Hey guys! Krayfishkarl here, and welcome to another Droplet: States of Matter update! Early Access 1.15 is now available! This update features a complete redesign of the Crystal Quarry level. It’s been reworked from the ground up with new enemies and a new level layout. You’ll find that it is more or less a completely new area in the game to explore.
Crystal Quarry was actually a leftover from the prototype phase. I took heavy inspiration from the Sodium Cave level from the original Droplet game. As the placeholder graphics were a bit of a blank slate, I had a lot of freedom when it came to the visuals. I wanted to make the level feel just as uniquely themed as the others, so I focused heavily on creating landmark areas and backgrounds filled with distinct color palettes.
My level design skills have significantly improved since the level was originally created in 2018. As such, I saw it necessary to rearrange the atoms and other collectibles so that they felt more naturally and intuitively placed. You might find the pink crystal and the hidden artifact are in different locations than before. But I’ll leave you to discover them on your own!
That’s all for now! And with that, thank you for following the development of Droplet: States of Matter!
Patch Notes
Bug Fixes
- Fixed some voice samples not being affected by volume adjustments.
Gameplay
- New layout for Crystal Quarry.
- New enemy added to Crystal Quarry: the Crystal Miner.
- Hopping slimes and bats from Waterworks now take the place of the banana guys and the moles. (Banana guys still appear in the Sodium Cave bonus level.)
- Collision adjustments for Sodium Block enemy
- Steam vents now produce clouds consistently across all levels. (They were originally set to the tempo of the background music.)
- Sodium blocks can now be triggered at a distance. If they blow up close enough to another one, they’ll either trigger that one or cause it to explode immediately.
- Explosions can now damage enemies.
- Changed camera collision for the mineshaft support beam object.
Audio
- New music for Crystal Quarry.
- Sodium Block’s hissing stops when it explodes.
Graphics
- Graphically updated Crystal Quarry.
- Updated the double arrow and danger sign posts with new models.
Other
- Minor performance improvements with certain background objects.