Valley 2 Beta .712 "Chipping Away Everything That Doesn't Look Like An Elephant"

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Original: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2013/01/valley-2-beta-712-chipping-away.html

This one refines several core game mechanics further.  Most notably, the aiming and the death penalty mechanics.

Thanks for bearing with us as we go through this refinement process; we're intending to be done with this and fully stabilized by February, but in the meantime some fluctuations are inevitable.  As the old joke goes: "How do you carve an elephant out of a block of stone?  Chip away everything that doesn't look like an elephant!"

That's basically what we're doing right now: we know what the intended feel of the game is, and we're very close with the design, but there are occasional nits and burs that dampen enjoyment and smoothness in one way or another.  Anyway, so that's what's going on.

More to come soon.  Enjoy!

This is a standard update that you can download through the  in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game.  If you have the beta on Steam, it will automatically update for you.  When you  launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found  if you're connected to the Internet at the time.  If you don't have the standalone game, you can download that here.  If you already own the first game, just use your existing license key to unlock the sequel for free!

[Aklyon]

Question: Would it still work to have both jump and up on the same controller keybind with the new 'stay in place when holding up' thing?

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I'm honestly not sure.  Possibly -- if not, I think it can be made to do so.

That said, having those on the same keybind is a supremely bad idea in this game in general, because you can't aim up at all if you're also jumping every time you do.

[MouldyK]

New Controls: Amazing.

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Yay!

[Aklyon]

I'm honestly not sure.  Possibly -- if not, I think it can be made to do so.

That said, having those on the same keybind is a supremely bad idea in this game in general, because you can't aim up at all if you're also jumping every time you do.

True, I mostly just asked because it would've been less effort to not need to change keys

[madcow]

I wonder if it might be worthwhile to change going down
Platforms to require down and jump rather than just down.  So as to enable down and angled down shooting without jumping.

Anybody else with an opinion there?

Edit:  I'm neutral either way I can see how needing to jump to shoot downwards would annoy people. Or how needing to hit jump to drop a platform would annoy people going down a long flight of platforms.

[MouldyK]

I wonder if it might be worthwhile to change going down
Platforms to require down and jump rather than just down.  So as to enable down and angled down shooting without jumping.

Anybody else with an opinion there?

Here, here! -raises flag of approval-

[Pepisolo]

Right, only had a a brief play, but first impressions count for a lot. The new fixed aim while shooting diagonally works tremendously well, almost a master-stroke. However, let's go for perfection and at the moment I can see a few flaws. For one, the new fixed aim implementation is so good that I'm really not even sure you need the contextual sloping angle shooting any more. Indeed I find its presence more annoying rather than helpful (using a joypad at least). Especially for situations like my first screenshot.

Notice all I really want to do is shoot horizontally over the top of the hill, but in order to do so I have to press down, this just feels weird. When standing on a down-slope you have to press down to shoot diagonally whereas when standing on an up-slope shooting diagonally is automatic. Having two different mechanisms for different types of slopes feels bizarre. When standing on an up-slope horizontal shooting should persist and the player should have to press up to aim diagonally along the slope to in order mirror the behaviour of the down-slope controls. It does not matter that for the most part there is no reason to shoot horizontally on an up-slope, the beauty in the symmetry of the controls is more important.

One major problem I can see with the new fixed diagonal shooting is that you don't seem to be able to shoot down diagonally, which seems like a massive oversight. Check my second screenshot. I'm trying to shoot at the windmill down diagonally, but I just can't do it. There is no reason for this. The crouching shot can still be performed by pressing directly down, so I should be able to shoot diagonally by pressing diagonal buttons.

The third point is just an aesthetic one. Aiming back behind you without specific extra animation frames seems a little strange. It's like you're shooting out of the back of your head or something. Don't see why you can't just let the character turn around.

That's all for now. I really like the fixed diagonal shooting mechanic, great work! But please, don't stop now, refine these controls as much as possible to get them absolutely perfect. It will pay off greatly in the long run.

[MouldyK]

Also, I find a slight annoyance that when I am running with a joystick, if it is not perfectly aligned left or right, ym guy will stop as he thinks I want to go diagonal, although that might just be my controller.

Other than that, I agree with Pepisolo as well.

[Professor Paul1290]

I played around with it for a bit, and I'm liking it so far! 

My only significant gripe with it now is, as already mentioned, the fact that I can't force the character to shoot down diagonally for those "shooting over the ledge" situations.
Other than that the rest seems to work pretty well.

Also, I find a slight annoyance that when I am running with a joystick, if it is not perfectly aligned left or right, ym guy will stop as he thinks I want to go diagonal, although that might just be my controller.

Hm... I'm guessing maybe introducing a bit of a deadzone to the joystick to that axis would help somewhat.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Aaaaand... this update seems pretty much perfect to me. I've got to get playing with this.

[Vatticson]

I was going to say the same thing as Pepisolo here! The contextual shooting on slopes seems fairly unnecesary.

Mmm how about you let diagonal shooting at each extreme of a horizontal-flat slope? it would help a lot

[madcow]

I haven't had the chance to play in the past few patches. Does the contextual aiming uphill let you move while firing, or is it standing still only?

[MouldyK]

Move while firing.