Overview

Take control of a team of mercenaries, doing the dirty work of the numerous shady factions vying for control of the city. Assemble a team and build up their strength by deploying them on missions to infiltrate, steal, and eliminate their targets. Then challenge your friends in competitive team-vs-team battles, or attempt to climb the online leaderboards in ranked matches.

The game is set in a gritty, steampunk-themed city. We are aiming for a pseudo-retro art style which mixes 3D and pixel-art, and currently we are targeting the Android and PC/Mac/Linux platforms.

Battle System

At the core of the game is a twist on a classic turn-based, JRPG-style battle system.

The main distinguishing feature of the system is that characters do not simply execute an attack or skill and then wait quietly until their next turn. Instead, they make their move and then choose one of several "stances" to adopt until their next turn. Stances allow characters to react to certain events, and have a significant effect on the battle in-between turns.

For example, a warrior-type character may choose to act as a bodyguard for a weaker ally, taking damage on their behalf in order to protect them. Or they could choose to put pressure on a particular enemy, making opportunistic attacks whenever the opponent attempts to move or attack.

A technomancer might choose to spend the time between turns projecting an energy field which gives a speed or strength buff to one of their allies. Or they could protect themselves by levitating into the air, putting them out of range of melee attacks.

Each character class has several different attacks/skills and stances available to them, giving each a completely different role in the battle. The numerous potential combinations of these skills and stances allows for some interesting strategies and synergies between characters.

Other Gameplay Features

Surrounding the core battle system is a framework of single-player missions and competitive PvP battles.

The player will take on missions which see them entering randomly-generated maps, where they will move through room-by-room in order to reach their objectives, encountering AI opponents along the way. These missions allow them to level-up their characters and obtain new equipment. Completing missions on behalf of factions also affects their territory on the persistent world map, giving players a sense of influence over the world.

The player can then test their strength by challenging their buddies to friendly duels, or by participating in more serious ranked competition via a matchmaking/leaderboard system.

Current Status

There is a working prototype of the game for Android, PC, Mac and Linux. It contains only placeholder art, but the battle system is more-or-less completely playable, including five different character classes. The basic framework of the single-player mission system and AI battles is in place, as well as competitive online PvP battles.

Collaboration

Currently I am the sole programmer, and I am working with a talented composer who is already putting together some original music to fit the theme of the game.

We are hoping to collaborate with one or more artists on this project. We are aiming for a pseudo-retro style, with pixel-art sprites placed in a simple 3D environment.

We are also looking for somebody interested in working on sound design/effects.

This is not a paid position, but we would of course make arrangements for profit-sharing should the project be in a position to make money. We are attempting to constrain the scope of the project to allow us to release an initial version within a reasonable timeframe. If this is successful, we can consider implementing ongoing enhancements and additional content.

Anybody joining the project should be prepared to inject some of their own vision and to help to develop the style of the game. We want the visuals, audio and gameplay to support and feed off of each other to create a cohesive whole.

Please feel free to get in touch via PM if you are interested, and we can arrange to chat about the current state of the game and our thoughts about the direction in which we want to take it. I'm excited to hear from you!

Here is some sample gameplay footage. All art here is temporary/placeholder: