Sin Spire - Dev Log 17

Hello everyone! This past week has been quite productive, with several gameplay additions and story elements coming together. While there aren’t many new art assets, I did work on a few key models and animations to support these updates.

Let’s start with weapons. There are two new additions to the armory. A common complaint from players of the Alpha build was the lack of defensive options when you had no money. While I initially liked the tension this added—forcing players to adapt and scrounge for items—I understand how it could become frustrating after repeated deaths and losing all the money you’ve accumulated.

To address this, I took on a suggestion from someone in the Discord group: introduce a basic weapon provided, for free, by Savina. I expanded on the idea, drawing inspiration from a certain merchant in Dark Souls II, If you have no money, Savina will now give you the Shiv.

Currently, the Shiv is a weak melee weapon with a generous parry window, but I’m brainstorming ways to make it more interesting. One idea is to make it a near-instant-kill weapon that breaks after one or two uses, requiring repair kits to maintain. The weapon is only available if you no money at all, so getting a new one after it breaks isn’t so straightforward.

The second addition is the Torch. While the Flashlight is great for illuminating dark areas, I wanted to offer an alternative. The Torch lights up the immediate area and can also be used as a weapon. Though it won’t set enemies on fire (by design) or do any meaningful damage, a quick swing will momentarily stun them, allowing you to slip past. It’s a cheap and simple tool designed to make traversing certain areas easier.

Next, I’ve made some changes to Hiding Spots. Previously, they shared the same spawn logic as chests and other items, which caused issues—like getting trapped in areas where clipping occurred upon exiting. Hiding Spots are now manually placed, with a 50% chance of spawning. This keeps the randomness while eliminating the clipping problems and ensures there are always a few Hiding Spots per floor.

I’ve also been hard at work on the boss battle with the Witch. Up until now, the only boss fight in the game was against the Creeper (the cave Stalker, not the Minecraft mob). While that fight isn’t fully finished, I needed to shift focus to the Witch battle, as it’s critical for progressing to the next dungeon.

The Witch is a ranged enemy who throws fireballs at mid-range and homing fireballs at long-range. You can deflect these with precise timing—similar to a parry—to stagger her, creating opportunities to get up-close and personal. To prevent players from cheesing the fight by staying at a distance, the Witch has moves to punish people role-playing gun turrets: at mid-range, she dodges side to side, and at long range, she closes the gap with an explosive attack that deals significant damage. The fight is designed around finding the sweet spot between mid and close-range combat. After defeating her, the story progresses, and the next dungeon gate activates.

Finally, I’ve been working on Stalker voice lines. This week, I received recordings from the Stalkers’ actress and began implementing contextual voice cues. Previously, lines played randomly while the Stalker roamed the dungeon. Now, lines are more contextual—for example, reacting when she sees you or voicing frustration when she loses track of you. Some lines and non-verbal sounds are still pending, but it’s coming together nicely.

Next up, I’ll be finishing the Witch boss fight, writing more story content, and beginning the implementation of the next dungeon’s Stalker. I’ll also be setting up more rooms for the second dungeon, as it’s starting feeling a bit too repetitive. Miscellaneous props, like the altar, are on my radar but will likely come after the next Alpha build. My primary goal remains to make the second dungeon fully functional and playable by the end of the month.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you all next time.