My First Project: Downward Ho!

[ColecoGamer]

I am presenting my first project ever, Downward Ho’, for the Atari Jaguar. It’s a vertical shooter that is heavily inspired by the play mechanics of Pooyan by Konami. I promised myself that I wouldn’t announce anything until I had the basic game mechanics nailed down, and well - here I am. Below you will see the basic outline of the game.

 

I’ve been following the advice from my previous thread to keep the screen resolution at about 320x224. Please keep in mind that the image I provide from the project is a screenshot from my artist tools (I haven’t exported the file yet), so the formatting may seem off due to me snapping an image of the desktop, and cropping it. As more assets (and code) are created, I promise to export everything properly, so when you view it, everything will appear as it should.

 

I am positive that I will be asking many questions along way, as I build this project. The community has been invaluable in helping me get this far, and I deeply appreciate all of your feedback, both positive and negative!

 

Downward Ho!

# of Levels: Undetermined

# of Players: 1

Atari Jaguar 

 

Story:

The kingdom of Astariah has been experiencing countless earthquakes. 

 

The king of Astariah, Meldore Thacklesack, has employeed countless astrologers and alchemists to find the source behind these life-threatening quakes, but unfortunately their efforts were to no avail. 

 

As these quakes continue, the towns that surround Thacklesack’s kingdom continue to buckle under the unimaginable power these ‘attacks’ produce. Shortly after the latest earthquake, a massive hole appears in the ground, tearing through the dirt and rocks that once laid dormant throughout the countryside.

 

According to local villagers, chilling sounds that resemble haunting screams can be heard echoing from the gaping chasm, striking fear into the hearts of men and women alike.

 

King Meldore knows he can’t just send anyone on this dangerous quest. In a moment of desperation, the king summons his best archer, Sir Gerald Hidestone, to his throne room one late evening . It is here where the plan to enter the chasm begins. Sir Gerald is given explicit instructions to find the source of the earthquakes and kill anything that happens to be in his way.

 

Knowing his archer will need to keep his hands free during his descent, a method of transport is devised.  The king summons the best blacksmiths from his kingdom to create the Bucket Belt; a giant machine that will lower a wooden, bucket-like platform into the hole that now covers half of the kingdom.

 

With his bow in hand and quiver at the ready, Sir Gerald enters the Bucket Belt and signals to be lowered into the massive wide mouth that now scars the kingdom.

 

The adventure that awaits this brave, talented hero is unknown… and very dangerous.

 

Gameplay:

-Downward Ho! is a vertical shooter. As Sir Gerald, the player mans the Bucket Belt, as it descends into the Wide Mouth Chasm.  

 

-Creatures line the walls on both sides of this vertical chasm and spit projectiles at the player.

 

-The player can rapidly fire Sir Gerald’s bow to dispatch these creatures. When these monsters die, they will drop useful items like ammo and health.

 

-Watch out for bats and other flying critters!

 

-A boss blocks the way to the next level. The player will have to do everything they can to kill this monster before proceeding to the next level.

 

Controls:

Directional Pad - Up (Makes Sir Gerald Look Up)

                   - Down (Makes Sir Gerald Look Down)

                   - Left (Turns Sir Gerald Left)

                   - Right (Turns Sir Gerald Right)

A Button - Changes Weapon

B Button - Fires Weapon

C Button - Makes Sir Gerald Duck

Button 2 - (Moves Bucket Belt Up)

Button 5 - (Moves Bucket Belt Down)

 

Additional Features:

Highscore Table

Level Checkpoints?

Bonus Games?

 

Screenshot (Top of Level 1):

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by ColecoGamer

[ColecoGamer]

Update: I’ll be providing some mockups soon, to give everyone a better idea of how Downward Ho’ will look.

 

Edit: After that, I’ll start posting actual samples of my work, so the Jag community can try out my project as it progresses.

Edited September 4, 2021 by ColecoGamer

[JumbleJag]

Looking forward to the updates

[SlidellMan]

Hey, if you need some pixel artists when needed, I can recommend some.

[ColecoGamer]

18 hours ago, SlidellMan said:

Hey, if you need some pixel artists when needed, I can recommend some.

Thank you for the offer, @SlidellMan! It’s much appreciated. ☺️??

 

 

[ColecoGamer]

Work and life have kept me busy as of late, which is why I haven’t posted as much as I like.

 

Now that I have some free time available due to the Holidays, I am back to working on Downward Ho!.

So.. without further ado, here’s Sir Gerald in the flesh (err.. pixel). This is not his actual size; his sprite will be much smaller in game.