Pixel Boy - Pre Beta (WIP)

Introduction
Pixel Boy is a game about a 2D boy whose quest is to escape the confines of a 2D environment and find happiness in a richer 3D world. In pursuit of his quest he dungeoneers, throws pixels, powers up and deploys an action RPG strategy shooter influenced by the top-down levels in Contra.

The Devs
I am Dominic Obojkovits, a South African programmer who has worked on games for many years. My partner is David Nickerson, an accomplished Canadian artist (who worked on GTA IV) who has been working with me on this project. David and I both entered the indie gaming world simultaneously and have been bleeding to get this game up to scratch. We aim to sell the game through Steam and various other Digital Distribution sites. The game is currently being coded for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. We will tier the releases and hopefully release PSN and XBLA or XBLIG versions thereafter.

The Game
The basic idea of the game is that in Pixel Boy’s quest for a 3D world, he engages an action RPG strategy shooter mechanic which occurs in a randomly generated dungeon where the player progresses deeper and deeper into the dungeon and faces commensurately tougher challenges the deeper the player goes. The game has a very streamlined levelling system where the player applies custom variable stat points to one of five fixed stats through an upgrades screen. The stats the player has to choose from to upgrade are as follows:

- Health (Directly increases the players health)
- Damage (Basic damage increase)
- Range (How far the player can shoot)
- Speed (How fast the player can move)
- Fire Rate (How fast the player shoots)

The upgrade system is very meaty and allows the player to truly feel the choices he/she makes and thus provides the player with a variety of ways in which s/he can finish the game. Altering ones allocation of the custom stats vastly changes how different characters handle, also meaning the players will have the opportunity to discuss a variety of different "builds" in which we can see different players building their characters out differently according to their gameplay styles. We think this iterative gameplay process is very cool as it allows for the characters to start out on the level and then to grow based on the players’ style and choices. The game is extremely challenging so it does force the player to allocate their custom stats points shrewdly, or else face a world of pain.

The Unique Element
Up until now I've been describing what appears to be, on face value at least, a fairly simple cookie cutter, top-down dungeon crawler with an interesting stats system. We believe, however, that the unique element which makes Pixel Boy an entirely different game and places it in a class of its own is the Power Up System. It works like this: the player has three spaces in which they can carry a Power Up and there are four types of power ups:

- Active (actively alters your bullets)
- Passive (Grants you a passive firing ability)
- Capper (Grants you a great ability but caps on of your stats at its lowest possible value
- One Time Use (Does something amazing but only once, is used by button press)

The distinctive elements with the Power Ups is not only that there are 14 different Power Ups, but that they all stack with each other and aggregate to create a multiplier, compounded effect. For example, if one picks up a spread-shot power-up they will shoot 3 bullets instead of 1, if they pick up another spread shot Power Up they will proceed to shoot 5 bullets instead of 1. If one picks up one split shot Power Up, the bullets will split in half after 1.5 seconds, and if they combine this with another split, the bullets will split after 1.5 seconds and split again after another 1.5 seconds. If the player combines any number of split-shot Power-Ups with a spread-shot Power-Up they will proceed to create a weapon which shoots three bullets that split after 1.5 seconds and could split again based on whether or not the player has another split shot equipped. Whilst this does sound rather complicated, it's a lot simpler when playing the game and is an immersive, engaging experience. The Power-Ups one receives depends on ones random luck, and provides the player with a multitude of different experiences yet is also affected by the players’ preferred stat builds which can evolve to better suit their line up of Power-Ups.

The game itself is extremely difficult and score is always awarded for better play. One can load a level after one dies but doing this will reset your score to zero (this means the game is unforgiving but not quite as unforgiving as rogue-like styled games). This means that players can play to finish the game and that good players will play for a higher score. We are intending to offer prizes to those who can achieve the highest scores playing Pixel Boy as it is very skill-based gameplay.

The Controls
With all unity games the controls have full capability to be re-binded (Love you UNITY <3)
but the default controls are as follows:
W,A,S,D for directional movement.
Mouse for aiming.
Left Click for shooting.
Right Click for certain power Ups melee attack.
C for character sheet.
E for action or activate.
Q to use a One Time Use power up.
G for the power up book.
M for your map.

The Release??
We have not as yet set a release date, however we are planning on releasing in Q3 this year, so if anything I have said interests you please spread some good cheer and check this thread regularly as I will be posting more screenshots and our change-log. We will be launching the website and trailer soon so links to those will be added to this thread soon. Here are some screenshots.

Website: http://pixelboygame.com/
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CC8el2syRU&feature=player_embedded
DevBlog: Basically here, however I will be starting one on blogspot soon.
Twitter: @TeamPixelBoy
Greenlight (Vote us up!): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=93144574&searchtext=pixel+boy


http://i46.tinypic.com/dxd8ol.jpg (Click here for larger image)


http://i50.tinypic.com/zpkqp.png (Click here for larger image)


http://i45.tinypic.com/rlcdgw.jpg (Click here for larger image)

 

Hey, those screenshots look awesome. The gameplay sounds like it would work pretty nicely and the overall story sounds pretty good. I'll be sure to pick it up when it's released. Best of luck, can't wait to see the final product!

 

Looking good. Interested to see this in action.

 

Looks awesome. Can't wait to see it in action.

 

While it's not my "type" of game, I really like the style and the power-up concept. Plus, you HAVE to love a game that allows you to eat mushrooms

 

Looks great!

 

really nice and polished up. I also want to see this in action. Keep up the good work!

 

Hi all!
Thanks for all the kind words!

The Music
We hadn't yet mentioned this, but we have an amazing artist doing the music for the game. Pyramid! Not only is he very talented but he is also fairly well known in the indie music scene. *Feel free to listen/pick up his music. He will be releasing a game soundtrack alongside the release specially for Pixel Boy.
http://0pyramid0.bandcamp.com/


http://i48.tinypic.com/jz6w46.png (Click here for larger image)

Updates
Dave and I have been spending time adding polish to the Front End and various other GUI elements. *Both of us have come up with a design which really captures our vision for "Pixel Boy". We also implemented colours for the passive Power Ups, to make more of a visual impact on Pixel Boy. To achieve this, the colour of Pixel Boys' bullets change based on the passive combinations he has equipped, as well as how many passive combinations he has equipped.

Here are the screens, hope you all enjoy. Thanks again for all the positive feedback.


http://i49.tinypic.com/106hj5d.jpg (Click here for larger image)


http://i47.tinypic.com/2pqji36.png (Click here for larger image)

 

looks great! nice work on the draw style lovin' it

 

The art style is awesome! That's all the feedback I can give you right now since there's no playable demo
Hope you'll release a playable version soon!

 

Hi all!
What a couple of days it's been for Dave and I!

Updates
Over the last two days, we had fun adding a few GUI elements to the game. We added a text effect for the critical shot power up. This Power Up now displays how much damage you have crit for with floating text over the player. We also added a Gun book to inform players on what the various Power Ups effects are. Once the player has picked up a Power Up, it will display a HUD warning that you have not collected this Power Up type before. Another GUI element we added was a level completion screen which shows up after the player finishes each dungeon level, this screen informs the player on how well they played. Here are some screen shots, enjoy!

In depth post on the monsters coming soon!


http://i48.tinypic.com/3495rtc.png (Click here for larger image)


http://i47.tinypic.com/14j255l.png (Click here for larger image)

 

Looks awesome so far, good luck guys!

 

Hey dude, loving the art direction. Looks amazing! Sounds like its all coming together hey. Good luck with the release! (Saw your status on FB).
Kevin

 

Hello, We have submitted the game on Steam Greenlight


Here is a link to the steam Greenlight
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=93144574&searchtext=pixel+boy

Here is a link to our website
http://pixelboygame.com/

Please share the Greenlight link and vote it up if you can! Huge thanks for all the support.


Dave, Dominic

 

Support us on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pixelboygame

 

Hey great work!

Let's join forces: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/151050-Greenlight-Unity-collection

 

Thanks to Total Halibut for this amazing review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KbZ27G2j-M

Please check it out guys, as it will give greater insight into what our game is.

 

Looks great AMAZING idea , the only thing i missed is the character shadow , hope you guys implement that in the final version..

M-

 

Splendid work you have done for this game looks very promising!

EDIT: Damn seems like TotalBiscut did WTF is. Nice!

 

Hey, this looks like a pretty fun and unique game. I love the graphics you have going here and the pictures of those stacked spread-shots look crazy XD

 

very nice.. good to see a more serious top down shooter being developed

 

Hello all,


Thank you for your kind words, feedback and support.

Currently we are implementing a ton of new core features. Here is an update as to what we have been working on.

Some of the features we are implementing right now are:

- Crafting system allowing the player to collect ores to craft armor that will increase your defense.

- Crafting system allowing the player to collect gems to craft low tier Power Ups into a higher tiered Power Up.

- Elastic wall rooms which bounce enemies and the player with physics to the centre of the room.

- A blocking system. By using the space bar the player can temporarily block incoming attacks.

- More Power Ups, Power Up list is currently at 16 unique and we have plans for lots more.

- More unique boss fights, possible mini-bosses.

More updates soon!


Thanks again,
Dave and Dom, Giant Box Games