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[longneckgames]

“Death is part of the adventure”

Story Time:

In the most dire time in history, the fate of the world is in the unlikely hands of two apprentice wizards, Arcan and Zeph.They are not heroes, they're barely even students of heroes. in fact, they don't know any spells. the only magic they have is a scroll allowing them to resurrect each other if they are killed bumbling up a spell.

They are not necessarily made up of the” stuff of heroes”, but they are the only hope humanity has. After a thousand year pact, an order of wizards have decided to upset the balance and destroy all other magic in the world in an ascent to absolute control and power.

Mobile user warning: big Gifs ahead!

Gameplay:

In RezPlz, you control two players (or local 2p co-op) to traverse the evil wizard’s keeps of the Dark Arcanum. The game features traditional platforming elements, as well as puzzling elements in the form of coordinated movement and one brother dying in unique ways to allow the other brother to progress. For example:

The game is not easy. There is no health bar, just lazarus stones used for resurrections. Everything will one hit kill you (often in gloriously awful ways) sometimes it's a means to an end, other times, mistakes were made. You must rely on cunning, skill, and your brother to keep you both from being dead at the same time and going back to your last checkpoint.

As you progress through the game, you will unlock different spells throughout the world, adding more layers and options to how you tackle tougher levels and enemies later:

Aesthetic:
For RezPlz, we wanted to make a game that has an influence of older games we grew up with, but not necessarily completely restrict the palette and engine to a totally “retro game” look. We’re trying to get the best of both worlds I guess, something unique and familiar. let us know what you think so far!

Aspirations:

 My brother (Nate) and I (Josh), are two gigantic brothers working under the tentative name Long Neck Games.  Nate handles all the programming in Unity, and I handle all the art assets in Aesprite and Photoshop. We spent the last year and  half learning how to “git gud” and building the basic engine for the game. We are putting as much free time into this game as we can, Nate after hours, and me in bursts when I’m not doing contract art work.
 
We want to make a game that reminds us of our childhood, playing Battletoads, Mega man, Bubble Bobble etc. this game is a gift to our younger selves, and for anyone that didn’t want to have to pass the controller as a kid. A pure platform adventure with a unique twist.


This Devlog:

This is fairly uncharted territory for us, so it should be interesting to watch this all develop. Currently, we are preparing for a playable demo build we will be uploading here in the next month or so, with a goal of having the entire game finished next year.  We’re going to try to be honest and open about our process, our successes, our struggles, and hopefully make some friends along the way!

That's it for now I guess! Feel free to offer feedback on anything and everything as we go along!

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/rezplzgame/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rezplzgame
Tumblr:
http://rezplzgame.tumblr.com/

[Christian]

Whoa, the pixel art here is awesome

The premise reminds me a bit of the game Life Goes On. Interesting difference here being that you summon someone to sacrifice rather than you dying tons of times. Seems like that gives it a more strategic feel

[longneckgames]

Whoa, the pixel art here is awesome

The premise reminds me a bit of the game Life Goes On. Interesting difference here being that you summon someone to sacrifice rather than you dying tons of times. Seems like that gives it a more strategic feel

Thanks! glad you like what you see so far!

We'd never heard of life goes on, but it's interesting to see a similar concept. it seems very physics puzzle based, ours definitely has a more of a strategic feel, as the death mechanic is geared more for the platforming side of things. Early on in designing we put a limit on the amount of resurrections you get in order to force the player to move wisely instead of just "throwing bodies at the problem". It also creates a sense of urgency when dealing with monsters and tougher obstacles as well.

[longneckgames]

This weeks work has been good! Got a bunch of great sounds from our new sound guy, which is turning out awesome. 

Been doing a ton of work on getting a good first boss fight in place.

Ulmok, The Vestigial:



250 px, animated in aesprite:




also, got a proper start menu started and implemented.



 Still, making some tweaks to colors, what do you guys think so far?

[longneckgames]

working some new level assets:





these are still in WIP stage, but getting closer! What do y'all think?

[Michael Klier]

Really interesting death mechanic! Had me thinking about Ajin & when they realize how to use their resurrection capabilities in a tactical way. Also gonna chime in to what others said, you got some awesome pixel art going!

[bdsowers]

I'm loving everything about this. Can't wait to try the 2 player co-op! The current small offering of co-op focused games (Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime) has got me craving more... and this game is more in-line with the types of games I love.

[longneckgames]

Really interesting death mechanic! Had me thinking about Ajin & when they realize how to use their resurrection capabilities in a tactical way. Also gonna chime in to what others said, you got some awesome pixel art going!

Thanks so much! This is my first time pixel-ling! It has been a really fun medium to work in so far! I'm not familiar with Ajin, I'll have to check it out!

I'm loving everything about this. Can't wait to try the 2 player co-op! The current small offering of co-op focused games (Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime) has got me craving more... and this game is more in-line with the types of games I love.

Glad you like the concept! We really feel like there is something special that happens when two people have to really work together to achieve something! It seems like a most modern games don't really cater to that experience. Our main goal with this game is to make something the kid versions of us would've played the hell out of! Hopefully folks like yourself will play the hell out of it too!

[Pixel Noise]

Whaaaaat! Guys, this looks GREAT. Love the death mechanic and animations (the guy getting cut in half by the big cleaver dude is awesome). The sprites, backgrounds and lighting all look really good. Wow! Following 

Post up some OST examples when you have them!

[longneckgames]

Music sample complements of the wonderful Alex Hills http://www.alexhillsmusic.com/

[longneckgames]

Big news! RezPlz will be at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo! http://www.retrogamingexpo.com/ We will be showcasing the game on October 23rd. We've also got the RezPlz website updated. http://www.rezplzgame.com/

[longneckgames]

We have been working hard to prepare for the Portland Retro Gaming Expo and decided to offer a sneak peek for our fans. You can now download a demo of the game off the website. rezplzgame.com We are always looking for feedback from the community, so please let us know what you think.

[longneckgames]

More Giblets!!!
Added enemy giblets and adjusted the physics when the players are turned into giblets

[longneckgames]

This game is about teamwork, but we all know that brothers don't always get along.

[longneckgames]

It's all about making a dramatic exit

[wuuthrer]

I love what you got here. I'm a big fan of cooperative games where you're able to ruin the other player for absolutely not reason, so the gif when you just hit your friend to throw him into lava made my day.

My only "concern" is how the main characters are looking so seriously angry, both of them. Do you mind if I ask... why?

[longneckgames]

I love what you got here. I'm a big fan of cooperative games where you're able to ruin the other player for absolutely not reason, so the gif when you just hit your friend to throw him into lava made my day.

My only "concern" is how the main characters are looking so seriously angry, both of them. Do you mind if I ask... why?

I'm glad you're into what we're going for! there's definitely a special kind of magic that comes from screwing with each other!

As for the "concern" It's interesting you point that out. I guess I never really realized they look so angry, I was kind of going for a stern, determined look as kind of a juxtaposition of their ineptitude, like they're trying, but just can't seem to figure it out. That said, their expressions do change with their deaths and what not, a lot more of a look of surprise and comedic shock I think. but this is an interesting observation, and I wonder if it might make more sense to soften their expressions to keep things a bit more light-hearted feeling. Thanks for the feedback! 

[longneckgames]

RezPlz is showcasing at BetaCon!

If you live in, or close to Oregon, you should come to BetaCon!
We will be doing a $50 gamestop gift card raffle! So if you do come, make sure you stop by and see us.
You can learn more about the event at--http://betacon.org/
Also we want to give a shout out to PIGSquad for making it all possible--http://pigsquad.com/

[longneckgames]

Decided to take a break and play with fireballs a bit

[longneckgames]

Added some extra animations to add some character when hitting a player off a ledge