Aztez: Upcoming Beat 'Em Up By Me!

[BenRuiz]

Hi DMC.org community! My name is Ben Ruiz and I'm the lead designer and artist on an upcoming game called Aztez. It's being independently developed by myself and one other dev. We're about a year in and we're aiming for an early 2014 release on PC/Mac/Linux, and maybe a console or two if we play our cards right.

Anyway, I'm coming here to open up a dialog with passionate Devil May Cry/beat 'em up players because A. the Devil May Cry series has always been a huge inspiration, B. I love beat 'em ups to death and want to talk to potential players very badly, and C. (most importantly) you guys are hardcore and brutal and skilled and I need players like you to break apart my game and tell me what you like and don't like. I'm trying very genuinely to create something great here, and that can't be done without solid player feedback. Anyway, check out this video we recently released:

So with that on the table, how interested is the DMC.org community in being a part of this? If there is serious interest, I'm willing to create a special build for you maniacs so that can sink your teeth into it. I would be tremendously helpful but I can't spend the time maintaining a build and answering questions unless I'm going to get feedback out of it. Hit me with your thoughts! xoxo

 

[CheeseKao]

A stylish 2d beat-em-up you say? Colour me interested. I can't really say much about the game right now but I like what I see so far. I am by no means a highly skilled DMC player but one thing I'm sure of is that variety is key when it comes to games like this. Nobody likes fighting the same enemy types with the same movea over and over again. Looking forward to more information about this game.

BTW, not many people frequent this section of the forums so I'm not sure if you will receive enough feedback.

 

[BenRuiz]

A stylish 2d beat-em-up you say? Colour me interested. I can't really say much about the game right now but I like what I see so far. I am by no means a highly skilled DMC player but one thing I'm sure of is that variety is key when it comes to games like this. Nobody likes fighting the same enemy types with the same movea over and over again. Looking forward to more information about this game.

BTW, not many people frequent this section of the forums so I'm not sure if you will receive enough feedback.

Completely agreed on variety! We've built all of our combat tech thus far on one weapon (the macahuitl, or Aztec sword) but I'm building mechanic sets for 3 additional weapons: the spear, the knife, and the club. You can switch between them whenever you'd like, similar to the way DMC4 Dante has access to all of his weapons and styles and it's up to the player to skillfully switch between them.

Furthermore, there are different classes of enemies that follow the Aztec archetypes (Eagle, Jaguar, Noble, Underworld Warriors, etc.) that all attack at three distinct levels of complexity. So the variety is there! My primary concern is making sure the weapons and enemies are properly balanced against each other for meaningful variety.

And thanks for heads up on this section of the forums.

 

[BenRuiz]

It looks very nice, i do think
1. It needs to be a little faster with chain attacks.
2. Don't include handholding features like heath regeneration, constant item drops or power moves that's easily spammed.
3. Force replay value by way of upgrades or abilities that requires a second or third play through, & or by choosing a different path.
4. That said, multiple paths would increase interests & replay value.
5. Maybe a co-op, online & OFFLINE.
6. Blood that actually covers the ground.
I see lots of blood but there's no collection of it on the ground.
7. Duel weapon wielding with a ability to block & parry attacks.
8. Lots of enemy variety, it helps to reduce boredom.
9. Backgrounds with a little more movement.
A giant bird flying by, boulders rolling, an epic battle taking place.

Thank you for the kind words and the thoughts! Allow me to address your concerns:

1. The general speed of attack/combo animations is a preference thing, and the current speed is something I established after putting it in a lot of hands and finding out what makes the most sense to the most people. But I understand that you want something quicker, so don't worry; the spear is faster than the sword and the knife is even faster.
2. I don't intend to! I hate having my hand held because it renders my accomplishments meaningless. I was born and raised in the arcade, and that's where my design sensibilities come from. I'd rather have a smaller and more fulfilled audience than a large and skill-less audience.
3. I'm very passionate about making sure the player has their tool sets available to them from the start, so I won't be hiding mechanics behind an "unlock wall"...
4. ...but with THAT being said, we're building a game structure that is HUGELY replayable. I'm tired of the traditional beat 'em up game structure and am doing something different. It's intended to be enjoyable, and also a much better vehicle for our combat.
5. That one's tricky because I would LOVE to do this, but there's just two of us on the team (I do all the art and design and my partner does all the programming and some design) and we probably won't have the time and money to implement multiplayer.
6. Take one more look at the video; there is actually blood collecting on the ground. A lot of it doesn't come out of one enemy, but when you're fighting a mob it adds up. I'm making a point to correct you here because blood is, in fact, a big part of the game! You can stop and absorb all the blood off the screen for high scores or you can donate it at altars for temporary advantages. Of course, you are vulnerable when you absorb and vulnerable when you donate.
7. Because of animation/design restrictions, there won't be any dual wielding, but there is blocking and most certainly parrying/counter attacking. And each weapons has 2-4 unique counters, too, so there is some meat in the defense game. I think players will be really happy with our parrying/counter system, because it's already really satisfying and fun.
8. There will be for sure!
9. Agreed. Environments are still a little rough, but there will be a lot more life in them when it's all said and done.

Thanks so much for this great feedback! If this conversation picks up a little momentum, I'd be happy to drop a playable build...

 

[BenRuiz]

1. Yeah! The club especially is much heavier and bulkier feeling.
2.
3. I agree with the idea that unlock walls aren't inherently bad, but I just don't want to do that with core mechanics. I don't like being gated on my way to full power. But that is good point about diminishing value, and we're addressing that by adding challenges built for certain weapons, so they're use is required and you are required to improve.
4.
5. Good! It's big problem for some people so I'm always on my toes when I declare that.
6. I think you're gonna dig it!
7. I would like to eventually add systems like that, but that's more of an expansion type thing for me; want to nail this system first.
8. For sure. Elites and bosses will be scary big.
9.

Thanks for all the feedback here! If you want to try the game send me a DM and I'll throw you a download link.

 

[meg5493]

Looks nice though I agree with VampireWicked about the backgrounds it would be nice if something was happening since your going for a monochrome color scheme similar to Mad World which I love. Also would there be female characters to play as?

 

[BenRuiz]

It's hard to see in the teaser video but there will definitely be activity in the backgrounds because I want players to feel like they're inside a real world.

And sort of! There will be a female body that you can use if you'd like, but there gear is the same regardless.

 

[meg5493]

What sort of difficulties will there be the norm or are you going for something different?

 

[SugarMoon]

You have no idea how excited I am for you and your partner. I wish you the best of luck and I'm looking forward to it. It looks amazing too. I need to give this a buy

 

[BenRuiz]

What sort of difficulties will there be the norm or are you going for something different?

We're going to be doing two things; ratcheting up the difficulty as you succeed at combat events and letting you ratchet it up or down by a little bit between events. The game will give you some control but always be nudging you to perform better and more skillfully.

That would be really cool, however i'm kinda limited on what i can download as i'm using a PS3 browser.

But if it's okay with you i can post the game video with a link to your site on my blog page.

Oh that's a bummer! Let me know if you end up with a PC/Mac at your fingertips and I'll send you a build. And you can most definitely link it! I'd really appreciate that, in fact. Since your blog is a Playstation blog/forum, be sure to tell your users that we'd love to come to the PS4 and we might just do that!

You have no idea how excited I am for you and your partner. I wish you the best of luck and I'm looking forward to it. It looks amazing too. I need to give this a buy

Thanks a ton!

 

[BenRuiz]

lol I meant my own blog page, it's like.....
blogger.com
blogspot
livejournal
And so-on.
I could post your video with a link for the public to see.
And i'll give you a playstation link if you want.

Yeah that would be great! I appreciate the support!