One of the cool features of Game Jolt is the platforms API and achievement system. After I released Deathly Descent I decided that I'd try to learn how this works by adding trophies to Deathly Descent.

Fortunately for me, there is a pretty good package available for free on the Unity asset store that handles Game Jolt API implementation. The first thing I did was import this package to my project and read through the getting started doc. I wrote my own script to handle everything related to the API package, and named it GameJoltAPIManager. I did this because I like to draw a line between my project and the external tools I use to help me keep things organized, find bugs easier, and to only access functionality my project needs.

I then added several trophies on Game Jolt that players can earn as they play. There are currently two bronze trophies, four silver trophies, five gold trophies, and two platinum trophies. In the next few paragraphs, I will go through all of these and give some of my thoughts on them and my reasons for adding them.

Bronze trophies are the easiest for players to get. The first bronze trophy is titled "Show Me The Ropes" and it is rewarded when players complete the tutorial for the first time. I wanted to make completing the tutorial feel rewarding and help set up the "challenge and reward" vibe of Deathly Descent as a game. The next one is titled "The Descent Begins" and is rewarded when players begin the first level for the first time. This one is meant to serve as a starting point for trophy progression throughout the game. Technically this trophy is added when players load any level if they haven't earned it yet, but if they're playing the game for the first time, they haven't unlocked any level besides the first level yet, so that doesn't really matter, the only way they'd unlock a trophy for loading any other level is if they didn't sign in before playing or if they loaded their saved data from the Itch version on the Game Jolt version.

The next most challenging trophies are the silver trophies. The four silver trophies are rewarded when players complete the first, second, third, and fourth levels. I wanted to have a trophy for completing every level to reward progress. Players will unlock these trophies upon completing the level, regardless of the grade they get, because there's a separate trophy for mastering all 5 levels (more on that in the 8th paragraph) The first level's trophy is titled "A Strange Structure" because the protagonist has begun descending into a strange structure, and is beginning to take in their surroundings. The second level's trophy is titled "Diving Deeper" and the reason it's called this should be self explanatory. The third level's trophy is titled "Fiery Findings" because the third level is the first level (besides the tutorial) where the geyser obstacles are seen. The fourth level's trophy is titled "Getting Dangerous" because the fourth level is where the difficulty really starts to rise.

The fifth level's trophy is actually a gold trophy! It's titled "The Artifact" because when you complete the fifth level, you've completed the game, and the protagonist has reached the artifact they've been searching for. There are also two ending trophies (which are gold ones) that players can earn in the ending scene.  These trophies are titled "At Long Last!" and  "N O P E!" At Long Last is the official ending trophy that players unlock after interacting with the artifact in the core chamber, and NOPE is more of an easter-egg than an actual trophy. Before I released Deathly Descent, there used to be an oversight in the ending level where, after the camera pans over to the artifact stand, you could walk the other way and go off-screen, and you used to be able to walk all the way back to the doorway into the level. My original plan was to make this a secret ending where if you walked that way the screen would fade out, and fade back in with a different final note from the protagonist, but I decided to put a collider in the way instead, you can still walk off-screen, but only a small amount. I decided to add a trophy that players unlock for going off-screen there to pay homage to the original idea, and that is the NOPE trophy.

There are two other gold trophies titled "That Was Too Close" and "Slick Moves." "That Was Too Close" is rewarded for reaching a checkpoint with only one heart remaining. This can happen in any of the levels, including the tutorial. "Slick Moves" is for dodging the rapid-firing dart in the 2nd level, taking no damage in the process. I discovered this was possible when I tried it as an experiment, I actually did that in a video on my YouTube channel, and it just seemed like something that would be a secret achievement.

There are two platinum trophies in Deathly Descent, the first is titled "Master Temple Raider" and this is the aforementioned trophy players earn when they master all 5 levels. When players earn the A+ grade on all 5 levels, they unlock the "Master Temple Raider" trophy. The other platinum trophy is "Showing YOU The Ropes" and is rewarded when players complete the tutorial level in under a minute. It is possible to do this, but it's a challenge. It's also possible to get this and "Show Me The Ropes" at the same time, if you manage to complete your first run of the tutorial in under a minute. I was originally going to give my best speed-run of the tutorial and set that as the time threshold for this trophy, but I was worried that if I'd done the best I could, I'd make it impossible to do it any faster.

That's all the trophies there are in Deathly Descent currently! Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.