Pretty Water

Was updating the lighting engine to help prevent some of the bleed through that the mini blocks were generating and I decided to finally update the water!

The water now uses a custom pixel shader that makes the transparency of the water increase with distance from the camera.  You can now hide in the water!  If you are just below the surface and your enemy is further away, they won't be able to see you.  The mob AI detection algorithm also reflects this change so you can now use the water to sneak up on enemies.

Estate

Just finished updating the Estate level with the new mini blocks.  I added a lot of detail work and cleaned up a lot of leftovers from before there was a terrain map.  This also proved to be a good testing ground for performance.  I was able to optimize the collision detection and path finding to provide virtually no difference in performance.

The wizard lost his hat!  His hit box is now a little shorter and he is harder to see behind cover.

The lair mob now levels up when he respawns.  His level will be one less than the highest level player in the match.

Counter Spell Alpha v0.5.7

The Counter Spell Alpha available on the website has been updated!

Lots of changes since the last update.  The biggest difference is probably the new leveling system.  Wizards can now choose their spells as they level!  Spells are classified as Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic.  Everyone starts with the Common spells, and then receives additional spell slots as they level up, with the frequency based on the rarity of the spell.  Also you now get two extra stat points to spend any way you like when you level up.

Donating the relics at the altar now has a chance to give you an uncommon spell book, which can be learned even if you don't have any free spell slots.  Defeating the elite lair mob now has a chance to drop a rare spell book.

I was getting frustrated with the limitations of the current block system so I finally added support for smaller block sizes.  The latest build of the engine now supports block sizes down to 1/8th of the existing block size of one meter.  This new feature is still being tested and is not available on the public alpha yet.

More updates coming soon!

Counter Spell Alpha

Counter Spell's Open Alpha is now available!  I've been focusing on improvements to the UI lately, and I think it's now ready for testing and feedback from a more general audience.  The alpha download and link to the wiki can both be found here:

www.abnormalsoftware.com/cs

Coral's Curse v1.1 Released

Coral's Curse v1.1 has passed through peer review and is now available on Xbox LIVE!  Hopefully everyone will enjoy the new control scheme.  It feels a lot more natural to me.

Update v1.1

Coral's Curse v1.1 has been submitted for review by the Xbox LIVE Indie Games community!  It fixes the bug with the game crashing at the top of the world when accessing the map.  Additionally a new control scheme has been implemented!  The right thumb stick now causes your to fire your last selected spell in the direction the stick is being pressed.  To control your tail with the right thumb stick, you now simply hold down either of the bumpers.  This control scheme will come on by default, but fans of the old system can toggle it back on in the Options menu.

Greetings

Hello everyone!  I just created this blog to provide updates and get feedback on the development of Coral's Curse and other games.  Currently Coral's Curse v1.1 is under development with a bug fix and a new, optional control scheme that provides a dual-stick shooter option.  The bug that has been fixed was a crash bug that occurs when accessing the automap when you're at the very top of the world.  More updates to follow!