These little guys, called guppies, are like the goombas of the sea (yes, I’m aware that cheep cheeps are the goombas of the sea, shush): they appear in a variety of situations all over the game, but are very easy to dispose of. Don’t let their cute appearance fool you, contact with these guys will still hurt. As I stated last week, because they are so easy to defeat and avoid, they don’t provide much scrap.

Guppies like the ones pictured are supposed to be quick fodder for players new at the game to get more acquainted with the concepts of the game. Sometimes they are used as a big group for fast scrap (and healing!), and sometimes they lead players into safer areas on the screen. Or sometimes things like this happen:

How you get through a giant cluster (group? gathering? flock? school! It’s school) of guppies are one example of the kinds of challenges we want to present to a group of players in game. Do you blast your way through? Try to find a way past? It’s up to your team to figure it out.

Guppies don’t just come in one form though; next week we’ll go over some variations of guppies, and talk a bit about our design goals for these sea creatures.

Last week, I left you with an image (as I tend to do):

These are called scrap. When some enemies are destroyed, they may leave these tiny trinkets behind. Being the creative fishes that you are, you’ve developed a way to use these scrap to your advantage. Players can collect scrap and use them outside of levels to build new parts to fight finned foes with.

Each player’s ship also gains a small amount of health when grabbing these collectibles, making them valuable even in the heat of battle. Don’t be afraid to be greedy either! Each piece of scrap is added to each player’s total scrap at the end of a level, and will heal every player alive when collected as well. I suppose you could add up each scrap you’ve collected yourself for bragging points though.

Enemies drop more scrap the more difficult to destroy they are, generally. But sometimes, these puppies (or should I say guppies! Hehe…hehe…heh…) show up:

They give you a ton of scrap. They can be in awkward positions though, so they’re not always easy to get.

Next week, we’ll talk about some of these:

Okay, they’re obviously fish, so there’s no surprise there. But what do they do in the game? Find out next Monday!

It’s that time again folks! I’m sure you all woke up this morning, excited about this nice spring Monday, looking forward to the robust and detailed game design articles from Escape Industries’s resident game designer/programmer/crazy person. I’ll be here every week to make your Monday mornings that much brighter. Wednesdays are for your weekly dosage of art design from artist and musician Charles McGregor, and your Friday game binge will be provided by Lane Davis, game designer and programmer.

Last week, I left you with a serious puzzle on your hands. What in the world is this thing?

This, dear sir and/or madam, is a shield. A Shock Shield to be precise. It destroys any enemy bullets it contacts. Such a gadget would be useful for players looking to protect allies from those pesky dolphin-developed foes. Many of the parts in this game are designed to have these kinds of abilities that help your teammates out. Some weapons deal out some serious damage in a short time to quickly clear high priority targets, some displace powerful opponents, some impede movement and rate of fire of the more mobile enemies. There’s a wide variety of choices available, creating vastly different gameplay experiences for each player on the team.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a team game unless you needed to rely on your team. The weapons come with some shortcomings. The Shock Shield, for instance, doesn’t deal very much damage on contact. It slows enemies a bit, but players with these equipped will have to rely on  their cannons to do most of the heavy damage. Of course, if one had a team (*wink wink*), one could synergize with a damage-focused teammate by creating openings in enemy attack patterns for him or her to take advantage of.

Next week, we’ll take a look at these lovely things:

I wonder what these could be…

Hello folks! My name is Stephen McGregor, programmer/designer for this lovely game we call Fingeance. I like long walks on the beach, staring into someone else’s eyes, and creating obscene weapons capable of destroying massive mechanical machinations of mammalian megalomaniacs.

Each week on Monday, I’ll give you some details into the mechanisms of Fingeance. My brother, Charles McGregor, will share some art and music going into the game every Wednesday. On Fridays, my dear friend Lane Davis will give you more general info about the game.

So, what is the game of Fingeance? Undoubtedly I’m spoiling some of Lane’s post, but as players you control up to four fish in underwater ships in a shoot ’em up fashion as you seek your just vengeance against the dolphin overlords. Obviously these dolphins aren’t going to just let you walk into their houses and break all their pots, so they’ve developed some really nasty enemies to keep you from them. Thankfully, your ships are also equipped with some powerful weapons.

Each ship comes with a cannon and a gadget. Your cannon is your main source of damage, while your gadget will supply you with an additional ability. What sets this game apart from other shmups is the different ways these parts will help you achieve your goal of ultimate power! beating each level. After each level, each player returns to headquarters to customize their personal ship with whatever parts are available. These parts can range from a simple straight shooting cannon, to a freezing projectile producing trident, to a heat pumped whip. The game can change each time you finish a level with such unique parts, making each playthrough special.

Unfortunately I’m not as artistically gifted as my two partners, so here’s a sneak peek at one gadget we’re working on:

What is this thing? What’s it do? Why am I asking you questions I already know the answer to? All shall be revealed next week on Monday!