Hi everyone! Happy Late Game Development Anniversary! Feb 10th 2022 was when I released the first build for The Inferno Gang. I managed to get the game’s first Beta build uploaded this year on the 10th, but I couldn’t get a video together due to work and health issues. I’m feeling a little better as things are warming up, so I got a video done for this month’s build.

Changed the controls: I got some good feedback on my game, mainly with the controls and how it was confusing navigating the game with them. So I decided to eliminate the mouse and make the controls completely on the keyboard. Now, the player uses the arrows keys to move and the Z, X, and C keys to do the extra stuff. I like how it's turning out so far because I prefer a simpler control system.

Changed the ability function: Since I changed the controls, I also needed to change how Diablo's thermal abilities worked in-game for platforming and puzzle solving. You use the Z key to toggle whether you want to use Fire or Frost and the X key to activate the ability in the field around Diablo. The C key is to interact with individual objects, like lift a crate or talk to an NPC.

Added GAI: The Glider AI is an enemy that flies around. Right now, it just has up and down movement, but I might try to create more dynamic paths in the official game and a way the player can distract them for a couple of seconds. They were supposed to be the same as the RunnerAI, but the programming for the two were more different than expected, so I just made them into separate enemies.

Finalizing the theme song: I wanted to add some background music and a cutscene of what The Inferno Gang's cartoon intro could've looked like, so I've got an intro song in the works. I researched other 1960's cartoon intros to get a feel for how long the song needs to be and what kind of vibe they give. Most of them were pretty jazzy, but I decided to create a song that's more in line with Eastern Canada's Folk songs.

New GDD: I have a couple versions of old game design docs for TIG, but they're massively out of date by now. I'm currently writing up a new one for the entire series. I mentioned in earlier videos that this was supposed to be one big game, but I split up the story between several smaller ones. I'm currently deciding between 3 to 5 games for The Inferno Game Series as I'm fleshing out the details.

Next steps: Now that I have a solid foundation of the game’s player, enemies, and mechanics, I can work on fleshing out the puzzles for each room. I have more ideas for the mini bosses and big boss battles that I’m going to experiment with. I’ll also need to create the final art for the characters, rooms, and the episode’s start and ending scenes. I’m not a fan of too many cutscenes in games, so I’ll only add what I need. I'm also not a fan of mandatory tutorials, so I'm going to try and see what I can do about teaching the game without making it long or boring.

I plan to release one or two more builds of the Beta before the finished demo of the 1st Episode of the game. Taking surgeries into account, I can see the demo being finished by around July!

That’s all for now, folks! Thank you for supporting the development of The Inferno Gang and I’ll see ya next month!

23-03-17: I've found out that the Level Select Options don't work. I'm very sorry about that and I think I've fixed it for the next build.