Author Archives: ddm

Rescue Love Revenge Update: a WIP level and new game menu

A shot of a new level from inside the Unity3d editor.

We are working hard on the first update to RLR. Among other things, there’s a new chapter set in the high desert. This is a work in progress screenshot of a level that is almost done.

One tool we added to the project this time around is a Unity plugin called ProBuilder. ProBuilder lets us create and edit textured geometry directly inside of the level. It allows us to create unique shapes like these hills, without taking up an artist’s time. The resulting level is a mix of pre-made models and prefabs, plus probuilder objects.

Another change we are making is to the level select screen. Now that we have more than one chapter, we needed a better way to get around. We’ll submit this update to Apple soon, if all goes well.

RLR update part 2: level tweaks

We have received some comments about Level 3, and confirmed within Flurry – some of our players can’t get past this one spot. Today I fixed the glitch by adding in some geometry to make that spot doable without doing a perfectly-timed double-tall-jump. This really just kicks the issue down the road. We plan to actually fix it soon by better explaining our controls in-game.

I’ve also nerfed level 15. We knew going in that it was the hardest level, and since it’s only the first chapter, now’s our chance to make it a little easier.

Level 15 is the longish cave level with all of those 1×1 cubes that must be hopped to precisely on time. They are now 2×1, which makes the whole thing a little more bearable.

flurry_a1c1l3

I might also take a look at level 11. The rest of the levels follow a decent curve, if we can fix these few issues then I think our Chapter 1 completion rate will bump up a lot.

These changes will go into our next update, along with Chapter 2!

Initial Visual Design for the 2nd Chapter of RLR: new gameplay elements

Check out the quick visual design for our Act1Chapter2 update of Rescue Love Revenge! A new layer of gameplay will be added, with a bounce-back from colliding with cacti, and a super-jump when you land on top of an exploding barrel.

We’ll see what survives a little prototyping and makes it into a live build.

Don’t forget that you can download RLR for free in the app store!

Codename Indiana 1.0.0 #2 is up on TestFlight, or play a web build now

For our crew on TestFlight, make sure you update and get the latest version of Indiana on your device. For everyone else, feel free to mess around with this web player build.

Indiana is going to be an exploration and collection game. It will have a little combat, but focuses more on puzzles and dealing with the lack of light.

indiana_webbuild_20130320
Click to play Prototype Build: Indiana – 13032001

Objectives of this build

Additional lighting tests on lower end phones
Basic character animations are in to a point where we can test
Basic character movement

Creating the RLR Story

It’s hard to believe, but up until a few weeks ago, RLR wasn’t even a figment of our imaginations. But once we got started, the game quickly took shape. The idea came on fairly quickly that RLR should not just be a simple twitch platformer with retro art and a cowboy twang, but a huge episodic 3-act tragic comedy.

We won’t even let you read the initial broad strokes! But clipart.

We threw some ideas around, and knew the very broadest of strokes for the story, and then let it sit. We finished up the first release and let our brains take some time off, which is one of the best ways to build up to another blast of creativity.

After a week of getting websites ready and working on Indiana, this weekend I took a few hours to take our broad stroke ideas and put some more meat on the bones.

A few outlines, lists, and a web of character relationships.

Obviously we want to be open about development here at hatchlight, but this story is so nuts we can only reveal it to you a chapter at a time. Thus, blurry images. The next step we’ll take internally is to develop our characters as much as possible, and get a more finalized outline of each and every major chapter the game will need.

Here are our goals for delivering the RLR story to you:

The game is 3 Acts; a beginning, middle, and end.
Each Act can have any number of Chapters that we might need to flesh out the story. Some chapters might just be for fun, but we’d find a way to tie them to the story anyhow.
Chapters themselves might have minor subplots and “reveals”, like cliffhangers.
At the end of each Act is a giant reveal that will shake up everyone’s idea of what the heck is going on..
We will attempt to change the gameplay up over time, and build new features for the game in a logical way to support the story telling.

The cool thing with the way we are presenting story in Rescue Love Revenge is that we won’t have any extended cutscenes to keep you from playing the game. If you just want to beat your friend’s scores and ignore the story, then that’s fine too.

Gamecenter Challenges in RLR