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[nihilocrat]

Looks cool. The graphics are simple in a very beautiful and unique way. Also, is it pronounced "swords" or "SWØØØØRDS!"? (SWØØØØRDS! sounds a lot cooler imo)

If you want to be pedantic it is indeed SWØØØØRDS! but I coloquially just say "swords". Hopefully the name makes it clear what the game is about.

I like the old-school polygon look of the characters, but they need more shading (take a peek at Virtua Fighter). Currently they are too flat and I think that defeats the whole purpose of going 3D.

Maybe the purpose was simply to avoid having to write a tilemapper and fitting a physics engine in there and animating each sprite separately?

I like the flatness. Reminds me of the really old 3D games

I use an alternate shaded material on most terrain objects. The visual look has changed a ton since I last tried using shaded materials on the characters so I'll revisit that and see how it looks.

It's made in Unity3D so the physics and such are already handled, there's actually no true tile system, it's just much easier to construct everything and modify it in real-time (such as opening up a side-room connected to an existing main room) using cubes. Any simplicity, abstractness, or lack of polish is indeed due to a question of priorities like you think, though: I am concentrating on getting good combat and decently exciting / ridiculous / gratuitously violent visual effects. The game is designed somewhat as a vehicle for the player to explore and enjoy the combat system, it's quite focused.

I was originally trying to avoid having 3D animated models entirely but I decided to stick with them but make a few time-saving choices: characters have no thighs or upper arms, simplifying all the animations on limbs. They don't actually use skeletons, they are just a bunch of animated shapes. The walk animation is just their feet shuffling back and forth with a bit of movement in their arms. This is my first attempt at 3D animation and I'm totally taking a utilitarian stance on it: just enough effort to make the combat feel good.

[amidos2006]

That's look so cool and what make its cool the blood pixel particles and the effects it compensate everything and make the game looks cool and a life Good Job

[Kit630]

Looks like a ton of fun! I do see the inspiration from Spiral Knights in the icons for attacks and shield, but that game is fantastic and the system works. Actually, yours looks a bit better. The graphics are very appealing and very nostalgic as well. So far, very nice. Too bad there isn't a mention of network multiplayer. I think that would propel the game into the stratosphere. To the point where I'd pay money for it. I think people probably will do that anyways though.

Keep on polishing, it's off to a nice start.

[laxwolf]

I love the look of this game! Can't wait for more progress.

[Schrompf]

And so do I! Keep on coding! 

[nihilocrat]

I think that would propel the game into the stratosphere. To the point where I'd pay money for it.

I think I'm going to concentrate on singleplayer / local multiplayer for the first release then see if I can add network multiplayer, perhaps for a commercial release. Thanks for the comments!

[JobLeonard]

It's made in Unity3D so the physics and such are already handled, there's actually no true tile system, it's just much easier to construct everything and modify it in real-time (such as opening up a side-room connected to an existing main room) using cubes. Any simplicity, abstractness, or lack of polish is indeed due to a question of priorities like you think, though: I am concentrating on getting good combat and decently exciting / ridiculous / gratuitously violent visual effects. The game is designed somewhat as a vehicle for the player to explore and enjoy the combat system, it's quite focused.

For what it's worth, it looks like it's going to be extremely immersive partially because of that focus.

[Paul Jeffries]

This looks great.  It would be interesting to see what the characters look like with shading, but I do really like the flat look you have at the moment.  The key thing is that they read well as the things that they are meant to represent, which they do.

[nihilocrat]

Got some playtesting in at the Mount Royal Game Society meetup tonight!

That's the infamous FrankieSmileShow in the center!

[nihilocrat]

New enemy, along with major AI bugfixes. Only few things left on the list (for now).

There are a few somewhat major features I haven't yet decided on (charge attacks for "light" swords, the red ones), a few AI features I need to implement (giving certain enemies a variety of special attacks) and about 10-20 minor polish items on the list I need to get through. Work is getting busy so the release may need to slip to mid-July, especially if I want more playtesting. Good news is, I see no reason why I can't make that target.

[jibowski]

YaY! this game looks F-U-N !
good luck, can't wait to play that game!

[nihilocrat]

No real flashy updates to show, just because I've been concentrating on bugfixing and fleshing out features that already exist. I will probably make another video soon, maybe even a fancy trailer-looking one where there's music and quick cuts.

[Delicious]

Looks great.

Do the enemies say "RAPE!" as they attack him?

[nihilocrat]

Uhhhhhh... no.

[laserfire]

Looks like fantastically frantic fun for friends!

I will be keeping an eye out!