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[helpcomputer0]

Story
Uncover your past in a chaotic city controlled by men and enforced by machines. Battle your way through armies of government enforcers, religious zealots, and corporate mercenaries to find the origin of your power.

Gameplay
Influenced by Shinobi, Rolling Thunder, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, and others. Gameplay is focused on close combat with an emphasis on stealth, timing, and decision making.

Visuals
It will make particular use of ZX Spectrum-style attribute clash to simulate atmospheric lighting and other effects. It will also stick closely to ZX Spectrum colour/attribute limitations (although not necessarily memory and CPU limits!).

Platform
PC

Completion: 10%

• Story [Complete]
• Design doc [Complete]
• Working prototype [In-progress]
• ...

Updates
I mostly post updates to Twitter (@helpcomputer0) but I'll keep this thread updated when I can.

In-progress shots:

[Superb Joe]

The colour clash looks great

[Superb Joe]

i want more people on this spiritually sick web site to see this computer game instead of whatever dumb crap theyre looking at right now

[joey4track]

Wow, he looks great running against the shadows there, and I love the garish colors of the ZX, haha. I'm here if you need audio help, I have done a fair amount of cyberpunk   

[DrDerekDoctors]

Ha! Love that you kept the colour clash! Following!

[Photon]

What maestro work of a limited color palette. Seriously. It will be interesting to see more "in-action" snips over time.

[ScottAmpleford]

Woah, I love the look of this! Really taking advantage of the style to get a dark aesthetic.
If you're looking for music, shoot me a line!

[helpcomputer0]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Regarding sound and music, I have the AY-3-8910 chip or similar in mind, such as

.

I want to get music and sound in place early to suit the game, but I'm concentrating on the gameplay for the moment. joey4track and ScottAmpleford - I've listened to both your stuff and really liked it, will keep you in mind!

[Superb Joe]

i don't know how moody you intend to make the game, from the pictures i suspect "very moody" so maybe something with the grimy sound of Tim Follin's 1 bit spectrum music in chronos and agent X would fit

[helpcomputer0]

i don't know how moody you intend to make the game, from the pictures i suspect "very moody" so maybe something with the grimy sound of Tim Follin's 1 bit spectrum music in chronos and agent X would fit

Both very similar in mood to what I'm thinking! In terms of depth I'd prefer slightly higher than 1-bit though. My last game Prime Mover has 1-bit music and the tracks are superb, but I don't think 1-bit is for everyone.

[ScottAmpleford]

There is the potential to over complicate  music when trying to authentically replicate the sounds of specific chips or machines.
It's amazing how lush or striking, simple arrangements can be.
My suggestion would be not to emulate, but to evoke.

[Samaras-Sama]

This looks fantastic!

[helpcomputer0]

Working on a "sticky" jumping mechanic, similar to the old Batman games.

[Alec S.]

I really like the look of this so far!

[PsycheMac]

This looks really good. Is there going to be any hiding mechanics like in Mark of the Ninja? I get that sort of feel when I see the gifs of the character slashing out the lights.

[joey4track]

I can see going in a Rescue: The Embassy Mission direction 

[Photon]

Does smashing the lights have any sort of gameplay relevance? Seems like it might with it being a ninja game.

[helpcomputer0]

I really like the look of this so far!

Thanks!

This looks really good. Is there going to be any hiding mechanics like in Mark of the Ninja? I get that sort of feel when I see the gifs of the character slashing out the lights.

Does smashing the lights have any sort of gameplay relevance? Seems like it might with it being a ninja game.

I'm still working on it so can't show anything yet, but lighting will play a part in the gameplay.

I can see going in a Rescue: The Embassy Mission direction

I've not seen this before. I love the spot-light chase scenes!

[joey4track]

Yeah Rescue is a legit NES hidden gem. Grab an emulator and check it out, it actually very much still holds up. A very unique and fun game.

[helpcomputer0]

Mainly working on new enemies this week and how visibility works, also added other stuff to test as I go like collectables.