After refocusing the project, it's in good shape right now with perhaps 80% of the mechanics done and 65% of the game content. Once the first draft is completed, we'll enter the polish/beta cycle. Getting quite close, but enough to make an announcement yet. It's a bit too early to discuss the price as well, we'll have to come back on that during beta. Somewhere between 0$ and 3$ I suppose . There's a lot of content in the game that's for sure.
I'll follow up with the current types of racing events. In order to bring more diversity, there will be several categories of events with their own rules. Cup: standard event, finish first to win. Ceasefire: a special event where the guns are not enabled. Eliminations: every lap, the last racer is eliminated. Demolition: the racer with the most kills wins. Endurance: longer races than usual. Last Man Standing: destructed boats are not re spawned.
Here's the latest bunch of boats we've made: Bringing the total to 42 so far. That's probably the number we'll start the beta with .
I could say almost any moment from now on. The category B progression is almost completed, with 20 races. We still have to implement the boat upgrades system and balance boats with their own set of guns/equipment. From there, it will be mostly about how finished we'd like the game to be for beta vs how much we'd like to have early comments (which could have a deeper impact on the end result). From the beginning of category A races, a second offensive/defensive button will be introduced on boats and we have not touched that yet. That's probably the most significant feature remaining to do (in terms of mechanics). We'll have to see if we'd like to make a first pass on that before beta. So no ETA yet, especially since we still have our hands in other projects but for the first time we can say that we have a pretty clear idea of what's left between now and then .
Here's a first icon candidate: Not sure about its finality yet but at least it feels better than the last placeholder we had. Comments?
Not ready to make a trailer yet, though we sill can present the first bits of footage for the game through gifs!! (check the first page for 2 more)
I think the game looks really fun, and game play is the biggest part. My gut is telling me this game could offer so much more and appeal to a larger audience too if you went without pixel graphics. Just some true thought
That's right, pixel graphics are more of a 'niche' though a large one, but that was initiated from personal interest. The combat system and above average gameplay complexity only strengthen that mid-core audience targeting. Platforms Unlimited was definitely more casual. On the + side, that contributes to the game personality and it allows us to generate much more content for the users. Over time, the project inscribed pixels deeply into its DNA because of the boat destruction mechanic. In order to have bits flying off after a hit, every boat is made of a tile map, which naturally produces a pixel graphics appearance.
We just completed the equipment system so this sounded like a good time to give more information about how it will work. First of all, every boat has its own array of equipment, guns and statistics. This means that every boat will behave and be developed in its own way. The main categories of equipment will be engine, body, brakes, guns, passive and active systems. Most piece of equipment will be upgradable and every type of equipment will provide specific statistic bonuses when upgraded. Since some boats may have more equipment slots, this means that they could have more room for improvement. While coins will be used to purchase boats, tools will be used for upgrades. By making every boat unique in its configuration, the general idea is to make it useful to switch from one boat to another depending on the situation.
At first I was a little bummed that there wouldn't be the complete boat customization, but this new system sounds great! I think having loads of boats is awesome, and the idea of switching boats depending on the situation reminds of pokemon a little bit How are boats earned? Do you buy them at a shop? It would be cool if boats were earned as loot, so that boats themselves were loot, and it would give a kind of "gotta catch em all" dynamic.
Yeah the actual direction looks like a good compromise, without closing the door on equipment customization in an update (some items could be looted/bought and replace default options). And it does indeed make boat variety more meaningful. About the way to obtain boats, the actual plan is to unlock boats through trophies (obtain x bronze trophies to unlock that one, get y silver trophies for that one, etc). Unlocked boats will then be available for purchase in the shop. Completing races will provide with both coins and tools. Definitely leaving the door open for other variations, like rare boat drops, that could add something to the experience. Looking forward beta discussions (soon!).
How many boats are you planning on having? Having some boats that could only be earned through those rare drops would be cool, but would only really work if you had lots of boats
There's 42 right now split among the 4 racing categories, that's the number with which the beta will start. I really don't know what would be a good final number. It will depends on how things go and how we iterate the game based of feedback.
