Droplet: States of Matter – Duchess Cara Bonnie rework

Hey guys! Krayfishkarl here and welcome to another Droplet: States of Matter update! Early Access 1.35 is now available! This update reworks the boss fight against Duchess Cara Bonnie.

Cara Bonnie is a fairy tale sorceress, one with a notorious temper and a hatred for anyone who dares to interrupt her tea time. Despite her smaller stature compared to the two-headed dragon boss of the previous hub world, she is not one to be trifled with. She can fire a variety of magical projectiles and even put up a shield to block your attacks. You will have to be in the correct state of matter in order to bypass her defenses.

While the original version of this boss was well-received, the primary purpose for this rework was for narrative reasons. I redesigned her character model to be more authoritative and intimidating, and I also implemented new voice acting which aims to convey her more threatening demeanor.

Her ability to change her defenses against the states of matter was also reworked to better distinguish her mechanics from the Sill E. Con boss fight later in the game. Rather than changing between water, ice, cloud and plasma forms, she instead changes between having a shield made out of either stone, plants or wind. This is to ensure that the player knows how the states of matter react to enemies with special immunities before facing more complex challenges later on.

To go along with these changes, I’ve graphically updated the arena to better match the aesthetic of the recently reworked Argon Town hub world. You’ll now find yourself in a castle where several friendly guards will attempt to discourage you from disturbing the duchess. I’ve also added a new boss theme which takes inspiration from Baroque and Victorian era music. These additional details help to bring in a little extra worldbuilding and personality which I’m hoping to eventually include across the entire game.

That’s all for now! And with that, thank you for following the development of Droplet: States of Matter!

Patch Notes

Gameplay

  • Reworked the Duchess Cara Bonnie boss fight with new mechanics.
  • Added town guard NPC’s to Argon Town that will greet you.
  • Ammo now charges twice as fast for the character you are not playing as.
  • The Hazard Recovery ability no longer protects you from Kalofrioh’s lightning. (Dev note: The previous behavior was unintentional. Hazard Recovery is meant to protect you only from falling out of bounds or in liquids/lava.)
  • Fixed bug where Helium Floaters would not stop shooting when the player exits the awareness radius.
  • Fixed a misaligned switch in Macro Kitchen.
  • Collision adjustments to Sobek character object.

Graphics

  • Graphical rework on Cara Bonnie’s arena.
  • Adjusted some tiling on an island in Arctic Rig.

Audio

  • New music track for Duchess Cara Bonnie boss fight.
  • Adjusted the distance at which you can hear shark torpedoes.

Text

  • Minor grammar changes with Duchess Cara Bonnie’s dialogue.

Misc

  • Fixed a bug where a softlock could occur if you paused the game at a certain moment while a hazard animation was playing.
  • Fixed some collision issues with the geometry in Abyssal Fissure.
  • Fixed camera collision with crane objects
  • Updated collision type for jungle trees.
  • Camera no longer clips through pits.
  • Fixed bug where seagulls in the Salty Peter fight were not properly despawning.
  • Added some additional safety checks for whenever enemy health reaches zero.