Secrets of Grindea » Weekly Recap #102: Smashing!

As some of you might have noticed, and most of you probably didn’t, we didn’t post any recap last week! The reason was we wanted to wait with urging beta testers to revisit the beta until a hotfix addressing some issues became live at Desura. Due to some system error, this took a whole week, and so it came to pass that we didn’t post the update. Here it is, though!

For those of you who’re in the beta, the Arcade Mode was recently added and is in dire need of first impressions, feedback and bug hunting! We’ve already gotten some good feedback from early bird testers, but we’re eager to get more. To that end, we’ll invite a bunch more people to the beta in a day or so!

Apart from tinkering with the beta update, we’ve also added a brand new two handed skill, which for now goes under the poetic code name Smash!

Click the image for an animated version!

Basically, it’s a powerful swing which deals damage and propels enemies away! The bulk of the damage does not lie in the initial smack, however. Any enemies struck by a launched creature will take double damage, and if a launched enemy hits a wall, it will take a lot of additional damage as well!

In other words, this is a skill which require great care of positioning to use effectively, but if you master it the damage potential is huge. Also, you have to take enemy sizes into consideration. Heavier enemies require a higher charge level to be launched, and will only take the initial damage if you can’t send them flying!

Now that most new GUI elements have been taken care of, Vilya is back in portrait land and has been making portraits for some new characters:

To round things off, here’s a spinning insect which we can’t wait to frustrate players with:

CrystalSpin

Posted by Secrets of Grindea at 2013/12/03. Tags: Portraits, Screenshot, Skills.

Mienk wrote at 03/12/2013 01:05:

Looking great. Can’t wait to give you guys money to play this.

Brian Schmidt wrote at 03/12/2013 05:21:

Oh I was very aware that you hadn’t posted an update last week. I can’t tell you how many times I came back to check through out the week, only to be saddened each time!
I like the new attack, I believe I could implement it very well into a more strategic style of game play. However, it kind of bothers me how the slime flies towards an edge, hits an invisible wall, then explodes…

listoric wrote at 03/12/2013 10:01:

I just wasn’t aware of a beta, any way to participate? :D

Kelley Harrison wrote at 03/12/2013 14:27:

Talk about awareness indeed. The suspense is horrible. If you dont mind in the future could you mention something on twitter? The new attack will definitely be quite the arsenal. It really wouldnt benefits anything to fly out of the play zone though…
BTW… not in Beta, retired, years of gaming experience. I believe I’d have a lot to offer.

claudekennilol wrote at 03/12/2013 15:29:

I definitely noticed the lack of last week’s update. I’m glad you guys had a reason, though.

The spinning animation looks a bit off, in my opinion, ’cause the pointy corners just disappear when it starts spinning. That’s just looking at just the sprite/animation, though. It probably isn’t noticeable in game with a background and the critter moving while it spins.

For more beta invites, I know you guys take a random posts weighted towards the beginning of the ridiculously long, ever-increasing thread, but I’d ask that you take a look through the comments and invite people that have been giving feedback consistently. After all, that is what you’re looking for in beta testers. (I’ve only been following for six months or so, but I’m sure there are others that have commenting on the weekly updates far longer that you would greatly benefit from with their input).

claudekennilol wrote at 03/12/2013 15:31:

Also, I just clicked on the gif and smash looks flippin’ sweet!

J wrote at 03/12/2013 16:02:

How do the spinning insects attack? Whirl and home in on the player like Gigaslime, or do they act like a Pong ball and just start rapidly ricocheting around the area / off of things? That would be a pretty neat enemy attack style, maybe a tad unpredictable.

Sogomn wrote at 03/12/2013 18:54:

Yeah! Arcade mode!
Smash is an awesome ability. If you want it to deal maximum damage, you need to position yourself right. An idea for the higher skill ranks (silver, gold) is to knock the enemies out for a short duration, if the hit a wall.
The spinning insect is exactly the type of enemy I hate! It is so damn annoying (provided you cant attack it while spinning)!

Cool update though!
And i totally agree to claudekennilol in case of the beta invites!

Lolihopper wrote at 03/12/2013 19:14:

Man been waiting since 2012 to get into this beta maybe ill finally get into it =D

tuchs wrote at 03/12/2013 20:35:

The Smash skills seems quite interesting, though judging from the youtube videos i’ve seen, two-handed just feels too sluggish for me in general. It’s probably supposed to play different from other classes, feeling slower and more powerful (maybe a little more knockback?), but in the arcade mode, where avoiding as much damage as possible seems a priority, i guess it could use a defensive skill.

Isn’t the arcade mode a nice opportunity to open the game to a broader player base via a demo/open beta/early access? There would be less spoilers (maybe place a few more rare monsters and fewer story bosses), it would focus on balancing skills and fine-tuning the gameplay and players could start honing their skills, developing strategies and setting highscores. After all, many people must’ve followed this game’s development though a 100 weekly recaps, every week hoping to finally gain beta access… so please end their suffering ;-)

Eric wrote at 03/12/2013 22:18:

Just one question. Where are u taking participants from for your beta? I used the side on desura…i hope its the right one to register for beta:P

Wilson wrote at 04/12/2013 03:43:

I nearly clawed my eyes out every time I came to check for the recap, and it wasn’t up yet. Fingers crossed I get a beta invite, I’m so excited to play this game.

Emil wrote at 04/12/2013 12:28:

Hey, I just wondere how I could; -If i at all could, get into beta, anyone knows anything about it?

Rene Aramis wrote at 05/12/2013 22:44:

@Emil

Some players, like myself, and Elegroth are of of the folks who got the first batch of Beta invites, and I’ve been following this game since nearly its inception. I can definitely tell you that the website that they’ve posted numerous times, the one being ‘Register here for Beta – Indiedb’ and whathave you is the one you want to register on.

And then, the waiting game. It’s hit an’ miss.

Rene Aramis wrote at 05/12/2013 22:46:

For those with no idea, it’s right here. Enjoy.

http://www.indiedb.com/games/secrets-of-grindea/forum/thread/register-here1

Vendon wrote at 20/12/2013 21:25:

Yeah, I’ve been waiting for a loooooooooooooooooonnng time trying to get in, and it sucks. I want to give this a try so hard.

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