xianc78 @xianc78@gameliberty.club

There is finally boss music. It was hard to find a good track because I don't want anything too epic as I might use that for a better game.

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Ending and credits now have a background too. I was inspired by early fantasy RPGs like Final Fantasy 1-7 and the first two Ys games which featured a space background, despite none of those games (except FF4) taking place in space.

Space backgrounds are often associated with deep philosophical thought or the meaning of existence. Or maybe the protagonist is transferred to another world after starring into the mirror. I don't know. I just felt like the ending and credits screen needs a background too.

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Boss now only appears after the player is out of the doorway and the trap-door closes. This prevents the player from leaving before the shutting of the trap-door.

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Main menu now has a background. It honestly looks like the most professional thing I have ever made.

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Octorok-like enemies now shoot after walking a certain distance instead of being timer-based. SFML's built-in timers run with no way to pause which is why you often see them shooting when the player enters a room. This is honestly a better approach to this.

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You can now purchase bombs which will increase your maximum bomb count.

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Bomb count now appears in the HUD.

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The blue sword can now be purchased in the dungeon shops.

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Added a blue sword, which is even stronger than the white sword. There is no shop item for it yet, and as you can see in the video, there is no HUD icon for the blue sword either.

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Created a new room layout. Zelda 1 had water-maze rooms, and I realized that mine didn't so I created one. Though I am kind of limited because the key will always be placed in a random room and the room coordinates for the key (in tiles) is always (10, 5), so I have to accommodate that when designing rooms like this.

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Created the last boss. (Last boss created, not the last boss that appears in the game.)

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Title screen's typo has been fixed.

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Title screen finally has a logo.

Shoutout to @Mr_NutterButter for designing it.

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The levels are now bigger the deeper you go. It was something that I realized that I haven't implemented yet. This is the second to last level and the video demonstrates how it's bigger than usual.

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I wonder what would be the next "indie trend" genre of video games, given that Metroidvanias and Roguelikes/lites are becoming over-saturated. Those genres became popular with indies only because of their niche-ness. Metroidvanias bring non-linear gameplay to a perspective that isn't really made for it, and roguelikes have unique mechanics, but have always been relegated to terminal games with graphics only being provided by front-ends.

I think we will see mechanics from both genres continued to be used for years to come, but as for new genres, I have some ideas:

* Ys-likes - Basically action-RPGs that play like the classic Ys games (Ys I, II, and IV to be specific). A lot of people think the whole bump combat system is archaic, but I'd argue that it keeps those games fast-paced, which is part of their appeal. Ys games also tend to be much shorter than traditional RPGs, so I can see indies pumping out Ys clones quickly. The cult fanbase of the Ys series seems to be growing so I feel like it's inevitable that a few clones will be made if they haven't already.
* Zelda II-likes - Non-linear sidescrollers don't have to copy Metroid and post-SoTN Castlevania, and while Zelda II has a lot of flaws, the basic design concept is fine enough that I can see a whole genre being built upon it.
* Side-scrolling RPGs - Same as above. Besides Zelda II, you also have WonderBoy and Ys III as examples of side scrolling RPGs.
* Vertically scrolling platformers - There aren't that many. Games like Kid Icarus have a cult following and have more depth to them than many people think.
* Point-and-click adventure games - People say that they haven't evolved since the 90s, but I think there is potential if you combine elements from other genres. Like, I can see certain parts where you confront with an enemy and it goes into an RPG-like battle or a fighting game.
* Second-person games - I thought that something like this would be a total joke because it implies that you are viewing from the perspective of your enemies and that the game would just look like you being shot, but after watching this video, I'm convinced that it could work. You could have escort missions where you see from the perspective of the escort while you control a character who is always in your view or a survival horror game where you see from the perspective of the zombies/monsters, but this would require a lot of camera work. Either way though, I think the potential is pretty limited.

https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=mC8QoRa8y_Q

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Decided to call my game Refactored Depths. The name is a mirror reference and a reference to the randomly generated levels.

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Boss now has sound effects when shooting energy balls.

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Boss now faces the player (within the constraints of 4 cardinal directions).

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Boss now teleports.

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Added the fourth (and second to final) boss. I plan on having it teleport after shooting.

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