Yes Duck Game is also one of the games we took as reference. We don’t have weapons than can be picked, instead there are a wide variety of characters, each one with its own playstyle.
The game has 3 main pillars: the characters and dynasties, the Warden Spirits and the evolving levels.
This will be a long post, but bare with me. I will try to expand on how the game plays.
Characters
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[]Controls
They depend on the character but as an overview these are the buttons and inputs:
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[]Jump, all the characters can jump and doublejump, the height is the same. Also all characters can slide walls and jump from them.
[*]Action1 and Action2, these are mainly the attack buttons, but not all of them are real attacks as for example the Gunslinger uses Action1 to shot and Action2 to reload, but this is character dependent.
[*]Defense, usually an invulnerable roll, but again this depends on the character.
[*]Super, once the super is charged it is used to release the SuperFeud Attack. There are 8 different and are Dynasty bounded.
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In terms of movement, there are 3 different running speeds, and if affects how far a player can jump.
Those are the basic buttons but let me explain two different characters as an example of how these works.
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[*]Ragnar
Ragnar from the Viking Dynasty is one of the strongest melee characters, usually the depth of attack is higher in characters that have only melee options than the ones with ranged attacks.
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[*]Attacks
http://i.imgur.com/y662sW5.gif
Ragnar can perform the normal attack with Action1 on the ground and in the air.
http://i.imgur.com/wBfBwIA.gif
Action1 + Up while grounded does a powerful attack upwards that elevates the character even higher than a normal jump, so it is another way of moving around the level.
http://i.imgur.com/Yr6mPQF.gif
While in the air Action1 + Down stops the character in mid air for a moment to propel himself downwards hitting everything until it finds ground.
http://i.imgur.com/AUvq5s6.gif
Action2 can only be performed in ground, and it is a really fast and furious attack forward, to catch enemies running away.
[*]Defense
http://i.imgur.com/yaFvVOo.gif
While grounded and not moving the defense button, uses the shield. Once out if the button is kept hold he can move around with it, protecting himself.
http://i.imgur.com/sp2RHdQ.gif
Defense + movement on the ground performs the invulnerable roll.
http://i.imgur.com/jKxoYON.gif
In the air, it does an air dash that can be done in 8 directions.
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This character has many movement possibilities apart from the usual run and jump.
Molly
Molly the knife thrower, this character belongs to the Cowboys Dynasty, is a small and fast pain in the ass.
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[*]Attacks
http://i.imgur.com/Y3wiwtd.gif
Action1 throws the knife while grounded or in air in 8 directions. She has up to 3 knives, that needs to recover from the environment to throw again.
http://i.imgur.com/KWzrTe6.gif
Action2 if she still has ammo does a quick, close melee attack with one of them.
http://i.imgur.com/jUSjlTp.gif
If she has no ammo instead, performs a raging charge using the horns of the bull skull she is wearing. This charge can be maintained until she collides with a wall.
[*]Defense
http://i.imgur.com/cohOkIB.gif
The defense option, in this case, is only the invulnerable roll while grounded.
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You can see that these are two pretty different characters, Ragnar melee heavy oriented and Molly a fast, slippery ranged oriented character, but still able to protect herself in close combat.
We have up to 40 characters, each one different, with its own attacks and abilities.
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Warden Spirits
They are the ancestor of the Dynasties that appears in between character deaths for 5 seconds, and allows the player to do 3 different actions:
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[]Select which dynasty member will appear next from the remaining ones.
[]Position itself to spawn that member.
http://i.imgur.com/kavvoIf.gif
[*]Bother the rest of the players.
http://i.imgur.com/WBQn6nc.gif
Each Warden Spirit has an ability that annoys the other player, they can do a knockback, darken the screen, stun, etc… Even if you have lost the match you will still be playing with the Warden Spirit and can affect the final outcome.
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Dynamic Levels
It was something we had really clear from the beginning. We did not want static levels, we wanted dynamic levels in which, something was happening all the time, lightning destroying the Drakkar, trains leaving or pagodas burnings. The level won’t be the same at the end of the match.
http://i.imgur.com/4tBCTa2.gif
http://i.imgur.com/g6U2EBV.gif
There is still a lot I can explain if I go in detail, but I hope this makes a clearer idea of how the game plays.
With so many characters and variety, it is really hard for us to keep it balanced. We have tried to balance it, and create characters that are better against others and vice versa.
There is still a lot of data that we need to gather and analyze, but knowing that the fighting community is really good at details, have a lot of experience and probably can see things that we even never imagined can be done, we would love to hear your insight if you are willing to test the game.
