Devlog #5 Upgrades, Bugs, and Bigger Bugs

Hey! Welcome back to another Devlog.
We've finally updated the game! If you havent already played it I encourage you to check it out. 

Just like last time it is playable in the browser and with a controller. Sure it's still in early development and not all of the artwork is final or even finished but we've added a lot of cool stuff this time and we're pretty excited to show it off.

WHAT'S NEW?

We've added some new features for the player and the bugs. I'll list them here.

For the Player we've added an upgrade system. After a few kills you will have access to a few random upgrades for your character. Some are temporary and some last the entire stage. 

These include;
Armor Upgrades that lower incoming damage.
Bullet upgrades that increase the power of your gun.
Shoe upgrades that make you faster or drop special effects that damage or stun the Bugs if they walk over them.

All of these upgrades have enhanced versions that last a temporary amount of time.  The upgrades might also have random attributes attached to them that add additional status effects like burning or frozen.

Try them out and see the different abilities in action.
We've also added a few grenades for the player to use and while it's currently not possible to replenish them we will be adding ways to get more grenades eventually. As of right now you will start with 2 grenades.

For the Bugs, we've given them a graphical overhaul and some animations. There are also Bug Spawners that create new bugs which can quickly overwhelm you unless you take them out. Speaking of which, when the you do kill all of the Bugs and their Spawners a Boss will enter the stage. The Boss is in very early development but she provides a glimpse at the boss battle system we are working on. Defeat the Boss and win the game.

This update represents the core gameplay we've envisioned for this game from the beginning. It's not completely where we want it and it has a lot of work to be done but we are very excited to show this stage of development. We've also done some graphical updates on the map and the title screen. (Goodbye orkin Google image..) but some of these things will be periodically updated in the future in small changelogs and file edits.
There's plenty of work to be done and we are about to get back to it. Speaking of which...

SO WHAT'S NEXT?

We're going to be working on some extra functionality for the player. It's time to add a run feature and a dodge action. We also have a vision for melee which you've likely seen in the title screen if you've already checked it out. A pocket chainsaw that can be deployed at a moments notice. All of these actions will allow the player to get out of tricky situations and that means we can up the threat levels and add more aggressive options for the bugs including ranged attacks.

We've also been talking about implementing a twin stick control and that will take some testing to make sure it feels right and looks right. We also have several things to polish before we can consider moving the game into some kind of Alpha stage. We've been gathering feedback and suggestions from each update and as you can see we have a long list of things that we must work on and that is exciting, however I prefer to focus on specific goals and then move on from there.

Which means we will be working as we have in the past. Picking things that interest us about the project and working on that until we are satisfied enough to show it off. In other words we will be doing more incremental updates as we check things off the list. 

Anyway. That's all for now, be sure to follow our itch page for more updates and check out the game!