Disclaimer - These devlogs are one part of a University assignment that Styx is being developed for, so any stilted wording or weird inclusions can be traced back to that fact.

STYX Devlog #5

For a quick recap of what the game is about, see Devlog #1 here.

What's new for STYX?

It's been a while since the last devlog - as I mentioned in the last one, our other assignments took a more immediate priority, but there's been a few exciting developments in the meantime.  I've been working on fleshing out the rudimentary mechanics we have in the game, and am pleased to report that the code isn't broken; there's even some functional upgrades available for the player!

The rest of the team were focused on their other assignments, but  the art team managed to create some great-looking concept art for our 'fodder' enemies and everyone's favourite blacksmith, Hephaestus.  With our assignments out of the way, I look forward to more regular updates!

Progress

• Created some iterative drawings for the "arrows" that move players around the Grapevine
• Settled on a final design for said "arrows"
• Added Hephaestus to the Grapevine
• Added the ability to visit & leave the grapevine "after a level"
• Got the Gossip system working - it's not randomised, but it works!
• Got the 'click hidden item - unlock hidden ability' system working
• Added a speed upgrade button in Dionysus' upgrade menu
• Finalised an idea for the 'kidnapper' enemies - they're now 'flavoured' as sculptors!

Thoughts

Sprint 3 wasn't a massively productive one for reasons I pointed out above, but there's still been some meaningful progress made; lowering the number of tasks each team member had to complete has had a tangible impact, so I hope to continue the trend as we go into sprint 4.

I'd also like to see more combat mechanics functional; while our cannons are working nicely, nothing quite compares to using an oar to clobber your enemies. When they're ready, that'll be the time to merge scenes.

As we come to the end of the year, I don't expect anyone's holidays to be consumed by sprint tasks and university work, so am continuing the trend of 'critical tasks only'; at this stage, that's mostly programming the combat, so I hope to have exciting things to show in the next devlog. 

Going Forward

Just like the last devlog, we're in a position where there's urgent tasks to be completed, and not a lot of time to get them done - still, I have full faith in the team and look forward to ending 2022 on a positive note!

This week's urgent aspects include:

• Creating placeholder animations for enemies
• Creating an Enemy AI prototype
• Finishing the melee combat prototype
• Getting the Cerberus ability working

Thank you for reading devlog #5!