#pixellicker

Post #24: What’s been going on

Let me start off by saying “It has been way too long and I apologize for shelving the devblog.”

The last two years were full of prototyping, figuring out how to navigate the pandemic and deciding what to work on next.  Most of my progress has been chronicled through Twitter, but I wanted to show the devblog some love, so here we go.

My first game idea was a sort of puzzle/action game featuring a character my daughter came up with.  The game never quite came together as I had hoped, but the character will live on in some future project, I’m sure.  After that I tried a platformer with a female whip wielding adventurer.  It was fun and had a lot of potential, but the scope of the game was a bit too big for my usual 18 month dev cycle, so it was put in cryosleep until a time when I can do it right.  Then I decided to expand my horizons and switch over to Game Maker Studio 2.  It wasn’t too different from what I had been used to, but it took a good 8 months to get comfortable.  It was during this time that I ported over a simple enemy scripting system I had made for a Galaga style shooter.  This in turn developed into what I am now working on: Dead End City.  This was back in 2020 when I was also mainlining subs of Fist of the North Star, because I had always wanted to watch the whole series and see what the big deal was.  Only took me 35 years to be able to watch it, but afterwards an 80’s-post-apocalyptic-mohawk-punk-automotive-combat spark lit in my brain.  Oh, and I also played a bit of Mad Alien (a very old Data East game) and revisited Galaga ’88, which both gave me a starting point for my own game.

Fast forward to 2021. The pandemic raged outside, while I basically lived in a home office, rarely going outside anyway because, well, gamedev life.  Progress was being made on Dead End City.  I got a few people to play the game and give feedback.  It was a lot of positive info, so I felt like I was on the right track.  Yay!  I also did some freelance art which was fun.

Fast forward to 2022.  I got on Steam, made a demo and hope to get wishlists, which I have no idea how to do effectively.  The game is now at alpha and I need to go over the levels again to make them better.  Some people have said they want the game harder, so I am looking into that.  The shmup community sure likes a challenge.

 So that is about all.  Oh, I also got 900 followers on Twitter so… Yay again!  Stay tuned for more stuff about Dead End City.

Post #23: The Early Days Part 3

One big challenge for Slayin’ 2 was to make truly unique characters.  Slayin’ had a few “too similar” characters (I’m looking at you Knave) so the goal was to not repeat that with the sequel.  The first character to hit the page was Princess Rainbow Sparkles:

What started out as a character to appeal to my young daughter, Princess Rainbow was originally going to ride a unicorn steed (named Sparkles).  The unicorn would do all the actual fighting while the princess sat elegantly in her saddle.  But the logistics of such a large character proved to be a major headache early on (yay prototyping).  Ultimately, she became a princess riding a unicorn-head-on-a-stick toy.  It felt more unique and also more like something a kid would do.  She would imagine she was riding a unicorn, but since the horns on the toy were real, they would have actual magical powers to use in combat.  This opened up a lot of fun rainbow themed attack ideas.  Her play style relies on range in most cases.  But since many of her attacks move in arcs, you need to learn the spacing required to land them properly.

Finding and unlocking the princess takes a little work, but it is worth the effort.  Being a member of the royal family, you can imagine the general area of the map that she is found in.  But a certain item is required to gain access to her.

Post #22: The Early Days Part2

The moment you start a sequel, you have to ask yourself what elements from the original game should make a return.  The first thing to be examined were the enemies:

Some of the basic movement patterns still made sense, especially for the earlier areas of the game where players were getting used to things.  But for more challenging enemies, the patterns would need to be a bit more complex.  Difficulty balance is a tricky thing.  What might seem like a trivial addition to an enemy might actually play very differently than what you expect.  This is made more complex when you mix and match enemy types.  I tried to initially make small differences between enemy types so that while each area would have new monsters to slay, they would bring some familiar behavior from a previous area.

For example, movement patterns could start out as simple straight lines.  But then the straight lines could change to incorporate pauses and bounces.  Sure, a bouncing enemy on its own might seem like a similar threat to an enemy that moves in a straight line.  But pair it with an enemy that shoots a projectile and you suddenly have to worry about jumping a little more.

Many of these patterns developed as the game was created.  It is difficult to know what patterns will offer enough challenge without being too much.  And in many cases, an enemy that was designed for one area with a specific look would get redesigned for another area if they didn’t fit the difficulty curve they were planned for.  So many of the advanced enemy behaviors I had planned felt too difficult once I had them in the game, and they would get pushed into later and later areas.  Sadly, I should have worked with much simpler art in the beginning so I could rearrange these behaviors in a more modular way.  But when you design, for example, an undead enemy you had planned for a Graveyard, but then find their behavior would work better in a later swamp area, you have to rethink the enemy to fit the swamp theme.

On the whole, I think the world of Slayin has a distinct cast of monsters.  I worked very hard on giving them a place in their world.  Each location was built to offer a new challenge.  And with all the unused creatures, Slayin 3 will definitely have a pile of ideas to build on. 😉

Post #21: The Early Days

With Nintendo approval around the corner, it is amazing to see how far Slayin’ 2 has come in 3 years.  I thought it would be interesting to look back at the first sketches that were made of some of the basics in the game.  BEHOLD: PAGE 1 !!!!

The Knight was always going to make a return, but with a much larger range of abilities.  Sure, he can run into enemies, but the plan was to allow enemies that did more than float around the screen waiting to be popped like balloons.  It also felt like his shield should have more of a functional role.  Another early idea was to have a second Knight that focused on using a lance.   This would eventually become the Lancer character.

Both of these characters were meant for aggressive play styles.  Trying to find a way to differentiate them came a bit later, but at this stage, the idea of a lance felt like it had potential enough to justify a new character.

Post #20: The Music Man

All of Pixel Licker’s games have benefitted from the musical talents of one man.  Well, two if you count my fumbling around in bfxr.  That man is Matt Creamer aka Norrin Radd.  We were introduced when Slayin 1 needed a few tracks, but after talking with Matt, it was obvious he had a deep understanding of chip and contemporary music.  The guy is a dynamo when it comes to nailing a range of styles, but we really wanted him to do one thing: make Slayin 2 rock!

Not just rock, but early 90’s Japan era arcade rock.  Stuff that gets your blood pumping and occasionally drills its way into your brain.  The stuff that reminds you when you pick up the controller that no monster is safe from your coming onslaught.  And boy did he deliver.  Every area of the game has a theme song, ranging from mysterious to adventurous to let’s kick some butt.

We really hope the soundtrack clicks with players.  A lot of years went into its creation.  Matt even gets a cameo in Slayin 2 as Norrin the bard.  So please make sure to stop and help him out when you see him.  We also can’t recommend Matt enough to devs who need music for their projects.  He is a joy to work with and can do almost anything.  Check out his stuff here.

Post #19: Couch Co-op

One of the most requested features in the original Slayin’ was to be able to play with a friend.  On mobile, that would have been pretty tricky, but on a console it seems like a no brainer.  So in the spirit of old school console and arcade games, Slayin 2 lets you play any area with a friend at your side.  The result is an experience that can be way more frantic but also way less punishing.

If one person falls in battle, the other player has the ability to revive them, as long as they have some health to share.  Reviving takes half of the living players health and transfers it to their fallen friend.  This means choosing the right time to revive is important otherwise you might end up with two players in danger of dying.

Getting this feature right on the Switch has been a big task.  But as we squash the last few bugs, our hope it to have something people can enjoy gathered together around their tv (or tiny Switch screen in some random public place). 🙂

Post #18: It Takes a Village

The town area starts out as a bit of a cliché .  When you first arrive, the town is in shambles.  But if you are feeling charitable, you can help the townspeople rebuilt their various houses and shops.  This in turn opens up more resources for the player.

The Inn is a great spot for passing travelers to stop in and trade stories.  Repairing it will mean more people to interact with and potentially recruit for your adventures.

Iris the antique dealer can tell you about any odd trinkets you find in your travels.  She has a lot of information to tell anyone willing to listen (and drop a coin in her donation box).

The local blacksmith can forge and upgrade your weapons.  Some weapons are unlocked based on your fame.  Others are hidden behind quests and require great skill to unlock.

As the game progresses, the town will open up more and more people and possibilities.  A big part of making it was to give players small experiences that might connect them to the game world.  And there are lots of small interactions and secrets waiting to be discovered.

Post #16: A Land of Secrets

This time around, the land of Slayin’ 2 is full of little mysteries for the player to solve.  Once the player begins interacting with the people in Town, they will come across the antique dealer, Iris.  She is able to identify any unknown items the player finds.  Talking to people can also uncover hints to the location of antiques or what they might be used for.  Some antiques uncover new areas, while others can be useful in different ways.

The antiques were very helpful in creating incentives for players to revisit areas and also to build up some of the lore in the game. There is an underlying story of an ancient civilization (drawn from sources like Laputa or Nadia:Secret of Blue Water) that existed a long time before the current era in the game.  It was fun fleshing out a back story for this civilization so that some of the areas could hint at it and add a sense of mystery.  As much as I was tempted to over explain this ancient history, in the end it felt more fun to leave some things open-ended.

 

Post #15: What is Slayin’ ?

It is something I’ve been asked a lot and the elevator pitch has always been something I struggled with.  On the surface, Slayin’ is “An action game where you control a little knight who runs back and forth poking at enemies to slay them while also collecting their treasure and trying to avoid getting hit.”  And on the outside, Slayin’ probably did appear to be just that simple.  But the hope was always to add depth to something that might be labelled as “simple”.

The original Slayin’ tried its best to make an arcade style game that felt easy to play, but asked players to “get in the zone” when the difficulty began to ramp up.  Taking hits was inevitable, but learning how to minimize damage and heal through coin collection became the dance that entertained those who “got” what Slayin’ was doing.

Now with Slayin’ 2 that goal is still the same.  Players have more ways to “poke at enemies” but the balance between damage and healing is still there.  Combos now play a more pivotal role in survival as they increase the healing potential of treasure.  The multi-plane setup means that chaining a combo has become more tricky, as finding the closest enemy to chain might not be on the same plane as the player.   Then keeping a combo going through a boss is an additional challenge, but one that might be the only way to maintain enough healing through treasure to survive.

Add unique character stats, unique weapon abilities and charms that grant additional effects to the mix and you can see there are a lot of ways to play Slayin’ 2.  The dance is still there.  The steps are a bit trickier, but also a lot more fun.