Hey guys! It's nice to write you all once again! We hope you've all been doing well! 

As for us, boy has it been a hell of a ride.  We've reached the polish sprint which is the last phase our project will be in. In this phase there won't be any more new features added to the game - all the focus will now be on, well, polishing everything we've already made for it! This sprint will continue for two weeks of which one week has just passed. In short, we're nearing the end of this journey with you guys!...

... but getting emotional is for later! Allow us to update you guys on what we've actually been up to this week and what you can expect for this weeks build!

Continuing the UI

We're currently working on making the UI with Text Mesh Pro to make it look extra crisp! We're also making it compatible to navigate with a controller. The next step for the UI will be making the background with 3D meshes.

Texturing our enemies

We've also put a lick of paint on our enemies!

Post-processing

The artists are trying to make the level come together a bit more with texturing more meshes, adjusting the post-processing of the level and set dressing them,... 

Finding sound effects

We've also been hunting for some cool sound effects though most of these you'll only start experiencing from next week on.

Level Polish

One of the first steps in the polish sprint has been to update the level blocks for our infinite level generation. The goal was to reduce the player being able to stick to one side of the screen in order to progress in the game. By simply adding in a few more blocks the player can no longer abuse this all the way through the level. In order to rise to Valhalla, you'll have to work for it.

Tutorial Level

While true vikings shouldn't struggle rising to Valhalla, some prefer having a base of knowledge of Hell before they get to know what they're getting themselves into. That's why we decided to add in a small tutorial section where the Tide isn't active yet, allowing the player to familiarize themself with the game's mechanics. Doesn't this look friendly and inviting?

Ennemy collision

To keep the good flow throughout   the level we removed the collision with the enemies, but they still stop when the player enters their attack range.   So the player can now choose to rush up more easely or to take the risk of fighting and gaining a good amount of axe charge.

Enemy animations cleanup

Last week the  enemy acted like he  was at a rave every so often  instead of dying so this week we made sure the animation didn’t trigger multiple times and the enemy couldn’t attack or turn around while dead. They also started  to float midway throughout  the attacking and dying animation so we took care of that aswell.

Camera shake

When the player character receives damage, the camera shake for a few frames in order to better convey the feeling of impact and thus improving the player feedback of our game.

Wings animation and texture

So far we had the wings working with a slow flying animation, but we knew we need a faster wing flap for the double jump of the charachter and so we created one. Another finishing touch for the wings was unwrapping and texturing them.

Weapon runes on both sides

The hero weapons- the axe and the sword now have their glowy runes on both sides so they can be seen better during gameplay.