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[The_Observer]

Hey guys!
You might know me from 42 Stories, a game that I developed with some friends. More news about that in the thread there soon.

Since then I've been working with an artist from that team and another artist(which makes us a great team of 3) to get some new developments going.
We have all sorts of plans ready, but for now we decided to start with making some prototypes to get a feel of each other and test several mechanics. We'll be posting about them here.

I'll update this post with our latest news or you can always scroll down to find everything.

Our last update: Global Game Jam 15!

As many of you may know, last weekend the Global Game Jam happened!
We joined at the Antwerp location which is quite close to our hometown.

The theme was 'What do we do now?' and we decided to make an introverted Metroidvania. Which means that you start with all your abilities at the start of the game, but at the end of every level you have to give up 2 abilities. After which you have to start deciding how you're going to compensate those missing abilities next.
Ultimately we got 2nd place with the game.

You can find the Global Game Jam-page here and download Darwina, the game here.

Here are some screenshots of Darwina.

Questions, comments and all are very much welcome!

[The_Observer]

The first one which is nearing 'completion' is Super Smuggle Thugs, yes you heard that right, it's

Everything's obviously subject to change but the game's best described as a roguelike cyberpunk GTA(like the first 2D ones).
In the game you're a smuggler(think Han Solo, Mal Reynolds) that has to get and complete different missions.
Our big influences are the 80's and obviously cyberpunk. Movies like Blade Runner, Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy are also a big influence.
And gameplay-wise we're influenced by games like

,

,

, Shadowrun Returns or Nuclear Throne.

We're still fleshing out the gameplay, so expect more news about that soon. For now, enjoy some concept art while I slave on the coding!

A mock-up of a player character:


Some concepts for enemies:



And finally some mock-ups where we're looking for a graphic style, the last one being what it's going to be:

Some screenshots of the project this far, first two of a test level with minimal art:

Now most of the art is done, and I'm creating a full level, this is where I'm at right now:

We didn't add any lighting so it unfortunately makes it look all a bit too flat, I think.
I'll be posting more as I'm adding more to the level!

[The_Observer]

Hey guys! Last weekend we joined in with Ludum Dare once again to do, as we call it a Pajama Llama Jam!

The theme was entire game on one screen which we really liked. At first we were going to do a game where you play a toilet lady at a bar not unlike the Star Wars cantina. But instead we went for a game where you play several stereotypical cops that need to interrogate some suspects.
Although we didn't get the gameplay as we wanted it due to time constraints and just not enough design (but that's something we might work on), we're very happy with the result.
You can play it here. You can choose which cop you control and every cop has a specific strength or weakness to a different kind of crook. It is for you to find out who with who. The personalities of the crooks are random though, so it changes every playthrough. Have fun!

[EdFarage]

i love your art design, im just a little confused, are you gonna keep going with the vector art, or switch it to pixel art?
I personally think that the vector design looks awesome

[The_Observer]

Hey Nelphion! Thanks for the comment. Our artists are actually very versatile and like to try different things, for example one of them hadn't made a pixel art game before and as such this was an excellent opportunity to get a go at some pixel art.

Also it's hard and restraining to stick to the same art style for long projects. That's why we like to change things up in between projects. It keeps our knowledge and experiences fresh to carry on and improve ourselves. So expect to see more different styles but also don't think we won't ever come back to something like the first vectorlike art or this pixel art.

[The_Observer]

Hey guys! Thought I'd give you an update on things.

First this, currently we're working on a very exciting, but bigger project. It's another prototype that we tried and one that we liked so much that we're still working on it! We'll update you with more news when we're ready for it. But that won't be too long.

Secondly and more importantly now, we placed 1st in the graphics category(jam) from Ludum Dare with Filthy & Guilty!
Again, you can find our jam-game here and find all the results from the Ludum Dare participants here as well.
As said before, sadly the gameplay isn't as good as the graphics are, but that's something we might work on later.

[The_Observer]

As many of you may know, last weekend the Global Game Jam happened!
We joined at the Antwerp location which is quite close to our hometown.

The theme was 'What do we do now?' and we decided to make an introverted Metroidvania. Which means that you start with all your abilities at the start of the game, but at the end of every level you have to give up 2 abilities. After which you have to start deciding how you're going to compensate those missing abilities next.
Ultimately we got 2nd place with the game.

You can find the Global Game Jam-page here and download Darwina, the game here.

Here are some screenshots of Darwina.