All of this is live now so update Smith and Winston! steamfacepalm

Story and Arcade Merged

If youve been following along youll know that originally there were two game modes: Story and Arcade. With the introduction of the shield (see below) and thus the removal of one shot death these two modes seems a waste of time. So they are merged. The downside of this is that everyones saves games are now invalid so, unfortunately, everyone has been kicked back to boot camp and has to start the mission again. The good news is that the mission is much clearer, much more balanced and starts a lot easier because of the shield.

Introductory Offer

Lets be honest no one really likes a cut scene but they are sometimes necessary. We found that people were asking questions like:

• Who are Smith and Winston?
• Am I playing as Smith or Winston?
• Why is shippy such an asshat?
• Is shippy the ship?
• How many potatoes are there is each voxel?

So when you start a new game you get to see a little 30 second intro sequence which helps to set the scene a little.

Training

The cut scene plops you in to a little training area now where you can learn the controls. Weve removed most of the introduction Shippy Beacons from the start of the game now. A lot of players just ignored them and Shippys voice was just too annoying

Calm down Shippy!

Weve re-synthesized Shippy so shes FAR less annoying to the players ears, especially when wearing headphones. So if youve turned down the shippy volume you may want to turn it back up for a bit.

Shiela Sha-poo-pee Shields

Weve added a shield. This means you can take three hits before losing a life. This makes a huge difference to the game. Its amazing. We said wed never do it but in the end, the players were correct, the game is better with a shield.

Bossing the Boss around

Based on the feedback we got about the Chopper Boss weve moved him to be the first boss that you see. Its a better boss, it plays better than bunker boss and this gives us a chance to revisit the Bunker Boss and make him better.

New Levels

Weve added three new levels to the game each with distinct eeriness, distinct enemies and one of them is based on my personal addiction to Paprika Pringles.. but its probably not clear which.


Anyway, thats it for now. Were going to get a build ready for EGX Rezzed in London 4th-6th of April, 2019. If youre around be sure to drop by and say hi. Have fun exploring and destroying and thanks for all your help. be seeing you dazza.

[ 2019-03-06 15:55:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Smith and Winston is a Metroidvania style exploration twin stick shooter.

Taking on the role of Smith or Winston, two hapless mercenaries, you explore a newly discovered shattered ring world and uncover the secrets of the natives and the impending doom of the star system. Only you can save the system from the evil that awaits... or not.

Hand built

The world needs more hand crafted games. We love procedurally generated games but there is nothing like a level designed by a human for a human.

Exploration

There are many strange places to explore in Smith and Winston along with secrets and puzzles to discover and items to collect. You'll need a sharp eye to spot some of them and a bit of dexterity to reach others. But there's plenty to discover.

Challenging twin stick combat

There's no health bars and with limited lives dodging is as important as shooting. Don't worry we've given you the tools to survive. From guns and power ups, grenades and missile launchers, to being able to sculpt the terrain to your advantage. How you defeat enemies is up to you.

Free Flowing Movement

Smith and Winston come with some cool toys, a jump pack boost for going up and a dash for going fast. Great for dodging bullets but even better for reaching new areas. Combine these for bigger and further jumps. Dash, boost, dash can get you a long way but a clever use of the terrain and our in game physics can get you higher and further.

Voxels

We love 'em. In a voxel world the player can destroy nearly everything and you have the equipment to do just that. From mining lasers to dig out secrets to grenades that blast holes in everything. Use these tactically or just to make a hole and laugh as you adversary falls helplessly to their doom.

Camera

Smith and Winston is a full 3D game and to take advantage of that we added in a few things. A rotatable 360° camera lets you see what you want and 3 angles of tilt, fancy a more cinematic perspective, just drop the camera angle.

Collectibles

Collect and swap your heads there a lot to find and finding them all won’t be easy and with our Steam release we'll be adding Steam achievements and cards too.