Abadon: Guardians Rise is now in the process of having three new enemy additions play-tested for its City Level.
Accompanying the previously introduced Zomborgs, Zombie Cyborg enemies that function by converting civilians into one of their own within the Level, are Crawlers, Zombdoges and Zombulls.
Crawler Playtest – https://youtu.be/GbkLj4wyzho
Crawlers function by clinging onto walls, lunging at players, exploding and causing damage on contact. ‘The Crawler video demo shows it crawling towards the player, lunging as soon as they get close,’ explains Lead Designer/Programmer Scott Bowser.
‘The player then starts attacking the Zomborgs, but gets hit by the Crawler because he wasn’t paying attention!’
Zombdoge Playtest – https://youtu.be/TCBDKW51O2c
Zombdoges on the other hand are far more vicious; one of these are seen trapping the player’s movements in the above demonstration, enabling Zomborgs to pin them down for massive damage as a Crawler looks on.
This is all while Zombulls smash through an area’s destructible objects, subsequently leaving civilians (that must be protected for points/XP/mission objectives) and the player open to a Zomborg attack.
‘When you put a Zombull in a room full of civilians and Zomborgs, your enemies can multiply real quick!’ adds Bowser.
Zombull Playtest – https://youtu.be/jYz_B0WOHhg
‘Add in trying to dodge a raging bull, wall crawling cyborgs, and anything of the other planned enemies, makes the City Level VERY challenging at higher difficulty levels.’
‘It’s still undecided if all of these tested enemies will be going into the game, but after playing around with them, they definitely do a great job of keeping the player on their feet in different ways.’
The City Level itself appears considerably different from its introduction in June. ‘Per Lead Artist Andrew Restrepo’s comments, the color palettes of the City Level were clashing, where the assets on the player’s layer were mixing with the background, making it hard to distinguish background from foreground.’ Bowser continues.
‘So he went in and completely changed the color palettes of ALL backgrounds as well as added more detail. He also made brick tile maps for me to use that have more detail and look like true brick buildings.’
The duo is still evaluating how they want the tilemaps to connect, how to add greater detail, as well as how to present players with navigation Cues.
Each time the existing tile-map is changed, the level has to be completely redrawn, turning the Level’s configuration into a time-consuming endeavor.
‘Once we’re done, we’ll also be looking into ways to potentially randomise buildings by color, enemy layout, and maybe even size/shape,’ they surmise.
The City Level is one of several that will be making an appearance in Abadon: Guardians Rise’s upcoming demo, another being the now completed Nuke Cave level seen its Co-Op Teaser, offering up to 2-3 unique variations of themselves for players to experience.
Co-op Teaser – https://youtu.be/cwf4nZeQalU
About Abadon: Guardians Rise
Set against the backdrop of a mysterious extra-terrestrial infestation, Abadon: Guardians Rise is a 2D platformed, Roguelite tale of an elite planetary defense task-force in development by Ummagumma Games.
With features such as that of uniquely customizable characters and dynamically structured levels, vicious enemy design, co-operative game play and a demanding narrative comprised of multiple play-throughs, players must rush to restore their decimated squad of Vanguardians and recover the Planet of Abadon from the clutches of alien originated violence.
Abadon: Guardians Rise is in development for a PC launch, with a potential Xbox One debut being considered as well. The team is currently aiming for a release of the game’s Vertical Slice — demonstrative of its base mechanics, a fraction of its character and level roster — by Q1 2017, with the intent of garnering crucial player feedback therefrom towards further development.
