So what's new?

Much love and thanks to everyone who has supported this projects development! If you're new around here, welcome! Any time you've taken to play my games is greatly appreciated! It's been 3 months since The Hex Perplex began development, so what's new with our little purple wizard and their world of magic spells? Here I'll go over every single change that has been made. This includes major gameplay changes, technical changes, art, and sound.

1. Major Gameplay Changes

• Movement & Jumping
  • The player's movement in the prototype build was incredibly stiff, and for a few good reasons. In this final version I did my best to polish movement so that it feels comfortable and the controls feel responsive:
    • Movement speed has been changed to match the player's walking/running animations. 
    • If using a gamepad, it's possible to tiptoe by lightly tapping the left stick. 
    • Jump height can now be chosen based on hold time. The longer the jump button is held, the higher the jump. Quickly tapping the button will trigger a short hop.
• Spell books & Spells
  • In the prototype build, the player had the ability to carry and use all 3 different spells at once. While this gave a lot of options for gameplay, we felt it made the game too easy. In addition, the spells were too strong. So our solution became spell books:
    • When a level begins, the player starts out with no spells to use
    • The player must come in contact with a spell book. When they do, they will be allowed a one-time use of the corresponding spell
    • While holding onto a spell book, the player cannot grab a spell book of the same color until they have used the spell
    • The player can only hold onto one spell book at a time
• Pyro Shot, the Red Spell
  • Formerly known as "Fireball Shot", the player's red spell still acts as a projectile that is launched forward. There were a few changes made in order to improve gameplay:
    • The art has been updated to increase the size of the spell, and the hitbox radius was increased to match it
    • Casting Pyro Shot while midair will suspend the player in the air until the casting animation is finished. When the player launches the spell, they will then enter free fall.
    • Pyro Shot no longer collides with walls like its predecessor. It will keep traveling until its lifespan depletes
• Glacial Wave, the Blue Spell
  • Formerly known as "Icicle Jump", the player's blue spell received a major overhaul, and functions nothing like its predecessor. "Icicle Jump" acted as a hybrid between a smaller second jump, and a downwards attack. Glacial Wave is the opposite, as it is a spell that acts as a melee attack in the shape of a large wave; hence the name. Here are the changes:
    • Glacial Wave can only be casted while the player is grounded and when there is sufficient, unoccupied ground space in front of them.
    • Casting Glacial Wave will suspend the player's movement until the casting animation is finished. 
    • Glacial Wave no longer collides with walls like its predecessor did.
    • Updated art and hitbox to match it.
• Pulse Dash, the Yellow Spell
  • Formerly known as "Lightning Dash", the player's yellow spell received a moderate amount of changes, and acts similar to its predecessor, but with an added feature: upward dashing.
    • Originally, "Lightning Dash" could only shoot the player in two directions; left or right. With the Pulse Dash, the player can now dash upwards if they hold [W] or Up on the Left Stick while casting.
    • When dashing forward, the Pulse Dash launches lightning above and below the spot where the player casted it. When dashing upward, the lightning is sent to the left and right of the casting spot. 
    • "Lightning Dash" covered the player in lightning as they moved, and so it acted as a barrier. This is not the case with the Pulse Dash. The player will be vulnerable to enemies during their dash.
    • Updated art and hitbox to match it.
• Hex Paths & Hex Orbs
  • Not many changes were made to the game's main mechanic. Hex Orbs were originally called "Path Switches", but we decided to streamline the names. 
    • Updated art
    • Size increased to Hex Paths
    • Size decreased to Hex Orbs
• Enemies
  • Enemies received a few tweaks to pose a bigger threat to the player:
    • Stationary Enemy 
      • Size increased
      • Locks onto the player if they are in range, bullets will shoot in the direction of the player now.
      • Shoots 3 bullets at a time instead of 1
    • Patrol Enemy
      • Size increased
      • Walks at half speed normally. When the player is on the same ground, its speed doubles
    • Flying Enemy
      • Size increased
      • Range is halved normally. When the player enters within this range, it doubles.
      • Locks onto the player if they are in range, bullets will shoot in the direction of the player now.
• Gravity Statues
  • The new mechanic of the final version! This was absent in the original game (but not its artwork). The art was originally used for the prototype's checkpoint system. In the new version checkpoints became obsolete, but I didn't want the art to go to waste. So it was repurposed for Gravity Statues. The mechanic is pretty straightforward:
    • Statues radiating GREEN will flip the player's gravity to -1 if they aren't already on -1 gravity.
    • Statues radiating ORANGE will flip the player's gravity to 1 if they aren't already on 1 gravity.
• Music & SFX
  • Finally! There is sound! If any players of the original prototype ever read this, we sincerely apologize for the lack of absolutely no sound. This time around, stage music has been added as well as sound effects for every kind of game object:
    • 4 different songs
    • 13 different sound effects