Published Vertical Slice 0.3.0

Hello Qwhackers!

It’s time for another Qwhack update! Vertical Slice 0.3.0 is here!

Gameplay-wise, the new combo system has been added and the store is now more readable. I’ve also extended the “whack” interaction to the end game screen. Art-wise, the pond design has been updated and a placeholder icon for store items has been added.

Behind the scenes, I invested in refactoring the render pipeline and hierarchy structure to make it more scalable and maintainable, replacing a lot of the hardcoded elements from earlier in the project. This will make it much easier to add new features in the future.

Here’s what’s new in this version:

• Combo System :  A new hit combo feature adds more excitement to gameplay, giving you that satisfying “numbers go up” feeling. Right now, beating a duck increases your combo, while getting hit resets it. There’s not a lot of depth yet, but I have ideas to expand it further.
  
• Updated Pond Design: The pond is now bigger and more polished, with added vegetation for a better look. The larger space also allows ducks to be positioned farther apart, which helps with UI clarity.
• Store UI Improvements: The store UI now has more space, including a bigger banner below the ducks with item descriptions and a placeholder icon. The main banner now displays just the item name.
• Render Pipeline Refactor: Drawing and positioning elements is now much cleaner and more reusable, thanks to improvements in both Qwhack and AGEngine. This should speed up future development.
• End Game Menu Update: The end game screen now features a duck you can whack to continue, making the interactions more consistent.
• Score Removed: The old score system has been removed. Progress can now be tracked through successful/failed hits and max combo. A more meaningful progression system will be designed in the future.

For the next Vertical Slice version:
I believe that the next Vertical Slice will be the last one and then I'll move to alpha. The next update will likely focus in content, keeping the same level of polish that the game currently has. By content I mean 2 extra ducks, more feedback SFX, more items and another balancing pass.

Thank you for your support and happy Qwhacking!