Our team finished level 2 to the best of our ability this week. Our lead programmer coded as much of level 2 as possible so that the playtests and beta code demonstration could run fairly smoothly and gameplay could actually be criticized. Level 1 was also touched up a bit as we implemented our plans for improving it. These include more interactive objects, a slight terrain change, and an ambient animation that the player triggers during their walk. We also finally included a prologue cutscene that is shown before the level begins so that players are given the context that they need to understand what is going on in the game. As for level 2, players are now able to navigate through the map and interact with several objects, ranging from letters that continue the side-story they would have started to unfold in level 1 to murals that hint at another interesting subplot in the game. Level 2 also has 2 enemies for the player to get past, although they don't behave quite as intended and we plan to continue working on them. In this level, players must use the newly implemented tossing mechanic in order to progress. This mechanic also needs a lot of fixing due to some highly unexpected outcomes of using it (i.e. the player is constantly pushed by an invisible force when they attempt to use tossing)
In response to many of the comments we've encountered about our game, background music is something we've finally included in the prototype. The tracks we've selected help bring to life the prologue and the 2 levels that our game has so far. Lastly, level 3 is something we plan to include for the project, although this level can be seen as a final boss-type encounter to wrap up level 2. No plans for this encounter have been implemented for the beta code as much of our time was used trying to complete level 2. However, we included our level designer's sketches and gameplay outline for the level in the GDD.
