Hey, gamers!

This week, we are releasing the Gold version of Star Witch! We hope you enjoy it -- it’s the last release for our class! Regardless, any feedback or bug reports would be greatly appreciated from the community, but please keep things kind and constructive, as we are a student studio and we are still new to game dev. Developing this game has been quite the journey, and we are thrilled to share this final installment with you all. 

First, check out the Star Witch trailer!

New Content:

• You now meet the Chaos Witch earlier on in your journey via a new cutscene. 😈 
• The Glorms got feedback about brightening up their space, so Cavernia has a new glowy background!  🌌
• Stalagmites now regenerate in the cave, allowing the player to use them in combat (if you’re skilled enough).  🤺
• Added lots more sound effects, including for taking damage, deaths, and interactions with the environment.  🔊
• Added a hanging version of the tainted vines for nicer decoration.
• New music for the boss fight - passes the vibe check now. 😎 🎼

Bug Fixes: 

• The boss music now plays even if you’ve previously died. 
• Fixed an animation issue where the player wouldn’t flash enough when taking damage.
• Death means business this time around. 💼 The player can no longer keep moving after dying. 
• Fire sound effects on burning vines no longer stack into oblivion.
• Enemies stay locked on to NPC’s heads - you’ll have to stick with starfire to take care of them.
• Fixed collision issues with ladders. 🪜
• Sorry, twinkletoes. 🌸  Can’t walk across flowers to traverse the desert.
• Fixed an issue with the skip button skipping full levels. 🙈
• Prevented the walking animation during boss cutscene. 
• Star Witch can no longer get trapped in the corner by Chaos Witch during the final battle.

Other Modifications & Improvements:

• Improved the “bug pit” in the desert level to remove the leap of faith, and added more platforming elements for your jumping pleasure. Much less intimidating now!
• Improved the checkpoint system, and removed one checkpoint that could be misleading.
• Watch out - cacti now cause damage to the player on contact.  🌵
• During the boss fight, you can now tell when the Chaos Witch is about to cast her rain of fire attack so you can attempt to dodge. 
• We’re giving Star Witch a break - deaths redirect to checkpoints instead of completely restarting level.
• Prevent spells from firing off-camera and messing with off-screen objects.

What's Next?

This is our final official iteration of Star Witch! This is our “complete” game for the semester, and it is one we are incredibly proud of. Of course, because of the time constraints, there were plenty of other improvements we would like to have made, and may potentially revisit at some point. Given time, we also hoped to:

• Revisit the pill bug enemies, to find a way to telegraph their stomach weakness to the player.
• Possibly allow for the fireballs reflected off of the Chaos Witch’s shield to bounce back and harm the player.

Also, in keeping within the scope of our course, we weren’t able to get to nearly all of the general content ideas we had. If we someday choose to expand on the game, we would like to add numerous new worlds and creatures, each with unique challenges and different interactions with the player's magic. Some of our initial ideas included:

• An underwater level, where the player can’t use fire.
• A mechanical level, where gravity behaves ~strangely~.
• An expanded boss fight, where the player has to chase the Chaos Witch through the Glorm caves.

Final Words

On December 8th, Star Witch and the other EECS 494 games will be available at https://494showcase.com. Experience new student-made video games at the EECS 494 Virtual Games Showcase! Interact with the student developers, learn more about Michigan’s game development program, and vote for your favorite games! [Facebook Event] We hope to (virtually) see you there!

Let us know in the comments below “witch” alien is your favorite!

Ad astra,
Lunar Ladies Studio

🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑

Game Asset Credits:

-- Grenze Gotisch Font --
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Grenze+Gotisch?category=Sans+Serif,Display,Mon...

-- Music --
https://www.playonloop.com/2018-music-loops/galaxy-nauts/
Music: “Galaxy Nauts”, from PlayOnLoop.com
Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0

-- Sound Effects --
https://freesound.org/people/HighPixel/sounds/431174/
Sound: "Fireball Explosion" by HighPixel on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/406493/
Sound: "Hit - Metallic" by Anthousai on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/Soonus/sounds/528662/
Sound: "Paper Burn" by Soonus on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/ProjectsU012/sounds/341626/
Sound: "Small boom" by ProjectsU012 on freesound.org
Licensed under Attribution License.

https://freesound.org/people/alex36917/sounds/509722/
Sound: "woman_small ow 1" by alex36917 on freesound.org
Licensed under Attribution License.

https://freesound.org/people/suntemple/sounds/253172/
Sound: "Retro Bonus Pickup SFX" by suntemple on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/alphatrooper18/sounds/362422/
Sound: "Hit1" by alphatrooper18 on freesound.org
Licensed under Attribution License.

https://freesound.org/people/bolcol/sounds/272478/
Sound: "Glass Clinks" by bolcol on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/lolamadeus/sounds/179341/
Sound: "Gravel Impacts and Falls" by lolamadeus on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/jacksonacademyashmore/sounds/414209/
Sound: "Game Effect - Death" by jacksonacademyashmore on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/SoundCollectah/sounds/157802/
Sound: "rcok falls 01" by SoundCollectah on freesound.org
Licensed under Attribution License.

https://freesound.org/people/GameAudio/sounds/220203/
Sound: "Casual Death Loose" by GameAudio on freesound.org
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.

https://freesound.org/people/MadamVicious/sounds/218190/
Sound: "Girl Taking Damage" by MadamVicious on freesound.org.
Licensed under Creative Commons 0 License.