Previously I was feeling burnt out and wanted to release the game as soon as possible. But I but after coming back and looking at things again with fresh eyes, I decided to spend a bit more time implementing a couple of new features to improve the experience. Here are the changes and why I implemented them.
I received comments saying that the game was too difficult, so Challenges are my way of splitting things: I've made the base maps easier, but there are now semi-optional Challenges that give rewards to make repeated runs more attractive. You can take on multiple challenges at one go for a more difficult experience. Challenges must also be completed to access endgame. To see the challenges, speak to the Challenge Master NPC in town.
Because I have made the game easier, I need testers more than ever because this is far too easy for me now. Personally, I can easily clear each combat stage in under 30 seconds if not less, and if I am lucky with my bonuses, I can get a fresh character through the first Area without dying even once. But this is because I know everything, so I am unable to gauge the difficulty objectively. If you played before, I recommend starting a fresh save and trying it out. Tell me if this feels just right or if I went too far in the other direction and it is too easy now.
Stages now have hidden bonus rooms. Clear a stage fast enough, and a portal appears, leading to rewards or a Secret Shardsmith. The purpose of these reward rooms is to challenge the player to see if they can clear an area quickly instead of just surviving, and make repeated runs of an already cleared map a more attractive prospect.
This was implemented mainly because my friend Dorkster, the current lead developer of the FLARE engine which Shadow Rush runs on, recently implemented a crafting/recipe system into the engine. I was thinking about how to take advantage of this new system to give players a better feeling of progression, by giving them more options in town besides just buying stuff or trying the combat stage again.
The long and short of it is that most of the higher numbered Shards are more powerful, and you can craft higher numbered Shards from lower numbered ones. (Most, some of them just free up an extra space on the previous tier as you move to the next tier.) To craft shards, speak to the Shardsmith NPC in town.
ATTENTION: The random level-up Shard pool has been changed to only give 'I' Shards. The info shared in the previous update is now out of date.
Every character now has a Dodge. Unlike 'Rush', dodge will move you in your current running direction instead of to your cursor. 'Dodge' does not do damage and does not count towards your Combo/Cycle.
The default Keybinding for 'Dodge' is the Spacebar. In existing saves it will be set to 'Q' so please rebind it, or restore to defaults. If this is the very first time you are starting Shadow Rush, you should not have this problem.
Finally, I have included an Enemy Intel NPC where you can fight different enemies in a virtual arena to learn their behaviour patterns or simply test your damage output. He is a guy with a laptop, which I know is kinda incongruous with the game's mostly Steampunk-ish setting, but I wanted to introduce him as a tribute to Clint Bellanger, the original creator of the FLARE engine. I am grateful that he created FLARE and allowed me to easily make the game of my dreams.
Previously you were able to swap equipment sets using default key tab. Initially my intention of including this feature was to encourage interesting ways to play, like for example having Set 1 be something you use to deal with groups of enemies and then Set 2 be something with high single target damage to deal with the boss, or having Set 1 be offensive and Set 2 be defensive/healing when at low health. But this seems to just confuse players, and I myself find it to be a hassle to use, so I just removed it. Please sound out if you actually do use it, if not, it's just gonna stay this way where there is no equipment set switching.
Shadow Rush's release will probably be delayed by about two months at least because of all these new features require additional testing. Please let me know if you encounter any bugs and I will fix it ASAP. Thanks.
Best,
Andrew