Weekly Update #3 - Research

Hey all, happy to announce the third weekly update to Flower Crown Chaos! Here are the major additions for the week:

• Research - The player can now spend essence seeds, a currency dropped from enemies in gameplay, to fund the research of new unlocks. For now, I have shifted the Flower Discovery system behind this unlock wall. Instead of having to chance upon new flowers in the open world, the player can unlock them by way of this system. The affinity sash also must be researched before it can be used. 
• Essence Seeds - A new currency with a chance of dropping when eliminating an enemy. This adds another layer of thought to gameplay, as the player needs to manuever towards seeds to pick them up once they are dropped.  Instead of always running from enemies, there may be times it is worth it to risk going towards them.
• Sash Tutorial - Once the player has invested enough seeds to unlock the affinity sash, the Flower Guy will explain this new mechanic rather than having the player figure it out for themselves. This system will be used in the future to provide more information to the player as mechanics unlock.
• Player Animations - There is now an introductory run-in when a shift begins - this allows items to load in the background while also making the players entry into the garden less jarring. A new animation has been added when the player is crafting a crown as well.
• New Flower - The Dandelion - This flower causes projectiles to split into three after it reaches the end of their flight path. Play around with it to see how it pairs with other flowers!
• Enemy Surprise - Enemies now will be slightly stunned by the surprise of an exploding flower crown. This allows them to stay in the line of fire longer instead of immediately changing course. 
• Various small bug fixes and improvements
  • Balancing changes on some flower abilities
  • Balancing changes on crown crafting score
  • Revamped End Screen
  • Removed a fatal bug where some flowers were headless (oops)

What's coming next week?

• New Flowers
• Improved Enemy Scaling
• The Almanac
• Sound Effects (maybe) (for real this time)

You decide! Fill out the form featured by the QR code at the end of the game by clicking on it or scanning it. One of the questions will allow you to give input on what comes next. I have a couple of plans in the works, but I would love your feedback!