Hey guys! Krayfishkarl here with another Droplet: States of Matter update! Early Access 1.7 is now available! Key features include a graphical and musical rework of Waterworks, a level found in the same hub world as Bonsai Bathhouse.
Waterworks is one of the oldest levels ever created for the game. It served to prototype the grate obstacles that all states of matter except for ice form can pass through. Early in development, I decided this was an important feature to have working as it had to be integrated with the core collision handling of the whole game. Thematically, a sewer was the perfect setting to explore the idea – mixing gratings with water that could be frozen.
The level has changed significantly since the early days. Not only are there new graphical effects such as water reflections off the walls, but enemy placements have been altered to rebalance the difficulty. The level was in need of more aggressive underwater enemies so a squid that chases you was added. Over in the latter half of the level, most of the platforms are very thin with little space for anyone other than the player character to walk on. Thus, a new flying enemy was introduced: a bat that shoots sonic waves.
In other news, I’ve changed the tutorial in response to player feedback. Several new hints were added to better clarify certain aspects of the game. Additionally, after obtaining the green crystal, the door that leads back to the Science Expo opens again. That way, you can now go back and check to see if you missed any atoms in that area before moving on to Helium Valley.
Finally, I’ve just recently crossed 1000 followers on Twitter. To celebrate this milestone, there’s a bonus devlog in the works where I cover one of the game’s mysterious lost levels. If you want to hear the full story on that, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so that you don’t miss the video when it comes out! And with that, thank you for reading!
Bug Fixes
- You will no longer see a clone of Droplet if you quit and reload the introduction before finishing it.
- You will no longer be sent flying in the air if approaching moles during their defeated animation.
Gameplay
- Layout changes in Waterworks for difficulty balancing. New Bat and Squid enemies added.
- Player-triggered moving platforms now have a new animation for stopping and falling when hitting walls.
- The timed platforms in Crystal Quarry now have numbers on them to indicate how long they’ll last before disappearing.
- Health increased for mole enemies.
- Removed the ability to break boxes by shooting them up close with a form that doesn’t match. This was caused by a logic error, and it was never intended.
- Tree Frogs can now be frozen when meleeing them in ice form.
- Hitting a Tree Frog with a normal projectile after hitting it with a charged one will no longer decrease the time until it shatters.
- Reoriented the Tree Frogs in all levels so that they no longer are staring at walls.
- Collision adjustments to Cretaceous Caldera.
- A door in Professor Humphry’s Lab now reopens after obtaining the green crystal.
- Repositioned some state changers in Sprites and Elves.
Graphics
- Graphical update for Waterworks.
- New model for the Mercury enemies.
- Added some fossils to Pleistocene Plateau.
Audio
- New music for Waterworks.
- Changed sound effect for Rave Rats.
Controls
- Fixed a bug where horizontal camera control was mapped incorrectly when playing with a game controller.
Text
- Renamed Area 14 level to Galaxy Gauntlet.
- Altered some dialogue to provide clarity in response to player feedback.
- A message now appears the first time you’ve collected enough atoms to gain an extra life.
- Added several more tutorial messages.
- Corrected typo in the credits.
- Fixed some dialogue to match spoken voice lines.