RESONANT BLADE

Indie Game Devlog Episode 18: Title Screen and EPIC Handshake!

INTRO

Hey, everyone! Welcome to Episode 18 of the Resonant Blade Devlog series! A lot of new scenes and visual upgrades to show you all this time.

TITLE SCREEN

The newest scene that I added or reworked in this case is the Title Screen. This was a lot of fun to work on. I haven’t really done a full-screen scene with this much depth to it, but I think it turned out pretty well and captures what Resonant Blade is all about. I created this drawing in Aseprite using way too many layers to keep track of, but it worked out in the end. I also had to export some pieces individually so that I could animate them or add a parallax effect in game. I also added in some sound effects for the text and button animations. Instead of just fading in from a black screen, I decided to make a scrolling parallax effect while the scene opens up. When the title flys in, the vignette and player shadow disappears showing the scene in its entirety.

DELTA FORCE HQ

I’ve also been working more on scenes that come after the end of the demo. There’s a new area in Ionia City inside the Citadel. You can take the elevator there to the 2nd floor where the Delta Force HQ is located. It’s very similar to the Proto Labs interior but a simpler layout. You run into an old friend, Dutch. Previously in the field on a recon mission, Dutch has been called back to Ionia to replace Dorian as the new General of the Ionian Forces. I added in a good ol’ handshake for when you first meet Dutch. I also added in some new maintenance bots that just kind of roam around the room.

FACTORY

The next scene is a factory in Lower Ionia City where old decommissioned Corrupt Synths are scrapped for parts. General Dutch will send the player over to find parts to build some Sonic Grenades. You’ll need these to access the next area, Locria City. The plan is to add in some broken down Synths scattered around the room. Trying to pick them for parts will activate them and you’ll have to destroy them to get the parts you need.

LOCRIA SUBWAY ENTRANCE

After using the Sonic Grenades to access the subway tunnels, the player will come out in Locria City. This scene connects back over to Locria City which I made a while back. I recolored the water to show the depth and added some rain.

THANATOS TRAIN FIGHT

I also started working on another scene with a boss fight on a train. It’s still just a rough mock up at the moment. I still need to design the boss mechanics and add collision to this scene.

UI / VFX

I changed the art for the Resonance radial menu around the player. Each Resonance has its own symbol associated with it now. It should be a little easier and quicker to identify. I also updated these in the Menu and added in some new art for the player Triads. Also, when you scroll over these now, the lines connecting them to the Resonant Blade will light up making it easier to see which Resonant Tones you’ll need to charge up to perform that Triad.

I also made a change to the screen effect when the player is low on HP. Before, the entire screen just flashed red repeatedly. Now, a subtle white screen vignette will pop up. This is less obtrusive while still letting the player know that they’re about to die. Also, when the player takes damage more than 20% of their maxHP in one hit, a black vignette will pop up briefly adding in a little more impact.

When walking behind structures, you can now see the player sprite still. Instead of making a shader that outlines the player through the building, I just faded out the structure’s alpha instead.

ENDING

That’s it for this episode. Some of these updates were done a while back but I hadn’t gotten to them in the devlogs. Thanks for watching everyone, and I’ll see you next time!

Resonant Blade website: https://www.resonantblade.com/

Demo: https://gamejolt.com/games/resonant-blade/381677

Bug Reports / Feedback: https://forms.gle/pL6UcpVt2K4GSoo59

Twitter: https://twitter.com/richarddaskas