Support the game - / rapid_game This one is about customizing your mech! Would like to finally start working on proper enemies for the game as many of you requested. Please look forward to it!
Have you considered balancing your ranged weapons based on manual aiming instead of auto targeting? It could be a way to distinguish your games combat mechanics from most mainstream mecha games
Something that could be considered a bit is that narrative and visuals should blend together a bit, they should help inform each other or they may become a bit weakened. Are you a rebel in a wide sweeping authoritarian dictatorship? The streets and enemies clean and ready for display. Or perhaps its not a dictatorship but a series of warlords and despots in a world ravaged by war. everything is smaller more managable to take out but perhaps confident. Smaller areas mean to some extent less ability to deal with appearences, more brutality in your face and a look to match. Or maybe the world is built upon the backs of machines, who isn't going to make use of the free quality metal right beneath their feet, sometimes very lazily stealing from it. Side not make sure even if you don't end up showing it that you do have an answer for where the food and water comes from. Having a vague idea of the workings of our lives we take for granted with all the logistics is informative and can be actually relevant depending on the tone and type of story you're going for.
This is incredible, I think having a bit more weapon variety is great and I think applying it to different melee weapons will also be great. That is to say to be greedy, give us a wicked anime scythe that does a lot of exploit damage.
Stagger system is good, but personality, i think ac3 heat system might be better, its not very different from stagger but allows you to not relay on it, by not adding damage modifyer and instead aplying DOT and slowing enemy down
@@inuxysjust a note if you are looking at armored cores heat it doesnt exist for enemies in missions, only in the arena, but it is relevant and not a half bad idea.
@@inuxysIf you're gonna play mech games to take the best out of them I would also include some old Gundam ps2 games that you can emulate or zone of enders
@@NeostormXLMAX Forced /tv/ meme that just became fun to say. It's a lot easier to say 'mech kino' instead of 'this game is looking to turn out really good'
You're literally making the game i had in my head for the past 2 years. The gameplay and aesthetics are almost exactly like what I imagined my mech game would be like. It's honestly a bit scary how close it is lmao.
I love the expanded player options for your game, especially the mecha's color sections! You ask if it's too much, but on a robot whose primary color is literally all the hard armor parts, it might even be worth dividing into two sections for more color palette flexibility- and the ability to color boosters is amazing! Also, tell michael (your artist) i see the Bellerophon (from Armarauders) DNA and i love every second of it
Also, sniper rifles might be an intresting adition, alowing you to use anti-lock on gadgets (or just being on longer range) to take advantage of enemy's inability to properly hit you, but heavy and slow, not alowing you to use them with too light or too heavy build (they basicly cannot lift it), so its much harder and more rewarding to play them on close range Also, if you planing to add different tracking systems, please take a look on how its done in ac3 with much more visual difference on different systems, that allows player to easly understand with one is better for him (you still can implement regular lock-on in this concept with similar flaws of worse tracking while using it like its done in ac6, maybe even make this part customisable too like: realy good TS, that has awful lock-on tracking vs worse than average TS, but with good lock-on tracking, that will be better on close range due to natural reasons)
The landscape reminds me of the final years of Bionicle. The settlements were built around pieces of a continent-sized robot that they eventually reassembled.
I think going a bit more into that 90's mech look will help a lot to give this game a strong personality especially in your taking Patlabor into the inspiration. I also recommend looking into Macross for ideas and design elements. So your games looks like it has lots of potential.
I love the energy output system, one of those small features that made Warframe for me when I started. Customization freedom is always something I’m looking for in a game.
This devlog is really exciting! I love that you've added mech customization additions to your weapon system. The stagger system sounds like it will add a lot of depth to the combat. I'm also a big fan of the cell-shaded art style, was cool hearing from the art perspective from Michael. I can't wait to see what you come up with next! I'm definitely going to check out your Patreon.
I would really focus on enemy design. Enemy design is the actualization of player mechanics. You need to know how the combat feels in conjunction to enemies. You might start designing enemies and find thay fighting them isnt fun or is too easy or is too hard In regards to world/lore check out the manga Blame! it haunts me to this day
Having a stagger system is nice, adding frames where the player can attack the enemy during key moments(like during wind up for big attack) gives them a bonus to stagger, causing the enemy to stagger immediately. So it provides incentives for skill and not just relying on weapons that provide heavy stagger.
This is incredible. Truly. What you guys are doing is what ive seen 99% of gamers wish for. Something simple, cool, wide learning curb for casual to advanced gameplay, and most of all FUN. Please keep up the great work.
I just discovered this gem thanks to yt algorythm. As a person who loves the mecha genre I really wish for you to succeed on this project it looks amazing and reflects the love you putted on it
I really like this project ! I reccomend something for the stagger system though. make it ignorable if the player orders to do so. Like maybe an inner extension part that makes so the weapons deals the same amount of damage when ennemy staggered. That would give the players more options for his playstyle, unlike AC6, where the only way to win is : attack to stagger, stagger, captialize, and every other playstyle that isn't that is punished. It would really give more variety imho. Can't wait to see more of this project !
First up, loving the idea of having the loadout be this customizable with two-handable weapons too. And on the front of aesthetic customizability, what qualifies as "too much" is mainly limited by the worldbuiliding I think. For example it wouldn't make sense to have free paint job choices if the player is part of a structured military force and emission colors being capable of the entire color spectrum wouldn't make too much sense if the mech's boosters are meant to run on standard rocket fuel for instance. A point of worthwhile criticism I'm noticing here in general would be the particle effects. Especially the smoke, flame and spark based ones seem to get really noisy extremely quickly, which I don't see meshing well with the low noise visuals of the cell shaded art style (which I love the look of by the way) and particularly don't seem to match the more sleek, tending towards futuristic appearance of the player's mech. That's not to say those concepts shouldn't exist, they just need to be remade to better suit the player mech's art style at least, in my opinion. On the front of worldbuilding then, I obviously have no idea what your plans are, but the look of the enemies and environments shown so far seem quite different from the player mech, more industrial, rusty, perhaps old and run down. This makes me think that the player is not from this world and that this world is effectively fallen, an old machine still running its routines and defending against intruders, but the player is bringing so much more advanced tech to the table that the odds are even - quantity vs quality. The question then becomes: Why is the player here? I'm thinking some old, powerful artifact lying deep within the machine structures or anything else that might hold value enough to dive into this dangerous venture. My mind is heading in the thematic direction of an Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider type of thing, but with the concept shifted from modern adventurers entering ancient like bronze age structures to a standard sci-fi adventurer entering the megastructures of something more rugged, industrial that has partly fallen into ruin and/or consumed too many of its own available resources to be able to expand further, an industrial post-apocalypse type of setting for that particular world. Going further with this setting, it would be interesting to have it effectively be a 3 faction fight, the player either as their own faction or one of very few operatives of a small "good guy" faction, the rusting remnants of mega-industrial machines as functionally just a static obstacle, and then some more ill-intentioned "bad guy" faction of similar origins and tech level to the player to come in as rivals and providing a sense of urgency to things. Hope this helps. Oh, also: Don't overwork yourself. There is a reason why not every day of the week is considered a work day. Pay attention to your own mental health with regards to stress and take breaks regularly.
Aside from Stagger, one enemy mechanic I really enjoy (particularly during the Railgun days of Helldivers 2) is Armor Stripping -- where enemies have high damage/stagger reduction until you tear off a particular targeted part on their body. This can not only add "stages" to a combat encounter, but also be supplemented by introducing alterations to an enemy's behavior and tactics to give the impression of progress or change, and thereby more depth. It also encourages more weapon diversity for particular needs, not just Range, DPS or Stagger (having some weapons having a better Penetration rating/multiplier despite inferior damage or range to tear off armored parts, for example).
This could be really cool. Especially in a co-op mission. You need to keep the enemy busy while your teammate stripes the armor off the rear or side of the target to get to a critical system and take the enemy down. Or even add destructible body parts on the enemy, like destroying their main gun, or shield arm, be a good enough shot to hit the head enough to reduce enemy accuracy. But this would require giving the enemy multiple hit locations with individual health amounts. Could be really cool and realistic/immersive/satisfying but would require a lot more work for the devs. :(
I really like this, the stylish mecha genre doesn't get enough love. Really like that your going the cel shaded look as well, Imo it gives more creative freedom towards design and animation. As for suggestions... I suppose something to spice up the duel wield animation? The generic lower arms and reload exist for a reason but, maybe adding some sci-fi shenanigan's could work to spruce up the reload, for example like how Tracer from overwatch reloads via time rewind. For other mechanics, considering you have the movement be somewhat robust perhaps a wall jump could be implemented. Like if you jump against a wall normally you can boost jump off of it, or if boost jump into a wall you can again boost jump off of it, could even add it to the combat by allowing the player to boost jump off of enemies to do bonus stagger damage, and if their fast enough can power shot then boost jump of an enemy to get another power shot off on them.
Good work on the project so far! Cell shading was the right call for this project. If you're unsure about whether the color customization for output is too much freedom, I think it depends on what you want to prioritize in your game. If lore and worldbuilding are something you want to emphasize, it would make sense for the mechs to run on a consistent energy source, ergo, consistent fume colors appear. Flame color varies based on the amount of heat and the chemical that's burning; a game that wants to immerse the player may want to reflect that. Different maneuvers that make the mech move quickly (like the melee dash) would require more thrust, so the energy output can look dramatically different to reflect that. (This said, I don't know if the mech's cosmetic lights and the fumes necessarily need to be tied together under the "output" category.) All this without even addressing the role of the player character in the game, and why they have access to customize their mech to this degree in the first place. On the other hand, I could just as easily see the decision to promote player choice and rule of cool. I'm stoked whenever a game gives me plenty of freedom over the color scheme of a mech or robot (Xenoblade X comes to mind personally), and my suspension of disbelief is higher when the game gives more blanks for me to fill on my own.
here are some suggestions for the game, instead of just having visual customization and load-outs, have powerups that add things like hidden missiles, a shield at the cost of movement speed, a bigger sword at the expense of defence etc, i hope you add this, cant wait for the game!
suggestion for lore stuff: i recommend adding reasons for humanoid mechs to make sense in the setting. For example, forms of Anti-Air that make aircraft not as viable, and a reason for standard tanks to not be preferred. Something that makes mechs easier, or just as easy as tanks to create. i supposed you've already thought about these vague ideas, but I'm just bringing it up just in case.
Can't wait to see where this goes and I think you've made some great decisions with the changes you've made since the last video (also wish you the best of luck figuring out the balancing). Love the added customization and definitely think the energy colors should be reflected by the color you choose as opposed to a set of default thruster colors (Still want an allmind generator in ACVI that gives you that nice aqua/teal kind of color) Also found it funny that you mentioned the size of the mech because I plan to play this with HOSAS/Pedals and was thinking about how it'd be a little a silly to "pilot" a human but this goes hand in hand with my setup now and think it does lend to the games strengths with your intention for destructible environments. Really impressed by how fluid and expressive you make the animations though the sliding boost threw me off at first (mainly because I always think of like a head forward animation when it comes to "sprinting/boosting/etc"). However after thinking about it more I could see practical applications to it with things like its smaller hitbox, sliding under enemies/environments, or having specific parts that allow you to have different kinds of vaults/attacks/moves out of the slide. If you decide to make "heavier" mech parts or even just bulkier parts with less freedom to movement in exchange for more firepower I'd hope to see the boost animation change to accommodate for the different weights and mobility (or lack there of). All in all really excited about this project and think you have the foundation for an awesome title!
Love what I'm seeing so far! Curious, with the AC6 inspiration, are you planning any other mech leg layouts for customization? Quads, tank treads, etc.
I think an important thing for customization is to figure out how much variety to include. Acrobatics seems pretty core aspect to me, but consider whether size/weight should affect play a role and how that can be played with. For example making some heavy weights not have thrusters but instead function on pure mechanical power (an example would be the main robot from the manga break blade) so while being unable to redirect mid-air, the trade off being a full on charge with high damage. On the flipside, some lighter builds could have full on flight/hover mode with extremely graceful movement, but don't do much damage charging at enemies because of their weight. Or don't, and may extra attention to bullet time dodging.
Someone else commented they like to see wall jumping of some kind. I could see light mechs maybe being able to do this once or twice off a wall before it breaks. While heavy mechs could just charge into the wall and the wall debris would damage in enemy. Like a shotgun of wall bits.
this looks AMAZING. for some addition of “Juice” to thea game it would be great if the mech could have WEIGHT to it. yea it’s not as large as a NEXT from AC4 or anything but it would be so cool if whenever you boosted along the ground or jumped, that the floor would scrape and /or break slightly. could give the feel of the game more depth and besides, you can bust through buildings like they’re paper so it would make sense
Small detail you can do with the assault rifle. When you akimbo it fold the stock, since the mech isnt shooting from the shoulder. It'll make em look like run a gun setup.
This is coming together really well, man. Honestly super hyped for it. I know you just worked on adding more movement options last video but it'd be interesting to explore movement options utilizing the environment, specifically walls (c'mon those high-heels can't be just for show). Additionally, I think the output color is a good addition however some people might want keep the colors of the energy output separate.
what im seeing rn is great, loving the cell shaded graphics, looks like a mecha jet set radio. ill put features that i would like to see, and you may want to add below. -emblem system (im one of those people who like to create a specific emblem for each of my different builds in Armored core) -how you would implement this is up to you but i would like to see the pixel by pixel approach im the first generation of armored core, as a pixel artist i would love to make cool emblems like that, the other way that is used by more recent titles in and outside AC is the different shapes and layers -an arena mode, this is one of those things i love about armored core, having just a place where i can experiment with builds against other builds and progressively fighting harder and harder matches -this would also work as a good framework for multiplayer 1v1s -the story could be about how you are working under the government or some other authority force, early on nothing really happens, but further on more and more events happen around you and you learn more about who you are working for and what they have done and what they will do. -this would make you able to branch out at different parts of the story as you side with another faction, or stay with the one you started with, which is one of the best things about the story in Armored Core: For Answer -my last suggestion will be a really big one, and i dont expect it to actually be added, but i havent seen it before and think it would be extremely fun, and that would a rougelike mode -you would have waves of enemies in one big combat space, like risk of rain 2, and after each wave you would be able to pick a random part for your mech, out of 2 or 3 options -the waves could have special attributes to them to keep them all different and spice it up, like there could be waves with extra fodder enemies you have to take care of instead of the usual mix of enemies -on certain waves, you would have to fight extra hard enemies, like an abnormally large amount of higher tier foes, or a boss character
The roguelike upgrade choices could be from salvaging down enemy mechs. As you advance in waves, harder enemies drop better upgrades. Would be super cool.
I'm going to give you a thumbs-up on the Cell-shading. I agree with everything you said: realistic graphics are better for this genre, but in an indie game it's important to triage what can be triaged.
Thankyou for not making the mechs human size, they areso much more epic when big. A surgestion i have for the energy colour is to have 2 colours for it so you can have an internal burn of white going out to red, or have an internal burn of blue going out to yellow ect.
No such thing as too much freedom for customization! The emissive color option is great and your 3D artist is crushing it. Something else you could potentially add is alternate texture sets that include decals/accents. You could make some pretty cool "skins" for these mechs with a little texture painting. Actually, now that I look at it... are the models using textures at all? I think they look great as they are, I'm just curious.
Lore suggestion: there once was a giant monster invasion (similar to pacific rim) so humanity created giant mechs to fight them off (like in pacific rim) once the monsters were defeated (possibly sealed behind a portal they came trough or captured and housed in government facilities) the mechs from the war against these collosal beasts were turned against each other and a war amongst humanity fought by mechs insued. You could take the story in multiple ways, the game could take place during the war between humanity it could take place afterwards. Also you could use the giant monsters as bosses or just use their corpses as sick backdrops for levels. Real what i’m trying to say is it would be cool if you found a way to work giant monsters in to the story.
This is really interesting, you could add a few references to other games and shows like Gundam or Pacific Rim. I’m excited to see how this game develops and evolves.
This looks awesome. Super excited to see how this goes. I think the output color option is very cool. People can pick if they have normal Fire for boosting, or white fusion power, or some form of cyan future thrust power, or whichever color they would like to see blaze across their screen. :D The gun stats sound interesting and would be helpful is keeping game play from becoming boring and stagnant. The cell shading looks good, gives it a Borderlands feel. Making the mechs 6 meters tall puts them more into the area of "mecha" instead of human size which is more like "power armor". Mecha bursting through a wall, or hip checking a truck out of their way is far more satisfying than a human in power armor jumping though a window or parkouring over said truck. ...Though, having a 6 meter mecha parkour over a small structure or downed enemy just sounds awesome now that I think about it. The destructible environment looks like a lot of fun and put a huge grin on my face when you showcased it. Very satisfying and super cool. Change up the lore as much as you need. We don't need to know what it is until you're ready to tell us what you've decided you like best. It might help to write out a few bullet points of a timeline and think about each point. For example; - Rise of Major Nations (World War 1 to current day maybe), - Decades of technological advances (beginning of small or light Mecha technology), - World War 3 happens causing worldwide destruction and devastation, - The remaining nations outlaw war, or the global population is too low, causing each nation to safeguard its people by using advance drone technology to pilot mecha during various conflicts/missions. - Could be environmental reasons for using mecha. The Last War made the earth uninhabitable, and everyone is either on space stations or underground "cities". Mecha could be remote piloted, or they have life support systems for the pilot as the enemy could use jamming tech to seize remote controlled mecha. - Some of the missions could be guarding drones and other devices being used to re-terraform the earth, or maybe people are finally getting back to the surface and trying to survey and learn what happened. - Earth is ruined, or we crashed on a new world. - Political corruption, a new cold war/arms race, or like Armored Core corporations are doing whatever and pursuing their own goals. - We could be working for a company, military group, mercenaries, or some ragtag rebellion raiding facilities or scavenging old locations like derelict spaceships for parts and upgrades. Or have all 4 factions in the game all doing their own thing and we have to deal with them in various ways. All kinds of things could happen, all different story directions. Whatever sounds cool and entertaining man.
Just came here from the shorts and I comment on how the mech is human sized now that has changed 😅 Don't mind either way, plus the destructible objects makes more sense that way. For the story, I want to say to it's not that important but sometimes, a good story can goes a long way. Idk if your mech would have a pilot or not, but my idea that they're left behind by humans that create them as they left for other planets for resource. Years later, the mech AIs grows their own sentient minds and then, resource war ensues.
I can't comment on much, this is the first video I've seen, but I think you should add a fifth colour region in order to add another set of colour regions to what is currently the "Primary" region of each mech. I imagine it would take the complexity of player models up somewhat, and be more work, but still less than complete colour control of every region individually and it would go a long way to make the palette's people make nicer.
didnt expect my comment to actually be noticed but im glad it was considered, i'll be sure to keep following the project and see where it goes, because so far its extemely promising! im looking forward to all the enymy ideas we'll see in the next log! keep at it and remember to take breaks! wouldnt wanna burn put with a project this cool!
Man i like how you did dodges and slow mo, dunno why but your dodge system looks much more cinematic than other games, would like to play it for sure. Keep up the awesome work!
I saw someone mention the areas make them think of bionicles. For the world building, I think that would be really cool. Having the world scattered with remains of ancient larger machines that have been built upon or around by the current civilization would be really cool. There can even be a scavenging lore/mechanic as the current existing societies try to replicate the more ancient technologies and incorporate the still working tech within their own. There are a lot of factors to also consider such as universe size, "is it a world or a system/galaxy" Do we wanna tell a darker or brighter tone in the story etc. Definitely interesting project. Would love to spin some ideas
indie devs still making better games than big corporation's I see and i fully support but please make sure to take care of yourself every now and then tho
Looks amazing. The cell shading really improved the art direction, and it looks almost like a mech manga now! Also, all the cosmetic changes are awesome. I love that you can change the color of your effects/lights, and that you have the option for holding your sword or rifle differently!! As for lore, a cool idea could be that human civilization has been unknowingly trapped/contained in a massive dome, and your goal is to escape to the outside, where the world is completely different (or space)! Regardless, super excited to see what you come up with!
The output color should be fine, especially since it's singleplayer. Warframe had to get rid of it affecting status effect coloring for clarity, but overall colored flames work well in action fantasy. However, I would make "Fuel" or "Reactor" a mech part like Legs and Arms, so energy colors come in limited set and with associated stats.
For the rocket gun? You might be able to draw from the actual gyrojet, having a semi inverse damage drop off. The closer you are the less damage it dose And i think having lore wise a multipurpose mech, since the most realistic use for a big human mech would be workloads stuff like digging, hauling, construction, ect. It also opens up the idea of a shovel melee weapon and a more valid uses for hammers that maces can already do to an armored humanoid
I am looking forward to see more of this game being built brick by brick because this makes me understand how to go about my videogame concept.Even though I've been writing the synopis for 2 years now....😅
This looks really cool! One thing I think would be both cool/fun and maybe make some things slightly easier is to have overlaps between character and enemy weapons, such as a gun ripped off a robot held like a rifle or pistol, or a melee weapon made from one of those four-legged walker's legs, as well as being able to use enemy mech weapons. It'd be fun to use enemy weapons and, hopefully, it wouldn't be hard to implement them as the models would be mostly the same for both.
This could be really cool. Like almost running out of ammo, at the end of a long mission and having to use enemy guns to make it. Very similar to an older game I played a lot called Metal Fatigue. Could knock the arms off enemy mecha, grab them and use them, and take them back to your base and research them and start making that part. Same with legs and torsos. Very similar to BattleTech/MechWarrior salvaging mech parts if they were lightly damaged. Parts salvaging has always been an interesting and satisfying way to unlock new parts and functions. It's like getting a chest of random loot at the end of a dungeon, or like a mini-Christmas.
This looks awesome! Keep up the good work, and always remember not to over-promise (although it seems you'll have no problem delivering a high quality output). I love the cel shaded look and the design choices you're making seem rad : )
Cell shading looks really good, definitely like it more than the realistic style. On another note I really like the ability to change the output (flame?) color and hope it stays in the final game.
@inuxys The explosions after falling feel weak, withou power, Options that i think that can be used 1 - Almost on the ground - Turn on : Fast burst of the turbines for 1second and turn off after 0,5 2 - The turbines have a little and less fire, and after touching the ground the fire becames the normal speed and size
2:52 absolutely LOVE the output color system, only game I can recall that has this kind of feature is warframe, having this level of freewill for customization is great. also maybe somekind of audio/visual communication for the timed dodge could help? like dodgeable attacks having a visual indicator, love a good missile warning sound.
This is amazing! Well done! It would be amazing if you could add pilots and cockpit animations and the ability to play as pilot and enter your mech in the heat of battle or something close to that.
I think adding a sort of ultimate weapon you can only get by beating the game on a certain difficulty sounds like a good way to encourage players to beat the harder difficulty’s. The weapons can range from Chainsaws to giant hammers and laser swords. They would be very powerful but also be very difficult to use and maybe even slowly drain your hp but the weapons themselves would make the payoff worth it
Would love to see some resistance or slight friction/ subtle stagger to the character animations to busting through buildings so it doesnt feel fake. There should be a few milliseconds of impact/ setback to the character without changing the flow of movement drastically so the collision has substance. I love the decision on armored core, amaim, daemon x machina sized mechs. They are the best size for this type of play style in the true mech genre from my opinion.
BTW going for Cell Shaded graphics its a awesome idea! even more if you can try to emulate some of the effects from old animes, like filmgrain, cell bloom, etc
