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[TRONMAXIMUM]

Hellooooo everybody! I'd like to show off something I've been working on for the past couple months.



NAVIGATOR is a puzzle game being designed for the PC, with the XBOX 360, Windows Phone 7, and the iPhone for later release. The gameplay can be compared to a cross between an upside-down Bust-a-Move with elements from Tetris Plus, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, and Puyo Pop/Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. It is also the first game to reach playable beta by my developer "group", PixelxCore Independent Gaming.

The goal of the game is to keep your player character on your playing field safe from harm. You do this by keeping your game field as low as possible so he doesn't get squished by the ceiling-- this is done by shooting colored blocks at the field of colored blocks under the player character and matching up colors.

NAVIGATOR uses a dual-style control format, as you control both the player character and the “cannon” object that fires blocks down onto the screen. There are also cooperative and competitive options.

There are 4 confirmed gameplay modes: Endless Mode (a neverending wave of blocks as you see how long your player can survive), Competitive Mode (2-4 players play against each other to make the other player's character die first), Puzzle Mode (predetermined fields that must be solved by navigating your player character to a goal, as the roof slowly falls), and Puzzle Challenge (a twist on Puzzle mode that adds additional rules to each puzzle for further difficulty).


GET THE BETA HERE! (updated 6/9/2011)

PLEASE REMEMBER TO READ THE README EXTENSIVELY BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO PLAY. OTHERWISE, IT IS LIKELY THAT YOU WILL ENCOUNTER GAME CRASHES.

The beta version of Navigator only includes Endless mode.


MISCELLANEOUS SCREENSHOTS:
http://i.imgur.com/3zsD4.png
http://i.imgur.com/s8OAa.png


NAVIGATOR - Starter's Guide (LARGE IMAGE WARNING!)
[The Starter's Guide is also included in the beta, in a non-JPG format.]

NAVIGATOR OST - Decision (Main Menu)





Navigator runs at a 960x640 resolution. If your PC cannot run a game of this resolution (for some reason), you may have trouble playing the game.

[TRONMAXIMUM]

If you haven't played the beta yet but you still wanna see it in action, this video should hold you over for now.





Give it a look, and don't be afraid to try the game! More abilities will be added for Nav later, the gameplay is pretty barebones right now.

[psy_wombats]

Hm, I'll admit I didn't spend much time on the game, but some initial stuff:

 - The control scheme seems very arbitrary. Mouse+keyboard is always hard, but as I play on a laptop, the hand positioning ended up with one hand moving the cannon, and the other clicking/moving
 - Maybe some sort of combo/introduction in the game itself would be possible? From Puyo Puyo experience, everything seems sort of pointless without the other player
 - The idea of a 2v2 battle seems really interesting, though I guess some sort of an online matchup system is out of the scope. Otherwise it would kind of hard to get four people together.

[TRONMAXIMUM]

Controls are still a prototype, we're gonna be looking into setting up at least three different control methods. I didn't even look into a more comfortable format for laptop players, even though I'm on a laptop (because I use a USB mouse ).

As for the last 2, an introduction and an idea of how online'll work is actually in the Navigator Starter's Guide-- but there will definitely be a tutorial mode in the final game.

Thanks for the comments, though, we appreciate it!

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

this is unrelated to this thread, but is your name 'alpha six' related to my game 'alphasix'?

http://studioeres.com/games/alphasix

or is it just a weird coincidence?

[TRONMAXIMUM]

That's DEFINITELY a coincidence, lol. Great minds think alike, right?

[TRONMAXIMUM]

Hey guys, little update.

The high score system is now fully operational. Right now it's limited to 5 ranks per difficulty. Rank is determined by score, time, and size of combo. You can even input a personal name for your high score.

One of Nav's new abilities is the Power Climb. It has been implemented into the game and it handles great. The formerly-unused W key is used to climb on top of blocks.

The second ability, the Nav Leap will be added in a couple days, it needs graphics right now which I'll be doing on Monday.

The crosshair now changes color based on the color that's loaded into the cannon.

The new beta will bring upon one new level for Endless Mode-- complete with its own theme and field structure.


The new beta will be releasing by next week or the week after.

Also, for those of you who haven't/can't play it, here's a gameplay video or the v1.0 beta (the current version).

[TRONMAXIMUM]

The new beta of Navigator (v1.1) is now available to download.

Please read the readme, as it contains a changelog and, for people that haven't played this yet, instructions on starting up the game properly.

Download it here!

[TRONMAXIMUM]

Hey guys, little update.

Our programmer's been busy with housework and such the past week or two, but sometime next week progress will continue on its regular path.

The current stage of development will have us tackling the Competitive Mode of this game. I'm looking forward to showing it off once we've got it working!

Be sure to check this topic out as well if you haven't already.

And of course, don't be afraid to head to Navigator's game page, grab the promotional banner BBCode, and paste it in your signatures everywhere you go. The extra publicity really wouldn't hurt, because we really want this game to be a success and we want everybody to play it.

[TRONMAXIMUM]

New songs posted on the PxC YouTube.








Give 'em a listen. Gear Shuffle is in the current beta, Tuned In is brand new.

[TRONMAXIMUM]

Hey guys, just a notification that Navigator is now available on both ModDB and IndieDB (in case you didn't catch the news post). The download has just been recently approved, so it is now available for everybody to download off said websites.

Also, some good news and bad news.

The good news is that Navigator development is resuming some time within the next week. Maarten is catching up on his work and such. Hopefully it shouldn't be much longer.

The bad news is that due to time constraints, we will not be able to release the RTM version of Navigator with online play. It is a huge shame to me personally, as I was looking very forward to being able to release the game with the ability for everyone to be able to challenge each other online once they felt they got a good enough grasp on the game. Johan is unable to work in online play in Maarten's code, and Raz is currently in the progress of setting up a deal with a few companies to get some new servers (one of which our online games would be hosted on!).

However, don't count this bad news as "Navigator will never have online play." Navigator will absolutely have online play, as I have developed many parts of this game with the idea that online play will be included. Since the Internet is available to us like it is, we have the opportunity of making patches and expansions for the game-- something we will be taking full advantage of during Navigator's lifespan.

We will be progressively adding in lots of new features and modes to Navigator, including online competition modes (and a lobby system, global/local rankings, etc). And these expansions to this game will be 100% free.

We plan on Navigator being a very long-lasting game, not just because of progressive add-ons, but from solid, fun, addicting gameplay. So if you haven't gotten a chance to experience Navigator yet, you can download it from here and from the IndieDB link!


http://www.indiedb.com/games/navigator

[TRONMAXIMUM]

Navigator is now officially slated for October 22, 2011 as a final release date!


Navigator will be distributed digitally via Desura's distribution platform, and it will ship worldwide.

We are also going to update Navigator with new free content as often as we can.


Be sure to keep an eye out, visit the IndieDB page, link to friends, etc-- we need all the support we can get to really make this project shine.

[TRONMAXIMUM]

I'm starting to think that nobody here cares.


Anyway, the Navigator OST is now available to download. Eight tracks, name-your-own-price, all themes in the game.

If you wish to pay, that would be appreciated-- it'll only help in the end!



Updates regarding the Competitive Mode are coming very soon.

[ithamore]

The beta version is a good start.

I have played it several times and eventually discovered it was better for me to focus much more on keeping Nav alive than trying to build combos. So, it's almost like playing an anti-puzzle game except for the fact that there is the challenge of trying to survive while going for combos. Having an AI or a player to compete against certainly would improve upon the experience.

Also, if Nav had more abilities (being able to push stacks of blocks, picking up and throwing blocks, destroying blocks...), he would be much more useful. As for now, I don't use him.

I hope the gameplay gets some improvements for the single player experience, since I do like to play new puzzle games occasionally. 

[TRONMAXIMUM]

Thanks for the comment!

And now for some really good news;

You can now pre-order Navigator on Desura! 10% off until October 1st, and preordering gets you early access to the "pre-order beta"!