~12k of ROM space left! While I have some content in mind to fill this, I’m largely keeping this free for things I spot during testing and for if the QA testers spot anything when they’ve been unleashed on the game.

It’s the final stretch now with a release this year, so as well as general testing, polishing etc, I need to make a start on some promotional materials, clips, screenshots and finally, a new trailer that reflects the last few years work!

I’ve made a changes that affect the player sprite. Something that I’m now hopeful to not do again, as it renders every screenshot and video instantly out of date! I will not be touching that run cycle again.

Player animation frames

The main change is something I’ve been meaning to deal with for a while, a quick, early signifier that you’re in top down/RPG mode. Rather than having to take in your environment, realise you now have four way movement etc.

I’ve added a shadow beneath the player for this. Just a small oval, a single frame, but with anything added to a project at this stage, a pain in the bottom.

I’m sure other Game Boy devs can relate to this, adding a single frame can push the shared background tile and sprite resources over the limits elsewhere. So in adding this (to every frame across the top down states animations), it threw a few of the busier levels past their limits, so it was back to the classic ‘what unique tiles do I not I really need on this level’. A game I have played often.

Shout out to my most visited GB Studio resource by Pautomas, permanently open in a browser tab – gb-studio-tile-count.glitch.me, a heat map of most and least used unique tiles on a level.

As well as adding that tiny, disruptive oval, I’ve been working on a few tile refinements and adding some visual improvements. I don’t want the first planet of Pandæmonium to feel too out of line visually, with the later planets, even if it’s a barren wasteland. It’s something I started on years ago. I find it a strange feeling working with myself from the past and cleaning up after them and their naive ways!

I’ve mixed up some of the tiles more as well, every 8x8 background tile in the game has been placed by hand, and I noticed some of the early tiles repeated themselves a little more than was ideal.

Rumbleguts

Another larger change that affects the demo is the Rumbleguts fight.

I’ve had an item on my list for a while to improve it, it just felt a bit ‘meh’, especially compared to some of the bigger bosses later in the game.

It’s still your classic first boss, runs into a wall and gets dizzy. Except it didn’t really make any sense why he’d stop and be vulnerable, and that bugged me. I’ve made it follow some logic now as well as making the AI less on a set pattern that really doesn’t care if you’re there or not.

You need to* coax/trick *Rumbleguts to dash now. He won’t just do that if you’re not close enough to him and off the screen.

Side note—the name Rumbleguts comes from my Grandad (who turned 101 last month!). He had an old motorbike decades ago, with a side car my Grandma travelled alongside in, named Rumbleguts. So it’s a little tribute to Frank Jarman Senior that I snuck in.

Improvements

• Shadow added under player on Top Down/RPG levels
• Reactive background vines added to The Pit
• Subtle ship teleport in animation added
• Rumbleguts boss fight improved, telegraphing, AI, tile changes and post defeat tweaks
• Gap made in store floor for those who might struggle to drop down through platforms
• Topdown animation frames reduced/cleaned up
• Tile limit reductions and improvements
• Karma has been reframed to be a bit more ‘in universe’
• Additional Easter eggs added

Files

Get Fall from Space (Game Boy)