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[typhvs]

Available now on Steam Early Access for Windows and Mac



ECHOPLEX is a cyberhorror puzzle game set in a chilling near-future.

In the Echoplex, you are followed by an “Echo” -- a duplicate of yourself who repeats everything you do. Faced with a series of puzzles, your goal is to outwit your Echo using strategy and cunning — and retrieve memory fragments that hold the secret to who you are...

ECHOPLEX combines minimalist graphics with live action footage to create an immersive and chilling story world.

• Solve unusual spatial puzzles anchored by an innovative Echo gameplay mechanic.
• Experience the story through puzzle-solving and live-action video clips shot by an indie film director.
• Explore intriguing, minimalist environments.
• Enjoy an abstract soundscape augmented by a “cyber-horror” score composed by Revin Goff.
• Play under intense time pressure as your Echo draws near...

ECHOPLEX is developed by Output Games


ECHOPLEX Website
Output Games Website
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[typhvs]

Goodbye prototype!

Today we start work on the beta version of Echoplex (and officially stop fiddling with the prototype).  

The feedback from the prototype has been sooo useful - if you haven't checked it out yet, please do:  http://echoplex.co.  

I'd love to hear your feedback - there's a quick lil form here: http://echoplexgame.com/feedback/


Main feedback so far:

1. Aesthetic is interesting but disorientating (because of blank walls). Also it's low rezzy.  (We'll fix that)
2. Levels are not rated by difficulty, so game seems very hard when you pick a level at random
3. I just died for no reason! wtf is this game about anyway?! Answer: Your Echo is following you - if he catches up with you, you die. Soz.

There's lots more stuff we're working on (sound design, streamlined level editor, etc) - looking forward to sharing progress with you...

[typhvs]

So… to introduce our little team.   My name is Tyron Janse van Vuuren (the goober on the right).  I am the game director/marketer of Echoplex.  On the left is Henk Scheepers, who does the programming and art direction.

We’re from South Africa, and we met doing client work (mostly corporate events and activations).  I’m a creative director professionally, and Henk codes. 

Henk and I share an interest in minimalism and clean design, so when I first had the idea for Echoplex, Henk was the obvious collaborator.  He has done great work developing the look and feel of the game and, equally importantly, is also our resident DJ while we work.

Echoplex is a passion project for us, so we work on it in our spare time.  The pictures above were taken on a typical Saturday - on the weekends we sit across from each other in my apartment working on the game.

You can see my previous creative work (mostly short films) at http://tyron.tv, and visit Henk’s Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/donderbos/

[TonyManfredonia]

Well this is cool.

Very minimalist, and awesomely reminiscent of those "escape-the-room" games you'd find on old Flash websites in the early 2000's.

Bookmarked

P.S. - *EDIT* I'm going to finish up dinner/some work and then give this prototype a go! I'll let you know what I think.

[TonyManfredonia]

Really intriguing!

I like the community aspect of level building and being able to submit. Definitely adds a new layer of challenge. I had a hard time completing some of the levels hahahah 

[typhvs]

Really intriguing!

I like the community aspect of level building and being able to submit. Definitely adds a new layer of challenge. I had a hard time completing some of the levels hahahah 

Hey Tony, thanks for the feedback!  Glad you enjoyed the prototype.  Some of those levels are pretty tough, in the alpha version we will rank levels by difficulty so players don't need to start out on the hardest levels. 

[typhvs]

One of my favorite Echoplex alpha renderings for #screenshotsaturday

Created by Henk in Blender - we’re currently working on getting things to look like this inside Unity 

[typhvs]

How did humans get anything done before FaceTime? 

[typhvs]

Our experiments with CMYK colors and global illumination - interesting...

Sometimes the combinations look really pretty (yellow light in a cyan corridor), other times it’s a bit “edgy”  (magenta light in a yellow corridor, which makes a mustard/peach weirdness).

But with some tweaking of levels and intensity, I think we can get it to work.  

And then we can study the psychological impact of being trapped in a candy colored labyrinth, haha...

[rarelikeaunicorn]

One of my favorite Echoplex alpha renderings for #screenshotsaturday

Created by Henk in Blender - we’re currently working on getting things to look like this inside Unity 

While all the iterations of the game look great so far, this particular render stands out as the best to me. The additional structural details (compared to several of the other screengrabs) help keep the eye anchored really well and the dimmed lighting provides good contrast to the sharp yellow while also being less eye-straining.

[Emma Larkins]

Do you have a trailer? I'd love to see more.

[typhvs]

Do you have a trailer? I'd love to see more.

Hey Emma! We're working on the alpha trailer now - until then you can see a short demo of the prototype gameplay here: http://echoplex.co 

[typhvs]

While all the iterations of the game look great so far, this particular render stands out as the best to me. The additional structural details (compared to several of the other screengrabs) help keep the eye anchored really well and the dimmed lighting provides good contrast to the sharp yellow while also being less eye-straining.

Hey thanks so much rarelikeunicorn, that's great feedback!  It's one of my favorites too.  This frame took 30 mins to render  so we haven't quite got the actual game to look like that yet, haha...

[typhvs]

Setting priorities as a dev

Pretty sneaky trap…

Yesterday Henk and I were discussing what we should focus on next.

Our first priority list looked like this:

1. Add ceiling lights that flicker when the Echo (the antagonist) approaches
2. Work on the reflectivity of the floor
3. Get the illumination inside the door frames right

REALITY CHECK TO SELF: We’re building an alpha. In our spare time. There’s only two of us.  Reflective floors can fuckin wait.

We need to focus on one thing: fundamentals that make the game sticky.  That’s all.

Get the basics right.  Find out if anyone gives a damn.  Then, sure, tweak aesthetics.  

That stuff matters, but not as much as engaged users.

So our revised priority list is:

1. Add only game-critical elements to the new look and feel
2. Create a simpler, more intuitive level editor
3. Create a badge/ranking system that rewards users for interaction

Priorities dude.

[TonyManfredonia]

I agree with the above! I really like the rendered photo the best. If it's possible to make the game look like that, graphically, I say go for it!

[typhvs]

I agree with the above! I really like the rendered photo the best. If it's possible to make the game look like that, graphically, I say go for it!

Hopefully it will look something like that by the time we get to beta 

[typhvs]

We're experimenting with portal rendering on the doorways so that the Echoplex can form impossible shapes - the weird lighting effect on the floor is being caused by an occlusion problem that we have now fixed.  

I also threw a soundscape under the screencapture to give a sense of atmosphere - pretty rad!

(Music: "Behaviour statistics" by Salakapakka Sound System (http://ikuinen-kaamos.blogspot.com))

[TonyManfredonia]

Looking great!

The use of the soundscape gives me some ideas as to what we discussed. I'll keep you posted

[typhvs]

Looking great!

The use of the soundscape gives me some ideas as to what we discussed. I'll keep you posted

Thanks Tony!

[ashtonmorris]

I like the blue-green with magenta outlines the best. But thats just aesthetic and doesnt account for the emotion you want to convey.

As for this

And then we can study the psychological impact of being trapped in a candy colored labyrinth, haha...

I am sure there is plenty of information you can find on the psychological impacts of various colors.  I know that "Drunk tank pink" is a color they have used in drunk tanks and even some Football locker rooms (for the opposing team) to help subdue them and make them less aggressive.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker-Miller_Pink