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[MECH6]

Awesome, as always. Lots of cute details and things. I love the look of the lock-picking stuff that pops up too.

[Rebusmind]

Wow, amazing sprite work. Will definitely follow this game.

[jO]

  That gameplay gif
This is shaping up soooo nice, I'm really looking forward to it!

[increment]

Ha ha... I love it, he steals the money on the dresser then steals the dresser.  This looks really great.

[ericmbernier]

Love the gameplay. How will mission objectives go? Steam $X worth of stuff without getting caught?

[Zaxuhe]

Love that "lasers" are revealed with smoke, that's a nice feature!

[Konidias]

Love the gameplay. How will mission objectives go? Steam $X worth of stuff without getting caught?

Yes, this is essentially how most of the mission objectives work.

I'm on the fence about adding in some side quest stuff like stealing specific items for people or something. But that's to be decided later in development.

[TurboGun]

This is looking rad! And awesome title screen!

I'm on the fence about adding in some side quest stuff like stealing specific items for people or something. But that's to be decided later in development.

Sounds like it could add a lot of depth (but also dev time), and could be really be cool.

Have you thought of giving bonuses for stealing sets of items (like an entire dinner set, or entertainment system with speakers, etc)?

[Konidias]

This is looking rad! And awesome title screen!

Sounds like it could add a lot of depth (but also dev time), and could be really be cool.

Have you thought of giving bonuses for stealing sets of items (like an entire dinner set, or entertainment system with speakers, etc)?

Thanks! Actually I think the side missions thing wouldn't be TOO much of a time sink, but I guess I'll find out if I come to it.

Bonuses for stealing sets is a great idea. I'm not sure how I'd work it into the current system, but it's totally possible. Thanks for the nifty idea!


I've been working hard on adding all the prison tileset and finally got the first draft of the prison area finished!

A little sneak peek...


When you get caught, you get sent to a random prison cell. Each cell will have a different trick required for breaking out.

[Konidias]

I've been tinkering with the idea of "permadeath" in the game... though I'm not sure how well that would go over.

Like when you get caught, you'll currently get sent to a random prison cell, and each cell has a trick to let you break out... However, should I just keep recycling the tricks and letting people out, or should each trick only be used once, and when you run out of tricks, you're just stuck in prison and it's game over?

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

I'm kind of keen on the "game over" idea but I don't know if that will be frustrating for people who get caught a lot. Though I'm not even sure at this point if it will be that easy to get caught.

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

I've been tinkering with the idea of "permadeath" in the game... though I'm not sure how well that would go over.

Like when you get caught, you'll currently get sent to a random prison cell, and each cell has a trick to let you break out... However, should I just keep recycling the tricks and letting people out, or should each trick only be used once, and when you run out of tricks, you're just stuck in prison and it's game over?

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

I'm kind of keen on the "game over" idea but I don't know if that will be frustrating for people who get caught a lot. Though I'm not even sure at this point if it will be that easy to get caught.

Well, speaking as an avid roguelike player, I think that sounds like a nice idea. It's kinder than most permadeath games as you say you'll have multiple tricks/escape mechanisms, but still really ramps up the tension as thing goes on. Besides, if the tricks just repeat, prison isn't really an issue, unless there's some other punishment that goes with them. Or, maybe if you have a database of 10 different jails, maybe each game only 3 or 4 of them generate, so you'll have a different set to escape from each time?

[Konidias]

Yeah that's kind of why I felt like the "permadeath" thing was a good solution because just getting caught once isn't a "game over" so to speak, since you'll be able to break out of prison. But as you said, if you can always break out, then there isn't really a punishment for getting caught.

Right now I've come up with 5 ways to break out. I suppose once the game is nearly finished I can tweak the number of jailbreak possibilities to a fair amount.

[agersant]

I love this devlog. Keep up the good work!

[TurboGun]

The permadeath idea sounds cool, but it'll need to be clear to the player that once they break out of a cell, they can no longer be detained in that one (maybe putting police tape across used ones, or something of that nature?). It actually kind of makes sense, it's sort of like the 3 strike rule, in that your sentence/security level is increased each time you get caught because of previous charges.

Would there be ways of gaining a cell back (essentially, gain an extra life)?

[eobet]

The theme with no black outline along the bottom of objects is amazing.

[Konidias]

The permadeath idea sounds cool, but it'll need to be clear to the player that once they break out of a cell, they can no longer be detained in that one (maybe putting police tape across used ones, or something of that nature?). It actually kind of makes sense, it's sort of like the 3 strike rule, in that your sentence/security level is increased each time you get caught because of previous charges.

Would there be ways of gaining a cell back (essentially, gain an extra life)?

Yeah that could be a cool solution. There's a similar system in place for looting homes. Essentially once you rob a place, you can't go right back in and rob it again. But after some time you get a chance to rob the same house except now the house has additional security in place.

I could find a way to inform the player in the game that they only get so many breakouts before it's game over.

On a side note, I was working a bit on some exterior levels and I wanted to share some lovely photos of our hero doing some stretching and pondering.



Don't mind the harsh dark gradient... I'm experimenting with stuff. :p

[R.D.]

I totally dig the art style. Reminds of a Zelda/Mario & Luigi RPG mix.

[oodavid]

Steal my money!

[DarkWanderer]

How open world is this game gonna be? For some reason I'm getting Mother 3 vibes from this. I hope the environments aren't too self contained, it'd be cool to have a biggish town we could roam around to loot whichever houses we desire. 

The first page says this is gonna be kinda like ALttP, so I take it there will be a bit of a free roam element then?
By the way I've had my eyes on this for a while, really nice aesthetics man

[Konidias]

The art style definitely has some Mother 3 influences for sure.

Right now, the exploration is set up a lot like Super Mario World. Where you unlock new areas/split paths as you go along. There is an entire town to roam though! There will be parks, shops, banks, an art museum, and some other locations to check out.

Oh and thanks! Glad you're liking it so far.