//Heya folks. Long time since I released one of these.
Over the week, I’ve been working on a game prototype on and off that’s centered on Twitch(-ish). The prototype only has one mechanic in it so far and has no sound effects, but it's playable.
The game is a top-down shooter / roguelike that has Twitch as the protagonist. The mechanic revolves around Twitch’s potion / poison making. In the game, Twitch has access to multiple poison vials that he could either use as bolts to shoot or casks to throw just like in the game. The vials have these stats which are rated in a scale of 0 to 4:
Initial Damage: Damage target takes upon contact. Can be reduced by enemy armor
Poison: True Damage over time. Cannot be reduced by enemy armor
Reactivity: Contaminate damage (Twitch can use his E). Can be reduced by enemy armor
Stickiness: CC / Slowing power
However, these vials have very limited ammo. Using them as a cask cost 5 while a bolt cost 1. In order to get more poisons, I’m planning to have Twitch forage ingredients by collecting in the sewers or killing and looting (mostly killing and looting). The ingredients you combine will make up the stats for the poisons.
This randomized loot shooting and foraging should be able to force players to adapt with what they have or collected.
Furthermore, as you see in the video, an enemy will only be affected by the last poison bolt / cask it was hit by (as indicated by the color of the enemy). In other words, any poison you inflict will override the previous poison the enemy may have had. This mechanic requires precise use of vials to effectively use it. For example, if I wanted to kite away, I would use a vial with high stickiness as my cask to create an AoE zone to slow, but not attack the enemy to keep them as slowed as possible. Then once I’m at a safe distance, I’ll start firing.
Another example would be in the case I’m going against a tanky boss with large amounts of HP. I would fire at the boss with high poison stat to allow true damage and once the boss is low enough, I’ll fire a bolt with high reactivity (”I licked this one for you”) and then use my contaminate ability to do max damage.
This plus the limited ammo forces players to think strategically on their vial usage while also requiring precise execution (It would suck if a bolt hits the wrong enemy).
That’s all I got. I’m planning on completing the gameplay loop by implementing loot drops from enemies and collectible objects. I’m also thinking about Twitch having the choice to drink the vials themselves for healing or stat buffs.
Hopefully I can make a good level out of this soon enough like the last 2 prototypes!
