Fixed: Ghosts could be one frame the player, while actually being on them. This is now fixed.
Fixed: Online ghosts should now wear their proper hats instead of the player's hat.
Added: Game window can now be manually resized while in Windowed mode.

[ 2023-07-04 23:04:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fixed an issues that would prevent Linux and MacOS replays from saving locally.

[ 2023-07-01 17:09:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fixed MacOS Leaderboards

Fixed: You can now see and submit scores to leaderboards while on MacOS.

[ 2023-07-01 13:23:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

0.5.2 Fixed Key Rebinding

Fixed the ability to key rebind.

[ 2023-06-29 20:03:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

0.5.1 Minor Emergency Patch

A minor unintended patch had to be pushed to correctly wipe the previous save files. Old saves were not compatible with the new leaderboards, a save wipe was originally intended, but mistakenly did not occur.

[ 2023-06-29 16:58:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 2: Giving Up The Ghost Live NOW!

[previewyoutube=LUkGlayzHHo;full][/previewyoutube]

New Features

Ghost System

Easily my favorite new feature of the game. Now, as you play, Ghosts will automatically be saved locally and, if you're online, pushed up to the internet for others to race against! When you beat a level or marathon with a new best time, the ghost will automatically be updated to match. The whole system has been designed to be seamless and run in the background. The game features a variety of options for your ghosts.

When playing, you can opt to race against your personal best, the global best, the person closest to you in the global leaderboards, and your friend's best/closest runs. You can also select to race against only ghosts who have gotten all the gems. Use the ghosts to push yourself and become the greatest dasher out there!

Assist Mode

Accessibility has always been a concern of mine, as I believe that games should be for everyone. To that end, I've worked hard to create an "Assist Mode" for players. Whether you're looking for a slower paced experience, training to beat the harder levels, or just want to have fun flying around, there's now all sorts of options to help get you into the action! While in Assist Mode, your times/ghosts will not be submitted to the online leaderboards, and you won't be able to earn Medal related Achievements, for the sake of fairness. Beyond that everything else is set to work the exact same! You can also return to a level you've beaten in assist mode and overwrite your best time with assist mode off. Assist mode times will ever overwrite your non-assisted times, meaning when you're feeling up to the challenge, you can tackle anything you had assistance on without have to start over!

New Environments

As part of this update, two new environments have been added to help make the game look more diverse. In addition to their new looks, each of these environments also contain new music for both their normal and hard levels, created by the legendary @744music.

The Simulator

Before tackling the ruins, Cloak needs some training! Join them in the simulator to learn the basics of the game in a more controlled environment. Some familiar levels have been repurposed for this environment, and some new one have been added to teach you more. Study the ways of the Dasher and become a true master!

The Cathedral

A mysterious new area of the ruins containing strange gravitic anomalies and portals! Left in much better shape than anything before it, this area seems to guard many secrets of the culture that created it. What can you learn here?

Everything Else

In addition to the new environments, every new environment has gotten a fresh coat of paint. New background details and art have been added to previous levels you know and love. See if you can decipher their meaning to understand the ruins in a new light.

New Levels

This update features many new levels with new mechanics, primarily, you'll find these levels in the newest chapter taking place in the Cathedral, but there are a few others scattered along the previous chapters as well.

[ 2023-06-29 15:12:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

New Update Coming Thursday! (6/29/23)

Let's get right into it! After far too long, I'm gearing up to release a new update to Cloak and Dasher this Thursday! This update is the culmination of a lot of work over the span of a couple of years, and is more of a feature update. Here's what to expect.

New Features

Ghost System

Assist Mode

New Environments

The Simulator

The Cathedral

Everything Else

New Levels

Revamped Physics

By far, this is the reason the update took so long to come out (more on that below). Largely, the changes should be imperceptible, as that was the goal, but you may notice Cloak glide a bit more smoothly throughout the levels. These physics changes were largely to enable new features that were impossible before, such as diagonal springs, outside forces and "patrol" systems for objects (you may notice some Gooncopters actually moving around now!)

Developer Update

So, many of you who are here are probably wondering "what the hell took so long!?". As with most things in life, the answer is complex and multilayered. The easiest cheat would be to just say "life happened", but there's much more to it than that.

COVID

Mentally, COVID hit me hard, as I know it did many of you. For the majority of COVID times, I was trapped in an apartment working from home. The problem was, my apartment didn't have an office space, just a living room and a bed room. So, in effect, for about 2 years, my life was my living room. On paper, that sounded awesome, I mean, who doesn't dream of doing work in their pajamas and having the TV on in the background? Well, the thing you don't think about is what kind of mental toll it takes on you to never change scenery. I'd wake up, go into the living room, work all day in the living room, spend night hanging out in the living room, then go to bed... for years... Around the tail end of the 2nd year, I could barely recognize what my life had become. Months blurred, I couldn't maintain a schedule, couldn't focus, snapped at the smallest things, I was quite literally losing my mind. I would seek distractions and escapism where I could, but gamedev just wasn't one of those distractions, it just felt like "more work in the living room". I'm sure my story isn't all that unique, I know many of you have gone through the same thing, and I hope you're all able to break out. For me, things changed last year. My wife (she was my fiancee when I started this game) and I finally decided that for my own sanity, we needed a house with an office. We were very lucky, and managed to find just that, and I have to say, it has made all the difference in the world. This year, I've been far more productive, far less stressed, and just overall incredibly happier. Since then, I've been able to really sit down and crank away at the game, but....

Burnout

Look, refactoring sucks. If you've ever worked on any sort of software project, you know it. It's like looking back at your past self and yelling at them for their bad decisions, except they're not there to yell at, so you just yell at yourself. Cloak and Dasher is my first full fledged game, and I've learned so much about it. Through all that learning, I've made mistakes, tons of mistakes, it's the nature of learning. Sure, that means I'm a better developer now, but it also means I have to deal with those mistakes if I want to make a better game. Sometimes dealing with a lot of those mistakes makes you lose love for the project, and I'd be a liar if I said I haven't thought of shelving Cloak and Dasher a couple of times. What keeps me going is, I know that this game is a lot of fun. I mean, I still play it for testing, and everything still hits just right. Whenever I see someone else play it, seeing the emotion it brings out in them everything from frustration, joy, and a sense of accomplishment, there's just no feeling like it. That's what keeps me going. Not being able to bring the game to conventions (thanks again COVID) really bit into my ability to see that sort of reaction, but live streams have been a great substitute. All in all, I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's a good thing.

Technical Reasons (aka, LEADERBOADS!!!!!!)

As I mentioned above, this update came with some "Physics Revamps". I'm oversimplifying things here a bit, but I basically had to COMPLETELY rewrite how Cloak moves to get this update out. I had new mechanics I wanted to add in, and the old system was holding me back too much. The problem with making any sort of change to the game's physics model is, it means it will require a Leaderboard Reset. The reason is, I can't guarantee with 100% certainty that times are achievable with the "old way" of doing things compared to the new one, and it would be incredibly frustrating for newcomers to see times they think they can beat, only to not know it's impossible. In addition to that, I knew that Ghosts were coming soon, but adding them would ALSO require a Leaderboard Reset, because the old times wouldn't have ghosts attached to them. So, that's two major changes that both would require Leaderboard Resets. Resetting the Leaderboard is not something I take lightly. I've attempted to avoid it since I've released them, but sometimes, they're just unavoidable when a project is so in-flux. To that end, I wanted to try to get every change I needed to into a single update, to prevent multiple resets. I believe (aka really really hope) that this is the last time I'll need to do any sort of Leaderboard Reset. I worked hard to ensure that the physics system is on very solid foundation, and that no tweaks to Cloak's movement, should ever be needed again. In addition, new features that I add should not require any tweaks to the movement system either. This is truly one of the main reasons it took so long to get an update out, I needed to be sure that I squeezed every change that could break the Leaderboards into a single update, and I think I've finally achieved that.

The Future

With this update out, the future is bright. The goal for the game is to have one final MAJOR update BY OR CLOSE TO Q1 NEXT YEAR. It's time to finish this game, and I'm ready and motivated to do so. So, what's left to do?

More Levels

While this update was feature focused, the next update will be heavily level focused. The goal is to get another 2-3 chapters out with one final environment to accompany them.

In-Game Level Editor

This is the big one. In the background, I've done alot of prep-work for the level editor. This is no small feat, because in addition to editing levels, I've also got to develop a method of sharing them in the game. Since creating this game, I've always wanted to give the players the tools to create their own fun, and I can think of no better way.

MOAR HATS!!!

What's the point of dashing IF YOU GET NO HATS!? Madness I say, and I won't have it.

In Conclusion

Look, if you're still reading this, then you know I say it every time because it's true. I do this for you. You, the fan who actually stops to read the long-winded ramblings about the madness of game development. This game has been a labor of love since the start, and while it's been a trial in some ways, I think the end result speaks for itself. So thank you. Thank you for playing it, thank you for reading, and thank you for supporting me in this. Until next time, happy gaming. -Highsight

[ 2023-06-24 14:21:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're not dead!

Been a while, huh?

Cloak and Dasher is not dead, in fact, it's got more features in it than ever! But, there's a catch... The last public update for Cloak and Dasher was about 1 year ago, wow, time flies. I've been working on the game a ton since then, but as is always true with solo part-time game development, it's slooooow going. I'd like to think those of you familiar with the game are familiar with this by now, but I think it bares reminding. As happy as I am that people have played the game at all, I have come to the conclusion that Early Access was a mistake. I had this grandiose concept of releasing new maps every month for the game, and building new features in as I went, but that proved unsustainable for a part time developer pretty quickly. Tack onto that the fact that no publisher will touch a game in Early Access, not being allowed to participate in Steam NEXT events, and having lost all "release" marketing momentum, I'm afraid this game is never going to be popular. So, why don't I give up on it? Honestly, stubbornness! This game is my baby, and since inception I've always wanted to see it through to completion. At the start, completion for me has always meant 3 things.

Hundreds of levels spanning 4-5 different environments.
Some form of competitive leaderboards.
An in-game level editor with level sharing so players can create their own fun.

However... since then, through Early Access Feedback and general brainstorming, a few new points of development appeared, which I really wanted to add in.

An in-game Achievement system.
Unlockables for that achievement system. (hats and such)
Unlockable Hard Mode
A Medal System
A reworked Adventure Mode that focused on Individual Levels over Level Sets.

It all comes down to 2 dreaded words in development. Scope Creep.

You mentioned new features?

That's right! As of right now, the Development version of Cloak and Dasher has alot of new stuff compared to the current public version. Namely, it has:

Ghost System

There is now a fully integrated Ghost Replay System in the game. When playing a level or marathon, you can choose to have another player's replay ghost alongside yours! It all happens automatically, you can choose to race against yourself, the next person in the leaderboards, the top of the leaderboards, or your friend's ghosts.

Assist Mode

In an effort to allow for difficulty options, I've added a series of Assist options. While these options are enabled, you will be unable to post scores to the leaderboards, however, you'll be able to do everything else including acquire achievements and unlockables. Play the game your way!

New Environments

The Simulator

The Simulator has been added as a new "starting" environment to the game. It is Cloak's little training ground where they can prepare for the journey ahead.

The Cathedral

The Cathedral environment shows off a spiritual area deep in the underground, where a strange sort of worship occurs, and even stranger spacial anomalies exist! Both areas feature new art, and music!

Teleportals

Teleportals are a new mechanic starting in the Cathedral chapters. They are a one way teleportation system. ANY object passing through a teleportal entrance will be instantly brought to the other side.

Object Patrols

A new system has been devised which allows for ANY object in a level to be given a "patrol" route. This will allow for some interesting dynamics in certain levels which were not possible before.

Updated Environments

Since the beginning, I've wanted nearly all storytelling for the game to be environmental. This has been important to me, as such, Yokcos has gone above and beyond to create TONS of new background art for environments, which has been placed all over. Environments will be much more feature rich now, while not impeding gameplay.

So, where's the update!?

That's the catch... it's all working, but it's not done, and this next update is so big, that it's going to require a wipe of the leaderboards. I do not take wiping the leaderboards in this game lightly. Many players (rightfully) view the leaderboards as the whole point of playing the game. If I'm going to do something to wipe the leaderboards, I need to be completely sure that all the work is done! My main focus right now is on revamping old levels with the new visuals, which will require tiny tweaks to the map layouts, and until those are done, I can't justify doing an update, for fear of further wipe-requiring tweaks down the line. Once the old levels are updated, my final focus will be on the New Levels for the Cathedral area, and once those are done, the new update will be ready! I'm working hard every weekend to get these levels done, but there's one major life event that is slowing things down a bit. After years and years of renting, my Wife and I have finally bought a house! We move in soon, which is going to take a while, and a ton of work, but once I'm fully situated, the house is going to do wonders for my productivity, as I'll have an office to work in, instead of my living room! Thank you to those who have had the patience to stick with me through this project. I know I say this every time, but you're the reason this project continues to grow! It's certainly ballooned in scope, but I'd like to think it's never lost any of its spirit. Each new feature helps push it to be a better game, and I know it's going to live up to your expectations by the end.

[ 2022-06-25 17:01:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Get The Goods Update!

[previewyoutube=N5Hk_D7h8bo;full][/previewyoutube]

What's New

ALOT! This update features a complete redesign of Adventure Mode, making it feel more like a complete experience than ever before. Each Level now features a "Hard Mode" version which can be unlocked by collecting all the gems inside. In addition, each level also how has Par Times which give the player medals if achieved. In addition to all that, there are now Achievements on various levels which the player can get by doing various challenges (completing a level without double jumping, no dashing, keeping all enemies alive, etc...). Achievements will also unlock hats, making Cloak look more stylish than ever! With these new Hard Levels, the game now contains double the level count, and we plan on having hard levels for all future levels as well. Some hard levels are straight challenge upgrades of the originals, while others are complete redesigns. Expect a healthy variety of new challenges!

What's Next?

I want to release a formal roadmap in the near future to show all the plans leading up to the game's final release. We're getting closer! If I were asked straight up, I'd say feature and content-wise we're about 3/5ths of the way through the game's development.

[ 2021-06-27 17:54:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Get the Goods Update Announcement Trailer

[previewyoutube=N5Hk_D7h8bo;full][/previewyoutube] The Get The Goods Update will be released June 29th. Wishlist today to stay informed!

[ 2021-06-22 16:00:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Version 0.4.9 Changelog

Changelog

Major Changes

Cloak's Deceleration speed has been doubled. This should make it much easier to pull off precision platforming, and help with any slippery feeling players have had. (Especially players on controllers!)

Bug Fixes

Minor: Fixed a bug where if a save file accounted for more gems than existed in a level, the level wasn't considered perfected.

[ 2021-06-12 01:05:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

0.4.8 Beta Changelog

Changelog

Major Changes

Added a light to gems to help make them more visible to players. (Hopefully it's not too much...)
Added medal times for all Hard Levels! Test your skills and prove you're among the fastest!
Added TONS of medal based achievements! (If you played before, you'll probably get alot of achievement notifications for retroactive medals you've earned. This is a one time thing.)
Removed "sum of all times" based achievements. There was no need for these anymore now that we have the medal based achievements.

Minor Changes

Added little notifications to the menus. These notifications will help you know when new things are avaiable to you (new hats, hard mode unlocked, etc...)

Map Changes

Unstable Ceiling

Nudged bottom right gooncopter to be under the gem.
Removed the arrow trap up top, seemed over-the-top to have.
Nudged one of the point orbs down a bit to widen the gap.
Added one more point orb to prevent the player from easily getting to the top gooncopter.

Stairway To Riches

Closed up the gaps in the spikes which could apperently be dashed through.

Pillars of the Community

Nudged the point orbs around a bit to make things feel cleaner.
Made the bottom part of the final pillar a bit bigger to help execute that part.

Vine Infestation

Removed two of the top VFTs that didn't feel like they added much.

Locking Lips

Removed the bottom point orbs from all Venus Floor Traps. This gives the player more breathing room to get through the pillars.
Made the wall blocking the key a bit diagonally forgiving.
Lowered the bottom right gooncopter a bit to make it easer to dash-jump into it from below.

Hall of Craving

Removed the arrow trap. Felt like it added too much to an already frantic level.

Locking Lips

Slightly nudged some things around to help make an alternate faster 100% Path possible (though very, very tight).

The Evil In Good

Added another gooncopter at the start to help alleviate the first dash.
Removed a gooncopter from the bottom that seemed unneeded.
Added a Point Orb that the player needs to maneuver around at the end. (Sort of wrecks the aesthetic, but I'd rather the gameplay be interesting...)

Bug Fixes

MAJOR: Fixed a bug where sometimes the World Record icons would show up at the results screen even if you didn't get them. (I think....)

[ 2021-06-06 23:21:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

0.4 Beta Extension

Hello everyone! Progress with the beta has been amazing, and I've gotten tons of great feedback from those that have tried it! Due to the sheer amount of changes that have been made, however, I've decided it's best to extend the beta just a bit longer. There's still some things on the to-do list that I'd like to ensure are done before pushing the beta to the main branch. Here are the remaining line items that must be completed before I push the beta live:

New Item Notifications in Menu: These will be little icons that appear in the menu to help guide the player to their new unlockables. For example, if the player unlocks a new hat, there will be a little icon on the "Gallery" button to help guide the player to the new hat.
0.4 Trailer: A trailer must be created to show off the new changes!
Hard Level Medal Times: Right now most of the hard levels still don't have medal times. This is going to take alot of time to get the best times to use for them.
Medal Achievements: Some achievements in game need to be reworked to be based on medals obtained rather than flat times. Right now we have achievements that say things such "Complete all levels in First Steps with a sum total time of 8 seconds." This should instead be "Obtain all Gold Medals in First Steps."

Those are the major line items but there are some small tweaks to be made as well. As a reminder, although the content is still not released, it's available for you to try now in the beta branch! Feel free to check it out and leave your feedback! Thanks for all of the feedback you've all given me so far, I'm so happy to see everyone enjoying the game! -Kevin

[ 2021-06-01 01:10:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 0.4.7 Beta Update Changelog

Think you can get all the Diamond Medal Times? Good luck!

Changelog

Major Changes

Medal Times have been added for all Normal Levels! Test your skills and try to get as many as you can! (Hard Level times are still being determined.)
Reworked how game settings are handled. This is a change that you shouldn't notice, but will lead to the much easier addition of future game setting options.

Major Bug Fixes

Fixed major issue where players from some countries didn't have their times submitted to the Leaderboards. This was due to a localization issue where decimal places in times were filled out with commas instead of dots. (e.g. 12,023 seconds instead of 12.023 seconds)

[ 2021-05-23 19:34:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 0.4.6 Beta Update

Changelog

Major Changes

Cloak's Terminal Velocity has been lowered by almost half. This will cause Cloak to stop increasing speed as they fall after a few seconds, leading to a slower overall fall speed over time.
Adjusted the sprite position for certain ascending/descending sprites on Cloak to make them line up better with their actual hitbox. This should help make things feel more visually consistent.
All Crumble Bricks now have their terrain hitbox removed a bit earlier, to match the visuals of the brick being mostly gone. Feels better to me... how's it feel to you?

Minor Changes

Various controller button names have been replaced with shorter ones. (e.g. "Left/Right Trigger" is now "LT" and "RT" respectively.
Removed the obscuring of non-unlocked level names. Seems pointless.
Box tiles in the dungeon area are now much brighter, helping them appear as terrain instead of appearing to be background.
Can now use Left/Right for all diagonal menu controls as well as Up/Down.

Map Changes

Dash The Gap

Moved the gem in an effort to prevent new players from accidentally touching the door when failing to reach it. As a bonus, it's now set above the enemy you dash into, which I'm hoping will help teach players that you bounce straight upward on enemies if you aren't pressing Forward.

Snatch The Key!

Moved the gem in an effort to prevent new players from accidentally touching the door when failing to reach it. Placed in a position where the key's double jump will help you get it, but left a little ledge so newer players can still reach it without the double jump.

The Box Hop

Removed the point orb above the 2nd gooncopter. Seems gratuitous.
Lowered the 2nd gem to have players (hopefully) dash into the 2nd gooncopter.
Added diagonal spikes to make things look better.

Cross Stitch

Cleaned up the spikes a bit.

Unstable Ceiling

Moved some of the point orbs around to make things a bit easier for the player.
Moved the Massive point orb in the top right down a bit to prevent players from being able to go through it. (Yes, that means you Kadef...) That said, I kept the ability to slip it underneath the bottom point orb. I figure it's hard enough to do.

The Floor Is Lava

Expanded the gap of the point orbs at the start.
Added some diagonal spikes.

Dodge and Dig (Formerly Dig Around)

This map is largely just unliked. I've modified the level to intead be based on arrow dodging while needing to trigger a single crumble block.

Spiky Fists

Cleaned up the spikes a bit around the map.
Added a spring to the middle area, instead of having the player climb up spikes.

New Security Measures

Slightly lowered the rate of fire for some arrow traps.

In A Daze

Replaced the bottom part. Wasn't liking the janky feeling of hitting your head and trying to get across. Now it's more about getting across spike gaps.

Right Above Your Nose

Slightly lowered the fire rate of all the arrow traps.
Shifted the springs on the upper right down a slight bit, allowing them to be reachable immediatly after getting the gem in the arrow traps.

The Guard Dogs

Reworked slightly to allow players to destroy the Shieldfaces along the way. The idea is to let players choose between fighting them ahead of time, or fighting them now.
Removed the patrooligans at the top area to reduce the chaos a bit.

The Spike Pits

Slightly lowered the fire rate on the bottom arrow traps.

Stairway To Riches

Removed two of the gems, making it easier to 100% this one.

Air Traffic Control

Widened the gap of the point orbs a bit. Should make it easier to do the 100% path.
Raised the back end patrooligan to make it easier to reach the upper patrooligans.
Some cosmetic changes to the spikes below.

Shieldface On Patrol

Heavily redesigned the top right area to add a bit more to the level. Can no longer go straight to the exit door, must go underground now.
Modified the bottom area to be a bit less cramped.

Over The Hump

Raised the floor a bit so you can get up the first hump without needing to get up the first tile.
Removed the spikes that are no longer needed.

Bridge of Goon

Raised the ceiling above the the bridge a bit.

Shieldface Gorge

Extended the edges of the "safe zone" a bit to help encourage players to dash into it instead of jumping into it.
Replaced the Point Orbs above the safe zone with spikes.
Slightly moved the spring over to the left a bit to let the Shieldfaces make it over the new spikes.

Hallway of Arrows

Opened up the right side a bit more for the spring up.

The Second Time Around

Made the ceiling a bit heigher above the key.
Tightened up the space you fall to reach the gems, ensuring while you fall you'll get the gems.

Boxed In

Removed the gooncopter, it's no longer needed.
Modified the right side of the map to no longer have crumble bricks, instead put a small point orb in the middle of one of the blocks that must be avoid on the way down.
Slightly shifted the Shieldface at the end to the left, giving the player more room to slip through them if they wish.
Shifted the point orbs to help the player a bit.

Over Your Head

Basically a full redesign.
Note: Will probably rename this level in the near future, since the name doesn't make sense anymore...

Somewhere Above The Rainbow

Moved the lower key up a bit.
Added an extra gooncopter on the right side.
Made the upper key area a bit larger.

The Under Over

Cleaned up the spikes quite a bit.
Removed one of the gems on the left side.
Removed one of the gooncopters that helps you get to the gems at the start.
Shifted the gooncopters in the upper area to make it easier to chain them.

The Over Under

Opened up the gaps in the small point orbs.

Excel-eration

Some cosmetic changes to spikes.

The Key Alcove

Modified the upper area to be fully spike based instead of Point Orbs.
Greatly opened the upper area up.

Tight Corridors

Modified the final gooncopter stomp section to give you much more space to play with, and to prevent you from hitting the ceiling spikes.

Perilous Pits

Made the pit on the right lower.
Reshaped the upper area to not require the dash grace mechanic to get in there.
Placed the upper arrow shooters on the right side and set them to fire at the same time.

Pillars of the Community

Heavily modified the pathing to be a bit easier.
Less spikes in some areas.
Removed some no longer needed Gooncopters.
Added an extra Gooncopter to the right side.

Gnats in the Garden

Tons of changes to help widen everything and make it a fair bit easier.

All Roads Lead To Treasure

Reworked the bottom area a bit.
Slowed the arrow rates.

Bridge of Keys

Raised the ceilings a bit along the "bridge".
Lowered the fire rate on the arrows just a bit.

Hallway of Arrows

Opened up the right side a bit more for the spring up.
Added a slight delay to the arrows shooting at the start, giving the player a bit of time to drop down safely at the start.
Added another tile of open space after the dash at the end 100% route.

Fly to the Finish

Made the starting platform solid, giving players to evaluate the situation.
Shifted the small point orb above the lowest key up a bit to make it a bit easier to grab.
Shifted the small point orb on the top right down a bit to make getting the gem a bit easier.

Soaring Past the Spikes

Removed most of the arrow traps. It felt too hard to time, and not fun. Instead I've replaced the challenge with point orbs above the keys, making climbing a bit trickier.
Placed the arrow traps on the right side above pointing down at the gem instead.

Valley of Thorns

Made the 100% route much wider.

Order of Operations

Replaced some of the Massive Point Orbs with Large Ones.
Cleaned up the spikes a bit.
Lowered the hump at the end that leads to the door.

Boxed Out

Complete rework of the bottom area.
Removed the spikes on the ceilings of the middle area.

Ruler of the Mountain

Modified the lower area to be easier to get out of/into.
Removed the arrow trap from the top right.
Added more thorns all over the place.

Bug Fixes

MAJOR: Fixed bug in Marathon mode that would hard lock the game if you tried to go to Next Chapter despite there not being one to go to. (Thanks Amber!)
MAJOR: Fixed bug where Marathon stats would not update the proper chapter you're on if "Next Chapter" was chosen.

[ 2021-05-17 01:15:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 0.4.5 Beta Update

Level Modifications

Air Traffic Control

Slightly moved the first gooncopter up.

Ladder to Riches

Raised up gooncopters on the right side.

Evil In Good

Edged the Point Orb in the top left a bit more to the right.

Key in the Forest

Moved the bottom right gem further right.

Hall of Craving

Moved the VFTs around a bit to allow for more gapped space to jump out of.
Moved the gem up a bit.

Locking Lips

Moved gooncopter down very little.

Evil in Good

Moved the bottom blocking VFT down a bit.

Bridge of Keys

Made it a bit tougher with more arrows.

Gnats in the Garden

Replaced spike ball with a bit extra spikes up top.

Menu Modifications

Achievement List Items now have more distinction between being unlocked and locked.

[ 2021-05-06 03:20:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

0.4 Beta Release!

When

Starting May 4th, you'll be able to access the 0.4 Release of Cloak and Dasher early!

What's New?

Pretty much everything!

Reworked Adventure Mode
Better Leaderboards (Including Nearby Scores, Top 5 Scores and Top 5 Friend scores)
Unlockable Hard Levels for each existing level, doubling the game's level count!
Achievements
Unlockable Hats!
Multiple Par Times for each level.
Tons of tiny gameplay tweaks you probably won't even notice, but took forever to make!

How To Access?

Starting on 5/4, you'll be able to access the beta by doing the following 3 steps. 1. Right click on Cloak and Dasher in your library and select "Properties..."

2. Click on the "Betas" tab in the popup window.

3. In the dropdown menu, select "beta"

And that's it, you're in! You'll know you're in because Cloak and Dasher will now be marked with "[beta]" in your library.

Feedback

This beta will be going on until June 1st, when I plan on pushing it to public. Until that time, feedback on the beta is HIGHLY encouraged! The best place for feedback is the Discord. During this period, I'm also going to be working to market the game like crazy! If you're able and willing to help, please, share the game any way you can! YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, whatever. Show off the beta any way you want! Most importantly, let me know you're doing so, I'm happy to give a signal boost wherever I can!

Thanks so much!

As always, thank you all for your patience. This update was a long time coming, and I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. I hope you all enjoy it as well. :) -Kevin

[ 2021-05-03 00:18:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Livestream: Feedback Friday #4

Stream can be found here: https://twitch.tv/highsight

[ 2021-04-16 20:50:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Livestream: Feedback Friday #3

Stream can be found here: https://twitch.tv/highsight

[ 2021-04-09 22:43:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Feedback Friday #2

Join us for another Feedback Friday session on Twitch! https://twitch.tv/highsight

[ 2021-03-26 22:56:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Livestream: Feedback Friday

The stream can be viewed here, or if you wish, you can also watch the stream on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/highsight

[ 2021-03-19 13:18:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

2020 Year End Review

.....well that sucked!

I mean, I guess it wasn't ALL bad. There were certainly some high points towards the beginning of the year. In an overall summary though, it's hard to pretend 2020 wasn't just a huge flaming dumpster-truck careening down the street with no regard for whom it runs over. With all that said, what actually got done this year? I want to touch on the positives and negatives of 2020, and speak on what's happening with Cloak and Dasher coming into the new year.

The Good

Early Access Release

In the past I've touched on how rough of an Early Access Release Cloak and Dasher was, but it'd be a foolish mistake to pretend that this wasn't an accomplishment in its own right. This was a huge deal. Until this, I'd never actually shipped a game to the public, and I couldn't be prouder that the game was released in a fairly bug-free and very polished state!

Community Feedback

Beyond just the release, the game has gotten some really solid feedback from people early on. This translated into some very quick patches and modifications to the game that I believe have created a substantially better product than where it started. I couldn't be more grateful for the feedback!

PAX

I never miss an opportunity to mention PAX East 2020. It's hard to believe sometimes that this happened this year, I mean, that feels like a decade ago at this point! That said, this was the highest point in my gamedev career. I met so many wonderful people, and saw so many wonderful things through PAX East and the Indie Megabooth. Until then, I'd never felt like a legitimate gamedev, but more like I was just a hobbyist. This showed me that there is a path to my dreams, and I will stop at nothing to ensure my successful walk on that path, no matter how long it takes.

(Unreleased) New Features!

I know you all hear this a lot, but I am so excited for the next patch of Cloak and Dasher. You aren't going to believe the new features coming down the pipe. The game structure has been completely overhauled for the better. This next patch is going to have so much stuff!

Complete Rework of Adventure Mode
Better Leaderboards
New Unlockable Hard Levels (over 50 made so far, around 80 total planned)
Achievements (In-Game and Steam based!)
Unlockable Hats
Retooled Marathon Mode
An uncountable number of QoL changes and optimizations!

I know this patch has taken a long time, and I'm so thankful for your patience and support. I promise, it will be worth the wait!

The Bad

Real Life

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. The world has changed, and it hasn't been for the better. To those who have lost something special this year, my heart truly goes out to you. So many have been substantially more impacted than others this year, and in retrospect, my level of impact hasn't been that severe. However, I don't believe it's healthy to one's own mental being to consider your losses as "insubstantial" just because they're not as heavy as another's. Mentally, this year has taken a toll on me. In previous years, I'd say I spent about 40% of my conscious life in my apartment. That number is now closer to 95%. For the past 9 or so months, day in and day out, my scenery has been largely unchanged. The only reason I go out is for food and supplies, otherwise, I'm here, always. As someone who's largely an introvert, I actually thought this would be kind of cool. Working from home? No more commute? No requirement to be social outside of meetings? Where do I sign up! This was a trap. I truly never realized just how much my life had grown outside of my standard introverted bubble. Beyond that even, I'd never realized just how much my life needed a change of scenery. Spending month after month in the same place with next to no variation is dangerous. Your whole life becomes a blur, days become weeks become years.

Game Updates

I somehow believed that being at home all the time would up my productivity on the game, but in actuality, it couldn't have been more opposite. I had this grand vision of booting up my computer at lunch time and squeezing in at least a half hour a workday working on the game. Wow, I don't know how I thought that was going to work out. In actuality, my motivation to do anything was completely shot. Lunch time would roll around and I'd usually just get some food and take a nap. Then, my workday would complete, time to work on the game, right? Nope, just close the laptop and take a nap. I think I've been depressed for a while. Depression is insidious like that, it creeps up on you steadily, and you don't see it coming until well after it's gotten hold of you. I've had some bouts with depression before, but it's still so hard to detect. I've been very fortunate, I have some really good friends whom have stuck with some online gaming schedules with me. It's done wonders for keeping me social and happy, and I really recommend anyone else feeling isolated these days finds a gaming group to meet with. While it hasn't done much to help the game updates, it's done wonders for keeping my out of full blown depression. Shoutout to Doug, Nick, Andrew, Tom, the Pirate Plat crew, and the whole HeHa squad, I love you all.

Cloak and Dasher Updates

Progress

Alot of progress has been made towards the next update. Let me break down where we're at for the next update. Next Update Progress

Overall: 80%
Programming: 85%
Levels: 72%
Art: 95%
Audio: 99%

Let's Get Technical

This next update has brought many technical challenges along with it. As such, it's taken a while to get right. I want to ensure that all the changes I make will create a resilient engine and allow for future updates to go smoother.

Achievements and Unlockables

This is a neat one. Two major feature in the new update is the need for Unlockables and Achievements. I wanted an Unlockable system that would recognize when a player does something and in exchange unlock something (a level, a hat, an achievement, etc...). In the past, my game's saving system was not very smart. It was only tracking if a level/chapter was beaten, and what their best time was. In order to achieve (ha, puns) a system that could unlock various things for various reasons, I needed to track ALOT more things. To do this, I created two concepts called "SessionData" and "SaveFile". As I'm sure you assume, "SaveFile" is data that is serialized into the game's save file. Everything from beaten level/chapter times, to stats on which achievements are beaten and more. SessionData, on the other hand is much more interesting. This is abstract temporary data that can be attached to just about anything in game, and modified as needed. The important thing about this data is that it can be pulled into the Achievement System quite easily to allow for interesting achievements! As an example, I wanted to create an achievement for completing a certain level in the game without being spotted by any Patrooligans. In order to achieve this, I created a SessionData object called "PatrooliganSessionData" which is attached to every Patrooligan. Included in this data is a count of every time that specific Patrooligan has spotted the player. Now, in my achievement system, every time a Level is completed, I simply have to gather each instance of "PatrooliganSessionData" that exists in that level and check to see if any of their "spotted" variables are greater than 0. If none are are, we did it! But let's go deeper. What if we want to create an achievement for completing an entire chapter in Marathon Mode without defeating any enemies. In the old system, this would be tricky. The easiest way would have been to create a specific variable for the mode that tracked if any enemies were killed, and if so, set it as true. Instead, I modified MarathonMode to track all SessionData on every completed level in a Marathon Run. This means, at the end of a Marathon run, I can simply check all "EnemySessionData" and see if any enemies have been marked as "Destroyed" in the data. If not, then we unlock the achievement! This system is so versatile, it's crazy how much I can do. You can expect a lot of interesting and varied achievements which will greatly increase replay value as you prove your mastery over the game.

Hard Levels

Another major part of this update is the Hard Mode levels. I had to completely redesign the Adventure Mode and Marathon Mode UI to accommodate this, which was no small feat. I've talked about this a lot, but on a technical level, this involved recreating UI elements. The UI for Cloak and Dasher is actually very unique. I've written most of it from scratch, attempting to shoehorn in the standard Unity UI methods along the way. The reason for this madness is because the standard Unity UI system is HORRIBLE at accommodating controllers. At its designed for Mouse and Touch Screens at its core, with extremely limited power for tracking keyboard and controller inputs. For Cloak and Dasher, a game that is largely expected to be played on controller, this is completely unacceptable. I have worked very hard every step of the way to make Cloak and Dasher able to accommodate Mouse, Keyboard, AND Controller at the same time, even in tandem if needed. It's made working with the UI a great challenge, but in the end, I think this has given the game a very strong foundation for portability, which will help a lot when I finally do a Switch release in the future. Anyway, back to Hard Levels. I had to design a system that could easily Link levels so they'd have a Normal and Hard variant. This was a trickier thing to figure out than I first thought it would be. In the end, I decided to go with a model where Chapters contained a set of Structures, and those Structures each contained a "Normal" and "Hard" level. In some ways, this is not ideal, as it means anytime a level is referenced outside of the Chapter, it doesn't have a direct link to it's "hard"/"normal" counterpart. Luckily though, that hasn't proven to be a direct need yet, so all is well on that front. In the future, the Structure may be replaced with a ScriptableObject which links the levels together, but I haven't seen a direct need for that... yet...

Leaderboards

One of the most important changes that has been requested by nearly everyone is for better leaderboards. Thanks to some help from an SQL expert friend of mine, I was able to create MUCH more diverse Leaderboards. Now instead of only being able to see the highest scorers on each level, you can see: The Top 5, The nearest 5 scores around your score, The Top 5 Among Your Friends. In addition, all of these scores now show the ranking of each score you see, so you'll know exactly where you place in the leaderboards!

Portability

Everything I've done for this game has had Portability in the back of my mind. So much so that I've actually proven Cloak and Dasher can be played on Android!

A friend of mine recently got me a very cool Controller for Christmas called the Razor Keshi, and with it, I was able to prove that Cloak and Dasher does work on Android. I never bothered to implement a virtual controller for the game, so without a real controller, you can't move the character, but it's super neat seeing the game fully playable on Android considering I've not made any specific efforts to make it work on the platform. This is where the UI stuff I mention above has payed off nicely, as well as optimization efforts I've made since day 1. I'm not making any promises here for an Android release, but it's super cool to see this in action, and it bodes really well for a Switch release!

Closing Thoughts

2020's almost over, and I think that's something we can all be thankful for. For many, it's a year we all just want to forget, and I think I'm firmly in that bandwagon. But even despite all the terrible things, some real good came out of this year. Cloak and Dasher may have progressed slower than I'd like, and my mental state may not be in the best place, but there have been snippets of good all around. In darkness like this, the bright spots really do shine, and those are what I hold onto the most. Take care of yourselves everyone, and here's hoping for a much brighter 2021. -Kevin

[ 2020-12-31 23:00:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dev Thoughts #1 - On Failure and Fixes

It's been a while since I've said much about Cloak and Dasher, so let's talk! I'm not a AAA dev, and I'm sure any PR group would tell me "don't make this post", but I think it's important to be transparent and honest with the community. So, let's talk about failure!

Early Access Launch Post-Mortem

I'm not going to lie. Sales numbers of Cloak and Dasher have been abysmal. It's embarrassing to give a real number, but to help you understand, Steam Sales have not passed 100 sales to date. People who play the game enjoy it, but I have been unable to reach an audience with this game. This has been extremely disheartening to me, if I'm being quite honest. Almost all of a game's sales come at launch, with some rare exceptions. Seeing the launch go so terribly tells me this game is never going to do well. Despite that, this game is still my baby, and I want to see it through to the end. This game WILL see a full release, it is not going to languish in Early Access forever.

The bright spot is, I believe this launch failure was due to a variety of solvable problems. So, the next logical step is to solve those problems! Believe it or not, I have been constantly working on the game since launch. I know I've not made this development very visible, but you have to understand, this experience has made me a bit gun-shy about launching any new updates. I feel like the next update needs to be perfect, or this game is going to be doomed. I know I promised new levels every month, and I really wanted to deliver on that promise. Carnivorous Caverns was my first attempt at that, and while I love that level pack and its new mechanic alot, there was NO INCREASE IN SALES from that update. I even made a decent (for me) marketing push and a nice little trailer I'm really proud of. Sadly, despite all that work, it didn't help, so that pushed me more into disheartened territory. That was when it hit me that the problems cannot just be solved with new levels. Something at the very core of this game was wrong, so I had to step back and really consider how to fix this. That's been my work for the past 4 months, so let me take you through these changes.

What Went Wrong?

You Couldn't Buy At Launch

A lot of things that went wrong were my fault, but this one I place at Steam's feet. When I clicked the "Release" button on Steam, the game store became visible, however, for some reason THERE WAS NO BUY BUTTON! I checked everywhere online for anything about this, maybe I set something wrong? Maybe it was a fixable problem? But no, it turns out it was a bug on Steam's end, and they didn't fix it until over 24 hours later, well after the game was lost in a sea of other new games. I'm not gonna lie, this sucked. This really, really sucked. Through no fault of my own, the game was buried, and anyone who had even a passing interest in the game couldn't buy it.

Adventure Mode

One of the most controversial things about Cloak and Dasher is its current Adventure Mode. At launch, it required you to complete a full set of levels (chapters) in a set amount of time, or have to start over. In retrospect, this was a TERRIBLE idea! It needlessly punished players who needed more time to complete the game, or those who just wanted to take time to learn the game's mechanics. This was changed pretty quickly after launch, allowing players to take as much time as they needed to beat a chapter. However, this was still not nearly enough. In the next update, Adventure Mode will be reworked to be individual level based, instead of chapter based. What this means is, if you can't complete a whole chapter in one sitting, you won't be forced to play that chapter all over again, you'll be able to pick up right on the level you left off at! At the time, I had thought forcing a sort of "marathon" game session made the game interesting and unique, but in retrospect, it just discouraged people from leaving, and punished them if they came back. Now, each individual level is going to feel more impactful, and I think that's better for everyone involved. To accommodate this change, the level select menu has been completely changed. It should flow a lot smoother now and do a good job of leading the player on a path from one level to the next.

Secondly, each and every level in the game will now have gems, and by collecting all gems in a level, you'll unlock a "hard" version of that level! This approach solves two problems. It gives gems value, and it allows me to design harder levels for those who prove they are up to the challenge! This means, when the next update comes out, it will include double the number of levels of the current version, as each level will contain a hard variant! I've already completed hard levels for the first 3 chapters of the game.

Lastly, with the new adventure overhaul, each chapter will have its own "story image". I never planned on having any sort of fleshed out story for Cloak and Dasher, but it was clear from the start that I underestimated how interested people were in this world. To help that, we've decided to give the players a small story through the use of images which you get at the chapter select screen, helping you understand Cloak's journey. There will also be some subtle new story hints you can find in-game if you keep your eyes peeled!

Leaderboards

Another complaint I heard alot of were that leaderboards did a terrible job of making you feel like you've done anything. In the past, you could only see the top player of each level and chapter, which set an unattainable goal for many, as you didn't even know where you stood! With the next update, the leaderboards have been COMPLETELY reworked. Soon, you'll be able to see exactly where you rank in each individual level, and now you'll see the top 5 scorers around the world and among your friends.

Marketing Failure

Marketing is not my forte, it never has been, and it most likely never will be. I did not market this game well enough before launch. I had hired a PR firm to help be back then, and they were not able to meet my needs. In retrospect, I should have taken more time to actually do marketing once the game was ready, but I felt a need to get the game in people's hands as soon as possible, especially before PAX. This was a mistake. Before the next update actually occurs, we'll be taking the time to make a much larger market push and get some eyes on it. We'll also be putting something together to reward those that help us get visibility on the game. More info on that to come soon!

Game Length

Many people were able to complete the entire game on launch within an hour. While it's easy to chalk this up to a lack of levels on launch, there's actually a second component to that. Nearly all of the people who completed the game for the first time in an hour completely ignored the gems, meaning they never tried the "hard" path. Looking back, it makes sense why they did this. [olist]

Players were not rewarded for collecting gems. The main reward was just that you'd have a "100% Completion" leaderboard rank, which most people didn't care about because the leaderboards were so bad. I believe this is fixed now by unlocking hard levels with gems, I also have something planned for collecting enough gems in the game overall... more on that later...

If you missed a single gem in the chapter, it was all pointless. There was no reward for getting 22/23 gems in a chapter, and if you missed one you couldn't go back. This was, sadly, a side effect of the previous "complete a full chapter" design. I believe now that players are doing Individual Levels instead, players will feel more encouraged to attempt to 100% individual levels. [/olist] I've always designed Cloak and Dasher around the idea of replayability and mastery, with the gems being the cornerstone of that. I'm hoping these changes will help reinforce that, and give players a feeling of wanting to go back and try again. Of course, more levels will always help this as well. I'm pleased to announce that with the new Hard Mode level variants, I currently have over 50 new levels ready to go, with even more planned for this next update. Ideally, I'd like to have every single level currently in the game contain a hard mode variant. You may be thinking "how different can a hard mode level really be? Is it worth my time?". Well, you be the judge.

Normal Mode:

Hard Mode:

I really want these Hard Mode levels to feel like something worth earning. They are not going to be meant for everyone, but for the right player, they should be a lot of fun, without discouraging players who are not at the "hard" level!

What Went Right?

The Game's Core Is Fun

It is very rare that I find someone who picks up the game and doesn't like it. The vast majority of players I've observed find the game at its core to be a lot of fun, and that's something that makes me very proud. With all the development time I've put into this game, I've still not gotten bored of moving around in the game. I mean, just look at my Steam Hours...

PAX

PAX was a huge success. Without a doubt, showing the game off at PAX was the proudest moment of my life. I actually got more sales through PAX than all of my Steam sales combined. People loved the game there, it was a real hit among those who tried it. I met some amazing people too, who I'm now proud to consider friends Everyone was super positive, and it was a huge energy boost to see so many people not only enjoy the game, but buy it on the spot. I mentioned Steam Sales earlier being under 100 sales. But PAX sales were actually over 100. For a little indie game with no marketing, in early access, this is absolutely amazing.

Discord

The players who've joined my Discord have been incredibly helpful. Some of them have pointed out bugs, helped me with testing, guided new gameplay features, and some have even helped promote the game themselves! It's been an absolutely amazing feeling to have people enjoy the game so much that they've told their friends to get it.

Feedback

Player feedback has reshaped the game for the better in a way I never imagined. It's hard to believe what the game has become when compared to its launch counterpart, and I can't wait to share it with all of you. The best part of Early Access has been the feedback given to me by each and every one of you. I believe it's important to listen to everyone when it comes to game design and give their thoughts a chance. Thanks to that, this game has grown into something more than the sum of its parts. Thank you to all who have helped nurture it.

The Art Is Awesome

Everyone agrees, something about the art style of Cloak and Dasher is a hit. Yokcos, the game's artist, had a clear vision for this game from the start, and he's nailed it every step of the way. I'm very thankful to have him on this project, and I can't wait for you to see the new stuff he has in store for the future!

The Music is Awesome

Nothing gets me more pumped for this game than hearing a new track composed for the game by Will Savino. The music sets the game so perfectly, and even hearing the same song on repeat over and over again at PAX, we never got bored of it.

Final Thoughts

If you stuck with me through all of this, then wow, you've earned a medal of some sort. Cloak and Dasher's journey is not complete, but it will be seen through. This is my first launched game, so there was always bound to be some missteps. I'm sure this won't be the last time I be post about failure, but each failure is just an opportunity to breed success. With a little luck, you'll be hearing more about the game's successes in the near future. Thanks as always for the support, Kevin Randino

[ 2020-09-19 19:53:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 0.3.4: Fixed Leaderboards Better Resolution Options

Hey everyone! My webhost changed something on their end which required a patch to fix. The leaderboards should now be back up and running, I apologize for the downtime on that! In addition a slight change has been made to how resolutions work. This should fix any resolution problems that you may have had on Macs. The window size is now based on multiplicatives of the native resolution size. I'm hoping to have the next major update out by the end of this month, which will include a fully reworked Adventure Mode, better leaderboards, hard mode levels and par times for each level. Keep a lookout for updates on that!

[ 2020-06-14 16:38:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

May Newsletter

Obligatory Life Update During the Crisis

Greetings everyone! I hope you're all well. I'm sure many of you are wondering where the new levels are this month. I'm afraid there will not be any new levels this month. These past two months have rocked the world, and I'm afraid my life has been no exception. Luckily, Covid-19 has not impacted my life in any irreversible way, I'm happy to report that no one in my immediate group of friends and family have contracted the virus. With that said, my work situation has changed, and it has altered my ability to work on the game at the same pace I used to. To pile on top of that, my fiance and I are in the process of moving to a new apartment, which has also taken up much of my time in April, and will certainly take up my time in May as well while we actually move our stuff to the new place.

So What's New With The Game?

First let me first assure you all that while I've gotten less work done on the game than I'd like, the game is still progressing very nicely. I've been taking your feedback to heart, and implementing some changes which I believe you'll all enjoy! The largest piece of feedback I've been tackling has been a complete rework of Adventure Mode. With this rework, the game is no longer going to have the player run through full chapters in one go, instead, the player will move from one level to the next one at a time. When they beat a level, that unlocks the next level. When you beat all the levels, it unlocks the next chapter. In addition, all beaten chapters will be playable in "Marathon Mode", in which the player can run through all the levels in one go, much like Adventure Mode's current iteration. Lastly, if the player collects all of the gems in a level, it will unlock the "hard mode" version of that level for play. In order to accommodate this change, we've been hard at work recreating the entire Adventure Mode menu from scratch. There's still quite a bit of work to be done to get this to 100%, but the core functionality works! Here's a sample of what the new Adventure Mode looks like at this exact moment.

Leaderboard Reworks

You'll notice one of the biggest changes to the menu is the newly changed leaderboards section. I've completely reworked the Leaderboards to show more than just who's #1 at everything. Leaderboards now come in 3 flavors.

Nearby Scores: Shows the 5 scores that are closest to your own, giving you a more attainable goal to reach than just the top score. This is the default tab that shows.
Top 5 Scores: Shows the top 5 scores for that level, whether you're in them or not.
Friends Scores: Shows the top 5 scores among all of your friends.

Each leaderboard contains an Any% and 100% variant, so you can try to dominate both sides of the leaderboards!

Does This Game Have a Story?

Easily one of the things I'm asked the most with Cloak and Dasher is "Why am I doing this?". I'm happy to say that with this rework to Adventure Mode, my artist and I have also nailed down a story for the player to progress through. This story will be told through "chapter images" which will be associated to each chapter. As you unlock new chapters, the images will tell the story of Cloak's adventure to seek an ancient treasure. In addition, some levels will have environmental clues to help you understand what's going on. I think this is a great way to allow players to enjoy the game at it's intended pace, while still presenting the players with a story. In addition, in the future, I'd like to include more info about the world and its inhabitants through unlockables by completing 100% runs of the game. Stay tuned for more info on this!

When can I expect the next update?

In all honesty, I don't have a straight answer to this. I'm hoping for things to normalize in my life sometime between the end of this month and the beginning of next month. Hopefully, I'll have some sort of update for you all before then, but I really don't want to promise anything right now. Now is were we get into the heavy stuff, so I suggest you skip the next paragraph if you don't want yet another Covid talk. We're all in uncharted waters around the world right now, and I believe it's everyone's top priority to take good care of themselves and those around them, both physically and mentally. One thing that's been slowing my work recently is I've been making more time to do game sessions with my friends, in order to keep all of our spirits up now that we can't see each other anymore. I feel guilty about doing this after I've made a promise to you all to get levels out each month, but I hope you can understand why this is important. In fact, consider this my call to action for you all. Please make yourself available to those important in your life. We're all in this together, and your friends and loved ones need you now more than ever, whether it's for a phone call, video chat, or a online gaming session. Some people have a harder time in isolation than others, and you could be the one to pull them out a a funk they themselves don't even know they're in. Thank you so much for your continued support. Please everyone, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive. See you on the other side, Kevin

[ 2020-05-04 22:03:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Level Pack #1: The Carnivorous Caverns

[previewyoutube=0VxLXpk0LqI;full][/previewyoutube]

Welcome to the Carnivorous Caverns

As Cloak journeys deeper into overgrowth territory they find themselves faced with a new obstacle. Dubbed the "Venus Floor Trap" this strange plant seems to enjoy snacking on unsuspecting creatures foolish enough to get too close. For the quick, however, they can serve as useful platforms to reach new heights!

The Carnivorous Caverns is the first free level pack releasing April 7th. It features 13 new levels to play with, and a brand new mechanic. Each month over the course of Early Access, we will be releasing level packs such as this. Some of these new levels will feature new mechanics and may even take place in new areas! We hope you enjoy this level pack, and are always looking forward to your feedback in the discord!

Changelog

New Features

The Carnivorous Caverns chapter has been added to the game!
The Venus Floor Trap obstacle has been added to the game. Beware their bite!
Added a Community Menu to the Main Menu. This will lead players to the various community outlets for the game. Stop by and say hi!

Modifications

Map: Bridge of Goon has been tweaked to be a bit easier.
Map: A Little to the Left has been renamed to "Shieldface Ready To Charge" and has been made slightly easier.
Enemy: Shieldface's shield hurtboxes have been changed to only hurt things in front of them. This should make it easier to land on their heads while they are charging.

What's Next?

With the first map pack out of the way, my next major focus is going to be on another new mechanic, as well as a new area all together. I can not confirm that the next map pack will take place in this area yet, as we're in the early stages, but if not this map pack, the next one should be in a new area. In addition, this month I'll be working to tackle one of the most disliked mechanics in the game, the Keybirds. Right now, interacting with the keybirds is just plain un-fun, and it has not gone unnoticed. I will be looking into replacing the keybirds with a new, easier to interact with medium for unlocking doors. More on that to come later. Last, but not least, this month I'll be working with my artist to re-create the chapter select screen. As it stands, the game's current chapter select screen really does not do a good job at it's displaying all the important info, and it needs a rework to differentiate it from the level select screen. Yockos, my artist, has designed some mockups that I quite like, so I'll be focusing on making that vision a reality. I think it will help a lot with making adventure mode feel a bit different.

Final Thoughts

It feels so cool to be able to deliver my first content update to this game. There's something very satisfying about getting a content pack out, especially knowing it's the first of many. This game will continue to grow bigger and bigger until finally it's a fully fledged game. I'm so privileged to have the community I do to help me guide it towards perfection. I hope you'll all stick with me as the game matures, even if you only pop in for the major content updates. Be sure to say hi, and let me know what you think about the game, I take all feedback seriously. Until next time! -Kevin

[ 2020-04-06 01:31:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Minor Update #2 (0.2.12)

First Things First

These past few weeks, I've been observing more and more people as they play the game and give me their feedback. One thing I've noticed consistently in people's playthroughs is a general frustration with certain levels. Many of them suddenly appear as great cliffs on the difficulty curve, and I'd like very much to smooth the curve out. This update, with the release of Adventure Mode, I wanted to dedicate time to reworking many of those hard levels, making them less punishing. If you had trouble with the game before, and grew frustrated, I urge you to please try the game again! I think you'll find that the levels are much easier now. That's not to say, however I want the game to be without challenge! In the near future, I'd like very much to release an update that to players who are at a higher level have something to work towards. The idea is simple, if you complete a chapter in Adventure Mode and collect all of the gems in the chapter, you'll unlock a "Hard Mode" variation of the chapter. Each level will have a much higher difficulty level, providing a greater challenge to players who are looking for it. This is a lovely "two birds, one stone" solution for me, as it will allow me to reward players AND provide more content for the game. Be on the lookout for such an update, hopefully next month! Now, onto the changelog!

Changelog

New Features

Replaced Time Attack mode with Adventure Mode. Adventure Mode utilizes an in-game timer that counts up instead of down. Time Attack has been removed for the time being, and will be added back in at a later time. Due to the nature of this change, I'm afraid that your high scores from Time Attack are not transferable to Adventure Mode. The good news is, Level Select high scores remain unaffected. Thank you for understanding.

Modifications

Most levels in "A Foot In The Dungeon" and "Overgrown Ruins" chapters have been reworked to be easier, and/or more streamlined. Harder variations of these levels will be added to the game in a future update as unlockables.
Collision detection for characters is now handled with boxcasts instead of raycasts. This will provide more accurate collision detection.
Greatly reduced the size of the gooncopter's Hurt Box. This should reduce the number of times a gooncopter kills you when you don't expect it to.

MAJOR Fixes

Characters should always face the correct direction now when a level restarts.

Minor Fixes

Crumble Blocks now activate even if a level restarts with a character already standing on them.

What's Next?

New Chapter with a New Mechanic

Early in the month of April (hopefully next week), a new level pack will be released called "The Carniverous Caverns". This level pack will feature a brand new game mechanic that I hope you will all enjoy named the Venus Floor Trap. I've spent alot of time tweaking the game to work with this new mechanic, and with the new changes made to the engine, it should make the next mechanic I have in mind much easier to implement! With that said, this upcoming chapter will most likely be a shorter one. Alot of my development time this month has been devoted to the reworks, and it has left me little time to create new maps. I anticipate this map pack being along the size of A Foot In The Dungeon, around 10 levels. If however, I feel the map pack doesn't live up to being enough content, I will delay it so I can create a better one.

Custom Mode

Custom Mode (Name Pending) is the next planned mode for the game. It will feature a way for players to create their own challenges, which can be shared with others. Players can design their own rulesets and level sets, which can then be shared online with the community. Each of these custom modes will feature their own online leaderboards, so you can battle to be the best in your own challenge set! Here are some rule ideas that are currently under consideration:

Timer Never Stops - The in game timer will not pause when a player dies or starts a level.
100% Only - The exit door will remain locked until all gems in the level are collected.
Limited Lives - The challenge is failed if the player dies a certain number of times.
Limited Time - This will essencially serve as the Time Attack replacement. Time counts down, and the challenge is failed if time runs out.
No Dashing - The player's dash is disabled for the challenge.
No Double Jump - The player's double jump is disabled for the challenge.

I am curious what sort of rules you would be interested in having in Custom Mode. Please, reach out to me and let me know what you'd like to see! FYI, you will not be able to submit a challenge online until you beat the challenge yourself, proving it is possible.

Last Words

To be serious for a moment, I hope that everyone is staying safe in these strange and scary times. No one knows for sure what the future holds, but the present is very different from what we're used to right now, and I hope you're all adjusting to the new normal. I'm very fortunate that for the moment myself, and those around me, are all safe, and I hope the same for you and yours. Please stay safe everyone, be smart, and let's beat this thing together. Happy Dashing, -Kevin

[ 2020-03-24 23:20:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Minor Update #1 (0.2.6)

First Things First

This week has been an absolute whirlwind. Thank you all so much who have joined me on the Cloak and Dasher journey, it's a pleasure to have you on board. This past week I've spent a lot of time going over feedback from players on ways to improve the game. Much of the feedback, comes from the Discord. (which you should totally join!) Today's patch is the culmination of the first round of changes requested by you, the community. This patch does not contain every single from the feedback that I'd like to get to, but I think it's a good start until the next one!

Changelog

New Features

Added a "Retry" button that kills the player when pressed. Check the Controls to bind it.
Directonal, Dash and Jump buttons now buffer while the player entering a level.
Dashing Grace Mechanics have been greatly overhauled. Should result in much kinder dash grace mechanics.
Exit to level select menu from results screen in Level Select Mode by pressing Pause button.

Modifications

All Time Attack levels are now set to have 50 minutes instead of their regular amount. This is to tide over players until Time Attack is removed altogether in the next patch, replaced with Adventure Mode, which will use a counting-up timer.
The size of arrow Hurtboxes have been drastically reduced.
While dashing, the player has a much smaller hitbox to better reflect the character's visuals.
Platforms you can jump through will no longer block horizontal movement when approaching them from the side.
Pressing Back button in main menu does not close game anymore.

MAJOR Fixes

Memory Leak caused by not deallocating Player Input events. May help prevent microstutters over time.
Trophy icon showing up even when you don't get a world record.
Player is now invincible when reaching the door. This should prevent any posibilities of the player dying on the same frame they reach the door.

Minor Fixes

Player animation logic which was preventing the "Landing" animation from playing properly.
When the player changes control bindings, it updates the Respawn Message to be accurate.
Exiting out of level in Level Select will focus the menu on the level exited out of.
Unbound controls now claim to be "UNBOUND".
The player should now remain grounded on level start, fixing double jump buffer errors at start.

What's Next?

Time Attack Removal

The biggest upcoming change will be the temporary removal of Time Attack mode. In retrospect, it is clear that Time Attack's feeling of continual time pressure goes greatly against the game's core principles. The game is meant to allow players of all skill levels to learn and get better as they play, but being forced to replay previous levels due to failure is far too punishing. In the next patch, Time Attack will be completely removed, replaced instead by a new "Adventure Mode". Adventure Mode will work in much the same way as Time Attack mode, except the timer will be counting up instead. Currently in this mode, gems will offer no real value to the player outside of achieving a 100% completion run. I do, however, have plans to give gems more meaning in the long-term with Adventure Mode, so stay tuned for that!

The Problem with Keybirds

Keybirds (or as you may know them, "those weird bats with the keys") are in an odd spot right now. They are framed as though they are an enemy, but they can't hurt you like an enemy. They are destroyed like an enemy, but their hitboxes are so strange. I am making it a goal in the next patch to make Keybirds feel better overall to the player. I still want them to function the same, in that I want players to be able to collect the key, get bounced up, and refresh double jump and dashing, but I want it to be able to do all of that without being framed as an enemy. This means, ideally, you won't need to "destroy" them to make all this happen. What this means? I honestly don't entirely know yet, but I'm going to work to resolve this game-feel issue.

New Levels

As promised, I will be working to put out new levels every single month in the form of free level packs. We've got some new mechanics in the pipe for this month's upcoming level pack, and I can't wait to show them off to you all! It is worth noting, however, that due to the number of much larger than expected changes I'm making to the game this month, this month's level pack may end up being a bit on the smaller side. I truly believe the new mechanics will help make up for that.

Last Words

I'd like to seriously encourage all of you to join the Cloak and Dasher discord! It is my primary means of communication with you all, and I'd like to with very closely with the community as this game develops. We've already made some fantastic improvements in just the 1st week of Early Access thanks to some outstanding community members, and I'd like you to be one of them. To those who are having fun with Cloak and Dasher, thank you so much for supporting the project. It's only going to get bigger and better over time, so let's keep going! Do not ever hesitate to reach out to me with your questions, comments, concerns and general feedback. I love talking with you all about the game. Happy Dashing, -Kevin

[ 2020-03-09 21:44:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Cloak and Dasher Release Date!