Demo 3 v1.0.0 Release Notes

Hello everyone, this is about as much of the change log for all updates from Demo 3 since the original Demo 2 release as I can gather.

Screenshots at the bottom!

Demo 2 -> Demo 2.8.5 Change Log:

Player

Overhauled ground collision detection
Overhauled wall collision detection
Overhauled slope collision detection
More reliable ground detection
Changed how damage knockback is applied
Increased Bomb hit duration for easier bomb jumping
Increased Bomb jump height
Adjusted morph jump height
Added Ledge Tolerance (aka Coyote Time)
Speedbooster loss on directional change

Enemies

Reduced Dive Bat HP
Now have terminal velocity, no longer speed up infinitely when falling
Removed Dive Bat upwards attack

Mechanics

Added Switch Gates
Added Wave Beam, beam shots go through environment
Added Plasma Beam, beam shots go through enemies and deal per frame damage (capped at 60 times per second)
Added Charge Beam, charge beam does 4x damage
Added Splitter Beam, shooting 3 projectiles instead of 1
Added Ledge Grabbing
Added Ledge Climbing
Added Ledge Aiming
Charge Beam attracts pick-up items

Graphics

Parallax Backgrounds
New Power Beam Sprites
New Ice Beam Sprites
New Wave Beam Sprites
New Plasma Beam Sprites
New Charge Beam sprites for all beam variants
New Player Animations for Ledges
Removed all compression settings in sprites, fixing artifacts and blurriness
Redid in-game HUD to make it cleaner and more readable
Improved Player Knockback animation
Added Zero Damage animation for Player Beam
Added Zero Damage animation for Player Missiles (missile bounce)
Added Save Station animation
Added animated Save Station prompt
Updated Mini Map background for readability
Animated Press Start title screen
Replaced bland ability text with animated banner
Added Ability Cutscene
Updated Ability Item Sprites

Sound

Added Zero Damage SFX on Player Attacks
Fixed missing audio on some doors

Bugs

Fixed pressing jump button while falling in morph mode resetting fall speed
Fixed jumping directly up into an enemy cancels jump instead of continuing
Fixed object pop-out from previous room when entering a new room
Fixed arm cannon rendering in front of legs when crouching and aiming diagonally down
Fixed wall detection bug causing player unable to move
Fixed Player Run SFX playing incorrectly
Fixed Morph Mode bug clipping in shafts
Fixed Camera Fade jump when entering new rooms
Fixed Dive Bat slowing down when against a wall
Fixed Enemy player detection
Fixed Wall Jump freezing the game in shafts
Fixed Crumble Blocks not reappearing
Fixed Arm Cannon being mirrored when player is facing camera
Fixed not being able to start sprint while on slope
Fixed sprint cancelling after mounting slopes sometimes

Miscellaneous

New and animated Title Screen (kept old WIP title though)
New Map Screen
New Pause Screen
New Status Screen
New Credits Screen
New Game Over Screen
Incrementally updated from Unity 5.5.2f1 to Unity 2020.2.4f1 (Yes, Demo 2 is that old)
Save Stations (Saving and Loading)
Project-wide optimization, upwards of 6x the performance of Demo 2
Pause Screen fully navigable via Gamepad and Keyboard
Can now save via Gamepad/Keyboard using the Save Station Prompt
Added option for CRT Filter
Added option for V-Sync
Added Rebindable Input
Added Game Time tracking
Added Item Collection Rate tracking
Added Demo Completion Screen
In-Game Pause Screen w/ Options Menu
Added options toggle for ability cutscene

--------------------------------------------

Demo 2.8.5 -> Demo 3.0.0 Change Log:

Player

Added 1/60 second pause when landing for easier precision jumping
Adjusted jump height values
Sped up ledge climb speed
Added acceleration when starting to move
Updated slope logic to average multiple checks to prevent clipping
Fixed being able to morph when in the front idle animation (camera facing)
Fixed bug causing run speed to reset when running left
Fixed holding both left and right next to wall allowing wall jump
Added Morph jump gap assist when jumping up tile-wide gaps
Added buffer for ledge climb input
Added slow down when in liquids (water/lava)
Added Placeholder Death VFX
Fixed issue where player couldn't bomb jump on slopes
Changed how knockback works

Enemies

Added Simple Turret (not in Demo 3.0.0)
Redesigned Dive Bat, now drops and explodes
Redid the implementation for the Crawler
Added Hop Enemy B
Added Hop Enemy C
Added Small Egg Enemy (chance to spawn pick-up or enemy)
Added Large Egg Enemy (chance to spawn pick-up or enemy)
Added Small Worm Enemy
Added Large Worm Enemy
Added Small Venus Plant Enemy
Added Large Venus Plant Enemy
Added Biceraptor (not in Demo 3.0.0)
Added Small Space Fly Enemy
Added Large Space Fly Enemy

Mechanics

Ledge Grab forces morph climb if there's a frozen enemy above
Wall Jumps can now be done more reliably
Added Large Energy Pick-Up
Added Medium Energy Pick-Up

Graphics

Updated Dive Bat Sprites
Updated Bomb animation
Updated Bomb explosion animation
Updated Enemy Death Explosions
Updated Player Knockback animation
Fixed arm cannon animating during room transitions

Sound

Added Audio Tracks
Added Audio Track transitions between areas
Fixed Missile Fired SFX being played when out of missiles

Bugs

Fixed non-crumble blocks reappearing on top of player
Fix for issue with running into walls
Fixed CRT Effect stopping when game paused
Fixed Ledge Grabs cancelling player hit animation and control disable
Fixed Ledge Grab stuck cases
Fixed Beams shooting out of missile hatch when out of missiles
Fixed using save and elevator stations while in morph mode
Fixed Ledge Climbing not working correctly above 120Hz
Fixed issues when playing above 120Hz (i.e. getting stuck on ground, see tilemap change)
Fixed issue when holding left & right when ledge climbing
Fixed issue with ledge climbing into enemy resulting in infinite bounce
Fixed being unable to stand on unfrozen enemies sometimes
Fixed player collision not detecting frozen enemies as walls
Fixed room transition issues with V-sync off / at high FPS.

Miscellaneous

Updated from Unity 2020.2.4f1 to 2022.3.0f1
Optimisation for Player Collision State
Optimisation for General Enemy AI
Added Object Pooling for Player Beams
Added Object Pooling for Player Missiles
Updated Camera for smoother movement and feel
Optimised Parallax Scrolling
Updated Tilemap from custom implementation to Unity's native Tilemap system (it didn't exist back then)
Save Prompt now uses only one button for confirmation, ignores all other input
Added Elevator Stations
Added Music volume settings Added SFX volume settings
Updated Lava implementation
Added Water implementation
First Missile Tank grants 10 missiles instead of 5
Doubled Bomb Damage from 4 to 8

--------------------------------------------

Demo 3.0.0 April 29th - June 2nd Change Log:

These are updates to Demo 3 that have been shadow dropped since it was first released on April 29th 2023 up to June 2nd 2023.

Enemies

Increased Large Venus Plant enemy health
Replaced large worm getting stuck on door in area 2

Graphics

Added Water Sprites
Added Water sway effects
Updated Water color
Added Water Distortion Effect
Updated Lava Sprites
Added Water Splash VFX
Added Lava Splash VFX

Bugs

Fixed Missile Trails not resetting/appearing correctly
Fixed Beam Trails not resetting/appearing correctly
Fixed Beam shots disappearing after being fired sometimes
Fixed Missile Trailing not fading out after hit
Fixed morph bombs bouncing off switch gates
Fixed Continue button loading saves from old demos

Miscellaneous

Added Object Pooling for Player Bombs
Improved projectile explosion position accuracy
Updated Wave Beam screen edge detection
Hid Continue button if save is incompatible

Thank you for reading, there are some more changes on the way!

Namely, the last updates to Demo 3 will come in 2 parts: Audio and Bosses.

The Audio update will feature proper sound effects for all player actions and most enemy actions, to replace the current fairly bad ones.

Bosses Update will feature at least one boss added to Demo 3, notably the final boss which is be located behind the door that currently leads to the end of the demo.

Demo 2 vs Demo 3 Comparison Screenshots:

Title Screen:

Title Screen Animated:

Starting Room:

Map Screen and Map Size (62 vs 120 rooms):

New Status Screen:

New Water, with splash and distortion effects:

Updated Lava, with splash effects:

New Elevator Stations:

Soak up the atmosphere:

Demo 1-3 Size Differences:

First Public Demo (Infogamer Tech Demo):

• Total Rooms: 20
• Room size: 24x14
• Map size: 5x4 grid

First finished demo ever released for NiTL, showcased at the Infogamer Reboot game expo in Croatia.

Second Public Demo (V2 - V2.8.5):

• Total Rooms: 62
• Room Size: 27x15
• Map Size: 10x12 grid

Third Public Demo (V3):

• Total Rooms: 143
• Room Size: 27x15
•  Map Size: 12x15 grid

Showcased at the Cancer Society Game Fare in New Zealand.

Demo Map Sizes in terms of tiles:

• First Demo: 6,720 tiles
• Second Demo: 25,110 tiles
• Third Demo: 48,600 tiles 

Download Link:

Demo 3 v1.0.0 Release

Demo 3 release.

Hundreds of bug fixes.

Dozen new enemies.

Over 100 rooms to explore.

Full changelog soon.

 

Demo 3 Teaser

 

 

Teaser screenshots of an area in Demo 3, coming soon!

In the meantime,
Try out the enhanced second demo at https://nitl-dev.itch.io/nitl

Dev Log #40 - Goodbye Demo 2, Hello Demo 3!

 Hello everyone!

Today is the release for the final version of Demo 2 (v2.8.5), which means that after today there won't be any updates to it since I'm now shifting focus to the third and final demo.

This final update has some really cool additions that have been fairly long overdue.

Release Notes:

1. Added - CRT Effect
   
2. Added - Options Menu
3. Added - Title screen animated Press Start
4. Added - Setting for V-Sync
5. Added - Setting to toggle CRT Effect
6. Added - Rebindable Input
7. Added - Reset Input to Default button
   
8. Added - Game Time tracking
9. Added - Item Collection Rate tracking
10. Added - Demo Completion Screen
11. Added - In-Game Pause Screen w/ Options Menu
12. Added - Replaced ability text with animated banner
    
13. Added - Item Ability Cutscene
14. Added - Options toggle for ability cutscene
15. Added - Charge Beam attracts pick-up items
16. Change - Removes some colliders in some rooms
    
17. Change - Updated mini-map background sprite
18. Change - Plasma beam piercing damage stacks
19. Change - Updated Ability Item sprites
20. Change - Removed DiveBat upwards attack
21. Change - Title animations slowed down and randomized
22. Change - Slightly increased jump height
23. Change - Speed-boost loss on direction change (left vs right)
    
24. Fixed - Missing audio on some doors
25. Fixed - Couldn't start sprint mid-slope
26. Fixed - Sprint cancelled after climbing slopes sometimes

Animated Press Start screen

Demo Complete Screen

Ability Item Cutscene

In-Game Pause Screen w/ Options Menu

That's it for Demo 2, work on Demo 3 starts next weekend!

P.S. I did a speedrun of the demo, beat my time if you can!

P.P.S. I benchmarked the game:

Min. Requirements (768p, 60FPS):

• Intel Celeron N2830
• 512MB RAM
• 50MB HDD Space
• Windows XP

Dev Log #39 - It's Optional

Hello Everyone!

I've been updating the game over the weekend with some quality of life improvements, namely an Options Menu where you can toggle the CRT Filter and V-Sync on and off.

Updated the Mini Map background to make it cleaner and easier on the eyes:

Left is the new, right is the old.

The title screen has also been updated with an animated 'Press Start' button that transitions into the rest of the main menu:

That's it for now, working on more improvements!

Dev Log #38 - It's Coyote Time!

 

A minor but important update just released, v2.8.2 includes a couple of fixes for Plasma Beam piercing damage calculation, along with the addition of Coyote Time (also known as Ledge Tolerance).

With Coyote Time now added to the game, it will make precision platforming more reliable as the game won't seem like it's eating inputs when you jump off the very edge of a ledge.

Known Issues in Demo 2 (v2.8.2 and prior): Playing above 120FPS can make the player stick in specific parts of the map.

Dev Log #37 - The Prodigal Son Update

Dear Players,

It's been nearly two years since I've posted a devlog update,
but not to worry because NiTL is still in development!

Completely redone title screen

It's been a tough couple of years so far but work on the game has been slow and steady. The demos were silently updated a few times with v2.8.0 dropping last weekend. A lot of things have improved and been overhauled. Special thanks to a couple of friends giving me some much needed inspiration I'm resuming regular work on the game and will be posting more updates in the future.

Below are the release notes, I've condensed them down to the most notable changes:

General Updates:

• Entire codebase rewritten for performance, readability
• Updated project from Unity 2019.2 all the way to 2020.2
• New animated Title Screen
• Updated Credits Screen
• Updated Game Over Screen
• Added WSA Certification for Xbox One builds via UWP
• System-wide optimisations, 3-4x last update's performance
• Removed compression artifacts on some assets
• Demo 3 map layout structure is complete
  

Gameplay Updates:

• Fixed wall detection bug causing player unable to move
• Fixed Player Run SFX playing incorrectly
• Fixed Morph Mode bug clipping in shafts
• Fixed Camera Fade jump when entering new rooms
• Fixed Dive Bat slowing down when against a wall
• Fixed Enemy player detection
• Fixed Wall Jump freezing the game in shafts
• Fixed Crumble Blocks not reappearing
• Fixed Arm Cannon being mirrored when player is facing camera
• Fixed entering credits meant you can't go back to the title screen when using a keyboard or controller
  
• Wall Jumps can now be done more reliably
  
• Completely overhauled Crawler AI
• Finalized Player Ledge Grab and Climbing mechanics
• Player Ledge Grab and Climbing Animations added
  
• More reliable ground detection (Boxcast vs Raycast)
• In-game HUD redone to make it cleaner and more readable
  
• Pause Screen full navigable with Gamepad/Keyboard
• Changed how damage knockback on player is applied
• Increased Morph Bomb hit duration for easier bomb jumping
• Increased Morph Bomb jump height
• Dive Bat HP reduced from 10 to 8
• Enemies now have terminal velocity, no longer speed up infinitely when falling
  
• Added Zero Damage SFX on player attacks
  
• Added Zero Damage animation for Player Beam
• Added Zero Damage animation for Player Missiles
• Added Save Station animation and SFX
• Added animated Save Station prompt
• Can now save via Gamepad/Keyboard using the save prompt
• Plasma Beam penetration damage locked to 60 times a second, previously scaled infinitely with frame-rate
  

New Save Station animation and Save Prompt

Ledge Grab and Climbing Preview

It's definitely a monumental task to work on finishing the whole game, but going step by step I'll finish it eventually. I'm happy to say that the third and final demo should be finished by the end of the year, a lot of the planning is done and I've finally got some money to put a budget together for the art and audio.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Dev Log #36 - Misc Updates + Vulkan

Haven't updated in a while!

 

I've been silently working on the game; adding in ledge grabbing and climbing, making and then remaking the first boss along with some quality of life improvements.

 

I got a new laptop recently and can finally run Vulkan without crashing my computer (for some weird reason) so I decided to make a Vulkan build to try it and the game runs 150-300% faster.

 

I've updated all the download links in the Dev Log and itch.io page so you can download them, and I've included a set of debug options to enable and disable most of the abilities. 

 

The "README - DEBUG.txt" file included with all the new zipped demos contains the controls as usual as well as the debug commands so you can play around with them.

 

Have fun and hopefully I can make new progress on the game soon, but currently I'm very busy with work thus it'll be slow so I wanted to make at least a small update.

 

Enjoy!

Itch.io: https://nitl-dev.itch.io/nitl

DevLog: https://nitl101.blogspot.com/p/demo.html

New Page - Itch.io

Short update between devlogs
(working on Ledge Grabbing mechanics for the player).

I created a page for NiTL on itch.io a couple days ago in hopes of better publicity and to get on more platforms because it's always a good thing to do.

The page on itch.io currently has the latest demo, which is version 2.6.3. This version is Demo 2 with some updates added to it that are intended to Demo 3.

The demo is still free, but if you want you can send a donation via itch.io before you donate. Every bit helps!

Here's the full link: https://nitl-dev.itch.io/nitl

Dev Log #35 - New Pause Menu

I've finished implementing the new Status Screen, it will update as you discover and acquire new and amazing abilities for the suit, these abilities will be shown in the categorized tabs inside the Status Screen along with your health and ammo. Currently they are not able to be interacted with.

Status Screen

The transition from the Map Screen to the Status Screen and vice verse is a simple dip to black fade transition, this was just to get it working. I'll be doing a better one later when I have more important things finished and out of the way since this works fairly well.

Simple fade transition to get to the map/status screen and back

The Status Screen is accessed by either clicking the [STATUS R] button on the top right side of the screen, or if you have a controller by pressing the Right Shoulder Button. You can return to the Map Screen by repeating the action. On the top left side of the screen there's another button labeled [L RESIGN], this is used to quit the game. Make sure you saved at a Save Station otherwise you will lose any unsaved progress.

I'm looking to finish Demo 3 by the end of the year with all bells and whistles on it. So stay tuned for the occasional update.

NiTL is getting better and better every month, thanks for your continued support and I hope to present you with some more progress updates soon!