Pylon - ARPG In Development [Quantum Squid Interactive]

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by QuantumSquid, Nov 9, 2012.

  1. QuantumSquid

    QuantumSquid Well-Known Member

    Jun 29, 2009
    223
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    USA
    #1 QuantumSquid, Nov 9, 2012
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2013
    Hi all!

    Welcome to the official development thread for our ARPG, Pylon.

    We want to give the community a voice during the making of this game. So, as we post new content on game design, philosophy, art, balance, story, controls and whatever else over the next few months, please give us feedback!

    Here are a few screen shots of the first area players will be fighting in, concept art of some enemies and a couple armor sets, and a 3D render of an NPC. Expect to see more soon!

    Thanks guys!

    Pylon Game Trailer


    Screenshots and Concept Art
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  2. undeadcow

    undeadcow Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
    9,493
    2
    36
    Houston, TX
    #2 undeadcow, Nov 9, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2012
    That concept art looks strong. I like the more realistic style and primitive concept in the screenshots. I know it's probably way to early but is there any estimated release timeframe?
     
  3. QSI_Steven

    QSI_Steven Member

    Nov 9, 2012
    7
    0
    0
    We are shooting for early part of 2013.

    And thanks regarding the art and screenshots! Our artists want to get in here and engage with you guys about that stuff soon, so any comments or thoughts are helpful.
     
  4. QSI_Lucci

    QSI_Lucci Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2012
    52
    0
    0
    Artist/Designer
    Oregon
    Glad you like it, we spent a good deal of time discussing art styles. If you look at Diablo 2, it is a very dark oppressive game, D3 a little lighter. Then look at Torchlight, the shapes are more pronounced, colors brighter.

    With Valve's work on Dota 2, they mention thing like staying away from over-saturation of color, yet having strong color schemes that compliment the overall idea of a character.

    We thought it would be cool to have a more mature look, but not on a level that was too dark. Bright colors and an accessible art style.
     
  5. LOLavi

    LOLavi Well-Known Member

    May 23, 2011
    8,364
    0
    0
    iPhone gamer
    Finland
    Looks very nice :) Looking forward to more info
     
  6. QuantumSquid

    QuantumSquid Well-Known Member

    Jun 29, 2009
    223
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    USA
    Pylon Overview

    This week marks our 25th week in development. When we set out to make Pylon, there were certain ARPG standards that we wanted to hit that we haven’t fully seen in mobile. Each week when we review our progress as a team, we ask ourselves, is this game fun as a player? We have been trying to let that question guide every decision we make.

    Alright, so what does all that mean? (Anything that says “Currently” has been implemented or developed, but everything is subject to change based on future evaluations and your input.)

    • Lots of Gear (Currently: Helm, Chest, Legs, Boots, Gloves, Ring, Amulet, Main-hand, Off-hand).
    • Armor Sets (Currently: 5, more in the future.)
    • Lots of Weapons (Currently: 1-Hand, 2-Hand, Swords, Maces, Dual Wielding, Staffs, Wands etc.)
    • Lots of Gear Affixes (Currently: 25 different affixes.)
    • Flexible Affix System (Currently: Players decide what Affixes go on gear through a gemming system, making armor and weapons almost purely aesthetic.)
    • No Defined “Class” system (A flexible way to play a mage, then a warrior, without having to reroll a new class.)
    • Lots of Abilities (Currently 21 active - 9 passives, split into three unique skill trees.)
    • Enemy Abilities (Something besides basic damage for majority of enemies.)
    • Unique Boss Fights (Currently: Our bosses have 4+ abilities each.)
    • “Elite” enemies (Currently: 11 different types of Elite special abilities.)
    • Random Enemy Spawns (Although levels may not be random-generated, the monster spawns are.)
    • Fast-Paced Action (No slowing the game down to make it feel longer.)
    • Content (Currently: A central town, and 10 levels with 4 completely separate and unique aesthetics. 5th hopefully to come.)
    • Additional Difficulty Levels (Planning on 3.)
    • Lots of Leveling (Currently: Capped at 40.)
    • No Price Wall. Finish the game without forced IAP.

    In the future, we plan to post more specific thoughts/plans for the various aspects of the game, but we wanted to get an overview up so that you guys can kind of know what to expect and where we are heading. Things we know we want to discuss soon include:

    • The relationship between our stat system and traditional ARPG class systems.
    • Skill Trees and their Abilities (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence)
    • Breakpoint Systems - rewarding Stat dedication.
    • Affix categories and how they work with gear.
    • Weapon Bonus synergy with Abilities
    • Health Potion functionality
    • Armor and Reforging Aesthetics
    • Enemy Elites and their functionality
    • Difficulty curves
    • Art Pipeline techniques
    • Systems and Programming Pipelines
    • Story Overview and Short Story Releases in PDF format

    Look forward to posts on these subjects, as well as content updates - videos, art, and screen shots. Most importantly, help us out! What matters to you in an ARPG? What would you like to see implemented into Pylon?
     
  7. vibliribland

    vibliribland Well-Known Member

    Mar 21, 2011
    260
    0
    16
    You should really add a strong emphasis on defense, not just offense

    Look at the souls games (dark souls and demon souls) for inspiration, the focus on defense makes the action extremely tense.

    Just focusing on offense just makes the game a drag, Diablo 3 is just a big click fest, you plow though the game.
    Defense brings strategy, tension, memorable fights and an feeling of epicness when slaying bosses and elites.

    Take it in consideration.

    The concept art looks great and a lot of the things in your vision sounds great!

    Good luck!
     
  8. QSI_Lucci

    QSI_Lucci Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2012
    52
    0
    0
    Artist/Designer
    Oregon
    #8 QSI_Lucci, Nov 12, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2012
    Hey thanks!

    You make an excellent point... We definitely have room to add more abilities, too. So far, in playtests, the need to play defensively is there, because the game is pretty hard right now. It is very easy to die, so using dashes and stuns defensively helps.

    We do have a couple raw defensive abilities and passives that we'll go into in further posts, but you're right. Plowing through games is fun and has its place for sure, to keep the pace of the game flowing among other things, but strong defensive abilities that create tension and strategy can't be overlooked either.

    For now, know that we have an abilities that revolve around damage absorption, dodge and evasion, dash and charge, sleep, heals, and knockbacks, anti-cc passives etc

    Basically a skill tree doesn't necessarily have a strong emphasis on being offensive or defensive, but does have both offensive and defensive moves within them.
     
  9. iharry

    iharry Active Member

    Jul 4, 2011
    27
    0
    0
    I have both a iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.Can't wait to put my hand on it :D
     
  10. QSI_Lucci

    QSI_Lucci Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2012
    52
    0
    0
    Artist/Designer
    Oregon
    Nice! The game loads hi-rez textures for devices that can handle them... pretty sure the iPad2 is on that list.
     
  11. undeadcow

    undeadcow Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
    9,493
    2
    36
    Houston, TX
    Those developments sound promosing; unique bosses, armor sets... bring it on. A few things I'd in ARPGs:

    - Randomized dungeons
    - Open world non-linear gameplay options
    - Hard difficulty challenge dungeon intended for death obsessed ARPG aficionados
    - Skills/magic that are accessible and not too draining on magic/mana.
    - Diverse environmemts/enemies
    - New Game+ or easter egg options. (Let me play as those boss characters after I beat them even if it's in some areana disconnected from plot)
    - Mysterious/elusive super creatures/enemies (high hit points, escapes frequently, etc)
     
  12. QSI_Steven

    QSI_Steven Member

    Nov 9, 2012
    7
    0
    0
    #12 QSI_Steven, Nov 13, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2012
    We have been working hard in regards to your points on diverse environments and accessible skills. The skills that we have are not set in stone, but one of our goals with them has been to allow the player to use each skill as much as possible (without it becoming OP, of course). Cooldowns, if a skill even has one, are fairly short, and energy costs are low enough that you can use quite a few before you're out. But even at that point, energy regenerates very quickly, so you're back to using it after a couple seconds.

    We plan on having multiple difficulty levels, and so I imagine it is pretty feasible to have one that is painfully difficult for the "death obsessed" as you put it, haha.

    When you (undeadcow, for some reason the quote didn't work) say open-world, are you thinking just the ability to roam and kill stuff at your leisure? Or for an abundance of side quests? Something else?
     
  13. undeadcow

    undeadcow Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
    9,493
    2
    36
    Houston, TX
    #13 undeadcow, Nov 13, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2012
    By open world I mean the ability to roam without restrictions but not limited to killing stuff. If there are elements that promote exploitation then it's better.

    At a minimum unending horders to fight through would be a basis for an open world design but there's a lot more possibilities for incorporating optional plot points, atmospheric, and social (even NPC) elements. Some effective RPGs emphasize disconnected side/mini quests within a wrap-around framing overall plot (i.e. Chronos Trigger, FFVII) so it add more detail to the towns and different settings. It's nice to be able to just explore, even if that means you find yourself wondering into some mismatched areas for your experience level. Even having areas that exist without clearly being linked to a quest but contain mini-quests (what's in random forest?).

    Some of the better open world games have a sense of mystery propelled with substantial mini-quests or easter eggs. I remember Ultima: Quest for the Avatar had an optional sunken ship that players had to search for using clues, Diablo II has the "secret cow level." Consider the ARPG equilivalent of some platform games that require players find hidden letters for form a word (or in RPG terms, an elusive weapon or rare playable character).
     
  14. famousringo

    famousringo Well-Known Member

    Jul 25, 2011
    292
    0
    0
    Love the character design for the protagonist. Both stylish and functional!
     
  15. QSI_Lucci

    QSI_Lucci Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2012
    52
    0
    0
    Artist/Designer
    Oregon
    #15 QSI_Lucci, Nov 13, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2012
    Heya!

    To your first point, our levels are built in a variety of manners. For example, the first three areas are pretty open. The are linear in the sense that there is an entrance and exit, but the meat of the levels allow the player a chance to wonder around and explore off the obvious path, rather then follow a very narrow one. Some areas are very straight forward, while others are more like mazes. During playtests we decided that it was fun to not have to worry about getting lost in some cases, or to not have the same type of level everytime, which we found to be too predictable. We also like exploring in others, which led to the mini-map implementation. People were getting lost lol

    Secondly, we have planned for side-quests and content like an endless arena mode unlocked after the beating the game, but they are lower priority in comparison to getting the core game developed first.

    As for random generated maps, we really like the way Path of Exile does it. Having affixes attached, rarity levels and actually being a drop from mobs make their system fresh and unique. Currently, that is out of our scope, but maybe in the future we can spend some time figuring out a fun way to do random generated maps as well. Another thing to note is, Pylon is not a traditional isometric ARPG, it doesn't use assets that can only be used from one perspective. This was done to a) get more out of our assets and b) reduce the amount of alpha-masking as it tanks frame-rate on mobile.

    Rarity is definitely a core aspect, as far as the traditional white, blue, yellow items - so Pylon does have that. Our Elite system also covers rare, unique encounters, but I agree, something easter-eggy like a secret cow level would be awesome.

    Thanks for giving your thoughts and ideas! It most certainly helps us to steer Pylon towards what you and the community want and find fun.
     
  16. QuantumSquid

    QuantumSquid Well-Known Member

    Jun 29, 2009
    223
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    USA
    Alpha and Pack Monsters

    Hey guys! So in our original post, we showed you the concept art for the monsters from the jungle area. Wanted to let you see how some of them turned out!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    These two monsters are always seen together in-game. The big guy up top, (we call him the Triceraboss) is the alpha, and the smaller raptors make up the pack. There are several different types (outside of Elites) of these pairings, depending on where you are in the game. They will have different aesthetics and also different nuances to their relationship.

    In this case, if you kill the Triceraboss before you kill all of the raptors, the raptors will enrage, gaining increased attack speed and damage. In another area, the pack monsters explode if you kill their alpha. If you guys have any ideas or suggestions for other interactions between alphas, their pack monsters, and the player, let us know!
     
  17. Rusothil

    Rusothil Well-Known Member

    Dec 6, 2011
    270
    0
    0
    Wow I'm loving the art by you guys! I have a couple suggestions regarding the interactions between alphas and their pack monsters.

    1) Maybe have two groups (1 alpha and their pack in each) side by side. Depending on how much damage you're doing to one alpha, the other alpha and its pack either increases or decreases in attack power with the health difference between the two alphas. This makes it so you have to switch between alphas for strategic battles.

    2) Maybe have the alpha eat its pack to regain health if its taking too long to kill the alpha, or if the alpha isn't being attacked.

    I love the strategy you're involving in this game. Keep it up!
     
  18. QSI_Steven

    QSI_Steven Member

    Nov 9, 2012
    7
    0
    0
    We have talked about that second idea before, we definitely like it. But I really like that first idea! That could be an awesome Elite encounter too. Two elites spawn, and you have to bounce back and forth between the two so that neither gets too powerful.
     
  19. QSI_Lucci

    QSI_Lucci Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2012
    52
    0
    0
    Artist/Designer
    Oregon
    A quick overview on the bread and butter of combat.

    BASIC ATTACKS

    At level 1, everyone has access to three basic attack abilities. Subsequent levels give you skill points to spend on unlocking more powerful abilities.

    Our philosophy from the beginning was to give the player choice and flexibility, throughout the entire game. Changing out abilities on the fly was something we HAD to have.

    All our abilities are split into three trees: Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. Abilities in these trees scale from their assigned stat, whether that be damage, cooldown reduction, heal amount etc.

    Lets say you get a nice gem off one of the monsters, and it has +10 to Strength. Of my three starting abilities, the Strength Basic Attack (a melee swing) is probably the move to use because it has just become more powerful from the +10 STR.

    The basic attacks use no energy and can be spammed. The strength one increases weapon damage by 130% (calculated before adding bonus damage from +STR items). The dexterity basic attack is a melee strike that increases attack speed by 20%, does 110% weapon damage that scales from +DEX items, and from whatever weapon/s you are using.

    The Intelligence's Basic Attack is a ranged Fireball. It costs no energy and can be spammed as well. It also homes in on targets, within a certain range. The damage of your Fireball goes up the more Intelligence you accumulate.

    The goal here is let play-styles emerge through drop rates. If a player has been getting an equal mix of +STR, +DEX and +INT items, then the choice is whichever one you'd like to use, or sub out +DEX and +INT for other stats like Critical Hit ratings. If at the beginning of the game you get a lot of +STR you might use and unlock strength moves, but later in the game lots of +DEX items drop, prompting a change out to dexterity abilities.

    Does it make sense, does it sound fun?
     
  20. QSI_Andrew

    QSI_Andrew Member

    Nov 9, 2012
    13
    0
    0
    Hey guys,

    I'm the programmer on this project, and I was gonna go ahead and jump in to clarify a few things, and hopefully prevent possible confusion.

    For starters, all abilities scale with weapon damage. However, not all abilities scale the same with weapon damage; as you saw in the above post, the STR basic ability uses 130% weapon damage, while the DEX basic ability uses 110% weapon damage (if you were wondering, the INT basic attack does 120% weapon damage). This was done primarily for 2 reasons: 1) it's easy to understand, and 2) it ensures that there isn't a significant gear difference between the specs, so switching specs is relatively painless.

    Second, the 3 main stats (STR, DEX, and INT) currently add 1% damage (or healing, or whatever else the ability uses instead of damage) per point to an ability. So, with 100 STR, the basic ability for STR gets 100% extra damage.

    Third, one might come to the conclusion that based on these systems you would want to just stack your main stat as high as you possibly can, and ignore other stats. Fear not; we have a solution in place to prevent that, which we will discuss when we go over gear and the gemming system more in depth. For now, just rest assured that gear choices aren't that mindless.

    Lastly, we do have a system in place that encourages some mixing and matching with abilities from various trees (as opposed to just getting all the abilities from one tree and ignoring the others), which we can iterate on as development continues, as well as some other ideas we can implement in the future if the aforementioned method isn't enough.

    If you have any additional questions, or if anything needs more clarification, feel free to ask and I will answer as soon as possible.

    P.S. Yes, we do allow you to respec your character.
     

Share This Page