Hello, everyone! September 30th will see the release of Aeon Drive, our 2D cyberpunk action platformer. For this occasion, we decided to guide you down the memory lane and show the growing pains the project went through. Some may think that Aeon Drives aesthetic was all planned out from the beginning, being such an integral part of the game. However, as with many projects of this scale, this wasnt the case, and the game went through a number of iterations first. R3 (Run, Rewind, Repeat!)
This is one of the earliest forms of our initial concept, showcased at GDC and PAX back in 2019. As you can see, we went for a more realistic art style, a far cry from Aeon Drives crunchy pixel-y cyberpunk goodness. Still, we already had some elements pinned down: the game has you play as a droid, which would eventually evolve into VERA (now whos the sidekick?). Its still a timed platformer and the blockly level design and overall scale of the game are what wed stick with for the remainder of our development cycle. However, at this stage the game was obviously much slower and more sluggish; it needed that extra spark, which led us to develop it further. Project R
It was at this stage when we settled on the general pixel aesthetic and the cyberpunk mood, but it still wasnt really Aeon Drive. The timer wasnt nearly as punishing, as collecting in-game currency was more of a focus. The game was still quite slow, and the overall mood was much more dark and gritty than what wed end up with. Still, we were already set on our general style, the game taking place in Neo Barcelona, a female protagonist, and even implemented some recognizable visual elements, such as the Exit sign. Aeon Drives GDC Build
At this point, Jackelynes design was much closer to the final version, the visuals were given more pop, and the soundtrack already included familiar tunes. Weve also implemented the dagger mechanic, although it was still underbaked. It was a neat gimmick, but wasnt fast and snappy enough yet to become a backbone for a speedrun action platformer. The time capsule mechanic was also a bit more complex: the player had to collect in-game currency which would then be exchanged for time-capsules. As you know, in the end we settled for a more direct approach. Aeon Drives Alpha Reveal Trailer
This build of the game was unveiled at the start of 2020. At this stage, the game finally took onto its finalized look and feel. The only missing component was Jackelyne herself. She still retained her slower movement, and that floating dagger probably wouldnt even cut a chunk of butter if you threw it at one. In the course of that year, we did our best to completely redesign Jackelyne to make her fit into the world of Aeon Drive, gave her more movement options, toiled at some detailed sprite work, and sped everything up a notch. It was the final piece of the puzzle that made everything click into place. Did we do a good job? Thats what youre going to find out once Aeon Drive releases on September 30th! And for now you can check out IGN's first exclusive look at the game, where you can clearly see the fruits of our labor. See you soon! [previewyoutube=BABVzx5HaiQ;full][/previewyoutube] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1252240/Aeon_Drive/