Hey guys! Krayfishkarl here and welcome to another Droplet: States of Matter update! Early Access 1.41 is now available! This update reworks three different levels, giving them another pass to improve player progression in the early game.

The level that has received the most changes is Yokai Gardens, formerly known as Bonsai Bathhouse. I felt the original version needed improvement in that it had to introduce the player to some sort of unique mechanic or test their knowledge in some way. What I chose to do was to make sure that they are up to speed on what enemy types are immune to certain states of matter. This is to make sure that they are adequately prepared for the encounter with Cara Bonnie, who uses a similar mechanic during her boss fight.

In Yokai Gardens, you'll find all sorts of enemies with special attributes. There's the nurikabe, a stone enemy resistant to cloud form. The ents, plant-based enemies immune to water form. And the newly introduced Yuki-onna, a ghostly enemy immune to ice form. Don't get too close, or you might just be chilled by its freezing breath.

You'll also find some other aesthetic changes. The level progresses through the four seasons, starting and ending with spring time. In the winter section, you'll default to ice form which might make our new spectral friends a bit tricky to deal with. But of course, that's part of the challenge.

In other news, the two other levels I reworked - albeit to a much smaller scale - are Mangrove Marsh and Waterworks. These levels both remain conceptually the same but I've spaced out the collectibles and platforms to give the player more breathing room. They are now more focused on the mechanics they're setting out to introduce. Mangrove Marsh helps to ensure the player knows how ice and cloud form react with bodies of water. And Waterworks introduces gratings that all states of matter, except ice form, pass through. In doing so, I'm aiming to make sure the player knows these crucial skills before facing much more difficult challenges later in the game.

That's all for now! And with that, thank you for following the development of Droplet: States of Matter!

• Renames Bonsai Bathhouse to Yokai Gardens. New layout. The area expands on the catfish temple and features subareas themed after the four seasons.
  
• New enemy: Yuki-Onna. A ghost enemy that will freeze you if you get too close.
  
• New enemy: Amemasu. Identical to piranhas from Mangrove Marsh in behavior though themed towards Yokai Gardens.
  
• Kase-Obaka and Nurikabe have more health
  
• Reworks Mangrove Marsh with a new layout.
  
• Refresh on Waterworks level layout.
  
• Lily pads no longer sink.
  
• You can now deflect thrown weapons with a well-timed punch or kick.
  
• Increased hitbox size of ents.
  
• Ents now shoot more accurately.
  
• Fixed some issues with boss outro cutscenes not playing correctly.
  
• Small performance improvements to state changing platforms.

• Graphical overhaul of Yokai Gardens.
  
• Graphically updated piranhas. Piranhas in Mangrove Marsh are now red, while the ones in Waterworks are blue and move faster.
  
• Updated animation cycle of Mangrove Marsh’s flytraps.
  
• Ents now have different colored leaves depending on their location.

• Sound effect added when freezing Tree Frogs.