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SAGE 2024 - Demo Superguy and Megaboy (WIP Demo)

Overview

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DOWNLOAD DEMO!
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Superguy and Megaboy is a high-speed, free-roam platformer that is somewhere between 2.5D and 3D. Players can attack only on a 2D axis (left/right/down), but otherwise move freely in 3D. Attacks will only hit their targets if they are positioned at roughly the same 3D depth.. meaning if you see a bad guy in the distant background, you won't be able to hit him (or vice versa) unless you move up close!

Gameplay is largely split between three distinct play styles: Flight/Shooting, Speed/Melee, and Civilian.
  • Flight/Shooting heroes can freely fly anywhere they please, and are great for attacking from afar. They are meant to capture the feel of soaring over a city, much like web-swinging in the Spider-Man games.
  • Speed/Melee heroes have rapidfire melee attacks that deal more damage in a shorter time. They have to get up-close and personal with opponents, but can zip around the landscape and outrun enemy attacks with greater ease.
  • Civilian form attracts less attention and is great for avoiding conflict with bad guys. Obviously superhero form packs a real punch and allows for fun traversal around the city, but sometimes its easier to sneak up on a bad guy as a civilian, then transform and hit 'em with a sneak attack! Inspired by Mega Man ZX, players can swap between superhero and civilian forms at the press of a button.

Gamepads are supported (and recommended for the best experience)!
Controls are fully remappable.

This demo covers the first two chapters/bosses of Story Mode, and includes a Free Play option if you'd rather explore the city at your own pace. Constructive critisism and suggestions for improvement are welcome!

Superguy
superguygif3.gif

Play Style: Flight/Shooting

Nathan was just a normal 18-year-old who worked at a grocery store... until he bought a baseball cap that gave him superpowers. As Superguy, his hands produce energy that can be used as concussive blasts or as jetbursts that allow him to fly.



Megaboy
megaboygif2.gif

Play Style: Speed/Melee

Winston is Nathan's 12-year-old brother who loves to draw and play video games. His hat transforms him into Megaboy, granting him incredible speed and enhanced strength. He can wall-run and rapid-melee.



Universal Controls:
Move
A
 /
S
- Jump
Y
 /
Space
- Transform
RB
/
W
- Sheild/Strafe
Start
/
Esc
- Pause

Flight/Shooting-specific Controls:
X
 /
D
- Shoot
A
 /
S
(double tap) - Enter Flight Mode
B
 /
X
(double tap) - Exit Flight Mode
A
 /
S
(hold) - Ascend
B
 /
X
(hold) - Descend
LB
/
A
- Boost

Speed/Melee-specific Controls:
X
 /
D
- Rapid Punch horizontally
B
 /
X
- Rapid Kick down
LB
/
A
- Run / Wall-Run

​


Camodude Boss (18).png

Hothead Boss (12).png

Superguy (1).png

Megaboy (4).png

Technoguy (1).png

Guyzer (6).png


Gameplay Tips
  • Player health regenerates over time! If you take a lot of damage, don't be afraid to run away. Put some distance between you and your opponent(s) until you're back at full health.
  • Thugs can be temporarily dazed if you boost or run past them at close range. This can save you if you're surrounded!
  • Boost/Run often to dodge enemy attacks, especially during boss fights.
  • Remember to sheild! You won't able to dodge every attack, but you'll take half as much damage while sheilding (provided you sheild in the direction of the enemy attack).
  • Practice mode (accessible from the pause menu) is a great place to test out your abilities. Players can't die in Practice, so go crazy!
  • Have fun! My ultimate goal was for players to have fun simply flying/running around the city, even if all mission objectives are ignored.

Known Bugs
These are a few glitches I haven't quite ironed out yet.
  • Character shadows spaz out when they overlap.
  • Compass randomly appears for a split second when there are no enemies nearby.
  • Megaboy will run in place if he hits the ceiling while wall-running.
  • NPCs sometimes spawn in solid walls, then pop out unexpectedly.
  • Camodude boss occasionally gets stuck, allowing you to melee the crap out of him.
  • Game may occasionally lag in Nickelmore (specifically when the player is close to the main highway).

Credits

Characters and story created by Ethan and Austin Wake.
Game engine, graphics, music and sound effects by Ethan Wake (@TechnoSuperguy )

Software used:
  • GameMaker (game development)
  • Gimp (graphics)
  • Spine (animation)
  • LMMS (music/sounds)
  • Wavepad (sounds)

Comments

stolken
Was shocked by how much I got a kick out of this game. Decided I'd tell you what I think.

- Keep an eye on your controls. For some reason, the characters always moved to the left even when not touching my controller. The windows controller test seemed to show my controller has a very small deadzone but the fact that it effected the game that greatly is something to be of concern. I had to play a lot of it with the D-pad on my Xbox One controller.
- The writing was really fun and charming. A cheap mega mart not getting outfits for its team, the family felt pretty real too, the idea of the younger one running off to test his powers, really fun stuff and I was also pretty surprised with the fire guy showing his powers off cause I didn't expect that.
-Moving around in the 2.5D space is a bit much. I don't know if this game really needs to be 2.5D with how it plays. Things seem to play just fine as a 2D game, and you could probably add bezier curve stuff like Klonoa or Pandemonium has if you want to emphasize something greater than 2D. Full 3D is also an option but you already have it built to be 2D.
-Of that, quite a few problems moving in 2.5D as mega boy. Sprinting into the foreground/background in an alleyway made him run up the side of the buildings.
-Also will say that Megaboy is the more satisfying of the two to play. I love the multi hit attacks and getting up close to use them. I feel that SuperGuy would be better if his attacks were more like a chain gun, and possibly had some kind of up and down targeting aiming, because it's already a hassle to get to the right plane to shoot something. (plus, the purple gang can also aim up and down at you already, no fair). I also wish Megaboy's kick was a bit better. Perhaps something like Chun Li but angled down/right or down/left?
-The music is simple but I like a lot of the songs being remixes of the main theme. The leitmotif style is really neat. Also good attention to detail with sounds, hearing my footsteps change depending on the terrain is a nice touch.
-The art is a bit simple. I did like the character's expressions but a little more time practicing art could do wonders for this game. The environments thought looked alright, sans the tree's leaves never being transparent when I jumped/ran up them. I am happy you did make buildings transparent when behind them.

Overall though, I was engaged with the game's story and the whole hat thing creating new super heroes and villains reminded me a lot of Static Shock with "The Big Bang" creating Static and the villains (and some heroes) of the show. The gameplay could use some work but there's a decent base that could be refined into something really fun. But I will warn you about feature creep. I saw you were planning a lot of things when finishing the demo, with 50+ chapters spanning many years narratively. That's going to be a lot of work and could burn you out, just warning you from personal experience.
 
TechnoSuperguy
Thank you for the honest feedback!

stolken said:
- Keep an eye on your controls. For some reason, the characters always moved to the left even when not touching my controller. The windows controller test seemed to show my controller has a very small deadzone but the fact that it effected the game that greatly is something to be of concern. I had to play a lot of it with the D-pad on my Xbox One controller.
Click to expand...
That's surprising, I did have issues with controller drift at one point, but I thought I'd fixed it ages ago. I'll have to look into that.

-Moving around in the 2.5D space is a bit much. I don't know if this game really needs to be 2.5D with how it plays. Things seem to play just fine as a 2D game, and you could probably add bezier curve stuff like Klonoa or Pandemonium has if you want to emphasize something greater than 2D. Full 3D is also an option but you already have it built to be 2D.
Click to expand...
Honestly I've considered nixing the 3D several times, but wanted to get players' thoughts on the current build before doing so. Using a bezier curve is a great idea.

-Also will say that Megaboy is the more satisfying of the two to play. I love the multi hit attacks and getting up close to use them. I feel that SuperGuy would be better if his attacks were more like a chain gun, and possibly had some kind of up and down targeting aiming, because it's already a hassle to get to the right plane to shoot something. (plus, the purple gang can also aim up and down at you already, no fair). I also wish Megaboy's kick was a bit better. Perhaps something like Chun Li but angled down/right or down/left?
Click to expand...
Interesting that you preferred Megaboy's gameplay, as my playtesters (and I personally) prefer Superguy. Funnily enough, Superguy originally could aim, but I felt it made the control scheme too overwhelming when coupled with the 3D movement. I will likely add it back in if I kill the 3D. The chain gun and Chun-Li style kick are both good ideas.

-The music is simple but I like a lot of the songs being remixes of the main theme. The leitmotif style is really neat. Also good attention to detail with sounds, hearing my footsteps change depending on the terrain is a nice touch.
Click to expand...
Ah, glad you caught the footstep sound variations. Admittedly I'm no musician, so I made a few songs I liked and kept recycling them whereever possible. I do hope to expand upon the soundtrack in the future though.

-The art is a bit simple. I did like the character's expressions but a little more time practicing art could do wonders for this game.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I usually consider myself a decent artist, but there are definitely some aspects I could have put more effort into. I will keep that in mind.

The environments thought looked alright, sans the tree's leaves never being transparent when I jumped/ran up them. I am happy you did make buildings transparent when behind them.
Click to expand...
I don't want to bore you with the details, but suffice to say 3D in GameMaker is a chore to work with, so I got lazy. The buildings are 3D models, whereas the trees and vehicles consist of dozens of sprites stacked on top of each other to create the illusion of 3D. This means even if they go transparent, they are so heavily layered it negates the transparency. I have learned more about 3D modeling in the past few months though, so I hope to fix that in the future.

Overall though, I was engaged with the game's story and the whole hat thing creating new super heroes and villains reminded me a lot of Static Shock with "The Big Bang" creating Static and the villains (and some heroes) of the show. The gameplay could use some work but there's a decent base that could be refined into something really fun. But I will warn you about feature creep. I saw you were planning a lot of things when finishing the demo, with 50+ chapters spanning many years narratively. That's going to be a lot of work and could burn you out, just warning you from personal experience.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the warning. Indeed, I may have bitten off more than I can chew, and will certainly make some cuts if necessary. Truth be told, I've had this game bouncing around in my head for nearly 20 years, so I want to finally make it a reality without sacrificing too much of the original vision.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I took a lot of inspiration from the superhero shows I grew up watching, Static Shock being one of them.

Thanks again for the feedback! It has been extremely valuable and will help me make vital decisions going forward.
 
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