Mecromage

Hey everyone, we just wrapped up some work on game flow and mechanics and wanted to share it with you. We’ve got some additional beautiful and wicked visuals to show off too!

Game Flow

Hot off the press is our “Quick Questy” version of the game, a scaffolding that includes the basic level layout and major quest items. This gives us an idea of the pacing of:

• Environmental Assets
• Enemies
• Difficulty
• Hero Power Ups
• Emotional Tone / Tension

In short, we can play through the game, get an idea of its current strengths and weaknesses, and build upon it until we get to the finish line. Right now, we’re looking at a non-linear level progression with “wide” linear levels.

Presentation and Mechanics

If you’ve been following the blog, you know that lately we’ve been working on hero mechanics to determine which ones work to our liking and which ones don’t meet up. Now that we have a clearer idea of the ones that work, we’re giving extra attention to how can we package and present them to the player in a cohesive, easy-to-understand way, and how we can create the most entertaining experience possible while meeting the demands of reality (time, resources, money, the children).

So Josh presented us with a slick set of ideas for how we can group the hero character’s abilities, items, upgrades, etc. that we’re trying out. A lot of these mechanics you’ve already seen in one way or another, though the presentation is new.  Here are some of his concept drawings.

Concept Drawing of the Player’s Bot Companion

Concept Drawing of the Kinetic Hammer

Concept Drawing of the Shield

Concept Drawing of the Mech Outfit

The Bot

There is a new familiar that Jeff has been prototyping for the last few days we can reveal – the bot. The hero character has a flying robot companion that provides a little extra offensive punch and can open up traversal options.  He plays into the scanning mechanic (previously “wolf sense”) where the player can search for hidden objects and see the health status of enemies. He can also see locations where the bot can transform into a platform that the hero can grapple to, climb up on, and stand on, for as long as the bot can handle the weight.

Bot Rapid Fire against a Dwarf Scout in Test Level (Placeholder Bot)

Grappling to the Bot in Platform Mode in Test Level (Placeholder Bot)

Crouching on the Bot in Platform Mode in Test Level (Placeholder Bot)

Grapple as Weapon

Chris has been working on another idea of ours – what if the hero could pull back the grapple while in mid-flight? It’s been a lot of fun to play like this, and conceptually it’s leading us to consider combining the grapple with the main weapon.

Throwing Out the Grapple (Placeholder Grapple)

Pulling In the Grapple (Placeholder Grapple)

Art Assets and Visual FX

Josh animated several of the tainted enemies and made the feature environment kit for the level we’re calling “Grassy Plains.” I think it’s my favorite outdoor kit right now! Over Thanksgiving, Chris and Josh worked on the waterfall. What do you think?

Tainted Crawler Attacking with a Tainted Flyer Overhead in Test Level

A Tainted Floater with Two Tainted Combiners in Test Level

Grassy Plains Demo Assets

Waterfall – The Mist is Even More Refreshing in Motion