So it's been a little bit since I showed off Gameplay footage. I'm trying to save some surprises for the play-testing which will start (in the next month or two). That being said I really wanted to show off a Stealth Kill to those who haven't seen it in action.
Something else you'll notice are the particle effects that I've added that I finally feel are working. The Particles are generated at run-time and add a little more juice to the game. They are the newly added sparks flying off of Cambot and Blood splashing out of the Yakuza when damaged.
I've added a Wall Slide that slows your descent if you butt up against a wall (very much like Mega Man in his games) and it's the first step to Wall Jumping (which is more complicated to do right then I initially expected but is in the works.)
Also, thanks to a helpful redditor all of the Japanese text in game is authentic "Katakana, Hiragana, or Kanji" now. So it's not just gibberish anymore. The signs say incredible things like "Sushi" and "Hotel".
Why not just stop at wall climbing and not jumping? I think it'll be a lot more ninja-like style to climb silently, than just jump all the time (yes, it's true - a lot slower, but stealthier). And after all, ninjas do have climbing claws (or however they're called).
You can even push it one step further: when the player pushes a button, the Neon would try to use his claws on the nearby wall and he can climb it up and down quietly. If he's in the middle of a jump/midair and the player presses the same button when he's near a wall, he'll do just a small slide down, maybe with an awful SKREEEE sound (which would announce to the whole neighborhood and their moms and dads that he's there), before stopping the fall and then he can climb up and down safely. This would give the option of climbing the wall a little bit faster by first jumping or jumping all the time and grabbing the wall with the claws (and at the same time brutally kicking the stealth element in the ***) or doing it nice and slow.
Another option/addition is the grappling hook: faster climbing and climbing to places otherwise inaccessible with jumping or claws. Maybe even Tarzan-like swing from one building to another in some cases. But the hook could have a limited throwing range (although it'll be perfect for going down) and not so stealthy: the enemies can see the hook and the rope and shoot them.
PS. Also I think that Neon jumps waaay too high. Maybe tune it down a little as long as this doesn't destroy the level design.
PPS. Will the characters also talk in different languages?
Always some good feedback from you ev. I'm definitely working on climbing claws and possibly a grappling hook at least as upgrades. My initial thought with the wall jump/wall slide and double jump is I want vertical movement to be just as quick and effortless as horizontal movement.
So when he gets ganged up on by a few dudes with guns he has some options and jumping out of a building isn't really the tough part but jumping out while dodging enemy attacks might be. This is all done with the non-stealth gameplay in mind and that's really the tricky part.
I think your idea with the wall climbing is definitely better for the stealth aspect of the game which makes me think upgrade or maybe initial choice in the options before entering the level.
If the player wants to focus on stealth he might focus on choosing items like flash bombs and wall claws. But if he wants to just go more Beat-em-up he can grab armor and weapons and rely on the typical movement set.
I appreciate your thoughts and it's going to take a lot of balancing the features as I implement them. There's no doubt things will continue to change.
PS. He does jump pretty high (especially when combined with his double jump) but I think it feels right in game when you're playing. Maybe I can share a build with you soon and you can give me your thoughts. Do you have a controller by any chance?
PPS. If you're talking about Voice overs I'm really not sure. I like the idea of the enemies muttering things to themselves as they patrol (like a lot of other stealth games) but it comes down to finding the right voicer over talent as I'm not sure I could pull that off on my own.
I could interject more humor if they were speaking english but it could be cool if I found someone who could do some convincing japanese and then maybe add subtitles. It really comes down to the talent.
I've sent you a PM, because, well, throw new CharLimitException("The comment field can not exceed 2000 characters in length.").