Hello again everyone!

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As of today, March 22nd, 2024, I've got a few new things to share with you about my game project! I've been working quite hard on Fikki and the Weird World from day to day, from programming in more sophisticated engine mechanics to conceptualizing new story and gameplay elements!

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I mentioned in the last devlog that I wanted to have this game play like a traditional RPG, which is what I've mostly been working on up to this point, and that's what I'll be showing you in this log.

 

Take a peek below!

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W O R L D   L A Y O U T

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The Weird World is quite a strange place (as the name suggests), filled with wondrous areas, and lots of things that just don't really make a whole lotta' sense.

 

The game starts out after Fikki's tiring and treacherous journey to the peak of Mt. Cattywampus, a summit only the most curious of minds can even dream of reaching.

 

After being found by Kikki, Fikki's sister, you'll arrive at a sort of Hub-World that connects all the game's main levels, each with its own unique barrier that the Player will eventually help Fikki overcome through the might of the Soul Powers.

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Be on the lookout, though, as there will be secret passages all over the place that lead to mysterious areas, some of which can't be traversed until you've acquired powers that are found much later in the game!

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S O U L   P O W E R S

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Collecting the Soul Powers will be the main gameplay loop of Fikki and the Weird World.

 

Throughout your adventure, you'll come across a few strange objects which are purposely designed to closely resemble the Yin-Yang symbol:

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These souls possess an energy unlike any other, one that allows its recipient to instantaneously learn and utilize skills which they did not previously have.

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You, as the Player, control this energy, and as a result, whenever Fikki picks up a soul, your ability to guide and instruct her strengthens (you unlock more mechanics).

 

You must help Fikki collect 4 Soul Powers throughout your journey together in order to progress to the end of the game, as each has a unique use within the Weird World.

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• THE SOUL OF ANIMATION

• THE SOUL OF ADVENTURE

• THE SOUL OF COURAGE

• THE SOUL OF RHYTHM

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As to avoid spoiling too much, I will not be explicitly stating what these soul powers are used for within the game, but I think the names say enough for now!

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As stated previously, the souls' designs mimic the well known Yin-Yang symbol, which is commonly used to represent concepts like contrast and duality. The souls themselves are meant to represent a concept with high similarity: symbiosis. It's defined as a relationship in which two organisms live closely together, usually while providing advantages to one another. With the souls, the relationship is between the Player's energy and Fikki.

 

Without the Player's energy, Fikki's capabilities would be quite limited.

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Without Fikki's trust, the Player would have no way to interact with the Weird World.

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Next, I want to call out a specific piece of the souls' design, the black side (depicted in this image). This part of the design is consistent across all souls, as it represents Fikki herself. Since she's the recipient of the aforementioned special energy, the souls' designs reflect such.

 

The colorful side, however, is always different.

 

Only certain objects within the game world are colorful, and the souls are among those certain few. The color differences between the souls represent the various capabilities that the Player brings to the relationship. There's a bit of color theory going on in the designs as well, for a better feel.

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• BLUE was chosen for the Animation Soul because it can be associated with STABILITY and TRUST.

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• GREEN was chosen for the Adventure Soul because it can be associated with HEALTH and GROWTH.

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• RED was chosen for the Courage Soul because it can be associated with DANGER and STRENGTH.

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• YELLOW was chosen for the Rhythm Soul because it can be associated with ENERGY and JOY.

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I know those descriptions are pretty vague, and therefore not super helpful for deducing what the souls will be used for in the game, but try to think about why the highlighted terms, specifically, are important when compared to the names of their related souls.

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Tip: The game's genre tags (found on itch.io) might be helpful too ;)

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S M A S H   T I L E S

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The second and final thing I will be sharing is the smash tile. These are special tiles that can be broken to reveal something, perhaps a handful of items, or even a secret pathway!

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Above is an example sprite of a single smash tile (animated to show the stages of the smashing process).

 

They will always appear in the same spots no matter how many times you play the game. However, what's inside, might surprise you.

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When you smash a smash tile, one of four things will happen.

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Randomly Determined Events:

1. An item or many items will be dropped (up to 6)

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Pre-determined Events:

    2. A secret collectable will be given (1 only)

    3. A soul power will be given (1 only)

    4. A pathway will be opened (hidden/not hidden)

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Smash tiles that drop items are unique from all others, because, not only are they randomly generated, they also have the chance to generate multiple items instead of just 1, up to 6.

 

One item is guaranteed, because it would be kinda' silly if you got nothing, but every item after the first, has an exponentially decreasing chance of generating. Once one item is successfully generated, the process rolls to generate the next. The rolling process goes on until either 6 items have been generated, or, the more likely outcome, a roll fails.

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Here are the base odds of each item slot generating:

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ITEM SLOT 1

• 1 in 1, at a 100.00% chance

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ITEM SLOT 2

• 1 in 4, at a 25.00% chance

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ITEM SLOT 3

• 1 in 16, about a 6.25% chance

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ITEM SLOT 4

• 1 in 64, about a 1.56% chance

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ITEM SLOT 5

• 1 in 256, about a 0.39% chance

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ITEM SLOT 6

• 1 in 1,024, about a 0.10% chance

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If you've ever hunted a shiny Pokemon, you know how rare a 1 in 1,024 chance is. It's stupid rare. That said, good luck getting even 4 items to generate... lol.

 

Tip: There will be an achievement for generating 6 items from a single smash tile, so happy hunting!

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Pre-determined smash tiles will always be found in the same places and always yield the same things, but RNG smash tiles will always be randomized.

 

For example, if you come across a soul power, the smash tile you broke will always give that exact same soul power each and every time you play through the game.

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Contrastively, if you were to come across 5 items (lucky you!) in one playthrough, the smash tile you broke will likely yield more or less items of potentially different kinds in a different playthrough.

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That said, the actual smashing process is a little more complex than just a simple click. A couple extra factors are involved as well, starting with integrity.

 

Each tile has its own integrity rating, meaning they can only be successfully smashed if the player has enough of a certain statistic. This statistic, called Smashing Power (SP), is the other factor involved in the smashing process. It's used only for smash tiles, and can be upgraded through certain, albeit currently undetermined interactions (likely through some sort of shop-keeper NPC).

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There are 3 levels of smash tiles, and 4 levels of SP.

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Smash Tile Levels

• 1 = Fragile

• 2 = Sturdy

• 3 = Resilient

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If your SP is equal to the level of the smash tile, you'll deal 1 damage, but for each level of SP you have above the smash tile, you deal triple damage. So if you were to use level 3 SP on a Fragile smash tile, you'd deal 9 or 1 * (3^2) damage, which would result in a one-shot break.

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Here's a list of SP levels and their perks:

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Smashing Power 1:

• 33% Smashing Power (can break Fragile smash tiles).

• Basic tile vision: visually differentiates integrity types.

• Basic pickaxe design.

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Smashing Power 2:

• 67% Smashing Power (can break Sturdy smash tiles).

• Deals bonus damage to lower level tiles.

• Advanced tile vision: shows the container type (on scan).

• +10% base chance to generate items:​

  • For 2 items: 1 in 4, about a 27.78% chance

  • For 3 items: 1 in 15, about a 6.94% chance

  • For 4 items: 1 in 58, about a 1.74% chance

  • For 5 items: 1 in 231, about a 0.43% chance

  • For 6 items: 1 in 922, about a 0.11% chance

• Cooler pickaxe design.

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Smashing Power 3:

• 100% Smashing Power (can break Resilient smash tiles).

• Deals bonus damage to lower level tiles (one-shots Fragile).

• Super tile vision: reveals one item within any tile (on scan).

• +15% base chance to generate items:​

  • For 2 items: 1 in 3, about a 33.33% chance

  • For 3 items: 1 in 12, about a 8.33% chance

  • For 4 items: 1 in 48, about a 2.08% chance

  • For 5 items: 1 in 192, about a 0.52% chance

  • For 6 items: 1 in 768, about a 0.13% chance

• Even cooler pickaxe design.

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Smashing Power 4 (Max):

• 200% Smashing Power (can break Impenetrable smash tiles).

• Deals bonus damage to lower level tiles (one-shots Fragile & Sturdy).

• Perfect tile vision: reveals all items within any tile (on scan).

• +25% base chance to generate items:​

  • For 2 items: 1 in 2, about a 50.00% chance (x2)

  • For 3 items: 1 in 8, about a 12.50% chance (x2)

  • For 4 items: 1 in 32, about a 3.13% chance (x2)

  • For 5 items: 1 in 128, about a 0.78% chance (x2)

  • For 6 items: 1 in 512, about a 0.20% chance (x2)

• Bonus re-roll in the event of a failed item generation.

• Coolest pickaxe design.

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That about concludes everything. Thanks so much for reading, and stay tuned for more updates in the coming months!

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