Afternoon folks! This is the first in the monthly updates for Mr Figs. In this, I intend to give a brief update of what I've been working on for anyone that's curious. This month has mainly been focused on the second area (Ice Caverns) and some performance optimisations which were deemed necessary Without further ado, let's jump into it!

Fixed slugs accidentally going over holes

There was a bug on the first area where a slug could walk over an uncovered hole. This has since been fixed

Redid portal sprites

The portals for the second area have been given some TLC and are using some brand new sprites which fit better with the rest of the game

Redid second area floors and walls

The entire second area's art has been redone. The atmosphere has had a massive improvement because of this and I can wait for you guys to play it

Added timed spikes

I've added in some spikes on timers for the second area to keep things interesting.

Added pressure plates which can trigger multiple spikes

The second area has more complex pressure plates which can trigger multiple things and also affect each others pressure plates!

Added sprites for when Mr Figs is pushing up/down on a rock

Previously, Mr Figs would always show a "left push" sprite when pushing a rock. This has finally been remedied so he now has all directions covered when pushing rocks.

Added 7 new levels to the second area

The second area has been given a lot of love this month. We've got 7 new levels exploring all the new mechanics I've added in. I'm sure some won't make the final cut but it's progress nonetheless

Added animation for when Mr Figs is sliding on ice

Mr Figs was not animated before when sliding on ice, now he is!

Added a new turret and bullet type to the second area

The second area now has a much deadlier and faster turret than the first.

Added snake enemy

The first area has a new enemy! The snake will idle until you get close and then begin to (sort of) chase you and spit venom.

Lots of performance optimisations (particularly around particles and events)

This month has seen a lot of excellent performance optimisations. Even the heaviest levels now run at a smooth 60fps on a 10 year old laptop. I call that progress. For the nerds among us, these were the optimisations: - Used a spatial grid to speed up bullet collisions - Used events less and relied on timers more to switch between states - Object pooling for particles - Caching around image loading - Chunked updates where necessary (only update what's in view)