so, it's been a hot second.

I'm publishing the 1.0 release of NEEDLE now, even though it's not really a 1.0 release.

It adds the bomb/graze system and the 2-star boss WARMONGER, and... that's pretty much it.

I kept forcing myself to keep banging my head on this project, despite how much of a mess it is internally, that it's just not fun to do anymore. And I learned some recent advice about how releasing the first version of a game should be profoundly dissatisfying to me as the developer. I've come to understand the reasoning.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea behind NEEDLE and I want to continue it someday. But in its current state, where refactoring it would mean ship-of-theseusing the entire game's scripting, I just can't do that. I intend to revisit it sometime in the future. Until then, I am working on other game-related projects in Godot. What are they? You'll just  have to wait and see.

PATCH NOTES:

1.0

new content:

added a "Bomb" ability! Right click/X Button to clear a small area of bullets around you. You can have up to 2 bomb charges which regenerate over time. (this does not clear especially important bullets, like ANDROID's missile in TUTORIAL PT.2, phase 3)

added "Grazing"! Getting close to bullets will slightly fill up your bomb meter.

balancing:

APPRENTICE phases 1, 3 are a little less mean (phase 3 has been somewhat reworked).

TUTORIAL PT. 2 phase 4 now has proper draw order for its bullets (you won't get blindsided by a bullet that's hidden by a bigger bullet).

bugfixes/changes:

you can no longer access locked stages early by using the d-pad on controllers.

"FPS Counter" setting now functions properly.

"Faster Restart" setting now works on the APPRENTICE stage.

the player's hitbox no longer rotates with the player, which rarely caused unfair hits when rotating while right next to a bullet.

replaced the Touhou "shot" sound effect with an original sound effect.

ANDROID's barriers now have a unique sound and visual effect when destroyed by the player.

The camera's movement is now more smooth and less jarring!