I have heard your feedback.
HertenHeld is called "Deer Hero", and yet it doesn't feature any deer in the vast majority of the game.
This is clearly wrong, so from now on, the Deer itself is the hero.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev #Deer
During the process of posting the HertenHeld posts, I've been looking back to give it one more update.
This update mostly adds some difficulity and some challenges for the daring.
ppowersteef.itch.io/hertenheld/d...
Thank you for watching my bluesky posts series
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
And that marks the end of me talking about my game #HertenHeld
Hope y'all enjoyed it
I remember having the idea to have 'Metroid reward' ending screens depending on your prestations, but I got tired doing gamedev.
If this post gets 50 likes I may draw a new ending screen or something idk
Alright, time to talk about the big one, the Alraune 'Althaea' plant girl boss herself.
This is probably my biggest and favorite boss I've designed so far. So let's break this down for a bit.
more stuff in the comments (1/15)
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev #alraune
The roses here in the pre-boss area was inspired by the final dungeon in TTYD, with many rose patterns all around the area.
Alraunes, to my knowledge, also started out as a girl inside a rose, so that makes for a nice extra.
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
The honey pool area serves as a short introduction to a new status effect. It also serves as a little 'Tourian' segment right before the final boss
Several carnivorous plants also appear here, along with many honey sacs
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
The extra mode give me opportunity's to get some new level design ideas out there for the existing engine. This contraption was one of them.
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
Nageru is the main character of Overgrowth
She share most of Samantha's endgame skillset, but has a few differences to set them apart. One notable been that she trades a double jump for a wall jump, allowing for some trickier platforming
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
My talk about HertenHeld is now done
So...let's talk a bit about it's extra mode!
It kinda started out with just one idea:
Having my Alraune char in the game as a boss
I really like alraunes, and they had such a cool boss-like presence, I'd love to see them in game
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
For the game's ending, I remember making the cutscene to sync well with the music. And it took multiple repetitions, for one such a cutscene, it took at least a whole day to make it work.
The story as whole is not complicated, I preferred to focus on gameplay
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev
I've noticed that most of my bosses are pretty difficult when they're in the hands of other players.
I design them so they're fun for my experience. But while I already know everything when creating, other people will not know that
This is why testers are important
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
I love this attack from the wolf boss.
I remember been inspired by Dracula's fire pillars in Smash Ultimate. And it was a cool attack to implement.
The way the wolf charges through the pillars before they expire is an added bonus.
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
For the boss of the game, I wanted to go back to the "wolves as skilled combat enemies" idea again. I went with the idea that their attacks adapts depending on how you attack them
It has no weak points, but instead it soft-counters close or at range depending on you
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
I remember now a fun fact about birds.
They only appear in areas without enemies.
You can't harm them, but they'll fly away when disturbed. (whether that's by moving, or by shooting an arrow)
If you stand still, they may also approach you.
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
Birds
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
One more of the funny interactions.
Introduce a old dangerous enemy you encountered a while before, showing how much you've improved.
Then introduce a stronger version of that enemy close afterwards.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
I like it when earlier and frequently visited areas become more difficult as you progress through the game. Like stronger enemies may appear, or obstacles may change. It makes for a good narrative too.
Inspired from Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Metroid Fusion.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev
Fire Arrow is a pretty simplistic charge ability, but I like that it has that element of multiple use cases.
It's only directly shown to light up torches, but you can also burn down a column of vines with it. Discovering that on your own is the way forward.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev
The statue here originally did not have a background character.
It was inspired from a certain statue in Golden Sun. Though, when one of the testers made a funny remark about her, she became a character of her own.
...And ended up becoming broken in Fallen Star
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
I remember when this miniboss was once a character I made before their backstory was figured out. She could be either a descendant or ascendant of another character.
This game basically made the stepping stone of her role, and what later became Fallen Star
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev
At some point, you come accross an old, unhabited ruin.
This was something to change the game's pacing
Through the stained glass, you can see connections with another game I made.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #Indiedev
At some point, you'll end back close to where you started, but now with a new upgrade to try out anywhere.
From this point, there's no clear direction given where to go next, and it's up to you to find it out.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev
What makes for a good and funny trap is if it's introduced as something safe first.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev
HertenHeld features some hidden tricks to deal with certain tough enemies, one of them been that the wolves can be one-shotted by a bow while stunned with a knife
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
The Seed Bomb is probably my favorite item in the game.
It can be used as an overhead throw, to cover enemies above and below, it can be placed down to be used as a trap, and it can be triggered faster when using an arrow. It's a great expansion to her arsenal.
#HertenHeld #Gamedev #indiedev
Sometimes I like to make rooms where a specific enemy design can have it's spotlight for a moment.
This room filled with ninja owls is one of them.
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
One more aspect that I like: This little bridge.
At this state you just cross the bridge, but there are elements up and down that you cannot reach, later on you reach a dead end, but the idea of the bridge implies that there's something up and down there.
#HertenHeld #gamedev #indiedev
There were ideas of having an NPC to tell you where you need to go, but I left it out as I feel that lose sense of exploration and self-discovery
If signs told you to go down platforms, then there was no curiousity, but without, players could get lost too. It's a tough balance
#HertenHeld #gamedev
