[Update:]

Update: Kickstarter IS NOW FUNDED! Stretch goal time! -- New GIF's from the latest update.

I backed this on Kickstarter, impressive Imgur showing in the last few days my friend!

Hah! I literally just saw you post your project on here and commented. Great art style in your game, I really dig it.

Thanks RE: Kickstarter/Imgur. Luckily the game was supported by my fellow Imgurians... I just had no idea it would blow up on there like that. Surprised the hell out of me.

[It looks awesome!]

I'm really loving the Artwork here. (Also a big +1 for having a Red Panda in your game!!)
Saw you on Indie DB previously. Lots of games these days are using pixel based sprites, but you've opted for something hand drawn. Almost like it came out of a story book. It looks awesome!

I'm curious, how involved is the process for creating these art assets? Why did you choose this style? I can imagine the animations alone taking quite a bit of time to create.

Looks great, keep it up!

I'm just glad to see more top down shooters. Line of sight is tricky, not only to program but to get used to as a players for top down.

Yea I hear ya! I thought it would be an interesting platform to put a neat spin on.

I'm glad this is on kickstarter. I'm a huge fan of this top down style as proof I'm just ganna leave this tech demo from 2011 right here. Perhaps you have seen it? lol

http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=519483&hl=

Nice! I've never seen that! Though back in 2011 I was probably off rebuilding a windows server up in northern Canada somewhere.

Originally Noct rotated the camera with the player, which made it more like an FPS shooter, but I opted for a Hotline Miami style control system to better support gamepads. I use a similar Line of sight system for environment and enemies. Though, nobody seems to care about any of that... even though bringing it all together for multiplayer was a PITA.

The monsters are awesomely creepy! Great look and feel to this. Are those 2D animations or 3D rendered from above? I'm curious about how you created them if you don't mind explaining the process.

Hi Spacejack,

Thank you for your feedback!
The Animations are done in 3D, however it is completely rendered in 2D within Unity. Every section of the monster/character is a 2D pixel art sprite, which are then linked together to build the body/skeleton of the entity. At which point I animate everything using Mecanim.

Bit of an odd process, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result.

What's the benefit of this over rendering the whole thing in 3D?

I would say better perspective and depth control. Pretty much the same reasons as to why some would prefer a 2d platformer vs a 3d platformer.

The monsters are awesomely creepy! Great look and feel to this. Are those 2D animations or 3D rendered from above? I'm curious about how you created them if you don't mind explaining the process.

Hi Spacejack,

Thank you for your feedback!
The Animations are done in 3D, however it is completely rendered in 2D within Unity. Every section of the monster/character is a 2D pixel art sprite, which are then linked together to build the body/skeleton of the entity. At which point I animate everything using Mecanim.

Bit of an odd process, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result.

Thanks guys.

Yea I'm not really sure why the kickstarter is having such a difficult time. Seems like if you don't get featured or staff picked, or written about on rock paper shotgun (etc) then you're gonna have a bad time.

It could very well be that the game is just not visually appealing enough to get traction. Oh well!

Cheers for the feedback!

[Update:]

Update: Kickstarter is at 15% funded, little slow to start but we're getting there! New monster update. "The Wyrm"

[Kickstarter!]

Happy to report that Noct is now on Kickstarter!

Oh, man. Why?

But really, that looks great. Extremely creepy.

Well, I figured if players are going to be exploring the world of Noct, this desolate wasteland of our civilization taken over by monstrous creatures.. What would be some of the worst things you could imagine running into while exploring ruined towns and cities? I think my only gripe about the spider is that it's that.. a spider, not really quite as original as I would like... but definitely brings a new level of shiver to the table while playing.

My musician has been working hard on some new stuff for the Kickstarter... creepy as hell.

[Currently being tested]

Currently being tested is a new monster recently added to the game. This one obviously has a bit of a twist and is partially full of "nope". The idea for this monster came from the Matryoshka Doll or "Russian Doll" The concept being that if you keep cracking open the rear abdomen of the monster and its subsequent minions, you will continue to have to deal with smaller versions of itself. I thought this would bring a unique challenge to players in Noct, as well as a somewhat familiar and creepy creature.

This one functions as a "Russian Doll" system, or "Matryoshka Doll" where smaller spawns of itself are encased in the rear abdomen. As such, if players keep breaking the rear abdomen....

... you get "nope".

Looks cool, but I wonder how my body would deal with a game that looks like this for long periods of time.  IE: I wonder if it'll strain my eyes. 

I can actually see it being quite easy on the eyes - Lots of grays and very little sudden contrast between black and white.

Anyhow, this looks great! If I were you, though, I might consider changing the name of the topic. Even though it says "Not just another zombie game," the mere presence of the words "zombie" and "game" made me skip this topic entirely for the first few days it was up. Obviously I checked it out and I'm glad I did (amazing art style!), but still, it could deter other people like myself who are, put lightly, a little tired of the zombie craze.

That gif with the giant monster is... shocking. It loops at the perfect time, too, right as it makes a grab for the character. The suddenness of that motion has a sickening kind of realism to it. Well done.

Thanks! That's some good advice, I'll change it to something more fitting. RE: Monster. Definitely the payoff of painful animation... which only gets more painful depending on how many active limbs each creature has. It will be all be worth it, if you creep yourself out trying to play your own game, I guess you're doing something right.

I really like the evolving backgrounds you have going on here. Especially the Dantès Story one. The gameplay seems pretty solid and there is quite a bit of fluid motion on the screen considering the game mechanics. Good work!

Looks cool, but I wonder how my body would deal with a game that looks like this for long periods of time.  IE: I wonder if it'll strain my eyes. 

Only one way to find out! Game design wise, it has more casual play support. I don't want players to have to feel like they are required to stay in the game world for intense long hours of play. Item collection/scavenging is addictive enough as it is, especially in multiplayer environments. Once alpha starts, one of the things I'll be looking at are options for players to alleviate any eye strain, without ruining the mood of the games visuals. One of these options is to have more modes than just black and white FLIR.

It's a strange look, kinda like combining overhead Contra with Cloverfield. I kinda like it. Keep it up.

I have to admit, Cloverfield was never one of my inspirations for this game... but I did like the film. Contra on the other hand, man I loved Contra... in all forms! Thanks!

Love the art direction for NOCT - white on black fits the original gifs rather well...

That's awesome! Do you have a link handy to your game? I need to see this!

Here's the Molecule Match Devlog, and this is a sample of the 666 score

Thanks! I think so too, Noct it is! (Anything at this point is better than Zombz, heh)
Nice match game, nice and clean. Congratulations on it's release!

Your game reminded me something I played earlyer and I finally remembered the name : Zombie Gunship

It look very similar.

Sadly I never played Zombie Gunship, but I do remember a friend playing it. If I recall it's a mobile rail shooter/defence game (he was playing it on an ipad at the time) where you shoot zombies attempting to reach a survivors hideout from a c-130 gunship. Fun stuff, reminded me of Modern Warfares thermal mission from back in the day.

Love the concept. The animations are gorgeous!

[Ok. So, name change is happening.]

Ok. So, name change is happening. I ran "Iniquitous" past some of my buddies, and the general feed back was "Cool but maybe too long" Also "related to sin" which I don't think I can really work into this title. So I brainstormed a few names.. I really like short names, the shorter the better. They are typically easier to remember and you can get away with printing it certain ways. I came up with these two logos, since the game is sorta high contrast art, and has horrific monsters in it roaming around. I figured the logo should always have a similar impact.

I've always wanted to do some game box art, and the Kickstarter might be my chance to do some... so I'm having pre-visions of a small black (or white) game box on someones table with this logo etched into the front of it Thoughts? It's late so I could be rolling a donut on this one. Lemmie know! Feedback is always appreciated!

Yeah, namewise it's OK for a codename, but definitely detracts from the quality of your gifs!

Iniquitous - grossly unfair and morally wrong. ?

Oh, I really like that! It kinda rolls off the tongue. Definitely a fancy Latin word for "Wicked and evil stuff"

Awesome! I have a bunch of words like that in my game, they appear on-screen if you ever score 666 points (which I noticed happens reasonably frequently)

That's awesome! Do you have a link handy to your game? I need to see this!

[Iniquitous]

Yeah, namewise it's OK for a codename, but definitely detracts from the quality of your gifs!

Iniquitous - grossly unfair and morally wrong. ?

Oh, I really like that! It kinda rolls off the tongue. Definitely a fancy Latin word for "Wicked and evil stuff"

Love the look of the thermal camera and that boss looks creepy cool! Just voted for you on greenlight! Definitely following.

(Oh and yeah, that name needs changing)

Thank you so much for the vote. Needs all the help it can get!

As others said, looks great.

Should zombies show on thermal?

The name needs changing.

Thanks, depends on the Zombie really. There are different "classes" of the undead in this game, which vary in their ability to show up on thermal. I think you are right with a name change, and it should happen sooner than later, especially since the game features large monstrous evils which have greater nefarious intelligence compared to your average everyday shambling zombie.

I'll give it some thought