Welcome back to the Wizard Fella newsletter! This is the fifth(5)(V) issue

There's a bunch of new stuff so here we go

BIG DREAMS : PART 2

Last month I finished the graybox of this level and this month it is fully ready!

Screenshot 1 of Big Dreams Part 2. A high angle with a big tree overlooking the level.

Screenshot 1 of Big Dreams Part 2

Screenshot 2 of Big Dreams Part 2. Flute is in focus, jumping through some Rope Rings to reach the tree.

Screenshot 2 of Big Dreams Part 2

Screenshot 3 of Big Dreams Part 2. Flute is in a blue rectangular gravity zone, jumping across some marble blocks.

Screenshot 3 of Big Dreams Part 2

The biggest modification from the graybox (besides assets) was that I included some signs that explain the new props that you encounter. Overall I'm really proud of how this level turned out both visually and gameplay wise.

I have also begun work on Part 3, however I've decided to not reveal much about it since it's something thats probably better experienced blindly :)

Teaser of part 3 of Big Dreams. It shows Flute falling from the sky and that they have lost their Star Wand.

Teaser of Big Dreams Part 3

GRABBABLES

Grabbables are a new type of object that you can... grab.

A gif of a grabbable in action. Flute picks up a gray ball and then throws it.

Grabbables in action

You can also throw them by pressing E, or hold it to throw them further!
A little cool technical thing is that I can modify the arm distance for each grabbable, so that arms adjust for bigger/smaller objects.

A gif that shows how arms adjust to different sizes of grabbabables.

Arms adjusting to grabbables

BUTTONS

Buttons are a new prop that could be used for puzzles and stuff.

A gif of buttons in action. It shows two buttons which are connected. The left one opens the door on the left, but the right door opens only when the two buttons are pressed together.

Buttons in action

As seen above, they can be grouped together to create a circuit.
I can also set them to accept only the player or only grabbables or both.
They also can be configured into a switch or a timer.

A gif that shows the switch and timer buttons. Stepping on the switch turns the light on or off. Stepping on the timer start a 3 second countdown.

Switch and Timer buttons

Since buttons work using Godot's signal system I can pretty much connect them to anything so I'm already thinking of some interesting puzzle ideas.

HEALTH STUFF

This is something that I've ignored for a while but there's finally UI to display your health.

A gif that shows the new Heart UI. When the player takes damage, pieces of the heart fly off.

The Heart

I've also added a heal item in the form a nice red apple.

A gif that shows the heal apple. Going up to it the player eats it and the missing heart pieces come back.

The Apple

I'm still not sure if apples will stay as the general heal item but it's fine for now.

MINOR CHANGES

Focus Points

Focus points have been modified to have priority so that I can pick where the player should look.
Focus points with bigger priority will be activated even if a smaller priority is closer to the player.
I'll be using this so that NPC's have bigger priority than something like Grabbables.

A gif that shows focus points showcased with my HOG npcs. The yellow hog has the most priority so even though you're close to the normal hog, the player is looking at the yellow hog.

Focus points showcased by the hogs

Star Checkpoints

Up until now there was no real checkpoints in the game. It just saved your position every 10 seconds. While I did like the auto save it often led to issues and I feel like players were just unsure where they would respawn.
I added Star Checkpoints which light up once they are active and save your position.

A gif that shows how the star checkpoints work.

Star Checkpoints showcase

Slipping

This month I introduced slipping. The player will slip if the floor below is above 45 degrees. If you're idle this will mean you will just start sliding down but if you're running your speed will keep getting slower and slower until you eventually enter a Slide.

A gif that shows the slipping mechanic.

Slipping

This month I finally worked on some things that I've had on the todo list for a while so I'm pretty happy

For this next month the priority is to keep working on Part 3 but maybe I could also start working on the next island, Maple Isle

Ok that's all for now, see you next month and thanks for reading this newsletter once again!

Here's a bit of music from Part 3 but don't tell anyone