The Development of E.X.O

I am currently developing a game called E.X.O and I think it would be pretty fun to keep posting screenshots of the development process to show the progress of the game. Right now I feel like its more of a personal things for me to see but if people are interested it would be awesome to keep you updated. Every time something new is added I'll be sure to screenshot and post it explaining it and see if you have any feedback to give. Any kind of interest in that respect would be highly appreciated and interesting to see.

 

Here are some very early screenshots of my new game. You take control of a robot/drone called E.X.O and your job is to get through the enemy bases avoiding a variety of different lasers and enemies using your hover, boost and double jump abilities. You will also need to clear out the enemies trying to stop you using you fully automatic laser rifle. All of these abilities cost energy which is represented by the bar in the top left hand corner. If you run out of energy E.X.O will explode so be sure to pick up the energy orbs as you progress through the levels.

 

Very early gameplay

 

Nice work Jason. Looks like your making quality iterative progress.

One thing I noticed is the foreground brick tiles look like they are a lower resolution compared to the character because of the jaggy aliasing in the screenshots.
May consider increasing the resolution of those assets unless it is totally unnoticeable during gameplay.

Nice progress overall. Keep posting!

 

Thanks a lot. And I think it was the screenshot but here is an updated one which should look better.

 

New gameplay video

 

The beauty of paper levels.

 

Quick new screenshot

 

New gameplay video

 

Hey Jason - I like your progress so far.

There is a couple things that I think could improve visual pleasure.

The characters are very stiff. Something that could be helpful is any secondary animation on the character. Maybe bouncy antenna, overlap/lag the up/down motion of the head slightly when the player character moves up/down, maybe have the jet pack lag a little behind the characters and have slight drag up/down from the character body's up/down motion. I do see the subtle things you've done with the jet pack flame. It may look better if it's more overt.

On the environments - it just looks a little dead. Nothing is really moving that isn't reacting/interacting with the character. This may be on the 'to-do' list and you haven't gotten to it yet. So I'll just list a couple suggestions.
Any secondary environmental animations you have in mind for the environment that isn't directly related to the characters movement will add life to the level, even if it's a totally inorganic world.
Things like mechanical bugs crawling along the ceiling or bg would be interesting, blinking or rotating siren or warning lights, maybe some flumes or vents emitting the exhaust of something.
Maybe tieing into that frozen/solidified red and blue stuff in the foreground layers.

Keep it coming.

 

That was some awesome feedback Definitely an eye opener. I have some things planned to bring some more life to the levels but your ideas are really cool and would definitely create a better atmosphere. Thanks a lot.

 

Looking at your progress is one of the most satisfying things about making games no matter how big or small they are. Its just a great feeling to build something out of nothing. Anyone agree?

 

Agreed.
Sort of like that feeling you get when you write 50 lines of code and it compiles without an error.

 

Agreed!

 

Going to be working on the timer script today. And then I will be setting my times for you guys to beat so that you can unlock the extra content! Might post the script afterwards to see if anyone can give me some tips or ways to improve it

 

Kind of figured that the games that are fun and addictive from the moment you pick them up are the ones that consist of single taps on the screen. However I personally lose interest in these games very quickly, as do most people. What I am hoping to achieve is to make my game fun for a long period of time for users. By adding a slightly steeper learning curve and making it as accessible as possible I hope that my game only gets more fun the more you play rather then the other way around.

 

Like the original 3 zelda games.

 

I just want to make a REAL game experience with progression, not just a copy of the business models that have killed a lot of the potential for mobile games.

 

Lovely statement, couldn't agree more. Add that to your sig.

Like minded - awesome!

 

Some more early screens for screenshot Saturday

 

Made some serious optimisations today Game is running pretty damn smoothly.

 

Lot's of new screens coming soon

 

E.X.O speed boosting

 

Do you guys like in game music or do you usually just mute it?

 

I'm weird - I actually listen to game music when not playing games, but a lot of times during gameplay I reduce the in game music down to minute levels because it drowns out sound fx and dialogue which I like to hear.

 

There are a lot of laser and jetpack sounds in this game so I may leave out the music, like you say it may just drown out the sounds.

 

Cannot wait until you will be able to blast your way through these levels

 

Fresh start, time for a playthrough

 

Screenshot Saturday

 

The paid version includes 35 levels Have not decided on the free version yet. Thinking I should have the entire stage one and most of stage two

 

Will be submitting E.X.O to BlackBerry in less then a week and then to Google Play shortly after

 

Looks awesome!

 

Thank you

 

You're welcome

 

Whos blackberry?

 

BlackBerry World the app store

 

Screenshot Saturday

 

Full version of E.X.O on BlackBerry
https://appworld.blackberry.com/webs...countrycode=GB

Free version of E.X.O on BlackBerry
https://appworld.blackberry.com/webs...countrycode=GB

 

Can you please release it for Windows 8 Store (Not Windows phone) ?
Many people have windows 8.1 tablets like me , it'll be awesome to check this out

 

Looking pretty weird next to the giants in BlackBerry World haha
Will be coming to Google Play very soon

 

Thank you for showing interest However I don't have a windows tablet or phone to test it on and I am no good with the emulators.

 

Wow , that's amazing! Your game just came in the top paid ones , wonderful

And no problem Thanks!