Devlog 5: It's starting to come together!

We're making great progress, and things are really starting to come together! In this devlog, we'll share some of the latest features we've been working on, from combat mechanics to movement improvements. The game is taking shape, and we're excited to show you the new additions that are bringing everything to life!

ART

PENGUIN

As you can see on the cover of this devlog, we’ve been experimenting with different colors for our penguins! We want them to feel playful and goofy, adding more personality to the game. Later on, these colors will be a customizable feature in the character selection screen!

COD

We’ve also modeled and painted our cod! This will be our most basic pickup in the game, adding a fun and simple element to the gameplay. We’ll dive deeper into the details of this pickup in our development section.

SHADERS AND DECALS

This week we finished the ice and water shader! Furthermore we added something to make sure every player knows where they are: a landing indicator! So even if it gets hectic in the arena you still know where you are no matter where you get flung to. Next week it will get bloody with some blood decals and splatters. So be prepared!

CAMERA

We’ve been testing different camera setups for the various stages of the game—like when the platform layers drop. Next week, we’ll focus on making the transitions feel smooth, so the camera gracefully pans between each stage. Getting this right should make everything feel much more dynamic!

DEVELOPMENT

Player Manager

Handles player spawning and controller assignment. Each controller spawns a new player, supporting couch co-op gameplay. Future updates may include a character selection system.

Pickup system

We’ve added a BasePickup system that allows us to create different types of pickups through inheritance. This will make it easier to add custom pickups. We will use this system for all our fish pickups, right now we already have our cod implemented.

Player bounce

We've added a mechanic where players can bounce off each other during gameplay! It adds a playful dynamic to interactions, making the game feel more chaotic and exciting as players collide and bounce around the platform!

Swimming

Swimming has been implemented! Players now have a way of getting back onto the platform before they die...

Attack & Throw

We've implemented both basic and heavy attacks! The soft attack is a quick melee hit using a basic hitbox, activated by a button press. For the heavy attack, players can unleash a powerful move by holding a fish, dealing more damage. Players can throw the fish as a ranged attack, adding a new layer to combat and allowing for distance attacks. Future tweaks will focus on refining the aiming, damage, and cooldown balancing to make it even more strategic.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next week will be our last week of this production sprint, this means that by next week a nice and simple game should be ready. For this we will be adding:

• A character selection menu, a victory screen and a main menu.
• Some more animations.
• Another pickup.
• Some extra polishing.
• ...