Beta Release

Features

• Added character dialogue portraits that show which character is speaking as dialogue pops up
• Added musical interjections that happen in parts of gameplay such as death music and intense music
• Added screen cutout transitions between characters 
• Added cut-scene at the beginning of the game to show the level
• Added a main menu that the game can be launched or exited from 
• Added a victory sequence where Claire and Netty warp up and then fly off as the screen fades to black when they escape the zoo 
• Added particle effects and a celebratory sound effect when characters combine 
• Rebalanced combat so that robots will wind up before attacking and players now have health and will be stunned in a taser-like effect when attacked 
• Added Post Processing visual effects to the scene such as Ambient Occlusion, Color Grading, and Depth of Field
• Added controller specifications to UI in addition to mouse and keyboard 
• Improved underwater aquarium effect
• Tuned overall platforming difficulty by making certain difficult sections easier (ie the small tree platforms were too tough) 
• Made Netty move with Claire more appropriately while Claire walks

Bug Fixes 

• Fixed instances where the player would suddenly lose their attack 
• Fixed instances where the player doesn't get their jumps back 
• Fixed robots chasing the player when the game is paused 
• Fixed Netty attack animation clipping through walls or the cage entirely
• Fixed Combined Character being able to miss the first meetup checkpoint
• Fixed several cases where the player could clip through scene geometry
• Fixed issue where attack animation would stop suddenly during scene transitions
• Fixed issues where moving the player during attack animations causes them to fly around 

Almost all of our changes were aimed at polishing the content that already existed in the game and making it feel more professional. We also saw some recurring feedback on things like the feel of combat, which we tweaked with multiple changes this sprint. Combat is now much more forgiving: there is now player health and delays on the robot's attack. There were also several polish issues with animations and clipping that were tweaked to make the game meet modern expectations, such as Netty actually riding along on Claire's back instead of floating along. 

Next up we have our gold release, in which we will fix any last bugs that pop up and polish any rough edges in the game we have. Our goal here is to make the final player experience as seamless and professional as possible. There are a couple areas where we think we can add a bit more visual detail and maybe some new music to give the game one last push before release.