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A Maze-ing Runner

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Greetings A Maze-ing Runner, are you ready to reach the top of the Tower of A Maze-ingness? Explore dark and challenging mazes. Optimize your path, and Run as fast as your can to get the best time. Who knows what awaits you at the top of the tower?

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DevBlog #3

May 7

Greetings runners,

Introduction:

Welcome to the third DevBlog of A Maze-ing runner!
It has been a while since #2, (we're trying to find a time-frame that best suits our development speed). This iteration has been in the theme of a world map/HUB (and its editor) and other gameplay mechanics which for now we'll keep a secret.

To menu or not to menu:

To start with a controversial topic. Do you need a main menu (every time) when you enter the game?
Look for instance at Helldivers. After their intro scene, you are directly sent to a HUB which serves as a place to manage your character's progression and start a session. It allows you as player to instantly "get into the action" and has a playful way to access progression related features.

We are thinking of going a similar route. However, on your first startup you may want to change your resolution, tweak controls, etc. So we will let you do that after Save-game creation.

What is the HUB:

That is the question. There are two main routes to take:

A central HUB that focuses only on character progression systems with a portal to the "world map(s)"
A merge between the HUB and world map which contains all content of the Branch*

A central HUB would mean that as a player your routine of navigating to a specific progression system will be familiar, new area's open up as you progress through the game, so you get a sense of ownership of the HUB. The "world map" (or more accurately different floors of the tower) will be travelled to by a teleporter or elevator, and from there on you select your stage. This means the two areas have their distinct purpose.

Alternatively, The HUB is part of a Branch. Each branch has one "world map/HUB combo" which contains all progression systems together with the stages. This means that the HUB can change themes, while the other option will be more settled in a certain style, with new rooms opening with a possible new theme (and possible refurnishing of existing ones). In addition, the configuration of each map will likely be different per Branch, to keep things fresh. But overall navigation through such maps may not feel as familiar as the other option, and you won't get that sense of ownership, since each Branch has a new map.

Below some example gifs of an ingame view of a possible HUB where the stage selection area would be separate from the HUB:

and a possible HUB layout where the HUB and stage selection area are together, seen via the HUB Map editor:

The power of a map editor:

The benefit of setting up the map editor with the previously mentioned refactoring, is that the hub map editor was relatively easy to implement. While it is not planned that you as player will have access to the hub editor, it does allow us to quickly prototype and test different configurations of the hub to see what works and what doesn't.

Thanks

Well that is it for this DevBlog. We hope you enjoyed this update!
Which camp do you belong to: To menu/Not to menu?
And would you prefer the HUB and tower map (selecting stages) to be merged, or separated?
Thanks for visiting and (if you haven't already) consider to wishlist our game to receive update notifications and try out our demo.

See you out there runners!

* A Branch is how we intend to split our content, each branch has their own theme and content.

A Maze-ing Runner

DevBlog #2

Apr 4

Greetings runners,

Introduction:

Welcome to the second DevBlog of A Maze-ing runner!
The last two weeks were focused around improving the code so it is more future proof. However, the map editor received some new features and improved user experience to help creating A Maze-ing mazes!

Refactoring:

As a foundation of A Maze-ing runner's critical gameplay loop has been achieved with the demo, we are cleaning up the code. To get the demo up and running we cut some corners in terms of design that work on the short term, but are not sustainable. In this refactor run, everything related to the world and theme was tackled. A major part of the code base which would not have allowed for different themes or alternative types of maps (for instance a world hub). However, there is little to show without getting into technical details.

Map Editor:

So let's talk map editor instead. The Map editor received a major update on the front of user experience and a random mazes.

First, camera movement. The camera can zoom in and out, and move around. to inspect the maze from different perspectives and in more detail.

Second, tile placement validation. Certain tiles like for instance the moving wall have placement criteria. Pointing the moving wall to the edge or outside the maze is not very useful. So messages are displayed when a constraint is violated. In addition, you can also see how linked tiles (in this case a teleporter and its destination) can be identified by a link id.

Last, two last minute additions. Random mazes and Pathfinding. The map editor now has access to our procedural generator, allowing mazes to be created with a button press!

And pathfind allows you to see if the maze can be completed (and/or what the shortest path is, fulfilling the completion criteria such as pressure plates and gates).

Thanks

Well that is it for this DevBlog. We hope you enjoyed this update! Let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks for visiting and (if you haven't already) consider to wishlist our game to receive update notifications and try out our demo.

See you out there runners!

A Maze-ing Runner

DevBlog #1

Mar 20

Greetings runners,

Introduction:

Welcome to the first DevBlog of A Maze-ing runner!
Here we will give regular updates on development of our game. The topics may vary from gameplay mechanics to lore and much more! Join us on the trails! And feel free to request specific topics for future updates.

Foundation:

As the foundation of our gameplay has been achieved with our Demo, we are reaching the point where we are working out the world structure. As a runner you have entered the Tower of A maze-ing-ness. In your travels through the tower, you will explore a variety of settings, each with their own unique challenges and rewards! More on this in a future update.

Map Editor:

To facilitate the process of creating a world and the various stages/mazes it contains, we are working on a map editor. While we initially generate mazes via a procedural system (only), we want to have more control to make adjustments. At this moment the map editor can generate mazes with the procedural system in place, or an empty map and make changes to the map (see animation below). The intention is that when we start Early Access, we provide these tools to you to make your own creations and share them with other A maze-ing runners out there!

Currently the editor supports adding, removing and replacing of tiles. In addition you can save and load maps. However, more features are planned.

Let us know what you think of the editor. How important is a Map editor for you? Are there any features you might want to have?

Thanks

Thanks for visiting and (if you haven't already) consider to wishlist our game to receive update notifications and trying out our demo.

See you out there runners!

A Maze-ing Runner

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