Devlog 51 - Levels 5-2, 5-3, 5-4

Published: April 6, 2023

The bad news is that it's been 2 months since my last devlog post! The good news is that I've finished 3 entire levels in that time:

Level 5-2

This level introduces green enemies that are placed at the beginning of a flight path, so you need to pretty both buttons and hold down the jump button as you do:

As with level 5-1, I wanted to try using large partially-translucent shapes for the backdrop. One of my experiments while drawing level 5-1 was these large circular bubble shapes that I didn't end up using, so I used them here instead, along with an "undersea" theme.

Level 5-3

In this level we have green enemies combined with spike enemies:

We also get green enemies plus water columns:

Visually, I decided to stick to the generally "geometric" theme for backdrops (matching level 5-1 pretty closely) and just used a bunch of thick lines at 45-degree angles that form a sort of maze-line pattern. Again, there's large translucent shapes at play here.

Level 5-4

Level 5-4 introduces the tricky notion of placing a green enemy at the =end= of a flight path, so you need to release the jump button while pressing the attack button. This can be pretty tricky to get the hang of, so I made sure to dial the tempo back for this level to compensate.

For the visuals here I kept things pretty simple and just used translucent rectangle shapes with colored borders. It may seem like I'm being lazy here, but at least I've managed to get away from the big cloud layers that I was seemingly using in every level for worlds 2 and 4!

The patterns in world 5 actually introduce a new physical tapping motion, so I can see the potential for mixed reception of the charts and mechanics here -- something that I'll have to prove out and test in future user tests. For now, though, there's only one more level to complete in world 5, which means I'm about 80% done with all of the 30 main levels in the game! Level 5-5 won't have any new mechanics, just putting together everything on display that we've encountered so far.

Unfortunately there are some extenuating circumstances going on in my life that are pulling my attention a little bit away from Rhythm Quest. This isn't anything new (I had similar "real life" stuff to deal with in January, and late last year as well), just thought I'd note it in case anyone wonders why things might feel a little more quiet around here for a bit. My current focus is still on finishing out the 30 main levels before I turn back toward polish and other game features.

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