Project Neon (Developer Blog)
I’m working on a videogame, and you’re all going to love it. Following the release of Nebulamen (which you can find HERE), I managed to retrieve an old project from my crashed-and-broken laptop and I’ve resumed working on it. It has a proper title, but it’s ready for public consumption, I’ll be referring to it as ‘Project Neon’ here on the blog. However, I do want to share some of the cool things about it with you.
The Level Aesthetic
This is easily the coolest-looking game I’ve ever made. As the codename suggests, every level is drenched in multicoloured neon. That neon aesthetic is used to depict ridiculous, over-the-top cityscapes packed with visual gags and references. I’ll post screen-caps soon to show you what I mean. In the meantime, I don’t think I’d be giving too much away if I said that playing through Project Neon is like bouncing around a nightsky lit up by fireworks and sleazy signs. Designing it has been a pleasure and it’s a joy just to look at.
The Story Aesthetic
In my previous games, I’ve used scrolling text screens and text boxes to tell the story and advance the plot. This time around, the story is told through full-fledged comic strips. I would never describe my art as ‘great’ or even particularly good, but I’m pleased with what I’ve produced for the most part. The strips have a unique, cartoon-y look to them that I think does a great job of showing off the characters’ expressions and contributing to the mood of the game. If you’ve played anything I’ve made before, I think you’ll appreciate the difference these strips make.
The Dialogue
I’m having a ridiculous amount of fun writing the dialogue for Project Neon. The two lead characters are essentially gutter-thugs on the lowest rung of their world’s criminal ladder. They’re also waaaay too into their lifestyle and waaaay too out of touch with reality. All that means that I’ve had the chance to write the most depraved, funny, off-beat dialogue I’ve done in a game. In my previous projects, the dialogue has mostly been about carrying the story forward and conveying the stakes of the adventure. The comic-strip format and profoundly unheroic characters have given me the chance to loosen up and create organic conversations that don’t necessarily impact on the story. For example, there are tangential discussions about how Beethoven and Mozart are cheap hacks compared to superior talents like Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (they’re a real band by the way), and polysyllabic descriptions of shit-hole towns that I won’t spoil here because they’re so much funnier in context. I know it’s bad form to praise one’s own writing, but I can’t overstate what a good time I’ve had writing the lines for this game. If you have half as much fun reading it as I did writing it, it’ll be worth it.
The Gameplay
If you’ve played anything I’ve made before, you know I like old-school platforming a lot. This time round, though, there’s a major added element: gunplay! Both the main characters and their enemies can take multiple hits, meaning that you’ll have to dodge and weave as you exchange gun fire with enemies. There are actually two player characters. One of them has a relatively week weapon but can fire it while moving and jumping. They’re also physically fit and can move quickly. The other one is out of shape and not particularly dexterous, but packs a ludicrously powerful hand-cannon that can kill most things in one hit. It can only be fired while standing still, however. It’ll be interesting to see how players adept to playing both roles. There are also levels that challenge you in other ways. At the moment, there’s a level where you have to bounce off your own hallucinations to attain the greatest altitude possible (it makes sense when you play it, I promise). I’m also planning to add a level where your ride a missile and another where you jump out of a helicopter and have to avoid various obstacles as you fall towards a target on the ground.
The World
I deliberately set out to create the most exaggeratedly sleazy, neurotic game-world possible and then tell a story set in the most unhinged, fucked up social strata of that world. I don’t want to spoil any of the actual world-building that takes place in the game, but the practical upshot is that there’s a whole of weird sex, drugs, violence, casual criminality, political scheming, medical malpractice, bright pink muscle cars and pizza. Not to boast, but it’s balls-to-the-wall awesome.
I’ll keep y’all posted on the development cycle. I expect the game to ready for release within six months (hopefully a lot sooner), as I’ve already created most of the tools and components that I need to build the levels with. Aside from the unique levels that take place outside the game’s established mechanics, it’s now just a question of designing aesthetic details, adding one or two new enemy-types for variety and blending everything together.
I can’t wait to share this one with you lovely people. It’s going to be amazing.
