Wishmere – pixel 2D fighting game [out now on PC/Mac/Linux]

About:

Wishmere is an accessible brawler-fighting game that is a mix of Smash and the wilder elements of Blazblue and Guilty Gear. Our intention was to make something that was fun for single players, co-op, and versus (both casual and competitive players).

You can play it like a beat-em-up or a competitive fighting game (we have taken great effort to balance the game! :smile:)

Story:

The game’s story revolves around the eternal battle between The God of Dreams and his arch-nemesis Doubt. When the world is being overrun by Doubt’s forces, Elreed, the King empowers 6 teenagers to be his fighting team called the Wishmere in order to battle Doubt.

Gameplay:

We wanted players to feel like Wishmere could be played flexibly (single player, co-op or versus). Accessibility is a big thing for us, as we know that some fighting games are hard to get into. To address this, we’ve added several gameplay elements to keep things easy for players to jump in (simple inputs, slowing down time, Skill Trees to upgrade your character, a 4 player co-op mode)

In Wishmere, players can play with a keyboard, a gamepad or even a fightstick.

Features:

  • Simpler inputs – similar to Smash, but simpler (direction + attack button, i.e. no tilts).
  • Fate system – can use a full Fate gauge to a) slow time to a crawl (allow setups or extend combos) or b) break out of any damage
  • Edge – gauge-based character maneuvers that accentuate a character’s playstyle, depending on the character (eg: a teleport to a point on the screen or a critical hit for the next successful attack)
  • Skill Trees
  • Movement - Airdashing, running, throws and blocking
  • Several game modes – 4 player co-op beat-em-up style to take down a boss at the end of a stage; single player story mode to learn the lore or fight against your friends with up to 4 players

Progress:

Currently, we’re 85% complete! Right now, we’ve finished all work on our playable characters, backgrounds, enemies, bosses. We just need to work on story mode elements, polish up, test and add some little extras in there. We’re close, guys! :smile:

About Us:

We’re Crayder Studios, a two-man team who just happen to also be brothers (the real kind!). We’ve been working on Wishmere since 2015.

The game’s soundtrack is being done by Zack Parrish, who composed the OST for Valdis Story. As a preview, check out Wishemere’s main theme track here and a character track here.

Where can I get it?

You can get Wishmere on Early Access on Steam, Humble or itch.io. We’d love to hear from you and help us make Wishmere the best it can be: any feedback you have is good!

For more information, our website has movelists, screenshots and details about the game system.

Thanks all!

EDIT: first post rehauled

3 Likes

This deserves some attention. The animation looks nice, and the pixel FX are gorgeous.

I’m excited to test out the multiplayer - particularly the team-up supers. Any idea on whether that stuff will find its way into the upcoming free build?

1 Like

Really cool looking game, keep it up!

1 Like

@LaneDavis : Thank you for the comments! Our artist was really pleased you said that.

Yes, we are planning on having multiplayer functionality and team-up supers in the upcoming build. We’re planning to have one fully functional stage, so players can experience the game’s main features. That way we can also get some great feedback from the community.

@Grimbyte : Thanks Grimbyte!

Update #1:

Hey guys. We’ve been working the main character, whose name is Earle, Super Arts (our super moves), which have just been completed. We’re quite happy with how the Super Arts compliment Earle’s playstyle, and we’re excited for people to try it out for themselves.
GIF Image


Earle’s Level 2 Super Art, obliterating 3 enemies.

We’ve also been working on the functionality of interactable items, such as health or H-Gauge refills. We’ve implemented “Pack Enemies”, high priority enemies that carry valuable items.
GIF Image


Poor guy was just minding his own business.

We’re planning on releasing some footage very soon, so keep a lookout for that!

Update #2:

Hey guys. We’re really excited to give you our first video log for Wishmere! It’s the first of a running video series that will explain the mechanics and newest features as Wishmere is developed.

In terms of development, our recent focus was sprite layering. 2D Beat’em ups as a genre place great importance on sprite layering, as it indicates depth on what is really 2D. We have been working on fine tuning more complex sprite layering, focusing on how layering affects directional dynamic lighting. This will add a stronger sense of realism to the game.

Finally, Wishmere’s logo has received a visual upgrade!

Our latest logo was created by the talented MossedNeuronn. You can view his other works here.

Update #3:

Hope everyone’s having a good week. These last couple of days have been pretty busy for Wishmere. We’ve announced our second playable character, Safford! Safford is Elreed’s most trusted companion. We’re excited to show you his moves and playstyle soon, which will be sometime in the near future.

GIF Image


With Earle gravely injured, Safford is determined to protect him.

We’ve also been working on two player functionality, which is coming along well. The playable build will have both Safford and Earle fully playable in one stage, so that’s exciting to work on.

As things continue to flesh out, the next main gameplay element we’ve slated to develop are the stage features. Dynamic item spawns values (more health when more injured etc.) and scaling enemy difficulty based on the number of players are all heading your way. Will keep you posted!

Update #4:

Hello everyone. Time flew by these past few days and I can’t believe we’re already at the end of the month. How about those Evolution 2015 Ultra Street Fighter finals and GGXrd drama though? Great stuff by the competitors this year. This past week, we’ve worked on many things on Wishmere.

We’ve worked on Safford and he’s got almost all his attacks done and his meta is coming along nicely. He’s not a straight forward in-your-face brawler like Earle and provides an alternative gameplay style for players. He’s mid-ranged and a little slower than Earle in movement and attack speed, so he’s not so suited in the heart of the fray.
GIF Image


Safford’s Ability utilizes his sword for a mid-ranged attack.

GIF Image


Safford’s movespeed is a little bit slower than Earle.

We’ve also worked on the UI on the game, which we’re trying to get the look and feel of it right, even on our demo. And to top it all off, we’ve worked on smoothening out bugs and working on the flow of the game.

We’re nearing playable completion of our game, so a free playable demo is coming up real soon. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s feedback!

1 Like

Update #5:

Hey everyone. It’s been an extremely crazy week for Wishmere. We’re in the midst of finishing our alpha build so everyone can give it a go! We’re very close to releasing it, so we’ve been pulling up our socks very high (and our sanity might be affected).

We’re working on finalizing our actual in-game backgrounds for the game. In our screenshots thus far, we were using a placeholder background to illustrate what the actual background will look like. We’re proud to say that the new background designs for Wishmere are going to really compliment our visual vision for the game!

GIF Image


A sneak peek of the Teamup Combination!

We’ve worked on and finalized a big feature in our game this week: the TeamUp Combination. It further accentuates traits specific to the characters and at times, even demonstrates the camaraderie between the two characters through post-attack taunts and through the character animations. Every combination of characters have their own TeamUp Combination (and they’re not always an attack). The TeamUp Combination is only available in Co-Op play.
GIF Image


Doubt looms.

We’ve also finished up working on character animations for the demo; and that means a glimpse of our final boss: Doubt! He’s pure evil and has no redeeming qualities about him. He lives as long as there is evil in the world. And he also has yellow teeth and yellow eyes, so his hygiene probably isn’t very good.

We can’t wait to show you guys the demo!

Update #6

Hello all. There have been a tons of things worked on for Wishmere! The alpha build is solidifying and the day of release is near! Please do keep a look out for the alpha build release and don’t worry; we will notify you!
GIF Image


Earle discusses his training with Elreed and Safford.

One feature that has been finished and implemented for our alpha build is the Dialogue and Cutscene mechanic. In Wishmere, you can be contacted by Elreed, the King of Dreams. In these conversations (which not all are mandatory to sit through), you’ll get to know more about the lore of Wishmere, some fleshing out of the characters and even some tips on how to progress in the stage. I’d say it is very reminiscent of the Lost Vikings and Megaman X series in particular.
GIF Image


Safford exploring the new background.

We’re also very happy to show off our first actual in-game background! We find it fits Wishmere much more than the previous one. We’ve added new dynamic lighting to the stage and have reduced the ‘bevel’ in the lighting to make it more atmospheric and less ‘realistic’. Let us know what you think. We’re looking to fine-tune the dynamic lighting to the stage as we progress development. We feel this new lighting really gives it ‘presence’.
GIF Image


The Lives System in action.

We’ve also implemented a Life system, where when players reach 0 HP, they’ll be knocked unconscious and return back to life, but at a cost of a Life. We felt this was necessary as the game was starting to feel a little difficult, but worry not; it’s still a real challenge and besides, there’ll still be plenty of time to work out the kinks and play around with the meta of the game; which we’re really excited to get players in on!

Have a great week ahead, and do keep up to date with us on Twitter!

Update #7

Wow, how time passes so quickly. There’s so much to Wishmere content to get you guys up to date on. Gameplay stuff and even a Steam Greenlight announcement; so let’s get started!

GIF Image


Earle disposes of enemies while water flows behind.

We’ve finally got the animation and motion down in our first stage, known as ‘the Prologue’. In the stage, we’ve got flowing water from a sewer pipe and some faulty lights that give the sewers a dark and slightly ominous feel. We felt that both the dynamic lighting and the animation will be the factors are what will help give each stage a different feel.

GIF Image


A rough representation of the bombs mini-game. Edits like the shadows changing in size will be added soon.

In addition, we’ve also implemented our mini-game section that will be interspersed between sections of combat. It’ll challenge the players to think fast on their feet, react with strategy (hopefully) and even have a little extra fun beating their teammates (if they are playing co-op). Here’s a little teaser on what to expect with the mini-games. Expect this to be much grander in the actual game / demo!

GIF Image


Dove enters the battle, ready for the fight ahead.

We’ve also added our third playable character, Dove! She’s wields a magical bow and excels from far ranged situations, but is perfectly capable of beating enemies up from up close too. She has a variety of far ranged tools and an interesting mechanic that makes her unique compared to the rest of the cast.

Wishmere will be hitting Steam Greenlight very soon (around a week’s time), and we’ve got a great trailer coming out to show everyone what they can expect from Wishmere. In addition, we’ve got some other announcements coming up, so do stay tuned!

Update #8

Hello everyone! How has September been treating everyone so far? We’ve got an important update for Wishmere in today’s devlog; we’re very excited.

And as stated in our previous blog, we’ve got annoucements to make: first, Wishmere will be hitting Steam Greenlight within a week or so. Do keep an eye out for it!

GIF Image

Also, in the developmental team side of things, we would like to welcome two very talented people to the Wishmere project. First, we have a reoccuring collaborator in the speciality of music composition, Gas1312. Gas1312 will be doing the entire music soundtrack for Wishmere. And last but not least, we have a fantastic and talented artist in Lachlan Cartland, who will be working with us to craft the in-game backgrounds. The detail in his stages is tremendous and we’re really happy to have him on board!

GIF Image


Dove is deadly at both long and close range.

We’ve added Dove’s Abilities, which focus on utilizing her bow and arrow for far range destruction. She can zone out her enemies extremely well and when the going gets tough, has some close ranged attacks that’ll allow her to stuff enemies who fall between the cracks.

GIF Image


Safford slashing through enemies on the Space Station.

We’ve also added another stage to the game, the Space Station. It’s a space bridge built around a mysterious planet. In the background, there is a nebula-like star that looms over the players. It’s definitely our most sci-fi stage and it’ll be inhabited by artificially created enemies.

Keep a lookout for us in the next couple of days, where we’ll announce our Greenlight page and also one more character in the works!

1 Like

This looks super cool! Love the sword attack and the sewer waterfall animation!

How do you have everything set up for movement along the “z” axis?

1 Like

Thanks for the kind words TheValar!

We made the Z axis the same as the Y axis. So the Y value indicates how deep into the background the character is, which controls our sprite layering.

Are you using colliders and physics at all for jumping/knockback or doing it all manually?

We had a specific vision for the physics of Wishmere to be modeled after fighting games, so we ended up using a combination of our own mechanics and Unity based physics.

1 Like

Cool! Based on the GIFs you did a great job capturing that classic fighting game feel

1 Like

Thank you! We’re huge fans of the fighting game genre and it was really important to us to get it right. It really means a lot that you feel it’s been captured well.

Update #9

Hello everyone! Today is a big day for us and Wishmere. Character announcements and Greenlight announcements and no sleep (kidding… I think). Lots of exciting stuff these past few days!

First off, Wishmere has hit Steam Greenlight! This is the first step in being able to release the game, and we hope to release it to Steam, along with other platforms that we’ve been eyeing. First, we have to pass Greenlight; then there are a lot of exciting things in line after that. You can check out the page at: Steam Community :: Error. Do cast a vote and share it with you friends if you can!

GIF Image


Earle and Safford use their TeamUp Combination!

As for development, we’ve been working hard at adding all the Abilities and working on balance and the stage development. The game is now at a stage where it can be released as a beta! If all goes well, it should be very soon. We’ve also finalized our first TeamUp Combination! We hope it scores high on the wow-factor as its one of our favorite features. The quivering dynamic lighting on the beam was a lot of fun to get done, due to its ‘shakiness’.
GIF Image


Spritz can control enemies from afar using his telekinesis.

And finally, we’ve announced our fourth playable character: Spritz. Spritz is a lumbering giant who is turned into a robot and has the ability to cast forcefields and use telekinesis to defend himself (and his teammates) from enemy attacks; and also can be used to attack enemies. He’s a little weak on the melee side of things, but has tons of tricks to get by and do some damage.

So, do check out our Steam Greenlight page for Wishmere and cast a vote. We’re really excited to get the game out and hear everyone’s feedback; but first: Greenlight! Thanks everyone.[/SPOILER]

Very cool, but way too many gif anims on one page :wink: