THE GAME IS OUT RIGHT NOW, GO BUY IT!!!!!
Today's the big day! We are currently doing some final tests before launch. There is some rickety code in here from 13 years ago, but we have knocked some of the dust out of it.
So what's new in Kid Hallow! Well, first of all, there are two new Level Flags - you can set a level to be either Dark, or Zoom, or both if you like. A Dark level doesn't allow the player to see anywhere except their immediate area. Walls block their sight. It looks pretty spooky:
That shot also serves as a handy example of a Zoom level! As you can see, everything is twice as big, so just like in a normal-person game, you only see what's near you and the camera follows you around as you move. Pretty normal stuff, but hey, it's new to Kid Hallow!
There are also 15 new Awards to earn (achievements on Steam), so there are 85 in total now. Some easy new ones to get you started in the game, and some monsters that'll be taking you a while. Of course, all Awards in Kid Hallow unlock new tiles for you to build stuff with, so you're gonna want to catch 'em all.
In other news, there are a lot of little new visual FX - better splashing in the water, screen shake on damage (toggle-able), a highlight to help you see where you are when the level starts, and a bunch of other little improvements. Some so little they are actually a single pixel big - look very VERY closely at the steel blocks when you're building a level, and you'll spot some tricks (depending on what's next to them).
And of course, it wouldn't be any fun if we didn't add a pile of new items! We tried to add a bunch of weird little items to allow for interesting new interactions and combinations in your levels, rather than just a bunch of new monsters that all just shoot at you.
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No-Monster Zone - What a piece of artwork! How does he do it!? This item which looks suspiciously like the No-Costume Zone does exactly what it says - prevents monsters from entering the tile. Very very very handy. |
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Secret Room - I spent so much time fighting levels in Costume Party that hid things from players, leaving you to guess what was happening behind secret passages. Well, I gave up fighting! The Secret Room covers things up so you have no idea what's going on (of course, the new Download A Copy feature means you can just peek at it anyway). If you enter a Secret Room, every Secret Room touching it is revealed at once, so you can explore like a real adventurer. |
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Window - This is exactly the same as the Secret Room, and it even integrates with it. The difference is, since it's a window, you can see through it. It's about style. |
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Background Bricks, Background Window, and Background Torch - Just for looks! These go in the Overlay layer, but unlike all the other Overlay tiles, they show up behind everything else instead of in front. So you can make nice brick interiors to your haunted castles. One other little touch: the Background Torch (and any other tile that looks like it makes light) actually produces light in "Dark" levels, allowing you to light the way in areas the player can't see yet. |
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Rock Candy - This evil little treat is delicious - so delicious that you earn massive points for collecting multiples of it. Unfortunately, it's also quite fragile. Take one hit and you lose all the Rock Candy you're carrying (you score it when you bring it to the exit). Also, enemies will specifically attack and destroy it in the world! |
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Hallow Home - This tiny haunted house is almost the same as a level exit. Princesses can go there, and you can deliver Rock Candy there. There are just two differences: you can't win the level by going there, and Baby Penguins for some reason can also go here and score you 100 points. |
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Upside-Down Crate - Wait a minute, this isn't new! But it used to be exactly the same as a normal crate. Now, it's a little bit different... See if you can spot the difference! It adds a whole world of level design possibilities. |
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Bonehead - Nothing wrong with adding a totally normal, super weak enemy! |
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Eyeball Tree - PurpleKoopa's creation! These things are downright nasty, shooting bullets aimed at you directly through walls. Also, I did the art from memory before seeing them again, and realized that I made them purple because PurpleKoopa. They should be brown, but I was told purple was fun! |
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Earth Shrine - Of course, if the Eyeball Trees are too much for you, then light all the Earth Shrines in the level, and all plant-based enemies will stop attacking you! |
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Homicidal Plant - Even these guys! These serve a very specific function: they only kill players (and Princesses and Baby Penguins), so they allow you to make a space players can't enter, but monsters are perfectly safe. They also allow some interesting tricks because of both the Earth Shrine, and the fact that once a plant eats something, it closes up permanently. |
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Poltergeist - The most fascinating tile in the game. The Poltergeist works two ways: you either place it on a monster or a block. On a monster, it will possess them, making them twice as fast and immune to fear. That is very unpleasant. On a tile, the tile becomes possessed! You'll have to see that one in action, but it's fun. |
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Scarecrow - Very simple: this scares any monster that gets close! |
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Monster Flipper - The tool so useful we added a shortcut key for it. You place this on top of any monster or even some other tiles (like Statues for example) to flip them the other way. Simple as that! However, some tiles/monsters have special tricks with it. One example is the Eyeball Tree: if you Monster Flip it, it fires with alternate timing, making an Eyeball Forest twice as dangerous. |
Gee whiz I did it again. World's longest blogs. We added
SO MUCH STUFF to this game it makes the blogging alone exhausting.
Speaking of taking a break because I'm done,
THE GAME IS OUT RIGHT NOW, GO BUY IT!!!!!