NO!! Welcome to the page where I ramble about cool stuff in my favorite games. These will usually focus on game design elements, as it's something I've always wanted to learn more about, so I'm hoping this can help me gather some information. I hope you can learn somethings too!! or at least be entertained for 5 minutes or so.

BOILER CITY VERSUS BOILER CITY

Game: Antonblast

December 3, 2024

Ok so I've been addicted to Antonblast since September. I'd played it a bit before hand, but I decided to try the updated Dynamite Demo on my Switch and by mid-October had like 15 hours of playtime. That's not even counting how much time I've played the new One Blast Demo. Crippling addiction aside, the One Blast Demo brought some VERY major changes to the game's first level, Boiler City, both from a visual and level design standpoint. At first I wasn't a big fan of the new look, but after writing this analysis I've come to appreciate the look a lot! So you're able to follow along, Annie (the red haired lady) will represent the Dynamite Demo 2.0 version of Boiler City, while Anton (the titular green clad lad) will be representing the One Blast Demo's Boiler City. You can also tell which is which because I had to record the Dynamite Demo off my tv, my switch doesn't have a capture card *(. I noticed that the Oneblast Demo visually seperates it's layers through the use of colors and simplifies the level design compared to the Dynamite Demo. Also I'm gonna start referring to the Dynamite Demo as DD and the One Blast Demo as OBD because I'm lazy.

I'm gonna focus on the visuals to start. One of the main reasons I was interested in Antonblast was it's gorgeous art, from the animation to the color palletes to the graffiti used throughout the levels (although I think some of them are fan submitted?) this games visuals are pure eyecandy. However when I first saw the redesigned Boiler City I actually hated it

My main issue with OBD Boiler City is that... they changed the buildings. And now they are like, straight?? Almost no other line in this game is straight?? Why would they do this?? Crime against humanity. The game does attempt to counteract this with some little bricks jutting out here and there, but they don't feel significant enough to counteract how uniform the buildings feel compared to the previous demo (and most other things in the game). On top of all this they removed the brick texture from the inner portion of the walls which makes it feel even more bland.

However I really have nothing but good things to say about everything else. First and foremost the colors have been completely redone, and while the DD yellow is nice and feels like a proper city, the red and green color scheme in OBD serves an important purpose, to seperate the two playable layers! By hovering around one hue for each layer, the player is able to distinguish the difference between background and foreground (for context you can hop between the two, I should've mentioned that earlier). On top of this they also removed the DD's bottom eaves (apparently that's what the roof overhang is called), which is good because it made it look like the building was flipped upside down.

Also I never realized how disgusting the contrast between the sewer and building color pallettes were in the DD how did anyone find this acceptable. Literally unplayable.

On top of clarifying the playable area, there a tons of small details added that make Boiler City feel lived in. Just as an example lets focus on the background elements, the OBD adds a ton of variety in the windows, you can tell that . On top of that there are more than just pipes up here, like these electrical box things (my neighbors and I used to gather around one as kids, dunno what it's called), as well as some trees that break up all the red in the foreground.

Going further into the level, the Spirit Jump section has been completely redone in OBD, making this section look like a pile of garbage rather than... whatever it was supposed to be in the first place? Are those houses???

Also I like that the detanator is in room 666, that's such a memorable little detail*)

Level design time!!

I really feel like the level design here doesn't have many major changes from DD to OBD, but everything it does change just streamlines the level for a first time player. Before I continue I feel like sharing my first experience with Antonblast will make it a bit easier to understand why I like these changes. I first played the original Dynamite Demo, all the way back when the game used CDs instead of Cassettes. I remember feeling so overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I was missing out on and found myself getting hit and stopping dead in my tracks way too often. In a game where you're controlling such a powerful character I think having level design that's punishing is good, as it forces you to actually understand your moveset, however you need to give your player a bit of a taste of what that feels like, and the first level is where most other games do that.

DD Boiler City doesn't do the best job at this, it's still a fun level to play once you master it but as an introduction to the game it could leave players unsatisfied and unwilling to try to get better. The OBD takes everything the original Boiler City was trying to do and clarifies it. Cuts down what's unnecessary, and focuses on the core goal of each section of the level and what the player need to put in to achieve that. One of the best examples of this is back in the Yellow Detanator room. The DD adds two wrecking balls (erm... akshually those are called Beezleballs... dumbasz...) between the player and the detanator in a very cramped space. This space becomes even more cramped upon activating the detanator and dropping a pile of crates in the middle of the room. The OBD took what this room was doing, and simply gives the player more room to breathe. Same exact challenge, but a thousand times more readable for a first time player. Unfortunately they had to lose one of their balls in the process.

Another example of the DD being confusing and bloated can be found during this bonus room during Happy Hour. For some reason the devs decided to make this door openly accessible, but don't be fooled. There is NO way to get to the door from the left side of the room, you're intended to fall down this pit which leads you out said door. Some important context to remember is that this room is only accessible after the player has started BLOWING UP the level (note the giant timer), meaning they're already stressed and all this set up does is make them more confused. The OBD completely walls off the garbage cans so the players now they need to head straight down in this room. Like last time, same set up, easier to read and digest.

Also yeah they replaced doors with garbage cans for some reason? This makes literally no sense but the animation is cool so I don't mind.

Alright, now for the easily the best thing that the OBD changes. This Blimp chase was way too punishing in the DD, and the biggest reason for this is that THE CAMERA IS LOCKED. It'll never let the blimp go off screen meaning either A) The player is way too close to the blimp and any little mistake will cause them to get hit by the blimp or 2) The player is so close to the edge of the screen they can't react to what's coming up ahead. First of all, the OBD unlockes the camera so the player can traverse as far ahead of the blimp as they need. However, on top of this, they added this nice little ladder mid way through through the chase to give players a second chance. Keeping in mind that this is the first level, this change allows the player to have amuch higher chance to complete the chase without falling to the lower path, and even if they do they've usually gotten much closer to the end of the chase than they would have in the DD.

So that's it!! The One Blast Demo definitely does a great job of making the level cleaner from both a visual and level design perspective. I definitely didn't cover every single change, but I feel like I included enought to get my point across. I hope this was enjoyable to read!! Seeing how much care the developers put into remaking what was already a decent level makes me super excited for Antonblast's full release in the coming weeks. I'll try to include more funny haha in here next time if possible. My eyes are set on talking about Beastieball next!! Its a fun little Pokemon-like with a great story about the effects mega-corporations have on everyone, and also the little creatures have personalities and relationships of their own it's super cute*) Can't wait to tell you more about it and I'd highly suggest checking it out if it sounds like something you're into!!