Hey All,

Very excited about today’s blog update.  I have to say this is probably the biggest update we have had yet.  So much work went into this update.  Very long nights to get this done.  The wife has started her immunotherapy treatment and we are hoping for the best on that front.  Please send your thoughts her way.There was so much done that I have to try and remember everything:

• First up is World 1 which is now known as Chapter 1 is complete!!  This was a monstrous undertaking to get done as quickly as we got it done.  There was a total of over 90 rooms that have been created.   Every time you enter a room it’s randomly selected from a pool of 20 rooms.  (this will be expanded in an update.  I coded the game in a way so it’s very easy for me to expand on this) . Then the germs (enemies) selected are completely random (the quantity and type).  The breakable objects are randomly selected (quantity and location).  The odds of getting a loot drop from enemies and boxes is random.  Everything is random.  The only thing not random are placement of room hazards (spikes, crates, holes, slime, and dryers).  These have been carefully crafted and placed to make up the pool of rooms.  However the type of dryer you get is random!  Some dryers are specially marked (you have to figure it out) and will always drop loot (which is random of what type) when destroyed by a firecracker.
• Secret Rooms is now a thing!  Every time you enter a room there is a chance that room will have a secret room branched off of it.  You can tell by looking for cracks in the wall.  If you see them blow it up with a firecracker and it will lead to a secret room.  All secret rooms will have different contents.  what you get will be completely random, it may be awesome or it may be not so awesome.
• Touch Controls optimized!  FINALLY fixed a bug in the joystick that has been haunting me.  It would become unresponsive if you were attacking or using another button before you moved with the joystick.  This has been resolved and works very well now.  Also increased the size of the top action button so it’s easier to hit.
• Lots of bugs were fixed that I found from making the new rooms and play testing.  I think I put in over 10 hours of play testing the new rooms on my phone.
• Lots of code was also optimized during this process.
• Sounds.  As you know currently the game has no SFX or Music.  This is all about to change.
• • Teaming up with @luismipv.  Check out his work .
  • He will be doing some sound work for the game.
  • Huge shoutout to him for his help!!
• TESTFLIGHT!!  The game has been submitted to Apple for the external testflight beta.  As SOOOOON as they approve it (I heard for TestFlight it can take a couple days), it will be available for beta testing.  If you are interested please send me your AppStore email so I can add you to the beta.  Your help and feedback will be very helpful.  We are so excited that we have reached public beta and are very anxious to get feedback from people actually playing the game.
• Damage!  You now take half hearts of damage.  This is total zelda style right here.  If you get hit by enemies or fireballs you only lose half a heart!  If you fall into a hole or get hit by a spike you take a whole heart, so watch out for those!  This allows a little forgiveness with getting hit by enemies or fireballs and gives you a chance at survivability.  Half Heart refills will be coming as a loot drop as well.
• Flying Germ  (new names for the enemies are incoming by the way) has been updated!  Now when he flies at you and hits you he will move away and not continue to chase you.  This will give you time to run away after he hits you.  Previously he would continually hit you and it was hard to escape.
• Toothache boss has had his health bar moved to the bottom of the screen.
• Increased the speed of the player.  You now move faster.  This gives a great feel to the game.  Feels very smooth, responsive, and allows for quick maneuvering.  Also along with that increased the speed of the roll (dodge, from beanie powerup).  Now you can dodge and roll away from fireballs, spikes, and enemies much easier.  It’s fun now just to run around and roll, has a great feeling to it!
• Item Rooms!  Now before you get to the end boss there will be an item room.  After you beat the enemies in this room a random item will appear.  It could be very helpful or not helpful at all.
• Crates are no longer pushable.  I was experiencing a nasty bug with having them interactive.  I know a way around the bug but I don’t want to go this direction right now.  For now I am using them as a blocking obstacle, however they are destructive with your firecracker.  I  will revisit these being pushable later when I have time, I want to concentrate on finishing everything else first.
• Bat reach is now longer.  Extended the hit box to the very end of the bat.  Now the player can hit the enemies with greater reach and knock them back.  Now you can hit, dodge, and hit again!  It’s very fun.

Phew, I think that was everything.  Was def a lot in just a weeks time.

Next up is World 2.  This should go fairly quickly.  I will be introducing 1 new boss, 1 new germ, and 1 new room hazard.  After that is complete I will be creating the menus (shop which is known as the pharmacy, and options screens).  Then i will clean up the pause screen and do the tutorial.  We have 2 months to complete this, which should be plenty of time.Chapter 3 (which will be the final chapter) will come as a free update after the game is released.

Attached is a video of a new room and a secret room!  Also in the video you can see I only have one half of a heart left!

Let me know your thoughts and questions.

https://youtu.be/FOIm4JK1ghY

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