It was a much slower month for development in July, due to a number of factors, but largely because of preparing the game to show at the LTX/Dreamhack expo here in Vancouver. I didn't set any particular goals for the expo but coming out of it I feel really encouraged by the positive reception that the game received (essentially entirely based on the VS multiplayer games). If you haven't had a chance to wrestle with a friend in VS yet I highly recommend giving it a go, it's a surprisingly compelling and satisfying experience.

As a result of preparing for the expo, a lot of the work I did this month was general polish and improvements. I added a new basic ability to throw objects that are being held, which makes it fun to toss cars across the map, as well as better grabbing behaviour that will pull a hand towards a grab target when applicable so in general it should be much easier to grab things too.

Perhaps the most significant change this month is the Rank Perk system (name pending), which allows individual monsters to track their stats and gain small incremental bonuses as they get used more and more. This system emerged from a good discussion on the discord server, in combination with my recent exposure to a Borderlands game. It's still in its earliest stages so I'm sure there's more to figure out there, but I think it offers an easier way to feel like a monster is improving even after levelling up the research level.

Lastly, if you've already watched the new trailer you're probably aware the monsters can dance now anytime. Just hold B.