Version 1.1

This is a rather big update! Version 1.1 is way closer to what I had envisioned when I came up with the concept during the competition. The biggest addition is the layer system: you can now manipulate the ghosts in glorious (pseudo-)3D, with helpful (vertically) projected shadows. There are also many useful ergonomic details, such as highlighting the ghost under the claw’s scope, or colour censhorship while in pause (yes, you read that right ;)). Difficulty is more challenging, including because the claw now goes down slower, in a layer-by-layer fashion, which can make you miss your target ghost. By the way, if you unvoluntarily drop a ghost above its corresponding receiver at night, it is still counted as correct. :) On the visual side, there is now a backward two-pane glass setting, a bit as in a claw crane, and the coloured lines serve as ‘level sets’ / indicators for layer height, with red being the maximum you are authorized to voluntarily drop a ghost. (Notice that unvoluntarily dropped ghosts can pile up with no limit, but will not be displayed above the maximum layer + 1, while you can still see their shadows. :) I thought it was nice, but this may well change in the future.)

I still think this was reachable for the Jam format, and even the Compo format if I had either found the concept earlier or allowed myself a few more hours; nevertheless, debugging was what took the most time, especially for collisions and the shadow system. I could have spent much less time, but at the cost of bugs, while I think this version is quite ‘clean’ — although, do tell me if you catch any bug.

Putting the project a bit on hold to involve myself greatly in Ludum Dare 51’s reviewing process (I missed some days, but lacked some time, and also really wanted to get my first-vision version of the game out first!), but the next step would be to add modes, including one with pre-designed levels, and a ‘Panic’ mode where you have to hold as long as possible against appearing ghosts. I also have some other such mode ideas!

Below is a comprehensive list of modifications from version 1.1. (It is quite chronological.)

v1.0.2 → v1.1

1. [UI] Cycles indicator: shows remaining cycles instead of completed ones. (suggested by Antti Haavikko)
   
   1.  ‘X’ replaced with the times operator (‘×’).
2. [UI] Blinking for Power Pellets (both icon and inside the stopwatch).
3. [BUG] Visual mini-bug solved: at defeat, the sky background does get night colour (coherently with the stars and coloured-back ghosts).
4. [UI] Red bottom ‘spoke’ inside the stopwatch to emphasise the starting/ending point of the cycles, to better get your bearings.
5. [ERGONOMY] Blinking for the scared ghosts right before the night, as in Pac-Man. (For the last third of the daylight phase.)
6. [COSMETICS] The stopwatch’s pellet does not reappear anymore at the end of the last cycle.
7. [BUG] When a ghost drops, the arrival tile is labelled as occupied, from now on. (In particular, you can grab the ghost back immediately if you want to.)
   1. And freed upon harvest.
8. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS] Animations stopped during pause. (Including stars’ twinkling.) [This was not a bug, I was wondering which one is preferable; I think it is nicer to cleary show that the action is paused.]
   
   1. Including the ghosts’ fright animation, see lower.
9. [MECHANIC] Orange receiver better centred.
10. [TECHNICAL] More robust code: grid clean-up.
11. [BUG] Fixed collisions: superimposition of ghosts is now impossible. (Except maybe at floor max + 1.)
12. [ERGONOMY] Handling of display depth for elements.
13. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS] Removed ghosts’ fright animation while in pause.
14. [ERGONOMY] Displaying the claw at the right storey and closer to hanging ghosts.
15. [ERGONOMY] Shadows for the ghosts.
16. [MECHANIC] Handling of (3D) depth/layers: piling of ghost, hanging through the claw, ‘delivery’, arrival in a receiver.
    1. Additional difficulty: the claw goes down slowlier (as it does so by layer). [This is even more reminiscent of claw cranes.]
17. [MECHANIC] Limitation of ghostly movement: the ghosts cannot visit a receiver’s tile through horizontal movement anymore.
18. [ERGONOMY] Receivers drawn beneath the other elements.
19. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS] Decreased (relative) volume for the looped daylight sound. (0.03125 instead of 0.0625.)
20. [MECHANIC] Size of the grid depending on levels (non-randomly / deterministically). (The code was already generic, but the levels had been programmed with fixed dimensions arbitrarily.)
21. [MECHANIC] Modified/Strengthened difficulty (second formula — starting from level 4 — for cycles number lowered by 1, levels 2 and 3 with slightly more severe formula than 1, target ghosts number quadratic upon first maximal-size 10×10 level — the 11th).
    1. The new theoretical crash/overflowing level must be the 39th.
22. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS] Looping nighttime sound triggered only once the level’s initial waiting phase is finished.
23. [COSMETICS] UI: replaced ‘Sacrifices’ (which was a bit shady!) with ‘Harvest’.
24. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS] Glass cage, with level sets.
25. [TECHNICAL] Optimisation for drawing the ghosts (less colour switching).
26. [ERGONOMY] Emphasis / Highlight for the potential (non-grabbed) ghost under the claw’s scope.
27. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS]Sound for releasing a ghost.
28. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS]Sound for losing a level.
29. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS]Sound for Pac-Man / the claw’s dizziness.
30. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS]Sound for gathering/harvesting a ghost.
31. [ERGONOMY / COSMETICS]Sound for winning a level.
32. [BUG (maybe absent from version 1.0.2?)] [MECHANIC] Should the claw get hit by the ghost it holds while going down, it will then go back up instead of continuing its descent (and get hit again by the very same ghost, often).
33. [ERGONOMY / MECHANIC] Censored the colour (and numbers) on nightly ghosts while pausing. [This is to prevent too strong a temptation to cheat — whether colourblind or not!]
34. [BUG] Instead of freezing (in an infinite loop), the first overflowing level brings you back to level 1. (There are thus currently 38 levels.)
35. [MECHANIC / ERGONOMY] Superimposition of ghosts in the same tile is impossible; if the claw unvoluntarily drops a ghost on an already reserved/claimed/occupied tile, said ghost is placed at the top of the (higher) stack that starts from this tile.