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[electrolyte]

Hey all,

So I seem to do this each year ... Start a new side project with the hope of turning it into a full game. However the shame pile does seem to be growing!

I made some learnings ...

2021 was the year of Nascent Prophecy, an isometric adventure game set in space and certainly itched a sci Fi scratch. It got quite far with a full chapter released, the second feature complete and a third being laid out. Sadly the scope and ambition proved too much and my learning was clearly story based / puzzle games take a lot of work.

https://electrolyte.itch.io/nascent-prophecy

Jumping to now, and I was fortunate enough to have a good break over Christmas and new year to do some noodling and also think about what kind of game I'd like make and play.

Turns out something where you don't have to think too much, something you can dip in and out for action, and something bombastic!! I'm a dad of four so time poor which is possibly why I've gravitated to these pillars - in complete contrast to the slow pace of Nascent Prophecy.

So the high level pitch: Combine a shooter like Xenon 2 and bullet hell action into a third person shooter. Lots of bullets, waves and things to shoot and avoid.

Additionally exploring a way for procedural levels to reduce the burden of environmental layouts - something Nascent Prophecy suffered from acutely.

Anyhoo, that's the hope 2022 -
let's see what twists and turns pan out, all welcome for the ride

[electrolyte]

I always try and make a point of having some sort of visual in posts, and yesterday hadn't taken any grabs so failed miserably!

But here we go, hot off the press ...
Pew pew pew!!!

[electrolyte]

Productive dev hour today stubbing out new room's and working out movement design of these jellyfish type creatures. Also worked out how to make scrolling clouds in a sky box which has added a lot to the atmosphere.

Going to be getting back to system work with more weapon types and enemy logic.

Here's some grabs

[mobilelast]

Screenshots and gameplay video on Twitter look very nice indeed. It will be interesting to see where this is going.

One thing that might become an issue is that video looked quite dark. As dodging is an important part of the game, inability to see the obstacles properly can get frustrating.

[electrolyte]

Thanks mobilelast, Yeah that is a consideration. Was thinking about lining path edges with emissive vegetation. When it's all moving and the play space is full of hot Lazer it lights up the space some more.

I've been working on a new enemy ai in the same space and this eve posted another video here on Twitter - also includes some new lighting features that I've been playing with ...

https://twitter.com/electrolytedev/status/1491477300159954944?t=uX05ORa_5SmgmAUEWPa40Q&s=19

[electrolyte]

So the games concept has been evolving and rather than make a moody third person shooter - that will inevitably require some sort of story, the game play has shifted to ... More of a sports focus!

Think crowds roaring - reacting to the spectacle, sponsored by adverts piping out and players competing in heats to achieve the best times to clear out arenas. I'm also excited to say I've teamed up with a dev and as such can bring their expertise in procedural generation giving runs a unique twist each time.

Art is obviously shifting but super excited about this new focus.

Stay tuned!

[oldblood]

I like the shift you're making to sports-focus. Will simplify the narrative portion quite a bit I imagine. The early images are looking very promising!

[buto]

I think all your projects look super cool! I really like the looks and the idea of this new one, too. The sports focus could be really nice. Of course one has to think of Running man. On Sega Saturn there was a slightly weird but somewhat cool game called Blast Chamber which also had some lethal sport vibes... of course a completely different genre...

When I first saw your post I had to briefly think of Returnal, which I didn't play but read about. It is also a 3rd person shooter with rougelite elements, I think.

Looking forward to updates!

[electrolyte]

Thanks for the feedback  

So dev has been a bit slow this week, but have been mainly focused on the hud and starting to get the race type feedback in - player positions and times etc. Also added some jumbotron screens and hooked up some test animated billboards.

I spent an embarrassing hour trying to work out a glitch that would happen with the camera, turned out there was a hidden collider - noob  

Here's some updated shots, for the eagle eyed yes the other player names are a nod to Speedball 2  

[electrolyte]

Hi all

Little update this week, been mainly pouring over the game design and getting the main game loop sorted and blocked out. One thing that wasn't sitting well was having players have to run through the level, trigger the clock and battle back.

The first part seemed goal less, so now players can travel through the level and leave smoke flares for purchased health drops. These drops spawn in as players battle back through the arenas. Also, this first exploration style run is done gunless and collecting the weapon triggers the clock to begin the timed run. I feel like this pacing and drop strategy has helped loads.

Worked a little more on the creatures combined with a little reactive secondary motion - all gearing up to some mega Lazer pew pew pew action!

[electrolyte]

Hi there

Some more updates, the full race loop is almost finished. I'd been putting of the system for actually recording and comparing times, but I bit the bullet over the weekend and super happy got it functioning. Some mathematical acrobatics was needed!

Here's some shots of the HUD in a timed run.

[electrolyte]

Been a while since posted here. Progress has been going well but still not got a name for it

The core game loop is now in place from the locker room where you can buy new equipment to the current division leaderboard, district map and the arena heat.

A fair bit of Dev time has been sunk into the leaderboard that simulates the other players runs and scores. Also making that data persistent has been a learning curve.

Here some grabs and there's also screen recorded footage of recent combat.







And to see it in motion, footage posted on YouTube here:

[Alain]

Nice, the gameplay is already looking quite juicy!

[electrolyte]

Thanks Alain, this weekend added some moving walls to the arena so that it can reconfigure as beacon waves are cleared out. Also added additional animation set to one of the enemies showing a new head shot detection!

One big question I keep asking and is now starting to bug me is what to call this?

- Laser Overdrive
- Laser Gauntlet
- Run it, Shoot it
- ...

A game thats a future sport, not Mad Max but slicker - running man, Tron kinda vibes. Compete to race and achieve a best time, shoot and qualify. All set against a backdrop of live crowds and large arenas ...

Video of walls and heat shots feature!!

[oldblood]

Really liking the whole look and sound you've got going on. Definitely picking up on the Tron vibes you've got going on.

I hear you on the struggles of naming a game, been trying to name mine for like 3+ months now. Good luck!

[electrolyte]

Thanks Oldblood

Again it's been a while but LOADS have happened - the big one being a biting of the bullet (ahem) and downgrading from HDRP to standard render pipeline. This was done with a heavy heart and I wrestled with the decision for a long time. It looks lovely but chasing performance to hit 60fps and really understand where the bottle necks occur were beyond me - it felt like a black box. So I spent a few days downgrading and like slipping on an old pair of slippers it felt good to be back into an art environment I knew well. 

So apart from that big change more work has been done on the enemies, got some new AI spun up and a new holding character to play around with. Also refactored - 5 times - the weapons. The latest version now supports both bullet type, it's level and now it's fire pattern - this allows for multiple bullets sprayed out in patterns!

Oh and the last thing ... finally have a name: Super Laser Fury 

Here's some latest grabs

[electrolyte]

Hi all, realize this quite a quiet since the discord powered up but kinda find it useful to record progress here in a little more long form.

So I'm heads down looking to create a demo in the next month or so. It will consist of a fairly end to end flow with one arena to race through. Super keen for people to play it to get feedback. Spent quite some time finishing off the race logic and 'beacons' that exist within the arena's. I've also realized that with some planning I can make arenas work hard by throttling how many beacons are active and how many waves of enemies they spawn.

I also discovered that a rouge transparent video texture was rinsing the frame rate. Removing it now means it's running at 115fps!

Here's some more screens and also new gameplay footage (clip 10 now!)

[electrolyte]

Hi all, have manage to tweak lots of little bits and been doubling down on core flow. Arenas can now have from one to three beacons - which means three different pickup points. This helps as I can now get more bang for buck with the areas.

Also been fleshing out the locker room where players can customise their load outs, track heat results and eventually negotiate sponsorships.

I was aiming to have a demo completed by end of this month but tracking too many tickets so realistically will push this out. Really want more people playing it ... But also want to make sure it's solid!

Till next time  



Above, yet another tweet to the stadium layout!

[electrolyte]

Hi all,

Little post to update, still going. A demo is almost done - A single arena, three heats and 1-3 beacon event! Watch this space  

[electrolyte]

It's been a while but lots have been happening, some of which has been continuing to develop the game!

Finally have a steam page up wish listings
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435220/Super_Laser_Fury/

Got a shiny new trailer

Other developments have been the construction of arena two is well under way, there's been a reworking of the weapon loadout selector in favour of upgrade paths of classes and a new 'barge' push is being rolled out.

Hope to have more of an update in the coming weeks - have steamfest in sight