Week 8: Bug Fixes, Boosts, and Bling

What is up gamers! This week, the team has been locked in on fixing bugs and refining the gameplay experience, following the feedback from our recent Alpha playtesting session. We’ve also uploaded a revised version of our GDD with a more up-to-date vision. Without further ado… 

Improved Physics ⚛️

Skating along ramps has always felt a bit weird, and our playtesters were constantly getting stuck on the way up. We made tweaks to player movement to prevent this in the future, and also increased platform “stickiness” to prevent unnecessary flying off of ramps.

Furthermore, wall running is now fully functional! Players can run up ramps connected to building walls to traverse straight up onto rooftops.

More Speed = More FUN 🏃💨

During playtesting, we were told that the current adrenaline rush speed was better suited to be the default player speed, since our game is made for intense, high-speed battling. We listened to the feedback and the default player velocity is now significantly higher, and adrenaline speeds have been significantly increased to keep up.

Enhanced UX ✨

We’ve made a range of improvements to enhance the players’ feel and overall immersion of the game.

The start screen has new ready-up functionality! After joining with any button, a character appears with a cursor that the player can select their gang member.

We made gems emit a soft glow, making them stand out more clearly in the environment and emphasizing their importance during gameplay. They will also change to a much brighter colour for the player holding the crown. Additionally, point collection now comes with more satisfying visual feedback, making every grab feel rewarding. something about having the crown and picking up gems.

The minimap has been updated to better suit the gameplay, helping players navigate more intuitively during high-speed chases. Players now each have their own minimap, which shows their location relative to other players and the crown.

We’ve also added a dynamic camera system that adapts to the action, giving players a better sense of momentum and situational awareness. 

Finally, to prevent unpredictable crown jittering, characters gain a brief period of invincibility after getting attacked or picking up the crown. 

Style Updates 😎

Our character model is ready for texture! Here’s a first look at our artists’ work thus far:

We’ve also been updating our crown and power up assets 👀:

New Power-Ups 💪

We’ve designed a whole bunch of new power-ups to both balance and add new elements of chaos to our gameplay. Full details can be found in the GDD but here's a sneak peak at some new icons: