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[jakegreer1992]

Jatzey RPG is a project under development from Voltic Games (voltic.com.au). I am overseeing pretty much all aspects of the project, and viva/volt has helped with alot of the Lua Scripting infrastructure/ implementation. There are also additional team members assisting with the dialogue/script and composing the music and sound effects.

In Jatzey RPG you can switch between 4 different characters: Jatzey, Jamie, Dougie and Dragin. Each has their own unique abilities that can be acquired throughout the game in order to solve puzzles/ scenarios to collect these things:

6 of which are hidden in each level of the game - earned upon completing a variety of missions.

After a history of working with in a retro 16-bit graphical style. This is my first time creating a game in HD with a crisp, cartoony art-style.

What we hope to feature:
-8 Worlds each with 6 Jewel Fragments to collect (total 48)
-Open non-linear structure, with a sense of exploration.
-Inspired by Banjo-Kazooie in terms of structure and humor, Zelda: ALttP in terms of puzzle design and game-play and the Mario RPG series in terms of turn-based battling (which is a planned feature).
-A humorous script, with memorable characters and alot of dry sarcasm.
-Something both modern and nostalgic.



I will try and update this section as much as I can, since I am a little bit into development I will showcase some elements of the game in posts following this one. I hope you are interested!

[jakegreer1992]

As I mentioned before, the art style is very cartoony and we hope to have quite a humorous script. As all the graphics are created with Vector-art, I have decided on a very bright, colorful art-style that almost resembles a comic strip. This is most notable in the Pause Menu Screen:





This art style is in stark contrast to the darker, moodier art style of Voltic's other current project, Proof.

[jakegreer1992]

Time to meet the actual characters. First up is the titular character, Jatzey. He is a currently wizard, recently graduated from Dogwarts School with a degree in Basic Magic. He spends most of his time lazing about, as career prospects of such a degree are limited to Party Magicians. But what can he do?

Well first and foremost he can cast high-impact energy spells that can be used for all sorts of things. Like destroying this boulder!

However, if you hold down the spell button, the spell slows down and can be directed in the direction he pleases, and even collect certain objects and transport them around the area.

He can also turn invisible. Which allows you to walk past certain things undetected: like lasers, searchlights, enemies and more.

And he can also spawn "Ghost Jatzey" which he can warp in his portal at any time to swap positions with, to and from any levels in the game.

[jakegreer1992]

Jamie is an energetic tomboy who is a little impatient, sarcastic and hot-headed but also a good friend of Jatzey's.

When playing as her you can:

Spin! No, really. This seemingly simple attack is useful for, well spinning things. Such as this lever here. Crash Bandicoot anyone?

Jamie also has an endless supply of pre-lit TNT stick ready to toss at any time. Handy.

But the Laser Grapple Gun might be her best ability of all!

[jakegreer1992]

Dougie the dimwitted dog is used to the mansion life as his Grandfather is founder of an incredibly successful dog treat business called "Snackos". Dougie is the butt of all jokes from his friends but they honestly do like him.


Dougie is a confident swimmer and isn't too shy to jump in a body of water.

He can also tunnel underground from dirt-patch to dirt-patch.

Previously, we had Dougie's third ability being able to push certain objects across the ground, but we felt this was too generic and boring and shall incorporate it into all the characters as a passive action/behaviour. When Dougie's replacement ability - a shockwave causing head-slam that causes certain electrical equipment to falter and enemies to become stunned, making them easily avoided, I will post a screen capture of it.

[jakegreer1992]

Finally, Dragin the dragon-thing is the fourth playable character. He is a little bit of an oddball, both in personality and the fact that he is the only one that isn't a dog. But, that plays to his advantage as he can do many dragony things!

Like breathe fire! If you also notice, he is hovering over the gap in the broken bridge and can easily fly from one side to another, where the others cannot. The same applies for dangerous terrain preventing progress from Jatzey, Jamie and Dougie - he can just fly over safely.

Not to mention that superior flying speed that is sure to make travelling long distances that much quicker!

This game is HD, and these screenshots are not, but you can view the images in full resolution here: http://jakegreer.imgur.com

[jakegreer1992]

Two small features today. First up is Dougie's third overworld ability - head slam! This ability can be used to break open cracked surfaces and causes a shockwave that can disrupt electrical equipment.


And you may (or may not) be wondering how you change between characters? Blue pads are found around the levels and you can hold down the action button to select a different character to play as. You can also quickly cycle between them all by simply tapping the action key.

[jakegreer1992]

Tonight's effort - the Canine Hills Ice Cream Shop. Judge not - for all the background art assets will go through a second pass touch-up during post-production.

[jakegreer1992]

Tonight's artwork is of the Farmyard in Canine Hills.

[jakegreer1992]

Some concept art for a mission in the game.