Hello everyone! I have updated the game with most of the changes I discussed in the last post. I have labelled this update with 'rework' because the game has been largely changed. I've worked hard to improve the game so I hope you enjoy it! As always, if you have any feedback about the update, I would love to hear it!

If you would like to see the changes, you can view them here: ​
​- Changes

Please consider getting Squillamorph on Steam and leaving a review. It is still early in development but the more feedback I get now, the more enjoyable the final game will be!

Join the official Squillamorph Discord server here: 
- Discord Server
​
​Follow Squillamorph on:
- Twitter
- Instagram
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Hello everyone, I hope you are all coping well in the current global situation. It has been a while, and I apologise for the lack of communication and updates from me about the game.
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Since the last post, I have gone through some personal and professional changes. This lead to me having a good think about Squillamorph's future. So I have made some changes to the game at its core, to both improve it and so I can enjoy developing it more.

I feel I should reaffirm that the game is in Early Access, so big changes like this can happen as the game is improved. Nevertheless, it also means that you have a say in it; if you do not like the changes I am making, please let me know! Your feedback does affect how I develop the game.

I will be making a video soon to show the game in its new state. Stay tuned.

For some time, I have been aware that Squillamorph's gameplay is somewhat of a grind. The loop of fighting enemies to get points to open doors to fight more enemies has proved less enjoyable than I initially thought it would. I experimented with different solutions to remedy this. The solution I came to is quite drastic but should make the game much more enjoyable. It is also important to note that I recently decided I would like the game to tell more of a story than originally planned. If you've been following this blog for some time, you may remember me discussing how often I have had to reduce the game's scope. Well, for the first time in its development, I am increasing the scope of the game. This might seem like a bad idea, but I enjoy working on a larger project more and the game will be better for it.

I'd like to make it clear that despite the changes I am making, I am going to make a second game mode with wave-based survival gameplay similar to the current Early Access gameplay. However, it will not be exactly the same as it was due to some of the new changes.
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World Design
I have majorly increased the planned size of the game world. To give you an idea of how much this has increased, the number of levels in first area of the game has more than tripled. Admittedly, some of the levels are smaller than before but there will be more for players to do. Another big change is to level progression. The game no longer has a linear path, and levels will be interconnected. However, player respawn points will no longer feature in every level. Instead, they will be sparingly placed throughout the game world and might also function as a fast travel network.
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Player Character
I am making some big changes to the player character. I have decided to replace the 'one hit kill' mechanic. Partly because there will no longer be a re-spawn point in every level. I have replaced it with regenerate-able health, which will make the new gameplay a bit more interesting. Moving around is also changing. I have made movement, when not infesting an enemy, much more responsive. Not only does this allow for more precise movement, but it also makes the game's infamous wall jump ability a lot easier to use. The dash mechanic has changed too. It no longer has a cooldown but can only be used once after leaving a surface, similar to the way double jump mechanics work. To accommodate for a change to the camera, explained further in the post, the dash is slightly shorter now. The player character also now has a tongue. More on that in the next section.

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Essence (Dark Goop)
This is not a change as much as it is an addition to the player mechanics. It is a feature that is very early in development and is likely to change. In the first prototype of the game, the infest mechanic would only work if the player had enough energy, gained by eating failed versions of their character. I decided that a more refined version of this could perhaps be used to add an interesting dynamic. Enter the new 'essence' mechanic. The player must collect essence, which looks like a dark goop, to infest an enemy or heal themselves. The goop will be dispensed by essence storage tanks, which every enemy has. How do they dispense it I hear you ask? The player must use a tongue of sorts to trigger the dispensing. It sounds strange but this is essentially an attack, only it doesn't do any damage to enemies.

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Mutagens/Upgrades
I am planning to change the mutagen abilities system. I am still in an early phase of deciding what to do with the system, so no matter how it changes it will be disabled in the next update. However, certain mutagens have been repurposed as abilities that are permanently applied and cannot be unequipped. Abilities will be acquired in a different way to mutagens. At least one of these abilities will be in the next update.  I'd also like to note that the reward room after each boss, which previously gave the player a mutagen, will not exclusively feature mutagens from now on.

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Control Scheme
I am now making controllers the recommended input device to use for playing the game. This is mostly because I have been asked more often than not about controller support. With this in mind, I am simplifying the control scheme. The dash and enemy abilities are now eight directional. Both controller and keyboard default bindings have also changed. Part of this change is that the mouse is no longer required to play the game. I hope that these changes will make the game more accessible.

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Story
In its very early days, the story of Squillamorph was going to be prevalent throughout the game. Then, after the many re-scopes it had to go through, the story was going to be more vague and optional. I have now decided to make the story a much larger part of the game again. It may even become the motivator that I use to drive players to complete it. I am still working on ways to make the story more evident, but dialogue with NPCs may be a part of it.

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More Enemies
The heading pretty much explains itself. There will be more enemies in the game now and each region will feature more varied enemy types. I would also like them to have more behaviours than just 'attack the player', so I am going to experiment with giving them 'tasks' to perform before the player approaches them to enrich the game world. Enemies will also now damage the player on contact, but I might disable this on bosses due to their unavoidable size. New enemies will take time to add so don't expect too many in the next game update.

Art Style
After re-watching the Early Access trailer I made for the game, I realised how small everything was on the screen. This has been pointed out to me at events, but I had become blind to it after working on it so much. So, I have now remedied this with a big art style change. I have doubled the size of the pixel art assets making it a two to one scale. Personally, I find this scale works much better. Nevertheless, it is a drastic change and I might revert it if players do not like it.
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Leaderboard
I expect this change to disappoint some of you. I am removing the current score system from the game. It never really made sense, and it is not required in the new game design. That leaves 'time to completion' as the main quantifiable score. This means that there will no longer be an entry added to the local leaderboard every time you run out of lives. For Early Access, an entry will be added when you reach the end of the available game content. The game version number will be added to each entry so that I don't need to wipe the board with each update. This gears the leaderboard towards speed-running, which I encourage but it is not a core aspect of the game. As such, I now intend to create a separate screen in the main menu to view the leaderboard from. Lastly, if you want a record of your high scores in the current Early Access version, I would take a screenshot or two before the next update arrives because the leaderboard will be wiped.

It is also worth noting that I've improved the main menu and have got multiple save slots setup and working.

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Wave Based Gameplay Mode
While the best parts of the gameplay in the current Early Access version will still be used in the new game design, I understand that some of you might want the 'fight endless waves of enemies' style gameplay to remain. For that purpose, I am creating a seperate gamemode. It will not be as expansive as the game was previously, having perhaps only one level for each area. Each level will be unique and will not be seen in the main part of the game. In short, it will be a challenging horde mode where you attempt to survive for as long as you can with little to no focus on story.

The new mode will have a separate leaderboard but this might not be ready for the next game update.
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If you like the new changes, or if they disappoint you, please let me know! I will take all constructive criticism into account when developing the game.

I am aware that this drastic change in direction might seem unwise. However, I am much more excited about working on this new version of the game, which has already led to me getting more done in a shorter space of time. I believe that this change will be a big improvement in the long run.

Well, I hope you are excited about the new direction of the game. I know I am! There is no ETA for the next game update, which will bring these changes, but I will do my best to get it out as soon as I can. The first area of the game, the Iteration Labs, is almost updated gameplay wise. I will keep you all updated with more frequent posts.
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Thank you for reading!

Please consider getting Squillamorph on Steam and leaving a review. It is still early in development but the more feedback I get now, the more enjoyable the final game will be!

Join the official Squillamorph Discord server here: 
- Discord Server
​
​Follow Squillamorph on:
- Twitter
- Instagram
- Facebook
​

Hello everyone, this post will be a bit different. Its time to talk about something that I've put off for a while.
​Side note: I was ill last week so I have no visual progress to show, apologies.

I have been contemplating the state of Squillamorph for some time. To be honest, the game has not done well. I am not surprised by its performance as it is an Early Access game and the first PC game I have published. It has no shortage of problems and if I was to make the game again from scratch, I would do it very differently.

Something else I would like to clarify, as many people are apparently unaware of this, is that I am the only person working on the game. In short, things have to change.

I will no longer be working on the game full time, and I am going to start working on more games. These games will have a much smaller scope than Squillamorph and I will not be writing a development log for them. However, I will be live-streaming the development of these games. If you're interested in this, I'll be starting them this week on twitch.tv/lordmatter. In addition to the games, I am going to start pushing my art. I recently took part in the Rain World art month, which made me finally feel like my art has reached a decent point. So I am considering doing commissions soon, but how soon will depend on a few factors.

Lastly, I am no longer going to be posting weekly on here. I will now only post when I feel like I have made enough progress to make a decent post.

Obviously, these changes mean Squillamorph's final launch will be delayed. I don't know by how much, but it will definitely not be finished until at least 2021. If you want me to continue working on the game as much I have been until now, then please consider buying the game on steam and tell your friends about it. I really appreciate the support!

I apologise for the lack of any progress and I understand that these changes might disappoint you. Unfortunately, this is the reality of things and I felt I had to discuss it.

Please consider getting Squillamorph on Steam and leaving a review. It is still early in development but the more feedback I get now, the more enjoyable the final game will be!

Join the official Squillamorph Discord server here: 
- Discord Server
​
​Follow Squillamorph on:
- Twitter
- Instagram
- Facebook
​
​ Thanks for reading!