I had an interesting moment with a grackle the other day. Copy-paste time!
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Male grackles are a bit heavier than I imagined. So this evening at work, I found a grackle laying down on his side next to the building. When I approached, it didn't move so that was sad. It didn't really look dead, though I glanced around to see wtf may have happened to the bird and why it would just die right there. A few small feathers were scattered about, it wasn't another animal, and grackles don't kill each other in fights usually. Besides it's not the season where the males claim territory.
Then I looked at a nearby window and realized what happened. It left a spot of feathers where it made impact. So I thought, well I can't leave the bird here, I'm sure the store doesn't want this laying about. My thought was to put in on something to bring it over to the bushes and let nature do the rest. So I kneel down and pick him up to transfer him to this thingiemabob I have. It was mid-transfer that I realized something I hadn't seen earlier. The bird's chest was moving! Okay so the bird just knocked the wind out of himself. I figured he had broken his neck. It was at this moment of realization that he suddenly lifted his head. I about flipped out. Luckily I didn't do one of those flailing freak outs as the bird was still being held. In my mind I'm thinking 'holyfuckingshitthisbirdisstillalive'! He looks into my eyes, and I'm sure he flipped out just as much when his daze wore off. He does this crazy acrobatic roll and fly combo and he's off toward the sound of the flock.
So that was fun.
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That same day, here's what the sky looked like around 6:30pm-7:00pm.
She hasn't come by in awhile. She flew down on a rock close by and stopped to look at me, then hopped off.
DT3 Stuff
These Dragon Knight guys are finally almost finished. If you followed the blog waaaaaaaaaaaay back when I was still finishing Gate 2, you may remember a screenshot with them. Their AI is finally being finished now, though Chapter 9 is where they debut. They're on the same difficulty as the Tyrants and like them, have a few reactive behaviors. I personally find them easier to handle than the Tyrants, and though they're not done yet, I don't think I'll find the finished version any different. They have a few more behaviors that need to be finished and a lot of tweaking. Other than a dungeon all about puzzle solving, this guy is the only rough part of Chapter 9. The end of Chapter 8 and most of Chapter 10 are fairly intense, so I wanted a calmer moment between them.
I'd like to keep trial and error out of any puzzle solving in DT. Most of it will use observation on the player's part to figure things out. I've gotten feedback on the dungeon from 3 testers and all went well. 1 had some trouble with one room, but he had skipped a step earlier in the dungeon that displays how certain objects react, so that prompted a tweak so said part couldn't be skipped in the way he managed. Another had trouble with a room in a different way, which prompted me to add a nudge to the player about not fearing a certain mechanic. My roommate, Jerry doesn't do regular testing for DT, but he does know how to play it. There are times that I'll have him play a section after the testers run through it and I'll watch how he plays. These puzzles will definitely be one of those places.
Next time, gonna talk about games... again.
6 comments:
Nice to hear that ch 9 is finished.
Chapter 10 is longer than chapter 4? I guess it is another Gate then.
Chapter 10 is a special instance that breaks the normal flow of
Overworld -> Gate, repeat. Something else comes up in the story has sidetracks the protagonists attention.
Without spoiling who and what, it's when the antagonist (other than the virus) shows up.
How long will it be if I may ask= You wrote that it would be the Black Rock of this game and thus I wonder if it is as long as that one. If you would have to compare it to another DT 1 - 3 stage lengthwise, which one would actually come closest?
Black Rock was 14 maps if you don't include the 2 boss rooms and room before the end boss, and that took roughly an hour to get through.
I'd say this level is about that length. There's a lot of scripted sequences. The first part is running away from a bigger than the screen 'thing'. It'll try getting you in different ways and it's the player's job to get past those. Past that, it's tutorial mode with a new ability gained, so easy levels for a moment. Which also serves as story time so the player can focus off of the level a bit as they play. From there, it's into spoiler town so I won't say anything else.
Hmm, well one thing can be said for certain. It cannot be that Vault that is named several times during the demo of DT 3. I am pretty sure that it will be the final stage of the game and thus probably chapter 21. Whatever it is, it sounds awesome.
I predict this new ability gained being the air dash.
The first part of Ch 10 sounds both intense and creepy. I guess that thing that is hunting you will chase the player through more than one room and each room it will completely change its tactics so that the player finds himself in a new situation that requires a new strategy.
Will this chapter have several bosses such as The Black Rock (well to be more precise 2 bosses, a mid and an end boss)?
Also as someone who likes less vanilla and more gimmicky levels I hope for some sort of gimmick during that second part other than pure platforming by airdashing (if that's the ability you talked about).
I would be thanksfull for an answer. :)
Maybe you can also discuss these things in a new blog entry and make us impatient players even more excited for your game by going a bit more into detail without touching any story related spoilers. :)Maybe even a screenshot (wihout telling us the name of this location)? I got excited. :D
Very thouughtful blog
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