PATHFINDER DEMO LAUNCH

Today is the day 

Exactly one week ago today I released the first early access build of Pathfinder for closed testing. I was given the opportunity to work with many more initial testers than I had initially anticipated and got an insane amount of feedback on the game. Daily updates for the first few days addressed many gameplay and difficulty concerns:

• Improved player controller 
  • Introduction of coyote time and variable jump height (FINALLY)
  • Improved collision detection
  • Rework of the player character
  • New animations 
  • Proper respawn animation
• Level difficulty 
  • ALL levels received significant reworks 
    • Introduction of tutorial and help messages 
    • Improved hazard hitboxes
    • Addition of multiple paths for more player freedom
    • Improved general-level layouts making more space for the player 
    • Reworks to various tileset
  • Overall levels are much more exciting and engaging while also feeling more fair and fun 
• Gamepad support 
  • Tested on a variety of controllers
  • Currently works IN GAME 
  • Menus still require you to have a mouse handy
    • Keep an eye out for a UI rework in the future!
• Improved visibility and accessibility 
  • The settings menu now features a mute audio and mute music button
  • Many assets have been reworked to more clear feature borders
    • These borders help with general design language and consistency. Interactable objects generally have a lighter border whereas standard tiles generally feature darker edges. 
  • In general, many visual tweaks have been made to improve visibility and clarity 
• Introduction of new features
  • Death counter reminds you of how many times you've had to replay your favorite level :)
  • Reworked pause menu
  • New sound effects and music 
• ...and more!

The notes above highlight some of the most important moments of the play-testing period, it was a busy week but it's just the start!

So what does the demo mean?

Starting today the Pathfinder demo is public! This is just the beginning of the next major push, the road to launch. The demo is still something that I consider early access to the game so here are some of my thoughts 

• There can and probably still WILL be bugs, and I will continue tirelessly fighting back against them as they are reported.
• Development is not going to slow down, but updates will. 
• With each update, I'm getting closer to a more stable version of the game. Currently, the game feels pretty good, Over the next few days I will address any pressing issues or bugs via regular maintenance updates as needed as quickly as I can. 
• Looking past that, as I work on adding new features and content, updates will slow down and shift from roughly daily changes to something like weekly updates. 

This is a huge step for the game and I'm beyond excited to give the world a look at what I've been working on. This is my first game launch, so bear with me. Absolutely huge thanks to all of my playtesters this week, together we were able to get a LOT done in just 7 days. And thank you to anyone who gives Pathfinder a chance, I'm really excited to share my work with you and see what you think!