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[maxl]

Update:
Aaaaaand it's done!!!! 

Rifter is OUT NOW on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux: https://store.steampowered.com/app/625740/Rifter/

Watch the release trailer:





Thank you all for reading this devlog, even when I started badly neglecting it towards the end... 

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I've been working on a new game that will revolve around the mechanic of hookshots/rope swings and dashes. It's called Rifter!  







If you're familiar with the Ninja Rope from Worms, you should feel right at home!  

In addition to hooking yourself to get to places, you will also be able to hook your friends in both local and online multiplayer matches! :D I'm very early in development, but I want to experiment with both co-op and competitive aspects, maybe even mix them (for example, 2 v 2s).

I'm planning to keep this dev log updated... I promise!  

[maxl]

I finally switched to a proper 3D rendering pipeline, instead of relying on LibGDX's primitive drawing functions. To make myself more productive, I implemented live shader reloading, so I can immediately see the mess I create in shader code.  

Here is it in action: https://twitter.com/IMakeGames_/status/678647662003027969

edit: also, shotguns! https://twitter.com/IMakeGames_/status/676173969851097092

[maxl]

I have/had a really hard time getting a good control scheme going for both controller and mouse+keyboard. I don't really want to force players too much into a direction and try to balance the two, making sure you're able to do the same maneuvers with both input methods. For the longest time, I thought going with two analog sticks was the right move for gamepads (one for aiming, one for movement). That made the game control very much like a twin-stick shooter. But then I needed all four additional shoulder triggers (for shooting the rope and gun, as well as extending/shortening the rope), which was rather awkward. Not sure about you, but pressing both triggers on one side at the same time felt awful to me. The "normal" buttons are out of reach anyway with your thumbs on both sticks. Using the vertical axis of the left stick for controlling the rope length felt strange as well.

And now, it finally dawned on me that using the left analog stick in itself is the problem. I completely forgot that I could also be using the D-pad for movement! Now I can use D-Pad up/down for rope-movement, D-Pad left/right for normal movement, the two shoulder buttons for shooting (only one on either side) and the right analog stick for aiming. As an additional bonus, the game now plays much more similar with a mouse+keyboard as well. Pfew! 

[maxl]

Trying to figure out where the skill ceiling might lie. This test might become one of the harder challenges:

[maxl]

If multiple people play on the same screen, the player characters (which I started working on) become TINY!



I like tiny people! 

[maxl]

I'm experimenting with bold outlines and parallax effects. I feel like I need to advance the art front of the game so I get a better feeling for the whole experience while playing.



How does that look?

[maxl]

I'm experimenting with mechanics that allow players to help each other out better. Currently playing with a drone that you can deploy and can be hooked onto by the other player:

[maxl]

My experimentations with the artstyle continue. I'm really digging glowing particles against dark backgrounds, so this is what I came up with:

[maxl]

Switch to 3D, they said. It's gonna be easy, they said:



A case of garbage in the depth buffer.

Shaders are still a part of gamedev where I feel like a child. Most of the time I've no idea what I'm doing but some outcomes are quite cool:

[maxl]

With a 3D rendering pipeline in place, I can finally start doing parallax scrolling stuff:

[maxl]

Implemented background blur and better lighting. But I STILL cant decide whether I want darker backgrounds and bright outlines or vice versa. 

 

[FK in the Coffee]

How has no one commented on this yet? This looks like a ton of fun, and I'm always looking for new local multiplayer games, so I'll definitely be following!

[maxl]

How has no one commented on this yet? This looks like a ton of fun, and I'm always looking for new local multiplayer games, so I'll definitely be following!

Thanks a lot!  

[Pixel Noise]

Wow yeah, was just thinking the same thing. I definitely think you're on the right track with how you've re-arranged the control schemes. And I like the look of the (2D) game already. And the 3D will look great too!....eventually

EDIT: Also, is "Hook your friends" a final title, or WIP? I wonder if you can shorten it to "Hooked", or something along those lines? (First thought was "Hookers"...but, yeah...)

[maxl]

Wow yeah, was just thinking the same thing. I definitely think you're on the right track with how you've re-arranged the control schemes. And I like the look of the (2D) game already. And the 3D will look great too!....eventually

EDIT: Also, is "Hook your friends" a final title, or WIP? I wonder if you can shorten it to "Hooked", or something along those lines? (First thought was "Hookers"...but, yeah...)

Thanks a TON! Getting noticed in the sheer abundance of devlogs and WIP games is quite the challenge indeed. 

"Hook your friends" is definitely a working title and will surely not be the final one. I'm not sure about the mood or the story (if any) I want to go for, so I just named it the first thing that came to my mind.  Once I have a clearer vision of what the game actually IS, a good title hopefully emerges.

As a tag-line, I'm thinking "Co-Op Jump-Not Rope-A-Lot" though 

[FK in the Coffee]

I actually like the name “Hook Your Friends” a lot. Reminds me a lot of Mount Your Friends.

[maxl]

I actually like the name “Hook Your Friends” a lot. Reminds me a lot of Mount Your Friends.

Yeah, I also associate the two. I'm not sure if I want that though... Mount your friends is fun and goofy, but I don't know if my game will also be. So many uncertainties! 

[maxl]

Continuing my style experiments... added more particle effects while running, sliding and hooking:

[maxl]

Sometimes the glitches you produce look way cooler than your actual output:

[Pixel Noise]

Keep it as a hidden or challenge level. Like the glitched out last level in Pacman