may 19, 2023

happy friday! it's been a while! :D

if last update was the appetizer, this one is the main course. this is because the light sources I put together last time finally have a purpose. (well, more of an aesthetic purpose...) namely, there are now plants! the idea is that the light particles are sources of energy for vines to grow within the caves, and this week, I added a ton of vine sprites. I also did a lot of tweaking to the decorating algorithm so that vines are generally placed near light sources (called "vents"). I think it's pretty fun to explore and search for vents and vines!

however, I have run into a limitation of generating with pure noise. that is, there is no guarantee that a specific type of sprite will always place near another one in the current decoration algorithm. this means that sometimes there will be vines without vents to serve as a light source, which I don't want. plants need light for energy! so for the next update, I intend to greatly improve the decoration algorithm so that vines always appear near vents. I already have some ideas. :)

anyways, I hope this update makes the caves feel much more alive, and I'll continue to add even more stuff. see you all in two weeks!

~

new features:

- vines that grow (generally) near vents

- two more vent sprites

- adjusted size of lights

questions for feedback:

- thoughts on the new vines?

- what other types of decorations would be welcome?

- at any point, were you unable to reach somewhere? if so, please share a screenshot that includes the seed!

todo:

- improve decoration algorithm so that vines always spawn near vents

- more decorations!