No Mercy: For Lorne Hope

Sacrifice is necessary, mercy is not. Support our Kickstarter! What is No Mercy? Submit and View Fan Art Answered Asks Official Art

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hey! is this still going on??

It is! Though we’ve moved away from tumblr and more to Instagram and twitter. The game is on track slowly but surely, given we’re an indie company that has to take on a fair amount of client work just to stay afloat, it’s a bit hard to predict when we have time to work on our internal game, but I assure you it’s coming along well and we should be posting a more in-depth update soon :)

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Happy Halloween Everyone!!

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for lorne hope? for-lorne hope?? forlorn hope??? ahhhhhh????

DING DING DING

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Indy Pop Con 2017 Wrap Up

Hi Everyone!  

We had an amazing weekend at Indy Pop Con showing off No Mercy and spreading the word about GDEX. Not only did the crowd love No Mercy, but we won Best Art Direction and Best Overall for Slickster Magazine’s Best of Indy Pop Con Awards!  

Best Art Direction

  Best Overall

Thank you to everyone who voted in the contest, we could not have won without our fans!  

Congratulations to the other winners as well! Their games are fantastic and you should check them out. 

Another major highlight was the cosplay. We had an Elliot and an Orion show up at our booth. What an incredible surprise! You guys are awesome, we want to see more!

Orion Cosplay

  Elliot Cosplay

That’s all for now, but we will be at Matsuricon from August 25th – 27th to promo the game again. We would love to see you there, and bring your cosplay!  

-Laura Lee (Lead 3D Artist)

Indy Pop Con 2017 Wrap Up was originally published on Multivarious Games

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What's Up in No Mercy Land

Hey guys, we’re all still hard at work on No Mercy! As you can see above the lovely Belle and her guardian Bit are all textured up and ready for animation soon. Orion is in the process of being modeled and should be ready for texture soon too. Our programmers have been hard at work revamping our level building system to speed things up in the long run, as well as working on getting online multiplayer setup! Our writers have been kicking ass too and we now have a fully fleshed out storyline with multiple endings that should offer just as much gameplay as it does secrets. We’ll be posting little dev updates here monthly as we continue to work on things, thank you guys for the support!

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No Mercy Dev Blog #1

Hey everyone!

We’ve had an amazingly successful first week to our Kickstarter for No Mercy; we’ve raised over $20,000–over 2/3 of our goal! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us. We needed to come up with new backer tiers to replace the ones that sold out, which is a great problem to have to solve.

We’ve just released a new batch of updates to the public demo. If you’ve been following the demo on Itch, you know that we’ve been posting some sporadic bugfixes and updates for a couple of weeks now. We want to achieve a regularity in these updates throughout and beyond the Kickstarter campaign, and it seems appropriate to start earnestly creating content for this dev blog to go with it.

Latest Changes v0.1.291.4566 – February 17, 2017 – Elliot now has a little more range on many of his attacks – Ray’s spirits do more to stay above-ground – Ray’s secondary attack animation is now 20% faster – New loading screen with randomized tips – Fix for issue when pausing immediately on level load – Loading screen is now smoother, no longer hiccups when level is done loading – Tree Boss changes; smoke particle system and damage taken by head now tied to hand states – Fixed issue where player attack transitions could only happen on the exact first frame of the exit time window. It should now be easier to chain attacks reliably, and this should also fix many animation-locking issues, especially for Elliot.

Our goal is to produce a weekly blog piece written by someone on our team. They can write about anything at all that strikes their/our fancy; important and unimportant, business and personal, scientific and artistic, relevant and irreverent alike. Blog posts may or may not contain, include, or be released alongside No Mercy version change notes. We’ll do our best to keep updates of both the game and the blog coming on a regular basis, and entertain and inform you to the best of our abilities.

No Mercy has been in some form of development for nearly a year. It started as a very simple 2D/2.5D infinite runner prototype that we were working on alongside client work and other potential projects. The game started out extremely simple, but every time we took our most rudimentary prototypes out to show people, we got a great response. We got the feeling that people would be willing to invest more time in our game than the quick (mobile) endless-brawler format would allow for, so we began to pull and stretch the game out into a game that’s more truly 3D despite the 2D graphics.

We got together and came up with some rich backstories. The cooperative nature of No Mercy allows us to tell the story of the game in different ways, depending on which characters are playing together, so we made sure each character had a healthy amount of personal stuff going on that we could draw from. We want each of our characters to have a unique and distinctive playstyle, with some special details unique to each individual combination sprinkled in, so that every pair feels fresh and exciting. The hardest part of this will be balancing it all, but we’ve been very thoughtful about our character roster and we’ve kept it small so that we can put enough thought into each combination. Although Elliot is the poster-character, each of our characters are full-fledged protagonists in their own ways.

Though we’ve been rallying around the project and have been really excited by its potential, it has been difficult to put our full attention on the game. Even after we shelved other internal projects to focus on No Mercy, we still had to juggle client work to keep ourselves alive. We also moved offices and found ourselves working for months in a literal construction zone, with dust and loud noises creeping over the ceiling-less walls of our temporary space. We put our heads down and worked through it, and released our first public version of the game around the same time we finally got to move into our real offices, a couple of weeks ago.

Things have been simultaneously settling down and getting more hectic ever since, but we’re as prepared as we’ve ever been to handle the challenges before us. We’ve been honing our skills and finding our voice as a professional company for over 3 years and as a team in general for closer to 6 or 7. We’ve been through quite a lot and we all trust each other implicitly as professionals and as artists. There is also a whole extended network of people who have been through our doors and worked with us over the years, and there’s no way we could have gotten this far without them.

We’re excited by the opportunity that this Kickstarter campaign represents. We’re going to make our game whether or not we’re funded, just like we made our previous game (Hatch-It!) despite it not reaching its goal. A successful campaign accelerates our plans and give us a short period of financial security that can help us leapfrog ourselves towards the game’s release. We relish the opportunity to prove ourselves and create some art as the well-oiled machine we’ve been honing ourselves into.

We’re thankful that we’re able to do what we love here in Columbus, Ohio. We’re grateful for the vibrant and talented ecosystem of local game developers that our company continues to grow with. We’re humbled by the people who care about us and the things we make and do. Thank you for reading this far; we hope you’ll stay with us. We’ll make it worth your while.

Tschüß! Tom

Fun Links Homepage: http://www.multivarious.com/nomercy/ Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/multivariousgames/no-mercy-for-lorne-hope Demo: https://multivarious.itch.io/nomercydemo GameJolt Demo Mirror: http://gamejolt.com/games/no-mercy-demo/228232 Steam Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=863479593 Join our Discord! https://discordapp.com/invite/69XfVGS

No Mercy Dev Blog #1 was originally published on Multivarious Games

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Help how do I join discord?

Hey anon, to join the No Mercy Discord, you can just click this link, and that should do it. https://discordapp.com/invite/69XfVGS 

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Our Kickstarter is Live!

After months of hard work, my team and I are very proud to present our Kickstarter for No Mercy! There’s a playable download available so please give it a try, check out the kickstarter, and leave us any feedback in our discord if you want 🙂

Kickstarter Launch (Tumblr) was originally published on Multivarious Games

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Status update on No Mercy, game development is serious business. 

My Elliot was originally published on Multivarious Games

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How is it going? I haven't seen an update for a while.

It’s going well! We’ve been pretty swamped working on the game and I personally (elentori) have been busy with personal life on top of it. This upcoming week expect a lot of No Mercy updates though! I’m going to get this blog updated and show off our progress so far : )

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Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of blog activity lately, we’ve all been working super hard on No Mercy and our company Multivarious Games will be showing off the rough demo we have at Indy Popcon this weekend in Indianapolis! If you’re going to be there come find our booth and say hi :D

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Hey followers! I got some shit to lay down for you.

Any of you that don’t know about No Mercy, you need to follow Elentori’s art blog, and this tumblr. You need to look into this beautiful game, and fall in love like I have. I did not know her, or this game before Indypop Con and I am SO GLAD I stopped to play the demo. The art is beautiful, and the game dev is one of the sweetest people on the planet. Me and @lilserket plan on cosplaying from this amazing game. So stay tuned for some Rays Hell (me) and Midknight from her!

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I’m glad you stopped by, thank you so much! Indy Popcon was a blast and I’m so happy I got to meet you guys <3 I really look forward to seeing your cosplays and next year hopefully we can have one hell of a game ready to take back to Indy Popcon 🙂

Update: June 24, 2016 was originally published on Multivarious Games

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Will this game be filled with feels??? :0 bc feels aRE NICE

All the feels, now with 200% more angst and feels.

Anonymous said: When is No Mercy coming out? Y'know, like the demo?

Our goal is to have a pretty solid vertical slice of the game ready in the next three months or so, so we can start our kickstarter and steam greenlight :) I doubt this will be playable by the public but you’ll be able to see gameplay videos and know a lot more about how the game itself is going to work.

sickeningsillage said: hey dude! saw your booth at indypopcon today, played the demo. just wanted to let you know this looks like a really nice game you're working on, and i'm excited to see what you do with it! have an awesome day!

Thank you so much! I’m really excited to see where it goes too. You have an awesome day as well!

More questions under the cut!

Orion (Midknight)

Anonymous said: Is Orion mute? Because the ask's answer had a picture of Orion saying "Thank you" in sign language? I think? If he was mute that'd be so adorable so I can feel bad for him and love him even more!!

He is mute and deaf, but the reasoning isn’t so people feel bad for him, he’s going to get along just fine! I thought it would be cool to get some more representation for mute and deaf characters and try to learn sign language myself.

iwouldsmileforyou said: Ori does sign?! Thats amazing!! As a deaf individual myself, it's lovely to see characters sign too as well as my favourite artist!!

Yup! I’ll be illustrating him signing in the game :) And thank you!

Anonymous said: Since Orion is mute, can he still produce sounds? (Such as grunts -of frustration, etc.-, howls -of pain, etc.-, moans - of pain, etc.-, sighs -tired, etc-, growls, etc.) Sorry if the question sounds sorta dumb, kinda new to the whole mute thing; but just wanna say I really enjoy all of these cherished bby's!!

I’ll be honest I need to do more research on this myself, but from what I’re read yes mute individuals can still make grunts, groans, yells etc because they do not require the use of the vocal chords, they are simply made by forcing air in or out of the lungs. It’s not a dumb question at all! It’s important to ask questions and learn new things.

Anonymous said: Do the others have to learn sign-language for Orion? I feel like it's going to be one hell of an experience for them and for some reason I imagine Elliot having the most trouble with it and whenever he gets frustrated, he gives up but Orion signs "-for me, please? I'll help you out-" and Elliot gets flustered and all so he replies with a grumble of a "shut up I'm only doing this to communicate with you" while everyone is at be back like "mmhm yep sure whatever let's you sleep at night" 

Aah this is a pretty accurate description of Elliot trying to learn honestly xD The other characters will have to learn basic sign language for communication. I can’t say anymore without giving away plot sorry.

Anonymous said: Is midknight going to appear on the demo? I really hope so ;w;

Unfortunately we’re focusing on Elliot and Ray for the kickstarter demo, since both have such widely different fighting styles.

Elliot (War and Pieces)

Anonymous said: I love your design for Elliot so much! I know the game doesn't exactly follow the class system, but hypothetically is he going to be a mix between an assassin and a dark mage sort of fighter?

Thank you! And yes that’s a pretty good description, he’s going to be a lot of close combat fighting with grapples and stuff. Not super heavy on the magic though, that’s more Orion’s field.

Ray (Rays Hell)

Anonymous said: Hi Ellie! I love your work and I noticed that you drew Ray in a sweater with the genderfluid flag pattern on it, and was wondering if Ray was genderfluid. I wanted to say that it means so much to see that, being genderfluid myself, and I want to thank you and wish you and Bunny and Jake the best of luck whilst making this game!

Ray is genderfluid! I colored their sweater like that intentionally. Thank you so much <3

Elowen (Bear Hands)

-We’ve had a name change. Previously Mercy,

Anonymous said: Hi, I'm just wondering, why is Bear Hands's sweater design mean? "Precise Dwarf Bravery"... Thanks! Your characters are really awesomely designed ;0; 

It’s a play on this shirt I saw online. Bear Hand’s sweaters will probably change a lot in-game just for fun. And thank you  :D

Anonymous said: is the plot just going to be various characters screaming "no, mercy" at mercy whenever she tries to do something questionable

lmfao no but this would be great. We’ve actually changed her name to Elowen for story reasons and because we decided not to have a character that wasn’t the main character ‘named’ after the game.

General Game Questions

Anonymous said: So are there going to be any canon ships? Like, that'd be pretty cool... but if you did, would any of them be gay/lesbian or something? (I'm TOTALLY okay with gay/lesbian/straight, I actually already ship Orion and Elliot) (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I ship Elliot and Orion too xD As for what will be canon or not, I’m not sure. I would hesitate to make any ships ‘canon’ because in a way ALL ships are equally viable. Everyone on the team is cool with any straight/gay/lesbian ships etc, so we’ll just have to see how we develop the story along and work out multiplayer gameplay.

Anonymous said: I ship Wars n' Stars too much

SAME. I’m going to have to not let my bias take over too much lol

kymadrift said: Oh! Can you show us the weapons?Anonymous said: What kind of personality does Rays Hell have?? And the others?? Do their punny names fit their personality or what??

Once character designs are finalized I’ll release character sheets and weapons. Character sheets will have brief personality bios as well :)

Anonymous said: Oh my gosh this game looks awesome!! One question-- is it going to be horror-ish or bloody/gory? If so, how much? I'm a bit nervous I'll be too afraid to play the game cause it'll be graphic and scary >~<

Thanks! The game isn’t going to be horror, it may have slight horror vibes though. Think like, don’t starve and limbo. Just a hint of uneasiness, but no jump scares or anything. As for the blood...there will most likely be blood when you kill monsters but it will be black or some non-blood color.

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Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of blog activity lately, we’ve all been working super hard on No Mercy and our company Multivarious Games will be showing off the rough demo we have at Indy Popcon this weekend in Indianapolis! If you’re going to be there come find our booth and say hi 😀

Quick Update – Indy Popcon was originally published on Multivarious Games

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Yo! I'm really interested in trying to draw your characters, but I can't exactly find suitable references of them. If you could link me to some that I may have missed, or find the time to draw it out, that would be awesome! (I love all your work, and I can't wait to see the game when it's finished.)

Thank you! We’re currently focusing on working out the story, character personalities and building a quick demo of the game itself. I won’t be releasing full character sheets until the designs are settled upon (everything up to this point is still just a first draft of characters, and three of the characters haven’t even been drawn yet because they aren’t relevant to making the demo) For now any art in this tag is all we have online so far.

cheerful-otaku said: Is there a possibility that there would be a contest that would require the fans of No Mercy to design a character that could potentially be played?

We’ve seriously considered this actually, it’s a good possibility! That probably wouldn’t happen until later this year though.

More questions under a cut!

Anonymous said: Hi!!! will the game also work for Mac???

We’d like it to be for both PC and Mac, I can only promise PC for now, but we’re going to shoot for both.

Anonymous said: Hey! Sorry if this has been asked or answered before, but what species is Rays Hell? And what do we call Rays, since he/she/they is genderfluid? Continue making this awesome game, I already love the characters!

I can’t go into character species or anything like that yet sorry >.< And since Ray is genderfluid he/she/they all work! We’ve been referring to Ray as they in the office but I’ve heard all three used pretty frequently by different people. Thank you so much! We’re working hard!

Anonymous said: Orion is precious and I want to Protect him and shower him with love

Ah I’m so happy you like him! #ProtectOri2k16

Anonymous said: Midknight is baeeeee ;w; <33 he's got such a lovely design... well everybody in this game does xD You're an awesome artist and i can't begin to tell you how much i love your art. Thank you for all this :3

Thank you so much!!! <3 I’m glad you all like them so much! I am filled with DETERMINATION.

Anonymous said: I love how party fowl is obviously bill. I mean... so bill.

Party Fowl was definitely inspired by my human Bill design xD We were basically making OCs anyway so I’m like...eh why not lol. Frat Bro here we go.

beatlethebaslisk said: I think slay bell's weapon should be a flail but instead of a spiky ball at the end, it's a spiky bell. When it rings a certain way, shock waves confuse the enemy.

That would be cool! We actually already have a weapon planned for her but the bells on it will do something.

Anonymous said: I know you can't take character suggestions but I was just thinking, if there was a villain would their name be "Anne Tagonist"?

ahaha I like that

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Are you ever going to have any donations for your game using Kickstarter or something?

Yes! We want to make sure we have the game in a good place before we do so though. Probably in a few months over the summer :)

Anonymous said: I know the game is still in the early planning stages, but are you planning on any kind of blood animation when you kill things?

Oh yes. 

Anonymous said: I know you've discussed this already in a post, but will character development be important in the game? I know storyline and action will, but will we really fall for these characters as much as the story? Just curious, as I'm really looking forward to this game ^-^

The characters themselves are very dear to me, so yes I’d like to have some way to show character development and interaction along the way. It’s hard to say how that will play into things now though.

Anonymous said: HELLO YES BIT IS AN ADORABLE PUN 12/10 WOULD LAUGH AGAIN

I’m glad you like it xD

Anonymous said: Tell midknight I love him

He’s blushing in a corner now

Anonymous said: does mercy have the right to bear arms?

Always, she can bearly control herself. 

Anonymous said: War And Pieces is the Winter Soldier

“Who the hell is Elliot”

therealkitsu said: okay so like... what about a kid with time powers.... called Tim E. Turner

We can’t actually take character suggestions, but this did make me laugh xD

Anonymous said: Is Orion's name a play on Orion's Belt the constellation? Because he has this whole night and space theme going on.

Yes! The constellation Orion is actually on his shield :)

Anonymous said: For the purpose of art references, how do you draw midknight's armor? And also, is it going to also be a mobile game or something?? Sorry for the inconvenience.

Oh dear, I’m afraid I don’t have any references beyond what I’ve already drawn. He’s got shiny silver and gold armor and on his chest is a Tabard, that’s why it hangs down around his hips like cloth. The game will be for Steam! SO PC for now :)

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hi just curious. if midknight is a tank, why doesn't he have too much armor?

He’s such a good tank he never gets hit.Nah for real this isn’t really the type of game that will have ‘classes’ I’ve just been tossing class terms around to help people get a feel for the characters. Most of Midknight’s defense is magical not physical, hence the spectral star shield and lighter armor. I may end up adding some more armor in the long run, these are still pretty early character concepts.

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Is this all based off of that bare hand character named mercy u came up with awhile ago? caUSE ELE THIS WHOLE GAME IS PUN AND I LOVE ITTT

Yes xD Mercy is going to be one of the characters in the game actually, I just haven’t a chance to re-draw her in game style yet. But this entire game is being made because of that one pun…this is our punishment, this is my design

Anonymous said: Sorry if this question has been asked already but I just showed up and this looks amazing. About how far along in development is this project?

Like…a week and a half aha. It’s moving along nicely though

Anonymous said: MIDKNIGHT LOOKS LIKE A PRINCE!!! OK THANK YOU

Precious Star Prince must be protected at all costs 

Anonymous said: Sorry if this has been asked but do the characters have genders?

Before I say this, I’m going to toss out everyone is free to headcanon whatever they want. But so far:War and Pieces (Elliot)- MaleMidknight (Orion)- MaleRays Hell (Ray)- GenderfluidParty Fowl (probably Bill)- MaleSlaybell (Belle)- FemaleBear Hands (Mercy)- FemaleLittle Bit (Bit)- Robot

thedragonwitchling said: is Ray’s sweater supposed to be the genderfluid flag?

Yes! : )