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Tuesday
Sep232014

Devil's Dare : Beat'em Up x Permadeath

If you haven't heard, we've recently announced our latest game, a spiritual successor to Bitejacker, titled Devil's Dare. While it continues the theme of Games vs Horror Movies, with an even crazier amount of spoofs and references, the new Devil's Dare is actually a multiplayer beat'em up for Steam (PC, Mac, Linux), coming 21st October 2014. Of course, it comes with it's own unique features, so if you guys are interested, head over to the website to check it out!

Devil's Dare Official Website : http://www.devilsdare.com/

Wednesday
Feb262014

MOCK UPS 101 : GHOSTBUSTERS

So it's been the longest time since I updated the the blog, but rest assured, that's really because we're just so very busy with our latest game. It's almost done now, and will be revealed real soon... But today's update has nothing to do with that though.

Today's post is about Harold Ramis (AKA Egon Spengler), who passed away earlier this week. Like every other 80s kids, Ghostbusters were one of the icons that defined our childhood, so I took some time off work to make a little mock up as a tribute, both to Harold Ramis and my childhood.

 

The only Ghostbuster game I played as a kid was the one on Sega Genesis, which according to the Nerd, turns out to be the better one. So that being the case, I tried designing it based on the idea of making it a 2D shooting platformer. I wanted a little twist and turn for the game, so I added a few elements of other games...

Anyway, a little explaination of how I envision the game to be.

  • Play as Ghostbuster, going around and exploring a randomly generated haunted mansion.
  • As you go around, avoid traps and ghost, while collecting treasures and artifacts. 
  • Survivors location will start to show up with a count down timer.
  • Rush over to them to rescue them, which they'll drop you something helpful (metal slug style).
  • If the time runs out, the survivor die and turn into a powerful ghost.
  • Once you rescued enough survivors, you're free to clear the level.
  • Choose a perk before procceed to the next level.

 

That's the basic gameplay loop of the game... Pretty much a Ghostbuster, Dead Rising and Risk of Rain mega smash up. But then again, what good is a Ghostbuster game without a little Proton action? So here's a little break down of what I imagine combat to be like.

 

  • Ghost behavior
    • Ghost are invisible, but causes controller vibrations when they're near.
    • Ghost turn visible when they tries to attack you by charging in, giving you a chance to dodge.
    • Ghost are vulnerable even when invisible, though your proton pack can run out of battery if you go trigger happy.
    • All these are pretty much take straight from Nintendo Land's Ghost Mansion.

 

  • Capturing Ghost
    • The Proton pack fires in 8 directions.
    • Hold the fire button to fire the proton pack. Player can walk around during this, but it'll drain up your energy.
    • The ghost is "grabbed" if it comes in contact with the beam.
    • Once grabbed, the monster is "attached" to the player's beam. If player walks around, the ghost will move according to the player. 
    • Stronger monster can also struggle, pulling the player instead.
    • During grab mode, 2 types of icons can be seen. A skull, and a blue circle.
    • Player need to press "X" when the two icons intersect, to destroy the skull.
    • When all skulls are captured, the ghost will be captured.
    • In this case, the skulls are the ghost's HP.
    • While player plays the minigame, he'll also need to watch out for other ghost attacks.

The idea of the Proton Pack combat is inspired by 2 games, Alan Wake and Drill Dozer. Both game features this mechanics that sort of binds you to one enemy at a time, while keeping en eye out for incoming attacks. On top of that, there's also the satisfaction when you finally break the cast/shield, which is to be applied to the sensation of destorying the skull, and finally capturing the ghost.

That's about all for the core mechanics so far. Of course, there's lots of things to be done, like how we can set up different puzzle that makes use of the proton pack to solve. How can player use slimer as a pet. The different gadget from the show, and so much more.

The Ghostbuster universe is filled with so much good stuff, there's just so much possibility to a game like this. Maybe if enough people like the idea, I can perhaps make a little prototype and try to pitch it to whoever owns the IP.

Saturday
Dec142013

WE WANT YOU - GAME PROGRAMMER

Job Description 

Secret Base is looking for a Senior Game Programmer to work our upcoming online multiplayer, arcade beat'em up for the PC and next gen console!

As a small indie studio, everyone gets to touch on all elements of development, and to contribute your ideas and skill to all aspect of the game with a sense of ownership.

What you do in the base...

  • Make games for PC and Consoles
  • Writing / Maintaining C# code on Unity
  • Working on all levels of Systems Development Life Cycle
  • Handling online elements

What you need to enter the base...

  • Only available for Singaporean or PR
  • At least 2-3 years of experience in the games industry
  • Passion and flexibility to work on varies aspect (Handling port, server, etc)
  • Resourceful - to explore and discover optimal ways to overcome technical challgenges
  • Self motivated – because we want to pass you all the big guns, and not to micro manage your every step!
  • Smile - because we're here to make what we love :)

Bonus points!

  • Experience with PC/console development is a plus
  • Experience with developing online games
  • Passion for/ enjoy indie games like Binding of Issac, Super Meat Boy, Spelunky, Hotline Miami, etc

 

Interested applicants please send your resume to jobs@secretbase.com.sg

  • Last drawn salary
  • Expected salary
  • Availability
Tuesday
Oct092012

Secret Base at Casual Connect Asia

Casual Connect was here in Singapore, and I was invited to share my experience creating classic platformer. It's a very short lecture, but I hope it's useful for you. Enjoy!

Tuesday
May152012

Mock ups 101 : The Avengers (NES)

So after watching the Avengers movie, I decided to check out the NES game, which is what got me interested in Avengers as a kid. The game, Captain America & the Avengers was a platformer released by Data East. It wasn't great, but it had some decent controls and more importantly, I like how each character (Captain America and Hawkeye) had different movelists. If you're in the mood, you can check out Super Adventures review here.

After checking the game again, I got a little hyped up and decided to do some mock up screenshot of how I would have made the game, with updated movie storyline in tune and loosen NES restriction. I do mock ups like this every once in a while for pratisce or brainstorming somtimes, so if you guys enjoy it, I will try to post up some of my old mocks in the future.

Anyway, here's some screenies, and if you like to find out my ideas for it's improvement you'll have to hit "read more".

I gave the Level Select screen a little comic strips treatment. Nick Fury now replace Wasp for the narative and mission descriptions and the Avengers logo is used as the player location indicator. The original game had 2 characters starting from different location and when one is defeated, the other have to rescue him, which forces you to replay the levels. I'd prefer the character switch to work more like NES GIjoe: Atlantis Factor, where you have to find and recruit them to the team for good.


Click to read more ...