Twisted Science

[Alienhead]

Twisted Science / State - PC Game

Over the past year and a half I have experimented with quite a lot of projects in LE. Some hit, some failed but I always came out of the experience with something. As I got more and more comfortable with LE and and learned it's deepest secrets I moved on to gamejams on itchio.  After a solid year of game jamming I came out of that with even more compiled code that I made sure was interchangeable throughout projects.  That leads me to where I'm at today,  in the middle of my first real/serious game title in over 5 years.

The name is yet to be decided but for now I'm going with the call-sign 'Twisted Science', whereas my wife is calling it 'Twisted State', so if you see either of those names in my upcoming articles then you will know it's the same game.  

The game revolves around a group of scientist experimenting on stuff they probably shouldn't be touching.  The outcome; a plague of weird creatures being born and ravishing the cities around the world.  A handful of activists formed a group to fight back, this is where you come in.

A little about the game -

 

• Tower defense elements including traditional and third person action modes.
• Destructible environments, nearly everything on the map is interactable in some way.
• Multi-verse play! flip the screen at anytime to enter an alternate reality where the game is a anew.
• Earn coin, upgrade tokens and experience as you march through the single-player campaign.
• Use your collections to develop your Hero into a fighting machine as you defend the cities against invaders.
• Code system, daily, weekly and yearly rewards given just for playing the game
• Unlock DLC's, new characters and weekly challenge maps simply by entering a given code into the console.
• Save points allow you to pickup from where ever you stopped previously.
• Planned MOD support for creating custom Challenge Stages completely isolated from the campaign.

If you've ever enjoyed a good tower defense game or perhaps a fast paced third person shooter game or even a character building RPG game then you are in for a special treat! Twisted State features elements from all three of the mentioned genres. If you've never played any of the three genres then better yet as you'll get to experience the carefully placed game elements from a new standpoint.

I have carefully developed this game with fun in mind. Many different elements were put in and taken out because I felt they didn't meet the 'Fun Factor' I was looking for in this game. What has remained is pure entertainment, you'll enjoy blasting invaders, building your character and exploring new areas as you dive deeper into the campaign. The movement system, the advancement system the combat system - all feels fluent and is very satisfying to play.

I paid extra special attention to the sound environment. Every action, every invader, every prop has it's own distinct sound. When brought together the game provides a rewarding FX experience.

This visuals system has been carefully laid out to provide maximum enjoyment. A friendly toon-like atmosphere that is configurable to each and every players liking. With over 12 post effect shaders you can adjust the final screen rendering to your own liking.

Weather system, day, night and random thunderstorms. If it rains to much the streets become flooded in which case a new playstyle is introduced. Surfboarding!

This is just a few of the features you'll find in Twisted State, as I mentioned I have taken my time developing this game to provide the very best experience a player can have while playing a game. If I was to list each and every gameplay element, graphic feature or environmental feature this game offers we'd be reading this entry for days.

 

With all that said and done, sit back and enjoy a few mins of stress-testing gameplay. 

 

 

[Alienhead]

 100 ways to kill your enemy ( #21: Electrocution )

Steps to perform an electrocution:

More about this game: www.alienhead.dev

1. Obtain the city-breaker box key* can be found in the random crates scattered throughout the city.
2. Train the 'Use City-Breaker Box'  skill from the upgrade system [U].
3. Blow up some water mains so you have a good water current flowing through the city.
4. Knock down some Utility poles that are connect to power lines.
5. Return to the City Breaker box and turn on the power.
6. Watch your enemies dissolve into ashy dust!

Electrocution goes both ways !  Stepping on a live power line or a water puddle that's interacting with
a live power line will cause damage to you just as it does your enemies. 

To rectify this, you can purchase rubber boots from the city trader or the surplus store ( prior to map selection )
Using the rubber boots will prevent you from being electrocuted.

 

[WazMeister]

This looks amazing.  Massively inspiring to see such talent and skill with the bonus of seeing. What great stuff leadwerks can do!  Fantastic! 

Praying I can get within half a inch of being able to learn and make something like this. 

 

Top stuff.  Your hard work has paid off.  Thanks for sharing. 

[Alienhead]

I've spent the entire week working on optimizations, speeding up some of the heavy code ran sections.  I then put some extra time into demolition scripts.  Thanks to havenphillip for helping me out with some post shader stuff,  I now have 2 new post effects in the works that depict gloom and destruction. They haven't made it to live code yet, but I'll have them finished by my next update. 

Okay, new aerial  attacks have been put in as well as nuclear winters and fallout storms due to over exposure in certain areas.. but more on that later as I'm still working out the details.

Cya next time !

Before and after aerial attack ( devasting attack, wiped all enemies but did a lot of damage, like smart bombs in Defender. - 

[WazMeister]

Looks ace, such great talent.

 

[Yue]

I am one of those who think that machines or video game engines are just tools, the art is in human beings, they are the ones who develop the skills, this is the case, you can say that with a coal as much as with a box of watercolors and brushes you can do great things. 

[WazMeister]

Agreed. Humans apply the art and the talent.

 

Hopefully through perseverance and pratice, I'll refine my artistic skills and talent be able to make something cool in Leadwerks.

 

[Yue]

2 hours ago, WazMeister said:

Agreed. Humans apply the art and the talent.

Hopefully through perseverance and pratice, I'll refine my artistic skills and talent be able to make something cool in Leadwerks.

I believe I have traveled the same path you have taken. Any questions I am here to give you guidance. My beginnings were also BB, BMX.

[Alienhead]

Sketch shaders havenphillip and myself have been working on for the passed week for the game Twisted Science.  I really like how it's turning out and it's very inexpensive also.. So far everything is done in post rendering. havenphillip  has placed himself amongst the gods with this kinda of work.

     

 

[SpiderPig]

Yeah that looks pretty neat.   Good job guys!

[Alienhead]

Twisted Science ( 100 ways to kill your enemy ) #39 Fallout Exposure

This alpha update started out as an addition to the weapons arsenal but took on a life of it's own. I'll briefly describe the new systems implemented.

• Powers ups
• Item pickups
• Buffs and de-buffs
• Supply crates
• New player action bar
• New player equipment: 'Breathing apparatus'
• New mode kill mode: 'Fallout Storm' ( explained below )
• New alt-weapon: Grenade
• Additional demolition conditions
• New way to kill your enemy ( fallout exposure )
• and more !
   

Fallout Storms

 

Let me start with Fallout Storms, every map is divided into 2x2 square feet tiles. Every square inch of the map is monitored for damage the environment takes through gameplay. Be it bombs, blowing up cars, destroying buildings or simply tossing a grenade at an enemy. Everything in the game that does damage either by you or by the invaders is accounted for. Once an area suffers 'x' amount of damage a fallout storm in that area occurs ( think of it as nuclear winter storms ). These storms are not permanent but while they are in effect they can be devasting.

When the player is in a Fallout Storm zone he will take on a Radioactive debuff, this buff will cause damage to the player over time. The debuff is not permanent. Likewise, any invader crossing into a Fallout Storm zone will take on the same debuff. The player has the advantage though! Purchasing a breathing apparatus from the city trader will allow you to move about freely inside a Fallout Storm without taking on the debuff. Your enemies don't have this privilege.

 

Action bar

Also in this update we have our Action Bar in place, when looting items from crates, or invaders the collected item will appear in your action bar. You can use the mouse scroll wheel or Alt key to highlight an action bar item and make it active for use. If you run out of slots to collect more items the collected item will be converted into cash. NOTE: You may also spend upgrade points to expand the amount of slots your action bar can hold.

Buffs and De-buffs

Throughout gameplay many different player buffs will popup. These buffs are always positive towards the player. An icon representing the buff type will appear to the far right of the screen, as well as a count down timer showing how much time the buff has left.  Example of a buff would be 'heal over time', this particular buff will heal the player's health bar 1% every 1 second. You'll find many many types of buffs as you play through the campaign, some looted, some purchased and some appear by completing a certain task on the mission.

Debuffs act the same as buffs except for one major difference, de-buffs are negative towards the player. Debuffs could include such things as 'slow down movement', 'damage of time', 'lesser reaction time' etc.. Debuffs are also displayed by an icon to the far left.

Powerups and Pickups

Pickups are items you'll find throughout gameplay. Either in crates, boxes, or off invaders you kill. Pickups will appear in your Action bar when collected. Pickups do not carry over to the next map so use them while you have them!

Powerups act a lot like Buffs, but they are not registered to the buff bar instead they run silently as you play.

Conclusion

This article really just touches the major systems that have gone in this update, there's tons of minor systems and other things that went in to make these systems work as well. You'll have to discover them on your own!

Many many thanks to havenphillip, the mastermind behind a lot of the effects you'll see in this video.

 

[Alienhead]

I'm very close to completing my cutscene/story teller interface.   I have it setup to script the scenes on queue.  Player can choose options for an interactive response. So far the system goes 3 levels deep with interaction, which I think is more than enough for my needs. Meaning, a conversation with an NPC can go three responses deep before the AI loses track of what's being talked about   This is all done in real-time.

 

[Alienhead]

And a variation of the cutscene theme set. This setting uses a glaussin blur, chromatic smudge on the outer frame and a light film grain over the top of everything.  Thanks to havenphillip for his work on the gluassin blur and smudge filter.

[Alienhead]

Twisted Science introduces Tv Channels gameplay modes.  Throughout the gameplay of Twisted Science you'll be directed to different Tv Channels, these channels will usually have their own events transpiring.  Big time thanks to havenphillip once more for his shader help.

 

 

[havenphillip]

Ah that's a cool idea. I like the whole TV theme. Nice choice of song too haha

[Yue]

 

Not Video here.