Alpha 0.2 - Lets go shopping!

So the latest build has the first rev of the Store in Combo Storm. I've been itching to add this but also fearful of how much would be involved. Fortunately a friend of mine (Ryan Ellis) gave me some solid advice on how to approach it for the first run and I was able to squeeze out on a snow day from work.

In Combo Storm, when you perform combos the weapons involved receive points and will eventually upgrade. Originally there were 3 upgrades per weapon (except gas can). Each time you start the a level you lose all your upgrades and need to start over. The store adds a new dimension to that.

You earn cash when playing (the little orbs that fall of guys who have had combos performed on them). That cash can be used in the store to upgrade 2 things: Max Upgrade Level and Base Upgrade Level. By increasing the max, you can access higher upgrades via combos. By increasing the Base, you can make a weapon permanently upgraded. Base upgrades are much more expensive so if you are a skilled player you can work on increasing the max and earn them during levels.

At this point I am going to take some time and start really balancing the game. Hopefully in a week or so from now I'll have a new build that is a lot more fun and easier to get into.

Alpha 0.192 - Small Improvements

This build has several small improvements over this weekends work. Coin attraction is vastly improved and I added an icon for the Power Fist to the HUD.

Alpha 0.191 - Extra Help

This is a quick update that has improved How To section. A page has been added that shows the movement slowdown effect.

Alpha 0.19 - COINSZ!

Alpha 0.182 - Fists of Fury

Added 2 upgrade levels to the Power Fist. You get CHAIN FIST! You can actually keep steering the power fist after you trigger it.

Alpha 0.181 - Foot Fist Way!

The power fist can be activated by pressing 'F'. Its way overpowered right now so I will be balancing it as I go.

Lies and Boulderdash

I have been saying for sometime that I would be making a vast amount of content to test Combo Storm on but this simply ain't happening. Mike Balz caught got a hold of me and told me that this was the wrong way to go. He felt the game was flat out missing features that are breaking the game in its current state. So to go along with Mike here is whats coming up instead:


Store
This is where you will be able to select what weapon load out you want to play with. New weapons will be unlockable by spending cash earned in the arena.

Cash
To fuel the store as well as add a whole new layer to the game, enemies will now drop cash when they die. The better the combo that kills them, the more cash they drop. Cash will gravitate towards the player as long as he is within reach. The hope is that this will create a need for players to not just run away from enemies. I also feel this will really help the Combo Storm feel like an official 'game'.

Melee
Mike has been on me about this forever. The melee attack will be something to help you out in dire circumstances. Right now the plan is to add it as a throwback that will help push and stun attackers but I want to try playing around with a saber-made-of-light or chainsaw that will do intense damage but be crazy close range.

These are the next updates. I think I will start with cash/melee and then work on the store that will require a ton of design work.

Alpha 0.177

Small update again. Before setting out to make content I realized adding the pause menu would help encourage people not to shoot me. The escape used to quit you out the main menu automatically. Now it will trigger a simple pause menu that you can choose to quit or resume.