Vilya's Workblog: Game Design

Today it's time for something a little bit different, namely a post written entirely by Teddy on our design decisions behind the final dungeon! Here goes:

So a while back we shared an intention of overhauling the final tower quite substantially, shifting from a large surrealistic "travel through the game again but weird"-type dungeon, to having it be a boss rush of sorts.

Nearly all feedback we received on this has been negative! We actually were expecting some feedback like that, but not of this magnitude. The main worries were:

* Shorter dungeon = less content

* Without a proper dungeon there won't be storytelling

* It violates the game-design philosophy of a final dungeon being an exam on the rest of the game (think Wily's Castle in Mega Man)

All these things are very reasonable, and because of this feedback we sat down and talked it all over again. But to even our own surprise, we've decided to stick to our guns! We'd like to share our reasoning, since it would be pretty weird to invite feedback, get it, and then ignore it silently.

First off we completely get that it "feels off" that there isn't going to be a huge old-school dungeon at the end of the game. On paper, it is pretty much objectively weird, considering our primary sources of inspiration!

That said, after designing the dungeon two times now, we fear there is an uncomfortably high risk that it wouldn't become a very good one, and we really don't want to end on that note.

So why would we say that? Well, we feel the best "dungeons" of our game were those with the most engrossing context, and we weren't satisfied with what we came up with for this dungeon.

A "go-to" strategy for us has been to load the dungeons up with story. But we neither want nor need to give any more exposition on the main plot until you reach the top of the tower, and having a side-plot at this stage felt off-beat.

So the first iteration was a plotless chimera-design where we just made random rooms based on old areas in the game, sometimes with combined themes (like season change + time travel in the same room). This was in spirit of the "exam"-philosophy, combined with a tribute to old mechanics. But when going through potential room designs, it felt hollow and without the charm that made our best dungeons good.

So as a "plot substitute" we decided to design a version that's a surrealistic recap of the entire game. It ended up very similar to the "Curse of the Moon", but much much longer. We felt this version had more character, but it had some glaring holes design-wise, and when we imagined playing through it we got very worried that it would feel a lot like treading water.

For us (including you guys) a recap might seem like a cool nostalgia trip, but looking at it from a new player's perspective, it might just feel like weird filler. And while we've seldom cared about workload, we also saw that to make this version enjoyable would take a huge amount of work. If we had been in love with our design that wouldn't have deterred us, but while we felt optimistic about some of it, a lot felt shaky.

So having recently played some very well-received games that actually had done away with giant dungeons before the end (a couple skipping them entirely), the blasphemous idea struck us: how would that feel in our game? Thinking back on playing those titles, our hope and belief is that in the context of an actual playthrough, the player will likely go along with what's presented, too focused on playing to analyze and compare (though we don't doubt some players will react).

Another thing that weighed in favor of the light-weight path is thinking about the Catalysts in the context of an average playthrough. Many of our Early Access players have undoubtedly gotten these already as part of full completion, but seen holistically, it's probably quite a small percentage that will get all three catalysts before going into the tower.

For such a playthrough, getting the (remaining) Catalysts will in fact serve quite well as the Wily Stage of our game: one catalyst for combat, one for quest/puzzles, and one for grinding.

Now, about the boss rush: we're planning remixes of some iconic battles, and we'll make sure they all bring something new. One commenter came up with a pretty interesting idea that we'll likely try out, namely having the elevator stop at some point, during which a short puzzle-section could play out as a change of pace.

We're quite optimistic that we'll be able to make this feel like a cool transition to the finale, that will keep the tension of the latest story-beat fresh.

That said, we totally understand some of you still would've preferred a classic big dungeon. We hope we'll be able to win you over when it's all said and done!

Another thing we've been playing around with is a "pin shelf" where you can store one additional pin without enabling its effects. Of course, in the game this has a rather crude interface at the moment:

As such, I've been playing around with making a couple versions of a proper interface for it, one featuring the trashcan which will be used when you first equip the pin, and one without it for the menu, where you'll also be able to move your pins around and exchange which one is currently on the shelf:

So you saw the mysterious elevator from last week, and you probably wonder: what on earth is going on with that? Well, after a lot of thought and discussions regarding final dungeons, we pretty much all felt like maybe we're just dragging things out a bit too much, and perhaps all you want to do is get into some action and get to that/those final boss(es).

So what gives? Well, we've decided that - for now at least - scrap our previous designs for the final dungeon and go with a boss rush mode, featuring slightly reworked versions of some of the previous bosses, one after another, on said elevator as you move your way up in the tower to reach Dad and figure out what the heck is going on!

Of course, if we feel like this version isn't any good, we'll revert back to the old idea, which we do have a bunch of backgrounds for already anyway. But for now, we're gonna try out the boss rush elevator idea, and see how we feel about it. We've even more or less finalized a list of potential bosses for it:

Shadow Slime (a dark Giga Slime)
Halloweed
2x Phasemen and GUN-D4M (not at the same time, but part of the same battle)
4x Hydras (introducing the spring hydra - which we have a bunch of ideas for, ranging from it spawning green thorn bushes to spawning the poisonflowers from Tai Ming)
Powerflower, aided by bees (I'm sorry)
and Mimic, phase 2!

In other words, a pretty epic boss rush - though the exact bosses and what new attacks they might have is still in the works.

How do you guys feel about this potential change? Yay or nay?

For Fred's Friday, we have a little sneak peek of something curious... A couple sketches for an elevator! Whatever is this all about? Stay tuned to learn more on Monday! :)

Finally, let's take a look at the first phase of the Grindea battle! This will be the last post on here before christmas break (actually, today is the day we Swedes celebrate christmas rather than tomorrow on the 25th), so MERRY CHRISTMAS and happy holidays to you all!

We will now have a short christmas break before being back to work as normal on the 3rd of January! See you all then :)

And now, a first sneak peek at the cutscene introducing Grindea to the player! We're still tweaking this, but it will give you an idea of where we're going with this:

This week, we're starting off by adding a new currency!

This is golden essence, which like normal essence can be traded for rewards at Bishop's in Arcadia. We're also thinking you'll be able to trade a (big) amount of regular essence for one of these. The reason we came up with this currency is because we thought it'd be a better reward to get in that final floor chest, rather than getting the rewards themselves. This way you can pick and choose whatever rewards you want in any order (except for some that you will need to unlock by completing Arcade Mode in all difficulties), and it seems a bit clearer that you always get a reward of golden essence rather than an arbitrary number of rewards only to suddenly not get any more.

This way adding new rewards is more streamlined as well - if we decide to add more rewards, Bishop will simply update his shop rather than you having to complete arcade mode once again to see what sort of item(s) we've added!

In Teddy's department, let's take a look at a new interface of sorts, featuring Bishop as he provides you with a bet! Now he'll appear in the lower right corner to remind you of the bet you've taken:

Once you finish the bet, he'll disappear, as shown above, and appear in the middle of the map instead!

Next up, in preparation for another one of the rooms, I've made a bunch of Super Potions. These potions can be bought from a potion salesman that appears in questionmark rooms, and the potions themselves are stronger and last longer. To start of with, the potion salesman will present you with one random potion of the selection below, but if you pay up some essence you'll be able to unlock a second slot in his shop which will also feature a random potion:

In this Monday Meeting, it's been all about perks! We haven't had a lot of those before, so we've spent some time thinking about what more interesting ones we could add. Here's a list of our current ideas:

* A perk that gives a low chance of pins dropping from defeated enemies

* Arrows deal more damage

* Bigger chance of getting a specific type of event room (we want at least one of these for the fishing rooms, since it can be quite a challenge to catch all of the fishes, however, we haven't decided 100% yet if this will be a perk or a quest or an item of some sort)

* Bigger chance of Loods appearing

* A perk that guaratees that you'll get a pin as a reward after a challenge win

* A perk that gives you x gold at the start of every new floor

* Bigger chance of getting card drops from enemies

* A slightly wider selection of items in the shop

* A perk that lets you start with an HP potion

* A perk that gives you a good 1h weapon at floor 5

* Same as above but for 2H weapons and magical weapons respectively

Do you have any ideas for more perks? Let us know what you'd like to see! :)

Time for another one of those Grindea battle updates! Here, let's take a look at two more of her moves, still a bit WIP but it's looking better and better for sure:

As a continuation of the last post, some more stuff we'd like to add to Arcade Mode:

* Maraccas, who will show up in later floors, letting you exchange silver points for talent orbs, just like in Story Mode

* Trick & Treat buff service which will give you quite a powerful buff - but will also include quite a massive debuff. For example, in an early floor you might get a skill leveled to max, but you're not allowed to use any other skills or your shield.

* A Trade Up Guy who will take three of your items of the same kind and exchange them for a better version of them

* A Lood room, which is an event room with a lot of loods and one big master lood who is a NPC of sorts

* The Ice Cream parlor, where you can make your own ice cream that gives you different boosts depending on which flavours you pick

* A person who shows up at the beginning of the last floor you died, or possibly after you've died at the same floor a number of times, selling buffs that will last until the end of the floor

If you have any other ideas for event rooms or fun things to happen throughout a run, be sure to make a comment! :)

It's another Monday, and another meeting, and in this one we're discussing more stuff to add to the final update of Arcade Mode. Here's a bunch of our new suggestions in terms of events and event rooms you may come across during a run:

* First up, an event room that's a spa where you can pick up a couple health orbs, just a nice little treat that may show up once in a while

* A potion salesman that sells "bootleg" potions that last longer than the ones you have equipped normally. These potions are usable items you can use whenever you like but will last longer and possibly be a bit stronger.

* A version of the fortune teller room in which you can change the boss of the floor, but for the next event room! In this room Astrid the fortune teller will let you know what event room is the next to spawn, and you'll be able to let her swap it out for another one, for a fee.

* A "Boss Assistance Fae", a fae adventurer that may show up randomly in a room and help you clear it out, only to suggest you employ his assistance in battling the boss. Of course, having his assistance will cost you! This fae may also show up occasionally in Astrid's Fortune telling room where she predicts which boss you'll face off against next.

* We're also discussing having floor wide bets, where Bishop will appear at the start of a floor and give you a bet across the whole floor, such as clearing the floor within a limited time!

We're back from our break and we'll jump straight in with a Monday Meeting!

Today we've had a lot of discussions about the very final parts of Arcade Mode, namely your battle against Grindea. Among other things, we've decided you won't be able to bring any time crystals with you to this battle - instead, they'll be replaced by health potions.

You will get a chance to prepare well for the battle though - we're planning on adding a bazaar like area where all of the merchants of various kinds will be available, such as the regular merchant, shadier merchant, Little John and the Nurse! You'll also receive a health orb at the start of this area, just like you would when you reach any regular floor.

Another thing we're planning on adding to Arcade Mode that will also appear in the bazaar is a shop where you can buy pins from the Pin Collector! As with shadier merchant, you'll get a selection of three, but instead of paying with gold (or your life...) you have to trade essence to get one! This is the second area in which we introduce essence as a currency throughout a run, with the Caveling Casino being the first. You'll also only get to pick one pin - after you've made your selection the collector and his pins will disappear, so make your choice carefully!

We've also been discussing what sort of rewards you'll get from that chest in the final room before battling either Bishop or Grindea! We want the player to get plenty of rewards, at least three for each level of difficulty, so it won't just be a reward for the first time you reach the top!

Some of our suggestions so far include:

A diploma that shows you made it. Can be hung on the wall of your house, where it can be inspected showing a proper fancy diploma stating you reached the top floor.

A lood trinket that allows you to keep a Lood with you on your runs.

A Record player which is a furniture item that will change the music inside your house.

Riley as a NPC in Arcadia, who can change the music both in Arcadia and on your runs.

Angel Wings and Demon Wings to decorate your character. We'll have to try out how this looks with the character's animations, but if it doesn't work out we'll add them as hat versions instead.

A trinket that makes you character levitate when moving and in idle.

A trinket that gives you the same colour scheme as Grindea

and a Cloud hat!

...in no particular order. Do you have any suggestions of your own? We'd love to hear them!

Now, it's not just the ending of Arcade Mode that we're working on, but also expanding it and cleaning it up so it's all nice and polished. In this Monday's meeting, we came up with two new rooms we'd like to try:

First up, a room where you meet the fortune teller Astrid, who tells you which boss is at the end of the floor, and offers you an opportunity to change your fate (that is, for her to change the boss for another one in the pool). Whether or not this will cost you anything we haven't decided yet - but it's likely it'll cost a bit of gold.

The second room we'd like to add is a "Caveling Casino" where you pay gold OR essence for a chance of getting one of a pool of items, which you'll be able to see beforehand. The items can be things such as equips, buffs, pins, HP pots, or maybe just an apple... We're considering giving you two chances as well, so if you spent gold on one try, you can spend essence on another - but no more than that.

This addition of essence as a currency on a run is something we'll likely experiment a bit more with as well, giving you more ways to spend that stuff :)

Finally, we've decided to try out a pretty big change - but I'll have to make a couple tests first to make sure it feels alright... And that is to have each of the shops and special character's rooms in a run appear inside a specially designed map just for them instead of having them sit in the middle of an ordinary room. So basically the merchant would actually appear in a shop, shadier merchant might appear in a creepy temple like setting, and so on. However, since we don't want to give away what kind of room you'll enter in the case of event rooms, I'm gonna have to play around with making an entrance to the house which makes it feel like you came from the outside even though you as a player didn't see an actual building to enter. It may not make much sense now, but I'll make a couple tests and you'll see!

As you know, we're drawing ever closer to the completion of this game, and since I'm usually a bit ahead of making the background art and such, we're nearing a point where I'll run out of stuff to do! So how to keep me busy?

Well, we've had a budding idea of having me prepare the graphic assets and likely, most of the writing, for a little side project, or a companion piece if you'd like: basically, a visual novel where you're a Collector, interacting with other collectors and sentient artifacts!

This game will be a very short game to go along with the Grindea universe, so we're not talking any big investments of time here, even for me - but it'll give me something to do while Teddy and Fred finish the last bits of animations and code for the main game. And it may also serve to give you guys a bit more insight in the world of Grindea!

Because of the planning needed, you're likely going to start seeing some sketches and rough ideas for this project come up on this blog soon. So how do you guys feel about visual novels? Any particular ones you like, or dislike? Features you'd like to see in a project like this?

Again, keep in mind our goal here is just to make a little companion piece, so it's not gonna be very long or super complex - just a little side project in the same world :)

In Teddy & Fred's department, we're mainly still focusing on the Grindea fight, but some other animations and cutscenes are made here and there. Here, let's the a look at one of those, the activation of the portal that will take you to Grindea's realm:

Next, a quick sketch to give you a basic overview of what the Mount Bloom floor will look like! I do this a bit ahead of time so we're all on the same page of the layout before I start making the actual rooms.

As you can see from the sketch below, you start of in an introductory room. In the middle, in the very dark spot, will be a very simple phase shift course which will take you either to the room on the left, the room on the right or the room above depending on how you move through it. You need to reach and complete the challenge in each room to be able to continue on to the next floor through the north exit :)

Meanwhile, the Grindea battle continues on evolving, so here's another bunch of new moves:

Pretty intense stuff! You gotta watch where you put those feet!

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