Mana L1: Back into the Swing of Things
Hey, L here. It’s been a while. Thankfully we have a lot to show for such a long wait. Before that, I’ve got some things to talk through. So stand up, sit down, stand up again, do a little twirl, ruminate on why you didn’t follow my instructions, actually do it this time, and sit down, because I have some things to get through.
First, why the wait? Well, Manaposts have not been consistent since the latter half of 2023–wow, time flies–and that’s partially my fault. After PPP, I thought it would be best for Y to not stress about posting her progress and just do what she does best. Sit down, shut up, and make video games. So, to take some of the weight off her shoulders, you have to deal with me now, hi! You probably just know me from being a single letter in the sign off of every Manapost. I’m one of the sound people, and now the designated social media manager for our operation.
Now that that’s out of the way…
Delaney is here, folks! Well, the first version of the beta is, anyways. While previous posts on its development might have shown a flatter, pixel-er version of what we have today, we promise it's that same eccentric dungeon crawler with a spin. Hammers. Spinning hammers. It’s like a pun.
Why did we go 3D?
Well, a top-down precision platformer wasn’t exactly working conceptually, and Y, had played games like ULTRAKILL and Sonic 3D Blast which inspired her to add a new dimension to the gameplay. With this new dimension, there is vastly more room for diverse mechanics, environments, and tons more control over your character as you’re bouncing off the walls in excitement.
Of course, keep in mind that this is just an early beta, so you’ll just be flopping around as a pill, testing the movement in a trial area without any textures. Y thought that it was pertinent to focus on the core concept and mechanics of the game before adding anything frivolous like colors or sounds.
Even though there is a how to play tab in the game, let’s quickly go over your main ability as Dr. Pill in Pill Quest 3D™: hammer spinning.
To charge up your hammer, you hold Left Click, and there are four flow states. First, Blunt, designated with a grey arrow, which sends you nowhere. Charge it up a little more to get to Delta, designated with a green arrow, Epsilon, designated with a blue arrow, and finally Lambda, designated with a red arrow. Respective to their charge times, these will send you farther, faster!
(Psst… just a secret… jumping during charging will record your flow state for when you spin in midair. Don’t tell anyone that came from me though, Y will cave in my skull)
Honestly, I would love to gush about this game for hours to you all because I’ve playtested it and flying around completely mesmerised me, even if there are no levels to do that in yet. But, alas, our time has come to an end. If you want more, then follow the itch link at the bottom of this post. Have fun, dear gamer. And remember, hammer. Or, wait. Spinning? Hammer… spinning, with a spin? Uh, spin hammering hamming spinner ham spin hamme
DOWNLOAD HERE: https://manapotion.itch.io/delaney
Find and bugs or just want to talk to the team? Then...
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