Beautifying The Grim Reaper (And His Catacombs)

Wherein death gets a makeover, and the catacombs get curvy

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PLAY THE DEMO!
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All music composed by Dryden Thomas

The 3Blue1Brown video I reference:

[DualWielded]

Man, what a beaut... Any chance you could introduce me to the grim reaper, or...?

[thevedect]

I can't wait for the concept arts caused by the video thumbnail😂

[AIRafique]

Really well made game. Here's a suggestion, take it or leave it, but when the characters limbs swap places when they face the other direction. It would be nice if that stayed the same. For example, Samuel facing right has his cane in his left hand but facing left has his cane in his right hand. It's the same for pretty much all bosses and enemies. This doesn't really affect the gameplay, and I understand that reworking right and left facing frames would mean redrawing most of the assets. It's a very minor nitpick, but could do wonders.

[Iwasonceanonionwithnolayers]

Something that occurred to me a couple months back is that Death itself is the only being that lives forever. Until nothing else is left to die, I guess.

[EverydayCarrot]

This is looking incredible, the attention to detail! Wild idea, but to have more dynamic lighting in the environment perhaps you could incorporate phosphorescence into your foliage. They wouldn't receive sunlight but what about Samuel's ? Then, when Samuel runs past them again, they glow. This indicates to the player that they've already passed this foilage and adds more lighting variety - just throwing it out there

[MarushiaDark]

Seeing two grim reapers on screen at once makes me think that should be a special mode or even post-end-game mode, like now you have to do everything over again but facing two at once, including during the final boss fight. And you should keep the old one for that phase for contrast so you can tell them apart.

[Tottieo]

2:50 YOURE A NERD. YOU LIKE THIS. bro called out of us 😂❤

[GingerNingerish]

Only a managed to have a few quick play session, but oh man, the art is so much more gorgeous and crisp when actually playing the game compared to the YouTube videos, and all the new environment details... chef's kiss. Really enjoying it so far.

[KingPepperjackYT]

Really can't wait for the finished project! Looks like it'sll be a blast to play.

[InfinityBladeRecollection]

I few things I noticed the black goo hanging from the ceiling doesn’t look like it’s connected to the blocks it looks like it’s floating. Also I think the old scythe is way more menacing, my biggest issue with the new one is probably the attack animation because the chain arm hardly swings out in front of him it just doesn’t look like it should hit Samuel if that makes sense. I think it should extend way further by the time it’s in front of the reapers body it’s already curling back to him. I also this the old reaper takes up space better the new one forms a way more acute triangle than the old one he seems lazier. I think it’s because the old one had a lean towards Samuel. This makes it look like he has a sense of urgency to get to Samuel unlike the new one which just seems to be floating behind him. Anyways sorry for the unsolicited advice I think the other improvements look great especially the new decorations makes the game look way more professional!

[hippo_teeth]

This redesign was amazing! The Reaper looks SO much better, and same with the jumping animation! You're doing a great job!

I don't want to tamper the mood, but i thought i might mention that, at least in my expirience, the catacombs seem a little short. I might just not be spending enough time looking around, but the urgency of the Reaper and the light draining makes me rush through it all. Just a little food for digestion.

But other than that, I'm having a great time playing this masterpiece of art, music, and gameplay. Keep it up!

[Blackthornprod]

Loving the progress on this gem on an indie game!

[hunterhire]

I think a final level should be a must. A satisfying end to the story.
Maybe Samuel finds a fake goblet of eternal life, after defeating the Pain guy. that makes death disappears at the last level, however it made death more powerful, and now He's your final Boss. Maybe there's a cut scene, when Samuel picks up the goblet, and how it looks like it defeats death, but instead it made it more powerful.

The boss level, Death is immune from all attacks, however the level can be more like a regular level with caverns.
Samuel must place the 4 beads of life, on each pedestal, and then a beam of light binds death, and he can now be killed.

The beads of life can spawn throughout the previous levels. And if the player doesn't have them. Tough luck. (although life beads should not be allowed to be duplicated.)

This looks like a ton of works, these are just ideas. Love your work, and can't wait to play the finished product.♥♥♥

[jabean]

This is so inspiring to see. I want to create a game one day, and i love seeing people actually fulfilling that dream. It also looks amazing both in art and mechanics. I think the grim reaper slash could use something more perhaps more range of motion would make the animation look more threatening. Awesome job!

[otaviobz]

I really liked the visual improvements :)

The only thing that seems a bit odd to me (at least from the footage, I haven't downloaded the new version yet), is the shadowy thing that hangs from the ceiling. The part that is IN the blocks seems a little blocky. Perhaps make it fade out instead of covering up the whole blocks, so it looks more seamless?

[timmyis.online]

I love watching you iterate on art & animations. So well done!

[MichaelCaswell-qw]

This may be me looking too far into things but I really love how the new jump reinforces Samuel's fear with him looking down to see where he's about to land rather than slightly upwards

[pebblly]

My brain was hurting this entire video from all the technical talk, but I just got motivated to start learning game programming because of you and seeing what you have turned this game into... Its amazing.

[VanillaSpooks]

Lookin awesome! I feel you could add more depth to the background now as well, the new tiles are amazing and the atmosphere keeps getting better, some particle effects and modifications to the background could go a long way for depth! :)

[haszalegendlikesvayumstuff]

the best thing I've heard today was that the demo is in Sydney 🙏 hope to see you there