Hey everyone, Christopher Boardman here with another update on Cookie Madness! We've been hard at work polishing the game based on player feedback. This version focuses on fixing bugs, improving enemy visuals and behaviors, balancing difficulty, enhancing UI/UX elements like inventory and save/load, and adding some new procedural features for replayability. Here's a breakdown of the key changes:Bug Fixes

• Enemy Visibility and Rendering Errors: Fixed a compilation error in the enemy drawing code where etype was incorrectly referenced instead of enemy.etype in the condition for cat-like enemies (types 4, 5, 16). This ensures all enemies render correctly without invisible bodies (health bars were visible, but bodies weren't due to this typo).
• UFO Cat Visuals: UFO cats (etype 7) now properly display a cat inside the UFO cockpit. Added orange cat body and eyes within the UFO structure for better thematic consistency—no more empty UFOs!
• High Score and Distance UI: Repositioned the high score and distance traveled UI elements to fit properly on the screen. They were previously cut off on higher resolutions; now they're anchored to the top-right with better padding.
• Pause Menu Buttons: Resolved issues where pause menu buttons (e.g., "Save Game", "Load Game", "Controls", "Resume") weren't registering clicks reliably. Adjusted button hitboxes and ensured state transitions (e.g., from pause to game) work smoothly without overlapping inputs.
• Click Link in Credits: The "Click here to visit" link in the credits now uses Processing's launch() function instead of link() for better compatibility across platforms. It opens "https://christoph1996.itch.io" in the default browser.
• Save/Load Functionality: Fixed bugs where saves didn't capture thumbnails correctly. Now, saves generate a screenshot of the current gameplay state, and load menu displays these thumbnails for each slot to remind players of their progress. Also handled null save files gracefully to avoid crashes.

Gameplay Balance and Optimizations

• Enemy AI Adjustments: Reduced enemy chase range (from 200+ to 150+) to make them less "ruthless" and prevent hovering/swarming behaviors. Enemies now have a lower probability of jumping/diving attacks, giving players more breathing room. Optimized enemy updates by limiting procedural mutations and ability checks to reduce CPU load during large spawns.
• Spider Enemies (etypes 10, 11, 12): Added web-shooting projectiles (ptype 1) that slow the player (moveSpeed *= 0.5 for 3 seconds on hit). Spiders now open their mouths (red arc graphic) when within 50 units of the player. Ceiling spiders (etype 12) crawl more realistically in haunted levels, with adjusted drop timing for fairness.
• Demonic Killer Cats (new etype 20): Introduced as a new procedural enemy in haunted/mansion levels. They have darker colors, horn visuals, faster speed (1.2x), and occasional jump attacks. Appearance and abilities vary slightly per spawn (e.g., random color variation, abilityVar for jump frequency) to ensure no two are identical.
• Procedural Enemy Variety: All enemies now have more variability—size, speed, color, and abilities (via abilityVar) are randomized per spawn. Core types (cats, cookies, zombies) remain recognizable but with tweaks (e.g., zombies have ragged clothes, cats have dynamic ear/eye animations). New enemies like demonic cats appear in relevant levels for freshness.
• NPC Shop Frequency: Increased NPC spawn probability in haunted levels (npcProb = 0.2 from 0.1) and reduced minimum spacing (from 500 to 300 units) to make shops appear more frequently.
• Difficulty Multiplier: Slowed progression (now 1 + distance/10000f instead of /5000f) for a more gradual ramp-up, reducing early-game frustration.
• Optimization: Reduced particle count in explosions (from 10 to 5 for some effects) and optimized grid bucketing for enemies/platforms to improve performance in dense areas. Limited teleport frequency for flying enemies to prevent lag spikes.

UI/UX Improvements

• Inventory System: Press 'I' to open a full inventory menu popup. Players can now click on weapons to equip them (even if >9 items). Numbers (1-9) still work for quick equip, but the menu supports unlimited items with scrolling if needed. Added durability display and "Click to equip weapon" prompt.
• HUD Refinements: Improved readability with better font scaling and semi-transparent backgrounds. Distance and high score now fit on all resolutions, with dynamic positioning.
• Save/Load Enhancements: Save now prompts for a name (using UiBooster dialog) and captures a screenshot thumbnail. Load menu shows thumbnails and slot numbers with larger hitboxes for easier selection.
• Pause Menu Helper: Added a controls summary text at the bottom of the pause menu for quick reference (e.g., "A/D - Move, Space - Jump, etc.").

New Features

• Building Graphics for Doors: Doors (HAUNTED_DOOR, DOOR, WEB_DOOR) now have simple brown building structures around them for context (rect with rounded edges).
• Web Projectile Type: New projectile type (ptype 1) for spiders—white/gray web graphics that slow the player on hit.

This update makes the game feel more balanced and polished while adding variety to enemies for better replayability. Playtesting shows fewer "impossible" enemy encounters, and the inventory/save changes make progression smoother. Next up: more levels? fixes? you tell me. 

(Known issues: the pause can be a bit delayed, some room for improvement.  The UI still needs some work)