Sharing a bit from my Blueberry Jam game called Den of Death

The game will be available to download on Sunday, June 11, 2017.

Stayin' Alive!

While there hasn't been much visible activity coming from Digitalhead Games, I have, in fact, been working. Some aspects of life have prevented me from doing so as much as I'd like, but progress is still being made, just slower than it should be.

Lily of Light is still being developed. One bit of news is that I'm testing a new method of handling the resolution and aspect ratio on startup. Since the game is so easy on resources, there won't be any graphical options beyond selecting fullscreen/windowed. The new method will automatically detect your display's resolution and set the game to a matching aspect ratio. This will remove black bars on non-16:9 ratio screens with no stretching. Windowed mode will be approximately 2/3 your screen's resolution, preventing the game window from getting stuck behind the task bar if you are using a lower resolution... unless you are using an extremely low resolution.

As of right now, this is still being tested and tweaked, so it won't be released quite yet. There's quite a bit of code to go through to make sure there isn't anything getting compromised, such as GUI elements being out of place or any other target positions that are directly associated with the original configuration instead of relative view and display positions.

Some more news is that I am re-thinking some aspects of later-stage gameplay that could make Lily of Light much more enjoyable. Since there is nothing set in stone, I am hesitant to reveal any details at this time. Such is the way of developing on the fly! I don't want to make promises now that will be nowhere to be seen when the game is actually released.

One final item to mention is that I would like to make a call out to anybody interested in being a tester. Here are a few things I am looking to test:

• Non-16:9 aspect ratios of various resolutions
• Low system specs to establish minimum requirements
• Controllers that are not Logitech
• Controllers on Linux

If you can test any of these (preferably multiple), please leave a comment or contact me directly through the Contact Me form on the right.

Finally a final demo for Lily of Light

With recent issues for about the past month, I've decided to hold off on weekly updates for Lily of Light. In the meantime, you can enjoy the (free) final demo version for both Windows and Linux available on Itch and Game Jolt.

The decision to stop weekly updates wasn't easy as it was one of my early promises. However, with issues with my internet connection not letting me upload (or download) without router crashes, and that many of the things I am working on aren't even playable yet because they are later in the story than what is completed/playable, updates will be limited.

If you have bought the game, don't worry, updates will be coming. If you would like to support the development of Lily of Light, please do so by purchasing it at the discounted price of $2.99 (USD). More sales = more motivation.

In addition to this, I will still be releasing sections of the Creature Manual on occasion. The next section to be released is all about the Creepers, the misunderstood creepy things that slink through the Dungeons of Darkness.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ghosts-a-plenty!

With my internet being horribly bad for the past couple weeks preventing me from being able to upload any updated versions of Lily of Light, I'm at least going to give you something. Another section of the creature manual for Lily of Light. This time, it's all about the ghosts.

Ghosts aren't all that bad really. That is if you don't value your collected souls for your current level. They don't do physical damage to Lily of Light, but instead, they will steal the collected souls. They can't take souls that have already been used on a level-up, though.

These ghosts are just lost souls. There are plenty of them in the Dungeons of Darkness. They come from many different creatures and simply roam the dungeons looking for a way out. The majority of ghosts will attempt to take any souls that aren't being used because they believe those souls might help them find a way to escape their eternal wandering.

Unfortunately, when they take a soul, it is instantly destroyed, making it a completely pointless effort, but it doesn't stop most ghosts from trying. Some have given up on the escape, and those ghosts stay hidden away because they know that just because they are dead, it doesn't mean they can't be killed. The light can hurt them and destroy their spiritual form. When this happens, their entire being can be collected by Lily in the form of just another soul.

Have a great weekend!

Mellos Galore! (And no update this week)

While I have been working on Lily of Light, the parts that I have been working on does not effect enough of the playable part of the game to justify uploading a new release. However, I do have a part of the creature manual to share with you! I know you can barely contain yourself to take a look at the creature manual, so with no more delays, no hesitation, and no postponing allowed, not even a slight hold-up…

Wait, where was I? Anyway, here's a piece of the creature manual about the Mellos:

Mellos are the first creatures that Lily of Light will encounter in the Dungeons of Darkness. On their own, they are generally harmless. However, their powdery coating is toxic to Lily. When it is shaken off in while a Mello bounces around, it creates a dusting that, if Lily touches, will hurt her.

Mellos are not aggressive by nature, but instead, are curious about new things. When they get close, their powder coating will come off and harm creatures that come from the surface. While they may look like a delicious marshmallow, they actually have a rather bad taste if you try to eat them. This is their primary defense against creatures that are native to the Dungeons of Darkness. No creature likes having a bad taste left in their mouth.

In the dungeons, Mellos have the largest population, even with being some of the weakest creatures you will find. Their bad taste ensures that other creatures will leave them alone, while their vast numbers ensure their population can never drop to zero.

Since Mellos have no identifiable gender, it is still unknown how they actually reproduce. Nobody, including the other dungeon creatures, has ever seen a youngling being born, or even a youth bouncing around. They seem to simply appear out of nowhere as adults. This somewhat bewilders the Creepers, but they have better things to worry about.

Lily of Light 2016.08.05 Update: No More Perma-death!

Lily of Light is growing every week and since the story is getting longer, I've decided to get rid of perma-death. The game now has a checkpoint system that will be restored on death. For now, it saves every other player level, meaning at levels 3, 5, 7, etc. This should keep back-tracking lower while also giving you up to 2 levels to adjust your stats differently if that is where something made you die, like having too low of an attack stat.

Some other new things are:

• Enemies can be stunned by light attacks
• There is a knockback for physical attacks
• New idle state for the earth boss
• Fixed text in the game over screen
• Fixed more text to reflect the checkpoint system
• Minor adjustments

As usual, for a full changelog with more sarcasm, see the included Changelog.txt in the DOC folder of the .ZIP files. These changes are only in the full paid version.

There are some other changes, but they are for chapter 2 of the story, which is not playable yet, but coming very soon after a bit more work.

Have a great weekend!

Version 2016.07.29 is now available!

This update adds some pretty big stuff (development-wise anyway). Here's a quick rundown of what's new:

• Added a new boss
• Added chapter 1 of the story
• Bug fixes
• Code cleanup
• A new music track for the dungeons (Thanks Human Antagonist!)
• Added damage response. Screen-flash.
• Red is HP damage
• Orange is Shield damage
• Aqua is when souls are stolen by ghosts
• Lots of programming AI for new boss. Not finished, but it's a good start.

* These changes only apply to the full (paid) version
* Full changelog included in the .ZIP files. It contains more details and sarcasm.

The new boss has a freshly created AI that took some time to get where it is, which it's still not 100% complete. There's still some work to do, but it's a playable level in the full (paid) version.

Sorry, no update to the demo version this week. Could be a little while before it gets updated.

Have you tried it? What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Love it except for...? I want to know what you have to say, so SPEAK UP!

Have a happy weekend.