6 months after our last update message, we have a lot more to show! We have had a lot of feedback from our alpha 0.2. We spent the last months improving on them.
The changelist would be way too big to write as a whole. So here are our new features:
New Gameplay:
Platforming is now a big part of DarkTimes
Puzzles are now integrated and ready to play
Verticality is now a thing! In a top down shooter! What !?
New enemy types:
Gunner, Self explanatory
Spitter, The mortar monster
New Abilities:
Raven Beak can now grab objects, allowing for Puzzles
Raven Beak can now work as a grappling hook, allowing for Platforming
Raven Eye can now stop enemy bullets
Raven Wing (the second gun), has become Raven Shout, a Flamethrower, allowing you to burn all!
New Visuals:
Desert Biome
Rolling is no more! You can now dash!
We started working on our Vertical Slice, Finally!!!
Here we are! One year left before the final release of DarkTimes: Wrath of the Raven!
Those last months have been pretty busy, and this update marks a new chapter for us, the developers: We are beginning to build the levels that will be featured in the final game!
The update 0.2 is already live, and Update 0.2.5 is around the corner (February 8th). You can play right now, for free, here: https://darktimesdevs.itch.io/darktimes
Here is the changelist:
Main Features:
New Gameplay Mechanics
Raven Wing: The second gun has been improved to be easier to use
Raven Eye: A crowd control stun
Raven Beak: The Raven charges on the enemy, inflicting a small zone of strong damages
Raven Hook: The Raven can now attach itself to special objects, allowing Anne to travel across gaps.
Slow Motion: Slow mo is now a full gameplay mechanic. Activate it on the push of a button and slay your enemies twice as fast!
New Levels
Dark Church: Deep inside the rift is the Dark Church. This level is quite short, its goal is to show some indoors visuals and fighting
Moonlight: A challenge level, with a lot of enemies coming from all sides. Only the best hunters will manage to get to the end
New Controls
Keyboard and Mouse: Now fully playable and rebindable
Controller Mapping Rework: After a lot of playtesting, controller mapping is way easier to use than ever
Improvement and fixes
Visuals
Lighting rework
Animation rework
Floor textures rework
Forest Rework
UI Rework
Each level ending now features a small cinematic
Gameplay
A.I. Improvements: All enemies are smarter and less eager to get stuck in the environment
Anne is now more responsive than ever. She runs faster and longer
Arenas are more challenging and fun to play
Bug Fixes
The list would be very long and not that interesting. But believe us, the game runs better in every way possible.
We hope this update will get you as excited as we are!
Playtesters are more than welcome to send us their reviews!
Hunters, See you on the other side!
Alpha Update
DarkTimes Alpha 0.2
You want to try our Alpha before wishlisting? Here it is: https://darktimesdevs.itch.io/darktimes
Since September, the alpha of DarkTimes has been available on itch.io Those last months, we have worked on:
- French version - Better Lighting - Textures rework - Better Enemy I.A - New visual FX (portal, Shards, attacks, smokes) - Spactial Audio support (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X) - Brightness on macOS - Bug fixes - Enemies no longer walk in place - Random lags no longer happen - Higher and more stable framerate - Enemies no longer deal damage at the start of their attack animation, but when they hit the player
