Late Lino ~log 01
The start
It's been long time since we started to develop this game and actually finish it. So why now bother to share? Last year we weren't this active updating blog, so we didn't bother to post anything about any progress we made, nor gamedev logs/ diary, though we have posted some teasers to our Facebook page & twitter.
We noticed that we need to share a lot of things since we want more people to know what are we doing right now, what games will come out, even what do we think about life, jokes, etc. Above all, this way we can learn more to communicate with our potential players/ fanbase. As a small indie game developer team, without publisher/ sponsor we ought to promote and publish the game ourselves, so this is one way to gain exposure, as much as we can.
Alright, back to topic, this game, Late Lino, was started as an entry for Ludum Dare #22, 16th of December 2011. Thinking back, we were keeping an eye on the themes since theme voting, so we had a bit preparation of what theme will be out in the next day. We had little speedy game designing exercise a day before it.
What's this game about?
Well LD22 theme was "Alone". Had we created PIXLE, a little bit experimental game made us somewhat addicted to make something out of box again (lol), and something endless and score based.
Oh yeah, the original title was Saint Lino. (the title came out last though!)The concept actually was inspired by moon theme. We control the moonlight and try to guide a little boy (Lino) who is alone in the dark. Main objective/challenge is to survive as long as you can, by scouting invisible ghosts (you reveal it with your light) chasing the boy, and in the end score is determined by the total of candy cane dropped from ghosts he jumped on--with your instruction.
So, naturally you need good timing, reflect, awareness to play. As you survive longer, more ghosts came to you.
The LD22 version of Late Lino finished just like the design above, with 1 music, 1 stage. You can play the game here.
We can't put the game anywhere else because hipon had it sitelocked and lost the Ludum Dare version's project file (had it replaced with the extended version, look below) =_=
Ludum Dare judging result
Late Lino (formerly Saint Lino) ended up being one of best 50 of 891 Jam entries (woot!). We never expect that though so we were delighted! yeah bad game description is bad :))
Extended version
So we decided to improve the game as the LD version is being too hard and not being fair. now i forgot whether this is a mock or screenshot
Things added are:
Wish system: every fixed duration, there will be a judgement from mother of god, if mood meter shows good sign Lino will gain good effect (healing, instant enemy kills, etc), bad sign he will get kind of punishment (paralisis, decreased stomp range, etc).
Now Lino has 3 Lives, more types of ghost AI.
Level/stage system, precisely now we have 10 stages, more candies (each stage requires some lists of candies to be cleared) and of course stage selection interface.
Achievement badge each stage, submit score.
Some dialogues at intro and ending.
Almost forgot, jump cooldown, so now, no one can exploit the power of random jumping haha.
When the game will be up to play?
Last year we finished this game a bit late, and because it's seasonal game (christmas-new-year theme) we had hard time seeking sponsorship because we didn't get the right momentum. Think we'll save the game for the next christmas, (if we couldn't get sponsor as well, we'll go self-publishing), and hopefully on time this time! And maybe we need a few adjustment later to launch the game.
I think this will be a fun game for everyone who love to challenge themselves, this game doesn't need stats grinding like leveling, but player ability--response and concentration-- grinding, haha.
Okay, see you next time! Out!