Eternity 6: The Waterphoenix

[darien]

The Waterphoenix is a 2D side scroller, beat 'em up game I'm making. The game is the 6th chapter spin-off of a fantasy action series I've been working on for nearly 13+ years now, though this chapter is fairly straightforward in terms of the story. It's planned to make its debut on the Pandora. All the game assets are being made in 1080p HD so if it's really popular as I hope it will be, I'll port it over for some 1080p action on PC and other consoles as well.

Worked out most of the general game mechanics so far in the design plan. 7-8 levels/bosses. Gameplay-wise, it's inspired by games like Bad Dudes, Shinobi, Splatterhouse, and Altered Beast. As the player progresses they will unlock more abilities as well as companions rather than just retaining the main set of attacks. The companion will be partially AI controlled unless the second player picks up a controller. The gameplay will change dynamically depending on whether you are playing solo or not, not as a switch or anything, but simply because you have to separate your abilities to have a second player/companion. I won't go into the details now as I'd prefer it be a surprise later on.

This is the basic avatar doing the first swipe of a 3 hit combo. The other two moves get unlocked after the first level. My goal is to make the gameplay very satisfying yet challenging without handicapping the player with stiffness or making them feel like the character is incapable. I'm placing a lot of trust into my intuition with how the graphics look and how the game feels. The first level for example will have zombies and I'm hoping for some satisfying animations like when using a 2x4 in Splatterhouse causes enemies to hit the wall. In later levels 'Area Of Effect' spells or an empowered companion will make the difference in surviving against swarms of things. At times it will be very twitchy in an exciting way without penalizing the player for not 'memorizing' the level. I don't think it's fair that a player ever has to suddenly die to complete parts of a level. Below is only half of the first level width and then is followed by a separate screen for the boss.

I don't plan for every level to simply have left and right movement. I plan to allow stepping up and down the path. Also jumping.

 

[NeuTek]

Do you need music and sfx?

http://n0ko.com/neutek

Just knocked this up and thought this style would be good for the game,. kind of like wonky glitchy dubstep with powerful beats and mangled computer game style sounds

http://n0ko.com/pages/neutek/music/fight1.ogg

I can do many other styles but would love to hear this in a game. Something moody and grinding.

I can also help with some coding if that helps... and i was thinking that it would be lush if you could incorporate the strider hiryu (arcade/psx) style sabre slash... the faster you hit the button the more slashing you get

looks awesome

 

[darien]

I actually already have all of the tunes from a guy named Kevin Macleod. I also have a mass of foley sfx sounds from prior indie filmmaking, but I'm not sure if they'll cover all my needs until I start syncing them up with a working engine. Yeah I'm thinking intense slashing and light shows for the 6-7th level when the main character changes to final form, though it will mostly play itself without depending on dexterity, just timing. I want people to focus more on intuition rather than dexterity so that no one will break their Pandoras like it was Ninja Gaiden :lol:.

 

[Mr.Confuzed]

Well, I'm digging your style. You might want to consider making things look a little dirtier, if you know what I mean. I would try to avoid repetitive tiling.

Interesting logo for Marduk's Java

 

[darien]

Well, I'm digging your style. You might want to consider making things look a little dirtier, if you know what I mean. I would try to avoid repetitive tiling.

Interesting logo for Marduk's Java

Hahaha, yeah it's poking fun at Starbucks but uses Marduk, ancient Babylonian god. It's connected to the background mythology in the story.

For sure, I've been layering the details as it's come along. I totally plan to have some damage happening on the road and buildings, a bit more litter, and just more details here and there.

 

[Trip]

Really great looking game you have there. Glad you said Shinobi for insparation as that's one of my fave games of all time.
Look forward to having a crack at this

 

[Dead1nside]

Looks great, I love the art style.

 

[fusion_power]

Very impressive, the Sprite looks professional, the Animation to. ^_^

For sure, I've been layering the details as it's come along. I totally plan to have some damage happening on the road and buildings, a bit more litter, and just more details here and there.

Yes, the Level looks a little bit to "clean" at the moment. Pretty environment for a "The Sims" Game but a beat em Up needs some more "dirty details"
Are there some Animations/movements in the Background (Lights, Water, Birds...)? And besides jumping, climbing a ladder and fighting onto roofs would also fit in such a "Town Environment". many possibilities. I never was a big fan of this type of beat'em up but I sureley will test it onto the Pandora because I like good Homebrew.
I hope, some day somebody will make a "Bud Spencer & Terrence Hill" Beat em up with all the Moves and Music from the original Movies.

 

[Jourdy288]

IDK about adding grunge, Mirrors Edge is gleaming (perhaps the title could explain that...) but I like the environment you made.

 

[grasshoppir]

keep doing what you do, dont listen to these fcuktardz ^

 

[darien]

Hahah, it's cool, I like to hear the suggestions. I'm intending on making it more dirty for sure. Not [New York] dirty, but [Vancouver, Canada] dirty as that's where this story starts. Also when the second half of the level is done, I'll go over the whole thing in Photoshop and post-produce the lighting and whatnot.

This level just leads to a subway station for the boss battle + cutscene where you get your first powers. The next level+boss is on a moving skytrain and then on the roof of the skytrain, so there will definitely be some background movement where the scenes demand it. This one will have very soft, humming kind of background movement (lights, neon signs, hopefully litter movement) so when you get swarmed, it'll change the pace of everything. I actually regret one thing about the angle of this first level and it's a lack of a skyline + water in the distance, but I think this works for the claustrophobia of the first level since it's the one with zombies.

 

[Dimacus]

Looking great!
You could also have some small foreground activity, like a part of a newspaper blowing past or something like that.
I'm looking forward to try it out.

 

[PoisonedV]

Looks fantastic, will love to have some well produced titles on Pandora to not only play but to show off

 

[fusion_power]

This level just leads to a subway station for the boss battle + cutscene where you get your first powers. The next level+boss is on a moving skytrain and then on the roof of the skytrain, so there will definitely be some background movement where the scenes demand it. This one will have very soft, humming kind of background movement (lights, neon signs, hopefully litter movement) so when you get swarmed, it'll change the pace of everything. I actually regret one thing about the angle of this first level and it's a lack of a skyline + water in the distance, but I think this works for the claustrophobia of the first level since it's the one with zombies.

This really sounds interesting (Sorry, I first misread "Skycrane" and not Skytrain :lol: ). Alternation and variety in gameplay are always a important part and your Ideas sound great and like much more on-screen-action than just "a dude who fhights through a street".

 

[(naw)mcx]

Really looking forward to this.

Make sure to have shit loads of upgrades.

I like that kinda thing

 

[darien]

I was working on a corner store building on the other side of the park (second half of level 1) and I liked the new bricks so much, I went back and applied them to the first two buildings. I think this takes it at least halfway out of the 'too clean' look.

edit: for comparison

 

[streak]

Very professional work. I like it..

 

[fusion_power]

I was working on a corner store building on the other side of the park (second half of level 1) and I liked the new bricks so much, I went back and applied them to the first two buildings. I think this takes it at least halfway out of the 'too clean' look.

Small change - big effect. Looks much better now. The bricks also look more "3Dimensinal" and not so flat like the old ones.
Uh, when the Chara picks up a cup with "Marduk's Java Coffee", does he moves faster then? :lol:

 

[Cpasjuste]

What engine do you plan to use ?

 

[darien]

Small change - big effect. Looks much better now. The bricks also look more "3Dimensinal" and not so flat like the old ones.
Uh, when the Chara picks up a cup with "Marduk's Java Coffee", does he moves faster then? :lol:

:lol: Marduk will make a small cameo, speaking from the image on the cup in a semi-humorous cutscene, like the King from Katamari. I won't be leaving coffee cups everywhere because that will be like "who leaves these steaming hot cups of coffee lying around?" or "perfectly edible hamburger!", hahaha... Since he gets latent powers as the story progresses, the power ups will consist of random limited-use weapons and MP restore stuff in the form of water sources.

No plans for mini-vehicles like Metal Slug, I'm saving that for my next game. Elevator pitch --> (Emo Hero: A steamroller-riding emo kid has had enough! His iPod was stolen, he hates his Dad, and Kurt Cobain is dead! After developing powers from a freak accident, Alex Lovecraft is about to show the City of Canada how Emo he is... All uh da sudden, A CHALLENGER APPEARS. From the depths of the sea, Cthulhu comes! Alex has to decide, take on the great old one and save the City of Canada, or go home and be a family man!).

What engine do you plan to use ?

The plan is to create it all from scratch. I'd like to implement the levels in separate packages that can be loaded externally by function, and be able to build them in a proprietary level editor, but who knows. Don't want to make any promises here.