AUGUST 2024 - INDIE Game DevLog - Unique Combat System🥊

[@spazzyphantasm]

Astral Chain, is a 2 character action game where you control your character and an array of spirit allies. You can actually have full control of these spirits with the right analog stick while holding down a trigger. This game would probably be a good reference for you. Platinum games was responsible for it and I had a lot of fun with it. You can even play the game co-op with one person playing as the main character and the second player playing as the various "Legion" spirits you get through out the game. It might get your creative juices flowing even more.

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

I love Astral Chain and it's of course one of the inspirations for this game. I wanted to try something a bit different though. In Astral Chain, it can be quite demanding to position two characters at the same time, and usually, you need to switch moving one character or the other. I wanted to find a way where the control of the spirit is more intuitive and doesn't require the player to split his brain in half if it makes sense. Take a look here to see what I mean by that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGaWpYB9i52DiLc&ab_channel=SILKROADProject

[@benoxiid]

ALONE ? FOR A THING LOOKING THIS GOOD ?? ONLY 829 VIEWS ???? Dude seriously this is an insane amount and quality of work there ! That's inspiring !!

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Haha! Thank you man! Glad you like it

[@gasparsigma]

Alone and in his free time, what the heck

[@gt3d-gameartandgamedev176]

This look so epic, love the art style and all of your ideas for the 2-charater combat system. Wishing you the best with this project

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Thank you

[@vatsulean]

this looks amazing! I want to get into game dev, just dont know what engine to dive into as a complete beginner. but this is inspiring :) !

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

I'm hearing a lot of good things about the Godot Engine, as a good engine to start learning game dev. It might be worth a look!

[@vatsulean]

@@SilkroadProjectGame ooo thank you so much! I'll look into it!🥰

[@agentlegun]

Looks good. Can't wait to play it soon.

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Thanks man!

[@Ricolaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

This looks amazing dude!

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Thanks!

[@Gepstein29]

I love the video and the game looks great! Character action games are my absolute favorite too! I actually wrote my master’s thesis about kinesthetic game mechanics in character action games. Can’t wait to see how this game progresses!

[@zaktak4380]

The game looks incredible

[@OMEGA-nw4qg]

Genial jadore les idées et le fait que tu mets énormément l'accent sur les combats en rajoutant des features au fur et a mesure ! Et par là je veux dire, se "contenter" d'un résultat acceptable et se tourner ensuite vers les autres systèmes Bref je suis super content de voir tout ce que tu proposes et l'évolution de ton jeu !!

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Merci beaucoup! Ouais j'aime bcp cette approche du dev, c'est pas forcement l'idéal pour une production organisée, mais quand t'es seul, c'est tellement plus fluide!

[@TheFrostedfirefly]

How is this my first time seeing this game!? This looks awesome! The artstyle looks so polished! The gameplay looks top notch! Definitely keeping my eye on this! Good luck, my man!

[@Xiimo_]

This video should have more views wtf, your game looks amazing, this is clearly a hidden gem even if the numbers dont reflect that, when your game launches if you contact content creators youll have great success

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Haha thank you for the kind words and the support 😊

[@dev_samo]

WOW 🤯

[@mattpenix8438]

Think on to something here. Very true about the combat. Im that target audience

[@flo721]

Incredible man ! If I may contribute with some idea : - adding some sort a devil trigger were your character fuse with the invocation for a shirt time with bad ass stylish move would be cool ! - don't forget ennemies tell, we need as a player to be able to tell exactly when an ennemie will attack through visual and sound cues. - you can link the scoring système to gameplay modifier, it can help keep player engage. For exemple keeping a high score during a fight let you use your most cool abilities with less restriction or just modify slightly your moveset forba more stylish one tht encourage player to fight relentlessly. For exemple in killer is dead the moveset become more and more stylish as long as you dont break your combo chain. - stay focus, don't try to insert every mecanics like counter, perfect dodge... ect for exemple metal gear rising, you can't guard, you can just perfect block, it's a restrictive but well thought choice. Stay gocus on few mecanics that you like that align with the theme of your game and go all out on that mecanics. I really can't wait to see more !

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Hey man! Thank you so much for your inputs! That's very valuable: - Yeah that's something I've been thinking to. Right now the spirit switch forms (fists, wings or tail) and it would be a missed opportunities if we couldn't have at least a super form where it has those 3 parts at the same time. It could be also very interesting to fuse that with the hero as well, I agree. - Yes! Enemies are undercooked right now, there's only one, with just a simple attack, but that's definitely something that I want to nail. - In the next devlog, I'm showcasing a new feature that I call "poise break". Basically, it's a gauge that depletes when an enemy is taking hits, and enter in poise break when it reaches 0. When an enemy is in poise break, any attack will interrupt him and he'll take more damage. the poise is reset back to full after something like 15s, but only if the enemy is not stun locked. That's mean this state can be extended as long as you're keeping the combo alive, encouraging the player to learn and master lengthy and complex combo chains. - Absolutely! In fact, I've already made a somewhat controversial decision-the game will be light on aerial combos. The combat relies heavily on the positioning of the hero and the spirit relative to the enemies. Much of the strategy involves encircling enemies between you and the spirit to trap them. However, I realized during development that this is much easier to manage on a 2D plane. When the spirit is on the ground and the player is 20 meters above, it's tough to judge if a target is between you and the spirit. Thank you again man!

[@mattpenix8438]

This game looks dope!

[@janbaan4024]

This looks like a AAA game from the PS3 era. It looks soooo goooodd!!

[@SugeryGold]

Yo what!! This game looks fire!

[@gasparsigma]

This looks gorgeous. It's hard to believe it's an indie game, even more so a solo game 😮

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

I'm glad you enjoy it!

[@imraanakollo-arenz1449]

This reminds me so much of Astral Chain! Glad to see a spiritual successor to it

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Astral Chain! Never forget!

[@ocatrell]

I would support this if it was on Kickstarter.

[@nik3176]

Looks really cool

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Thanks a lot!

[@zigglyDev]

looks good. If really going for Bayonetta and DMC style, I suggest you some interview of Nakamura and Kamiya. they talk how they designed and developed those games. it's really helpful.

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Haha yeah I already watched that. It's on the unseen studio channel and it's great indeed

[@zigglyDev]

@@SilkroadProjectGame then you know Kamiya is free. may be try contacting him. he can help you on journey.

[@berkvideo]

IMO an addition that would be so coool that new enemies try to attack spirit and spirit escapes away so some enemies randomly waste their time but they learn after that and stay away from spirit and attack you also you can add taunts to spirit to make enemies try to attack spirit

[@Senko1800]

"Yo , i'm Guedin" i like the sound of that 😆

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Pronounced "G-uh-damn" and not "Gwee-deen" :D

[@Senko1800]

@@SilkroadProjectGame Yh i speak French better than english

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

@@Senko1800 Haha bon alors tu sais que je suis un guedin! :D

[@Senko1800]

@@SilkroadProjectGame Ouais bien sur ;D

[@jocosesonata]

Just watched your old video of the Attack on Titan fangame and how you'll be dropping it and releasing the source code, so that you can focus on creating an original game. Too bad no one seems to have picked up where you left off. But anyway, going from that old vid and seeing this, looks fucking awesome, dude! Nice job. Cool to see how far you've come with it.

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Thank you a lot

[@jocosesonata]

@@SilkroadProjectGame Well deserved praises, man! Great work.

[@nfe-_-mercu4635]

This looks clean. Just needs movement and air combat.

[@Xenji5]

I have been following your updates for quite awhile via the bird app and was delighted to have this recommended into my YT feed. You're making tremendous progress and it's honestly an inspiration to see.

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Thank you for your support! That's appreciated

[@ghostashghostash1518]

Wow it looks great, can you make it so that you can also juggle enemies mid-air? It will add so much depth to combos and the combat in general :D

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

I do intend to make it so enemies can be juggled, but it won’t be as aerial as in Bayo or DMC where you can end up really high after a long combo. After several tests, I feel I need this combat system to be closer to the ground. The reason is that many moves depend on the positioning of your spirit relative to you and the enemies to maximize your combo. Adding a third dimension (height) makes everything less precise and it’s harder to judge if an enemy is indeed on a line between you and the spirit if there’s a height difference.

[@TheDeathbyPurple]

Looking good so far. Couple of suggestions - The smaller text UI is a bit hard to read. L's look like V's - that kind of thing. Also if Y X and A never change you dont need them on the screen past the initial tutorial. Save that space for abilities or combo pop ups.

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

I agree, I don't like the UI right now too. It's dull and could be better in terms of readability. For now, I'll just keep using it as placeholder so that I can focus on other aspect of the game, but I'll definitely want to overhaul this at some point in the future

[@elsoul7204]

De par l'accent, et certaines réponses, je devine un developpeur français. Bon courage ! Adorant les productions Capcom et Platinum Games, je garde un oeil dessus. Rien que le decor desertique maisi pas vide, cest deja intéressant

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Hehe effectivement, merci pour les encouragements

[@rE41L]

Add - PARRY, DEFLECT, DODGE, COUNTER BRO. Button mashing at it's finest

[@Oku_yappin]

I second this but honestly evey dev is adding this. The character seems a little invincible. I'll have to play Bayonetta or DMC to get an understanding of this combat system

[@sora-ur4nl]

good luck

[@ReyGis]

I love the art style, would love to know how you did your shader on the characters

[@vexicution5533]

What you got here so far looks interesting, I have some questions: Is this coming out on the ps5? Will you make physical copies of the game? Is there an option to change the outfit of the character? Can you replay missions by selecting them from the main menu? What inspired you to make a hack & slash game? How long did it take for you to make this?

[@Password20-ro6ut]

I think u could make it work like v from dmc or like how assists work in 2d fighters where if u tap u get an action but if u hold u change character!!!!

[@ninjanosa3211]

Nice soundtrack, and hopefully, you make it far with this project, and I bless you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, and may you all live long and good lives. In Jesus's precious and almighty name, I pray amen.

[@leoangelomiranda3312]

Dude has a stand :)

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

Yup! :D

[@samurai4663]

It would look so epic without HUD. Maybe make it smaller, less or camouflage/transparent it.

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

I'm not satisfied with the UI, it will be redone 😉

[@samurai4663]

@@SilkroadProjectGame oh I see nice

[@Beastmd]

everything looks awesome but maybe im just dumb but the camera confuses the mess out of me

[@hr-g4640]

you mean like Astral Chain

[@emibademi1]

this looks like yo asakura and amidamaru

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

That's a big inspiration indeed :D

[@UnperfectFeeling]

Hey, what engine are you using?

[@keepitshort4208]

Mix of astral chain Is this only PC ?

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

For now it's only planned for steam, yeah

[@mattpenix8438]

Any plans for console?

[@SilkroadProjectGame]

I want to take things step by step. For now I just want to focus on a steam release as it's easier for a solo dev with limited resources. But I'm not gonna lie, I would love to release a game on console one day ☺️

[@mlt_sk]

Thank fuck it's not yet another lock on based soulslike, real action games like Bayo and DMC are so much better