December Update

I've mainly been working on some really boring UI and behind the screen optimization stuff the last month or two. I released The Superfluous in Early Access on Steam back on Novemeber 22nd. I had the first 1/3 of the story written and it's biome fully laid out.

I worked on the Worm Boss next.

I also decided to add these as little enemies through out the first biome.

The worm boss (while derivitive) works really well. If you destroy a middle segment you are left with two bosses to fight instead of one.  I also decided that the boss worm would destroy the blocks it tunneled through. This goes with the lore that the worms created the many caverns and caves found in the game.

This boss also went with a core idea I have: each weapon should have strengths and weaknesses. The laser is the best for the worm because it will penatrate and damage all the sections at once. I found myself relying on the assualt rilfe a lot through out the first biome and I wanted the feeling that different weapons worked better for different situations.

Speaking of weapons I also created a flame thrower. It is pretty awesome.

Along with some major engine tweaks (the engine I based this game on has been edited so much is it almost unrecognizable) I added a few more options. I created the much requested keyboard rebinding and the RStick on the controller will now shoot. The RStick firing feels a little wierd to me, but some people liked it better. I guess I come from the era of console/controller gaming where using buttons (ABXY) felt normal. Today dual sticks are used for shooters so this generation of gamers are more comfortable using those instead of buttons (I still prefer my mouse and keyboard). It is interesting that FPS games have changed how we use buttons.