BE Virus v0.4

BE Virus - Changelog 

Version: (Consider this a step towards v.0.4, or assign a new minor version if you prefer)

Hello everyone! We've been hard at work on BE Virus, and today's update brings a significant new gameplay area, a new minigame, and several enhancements.

Key New Features & Content:

• New Map Area: School Grounds!
  • Accessible after completing the "Final Challenge" (escape from the lab) and choosing to continue to the "Forest Area", players can now find a new "School" location on the Forest Map.
  • The School Map features new points of interest: "Classroom A", "School Gym", and "Library".
• New Gameplay - Classroom A Targets:
  • Interacting with "Classroom A" on the School Map now opens a new selection screen.
  • Players can choose from three new targets: Sofia, Clara, and Betty.
• New Minigame Type: Survival Challenge!
  • Selecting a target in Classroom A (Sofia, Clara, or Betty) initiates a new survival-based minigame.
  • Objective: Players control the "player.png" character and must survive for 60 seconds while evading an increasing onslaught of "cell.png" enemies.
  • Dynamic Difficulty: The minigame's difficulty (enemy speed and spawn rate) increases every 8 seconds.
  • Unique Backgrounds: The background of the survival minigame changes based on the selected target (e.g., sofia_classroom_bg.png for Sofia).
• New Rewards & Unlockables:
  • Video Scene Unlock: Successfully completing a target's survival minigame will "unlock" their associated video scene (e.g., sofia_video.mp4).
    • Note: For this version, the video is opened externally using the system's default media player.
  • Gallery Unlock: A new "Classroom Rewards" (CSR) category has been added to the Gallery. Successfully completing a target's survival minigame unlocks their corresponding reward image in this gallery category (e.g., csr1.png for Sofia).
  • Classroom Progress Tracking: The Classroom A selection screen now displays a green checkmark (✓) next to targets whose survival minigame has been successfully completed.
  • Progress for classroom rewards and new gallery items is saved and loaded.
• Gallery Video Playback (External):
  • Unlocked "Classroom Rewards" (CSR) items in the gallery, which represent video scenes, can now be "played."
  • Clicking on an unlocked CSR gallery item will attempt to open the corresponding video file (e.g., sofia_video.mp4) externally using the system's default media player.
  • CSR gallery items now have a small "play" (►) icon indicator if they are unlocked and have an associated video.

Improvements & Bug Fixes:

• Increased Minigame Difficulty (Survival Challenge): The new survival minigame has had its difficulty parameters tuned for a more challenging experience (increased enemy base speed, faster initial spawn rate, more aggressive difficulty scaling).
• Game Title Update: The main menu title has been updated to "BE Virus v. 0.4" (and window caption).
• Code Refinements:
  • Resolved a SyntaxError in survival_minigame_screen.py related to an if/else statement.
  • Improved data handling for gallery items, especially for the new CSR (video) category, ensuring correct video file information is passed and used.
  • Standardized paths for video assets (VIDEO_DIR_PATH).
• User Experience:
  • Added a "Back to Forest Area" button on the School Map screen.
  • Added a "Back to School Map" button on the Classroom A target selection screen.
  • Escape key functionality refined for new screens (e.g., ESC from Classroom Select returns to School Map).

Known Issues / Future Considerations:

• Video playback is currently handled by opening files in the system's default external player. Integrated in-game video playback is a feature for future consideration.
• The "School Gym" and "Library" locations on the School Map are placeholders and do not yet lead to new gameplay.