto a huge boulder blocking your way. For every bug you direct onto the boulder, it breaks a bit more, causing more bugs to appear. There will also be a set of blinding mushrooms spawning across the map, and when you hit the boulder, rocks will fall from the sky. Basically, a lot of dodging while trying to hit en crystal bugs in the right direction!"
And now we've started prototyping the challenge, as the enemy needed for it has been implemented! So this is what greets you when you first enter the challenge room in its current iteration:
And now we've started prototyping the challenge, as the enemy needed for it has been implemented! So this is what greets you when you first enter the challenge room in its current iteration:
Three Spinsects, bouncing around the room! Once you manage to direct one to the rock or crystal you wish to break, rocks fall from the sky which hurt you unless you mind where you stand. After two hits, another Spinsect spawns.
In the end, these challenge Spinsects will be a different color to indicate that they're different from the regular Spinsect, as these won't stop spinning or die - they'll block your attacks instead of taking damage.
After a couple more hits, obstacles appear on the map. In our prototype, they are illustrated as treestumps, but in reality they will be bigger pieces of falling rocks that remain on the map:
After a couple more hits, a fifth Spinsect will spawn, and after the 10th hit, the rock/crystal breaks and you'll be able to move on.
As you might notice from the description and the GIFs, we decided against keeping the blinding mushrooms in the room. Our earlier prototypes had this element, and we simply thought it made the challenge more frustrating, not more fun.
Of course, this is still a prototype, so things may change before it's properly added to the game (and after player feedback), but so far we're quite happy with this challenge, and even have a couple of ideas for mini-games or arena challenges with similar mechanics!
But that's, of course, for the future :)
Awesome concept. It'll be challenging for sure. Thinking about it: Maybe on hard difficulty more boulders might fall when you hit the crystal and more obstacles will spawn or an additional Spinsect will be present from the start.
ReplyDeleteI guess the room itself is not finished. xD It'll look nice with plant and crystal decorations and the cave walls on the sides (maybe you could even put a nice decorative small statue at the wall.. the small ones we can see on the other Mount Bloom map).
I also hope that the giant crystal there is a placeholder as well as it'S currently looking a bit pixelated.
I'm looking forward to the gas challenge as well where you need to collect HP points while moving and fighting through the room. I guess this room will be a lot bigger as it's basically an obstacle course.
Here's a suggestion for said obstacles course. Maybe you could add traps/ obstacles there as well like big swinging stones (basically giant boulders on ropes that swing left and right) or a section where you need to dodge boulders that roll down a "hill". And if you want to be very mean you could even add a block puzzle somewhere in this room. ;)
All the graphics in these GIFs are definitely 100% placeholder, haha! XD Not even the spinsects are 100% finished, so yeah, a lot will be added and changed (thankfully) :3
DeleteThat's some really cool ideas for the gas challenge! I'll be sure to pass them along to the others. No game is complete without a swinging axe or boulder trap, right? :D
Heh, that's what I thought. Looking forward to the look of the finalized room.
ReplyDeleteSince you liked my ideas for the gas callenge here's also a suggestion for the plant challenge.
I remember you mentioning different effects of these plants on the player, one being poison the other being blinded. However, we already have blinding mushroom enemies in the cave and a gas challenge that acts lke a poison room. What I'd suggest is something more original instead. ;) I've got 2-3 ideas: 1. A plant that makes you move slow. Compare this to the challenge in Arcade Mode. 2. A plant that makes you take double damage from nearby enemies. 3. A plant that reverses your controls. These would be effects that we haven't seen so far in the story.