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(12/11/24)

Soundtrack

• Out of time has been slightly reworked for a fuller sound

Game

• New cart label is in place
• Level 4 has been filled out with candles and enemies
• Frankenstein's monster and Igor boss have been added
• Eagles have been added. They carry fleamen, and wont hesitate to drop them on you
• Skele-dragons have been added. they are surprisingly quick, and like to stay out of reach
• Red skeletons have been added. Slow moving enemies that can't be killed, only immobilized for a brief time
• Axe Knights have been added. They maintain distance, and throw axes. Their armor is tough.
• Stub for level 5 is in place. That's it, though.

(12/5/24)

Soundtrack

• Prologue has been filled out with a 4th channel, as was as reworked the other channels to make it fit

Game

• Death has been added. His erratic movements make him hard to hit, and his scythes will surround you
• First chunk of level 4 has been filled out with candles and enemies
• Reworked item collision for more reliable pickups
• If you attempt to throw a sub-weapon, but then take a hit before it
  flies, your ammo is refunded. Not applicable to the stopwatch.

• (12/2/24)

• Level 3 has been populated with candles and enemies
  • The unreachable secret from the original game is now collectable... or is it?

(11/30/24)

• Special super secret has been added... somewhere. Can you find it?
• Level 3 has been blocked out. No enemies or candles, yet
• Mummy bosses have been added
• Fall transition to Level 4 has been added
• First chunk of level 4 has been blocked out. No enemies or candles, yet

(11/28/24)

Soundtrack

• Walking on the Edge has had some percussion added
• Underground has been Changed to be more bassy, and also more harmonious(?)

Game

• Brand new sprites for Simon have been added, drawn by @Retro_Pup_Pico_8. Many thanks go to them for their
  fantastic work!
• Collisions have been retooled for the whip and weapons against enemies. Hits should be MUCH more sensible now
• Ravens have been added. They swoop down, and attempt to collide with you
• My first home made Power up, the infinite shot, has been added. Collect it to get unlimited simultaneous weapons
  onscreen for about 10 seconds. Beware... after the time is up, not only do you bust back to single shot, all on
  screen subweapons are destroyed, including the one you have equipped

(11/25/24)

• New powerup has been added: The infinite shot. Once collected, you can throw an unlimited number of sub-weapons while your ammo holds out, for ten seconds. Afterward, you're left with single shot, and no sub-weapon, and all onscreen sub-weapons are destroyed
• Level loading bug has been fixed!
• Skeleton collision has been tweaked to allow for more interesting gameplay
• ammo economy has been adjusted

(11/23/24)

• Rest of level 2 has been blocked out, and missing enemies have been placed
• Medusa boss has been added
• Swooping bat has been added
• Ghost spawners have been added
• Beginnings of level 3 in place. No more than that, though

(11/19/24)

• Lingering issue with File select screen have been fixed
• An enemy drop system has been added. How many enemies you've destroyed will determine what you MIGHT get
• Some polish to the Phantom Bat's animation
• Proper points awarded for the different enemies,
  as well as for weapon combos (sincere thanks go to @Retro_Pup_Pico_8 for the research!)
• Ghosts have been added
• Fleamen have been tweaked (I just can't leave those dudes alone...)
• 1ups have been added. They currently have a 1% chance to drop instead of a multishot

(11/17/24)

Soundtrack

• Whole soundtrack was re-recorded to up the volume a bit
• Underground has been filled out more
• Gate has been renamed to Prologue
• Vampire killer received small tweaks to fades
• Stalker now has even more oomph in the bass
• Wicked Child has had a pass to bring more balance, and make some notes more distinct
• Walking on the Edge has had a few cuts added to many notes
• Out of time has had cuts added to notes. It sounded kinda "Whiney" to me before...
• Nothing to lose has had minor alterations to the drum line
• Voyager has been cleaned up a bit

(11/15/24)

Game

• Underground song has been made more accurate
• File select "Copy Mode" has been added
  • Progress should be properly recorded in all instances
• You can now skip the map cutscene if you get there by loading a saved game.
• Beginning of some code TLC. Let me know if anything gets caught sideways
• Skeletons have been added. Very nimble for what they are. Don't underestimate them!
• Fleamen have been tweaked, and new mechanics added
  • Now, if you are invincible, they run away...
  • They're a bit faster now
  • small tweaks to map

Soundtrack

• Track 1 has been given its proper name (Underground) as well as been trimmed properly
• Bonus guest album Castlevania III No Densetsu or Whatever has been added

(11/11/24)

Game

• A File select screen has been added.
  • Choose New game to enter your name in a slot (No blank names allowed, unless you use space...hmm)
  • Choose a slot with an existing name to load
  • Use Delete a file to clear a slot, but be careful as it is permanent!
• level 2 has been built out a bit. It is still incomplete, buts we're getting there!
• Flying Medusa heads, have been added. Their sinusoidal pattern can make them tricky...
• Fleamen have been added. They hop around like crazy, and are a general nuisance.

Soundtrack

• The File select tune has been added

(10/31/24)

• Player animation and control polish
• Full Soundtrack is in! This will be the beginning of change logs for it.
• Knight has been added. He will give chase if he sees you
• Fishmen have been polished
• Bats have been tweaked
• Slight map changes, some enemies and candles added
• Map Screen has been added, showing where the player will start, and where to find the boss
• First area of level 2 has been added. Nothing more... Plenty of messages, though.
• The bat boss now has hitstun

• Slight rework of stopwatch mechanics all around
  (10/9/24)

• Nothing to Lose has been added
• Heart of Fire has been added
• Bat has been added to the title screen. He's just a placeholder until I can get one of my very own
• Panther has been added. A fast moving cat that can sneak up if you aren't careful
• Fishmen have been added. They burst from the murky waters and belch fire. Tread lightly
• Reworked the map a bit to utilize the new enemies
• Simon can now jump backwards if you tap the rear direction, and press jump at the same time
• Made a pass over some animations

(9/30/24)

• This release was me taking a small break from coding to work on some music

  • Stalker has been added
  • Wicked Child has been added
  • Walking on the Edge has been added
• Made a pass over gameplay and visuals to be a little more polished and readable,
• Crushers have been added, but wont be used in the first level
• Dialed in the boss' behavior

(9/22/24)

• Moved some stuff around on the map...
• Polish on the boss
• Fixed Multishot getting broken
• Simon now has a moment of hitstun
• Tweaked the axe hitbox a bit
• Adjusted Simon's walking speed

(9/20/24)

• More work has been done on scoring. There are now multi hit combos and more money bags
• Secret areas and breakable walls have been added! Can you find them all?
• Bats have been added
• The boss has arrived! He is pretty tough... I may have to nerf him... like, a lot.
• First stage now has just about everything to be considered a complete first draft!

(9/17/24)

• Level loading issue has been fixed!
• Tweaked a few sound effects
• Added a more dynamic health bar

(9/16/24)

• Map has been expanded. Only rough dev art for now
• Castle entrance has been added
• Zombies have been added. They're numerous, but slow and weak
• Initial work on a scoring system has begun
• Brazier candles have been added

(9/15/24)

• Added door transitions
• A new area is in place, That boss position is vacant...

(9/13/24)

• Porkchop has been added. Collect it to gain 6 health
• Bone towers have been added. Watch out for their fireballs!
• Map layout has...changed? Castlevania itself is a creature of chaos, after all
• Damage functions are enabled
• Tweaked a few hit boxes for some balance
• Intro is in... Mind the construction, and wear your hard hat. Don't lose it...

(9/12/24)

• Work on title screen has begun. Artwork by the ever talented Cephaccino!
• A stub has been added for the intro. It's left disabled for now

(9/11/24)

• Added HUD to Game Over screen
• Added a few more platforms to play with, and rearranged some candles
• Revisited Vampire Killer to sound a little less harsh (I'll get it eventually...)

(9/10/24)

• Floating platforms have been added
• Initial map loading is implemented. Use the stairs to traverse the different levels
  • Lower level added to try it out

• Still tuning the stairs. They're still not quite perfect, but getting there...

• Made another pass over music and SFX, to balance audio and to prevent clobbering

(9/5/24)

Alright, peeps. I need to do some research on map manipulation and loading.

Let's see what I can learn, then I can continue! In the meantime, let me know how

the current features feel.

• Made another pass on the stage one music, and rebalanced the audio

(9/5/24)

• Added stage one music
• tweaked a few sfx and instruments

I'll have to make another pass to try and eliminate sfx clobbering

(9/2/24)

• Added a victory state, it currently just sends you back to the title screen
• Added some more music, victory and game over

(9/1/24)

• Game is now fullscreen, gameplay and hud adjusted accordingly
• Axe now has a new feature: when throwing an axe, hold the movement arrow in the direction you're facing
  to throw it farther
• boomerang now goes faster to cover the screen

(8/31/24)

• Candle contents take some context
• took a crack at fixing the stairs
• You can now travel up and down on the stairs,
  it's the same area, but im testing transitions
• Fixed subweapons not throwable after dying
• Tweaked small heart to drift to the left first
• Continuing from game over resets score

(8/30/24)

• Adjusted some sfx
• Tweaked hitboxes for whip and all subweapons
• Fixed stopwatch not honoring the ammo cost
• Added initial multishot
• Stopwatch tuned so you can only throw it once
• Multishot added. Collect a II to double your shots, collect a III to triple!
• if you have no subweapon or a stopwatch, they give points instead
• small score graphics added

(8/29/24)

• Added in some SFX

• Adjusted hit boxes to more closely
  match visual feedback

• New playground map with candles to
  whip

(8/23/24)

Initial release on Picotron!

LEGACY

(8/9/23)

• Several powerups have been added, as well as all sub-weapons
  • Stopwatch: Freezes time to give you some room to breath, but it costs quite a few hearts to use
  • Cross: Emits a blinding holy light, destroying all enemies on screen! One use on pickup only.
  • Invisibility potion: Makes you invincible for about ten seconds.
• The whip upgrade is now fully working. Grab 1 to get a chain whip. Grab another to make it longer!
• I've sprinkled candles throughout the level to play with. Every available item and sub-weapon should be attainable, but some of the more valuable stuff is placed in harder to reach areas. Can you find them all?
• First Enemy has been added; The Bone Tower! (Thanks again for the art @HeyNetters. I saw your Bone tower and
  was inspired for my first enemy!)
  • Acts more like a sentry than anything, but where it lacks in mobility it makes up for in toughness. Recommend at
    least a chain to deal with these guys. Watch your footing...

(11/22/22)

• I've decorated the map a bit, using assets and ideas provided by @HeyNetters. Many thanks go to them for the art! This is all preliminary for now, but these just looked too good to not include them.

• Chain upgrade has been added. The chain graphics reflect the first upgrade, and the added length reflect the second. Collect the whip powerup to upgrade.

• Gameplay pause added upon collection of the whip powerup.

• Whip has been fixed so that you can no longer hit things behind you. Still need to look into that janky
  animation...

• Thanks to suggestions from @dw817, Simon's walk speed has been increased a bit, with matching animation. The whip also stays out for just a bit longer.

• Minor changes to small heart to keep it from flying around so much.

• Tweaking pass on SFX.

(8/26/22)

Sorry for the long delay, guys. I recently started a new job, and I have less time to work on this project now. I do, however, fully intend to see this project to completion. I need to work on some systems that can cut down on repeated code in here, as the token count is getting dangerously high. Despite that, I'm happy with where it is at so far. Let me know how you guys like it!

• Candles have been added. Until I can work out a feasible spawning system, these are hard coded. Whip them to make
  items come out.

• I have mocked up a status bar along the top of the screen. This is all subject to change as I figure out what will
  fit and what will not.

• A game clock is in place. It ticks down in seconds, and once it reaches zero, you're dead. There isn't much you
  can do about it at the moment, but I thought it would be fun to add, and it was really simple to implement. The
  clock will even start to beep after awhile, just to give you some unnecessary stress.

• Hearts have been added. You now have a limited stock of ammunition. Whip candles to find more.

(7/21/22)

• Boomerang can now be caught. Small reason to post an update, but I thought it was important.

• Boomerang graphics rearranged so it animates like in the original game.

  This may be the last update for a little bit. The code for climbing stairs MUST be rewritten before I will
  continue. While it works great as it is, the code is just too darned bloated right now.

(7/20/22)

• All throwable weapons have been added. Hold ❎ and press ⬆️ or ⬇️ to cycle through them,
  and press ⬆️ and 🅾️ to throw one. Like before, you can throw 3 at a time!

• Holy water was redrawn to not be so huge.

(7/19/22)

• Holy water has been added, press ⬆️ and 🅾️ to throw it. You can throw 3 at a time.

• Simon's sprite has been redrawn to make him more detailed and look a lot less scrawny. Many thanks go to the
  Discord community for their feedback on this matter!

(7/18/22)

• Stairs now work in all 4 directions.

• Plenty of stairs have been added to the map, so play around and let me know if anything breaks horrifically.

• It is no longer possible to jump when a block is directly above the player.

(7/16/22)

• Commented out the code and formatted it so anybody could take a look and decipher it all...

• Taking a hit will now interrupt your attack.

• Player can no longer warp through the ceiling when hurt.

(7/15/22)

• Player health, hurt state and death are implemented. There aren't any enemies yet, so for now you
  can press ⬆️ and ❎ to beat yourself up. These are disabled while on stairs...

• Continue screen has been added

• Made a pass on music and sound effects. I feel like the music instrumentation is way better now, and many of the
  sound effects are improving as well!

• Initial HUD elements added. There are here only for a visual to pair with testing health and lives for now.

(7/12/22)

• Changes to walk and stair climbing movement and animation speed. It felt just a tad sluggish before...

(7/11/22)

• Stairs are in progress. Right now there is only up-right and down-left movement, but this is a pretty good proof of concept. Whip is disabled for now while climbing them until I flesh out that aspect.

• The bottom of the screen is now a bottomless pit, and you will die and be reset.

• A small map to test out the mechanics and play around in.

• Preliminary artwork has been added to make the view a little more interesting

(7/10/22)

• Jump physics have been reworked and the jank is now gone for the most part. I feel like the jumping is in a pretty good spot now.

• Initial work on the whip has been started. The animation is just a little janky, but I'm working on that :)

• I am currently prototyping ideas for stairs. I haven't added stairs yet, so don't try...

(6/26/22):

• Basic movement is implemented; Walking, ducking, jumping and hard landing are in. There is one little niggle
  with collision and platforming. I'm sure you guys will know when you find it. (Edit) I've created a temporary workaround
  for this. Please let me know if you like how it handles. Collision is still not perfect, and you might still get
  hung up, but I'm working on that.

• First draft of music has been created. Let me know how you like it! I might need to shift things around a bit
  before I release: I've not included everything I'd like to, and I've run out of room due to some initial (less
  than optimal) SFX layout choices.

(6/27/22):

• I've tweaked the jump physics to more closely match the original game.

• Invisible walls have been added. I wanted a way to create impassible areas without changing the collision.
  You can test this out near the lone block on the right.

  Now is the time where I sit down and take a class on Picomap by @JadeLombax. I may as well get this figured out
  and implemented now, since stairs will likely rely on it...

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(9/5/24)

I've decided to revisit this song. It's slower now, and the arrangement was adjusted a bit. Hope you like it!

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(8/9/23)

Apologies for the long gap between releases once again. My job makes it difficult to sit down and work on the game these days. I got a good chunk of me time, recently, and I was able to add all kinds of stuff!

• Several powerups have been added, as well as all sub-weapons
  • Stopwatch: Freezes time to give you some room to breath, but it costs quite a few hearts to use
  • Cross: Emits a blinding holy light, destroying all enemies on screen! One use on pickup only.
  • Invisibility potion: Makes you invincible for about ten seconds.
• The whip upgrade is now fully working. Grab 1 to get a chain whip. Grab another to make it longer!
• I've sprinkled candles throughout the level to play with. Every available item and sub-weapon should be attainable, but some of the more valuable stuff is placed in harder to reach areas. Can you find them all?
• First Enemy has been added; The Bone Tower! (Thanks again for the art @HeyNetters. I saw your Bone tower and was inspired for my first enemy!)
  • Acts more like a sentry than anything, but where it lacks in mobility it makes up for in toughness. Recommend at
    least a chain to deal with these guys. Watch your footing...

(11/22/22)

• I've decorated the map a bit, using assets and ideas provided by @HeyNetters. Many thanks go to them for the art! This is all preliminary for now, but these just looked too good to not include them.

• Chain upgrade has been added. The chain graphics reflect the first upgrade, and the added length reflect the second. Collect the whip powerup to upgrade.

• Gameplay pause added upon collection of the whip powerup.

• Whip has been fixed so that you can no longer hit things behind you. Still need to look into that janky
  animation...

• Thanks to suggestions from @dw817, Simon's walk speed has been increased a bit, with matching animation. The whip also stays out for just a bit longer.

• Minor changes to small heart to keep it from flying around so much.

• Tweaking pass on SFX.

(8/26/22)

Sorry for the long delay, guys. I recently started a new job, and I have less time to work on this project now. I do, however, fully intend to see this project to completion. I need to work on some systems that can cut down on repeated code in here, as the token count is getting dangerously high. Despite that, I'm happy with where it is at so far. Let me know how you guys like it!

• Candles have been added. Until I can work out a feasible spawning system, these are hard coded. Whip them to make
  items come out.

• I have mocked up a status bar along the top of the screen. This is all subject to change as I figure out what will
  fit and what will not.

• A game clock is in place. It ticks down in seconds, and once it reaches zero, you're dead. There isn't much you
  can do about it at the moment, but I thought it would be fun to add, and it was really simple to implement. The
  clock will even start to beep after awhile, just to give you some unnecessary stress.

• Hearts have been added. You now have a limited stock of ammunition. Whip candles to find more.

(7/21/22)

• Boomerang can now be caught. Small reason to post an update, but I thought it was important.

• Boomerang graphics rearranged so it animates like in the original game.

  This may be the last update for a little bit. The code for climbing stairs MUST be rewritten before I will
  continue. While it works great as it is, the code is just too darned bloated right now.

(7/20/22)

• All throwable weapons have been added. Hold ❎ and press ⬆️ or ⬇️ to cycle through them,
  and press ⬆️ and 🅾️ to throw one. Like before, you can throw 3 at a time!

• Holy water was redrawn to not be so huge.

(7/19/22)

• Holy water has been added, press ⬆️ and 🅾️ to throw it. You can throw 3 at a time.

• Simon's sprite has been redrawn to make him more detailed and look a lot less scrawny. Many thanks go to the
  Discord community for their feedback on this matter!

(7/18/22)

• Stairs now work in all 4 directions.

• Plenty of stairs have been added to the map, so play around and let me know if anything breaks horrifically.

• It is no longer possible to jump when a block is directly above the player.

(7/16/22)

• Commented out the code and formatted it so anybody could take a look and decipher it all...

• Taking a hit will now interrupt your attack.

• Player can no longer warp through the ceiling when hurt.

(7/15/22)

• Player health, hurt state and death are implemented. There aren't any enemies yet, so for now you
  can press ⬆️ and ❎ to beat yourself up. These are disabled while on stairs...

• Continue screen has been added

• Made a pass on music and sound effects. I feel like the music instrumentation is way better now, and many of the
  sound effects are improving as well!

• Initial HUD elements added. There are here only for a visual to pair with testing health and lives for now.

(7/12/22)

• Changes to walk and stair climbing movement and animation speed. It felt just a tad sluggish before...

(7/11/22)

• Stairs are in progress. Right now there is only up-right and down-left movement, but this is a pretty good proof of concept. Whip is disabled for now while climbing them until I flesh out that aspect.

• The bottom of the screen is now a bottomless pit, and you will die and be reset.

• A small map to test out the mechanics and play around in.

• Preliminary artwork has been added to make the view a little more interesting

(7/10/22)

• Jump physics have been reworked and the jank is now gone for the most part. I feel like the jumping is in a pretty good spot now.

• Initial work on the whip has been started. The animation is just a little janky, but I'm working on that :)

• I am currently prototyping ideas for stairs. I haven't added stairs yet, so don't try...

(6/26/22):

• Basic movement is implemented; Walking, ducking, jumping and hard landing are in. There is one little niggle
  with collision and platforming. I'm sure you guys will know when you find it. (Edit) I've created a temporary workaround
  for this. Please let me know if you like how it handles. Collision is still not perfect, and you might still get
  hung up, but I'm working on that.

• First draft of music has been created. Let me know how you like it! I might need to shift things around a bit
  before I release: I've not included everything I'd like to, and I've run out of room due to some initial (less
  than optimal) SFX layout choices.

(6/27/22):

• I've tweaked the jump physics to more closely match the original game.

• Invisible walls have been added. I wanted a way to create impassible areas without changing the collision.
  You can test this out near the lone block on the right.

  Now is the time where I sit down and take a class on Picomap by @JadeLombax. I may as well get this figured out
  and implemented now, since stairs will likely rely on it...

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