In version 0.2.0 I finally finished chapter 1. There are definitely still things I want to add but it is fully playable from start to finish. It's a pretty major milestone because now the game has a start and an end (though not the official end I have planned) and has some more polish on it. The major features and updates I made to finish chapter one are:

- new UI//menus

I made a title logo and some new main menu art so it looks much more polished and clean

- new npc dialogue system

I implemented a new dialogue system that writes one letter at a time and generates text boxes that adjust to the length of the sentences. I've only added this to one npc so far so I'm not too sure how easily I will be able to implement it to multiple characters. I also have to type out the entire dialogue in the code so it's not perfect but it should be fine with the amount of dialogue I plan to have in my game

- player movement code updated

I added some more acceleration to my character movement script so the player doesn't feel as lifeless to control. I did not add much though since I still wanted the character to feel really tight and responsive. I think now it just makes the player feel like they have a little bit more weight to them.

- new art, animation and particle effects

I added more particle effects to pick ups, locked doors, and the players dash and jump. They are all a kind of puffy smoke effect that I think will work well thematically with what I'm planning to do with the story. I also added more art to fill out the world like the broken bridge sprites and the signs and the engravings on the walls. I still want to add a lot more art and assets to make the world/levels feel less sterile. I want to add a landing animation to the player character to make them feel more fluid but I didn't have time to add that before this update.

- more platforming rooms

Probably the most important thing to finishing chapter one was I added more rooms for platforming challenges and an ending room that will flow well into what I have in mind for chapter 2.

- Story Elements

In addition to cryptic signs and character dialogue, I added an intro animation that just displays some words but hopefully provide a better sense of where I want to take the story in this game going forward.