Posted by Ross
Thu, 29th May 2014
Hi everyone,
This week things are reaching a turning point in Flame Over. You might even say things are heating up (sorry, couldn’t resist). Team LJ has now completed all the assets needed to build our remaining levels, with the exception of a few specific mission-based goodies. I can’t begin to tell you how exciting it is to have reached this point at last! Now there’s a ton of really cool stuff for us to create levels with, like this selection of lovely Factory machinery:
Above: Just a small selection of the contents of our Factory theme
What’s really great about having reached this point from the team’s perspective is that we are now freed up to spend time in the two most exciting areas of development: 1) adding more features to the game (we’ll be getting our hands dirty with player animations, new sounds and improved GUI and player feedback, etc) and 2) polishing and improving on the content we already have. Both of these things have been slowed up of late due to the ongoing optimisation of various level generation and fire control systems, plus of course the sheer amount of content we’re trying to pack in to the game.
Above: A Refinery room sample from our Lab theme. Chemicals will bring their own hazards…
Flame Over is a game that features WAY more content than we’ve ever included in a project before. It’s so awesome to have reached a point where we can concentrate on making new level content and on really getting the basic elements of gameplay feeling right. I am super excited to see what happens in the next 2-3 weeks as stuff that we’ve not looked at in ages will be updated, plus we’ll be adding as-yet-unimplemented features, all of which will hopefully bring us up to that next level of quality that we’re striving for!
Above: A Chemical Storage room. You can be sure that tackling a fire in here will be a tough ask!
So, we can now (kind of) see the light at the end of the tunnel and our core game will be complete soon, but in the meantime there’s still a ton more back-end stuff to be done. Then, it’s just a question of polishing and balancing and getting the game fit to publish.
All of the above does mean we’ll be able to show some actual footage in the near (ish) future, so get ready to have your gaming fires ignited!
Until next week, flame on!
Al
Posted by Ross
Fri, 23rd May 2014
Hi everyone,
This week I’m going to take you through what’s been happening with Flame Over in the last 7 days. We’re at a stage where we have two of our four in-game themes fully designed, with the other two having all their hundreds of assets built, save a few remaining items and four mini missions or so. We’ve also completed our first bunch of hazard rooms which have been a real blast to create. These involve Infernal Industries’ (that’s the building Blaze is saving) rather over-the-top security measures that have been added to the Executive rooms. Just beware of deadly laser walls and destructive sentry guns – that’s all I’ll say on that front! ;)
As we’ve kinda closed the door on some of the finished content, it’s natural that we begin to think ahead to the end of the project and balancing our gameplay some more. Luckily for us we have a ton of easily editable game stats and parameters to tweak which can profoundly affect the speed, difficulty and the game’s overall level of danger in just a few moments.
With that said, although it’s easy to change settings, hitting the sweet spot to create something truly awesome can be quite a tricky process. In the last couple of days we’ve been tweaking these stats a whole bunch, primarily those to do with fire and health loss/regeneration and despite some initial concerns on my part, I think we’ve hit something pretty special now. Our levels have evolved into a tighter and far more varied experience and seem really jam-packed with fires that come at you from every corner. This has been a really tough proposition in terms of keeping the game’s frame rate locked at a minimum of 30fps, which so far I’m happy to say, we’ve achieved!
As you might expect, the fire in the game is really proving to be a fearsome opponent. It builds at a rapid pace from small, slow burning isolated fires up to raging infernos that can engulf an entire room in seconds. That’s especially true in the posh and more densely furnished rooms of the Executive suite, which have tons of flammable materials to burn. Fires can also create other hazards when they reach their peak intensity too, including unstoppable walls of flame and moustache-singeing backdrafts, to name just two. These can both damage poor old Blaze as well as spread fires from room to room so you’ll have to think very carefully before opening any doors!
When the flames reach their peak, they will appear to attack Blaze by spitting out large fireballs in his direction. Having different sized fires threatening the player in different ways, rather than just causing damage when in range, has proved a really popular addition with the team here. It’s definitely something we’re really looking forward to exploring in more detail in the next few weeks. All very exciting stuff!!
So, it’s been a tough week with lots of changes happening and lines being drawn under some content that has taken ages (you wouldn’t believe how long, trust me) to get right. But all-in-all things have reached a new height in terms of fun and playability which I’m really happy about :)
That’s all for this week. Have yourselves a great weekend! ^^
Al
Posted by Ross
Fri, 16th May 2014
This week I’ll be looking at some of the powerups found within Flame Over and how they are issued to Blaze Carruthers as the player guides him through the burning hallways of the Infernal Industries building.
As the player progresses through the game they’ll be awarded good old fashioned cash (pounds sterling, of course) as they extinguish flames. The money is issued instantly as a fire is put out, zipping from its point of origin to be sucked towards Blaze in a highly satisfying manner. Kerching!
Soon, the player will accumulate quite a lot of moolah, but what can good old Blaze spend it on? The answer? Powerups! That leads to another question… where does Blaze buy these powerups? From Infernal Industries’ very own Caretaker!
The Caretaker stoically mans his office to the last, and upon entering, Blaze will see a selection of 3 powerups on the shelf in front of him. If you have enough coinage you can buy a powerup by walking up to it and pressing [SQUARE]. The Caretaker is the stern silent type, but his terse intimidating demeanour doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. He’ll soon tell you if you don’t have enough cash and even if Blaze sprays him, he’ll understand… probably.
Here’s a look at a few of the powerups Blaze can acquire on his travels:
Speed Boots: These winged boots give Blaze a much needed turn of speed.
Large Tank: Boosts the capacity of Blaze’s water tank, giving him longer between refills.
Divining Rod: Gives you a huge hand in finding hidden items during gameplay. Can save masses of time!
Gas Mask: Protects Blaze from noxious chemicals.
That’s not a list of all the powerups in the game, but hopefully this glimpse gives you a clue as to the kinds of exciting toys and boosts that Blaze can get his hands on during a Flame Over game session. For more info, be sure to join us back here next week.
Until then, keep the home fires burning!
Al
