Late post this week! Sorry about that. We have been hard at work on some new and interesting additions to the game this past week.

Manta Ray

If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed that we use the same bosses again and again in our screenshots (especially that ever-photogenic Puffer…). Well no more! We won’t be revealing everything on the site, but we’ll give some peeks into what we’re working on. Our latest boss is a Manta Ray, and is tentatively named the GIANT DEATH RAY. Here’s a crash course.

• He’s a change-up boss. When he’s facing you, your survival will hinge on precise movement around his slow-moving bullets. When he’s facing away, it’s an all-out scramble to keep up with him and dodge the debris he chucks your way.
• For this boss, we devised methods that let us meddle with the game’s scroll speed (how fast you move through the level) on the fly. Prepare for rocket boosts that send you hurtling through knots of obstacles.
• Because of all the destructible objects being flung your way, you’ll need to make snap decisions on dodging vs. blasting your way to safety.

I have been creating a bunch of art concepts for the Manta Ray boss. I also have been working on a lot of polished art for the boss as well. I have some plans to include these into the game in a meaningful way but right now I am still working on making that system. I had a bunch of fun making these and think that they turned out really well. With that said, check out some cool action poses!

Background Concepts

I also have been working on adding more interesting backgrounds in our game. Right now, the background looks like a barren, rocky area devoid of life. So I have been working on some concepts to include some vegetation in the game. This will hopefully help the game feel like it is more underwater and alive than before. Check out a concept that I am testing out:

Again, right now it is in the concept stage but I am working on getting these into the game very soon. What do you think about the new backgrounds? Do you think that it is too much? Remember there is only one layer of vegetation in the concept picture, each layer will have coral and kelp scattered throughout the scene.

Rumble!

Another feature that we added in is RUMBLE! While you battle your way through countless enemies now you will feel tactile feedback when you fire a huge blast or take some damage. It really adds a lot to the way the game feels, giving you a large amount of feedback just through vibration alone. A very cool instance of this is the battle between “One Tough Puffer”: when the torrent of bubbles swarm you and your allies your controllers vibrate in response.

In other news, I know it is a bit short notice but we are going to be at GlitchHQ in Minneapolis today for PLAY/TEST. You can come check out the latest build and talk to us about the game, we love meeting up with you guys and hanging out. Be sure to swing by if you can the event is FREE!