Powers Preview

Power-Ups are coming together!  The powers are selected when a player gains a new level, and are split into three "trees" - Attack, Defend, Explore.  Here's the menu to select the powers:

Attack will contain upgrades to the sword and gun, as well as a new attack called "Power Beam".  This shoots out a beam of pure power in a short player-directed burst.

Defend contains upgrades to health (double health, quad health), as well as a spherical Shield that will protect the player from attacks.  At higher levels, the shield will even do damage to enemies in range!

The Explore tree contains all the jump upgrades (double, triple, wall), the grappling hook and a new ability, called "Power Jump".  This is basically a jet pack, that lets the player "fly" anywhere in the map for short bursts.

All powers are limited by a "mana" meter that will slowly refill over time.  Stronger powers (Power Jump, Power Beam), will drain the mana meter faster, so watch out.

I'm thinking the powers will be a lot of fun, an the three different trees will give players different ways to play the game.  Of course, by the end game you'll have all the powers.  One of the keys will be tuning the enemies and maps so the game is still a challenge with the full arsenal!

Still some more backend coding to wrap up, one last boss fight, then putting it all together.  Hoping to have a playtest available for both PC and XBox AppHub first week of September!