Games Technoforce - 2D Local Multiplayer Scroller

What Is Technoforce?

Technoforce is a 2D local co-op game with a focus on teamwork. Up to 3 players work toward clearing levels of enemy robot infestations that have taken over various locations around the galaxy. Teammates work together not just to survive, but to help save humanity from its greatest threat!



Technoforce is our first real project. We have made various other small games but we are eager to put what we have learned during the past year to work. We have been working on Technoforce for quite some time now are and super excited to get some feedback on it. At the moment we don't have the demo ready but should have something playable soon.

Right now most of the hard tasks are complete. The game operates on a per-room basis so the camera moves to each room upon entering or exiting a door. I also got "room wrapping" completed so the player can seamlessly move from one end of the level to the other. If things go the way we hope(but we know how that goes) we will be completely done in about a month or two. But as the saying goes the last 10% is a killer.

We really miss games that provided fun local multiplayer experiences and hope that this game reaches that mark! I will be updating this post regularly as we move along and look forward to sharing more of what we are working on!

Any comments are much appreciated! Thank you for reading!!!

UPDATE January 6, 2017:


So many things have been added since we started in earnest about a month ago! We have changed much of the lighting and have multiple levels ready on the art side. We really are looking at a Spring release of our game and are excited about it! Till then thank you again for reading and see you soon!

UPDATE May 1, 2017:

Much has been added during the past few weeks. As mentioned below we have decided to change our name to Technoforce. Additionally, we have been adding sound effect, art revisions, and also have our first cover image made. Needless to say we are still alive! Hopefully, we will have a new update here in the next couple of days/week.

 

Hello everyone!

I am the artist/programmer working on this game with rogueknight.
In Technophobia, you have nine characters to pick from, each from its respective
team color.

The art style I've tried to go for (emphasis on tried, I'm not that good lol) is more
of a cartoon style and not super realistic, and have tried to make them very expressive
with their face.

The characters are just a varied group of brave souls who have been given the dangerous
task of clearing out this terrible alien robot infestation across the galaxy.

I wanted to show you the nine characters you can pick from. Also someday
after the game launch we would like to add new character packs as free DLC.

Some characters may go under some minor changes before we are done but this is the core nine.
That's it for now, but in another post I would like to show some of the alien robots that you will
encounter!

Thanks for reading!

 

Hello once again!

We have made some nice progress this week on various fronts. We are really hoping to have a playable demo available by tomorrow. Personally I have been working primarily on the weapon and AI scripts. With a lot of the work being the clean up of bad prototype code with understandable code.

Right now I am happy where we are at! The player can pick up any weapon currently in the game and the enemies have basic AI implemented with various flavor for the different types. The next goal is to work on some back end requirements for the game. Input mapping, saving, and some more AI fine tuning is next on the list.

I'm really excited that soon we can also get working on local multiplayer support for up to 3 players. We have tested with two players but at the moment the focus has been on the more mundane barebones aspects. Since 3 people can't share a keyboard implementing Xbox controller support is a must have feature. I'm really hoping that when we play test with 3 people the game will have that teamwork factor that we are striving for. Enough of me rambling though...

Thanks again for reading! Till next time...

 

I've been working today on the art and AI for the enemies. Here is a look at them, feel free to tell me what you think.



The first enemy starts as an egg, then hatches and jumps onto the player draining health.

The second enemy in the middle can roll into an invincible ball knocking you back and causing damage.

The last enemy is hard to defeat. It can shoot acid at you, and if you let it get to close it will charge at you dealing a lot of damage.

Comments and suggestions are welcomed!

 

I have been finishing up on the AI for the middle class enemy. Some of the things he can do is roll into a ball and knock the player down. his shell is impenetrable, and shooting could make him bounce back at you again! Just need to plug in the animations and finish up on some of the code and he should be done!

We have two more classes that still need to be created. The game is feeling good now but with the next two classes we think it will make the game play quite a bit more dynamic. I have some concept artwork for them now but I think they need some reworks before they could be finished.

But just to leave you with a thought, whatever one of these classes are.... It lurks in the shadows!

 

Welcome to Centaurus 6!

 

Hello again to everyone!


I have a new appreciation for AI now. We had the basic functionality mostly there and I figured we could knock out the rest pretty fast right? I was wrong. The AI in Technophobia is pretty basic. However being my first time trying to implement believable behaviors was a lot more difficult than I had realized.

But things are good now! The enemies can track and follow, they have various states based off what type of robot they are, and overall we are quite happy with the way they have turned out! We also have a system in place that allows the enemy to easily check what level we are on and spawn accordingly.

Up next we are going to work on a few finishing touches to the levels and any bugs we can find. Improve as much as we can and release our first working alpha test on Feedback Friday. Hopefully get some critique and improve things we might be missing.

Thanks for reading and see you very soon with our first playable demo!

P.S We just started a twitter account @coverfiregames! for those who would be interested. We try and post something once a day about what we are working on.

 

Today's work mainly focused on getting the game to its first alpha stage.

Getting all of the game play mechanics finished to where it is playable. After that though we are really looking forward to adding additional features, especially local multiplayer with controller support. Level design will be fun, making different environments to see and play in.

There is one thing I've been waiting to add to this game since we've started working on Technophobia, and that is grenades! I don't know why but I just can't wait to toss some perfectly aimed grenades on the enemy!

 

We are super excited to show off our first playable alpha build! We would love any feedback! A few things we would love to know is:

1. How does the game feel while playing? Does the room movement feel good? Does the player movement feel right? 2. Any comments about the art/aesthetics of the game would be awesome!

Just to note there are some minor bugs that we are still working on. For example it is possible to have the camera get out of sync with the player. I will work on that this week and fix that. Also we only have 1 player in the game. So although you can pick anyone it will default to 1 blue character.

Thank you in advance!

TechnophobiaAlphaDropBox
(Creating a web demo for some reason broke all our assets. I will try later to provide a web demo. Thanks)

 

We have added some nice lighting effects to the game. We are really excited about using them to make the environments look much more realistic. Also we hope to make the world that more ominous! Here is pic I thought was pretty cool!

 

Hello everyone!

First off we appreciate everybody's feedback so far. It has really showed key items that we need to work on. Some of those things we didn't even think were a problem. It really shows the value of having others with an unbiased view critique our progress thus far.

Well today I'm working on new levels to play on. The level in particular is a star ship you have to transport over to and battle on. I'm creating the rooms with an entirely different design style than the rooms I've previously posted.

It's exciting to see new environments to play in. Also we will be adding items in the worlds themselves that you can interact with to help you. Certain levels will also include mission objectives to accomplish.

Hopefully with interesting worlds, diverse enemies, weaponry, and characters, this game will be a fun and exciting game to play with friends and work hard together to win!

Thanks for reading!

 

I'm loving the way lighting looks in our scenes!


For the past few days we have been adding lighting to our scenes and it makes a world of difference. It really helps to set the mood and really adds to the creepy atmosphere. We have begun work on the 2nd level of our game while also finishing up some core features. Currently I am working on player selection and allowing the game to know if the player is choosing multiplayer. We got a lot of awesome feedback from feedback Friday and can't wait to show off what we changed in our next playable demo.

We have posted an early gameplay video here. Hope you enjoy!!


Thanks again!
rogueknight
@coverfiregames

 

Man the new levels are turning out well! I spent most of the day finishing it, and it only needs a few more modifications to be done.

Below is a nice screenshot I got. This elderly fellow has certaintly gotten himself into some trouble!

 

Hello again!

We are still hard at work! We almost have level 3 complete art wise and soon will start working on level 4. Some things have taken longer than we anticipated but we are still moving right along. We posted on IndieDB for the first time and we made it to the top 100!

We posted an in depth devlog there to catch people up on our progress. If you would like to read I will post a link below. Thanks for reading and I hope to have more to post by this time next week.

Thanks again for reading!
http://www.indiedb.com/games/technophobia1/news/the-first-real-month-working-on-technophobia

 

Working today and I've just finished the 3rd level. I think it looks pretty good.

The next level I think will be designed as a research base in a space station.

I've been trying to make the different ships and bases you go to feel different and unique. It definitely takes some time but it certainly makes the game have more depth. Instead of telling you about the universe through dialogue, we are trying to accomplish that through the worlds that you see.

Also on a side note local multiplayer is coming along really well.

Thanks!

 

Hello everyone!

As of now we have the foundation of local multiplayer in place. Also have acquired main theme music and we are in the process of getting sound effects in place.

Level creation is moving along, its a slow progress but I have six levels created and I'm working on the seventh right now. I'm not sure how many levels we will want, but for now the goal is ten to fifteen, then from there we might start repeating levels. But we will not know for sure until we get to beta testing to see if its enough or if we need more levels to keep the game from becoming stale.

Also since the levels I've made so far are quite different to each other with different architecture and styles of technology, I might just create a similar level as before but just mix the rooms around to make a different level but not having to create an entirely different design.

Let me know what you think and I welcome any advice! Thanks for reading and catch you next time.

 

Definitely keeping an eye on this.

 

Hey there, interesting project! I'm also a big fan of local multiplayer games (even got one in the makings). I was wondering how you will give the players enough individual space. I imagine its quite hard to do for a 2D-Sidescroller and I think usually it's done by giving the players additional space in the y-Axis.

 

Hi PhilippG,

That is a good question. It's something that we have been struggling with to get right. For this game we plan on doing like you mentioned, increase the vertical space for each additional player. Three players will be the maximum allowed, one player on top, one in the middle, and one on the bottom.

That's an obstacle we are facing. We are not that great with different screen resolutions. It's certainly something we will have to work on.

 

Thanks man, we appreciate it!

 

Hello everyone!

It's funny how when I add a new feature to our game and it goes pretty fast I'm like "wow that was easy". Then you find dozens of bugs that take hours and hours to find and fix afterwards. That being said things are moving right along! Hoping to have local three player implemented soon.

That's all for tonight see ya.

 

Hello again.

Been a bit since I've given an update. Working on a lot of the user interface. Going well learning along the way too. We got some feed back on the main menu and I'm going to rework a couple things here soon.

Awhile back I told you guys I have up to 7 levels completed art wise so I've been implementing it into the game where you can actually play with those levels.

That's all for now thanks for reading.

 

Looking good!

Just curious, what are you using as lighting?

 

Hi and thanks RavenOfCode,

For lighting we're not using anything special. I just made a diffuse material shader and use unity's lighting objects. Like I said nothing fancy. I don't know a whole lot about making shaders and such so I'm just keeping it simple.

Hopefully when we're done we will have a fun local co-op game.

 

I agree, it looks good!

Great idea with the lightning (need to remember that for the future), it creates towards the atmosphere of danger and tension.

I also want to compliment the artist, I know how hard it is to create the "correct" artwork for one's project/ game. In my opinion you have succeeded, it looks wonderful.

Keep up the hard work!

 

Thank you very much ronahattingh, we appreciate your comments!

What you said about the lighting was exactly what we were trying to accomplish. I'm glad it worked out.

I'm really glad you like the art, it's always been a concern of mine whether it looked good or not. When you stare at your project for so long I wonder if I've become blind to the art believing it's good. It's really a morale boost to know that it looks good and it fits the style of game we're making.

 

Hello everyone!

Today I am working on our user interface. Right now there is a bar on the bottom of your screen which has a terrible looking health bar I made, and quite a bit of text to show what buttons you can press. Comments by some in the community have pointed out that it is kind of cumbersome. Until they mentioned it I didn't really put much thought into it.

So today I plan on reworking it. Instead of having an entire area on the bottom of the screen dedicated to action buttons and a health display, I'm working to make this to be displayed within the world. For instance, you stand next to something you can interact with, a letter will appear over your character letting you know you can interact with the item.

It's not like this is a brand new way of doing things so I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!

Here is a look of your health meter that will be displayed above your character when healing or taking damage.



Let me know what you think. Also if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them! Thanks for reading and have a good day!

 

Good day to everyone!

I burned the midnight oil last night and I managed to get that new health and UI system implemented. I've now been working on some small bug fixes. Also I'm putting some changeable settings in the menus and pause menu.

On another note some really exciting news is we have our very own website! Here we will have our devlog, game play pictures, and videos. Also any news will be there too so it gives anyone interested a much easier spot to go, and check our progress.

Here is the link; http://www.coverfiregames.com/

We are also in the progress of getting our Discord ready. We don't have the bots set up yet but here is an invite. Please join and we will be there regularly to discuss the game and any questions that we would love to discuss and answer.

Here is our Discord server link; https://discord.gg/BcmhChx

Thanks everyone and have a great day!

 

A city amongst the clouds.

 

Hello everyone!

As of now you can have three players join the game. But we are still working on the controls. We are going to add Xbox 360 and Xbox one controller support otherwise I think it would be kinda cramped all three on the same keyboard haha.

Also we will hopefully have our official gameplay trailer finished soon maybe in a month or two. I'm really looking forward to that!

Thanks for reading!

 

Here's a couple new screen shots to show you guys.



Anyway, I'm working on our own input manager so players can reassign buttons whichever way they please! Thanks for reading and have a great day!

 

The input controller has been finished and the user interfaces for them have been created as well. It is really cool and is really important for people to be able to assign the controls the way that feels the most natural for them.

You can change the controls for all three players either from the main menu or from the in game pause menu.

 

Hello everyone!

Progress going well. The main thing I'm working on is the last two enemies you will face.


This is one of the many claws that can spawn through out the game. They grab your character and cause slight damage. They can also come through the ceiling.

The last enemy for now I can't show yet because I only have terrible looking concept art right now lol!
Only the crappy art in there for testing purposes.

Hope everyone is having a great day and see you next time!

 

Hello Everyone!

Today's work includes creating artwork for our enemy who's name has yet to be decided upon. This enemy peeks around corners and use telekinesis to throw you around, has a blaster, and can spawn other tiny robotic bugs. This enemy is one of the hardest to destroy in the game as well.

As I'm working on the Artwork I'm also creating the AI as well. Things are going well so far. I have plenty of coffee so that helps a lot!

Here is an image of what it looks like right now. Hope you like it!


Thanks again for reading and hope you have a great day!

 

Hello and good afternoon everybody!

Today I'm hard at work creating more levels and improving on previous levels too! Here are a couple of rooms that I think look pretty cool!

Other than that getting things in line to soon have cover art and sound effects. That's it today have a great day!

 

Hey guys!

Reworking some previous art in levels and here is a cool airlock on the trade station Benson!

 

Hey guys!

Still hard at work creating new art! Keeping today's report simple again with just some new images!

 

Hello everybody!

Development is still in progress and going well. Majority of work as been continuous artwork creation and polishing. One of the levels I'm working on, is a medieval modern ship of the line battle cruiser.

Also we have some major design ideas we have been thinking about, and we decided to try it out. Right now currently we have one game mode or mission objective. This is to wipe out all of the enemies in each level, else time runs out and you must retreat because self destruct will activate.

We feel this will rapidly get stale quite quickly. Instead we propose four game modes which we are still feeling out what works but here are the four we have:

Extermination / Escort - Find and destroy all enemies. If time runs out and infestation is overrun self destruct will activate, on certain levels no self destruct is available. This is where it becomes part escort will you must guide your technician to a specific location and plant detonation charges. Then you must escape.

Data Retrieval - You must find and download high priority data. All must work together to defend this room while the download is in progress. Then you must escape.

Humanoid Retrieval - You must clear enough enemies before you can find then escort your target out of danger.

Extraction - Depending on the mission collect data or retrieve target person, then you must work fast to escape the overwhelming forces that procedurally destroy rooms along the way.

Tell me what you think of these, I would appreciate it. Also if you have any cool ideas for missions please let me know, it would be cool to hear what ideas you guys have.

 

The four missions objects sounds excellent.

Extra mission: Collecting of objects that may be used to unlock certain objects example, key card to open a container or door.

Still looking great, guys!

 

Thank you. Also that is a great idea having to find key cards to unlock rooms or containers. Thank you a lot for the feedback it is always much appreciated!

 

Hi everybody!

Been doing a lot of artwork and level design recently. Reworked the mainmenu and once it's complete I will show you guys. Anyway, hopefully soon we will have a gameplay trailer created I'm really looking forward to that.

The new mission objectives are being implemented too! That's it for now hopefully next time I will have some bigger news. Have a great one!

 

Hey everyone it's been awhile I apologize for the delay.

I've been designing a new website specifically made for our game. Which by the way we have decided to change the name slightly, it's now Technoforce! Also our cover art is finished!

See ya next time!

 

Hi everyone!

Here is a gif of a grenade I'm testing currently.



This is your basic grenade, but later I want to make some different kinds that have different effects on the enemies. Some others would be like a stun grenade, maybe also a grenade that does damage to enemies over time.

 

I'm sorry we haven't posted here in awhile. I wrote on our devlog about our progress and thought I would discuss it here as well. I really wish we had taken to heart the advice to make a minimal viable product. Mistakenly, I believed that since we had a really solid idea of the game we wanted to make...all we needed to do was follow our outline and things would work out. Wow, I was wrong.


Since our game was somewhat similar to an arcade game we enjoyed, I assumed that if we followed a similar path our game would capture the same "fun" factor. In reality though, we missed out on a lot of possible feedback and iteration. Even if that "feedback" was just us internally playing and testing. For example, from the start of making our game, we had a firm idea of how the camera would follow the player. If we had iterated more, if we had play tested more, it wouldn't have taken us so long to figure out that our idea was horrible. We didn't really stop to think that the way we created our camera was actually making our game worse. Major mistake.


Why did it take us so long? We never made a minimal viable product. Although we had a bunch of different things we were working on, we failed to simplify. We had various ideas/features we were working on, but at the same time, we had pieces missing that prevented us from really testing and playing the way the player would. Please don't make the same mistake we did.


It was a great learning lesson though. I've come to the opinion that actually making & releasing a game gives the best type of experience. Technoforce isn't really that difficult of a game and it wouldn't pose a challenge to an experienced game developer. But speaking as an aspiring game dev it has taught me many things. As we go ahead in the future we have a lot of things I want to do differently. So what does all this mean for Technoforce? Also more broadly speaking what does the future hold for us in general?


I'll first talk about what the future holds for Technoforce specifically. First things first, we have simplified quite a bit. We've cut down on some features and extras we had considered adding. We've also had some internal discussions about how and when we will release Technoforce. The hard deadline we have given ourselves is that we will have a playable build in the next 2-3 weeks. When the time comes we'll post the build on Itch.io. Its long over due and we're really excited to finally get over this obstacle and force ourselves to make some serious progress.


Ok, but what are our plans after Technoforce? We've learned so much from making this relatively 'small' game. Thus instead of working on one game for far too long what if we made more games in the same amount of time? How much more could we learn that we wouldn't have otherwise? So that's the plan we have going forward. Keep on growing as game developers and continue to learn from our rookie mistakes. Huge shout out to all those who have been with so far and we really appreciate all of you. Its been a huge encouragement and motivator to continue going. Until next time...thanks again.

 

I've sadly had to make a similar decision with a game I'm working on. The worst part is the game was a "better" version of a previous game, and I ended up making better graphics with worse gameplay (I guess cloning stuff is hard lol). Anyways best of luck, this game looks great!

 

We really appreciate it @RavenOfCode. Wish you the best on your project too!