Well then, here's the second part of the latest devlog, a little late. Since no one asked about any features to talk about, I decided to pick something on my own.
This week's topic: Obstacles
In The Bubble, the main route to the final boss is unobstructed, but it kind of snakes around the whole map. In some places though, you can take shortcuts, or explore optional areas, if you have a skill or item required to pass an Obstacle in-between.
The accompanying screenshot in this devlog shows two common low-level obstacles you're likely to come across at first. A breakable wall, which requires enough damage to be applied to it at once to break it (explosives are the easiest way, but a big hammer in strong hands can do wonders too), and a keycard door, which requires a unique keycard, which is a relatively common find, especially if you up the Luck stat to improve odds of finding one.
In addition to these, there will be at least three other types of obstacles, and each will always require either an item or skill to get through. Since there are a variety of requirements, building a get-past-anything character isn't going to be a very straightforward task, although still quite doable.
The screenshot does show two obstacles in the same area, but in the actual game, the obstacles will only be situated at key locations, and very rarely you have more than two of them in the same level at most.
That's it for this update. More news and info on The Bubble next weekend.
Shiru:
Probably no additional playable characters, mainly because that'd require re-spriting a lot of equipment. ^^; Though I'm not abandoning the idea yet. Depends a lot on how things progress.
And yup, the shape of game world is similar to that of the castles in Castlevania, with the tougher levels being at higher locations. I suppose you could say Castlevania:SOTN is the main inspiration for The Bubble.
To Shiru:
I'll try. I suppose I've always wanted to make something similar, but with a few things that SOTN didn't have, like choices about what stats to upgrade, and randomized loot, including key items, visible accessories... stuff like that.
Though even without those, SOTN rocked, and still does. I'm quite sure I'll be playing through it once more at some point while working on The Bubble. ;P
The main character does appear to have a monoboob. I do like everything else though, even though the foreground just looks like a darker version of the foreground. Maybe make the back tiles a bit blurrier or something?
The interface looks clean but I'm not keen on the vertical text. Maybe just stick in a graphic to represent the item types instead?
Still... looking good!
Dr.James:
With monoboob, you're referring to her chest, right? ;P It's a tight shirt, so I figured cleavage or the like wouldn't be showing. Shouldn't be a problem to darken a few pixels in the center to imply that though, I guess.
As for the vertical text, true, I guess I've been sorta waiting for someone to suggest something else, lol. I'll see what I can do about that.
I think the main character looks cute the way she is. Nice, relaxing choice of colors for her hair and clothing. Hopefully she's animated as smoothly as she looks.
Also, the enemies i've seen so far are noticeably smaller than our heroine. Are the regular enemies going to increase in size anytime soon? It would be epic to use that hammer of hers to beat down a foe that's twice her size, or more.
This looks like an ambitious project, but it also looks like it'll be more than worth the effort, so keep up the good work!
Spaceman Strife:
Thanks. I'm pretty confident about the animations. Running has eight frames, for instance.
The enemies will get somewhat bigger, but probably not twice her size, save for some bosses and mini-bosses. Since it's my first time spriting game content (only done emoticons and such before), I'm progressing in steps, starting with small things and going gradually bigger.
Well ok, the major thing is the incredibly bright choice of colours you've used for your character. It may very well help her stand out but to me it looks too bright when all the screenshots ive seen so far have have fairly dark level art.
The cute anime girl in gritty rundown factory seems wrong. See what i'm getting at?
AndyUK:
I think I know what you're getting at, but that's actually part of the whole game theme, and like you said, it's indeed supposed to make her stand out. An unusual heroine in an unusual place.
It's also a story element. Think of having an average person from the street suddenly teleported 50 years to the future, in the middle of World War 3. They'd certainly stand out, right?
The situation is similar here. MiSha suddenly finds herself in a place that feels familiar, but also somewhat darker, not the place she belongs to. Some of the levels are going to be brighter, but not in the cheerful way, as the world around her must make her seem out of place. There's hardly anything as colourful as her in the entire game, actually. lol.
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HitmanN 
I suppose I've always wanted to make something similar, but with a few things that SOTN didn't have, like choices about what stats to upgrade, and randomized loot, including key items, visible accessories... stuff like that.
It draws people in and this game looks good!
Nice, relaxing choice of colors for her hair and clothing. Hopefully she's animated as smoothly as she looks.
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