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[cottontrek]

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I've been working on this game on and off for a while, and I wanted to post progress on these forums along the way.

The aim of this bullet time game is to combine some elements of a John Woo action scene with the cyberpunk world of Bladerunner.

So right now it's just a lot of blue, and a lot of slow motion.

Here are some gifs of the current build!

[rj]

this reminds me of old newgrounds games in the best way

[cottontrek]

this reminds me of old newgrounds games in the best way

Thanks! Now you've got me wanting to go back and play some flash games...

[PetterBergmar]

Looks very good!!! I love the feedback animations/ flares.

[cottontrek]

Looks very good!!! I love the feedback animations/ flares.

Thanks! The hope is that everything is satisfying, even if a shot misses. Talking about user feedback though, not quite sure why I still haven't gotten to jumping and landing effects...


Here are some more gifs, this time focused on some explosion effects/grenade weapons.





The second one is supposed to be some sort of tear gas/smoke grenade, but I haven't determined its actual gameplay usage yet. At the moment the enemies just become stunned and a bit translucent.

[bombjack]

Slow motion looks really cool. How is the bullet time triggered ? by a button pressed? is there a limit ? like a gauge or a timer ?

[cottontrek]

Slow motion looks really cool. How is the bullet time triggered ? by a button pressed? is there a limit ? like a gauge or a timer ?

Right now, it's a user activated ability - hold shift for complete slow motion, release shift for normal speed. It doesn't yet have any limitations, either.

Ideally, I would like to make the ability infinite, simply because I always get frustrated with slow motion time limits in other games. However, since the slow motion mode is in every way easier than normal speed, I realize that decision may lead to very unbalanced gameplay, as in people just waltzing through levels in complete slow motion.

So, I don't really know yet. Right now, some options I've considered include a basic cooldown mechanic (similar to how the game Bleed handles slow motion) or giving the player a limited shield/extra health during normal speed as an incentive for balanced play.

[Christian]

Could incentive it by making fast consecutive kills extend your slow mo. Or being close to enemy projectiles could extend your slow mo. Basically adding reward to either risk or skillfull gameplay

[SkullPixel]

This is amazing. I love all things slow motion, and the graphics to begin with are pretty dang impressive.

[bombjack]

Could incentive it by making fast consecutive kills extend your slow mo. Or being close to enemy projectiles could extend your slow mo. Basically adding reward to either risk or skillfull gameplay

This will make the game even better imoh

[SkullPixel]

Okay, so I haven't been able to stop looking at this devlog. A few quick questions for you:
1. What engine?
2. Are you planning on any form of a release, and if not can I get a copy?
3. How did you make the explosions and muzzle flash?

Good luck on development. I will be watching.

[cottontrek]

Could incentive it by making fast consecutive kills extend your slow mo. Or being close to enemy projectiles could extend your slow mo. Basically adding reward to either risk or skillfull gameplay

Good idea! I had considered refilling slow motion ability if the player dodged bullets in mid-air. But to prevent it from being too risky, it could be interesting to offer different levels of refill depending on the difficulty of a move. So, like you said, consecutive skills could offer a refill, but perhaps to a smaller degree than the riskier bullet dodging.

Okay, so I haven't been able to stop looking at this devlog. A few quick questions for you:
1. What engine?
2. Are you planning on any form of a release, and if not can I get a copy?
3. How did you make the explosions and muzzle flash?

Good luck on development. I will be watching.

1. I'm using Gamemaker studio!
2. If all goes well, I'd love to release the game. I'm not sure about pricing and such, though. If I have time, however, I'd also like to be able to have open demos to get player feedback before any of that.
3. Regarding the explosion effects, I did happen to write a basic breakdown of the effects on my blog: link
The explosion effect is basically just a lot of different size fire sprites with randomized animation speed, rotation, and position that form the cluster of fire around the blast. The muzzle flash is an individual animation. It has a lot of frames, but even in slow motion the animation is relatively sped up. In normal mode, the animation is sped up to such a degree that it happens to appear as a single flash.

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Here's another gif!


I thought it would be interesting to manipulate time in other more complicated ways as well. Here, the grenade weapon leaves behind time warp zones, where everything inside (other than the player and other timewarp grenades) become slower independent of everything else.

[rj]

shit damn that last gif

[cottontrek]

Testing a new enemy type, the sword-wielding samurai. They are much faster and more aggressive than regular grunts, and have some extra maneuverability that makes them harder to hit.

Basically, they'll try to get close enough to the player to do a quick melee attack!

Hm, maybe it could be interesting to make the samurai deflect bullets...

[maruki]

When I saw the slowmo gif in the first posts, I was impressed. But then you added those circles to manipulate time. And then you added those guys with swords. It only gets better!! :DDD

[cottontrek]

When I saw the slowmo gif in the first posts, I was impressed. But then you added those circles to manipulate time. And then you added those guys with swords. It only gets better!! :DDD

Thanks! :I

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Quick update!

I've added a simple damage effect system to some of the larger props. Basically, props like tables choose a random "damaged" sprite after getting hit by an explosion.

Also, vertical farms!



As well as that, I've made an actual running animation for the main character:

(new)

(old)


Also, I've been thinking... what if the slow motion meter is also your health bar?

[rj]

oh that is devious and beautiful. at the very least a hard mode should have that, if not the full game

[tanis]

The action in this game is so cool! Awesome work so far!

[cottontrek]

The action in this game is so cool! Awesome work so far!

Thanks! Glad you like it!

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Added opportune explosive barrels for that 90s action feel. There's also a bit of new effects I put in, like the bullet trails and the fire.

Also, minigun guy!

[io3 creations]

I agree that the action definitely has the John Woo's action feel to it.

It would be interesting to see how many puzzle-action sequences you can come up with unlimited bullet time, but limiting it would more likely yield a greater variety.

Having bullet time tied to health reminds me of the Crank movies.  Gotta keep the juice flowing!