Only a few days left!
I was hoping to have 4 levels done for the competition. I think I’ll have 1 or MAYBE 2 by the 31st, but I will keep working during the comp and get it up to 4 levels.

Made a lot of big decisions lately. My drawing teacher always said to make big broad strokes for your final moments during a drawing.

Decided on a way to implement “Wild” which is a system I’ve been messing around with to power up moves. I’ve landed on a simple formula. Each cancel, your Wild increases by 1. Each attack’s damage is increased by the Wild. Smash attack damage is increased Wild^2. So the idea is to do as big as possible combo, then end with a smash attack since it’s lots harder to combo them together. BUT! Finding those elusive times where you can combo from a smash attack–using the environment or enemies–makes them even more powerful.

The movelist is simpler too, but you can still do lots. The combo button has two strings and a dive kick. One string is longer and ends with a hyper punch with lots of hits and you can move Ace around during it. The other combo is short, but has moves that move upward and can hit multiple enemies.
The smash button has an attack for each direction–up, up-forward, forward, down-forward,down–as well as a neutral attack which is really slow and you cannot cancel out of it, but it hits all around and sends enemies flying far. So using all these smash skills in conjunction with combos will allow you to power them up.

I have the first level built except for enemies, which I’m doing today. Enemies still need a lot of work so I’ll be working on them until the deadline. I also have the first boss, Mr. Leslie, done. He dashes around a lot and throws strong long range punches. He can also punch cars and crates at Ace. The level itself, has lots of platforming and introduces several enemy types. I hope to really blend the platforming and combat here.

The second level is a bit simpler, but has more unique events. You’re riding on the back of a semi down the highway. It’s very dangerous with not much room to fight, but you can also punch enemies into the passing highway. Lots of flying enemies. The placeholder boss is a stronger version of the flying mechs. He fires lots and lots of missiles and can summon more mechs. The real boss is a giant robot. He’s a mix of lots of giant robot cliches. He fires lasers and missiles and tries to punch you. You have to punch is punches to stop them.

The other two planned levels are a warehouse and scaling a building. The warehouse will have much more variety in it’s room layout, lots of environmental hazards like lights and oil drums, and some narrow passageways. The rooftop level is precarious like the semi level–lots of pits and buildings to fall off of. You’re mainly working your way upward so it will add a new dynamic to the fighting. It also has lots of stronger enemy fights where you have to use dueling strategies as opposed to brawling strategies.