Devlog #7

Art Team:

The TA’s advised that we revisit our idea and settle on a specific style and world we can all agree on. This allowed our modelling style to be made consistently. Each person naturally assigned themselves even more specific roles such as world creator, texture shader, modeller, and animator. 

Music Team:

At this point most of the ambience looping tracks are made out. A bird ambience looping track is selected to be the base, on which another ambience looping track would layer above the bird ambience in order to create a fuller and more abundant background-environment imagery. At the same time, the stylistic unification is guaranteed between the peaceful looping music track and the intense looping music track as the former one is newly composed. This is to make sure a more natural transition between the two to be made when music switches according to the tension of the game.

CS Team:

As we prepared for the first set of playtest sessions, we focused on integrating feedback received from the alpha test. The feedback highlighted significant gaps in the core gameplay loop, particularly in the movement system, prompting major refinements.

One of the most notable changes was the removal of the hover mechanic, as it disrupted the intended flow of movement and reduced the challenge. The dash mechanic was reworked to be more impactful, featuring increased velocity, extended travel distance, and a higher number of available dashes to enhance mobility and player agency.

Meanwhile, we enhanced the UI to deliver clearer and more polished visual feedback. We introduced a main menu screen, a dedicated interface for in-game collectibles and for a timer that resets the stage upon reaching zero.

Collecting an collectable or successfully cutting an NPC kite now triggered distinct visual indicators, improving clarity and player engagement. Additional enhancements included the implementation of trail effects to reinforce motion and the introduction of a timer system to establish a proper fail state, ensuring structured gameplay objectives.

There were also plans for a third revision of the AI. In this iteration, NPC kites would have a configurable percentage chance to dodge the player's attacks, while the rest of the algorithms would build upon revision 2, now operating under a heuristic function. However, we quickly discovered that the dodging mechanic introduced unnecessary complexity and led to a frustrating player experience, as players found it discouraging when their carefully aimed attacks were repeatedly evaded by NPCs.

Week Six