September Update
Originally published September 1st, 2018
August has come and gone.
Welcome to War Ender's first monthly dev blog! I plan to treat these similarly to the Beta Reports from before. I'll talk about already released updates and then move on to discuss what's coming in the future, whether it be for War Ender or something else entirely. So without further ado, let's get started! Beginning with War Ender's patch notes, we have...
Removed a rocket turret from level 1-2.
Changed the color of the rubber bullets in the Tutorial
Fixed a bug where the player could hide behind the laser wall in Wall of Lasers.
Fixed a bug where the "fade sprites" could appear after death.
Fixed some resolution issues
Fixed camera bugs involving RAWM.
Took care of some game breaking bugs that would appear in RAWM level.
Found and fixed a save game issue that was present in chapter 2.
Fixed tiling issues seen in all levels that took place in Cycorp.
Adjusted a moving platform in 3-1.
Adjusted position of first checkpoint in 3-1.
Fixed bug where dodging could still get you hurt.
Repositioned some enemies in 3-2.
Fixed bug where player would not die after camera moves past them in 3-3.
Made some edits to third part of 3-3.
Fixed a bug with Cyborg Soldier and his laser attack.
On top of that, the following has been added to War Ender as well as on the Steam version of the game.
Wall of Lasers now makes it more obvious that the laser cores are to be shot.
Game demo is now available for download on Steam.
Never tell me I don't keep busy. And there's still more to come! Now we come to the part where I talk about War Ender's future. Now you may be wondering "hey, this is a simple indie platformer. What more could you do with it?" Oh, let me tell you! I'm looking to add new levels and modes to War Ender post-release. How many of each is something I've not settled on yet, but there are plans. Right now, it's almost certain that you'll get a few more additional levels for War Ender. You see, I have a decent number of levels that were scrapped at the end. Some of them were bonus levels before the revamp I gave those, others were something else entirely.
I figure why not release them as additional content? And what's more, I'm just going to give you these levels for free! You read that right. All owners of War Ender will have access to these extra levels from the moment they are released. Now, when is that release coming? ...I don't know. But I do plan to begin working on these levels and getting them into the game this month. And they're not the only thing I have in store for you...
I also mentioned new modes. There's a few ideas I have in mind, but for right now I'm looking into implementing a "single life challenge" into War Ender. Basically, you'll play through the whole game with only a single life to get through it all. This is not including the bonus levels or any extra levels the game will receive. Sounds incredibly tough but I promise it's doable. It's not much, but I believe it will give diehard fans a reason to continue playing and mastering the game. And of course if you don't want to bother with it, that's totally okay too. It can exist as an option for players.
A release date for such a game mode is even more unpredictable than the extra levels. It could take some time. So I won't give any estimates for it for the time being. But it's something to look forward to in the meantime. As mentioned before, there are other game mode ideas too but I'll talk about those if I do decide to create them. There's quite a bit of potential that exists for War Ender in the future, and I look forward to showing off more as that future unfolds.
Beyond War Ender, I'm currently working on two new games. Well, sort of. Only one of them has entered active development. Hopefully I can start teasing it more later this month. The other project is still in its research phase. I'm currently going over a lot of material to learn the ins and outs of the games I'm drawing inspiration from with this next major project. And even after I start working on it more, it could be a while before I begin to show anything off.
Hopefully by the next dev blog I'll be able to show off more of my smaller project currently in the works. Right now, most of the mechanics are in. I'm primarily working on creating the branching storylines. Oh yes, this game will have dialogue options and multiple endings and that sort of thing. It's one of the more story driven games I've ever made, which is unusual for me. Usually my games are more mechanically focused. But you know what they say...there's a first time for everything.
So with all that said, I hope you continue to enjoy War Ender! See you in October!
-Lance T.
War Ender store links:
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/884070/War_Ender/
Itch.io: https://prof-smash.itch.io/war-ender
GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/war-ender/355809