Since we finished our massive push, Fingeance is starting to look an awful lot like a completed game. In fact, we’ve had several playtesters ask us “Why aren’t you publishing? What features do you still need to add?” We take this as a sizable compliment, and every time we hear it, we get a little more excited for the big day. Today, though, I want to try to answer the question. We at Escape Industries like to dream big, and here are seven of the biggest features we want to add.

Note: Nothing here is final. This is a glimpse inside our heads, not a look into a crystal ball.

Feature 7: Better Difficulty Settings

Problem

Stephen and I do a lot of fighting over game difficulty. Here are our philosophies (quotes not exact):

Stephen: “If we lay down a Dance Dance Revolution mat in a Toddler’s crib, they should be able to beat at least Hard difficulty.”

Lane: “You know @GoldenSRL, the Minneapolis Speedrunner? If he sweats at it for a month, he might be able to earn level 2.”

It’s a classic battle. I want to cater to top-level veterans, and he wants to cater to (condescending snort) rank amateurs, arguing that they make up the “bulk of the playerbase” or something. Sounds like loser talk to me.

Solution

If we really want to make players happy, we’ll need to make a handful of really good difficulty settings. The challenge, for us, is making sure each difficulty plays well across eight levels of gameplay. Like many games with RPG progression, Fingeance players and enemies become exponentially more powerful toward the end of the game. Small differences in power multiply, and it’s surprisingly hard to give players a fighting chance early-game without letting them steamroll enemies late-game. Still, this is on our list of essential features.

 

Feature 6: Comedy

Problem

What should Fingeance feel like? Here are some thoughts (quotes not exact):

Stephen (countless times): This game should feel like a Saturday morning cartoon!

Charles (ad nauseam): What this game is missing is that comic book feel!

How close are we to these goals?

Story? Goofy tale of fish who can’t breathe underwater. Check.

Visuals? Cartoon visuals with a lot of silly shake and squash-n-stretch. Check.

Fun Extras? …Nada.

For a game that promises wacky underwater hi-jinks, Fingeance is pretty much belly-up in the chuckles department. All our work has been on the other side of the emotional spectrum. Scary bosses make hearts race with threatening attacks. But where there’s stress, there should be stress-relief. Even the most barnacle-encrusted veterans need a break sometimes.

Solution

A Fingeance campaign lasts about thirty minutes. That’s thirty minutes to fill the screen with gags and personality. Later, I’ll mention two ways we’ll be showcasing characters and story. For now, I’ll just say that we’re very excited to make enemies a little bit sillier.

 

Feature 5: Dialog

Problem

A tale as old as time: four tiny fish with a big problem. From the start, Charles has wanted to make you love these little guys, for all their quirks and charm.

I’d say we’re about 5% of the way there. Consider this benchmark: right now, Soul Calibur characters have more discernible personality than ours, and that stings more than a full-body hug from a Jellyfish Queen.

Solution

We’d like to crib a feature from Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead (huh, funny that they’re all Valve games): reactive dialog. Our characters should have quips that react to big moments like friends dying, treasure looting, and victory. This would give us limitless opportunity to show off each character’s point of view through their reactions. Since the game is in comic-book style, these quips would be placed in speech balloons next to each character.

We’re told this is difficult — first in making reactions appear at the right time, then making them not obscure the battlefield — but right now, it seems so worth it. The game feels empty with mute characters. Through dialog,  Bubbles could unleash her bloodthirst. Dorsa could revel in her greed. Finn could, at last, do something more leader-like than point into the distance.

 

Feature 4: Achievements

Problem

This is hand-in-hand with Dialog. Right now the game has no way of recognizing the awesome things you do when you play.

Solution

Adding achievements to Fingeance is a no-brainer. Achievements are always a nice way to give players a pat on the back for good play, but in our game, they can do so much more. Consider a few things we wrestle with in our progression system:

1. We want to allow rare/wild character builds like Pacifist Finn and Drone-Master Gil.
2. We want to get the message across that such builds are occasionally possible, and very powerful if done right.
3. We want the shop to be as clean and simple as possible.

It doesn’t take a game Ph.D. to see that points 2 and 3 will sometimes clash. Our shop should be spare, and approachable for newcomers, yet we still want to hint at a world of possibilities. Achievements are one way we can get around this. Through achievements, we can make suggestions that will pique the curiosity of established players while being fully invisible to newcomers.

 

Feature 3: Better Level Generation

Problem

We’ll be doing a full article on this at some point. For now, know that we’re a bit unsatisfied with the way Fingeance levels are generated. Here’s what we do now:

1. By hand, we grade the intensity and loot-value of each chunk (10-20 second slice of level content).
2. Automatically grab the theme content in each chunk (things like minefields, freezing enemies, weak points).
3. Build a level with intensity following a standard Engagement Curve.
4. Favor including chunks with themes similar to the upcoming boss.

This produces levels of appropriate difficulty, but currently feels too random.

Solution

WARNING: Pie-in-the-sky Thinking Ahead! — Yes, Fingeance will always have randomly-generated levels, but we want them to feel cohesive. We want each stage to feel like uncovering some new scheme from the Dolphin Empire. The start of a level should hint at what’s to come. The middle should slowly unveil the diabolical plot while allowing players to test their mettle against the new menace. The end should be the apex of that theme — the boss itself an expression and apotheosis of everything in the level thus far. The players should be able to put their newly-built skills up against the highest challenge and, Neptune-willing, succeed.

Realistically, thematic levels take a lot of work, due to the sheer volume of chunks needed to build levels this way. While we’ll be building toward this in coming months, don’t expect to see it in the game any time soon.

 

Feature 2: Cutscenes

Problem

Here. Take this. Just hold it for a second. You’ll need it later. Trust me.

Okay. Ready? I’m about to make an announcement.

Ahem.

Fingeance has a storyline.

Alright, sorry about that. Once you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor (glad you have that scooper now, eh?), we can chat.

Fingeance, as of March 2nd, 2016, does almost nothing to tell the audience what the heck is going on. You know you’re fighting mechanized sea creatures, but to what end? We’re positively aching for a way to tell the tale.

Solution

Achievements hint at the future.

Dialog reacts to the present.

But what of the past? Right now, we do nothing to show the plight of our main characters, and why they’re so set on revenge. We do nothing to highlight the villainy of the dolphins, and why they must be stopped. We do nothing to give more context and motivation than “dodge that bullet,” or “buy that powerup.”

We all know what cutscenes are. We need them. We have a story to tell.

 

Feature 1: Unlockables

Problem

I remember reading a while back that Pepsi beats Coke in what they call the “sip test.” It’s more sugary and citrus-y, which delights first-time drinkers. Why, then, is Coke the better seller of the two brands? Perhaps marketing alone is enough to explain the difference, but perhaps there’s a different story. Maybe that same sugar overload that makes Pepsi so sippable becomes tiresome as the can — or pack — goes on.

We run into the same issue with Fingeance, believe it or not. In games, simplicity is like sugar. A small, simple game is very attractive to first-timers. A simple game promises a short learning curve and easy mastery. Everyone is willing to give it a shot. However, that winning simplicity will soon leave a bad taste in players’ mouths: if the game really is as simple as it looks, people will soon leave it behind in search of the next flavor.

But imagine… what if you could make a drink that was sippable at first, but then, after your first gulp, slowly transformed into a mellower, more complex blend? Unlike soft drinks, games really do have this power, through the magic of Unlockables.

Solution

Fingeance, down deep, strives to be one thing above all: a big game in a little package.

For the last year, we’ve been striving toward the hallowed ground of Faster than Light, Risk of Rain, and The Binding of Isaac: a brief, fun-sized experience you can finish over a lunch break…

…and then obsess over for the next year.

See, each of the above games is a little bit deceitful. Under the hood, they’re massively complex, with hundreds of collectibles and customization options. On the surface, though, when you first pick the game up, they appear so simple. So approachable. How do they do that? A uniting strength of these games is that they evolve to match your abilities as a player. At first, only about 20% of the content of each game is available, and it’s all the simplest stuff. You’re able to dig in and rapidly understand all of your options. You can settle in and master what seems to be a simple game.

But then it starts expanding. Across multiple short playthroughs, new enemies begin to appear, and new bosses stand in your way. Similarly, your own options begin to get more complex. The game stays just one step ahead of you, never overwhelming, but never letting you be complacent.

If Fingeance wants to reach its potential, it needs to change across playthroughs. It needs to evolve. It needs unlockables.