Devlog #18 | Hubworld / Progression System

Welcome everyone,
we are working on a fast paced 2D roguelike. You play as a samurai fighting robots in a futuristic arena.

The last month was crazy. Ive finally done so many things that I wanted to do for so long but couldn't. Those things just have to wait for later. Now it feels like the game is so close to being finished, but there is still so much to do.

The game was always overwhelming to new players.

There was only one difficulty that you get thrown in right at the start. You have around 15 abilities and as a new player you wont know about many. But the difficulty is for you utilizing all of them. Therefore new players never stood a chance and obviously were overwhelmed. This Update I worked on a saving system which allows me to track your progress in many ways.

So now you start with the ability to walk and a 2 hit swing combo. Thats it. Left joystick and X button is all you have. The game no longer starts with the run. Instead you have challenges which ramp up in difficulty. So you don't need more abilities than the ones you have at the time, but steadily unlock new ones. Essentially that's a hidden tutorial. Abilities that are unlocked are explained with a little video and the Input. Real fast real simple and straightforward. Once you unlock 4 new abilites you can jump over the gap that was keeping you apart from the run and more challenges. In those challenges you can get 1 more ability.

The run is the main mode but

the challenges also exist. They are fun and short levels that give you some reward. So if you ever struggle with the main mode, you can just do a challenge. Or if you just want a quick round for a minute. In the future I will add many more challenges and more rewards for them. Currently the game only has six items that are the leftovers from my first attempt at items. The code works and can be used but most of the items were bad and got therefore removed. Now I have a clearer view on them and they will be created in the next update!

The hubworld is huge

Well size wise not yet, BUT it is easily expandable! But the point is, the hubworld has so much to offer! More challenges will come with more platforming elements in them in the future. You can buy items in the hubworld which are added to your item pool. Those show up in the shop during your run so you can buy them. If you don't like an item you can just remove it from your pool or bring it back into the pool. The hubworld also lets you see how often you killed which enemy. Maybe in the future I will add more stats that people are interested in. For now Im really happy with the hubworld and the saving system that I worked on in the last month. Now the game is approachable for new players, so lets create some dope items for them next!

Thank you for reading all of this. If you have any thoughts to share please let me know!
Also the new version is out! Please play it if you feel so inclined <3