Sunday 5 March 2017

Choice of Arsenal

I want players to feel a sense of complete agency when playing DEA. I don't want the player to feel like they are forced to rely on a particular weapon set. Furthermore, (in my opinion) I feel like by creating a "best" weapon, you are pushing the player to preference certain weapons and gadgets over others. In a game without an RPG-like progression system, this takes emphasis away from all of the other options for the player. DEA will feature a ridiculously large arsenal of weapons and gadgets, each with three abilities which manifest themselves as firing modes, passives, aura effects, utility, and more!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the items the players will have access to throughout the game:

(The formatting of this post has gone horribly, awfully wrong. The preview window looks nothing like the published post. I'm working to try and fix this.)

Fruzi 

This is a light and compact crowd-control weapon which has won over the hearts of human rights activists all over the galaxy for one reason: Fruzi uses quark-manipulating technology to freeze and slow large mobs without causing any physical harm or serious permanent brain damage. The thawing just causes mild permanent brain damage - a step up from the alternative treatment doled out by law enforcement, commonly referred to as "death".

Venorama 

Venorama was secretly developed in an underground bunker without view from the public eye by a group of militant ex police agents. When discovered, they were immediately imprisoned, and it was banned on a galactic basis for being deemed ‘too cruel for use’. Venorama is part biological life form and part weapon. It secretes hallucinogenic poisons, and emits incomprehensible wavelengths of sound and light to completely debilitate foes.

Flow

When Flow was first announced, everybody wanted to get their hands on one. ‘A bracelet that can turn you into a chimp!?’ people would exclaim. Flow allowed the user to morph into different creatures and forms at will. It was a hot piece of tech, and everybody had to have one. However, Flow was gradually discontinued, as the bracelets were linked to serious cell mutations, diseases, and in rare some cases, people could get stuck in their morphed forms forever.


Newtron 

Newtron looks and feels like a magical staff. From its swirling crystal ball to its polished mahogany finish, the whole design is simply a facade to persuade people of magic and is purely aesthetic. Newtron is nothing more than some very powerful technology with an authentic and robust finish. Whoever wields this gadget is able to fling themselves in different directions at will, becoming almost impossible to hit.


Gatecrasher

Gatecrasher was custom-made by a team of engineers against their will, under the order of Sorkoth the heroin clown. When the weapon was completed, Sorkoth had them all executed, and grafted to the weapon to his arm, claiming that anybody wanting the weapon would, quite literally, have to pry it from his cold, dead hands. Gatecrasher releases large balloons which can be ridden, or detonated, to release a blast of noxious gas.


Kronos 

Kronos is the ultimate tactical weapon for stake-outs. It’s also hilarious for pranking people. The bullets, when released, stay dormant in the air, waiting for a signal from the host Kronos. The user can then rewind or play the stored trajectories of the bullets, giving the agent an heir of unpredictable stealth, like a deadly spider waiting in its web, except the web can be manipulated outside of time.


Excalibridge 

It’s standard practice for a security guard to carry Excalibridge. Used to protect the galaxy’s celebrities and VIPs, Excalibridge may look like a large sword, but the inside is packed full of priceless hardware. This allows it to function as a mighty blade for fending off the paparazzi, a mighty bridge to shelter the fragile celebrity, and a mighty distress beacon when things get too hectic.

Vegas 
Vegas is feared and worshipped for its ability to control what the layman would call ‘luck’. Vegas has the ability to spray out flurries of energy which can distort the natural order of the universe – unstable energies can burn through hordes of enemies, destroying all their loot with them, while other (less damaging) wavelengths can extract maximum loot at the cost of pitiful damage.


Capitalism 
Capitalism’s name is derived from the very ethos of modern consumer-capitalism. When powered, it sucks the money from the very pockets of all around it - regardless of their wealth. However, Capitalism is very pricey and hard to obtain, so therefore this act is completely justified, since you worked so hard to attain it.

Nimbus 
Even Zeus would be all, like, totally stoked, and stuff, to be able to get his mitts on this state-of-the-art piece of technology. Nimbus grants the owner the immense power to traverse over clouds – clouds which can emit devastating bolts of lightning at the user’s command.


Vinculum 
Revered and admired by mathematicians and murderers alike, Vinculum is your ultimate solution those impenetrable brutes of flesh and armour. The projectiles are fraction shurikens which alter the physical composition of the target, rather than directly damaging it. The Vinculum refers to the division line you would see in a fraction. Charging up the blast of this weapon causes the denominator of the fraction to decrease, removing that proportion of health from the afflicted target.






Progress Update

Over the course of the past few months, I have found it difficult so balance my social, physical and mental well being. In fact, it's my belief that by improving one aspect of your life, you can damage other aspects. As a developer, it's safe to say that physical health is at the bottom of my priority list, and because of the copious amounts of coffee and sugar going into my body on a daily basis, I save valuable time that I can pour into social and mental aspects of my life. 

I would argue that these aspects of our lives then branch out into more complex systems. We need financial security, hobbies, dreams, aspirations and more! If you then factor in the fact that you need money to stay alive, it can be very difficult to pour all of your attention into your aspirations, and these can end up taking a back seat. WELL, NO LONGER, I SAY!!

I've left my job, saved up some money, made some tough choices, and I'm now ready to pursue game development full-time. This means that I'll be able to keep the blog updated much more frequently and also receive more help on my project than ever before, receiving consultation about the topological design of my game from a more abstracted level, getting the groundwork right, and lastly, starting the whole project from scratch... again.

Due to life's responsibilities, Steve and I will not be able to work on this project together, and we cannot both afford to work the same hours, so instead, I shall be consulting him now and again about my design to get his input. The idea was originally to do a 50/50 split, but to do this would require him leaving his job, turning his life upside down and setting up shop where I live, which is quite a big ask!

This means that I shall be taking on 100% of the development responsibility. I'll be doing the coding, soundtrack, sound design, animation, writing and art work - a hefty workload for one person! However, this leaves me with total creative freedom to create something that I personally feel happy with!

Let's get Schwifty! :D