Killer 2017 - Entry Six

The first intro cutscene is going well and it's helping me figure out how the rest of them are going to go. Decisions have to be made correctly the first time, but after that it's smooth sailing. I think that the first cutscene and tutorial intro will be done by tomorrow, and I'll have some more screenshots to share!

I also have to think about the background of the main game screen, I'm not sure if I want fake code or static or what not there.

• Time spent on the project so far: 20 hours
• Currently working on: Core game systems, first intro cutscene

Killer 2017 - Entry Five

After completing the game flow up to the first level, I felt a bit overwhelmed. I still do. What comes next? I've build the framework of my UI, that's simple enough, and then...

What should come next is the intro cutscene for the first target. Garcian meeting with Mills. How do I go about that? What kind of game object structure do I need in order to make proper cutscenes that I'll be able to re-use later? How does this kind of thing fit in the grand scheme of the game?

There are multiple cutscenes and I have to be able to work with them all with the same structure. I'll go about it with the way the game progresses, so right now I just have to concentrate on that one part, but at the same time I don't want to mess up core concepts that will come and bite me in the ass later. Overwhelming indeed...

• Time spent on the project so far: 19 hours
• Currently working on: Core game systems, first intro cutscene

Killer 2017 - Entry Three

Yesterday evening I've went through the sound effects to find the ones I needed for the intro and title screen and worked on that a bit, I've also made it so you can skip past the intro quickly by mashing the mouse, which will be useful both for me and for players. Next up is the title screen, followed by the target select screen, then I'll be able to get into the game proper, with the intro for the first mission -Angel- followed by the tutorial.

• Time spent on the project so far: 5 hours
• Currently working on: Sorting through audio, title screen

Killer 2017 - Entry One

After waiting about one day since my last project, here I am, starting another one! This time, the focus is to make a polished and balanced product that I don't just burn through, creating mechanic after mechanic without caring on how good everything works together. Most of my games are neat and have some redeeming qualities, that I'm certain, but the overall end product feels more slapped together than crafted, especially when numbers are involved. I've you've played Griddrill, Gear Link, Legend of Loadaia, Tarot Trials, 100 Reasons To Break Down, Magic Darts or the most recent The Proton Orders, you would have noticed that balance is completely nonexistent. Skills and spells are either too strong or too weak and the game is either stupidly easy, or really difficult.

With this new project, the number one goal is to make something balanced and enjoyable. The secondary goals are for me to make an adventure game and a turn-based RPG, which I haven't done entirely yet. My third goal is to make a Killer 7 fangame; taking Killer 7 and remaking it as such is a daunting task, there are large differences between having a turn-based battle system where you take your actions from a menu and a first-person system where enemies blow themselves up to attack you. I think that accomplishing these three goals will be difficult and take a lot of work, both on the programming, game design and asset generation front, but I also know that it's doable for me. Killer 7 isn't that huge of a game, and I'm not remaking it from scratch.

I know I won't be able to sell this one either, but I'll make sure to pour my passion into it to make a good game. I'll try to get more playtesters after I'm done with certain core components so I can tweak them if needed, and I'm really looking forward to showing you guys how things are going via this here development log!

• Time spent on the project so far: 45 minutes
• Currently working on: Writing the GDD

The Proton Orders - Part Four

Here's the second to last release of The Proton Orders. I have cut some corners short from my original vision, but I do not wish for this to become another endless struggle. Here is everything new in this version:

• Three new enemy types
  • Lambda enemies are flying robots that heal their allies
  • Mu enemies are huge tanks that only take damage on specific weak points
  • Omicron enemies are flying summoners
• Thirty seven maps in total, only twelve remain
• Three more tiers of the weapon skill tree
• Boost skills for each weapon type
• Three more tier of frame skill tree
• Active skills for each frame type

After 200 hours of work, more or less, I can see the end for this project. Please stay tuned for the 'complete' and 'final' version that might be released in less than a month!

The Proton Orders - Part Three

Here is, without much fanfare, the third release of The Proton Orders. Here is everything new in this version:

• Two new enemy types; Digamma and Theta. One fires bullets all around with a spinning turret, the other pulses waves on the ground and is protected by a shield.
• Twenty one maps in total, twenty eight maps still remain
• Three more tiers of the weapon skill tree
• Active skills for each weapon type
• Three more tier of frame skill tree
• The ability to change frame models

I'm about halfway there! Maybe 150 hours of work in? I hope I'm done with this project before the end of summer ;)

The Proton Orders - Part Two

Here it is! My second release of The Proton Orders. Here is everything new in this version:

• Options, allowing players to change their input systems (work in progress)
• An encyclopedia with info on all enemies, guns, mechanics and some world building
• Nine maps in total, forty maps still remain to be made
• A new enemy, the Epsilon, a flying enemy that dashes at the player
• Two more tiers of weapon skill trees
• The frame skill tree
• Music and sound effects

Your save from previous versions might not work, and there are about 110 hours of work into this version of the game. Please check if out if you can!

Entry Four Hundred And Thirty Two

We're at State-10 now, and there only are ten rooms left. Ten InfoPacks, and then a boss fight. These rooms will probably all have cutscenes of some sort, so I won't be able to create all of them in two days, but we're getting to the end of this project as the scope changed recently. Admiral A is also blinking in and out of existence and being replaced by a mysterious scientist who gets called 'Spike' by others. What's that all about?

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 778 hours

Screenshot: A room in State-10

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Entry Four Hundred And Thirty-One

Eighty-nine percent done, the path to get the 88th and 89th InfoPacks was done during the weekend, now I have to fix a giant enemy fight and move on with the redesigned B&R Engine sequence.

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 775 hours

Screenshot: Mini-boss fight

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Entry Four Hundred And Thirty

Alright so, today's an important update on 100RTBD. After all these years working on this project, my aspirations shifted a bit. When I started, about two years ago, I was making this game for myself. I had no illusions that anyone would ever want to play it, and anyways it was a game I'd work on to learn about Unity and see if I could make a metroidvania.

I think I can, I think that the almost eight hundred hours sunk into this thing and the hours of playtime that can be extracted from it prove that I can. I think that the mix of enemies, skills and items, the challenges and the story beats prove that I can.

My aspirations have changed a bit over all of this time. Now I want to make games that people would play and there is NOTHING I can do to 100RTBD to make it more interesting for a larger audience. It's a basic game made with placeholder assets and I don't have the means to make them better and I certainly can't rework the whole thing to add a new gimmick or two in the hopes of salvaging it.

I'm 87% done with the core of the story, based on the number of InfoPacks I have in the game so far, but I'm about 60% done with the total number of rooms. About 35% of the rooms in the game were planned to be inaccessible, only possible to be visited through the B&R Engine, a movement skill that allowed the player to go back and forth from State to State without having to use Breakdown Pits and Restoration Altars. A neat idea that I was looking forward to implementing, but I don't think I will anymore.

Consequently, I'll tweak the ending to not require the B&R Engine and to make it more straightforward. Furthermore the last 10 InfoPacks will be on a critical path and won't require exploration of these 350 or so other rooms. I'll probably not bother to add music and sound effects either. On the plus side, it means that 100RTBD is 87% over, but it still sours me to have sunk so much time in this.

It could've been only 100 rooms, or 500. A thousand is too much when there's so much game to be made out there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not cancelling this project, it'll be done before the end of this year, but I'm cutting the scope by a fair bit, because I want it to be over and move on.

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 770 hours

Screenshot: Pattern challenge

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Entry Four Hundred And Twenty Nine

I wish 100RTBD had something to grab the public's eye rather than it's biggest strength right now - for me - which is sheer volume. I wish I had found my graphical trick or my gimmick that made people care a little bit about it. What if all art was created by someone with talent, would people care then? Anyways. Working on a side area in State-8 where the character can go instead of immediately going back to State-9, there's a hard room with three giant enemies in a challenge there!

Currently working on: Working on a side-area

Time spent on the project so far: 762 hours

Screenshot: Weird Brigadier B room

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Entry Four Hundred And Twenty Eight

State-9 is going smoothly, but now to get to the rest of the story the player will need to breakdown a little and then come back. I'm not sure if there are other significant boss fights or new content to be created between now and the 89th InfoPack (and the B&R Engine, for that matter), but I hope that by the end of next week I'll have completed that stretch of the game. I'll also release a new playable version at this point!

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 759 hours

Screenshot: State-9 progress

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Entry Four Hundred And Twenty Seven

Gun roulette is done and it now works pretty much as I want it; In the same vein, I've made the challenge where you get the Fast Gun, the Fast Gun itself, and time damage. When affected by time damage, the player's framerate will decrease effectively, making everything slower - unlike frozen, which just slows you down. On enemies, time damage puts them in some sort of stasis where they can't hurt you and you can't hurt them; In theory. Right now, time-stopped enemies still hurt you on contact, so I'll fix that tomorrow! The fast gun is really fast and can fire far, but its accuracy decreases the more you shoot it. With a base damage of 1, I managed to get 19 damage per shot, which will really need some balancing.

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 756 hours

Screenshot: Fast Gun

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Entry Four Hundred And Twenty Six

The fight against the Security Six² is pretty much done, so now I'm working on the skill you get after that, gun roulette. It spins a wheel of the guns you own around your character, shooting them slowly and automatically. It also replaces you actual gun. I'm not sure if it's going to be balanced or if I'll have to massively tweak it to make it work, but I should be done with it by tomorrow!

Currently working on: The gun roulette skill

Time spent on the project so far: 754 hours

Screenshot: Gun Roulette!

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Entry Four Hundred And Twenty Five

The fight versus the security six² is almost completely done. All six members of the team merge into three discrete bosses because I thought it would be a mess to have combo attacks done in a reasonable time frame otherwise. Brigadier B and Defender D combine to shoot at you while defending itself with a bomb shield; Colonel C and Ensign E combine to spin swords and shoot elemental blasts; FirstClass F and General G combine to teleport around and spin slot machine reels that determine which kind of airstrikes will be dropped on you. When you defeat them, you get the Gun Roulette skill, which I'm probably going to work on tomorrow!

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 753 hours

Screenshot: Fight against the Security Six²

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Entry Four Hundred And Twenty Four

Today I've made a few more rooms, a small boss fight and a few story bits here and there. I thought the 83rd InfoPack wouldn't be that special, but reading my design doc, I had planned that the character fights the Security Six² to get it and also get a new skill, talk about things that will take more time to create! This is why I feel like linking game total completion percentage with room creation percentage makes sense; Some rooms (like most of the rooms I've been creating for the past few days) are just copied, pasted, modified and tweaked a bit from other states, but some (like 5-3-10) will require a bunch of time, so it all evens out! I know what I'll be working on next week.

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 751 hours

Screenshot: A lot of State-5 is done! Almost all of it!

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Entry Four Hundred And Twenty Three

And we're back down to State-5 where the player will collect the 83rd InfoPack, and then will need to backtrack all the way to State-9. The collection of 80 to 90 is taking quite a bit of time, but the game really opens up in its last 10%, so I'm still looking forward to that. Room-wise, I'm 57% done, things are progressing!

Currently working on: Continuing the story

Time spent on the project so far: 749 hours

Screenshot: A room in State-5

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