congusbongusgamesAdded the option to continue in #OpenCrystalCaves. Now that most of the levels are playable and it takes about an hour to finish each episode, this feature will come in real handy!
#OpenCrystalCaves now tracks your progress across levels, saving to disk using good ol' .ini files!
Oh and level 12 is complete. No sweat!
This dev update for #OpenCrystalCaves is mostly backend for a change - working on persisting player state, including health, ammo and levels completed, which carry over between levels. For the first time this game is starting to feel like a game and less like an engine tech demo!
Another level done for #OpenCrystalCaves! Level 11 is relatively simple, claustrophobic and requires lots of backtracking in order to unlock the exit. The variety of challenge keeps a somewhat bland level interesting though, including a destructible-block section that you need to backtrack through so if you hit too many of the wrong blocks, you’d get yourself stuck. Keep your wits sharp to make it through!
#CrystalCaves #OpenSource #ScreenshotSaturday #DOS #RetroGames #GameDev
Just like that, level 10 for #OpenCrystalCaves is complete. It's not as impressive, lacking the distinct set pieces or theming of earlier levels, but it does have a cool double-moving-lasers and moving platforms section that makes you feel like a super agent
So I worked on more QoL features, like making lasers flicker so they’re easy to see. EGA games look vivid but when the background is also vivid, you can’t see the important stuff.
Another enemy and level done for #OpenCrystalCaves! The eye monster is the most complex enemy in the game, featuring three body parts that must be destroyed separately, and the monster can shoot eyeballs and is invulnerable while its eyes are closed too!
Many enemy behaviours are shared so after some refactoring the enemies can be implemented by sharing code. The game is coming together at a quicker pace
Extra dev time from nursing a cold so finished level 8 of #OpenCrystalCaves, including a cheeky robot enemy that zaps you!
All the levels in #CrystalCaves are memorable, and while level 8 doesn’t have huge set pieces, it has some one-way passages (via blocks that you can only jump up through), so it’s the first time players get stuck and need to restart. This plus a few sneaky surprises means the game gets serious now!
Implemented the bird enemy in #OpenCrystalCaves
This is no simple enemy - it drops eggs on you, which normally break open and leave a hazard on the ground, but 10% of the time it hatches into a little bird! So the effort was 4x normal (bird+egg+spill+birdlet).
That 10% chance is a doozy - most players won’t expect it because the first few times they come across the bird it will never happen. This game loves surprises!
#GameDev #OpenSource #CrystalCaves #RetroGames #DOS #ScreenshotSaturday
It's a new release of #OpenCrystalCaves, and levels 5, 6, 7 are now complete!
https://congusbongus.itch.io/opencrystalcaves/devlog/1114309/level-5-6-7
There's also a bunch of features and game mechanics added, like Milo exploding after shooting the air tank.
This feels like an important milestone as we have just under 50% of the first episode playable, so the game feels half-complete now. Based on experience this means we're about... 20% done haha
#GameDev #ScreenshotSaturday #OpenSource #CrystalCaves #DOS #RetroGames
Completed level 7 in #OpenCrystalCaves, which looks like an overgrown jungle full of vines and moss and hazards like spikes (same colour as the moss), an inert rock which looks exactly like a rock monster seen earlier, and for the first time, a wall monster that pops out when close! Very sneaky, game!
The best part is the many chests that open with a satisfying sound (I think it sounds like “buuurger”). Mmm I’m hungry
#DOS #OpenSource #CrystalCaves #RetroGames #GameDev #ScreenshotSaturday
