- Hi fellows developers, we are a team of 3 persons working on a 2D horror rpg, our team is composed of a coder, a sprite animator and me. We are looking for a dedicated coder, altrough other positions are in need. Here is our game resume:
- “Heavy Cage: Blue Layer” 's concepts is a Nietzscheian tale, Nietzsche is a philosopher from end of the 19th century, that marked me a lot during my youth, I’ve read 3 of his books at 16 years old, one marked me more than the others and it’s his greatest work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”.
- -About the story and lore-
- Our game is named “Heavy Cage: Blue Layer” and is an horror rpg, you play as Nash who find himself alone since, he can’t even remember, times alone smoking and drinking in his house, one day he decide to find back his wife who had quitted him he don’t remember exactly why. He goes out of his house and an old man talks to him giving him advices such has: “becarefull your words, becarefull what you wishes.” Nash is not really interested by an old man gibberish and continue his walk to he don’t know really where, then arrives at a bench and decide to sit down, then fall asleep by tiredness. He wakes up and his soul appears before him along with a gun, he thinks he’s half dead because he founds also himself in a different place, a place in his memories, a “white garden” (this is the first stage, he got back control of himself for a moment and face wierd creatures through the stage, helped by his soul which can give him the ability to use spells know as “Sakrals” (this name was first used by the coder of the team, who is German)). End of the stage he find a bench in this garden, it ressemble much the one he was at before (you can save, equip/removing Sakrals, and store/equip guns arsenal (there is a shotgun, a sniper and surely more to be found in the game, not only the gun). The bench purpose is for those matters.
- After rearranged his arsenal he falls asleep on the bench once more, he wakes up in a library. This is the 2nd stage, each end of stage there is a boss and Nash find himself at the bench. 3rd stage is an hotel, and 4th is a riverside. All those 4 places are places where he spent time with his wife. At the end of the riverside stage, at the bench, he hears a voice, his wife’s voice calling to him, a door near the bench opens and they are reunited, in a different place, actually in a psychiatric center, (the bench is in fact a bench in this center) Nash doesn’t understand everything and looks tired and weak but he is happy to have found back his wife. There is a doctor that come to them and says Nash have some more few days untill he can get out of this hopsital (the real fact is that he tried to kill his wife few years ago, but she forgave him).
- At the night, in the psychiatric institut chamber, he goes out and have a wierd feeling, then a strange but familiar silouhette appears, it’s the old man from the beginning, the hospital is empty, there is only both of them there. The old man present himself as Nazsche and says: “I will kill you for having stolen my youth!”. Boss fight and Nash has lost all his Sakrals since he is no more in his memories. At the end of the boss fight, the player last shot creates a black screen with an emphasis on the gunshot, then the credit rolls, at the end, there is a quote from Nash’s wife: “I couldn’t save you my love, I’m sorry…” (fact is that Nazsche is Nash himself so Nash killed himself in his chamber with a gun that nobody knows from where he had procured himself. Nazsche is older and like an alter ego from the philosophy book Nash burrowed when he was in the library with his wife years ago). This is the 1st and bad ending. Second playtrough is the same from the start (you only keep your weapons, no more Sakrals and you keep your level too, also the difficulty is a bit raised) except that the old man doesn’t appears at the beginning and Nash finds a book named “The Third Metamorphosis” by “Unknown” at the feet of the bench. At the end of the 4th stage, the riverside, Nash falls ill, and find himself in his subconscience, this is the 5th stage, a wierd modulating place named “Alpha and Omega”. The boss of this stage is a god symbolism named “Allegoria Pathos”. After the fight he wakes up on the same psychiatric instutut bed. When waking up at his wife’s side at the hospital, this time the doctor sees the book and puts him in a more appropriate sector. Nash heals after some weeks. And this is the true ending.
- -About the mechanics-
- In “Heavy Cage: Blue Layer” there are 2 phases, a normal/defensive/evasive one and a “pointing gun” one, each time you wish to attack you first point your gun which stops the time (so the enemies and Nash). Each enemies have their RT gauge (Reaction Time gauge) and so do Nash. When you select one target in a spherical zone after aiming, which distance depends on the weapon equiped, the enemie’s gauge is highlighted at the bottom of the screen. The RT gauges are divided by RT points. Each enemies have different number of RT points depending on their characteristics and distance, some are slow, some are fast, some attack close, some faraway. RT gauge of enemies differs from Nash’s by the fact that they only have 1 point when they can attack (the nearest the enemy to Nash, the nearest to the beginning of the RT gauge the attack RT point is) , when it reach the extreme left of the gauge the enemy attacks, they reduce the distance to the left in the RT gauge by moving toward Nash.
- Nash’s RT gauge have more point depending on distance and in genenral, enough to load (cost 1 RT per exemple), uses Sakrals, and shoot. When the player doesn’t have anymore RT points it reloads calculated by the next enemy’s RT point (which means attack = distance/type of attack). All that while in “pointing gun” mode (so you don’t move while in offense). Each RT gauge works independently. There is a defensive/evasive mode which consist of breaking all RTs of everyone, which suddenly makes the time move back, so the player must be ready to move to reposition or evade real time attacks (Nash can roll), but it’s all at the player’s risk since you must re-enter “pointing gun” mode to do any other actions than rolling after readjusting position. This mode allows HP replenation over time.
- If you feel interested in working for the game for any position, join our discord here: Discord
- Thanks :=)
Some game’s music:
Some pixels arts work:
Update:
A 3D artist has joined the team. I saw his work he is incredible and free for this collaboration.
Bump.
The above products are some test while waiting for visual works 