Fall Draws Near
The new demo is finally out!
It includes the first stage of Meander Forth, as well as the entire Teak's Tall Tale campaign.
Please try it out, and let me know what you think!
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@meanderforth
Fall Draws Near
The new demo is finally out!
It includes the first stage of Meander Forth, as well as the entire Teak's Tall Tale campaign.
Please try it out, and let me know what you think!
Meander Land: The Escape
So long as good people keep fighting, there will always be a tomorrow.
Thanks for joining me on this adventure!
The Ruins
These ruins are floating in the sky? What happened to them? What were they used for? Maybe it doesn't matter, anymore. Maybe it's time to look to the future.
Four shades remastered! Escape the island!
Meander Land: Whatever Happens Happens
Four shades remastered! Escape the island!
Meander Land: The Sky
These are turbulent skies! It'll take some good flying to make it through unscathed!
Four shades remastered! Escape the island!
Meander Land: Giant Enemy Crab
This guy gets a robot crab to fight with? That's not fair!
Four shades remastered! Escape the island!
Meander Land: Scotty Nikola Sr.
Wait, this guy looks kinda familiar...
Four shades remastered! Escape the island!
25 Nov. 2024 - Snow Problem!
(X-Post from Patreon and Itch.io)
Hey, folks!
The second boss fight of Meander Forth is complete! If you don't mind mild spoilers, you can watch it all play out in the video embedded in this post.
One of the funniest things about game development is that you never know for sure how long something will take. Something that seems complex and elaborate can take around an hour, while something that seems like a no-brainer can take weeks.
Case in point: the aforementioned second boss!
Every boss fight in Meander Forth is themed around the level it belongs to, as well as the mechanics used in that level. For example, the first boss resembles the snail enemy from the first stage and requires mastery of the three major mechanics introduced there: walking, jumping, and firing the gun.
The second chapter of the game introduces a new mechanic, however: the ice-dash. Though this is used in combat, it is primarily an evasive maneuver, so designing a boss around it requires a different approach.
My first concept for this boss was a race-to-the-finish a la the Metal Sonic fight from Sonic CD or the Gourmet Race minigame in Kirby Super Star. I wasn't particularly fond of this idea, however, since I felt that the ice mechanics would case the fight to become a glorified auto-runner and trivialize the dash itself.
Another idea I had was to have the boss employ attacks that would require the player to use the dash to move out of the way. This was more conducive to the style of boss I wanted to make, but I realized that theming the boss around requiring reflex-based dodges would be too difficult and alienate new players.
Loosening up the timing would have made the boss more approachable, but would disincentivize using the dash mechanics that the boss was meant to test.
Thankfully, my good friend Marcus gave me an idea: have a snowman that you defeat by dashing into it, much like how you deal with the snow piles scattered through the rest of the stage! That way, even if the player didn't use the dash to avoid the boss's attacks, they'd still have to use it in combat.
Unfortunately, this idea opened its own can of worms. This boss is the only enemy in the game that takes damage from the dash. To work around that, I had to get creative with the boss on both a coding level and on a design level.
In the Game Maker prototype, the entire boss was handled by one object that changed states between the snowman form and the "prone" form. This behavior did not translate well into Godot, so I had to refactor it to make the two separate objects that work in tandem with each other.
On top of that, Godot uses specialized collision checkers for different "types" of collision, much unlike how Game Maker's old "mask" system works. For the snowman, this meant I had to get a little crazy and make sure to have boxes that could account for landing on terrain, hurting the player, and getting dashed into by the player.
Finally, I had to implement the boss's other attacks. Since the rest of the fight is so different, I kept it simple: When the snowman lands on the ground, he creates a shockwave. He also spits icy anchors at you that you dodge by, you guessed it, dashing!
Admittedly, this was always the boss I dreaded making the most. The other mechanics in the game are pretty straightforward to design combat scenarios around. For jumping, I just made a projectile that needed to be jumped over. For shooting, I just made enemies that were damaged by bullets. For climbing walls, all I have to do is set the floor on fire. Dashing is much more evasive and technical, so it was a big challenge to come up with something that would test the player's skills without being too difficult.
I believe the fight I came up with is a good compromise, but I would appreciate feedback! The build of this game containing this fight is available to Patrons, but I would be more than willing to let anyone try it out if they ask nicely. After all, nothing in a game is ever really finished!
Thank you for reading! I'll be sure to keep you posted on further updates and developments!
Get Meander Forth
A handheld-inspired platforming adventure! Escape the mysterious desert island of Khnumia...
Meander Land is now available on Steam! It's also 40% off for the first week, bringing it down to $0.59 USD!
Meander Land: Coyote Bill's Advice
It is often in your best interest to heed the wisdom of a coyote.
Four shades remastered! Escape the island!
Chapter 2 Complete!
Chapter 2 of Meander Forth is COMPLETE!
I plan to have a preview build available to patrons VERY soon, as well as a proper demo of the game before too long! Up next on the agenda is the Teak's Tall Tale prologue stage, however!
I'll keep you posted!
Dark Powers?
Dark powers? Perish the thought, officer.
👄Get Into It
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War on Light?
Seems like everyone is talking about this "War on Light" show. What does that have to do with the festival?
Treehops!!
Keep an eye out! This creatures may look like trees, but that's their natural camouflage. They're usually harmless, though: just remember that the pointy green ones jump in the air while the crested blue ones stick to the ground.
Snow Drifts
In the fjord, you'll find that some paths are blocked off by walls of snow. A sane person would probably just dig through it or melt it, but where's the fun in that?
Slam your whole body into it. See what happens.
Development is underway on the second level: The snowy fjord! From here, it's up to Garret to find his missing brother!