Hey everyone. I've been a casual user and frequent lurker for over a year now, and decided it's finally time to make my own devlog. In this first post I'll sort of try and play catch up and get you guys up to speed on some of what I've done, and in the coming weeks and months I'll use the thread to share new developments and hopefully get useful feedback.
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GHOST SONGedit:
new gameplay video --
First gameplay video (this is worth 10,000 words in terms of explaining the game)
Second gameplay video (you can see many refinements here, particularly with the camera, compared to the first video)
Twitter (I often barf up little tidbits and random thoughts as I develop the game)
Stencyl (This is the game creation software I'm using to make the game)
Ghost Song home page--
Ghost Song is a 2D 'vania that is -- yes -- Inspired by Dark Souls and Metroid. I realize how tired that may sound by this point, but when I first conceived of the game it wasn't something I had heard much, so hopefully you'll all cut me some slack.
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The game was
successfully kickstarted last summer. The original prototype, the one shown in the Kickstarter pitch, was a flash game made in Stencyl. The plan at that time was to make the new version in Unity. We had a Unity build going, but I ultimately ended up going back to Stencyl, because I was already up to speed and craved more independence. The new Stencyl version is NOT a flash game, it's a full windows application with full gamepad support.
While I have help with some things around the margins, I am currently primarily developing the game on my own -- Design, story, art, and programming in Stencyl. I am managing the budget conservatively, and if it becomes safe to do so, I may hire an artist to help me finish the game faster. This remains on my mind.
A couple months ago I released the first new gameplay video of the game, that I feel demonstrates well what the game is all about. A lot of progress and tweaks have been made since then, and I do plan to release a new gameplay walkthrough video in the near future, followed by a beta demo build for backers of the game.
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The Game--
I have very old school design sensibilities. I long for a game that feels large and almost indifferent to your presence. Some design choices are purposefully obtuse, others are completely natural. The story delivery and pacing is very reminiscent of Dark Souls (which is one of my favorite games). The world is also sparsely populated with characters. Some of who are relevant to your plight, others more concerned with plights of their own.
Story telling and teaching the player to play are both approached in a very minimal, ambient fashion. As the game begins, the player will know very little about what's going on, and the hope is that the story unfolds through game events, characters, and clues that enable the player to gradually put together a picture -- A picture of not only what the story is, but who they actually are.
The game takes place in an open world, with a "diamond" style gameplay structure. You must do a number of things, which can be done in different orders, and once those things are done, access to the "late game" area is unlocked.
Combat is fairly fast and high stakes. The attacks and projectiles of enemies are faster moving than in most games, and this is counterbalanced by the player's own high mobility and evasive moves. As you might expect, over the course of the game the player acquires new moves and abilities, as well as levels up and improves their general strength.
The map system is something of a compromise between the mystery and authenticity of a no-map game, and the convenience of a full GPS style map game. You can bring up a map that shows your relative position on the screen by way of an icon, and actual rooms and corridors are only displayed on the map if you have acquired a fragment that contains them. Even if you find every fragment, however, much of the game still takes place "off map". The map that is there is mostly meant as a point of reference, and a way to provide contrast and additional tension for when you go "off map".
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Media--
Click for high resolution .webm
Click for higher resolution .webm
Click for higher resolution .webm
Click for higher resolution .webm
"Little Blue"
Gili
Rook--
Additional .webm video clips1:
http://gfycat.com/IckyUniformFairybluebird2:
http://gfycat.com/BlondInconsequentialApatosaur3:
http://gfycat.com/HandyGrippingAquaticleech--
Thanks for checking it out. In this thread, all feedback, questions, and crits are welcome. More soon!
Community
