v2.1

Post-jam Version 2.0 - 11/09/2024:

New content and features:

• Add silhouettes to objects and entities to make the game more dynamic.
• Add a main theme music: Background News - Thinking Time by Sonican.
• Implement a difficulty scaling system that works together with the enemy spawner to dynamically adjust the spawn chances as the player progresses.
• Implement a leveling system for the player, experience can be gained by collecting energy capsules dropped from enemies.
• Add more sound effects: projectile shot by enemies, missile fuel burning.
• Add a muzzle flash effect for ranged enemies.
• Add a versatile upgrade system which allows the player to purchase an upgrade when they're leveled up.
• Add 8 new upgrades, each with their own icons and effects. Upgrades require a type of currency to purchase, which is dropped by killing enemies.
• Add the missing silhouette to the portal at the prologue cutscene.
• Add invincibility time to enemies to avoid being rapidly damage by piercing bullets.

Improvements and optimization:

• Visualize the border of the map by making the surround area "sink" to the bottom, which differentiate them from the walkable area.
• Optimize the instantiating and destroying process of projectiles and the ammo HUD using object pooling.
• Update the sound effect for gunshot, add a chambering sound when the player chambers a new round.
• Firearm recoil now causes the player's cursor to climb upward, depending on the recoil strength.
• Optimize the process of instantiating projectiles using object pooling on a single master script instead of having each entity hold their own pool.
• Optimize the dropped items instantiation process using object pooling.
• Reward the player with 1 reroll chance every 2 levels.
• Optimize the enemy spawning mechanic using object pooling.
• Optimize the effect instantiating script using object pooling.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed an issue where items dropped by enemies get clumped sometimes get clumped together in one spot.
• Fixed an issue where the cost text of an upgrade is still red even though the player has enough scraps to purchase said upgrade.
• Fixed an issue where the continue cue of the dialogue box keeps sinking down every time the box activate.

v2.0

Post-jam Version 2.0 - 11/09/2024:

New content and features:

• Adds 3 new ranged enemies: Scout Gear, Interceptor Gear, and Destroyer Gear.
• Adds spinning animation for enemies.
• Adds a turn radius property to the enemies' AI so they don't abruptly change their direction while flying.
• Adds highlights to bullets and projectiles so they don't blend to the surroundings, which makes them easier to spot.
• Adds a spreading property to the player's gun, which determines the accuracy of the weapon.
• Adds a camera switcher script responsible for switching between different camera in the scene.
• Adds a new aiming mechanic for firearms that allows the player to hold down the aim button to pan the camera further in the direction the gun is pointing.
• Adds a recoil effect for firearms that causes the muzzle to climb upward and back upon firing.
• Adds pointers that show up and play a sound effect when the player's mouse is over UI buttons.
• Adds recoil effect and projectile spreading for ranged enemies.
• Adds more sound effects: explosions, notify sound when the portal activates, metal impact sound when enemies are hit.
• Adds post-processing effects to the scene, including Bloom and Vignette.
• Adds text typing animation and sound for the dialogue text.
• Adds an option to adjust dialogue speed in the Gameplay section in the Settings menu.
• Adds a prologue cutscene.
• Replaces the static crosshair with a dynamic one that expands or shrinks depending on whether the player is firing or aiming.
• Main menu and settings menu are now implemented, allowing navigation between scenes adjustment for audio, graphics and aim speed.
• Implements a versatile dialogue system using inkle's narrative scripting language, Ink. The system can handle basic dialogue flows, branching flows, choices, metadata tags and external function calls.
• Replaces the tutorial text with an interactable book that triggers a dialogue when interacted with.

Improvements and optimization:

• Each enemies now has a unique attack pattern.
• Enemies can now drop multiple types of loot based on their chances in the loot table.
• Reworked the attack pattern of 2 existing melee enemies: Pawn Gear and Suppression Gear.
• Improved the enemy spawner logic of calculating spawn positions and spawn rates.
• The game over screen now displays different messages depending on the current state of the time portal.
• Overhauled the ammunition count HUD by adding animations for each actions, such as reloading, chambering, firing and pushing up.
• Dropped items will now disappear after a certain period if not picked up, preventing them from scattering all over the ground.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed an issue where melee enemies are still moving when time stops right after they initiate charge attacks.
• Fixed an issue where the health bar animations behave abnormally when updating health, leading to glitchy visuals.
• Fixed an issue where enemies' health bars rotate out of position as they change direction while flying.

@constance012

v1.0

Jam Version 1.0 - 17/08/2024

• Base game implemented.
• Originally submitted to LOWREZJAM 2024 on 15/08/2024.

@constance012