Alright, the poll is not over yet, but I'd say Gameplay is winning by a landslide so let me lay out how this game works, bit by bit!
Part 2 - Gameplay (PvP and PvE)
Project Rebel has quite a different take on how a team shooter operates. It is still a work in progress, so feedback would be appreciated!
The game's format is 7v7. Not 5v5, not 6v6...7v7. Revolutionary, I know, but I felt like this decision would help with solidifying its identity. I'm also thinking about making it similar to Deadlock and removing mirror matchups. In my honest opinion, mirror matchups are boring, so matching players into interesting combinations would definitely feel better. I cannot really confirm this because, due to the initial size of the roster, I'm not sure if that would make matchmaking too long.
2.2 - Maps and objectives
Maps in this game are very interesting, because unlike mobas and hero shooters, each map has a decent amount of space, fit for bigger characters to pass through, as well as more cover than normal which helps out in navigating and positioning without needing your team all the time. There are also overall less sightlines into other map sites, making long range engagements harder to set up, encouraging active gameplay. The maps consist of 3 zones with a terminal. These terminals are like small bomb site zones, that work like zone flips. You go there to hack them back into your team to capture them and gain points, and then have to defend them for a bit while they flip. This sets a standard for the game: individual impact is higher on offense whilst the team efforts are more impactful whilst defending the terminal. 2 zones start belonging each side, with extra zones on the sides if mid. Mid is a more exposed area of the map that has those zones that unlock later and nets 2x times the points per second, but also takes twice as long to hack. Teamplay to take this zone is very important, but if you send too many people, the other 4 zones are exposed, so teamplay is very encouraged in this event. There are also various crystal shards that spawn across the map that we will talk about later, but they are a very important part of the game.
2.3 - Abilities and economy
Abilities work a bit differently from most games. Ever played warframe? You know how abilities cost a set amount of energy? Well, here, something similar occurs! Each character has a stamina bar that can be used to cast different types of abilities:
Primary fire: Their main weapon. Doesn't cost any stamina.
Secondary fire: Either an alternate weapon fire or an ability. If it is an ability, it costs stamina.
Ability 1 and 2: Cost stamina below 50.
Ultimate: Generally cost 50 or more + an ultimate charge that charges with player activity. Once used, stamina regeneration is briefly buffed to compensate. This is meant to make ultimates feel like these big, powerful exhausting abilities, without making the player completely worthless afterwards.
Each player also has a character based passive as well as 2 classes out of 10 total, which give them extra buffs to play around their archetypes. The class based nature of these characters is meant to challenge the traditional 3 way system of dps, support, tank, and aim for a more "Pick whichever fist your playstyle". I aim to make team comps less important and team play just as important with these features in place.
This also means you can cast multiple of the same ability one after another, in quick succession, after a short cooldown. But, if you do it too much (say, you try to use a small ability like 4 or 5 times or a big one 2 or 3 times), you may get exhausted, which doubles the cost of your next abilities for a set amount of time. This means you can't just waste your whole stamina bar at once spamming one specific ability, whilst opening up plays never possible with a cooldown system.
Each player also chooses an item before the match starts, but it can be swapped mid match. It is meant to be a customization option to help certain characters fight against others. For example, a side arm item to deal with flier while playing melee. The only caveat is that these items have long traditional cooldowns, so be careful with their usage.
As well as an item, each player can hold up to 2 crystal shards. These shards spawn around the map and have an elemental effect. There are ten in total. Each of them can be used as a mini ability, or upgraded by fusing it with another crystal, creating a more powerful and thematically appropriate item. I like to call this battle artificery.
It is one of the main themes of the game's narrative and the power source to many things in both Earth and Theia, so it just made sense to keep everything on theme.
2.3.5 - Quick melee, parry and flight
Depending on the type of character, they may have one or more of these 3 things:
Quick melee - Everyone has one. It does nice quick damage to finish someone off.
Parry - Melee only. Stops attacks from projectiles and melee weapons from damaging the player. This one is more complex than the others, having many caveats that make it high risk high reward that cannot be really shown in text.
Flight - Small qol like liftoffs into flight, glides and flights that cost stamina or not depending on the character.
This is one of our latest additions: Modifiers. They are small buffs to characters that you can build before starting a game and make the character fit a slightly more appropriate playstyle catered to you, or just make something silly.
Our main goal is to not only make a great PvP, but also a great PvE. In PvP, your goal is to get a bunch of points, and other game modes may be made, but that one PvP gamemode is our multiplayer PvP focus.
PvE, which will receive just around the same focus, is going to use the same heroes and systems such as shards and mods, and place you in missions around the world, following a big overarching story where various tyrants threaten the very balance of Earth as well as Theia. Right now, the story is more based on the game's characters, so I will discuss PvE as well more during the characters part, so stay tuned for that.
I hope everyone liked my brief (lie) presentation! I am very passionate about this project and I truly believe this will bring a breath of fresh air to the shooter genre, whilst keeping essential familiar gameplay tropes and focusing on lore and character Integration that makes the fight feel real.
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions, I have all day and night, just comment down below and I'll answer! I hope y'all can help me make this a real thing one day!
