Clea 2 will be released on March 25th! As we approach launch day, this feels like a good time to reflect on the original Clea. For the first time, I will dive deep into each chapter and share my design thoughts, things I would change next time etc. If you have not completed Clea, I recommend reading these after a playthrough to avoid spoilers. Okay, let's dive deep into chapter two, the mansion cleasunnies. At first, I had considered adding a mini-game between each chapter. It would involve Clea and Edmond fleeing from a Chaos Servant, but perhaps from a top down view, or a third person perspective with the siblings running towards the camera. Maybe a round of Tic-Tac-Toe or Simon Says. Even before I coded a single line, prototypes in my mind made me conclude this was me trying to pad out the game. Chores you had to endure between each chapter. No thanks. Admittedly, I had played Nier Automata around that period. Yoko Taro likes to blend genres with his games. Regular action, then suddenly, a top down segment, or a sidescroller. That influenced me. However, I also recall Shigeru Miyamoto mentioning it can be dangerous to jam too many elements into a title, causing all of them to be mediocre. Especially for indie developers, it would be best to trim mercilessly, then fine-tune whatever survived. All right, the mansion, one of the longest chapters in Clea. Notice how chapters one and three are short by comparison. This was done to produce a wave like pace. Fast, an endurance run, then snappy again. A song like rhythm to keep players engaged.
The Chaos Spiders are not difficult to overcome. Now, I recognize there are many Clea masters out there. However, please note to many players, a single Chaos Servant, especially so early in the game, can already be quite a test. The Chaos Spiders serve as a "one more thing than you can handle". These "one more thing"s should always be relatively simple, or players may feel overwhelmed. Yet, without them, they may not be entertained enough.
As for the Spider Servant, with more time/budget, I would have loved to give him a unique set of behaviors. I had considered allowing him to use webs to instantly reach the player's floor upon being alerted. Yet, again, since this is only chapter two, that may have been too much to overcome. Instead, in terms of lore, the Chaos Spiders are sent by this servant to hunt the player down. A happy coincidence where design and budget happened to meet.
As mentioned, chapter two was intended to be a long segment. That said, if I were to remake it, I might remove one or two floors from the gallery. The Zodiac concept locked me to 12 paintings. On repeated playthroughs, this can become a chore, while for new players, having to outsmart the Spider Servant across so many floors can be daunting. The fact you can optionally run through these galleries twice for that Flower Key magnifies this. In Clea 2, I have segments similar to this, and I have trimmed the excess down far more aggressively.
Next, we have the backyard, which is our first outdoors area. A visual change to show players they are making progress. My subtle congratulations. You know that key piece in the middle of the yard? That used to be tied to a cat. When you approach the cat, it would run away, so you had to run to grab the key before she fled. Once she left, you had to revisit the area to try again. Several issues with this. One, gamers would know to leave and come back to retry, but logically, it made no sense. Many players would think that key was gone forever, or they might wander the mansion to search for that cat. Two, running would alert the Chaos Servants. Considering there is a second servant behind that door, this would be too much of a trap. All right, confession time. Here is the real reason I removed the cat. She had worked fine the entire time. Then, the weekend before release, her model bugged out and refused to re-appear. In a moment of rage, I went fine, then begone. In retrospect, I dare say if I had left the cat in there, Clea would have frustrated far more players, and I would have ditched her anyway. I admit, however, that my removal of her from day one was from sheer luck.
And now for that second Chaos Servant. Clea was always planned to be a series of one on one challenges. It feels great to outwit a foe. Players rely on sound to predict an enemy's location, and to fake them out. Two enemies would dilute those audio cues, while three and beyond would break the experience. Even on Chaos+ Mode, those "Yellow Servants" only roam the final floors of each chapter. Those audio cues almost become unmanageable, but only for a moment, as you race for the finish. This second Chaos Servant in chapter two is a trick. "Multiple servants per chapter now? Is it going to be 3 next? I'm screwed!" That dread kicks in. Fear of not being able to beat the game. And yet, this multi-servant set up never occurs again. I learned this from The Evil Within. That game had invisible enemies that freaked me out. They showed up early, too. "Damn, if these are regulars from now on, I don't know if I can do this!" Yet, if I recall correctly, they never showed up again after one scene.
To finish up, this time, the blue key requires pieces that are scattered. One piece is even from the first chapter. In your mind, you know if you were careless, you would have been lost for ages. This grants you a sense of relief, plus a touch of pride. Again, I had experienced these feelings repeatedly throughout my Hexen playthrough, and I wish to carry that design legacy forward. If you enjoyed your time with Clea 1, please consider wishlisting the sequel: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1257860/Clea_2/ Your support will give Clea 2 a boost, and if you can tell your friends, that would also be super cool. Thank you for reading cleahappy!