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Episode I version 2.0.x and macOS support!Happy New Year everyone!
I hope it’s is a good one for all of you. Here’s to another year of community, friendship, and gamedev. :)
So… it seems like a good way to start off the year is with a big ol’ update...

Episode I version 2.0.x and macOS support!

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope it’s is a good one for all of you. Here’s to another year of community, friendship, and gamedev. :)

So… it seems like a good way to start off the year is with a big ol’ update for ProtoDungeon: Episode I! Not only have I made a TON of changes thanks to developments from Episode II, but now available for the first time is… 

(drumroll please)

PROTODUNGEON ON MAC!!!

But even if you’re not a macOS kind of human, don’t fear. As mentioned, this update contains quite a lot of updates for both PC and macOS versions thanks to Episode II. Here’s the full changelog:

From Episode II:

  • Lighting (reorganized the the torches in the level, as the new lighting draws emphasis to specific places; some places did not need to be emphasized, while I was able to take advantage of the lighting to draw attention to other locations).
  • Menu system (including a new Episode I title card).
  • Updated logo.
  • Saving/loading (all things considered, this dropped in surprisingly well; I did have to add a few extra cases to fix, such as falling through a pit to the level below).
  • Graphics settings.
  • Audio settings.
  • Updated to the Wandersong audio engine (also updated all audio container names to use constants instead of writing out the strings every time… there were way more of these than I expected).
  • Key remapping (new default keys as well to match the updated defaults from Episode II).
  • Ability to jump off all cliffs (had to rearrange some stuff to prevent softlocks and other issues).

Other improvements:

  • Repaired swap mechanic–this had broken after changing some of the underlying code for another mostly-unrelated system.
  • Updated the tiles for the pits that lead to floors below–these should be more distinguishable from the normal hazard death pits now.
  • Updated the swap spell item descriptions to be lore-based for consistency.
  • Simplified the lv1 swap spell puzzle, as it was trying to teach too much all at once and MANY players found this confusing (this was one area that the new lighting came in handy too).
  • Updated the lv2 swap spell puzzle, as it never actually taught the player how to USE the lv2 spell–this was the trickiest change, but adding a new room underneath both gives space for a lvl2 teaching puzzle and makes the punishment for falling a lot less brutal.
  • Fixed a collider in the outside room transition.
  • Updated the object activation/deactivation manager to account for falling to the floor below.
  • Updated the player “fall to target” state so modifying the target coordinates elsewhere won’t interfere with this state (“targetX” and “targetY” are variable names used for a handful of different states).
  • Tweaked the top of the teleporter collider so you can’t accidentally miss it.

Play ProtoDungeon: Episode I here! It’s free!

protodungeon major update devlog devblog changelog zelda game boy pixel art GameMakerStudio2 gamemaker
ProtoDungeon: Episode II patron alpha is live!!!Hey, so, wow, it’s been a while, yeah? I’ve been hard at work putting Episode II together for everyone, and we’ve hit an important milestone: the alpha is complete and available to patrons!
Art’s not...

ProtoDungeon: Episode II patron alpha is live!!!

Hey, so, wow, it’s been a while, yeah? I’ve been hard at work putting Episode II together for everyone, and we’ve hit an important milestone: the alpha is complete and available to patrons!

Art’s not done (as you can see) and it still needs a lot of polish and good ol’ bug-fixin’, but if you’re a patron (or want to become one!) and want to help test, here ya go! Even $1 tier can access the ProtoDungeon alphas!

gamedev indiedev game development The Waking Cloak ProtoDungeon alpha patron patreon Zelda Game Boy
Day/night will be very important in The Waking Cloak (and, by extension, ProtoDungeon), so here’s an early test version of palette swapping on the fly!
It’s NOT done by any means yet–objects/player aren’t included in the palette swap for some reason,...

Day/night will be very important in The Waking Cloak (and, by extension, ProtoDungeon), so here’s an early test version of palette swapping on the fly!

It’s NOT done by any means yet–objects/player aren’t included in the palette swap for some reason, while the torches and lighting aren’t working. But we’ll get there. :)

I spent a lot of today revamping my existing palette. Removed a handful of colors I wasn’t using anywhere, consolidated a few other similar ones. I did add 2-3 more colors for night, but since I’d removed so many other colors, I actually have fewer than when I started, so that’s exciting! (This was also a nice opportunity to tweak some of my existing colors that weren’t my favorite and fix some sprites that used an even older palette lol.)

Anyway, top is day/normal, bottom is night! Night uses only colors from the day palette!

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game development game design gamedev indiedev devlog devblog The Waking Cloak ProtoDungeon GameMaker Aseprite Zelda Link's Awakening game boy retrogaming retro graphics games video games
Hear ye, hear ye!ProtoDungeon: Episode I will be releasing APRIL 6! It’s a small adventure set in the world of The Waking Cloak in order to demo one of its mechanics without spoiling anything.
Patrons (patreon.com/mrdaneeyul) get early access at the...

Hear ye, hear ye!

ProtoDungeon: Episode I will be releasing APRIL 6! It’s a small adventure set in the world of The Waking Cloak in order to demo one of its mechanics without spoiling anything.

Patrons (patreon.com/mrdaneeyul) get early access at the end of this week, MARCH 30!

It will be released for free on Itch.io and $0.99 on Steam, currently PC only. Keep an eye out here for links. :)

Patrons will also get to vote on the next ProtoDungeon mechanic. Remember, there will be one of these small dungeons for each of TWC’s main items. Since chalice and sword will probably be combined into one, that means a total of at least seven ProtoDungeons!

demo zelda game boy pixel art gaming games video games link's awakening oracle of ages oracle of seasons The Waking Cloak GameMaker indie
Doors are working at last for the ProtoDungeon!This is an example of something that looks really simple but took me three days to implement! Part of that was adding a lot of underlying systems to support not only this, but also a lot of future...

Doors are working at last for the ProtoDungeon!

This is an example of something that looks really simple but took me three days to implement! Part of that was adding a lot of underlying systems to support not only this, but also a lot of future important things. These systems include:

  • Transitions
  • Cutscenes (I didn’t actually end up using it for this since it was too finicky, but it’ll definitely be useful later)
  • Updated state machine (thanks to PixelatedPope, as usual… this one can do drawing, which helps with the transitions)

And so now doors, stairs, and certain pits all work properly! Hooray! This is one of the biggest core mechanics missing from The Waking Cloak. Now I can add it in and use it to go inside houses, dungeons, between floors, etc. Very exciting stuff.

Next on the list? I don’t know exactly what order I’ll tackle these in. Depends on what it feels like. But here’s what’s on the menu:

  • Getting those ~certain pits~ that drop you down to the floor below working (these actually work already, but I need to animate the character falling between floors)
  • Reintroduce grid snapping for swapping, swap objects, and pushing (it was way too complicated without)
  • Add “room reset”–jars and unfinished puzzles reset when you leave the room and come back, just like Zelda
  • Fix a bug where pits (the ones that actually hurt you) don’t always put you back at the beginning of the room
  • Art?

Stay tuned! In a few (several?) weeks, the demo will be available for y’all to try out. :)

devlog devblog The Waking Cloak game development game design Zelda prototype demo oracle of ages oracle of seasons link's awakening game boy