Chapter 1-4: Railway Runaway is here!

Chapter 1 is now complete!

Magli Draelyn and Knigel find themselves in an abandoned railway line that leads them directly to their hometown, Areltun--what a stroke of luck! Or so it might seem... Looks like the Dragon Syndicate has one last trick up their sleeves, and it's their complete control over Drakageau's subway system! Stay above the train to stay safe as it travels back and forth between Drakageau and Areltun, or if you're feeling brave, hit the front of the train to safely pass by it for a short time. However you decide to deal with the train, just be aware: you can run from the train all you want, but you can't run forever: you'll inevitably have to come face to face with the train conductor himself...

Changes to Player Controls:

[NOTE: Magli = Mage Form, Draelyn = Dragon Form]

• Changed the default Fairy Ability keyboard binding to the Ctrl Key (default gamepad binding is unchanged).
• Increased Draelyn's fast falling speed by 20%.
• Draelyn can now fast fall at any time while in midair.
• Added the Enter Key as an alternate keyboard bind for pausing (you can still use the Esc key).
• The duration of Magli's Star Boost no longer depends on speed; it now relies on being in midair or having a slipstream.
• Crouching while on the ground now cancels the Star Boost.

Changes to Levels:

• Re-added an optional dialogue between Magli and Knigel in the first room of Ch. 0-3.
• A dialogue-based chapter epilogue has been added to Ch. 0-4 that can be seen (or skipped) when returning to the main menu from the results screen after clearing the level (Ch. 1-4 has one of these epilogues as well).
• Altered some of the block placements in the midway checkpoint room of Ch. 0-4.
• Added some nooks in the walls behind most of the reinforced blocks in the room right before the boss in Ch. 0-4.

A Note from Kaysun:

By some Christmas miracle, Chapter 1 of Magli Draelyn the Half-Dragon Mage is finally complete! No big deal, it only took like--what?--more than a year and a half after the first demo releasing on itch.io with progress past Ch. 1-1 being in limbo for eight months due to me trying to recreate the game from scratch in Godot while also learning how to use it at the same time? Pfft... that's nothing...

... *ahem* ...

Anyways, with the first chunk of the game/story finally done, I think it's time for me to shift my focus away from adding new levels for a bit in the coming year and instead focus on thinking of ways to show this vertical slice of the game to more people. This doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to stop working on the game entirely. I may still change or add features as I see fit--just no new levels for a while. I'll admit, I'm not exactly the type of person who likes putting himself out there on the Internet--especially with how some bad apples act online nowadays and the risks that come with Internet fame--but I think I'd rather just plan carefully with how and where I present this game and take things one step at a time so as not to get overwhelmed with a constant stream of notifications, feedback, etc.

I suppose that could be my New Year's resolution, but like any resolution anyone makes for the new year, it may or may not be followed...

Just... don't expect anything TOO big from me anytime soon. I'd just rather go at my own pace with this sort of thing as usual.

Happy Holidays and have a happy new year!

- Kaysun (JKSun22)

• Draelyn's Fireball can now be activated by pressing the Attack button twice instead of needing to hold it down by the end of her Fire Tackle.
• Reworked Draelyn's Fireball mechanics such that Draelyn must travel a set minimum horizontal distance (about 2.5 tiles) with her Fire Tackle first before being able to launch her Fireball with the second Attack button press regardless of her speed.
• With the above change, you can either buffer the second Attack button press to launch the Fireball as soon as possible (watch for the small white Fireball outline in front of Draelyn turning solid) or you can delay the second Attack button press to cover some distance first if needed (Draelyn will turn dark-red when she is ready to launch a Fireball).
• Lowered Draelyn's gravity scale and adjusted her recoil strength while bumping into a wall with Fire Tackle in midair or launching a Fireball in midair.
• Slide-canceling Draelyn's Fire Tackle now also depends on traveling a minimum distance with her Fire Tackle first (about 2 tiles).
• Draelyn can no longer start wall climbing while fast-falling.
• Added a guide arrow that appears when Magli is close to her Magic Star projectile which represents the velocity vector that will be added to her current velocity when detonating the star on herself.
• The Magic Star's explosion now gives Magli the Star Boost state within its first two frames of detonation rather than just the first frame to fix an issue where letting the Magic Star's fuse time run out did not grant Magli the Star Boost state (even though detonating the star manually works just fine...).
• Reduced the fuse time on Magli's Magic Star from 5 to 3 seconds.
• ​Draelyn can now bounce off of enemies while sliding directly above them.
• Adjusted the layouts of some rooms in Ch. 0-2 and Ch. 1-2 to accommodate the Fireball changes.

Here are some changes that I've been making while working on Ch. 1-4:

• ​Magli Draelyn is no longer invincible while changing forms!
• If she takes damage during her form-changing animation, she will immediately change back and become vulnerable!
• Draelyn can now start sliding even when standing near a wall or ledge (though she won't get very far near the former...).
• Magli's dodge now cancels out her Star Boost state.
• Corrected Draelyn's glasses-adjusting idle animation sprites to match her recent outfit tweaks (I initially forgot to replace those specific sprites for some reason).
• Made it possible for Draelyn to jump cancel her slide while directly under a ceiling.
• Adjusted some medal fragment positions in Ch. 0-4 towards the top of the midway checkpoint room.
• Fixed super jumps not activating when stomping an enemy during a fast fall.

Ch. 1-3: Skyline Scramble is here!

Jump from rooftop to rooftop through the city of Drakageau as you continue to avoid being captured by Dragoons! But watch out: the Dragoons here have fully functioning wings and behave slightly differently than the ones you've encountered before! Some of the walls have also been slicked with oil, making them impossible to hold on to, so plan your wall jumps and wall climbing carefully!

Changes to Player Controls:

[NOTE: Magli = Mage Form, Draelyn = Dragon Form]

• Magli is now immune to wall jump height decay while she has slipstream speed, but she will still lose all of her jump height if she tries to do more than five wall jumps in a row.
• The maximum Star Boost magnitude will now always be given if Magli's center point is within about a one tile radius from the center of the explosion.
• Slightly reduced Star Boost knockback.
• The maximum horizontal speed gained from chaining multiple Star Boosts now has diminishing returns that are proportional to how fast Magli is moving compared to her normal speed.
• The Star Blast's explosion's wall check now resolves its closest targets first when there are multiple targets in the blast at once to prevent cases where closer targets "block" other targets.
• Improved conditions needed for stomping on enemies:
• A stomp can now be triggered while jumping rather than by exclusively falling (EDIT: On normal enemies for now--stomping on bosses kept spamming the stomp sound effect when jumping).
• Magli can now stomp enemies while dodging in midair.
• Draelyn can now stomp enemies during Fire Tackle's endlag, wall bump, and fireball recoil--all of these endlag states automatically cancel on stomp.
• Fixed an issue where fast-falling onto a slope to slide didn't properly refresh aerial abilities.
• Fire Tackle's endlag will now only stop at ledges if the player is NOT holding Forward.
• Fixed an issue where Fire Tackle would incorrectly restore aerial abilities when not on the ground.
• Changed wall climb ending behavior:
• Draelyn will now snap to the ledge if Forward or Neutral is held.
• Draelyn will now pop-up if Jump or Up is held when reaching a ledge or when running out of climbing speed.
• Perform an instant vault by holding Up, Forward, and Jump!
• Increased minimum pop-up velocity.
• Holding Down while sliding can now also continue Draelyn's slide just like holding the Crouch button.
• Holding Down when fast-falling onto a slope also starts a slide.
• When sliding off of a ledge, Draelyn no longer automatically uncrouches if Crouch is still held.
• Releasing and pressing Crouch again when sliding off of a ledge with coyote time can now cancel the slide into a fast-fall.
• Fast falling and jumping now automatically deactivates coyote time.
• Fire Tackle and Slide can now be jump canceled in any horizontal direction, but non-forward inputs will make Draelyn lose all speed.
• Fixed an issue where using Fire Tackle point blank on a breakable block while holding Forward would cause Draelyn to end her tackle too early in order to climb the block instead of going right through it.
• Removed "Technical" inputs due to wall climb ledge changes.

Changes to Levels:

• Modified some helper text in Ch. 0-2 to reflect some of the above player control changes.
• Partially hid some blocks leading to hidden areas in Ch. 1-1.
• Removed an enemy from the third room of Ch. 1-2.
• Removed a reinforced magic block in the seventh room of Ch. 1-2.
• Swapped out a reinforced magic block for a breakable magic block in the eighth room of Ch. 1-2.

Miscellaneous Changes:

• Added new Gameplay and Audio option menus.
• Increased the amount of neutral segments the Temper Meter has by one (makes for a clearer midpoint).
• Added guide arrows to Fire Tackle's startup to show directional input and general direction.
• Slipstream sparkles will now appear while wall climbing.
• Blue Dragoons now have floatier jumps to make it easier to run underneath them.
• Fixed an issue where Ch. 0-4's boss was invulnerable at the start of the first phase due to not having any weakness set on activation.
• Made the brim of Magli's hat 22% more wavy.
• Made the edges of Draelyn's skirt 10% more pointy.
• Added a few extra frames to Magli Draelyn's form-changing animations (looks more like the main menu background).
• Edited the edges of Ch. 0-1 and Ch. 0-2's tilesets.

P.S.: For those of you who like to play games at a faster pace than normal, might I suggest trying to earn the newly-added Timeless Medallions in each level? The clear times needed to earn them are based on my own best times, so uh... good luck!



- Kaysun (JKSun22)

New level just dropped!

After outrunning the many Dragoons outside of the Dragon Syndicate's prison through a long tunnel, Magli and Knigel find themselves in a seemingly abandoned underground parking garage--save for the groups of even more Dragoons who have been waiting to ambush the couple inside their one path into the city! Aim your attacks carefully as you try to navigate through each claustrophobic floor and stairway, and try not to fall back down into the floors below you!

Player Character Changes:

• Draelyn can now crouch in midair; she can even use wing jumps while crouching! Since this conflicts with the fast falling input, you must now press Crouch + Attack while falling to fast fall.
• Draelyn's slide now has longer coyote time on startup (0.1s -> 0.2s)--this will provide a faster way of crossing gaps in crawl spaces compared to Magli's dodge.
• Magli can now crouch while gliding (and vice-versa)!
• Magli's star-boosted state will no longer wear off right away when touching the ground. If you have high-enough speed from a horizontal star boost, jump as soon as you touch the ground to preserve your speed and extend your boost! (HINT: Watch for the white sparkles!)

Level Adjustments:

• Reduced the enemy count of the long vertical section of Ch. 1-1 (They've been relocated to 1-2 to better intercept their escaped prisoner).
• Fast Fall and Super Jump room in Ch. 0-2 matches new Fast Fall input method.

General Changes:

• Added an options menu that can be accessed from the title or during gameplay with settings for glide toggle, crouch toggle, and controller bindings.
• Boss dialogue can now be skipped with Escape Key/Start.

Level Adjustments:

• Added medal fragments to every level prior to 1-1.
• Added helper image sequences to 0-1.
• Re-added and changed the order of some rooms in 0-3.
• Added a new room to demonstrate switching forms in midair or on a wall as well as the wall jump refresh.
• Added an extra looping one-room level where you can freely experiment with Magli Draelyn's moveset.

Player Character Changes:

• Magli Draelyn has new idle animations that play while her temper level is vulnerable.
• Magli's maximum glide time has been reduced from 5s to 3s to balance out the wall jump refresh.
• Draelyn's Fire Tackle can now be slide canceled midway through her active frames and at any time during her endlag frames so long as she's on the ground.
• Increased the speed penalty of slide canceling Fire Tackle from -60% to -75%.
• Draelyn can now jump cancel her Fire Tackle in midair as long as her wing jumps haven't been used up.
• When Draelyn starts sliding, she now gets a little bit of coyote time for the first 0.1 seconds of the slide, allowing her to slide in midair for a bit when starting a slide right off of a ledge.

A few semantics before I begin:

• "Magli" = Magli Draelyn in mage form.
• "Draelyn" = Magli Draelyn in dragon form.

• When Draelyn Fire Tackles into a wall, holding the direction she's facing as she collides now causes her to start climbing with added speed instead of bumping off the wall (assuming she hadn't used up her wall climb already...).
• Holding crouch near the end of Draelyn's Fire Tackle will now cause her to slide out of it at the cost of some speed.
• The height of Magli's wall jump now decreases for each successive wall jump performed before landing.
• Magli now slides down walls faster.
• Magli's first wall jump after leaving the ground now refreshes her glide, as well as Draelyn's wing jumps and wall climb.
• Draelyn's wall vault refreshes Magli's original wall jump height, which will grant the above benefits once again.
• Magli Draelyn's attacks no longer shift her Temper Meter into the blue or orange vulnerability thresholds.
• The on-hit temper increase of Draelyn's Fire Tackle and Fireball have been increased by 1, guaranteeing a net +1 temper increase when hitting at least one enemy/block.
• Trimmed/simplified all Ch. 0 levels (removed a bunch of text, removed excessively technical rooms, simplified some other rooms).

Here's a list of changes I've made to the game since posting it on Newgrounds (some were based on feedback I received):

• When holding the direction away from a wall Magli Draelyn is sliding down / climbing, she will now remain on the wall for a quarter of a second before letting go instead of letting go of the wall instantly.
• Magli's glide now activates when the jump button is re-pressed and held to prevent accidentally wasting it at the peak of her jump.
• Shift and Ctrl keys now have their functionalities swapped (i.e. Shift is now Crouch).
• Escape key now pauses the game instead of the Enter key.
• The temper meter (health bar) now starts closer to the middle of the green area instead of right next to the blue area.
• The UI now fades whenever Magli Draelyn gets close to the top of the screen.
• You can now toggle which form to start / restart in for levels where Magli Draelyn can change her form (i.e. Ch. 0-3 and onward).
• Textboxes that have more than one page of text are indicated by a ">>" near the lower-right corner of the box.
• The level select screen now remembers the last level you entered and automatically selects the next level when a level is cleared.

My deepest apologies to those who suffered from my severe lack of foresight when designing Ch. 0-1:

• Separated star-throwing hint bubbles in the second room of Ch. 0-1.
• Removed an off-screen overhang at the end of the the sixth room of Ch. 0-1.
• Simplified the layouts of the seventh and ninth rooms of Ch. 0-1.
• Relocated Knigel a good distance away from the goal in the last room of Ch. 0-1.

P.S.: Thank you for the frontpage and for 1,000+ views!