Update v0.1.0

Hello World! 

This is the very first alpha release for Project: Warden. There was a version released previously but that was hastily cobbled together for a local indie game event. I wanted people to be able to play the game after the event if they wanted more. 

This version has been polished. There are sounds, music, art, animation, a tutorial, and settings. Of course, not everything is final, and is subject to change. There are still some issues that will be fixed later. 

What is Project: Warden? 

It's a survivor-like. Inspired by games like Vampire Survivors, but more specifically 20 Minutes Till Dawn. Players will select a character that determines their starting health, and weapon. You are dropped into a field where enemies pour through from every side. Their number grows with every passing second. Kill to level up, and upgrade your power. Keep pace with their numbers or they will overwhelm you. 

You can craft builds that will rip through hordes and bosses like Vampire Survivors. The gameplay overall is more heavily inspired by 20 Minutes Till Dawn. You will need to aim, and manage your abilities to win. The game will feature multiple characters, each with their own weapon, and abilities. The main game will have limited runs. Survive long enough to encounter the bosses, and kill the final boss to finish the run.

What is in the build now?

There is one character in the build. A hell knight with flame gauntlets.  You can start a run, and try out the most basic version of the game. The upgrades are all stat boosts for now. You can stack the same upgrade as many times as you like.

Check out the How To Play section in game for a mini tutorial, and a story tease.

What are the known issues?

There may be performance issues 5 minutes into a run. After the 5 minute mark, the game will start spawning enemies incredibly fast. The game will start to run choppily if there are too many enemies trying to move around each other. If you have the right build, you can kill the enemies fast enough to restore performance.

What will change next?

The next few updates will focus on the following changes:

• Changing the reload system
  • If you stop firing, your mana will start regenerating after a brief delay. You can continue firing after your mana has recharged fully or just a little. This gives the player some flexibility, but removes so much risk from attempting to reload. I will be changing it so the player must wait to reload fully. Firing will interrupt the reload, and the player must wait again. I do think the flexible reload is fun, and it might return as an upgrade.
• Overhaul upgrades
  • Upgrades are currently infinitely stacking stat boosts that only increase your firepower. They should be more interesting than stat boosts, and do more than just increase firepower. They will be changed so that selecting one upgrade will remove it from the pool, but will unlock other more powerful ones. Like a skill tree. Other upgrade types will be added too.
• Adding a horde manager
  • Enemies will randomly spawn off screen around the player. It works fine for now, but I think the game will play better if the spawning was more managed. There should be more situations where the player is fully surrounded.
• Adjusting level requirements
  • The run starts at 3 points needed to level up, and is multiplied by 1.2 every time. This works great for the first few levels but after about the first 20 levels, the requirement becomes ridiculous. This will use a curve in the future.

Thanks for reading!

If you have made it this far down the post, thanks for reading. Sound off in the comments. If you are checking out the game, happy hunting.