Droplet: States of Matter – Oganesson Labs, Hardcore Mode and More!

Hey guys! Krayfishkarl here and welcome to another Droplet: States of Matter update! Early Access 1.44 is now available! This update reworks the layout of Oganesson Labs among other things.

Oganesson Labs has been redesigned from the ground up to better hone in the “finale” feel to it. The backstory of this area was that one hundred years ago, a secret research facility on dark matter was abandoned due to a solar flare. All these years later, Dr. Ruby Dium rediscovered the facility to make it her new base of operations. As such, I aimed to make the area feel very ominous, as if some forbidden technology once laid to rest had been reawkened due to a disturbance. Additionally, partway through the level is a holographic bridge that requires you to collect all the green crystals in the area to unlock.

I decided to add these new requirements as I felt that without them, the player could reach the end of the game without having experienced most of the levels. So now, in all the other hub worlds, in order to face the boss, you must have at least two green crystals from that hub world. This is to make sure that the player is adequately taught all the necessary mechanics to be able to not only defeat the boss but to properly get an idea of the key features the game has to offer.

In other news, I’ve gone through the entire game and graphically updated a lot of old models. You’ll find plenty of enemies sporting a new look with some even having new behaviors. There are far too many to list, but one of the new enemies of note can be found in Misty Canopies. It is a Toadstool that releases a cloud of spores that will temporarily reverse the controls. This effect only lasts a few seconds, but can make or break a time trial if you’re not careful.

Additionally, you’ll now find the title screen has new music. While it still has the same lyrics and melody, it features completely new instrumentation. This is in preparation for a planned update to the title screen animations. One of these newer animations is already in the game, so you might notice something a little different partway through the sequence.

And lastly, the new reward for completing all the Kray Times – the hard versions of the time trials – is access to an Extras Menu. Among various cosmetics like big head mode, there’s also a hardcore mode that wipes your save file if you lose a life. I’ll more than likely add a few more of these bonuses in future updates, so I’ll keep the details a surprise for the time being!

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

Patch Notes

Gameplay

  • New criteria for proceeding to the next Noble Gas province added. You must have at least two green crystals in a star system before you can face the boss of the area. The only exception is Oganesson Labs in which you need three green crystals.
  • Reshuffled some atoms in Misty Canopies.
  • New enemy in Misty Canopies – Toadstools which can release spores. If you get caught in them, the controls become temporarily reversed. They replace the previous hopping mushroom enemies.
  • Reduced damage radius of zombie ants.
  • Misty Canopies Ents attack slightly faster.
  • Time trial adjustments for Misty Canopies.
  • Number of atoms needed before obtaining an extra life increased from 250 to 1000.
  • Clams are now more aggressive.
  • Enemies have a slightly wider line of sight.
  • Fixed a bug with incorrect animations during the Sobek fight.
  • Updated some mechanics of the second phase of the final boss fight.
  • Added superluminal scanner to Argon Town.
  • New button to center camera behind you. Press LB on Xbox controller or F on keyboard.
  • Updated physics for icicles.
  • Removed Argon Town and the Science Museum from the demo version. This is to streamline the demo experience a bit more.

Graphics

  • Title sequence has received some updates.
  • Graphical updates to various enemies throughout the game.
  • Volcano eruption effect updated.
  • Shrunk the size of a few campfires.
  • Graphical update to a mysterious benefactor.
  • Fixes some missing faces on Sill E. Con’s model.

Audio

  • New title screen music.
  • New music for the endgame bonus area.
  • New music for second phase of final boss fight.
  • New music for Sandswept City.
  • Added a few new menu SFX.
  • New sounds for various enemies throughout the game.
  • New music for the appearance of a mysterious benefactor.
  • Improved audio mixing in the credits theme.

Text

  • Adjusted some of the professor’s voice lines and dialogue.
  • Hints about museum artifacts now show up much further into the game to give more time for you to figure them out on your own.
  • There is now a message about controlling your spaceship on the map screen when you enter it for the first time.

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