Character Selection

 

Recently we decided how player characters would be handled; there are nine classes total, each with different starting stats and items. Each also has a unique weapon that only they start with, though players can pick up any weapon they come across during the game. We’ve got a ways to go before all of them are properly balanced, so I’ll not post details that are likely to change later.

Our goal is for all of them to have a meaningfully different playstyle; three melee classes, three mid-ranged classes, three long-distance classes, with each category having a slow, medium-speed and fast character. Low speed is usually balanced by greater strength in other areas such as health, stamina and items.

Hopefully this leads to many interesting combinations as classes replace their starting weapons with those of other characters and upgrade their weapons with elemental powers.

-Justin

 

 

To build off of Justin’s post directly below, here’s some progress into our atmospheric enhancement! We’re in the process of implementing coloured lighting (as evidenced by the glows around the torches and the crystals). It’s quite amazing how much of an effect this has on the game. If you look at one of the screenshots from a previous post for reference, the game already seems a lot more varied and interesting, visually. It’s an exciting step to take, for sure.

One interesting issue that has presented itself to us of late is having too many elements in the same room, as well as design complications. As we add more and more objects into the game, we have to be very specific as to where they are placed, as well as how they interact with each other and the players. One room with enemies, spikes, a chest and a portal can get really visually confusing and hard to play, so we need to figure out how to properly place things.

We also are going to try out information pop-ups in the shop to help the player understand what the items for purchase are. This way, hopefully new players will be familiarized with the game’s mechanics rapidly, so that they can develop their own strategies quickly.

 

-Chris

Sparkly Things

Hey, Tangleworm here! I make art for our game and now I make blog posts for the blog.

One of the things we didn’t like about Ascension was its lack of dynamic environments; if you stood still in the game, it felt more like a screenshot than gameplay footage. This was in part due to rampant laziness and in part because that game resisted all attempts to develop it.

The player characters in Grabbyhands don’t have idle animations, like Atticus did. Fortunately Grabbyhands likes to help us develop it by being more fun, and we’re now motivated enough to put animated objects into the game.

                  

It’s just some sparkles for now, but these cave crystals will hopefully make the environment feel livelier. They will eventually be joined by torches, generators, and other things, depending on the zone.

The crystals being breakable should also help with another of Ascension’s faults that we’re trying not to repeat: the environment wasn’t very interactive. Now, in Grabbyhands, almost everything is interactive and trying to kill you. The crystals are nice, though. They drop loot sometimes.

For convenience’s sake I’ve used some highly advanced software to make a mockup of what the final game should look like with these ideas in mind.

Oh the humanity.

Things that happen

Good evemorning everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a real update here. I’ve been super busy, not only with Grabbyhands but with school, work and family. We’ve made a lot of progress though, and I’m hoping that we can launch a small public build within a month or so, just to test out the gameplay. We’ve got a lot of work to do still, but the game is forming nicely and starting to feel really fun.

 

We’ve added too much to bother going over, but I’ll outline the new weapon in the picture above. This is the Missile Pod: it’s a tricky weapon to use and a lot more strategic than something like a sword or knives. Your light attack shoots out a single missile, but if you release your heavy attack you’ll shoot out three lock-ons that will seek out the nearest enemy, with some restrictions. The next time you fire, your missiles will seek out all the locked enemies. It’s hard to use, but it can be very rewarding if you play it well!

A lot of what I’ve been doing lately is bugfixing and optimizing. It’s proving to be a unique challenge that I haven’t had to deal with until this game. Things are working out though, and I’m excited for the future as we fill in the empty bits of the gameplay

See you all soon!

 

Chris

Developments!

 

 

Hello Errybody! Let me hit you with a couple of Grabbyhands updates!

Lots has gone on that I haven’t told you because I’m a lazy jerk. I’ll outline some of the big ones for you all

-Shops: Randomly generated (not in every match), gives you a choice of 6 items to buy

-Blacksmiths: Randomly generated (less frequently than shops), upgrades the damage of your held weapon for a price

-General zoning and map design: the first template we’re doing is a science facility in an underground cave.

-Elemental weapons: There are 5 possible elements that can be endowed onto your weapons. Fire, Wind, Electricity, Poison and Plasma. Every element has a level between 1 and 3, and can be upgraded at enchanters. More expensive weapons typically have more elements/higher leveled elements.

-Customizeable heads: The framework for character selection and customization.

-Shields: Similar to the Halo regeneration shields, these upgrades gives you a small regenerating… shield. You can increase the power of your shield by collecting additional shield upgrades.

 

As for what we’re working on right now? The next big step for us is a feature we call Technolava. This Technolava will make its appearance around halfway through the match, flowing in from the outer regions of the map to force both players towards the centre. It’s going to be a bitch to code, but once it’s in the game is going to start feeling like an actual game!

See you all real soon!

Chris

 

An Intro: Grabbyhands

Good morning folks! (Or afternoon or evening or night)

The last post I made was little more than a screenshot of our next project. No information, no clues, no promises. As you can probably see, the game is a fair bit further along now and I’m ready to talk about it a bit. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Project Grabbyhands. Don’t worry, he won’t bite.

What is Grabbyhands? Well, I’m so glad you asked: Grabbyhands is a two-player split-screen dungeon-crawling battle to the death. You and a friend are spawned somewhere in a randomly generated dungeon. You both start off completely equal in stats. You then have a limited amount of time to explore the dungeon, killing enemies, opening chests and so on in order to grow (hopefully) stronger than your enemy. Of course, the only way you’d really know if you were stronger would be to find the other player, and they might be doing the same thing…

Our goal for this game is to create a competitive, crazy and fun game environment. The game is hotseat, so whether you’re playing with controllers or on the same keyboard, it’s going to be up close and personal. There will be elbowing, shoving, and a lot of dirty play. But that’s totally okay. In fact, it’s what we want. We’re designing this game with the intention that it will be as fun as possible. That’s the long and short of it. With previous games we’ve sought after emotional connection and meaningful story. This time around, we want to make you smile. We want to make you laugh and yell and scream. We’re getting there.

I’ll do my best to keep a relatively steady flow of devlogs and updates for this project. Now that it’s in a position where we can actually show it off a little bit, I would love to really help you get to know it a little better! I’ll see you all soon.

 

Chris

 

Oh hey! HEY LOOK!

Check it out guys! It’s an in-progress screenshot!

That’s all I’m telling you.

 

-Chris