Thursday, August 18, 2011

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Powers Preview

Power-Ups are coming together!  The powers are selected when a player gains a new level, and are split into three "trees" - Attack, Defend, Explore.  Here's the menu to select the powers:


Attack will contain upgrades to the sword and gun, as well as a new attack called "Power Beam".  This shoots out a beam of pure power in a short player-directed burst.




Defend contains upgrades to health (double health, quad health), as well as a spherical Shield that will protect the player from attacks.  At higher levels, the shield will even do damage to enemies in range!


The Explore tree contains all the jump upgrades (double, triple, wall), the grappling hook and a new ability, called "Power Jump".  This is basically a jet pack, that lets the player "fly" anywhere in the map for short bursts.


All powers are limited by a "mana" meter that will slowly refill over time.  Stronger powers (Power Jump, Power Beam), will drain the mana meter faster, so watch out.

I'm thinking the powers will be a lot of fun, an the three different trees will give players different ways to play the game.  Of course, by the end game you'll have all the powers.  One of the keys will be tuning the enemies and maps so the game is still a challenge with the full arsenal!

Still some more backend coding to wrap up, one last boss fight, then putting it all together.  Hoping to have a playtest available for both PC and XBox AppHub first week of September!


Thursday, August 4, 2011

Script and Maps and Such

Added two new features.

1. Scripting window.  This is for conveying story to the player.  When the player runs over a trigger, it pops up a "dialog" window that can be read (press A) or bypassed (press B).  Poor man's cut-scene!


2. World Map.  The map will be used to select the level as you progress through the game world.  I found some great brushes on deviantart that were used to make the map: http://calthyechild.deviantart.com/art/Tolkien-style-Map-Brushes-138796530


The game is coming together quickly.  One more boss and the level-up / power system.

Then its on to fleshing out all the levels and polishing till it shines!