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DyingSilence
Guest
Origin of the idea:
After finishing a game I was finally free to start something fresh. I was full of ideas that felt excellent, but none had that something that could push me through the process of actual development. Then, my wonderful girlfriend named it loudly: "Make a game you really want to make". And I began to wonder, what is the thing i'd enjoy myself, what do i like, what do i crave?
I've noticed the things i like the most:
- challenge
- complexity of interaction
- lore
- secrets
The idea:
Hopeless Descent is hard to describe in a short sentence. The player controls a soul sent to hell, and his/her goal is to get the deepest he/she can. Everytime a soul dies, all of it's possession is lost, and it's sent back to the top of hell. Only Karma persists, and is determined by the deeds of your previous incarnation. It can be used to pay for the equipment used in the current run, but different types of Karma allow you to purchase different things. The catch is, you can have only two items at once, so your choices are extremely important, as items left in the caverns above are gone forever. Every item will have it's own Mana/Stamina meter, which has to be managed carefully if the player is willing to survive longer.
What's exciting about the game:
- Randomly Generated Content - layout of the caves, patterns on the floor, enemy encounters, loot - everything is going to be randomized, bringing a fresh experience everytime
- No fillers - every little enemy is going to be unique and challenging, every item's going to do a different, versatile thing
- Depth of interaction - Every piece of the game is going to have multiple uses, many of them rather unconventional, giving the player some space to experiment. Don't be surprised if you'll be able to befriend a Coal Golem with a charm and then set it on fire with Incineration spell to deal more damage!
- Elements of roleplay - you'll be able to slaughter everything in your way if you're tough enough, or sneak past the whole game, trying not to harm anyone. This choice indeed is going to matter. Also, interactive NPC's, riddles and more...
- Easy to learn, hard to master
- Secrets - like, a lot of them
Screenshots:
From really early alpha:
Secret spoilers:
There will be content dependant on the moon phases. The game will calculate the state of the moon from the real world, and consider it in the generator. Better be prepared if you stumble upon The Avatar of Moonlight, this will be a tough fight!
There will be the Book of the Dead. This item will be useless most of the time, just taking your precious inventory slot. But, if you manage to carry it few caves deeper to the mysterious altar, you'll get to visit a hidden dimmension. But beware, as noone has ever returned from there!
There will be the Coin of Avarice. This will be a risky item, picturing the player's greed. It will have multiple uses:
There will be the Book of the Dead. This item will be useless most of the time, just taking your precious inventory slot. But, if you manage to carry it few caves deeper to the mysterious altar, you'll get to visit a hidden dimmension. But beware, as noone has ever returned from there!
There will be the Coin of Avarice. This will be a risky item, picturing the player's greed. It will have multiple uses:
- to be thrown at walls, providing noisy distraction
- to be thrown at enemies, dealing close to no damage, but if it kills the enemy, you get the negative Karma bonus and lesser healing. Otherwise, you'll lose half of your current health
- to be flipped. One side doubles the damage you deal with the next attack (this effect will stack), the other side takes away half of your current health.
- to be offered to someone in need
Where to get it:
As it's an early alpha, it's here:
https://altairsonofdarkness.itch.io/hopeless-descent-early-alpha
What do you think of it?
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