Gravity Just Got Dead Serious
Until now, gravity has only affected how you move in the world, but now it's a matter of life and death! Too much gravity? Death. Too little gravity? Believe it or not, also death.
The gravity indicator now alerts you when gravity is dangerously high or low. Move fast before the death timer counts down. Death comes with a 50% time penalty, so avoid this at all costs.
Game design discussion
From a game design perspective, this mechanic gives players an opportunity to be creative in how they navigate the constraint. It also prevents them from racking up infinite points in zero gravity which would break the score mechanic.
Repair the Pipeline!
Flying down the Gravity Pipeline is fun and all, but it's time to add a new dimension to Cybordz. Now, along the Gravity Pipeline are platforms, outposts and stations used by SciCorp to perform pipeline maintenance and their twisted experiments to understand the source of life. There's just one problem, this pipeline is broken and abandoned, just like you.
Each platform has a collection challenge. Collect all the missing parts needed to repair the pipeline in order to continue your journey. These challenges will be familiar to fans of the THPS series, and the flat - with a twist - platforms provide a familiar - but refreshing - skateboarding experience.
Game design discussion
This change gives the player another task to balance beyond just increasing their score, making the game more challenging and, hopefully, increasing replayability. Having flat areas to skate gives players a break from the mind-bending nature of the pipeline. They are little oases of normalcy for the player. This normalcy also provides a solid foundation to transition into other ways gravity can be bent and twisted.
The collectables can also be randomly placed on each platform, providing a unique challenge on each playthrough. My current plan is to have the initial levels be fairly consistent to allow players to get a foothold on the game, but then increase variability as they progress to keep the game fresh for experienced players.
Look out for v0.2 of Cybordz later this summer!
Join the playtest if you haven't already.
– Robert
