Forgive the self-indulgence here, but with a recent influx of new Gunlocked players, and discord members I found myself once again discussing the origins of the project. What I realized then is that most people who have played Gunlocked were not around when it first launched, and certainly not privy to how it all began. Each time I explain why it's so hard to do X or Y in the original game, the players often have no reference for what I'm talking about.
With the Gunlocked 2 Kickstarter in its final 48 hours, and having just released some test footage of the updated Hive Queen boss fight, I thought now was a perfect time to discuss the past, present, and future of the game that eventually changed my life.
3 Games I Never Made
Gunlocked the name has existed for years. Gunlocked the game, as it is today, is the result of three different games, whose problems could not be solved individually, becoming one.
The first: Well, it was called Gunlocked, but it was nothing like the game it is today. It was a Fruit Ninja-like mobile game where the player used a limited power resource to target enemy space ships and blow them up. The gameplay was decent, but I struggled to find a memorable hook to keep players coming back, and ultimately forgot about it myself. For a while.
The second: A game called Astro-Mutt. Another mobile high-score type game idea that evolved to have roguelike style elements. It was at this point that I was trying to introduce ways to freshen up arcade-style games even as they were falling out of favor on mobile. That memorable hook that Gunlocked lacked. But all the best upgrades were at odds with the main gameplay. The cool stuff was all about fighting the enemies, but 90% of the game was about running (jet-packing) away. You might notice the background art here.
The Third: A game that would eventually become Boons & Burdens was my attempt to take the roguelike systems I made for Astro-Mutt and put them into a combat focused game because the combat was the best part. This old version was a platform twin-stick shooter, and it had way too many buttons and controls. From double jumps and wall jumps to active abilities, supers, deployable powerups, and more. My testers liked it, but all complained it was really hard to manage all of the controls.
Eventually, I heard about a game called Vampire Survivors, and had a go with it. It was an interesting concept, and I won't explain it because I think everyone knows, but the main hook is that you don't aim, and you don't trigger your abilities manually. Suddenly, the idea of a combat-based roguelike with a million abilities didn't seem so hard to manage. So I decided to revive my old project/s.
Borrowing art, code, and other assets from each of the previous games, I smashed together the first version of the Gunlocked that eventually saw release. And it was fun. Really fun. I thought, what the heck, I'll throw this game in Early Access, add a few more upgrades and bosses, and maybe sell a few hundred copies...
And 1 Humble Game I did...
The thing I cite most when discussing why I didn't do X or Y, or why I can't change Z, is these humble origins. I didn't expect the game to be so popular, and it was never designed to have so much content. I always had ideas for how to expand it, but I never planned to expand it so much. The spaghetti code resulting from smashing together 3 old games made years apart meant making updates was tedious and sometimes catastrophic.
When the game first launched, there wasn't even a main menu for selecting pilots, augments, ships and levels. That's because there was only 1 level, only 1 ship, only 1 boss, and only 3 pilots. Pilots each had their own unique augment, but that system was otherwise not even in the game yet. Instead, you jumped right into the only level, and chose your pilot right then and there.
Pictured: The pilot menu as it was when Early Access started.
Eventually, as the game's popularity began to swell (around the 0.25 release) I was encouraged by a player to add more flavor to the pilots, and in doing so, it set off a chain reaction of adding more detail and color to the entirety of the game. Everything from upgrade icons, to menus, and bosses. Even asteroids and gems changed multiple times as I pushed to improve the game over several updates. An ethos that has carried through to Gunlocked 2 today.
Pictured: The pilot menu you all know, as it is now.
Pictured: The pilot menu in Gunlocked 2.
If you've even made this far, I've probably strained your attention with my self-indulgent nostalgia, so I'll wrap things up with some more visual comparisons of where Gunlocked started, and where it currently is in Gunlocked 2. If you like what you see, you can wishlist Gunlocked 2 here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3492830/Gunlocked_2/
The Upgrade Menu
Pictured: Version 1 of the upgrade menu. Featuring the old icons before the redesign. No rerolls. No synergies.
Pictured: The upgrade menu as it is now. It was the previous lack of synergies or a plan for them that prevented me from doing more with this system.
Pictured: The upgrade menu in Gunlocked 2. Designed with extra space for many more possible choices. You can also read about synergies, and instantly see and count how many of any synergy type you already have. A common request in the original that just wasn't possible.
Boss Design: The Hive Queen
Pictured: Version 1 of the Hive Queen boss. Taken straight from the mobile game, and before I added more color to the palette.
Pictured: The Hive Queen now, alongside the improved UI and upgrade icons.
Pictured: The Hive Queen in Gunlocked 2. A far more aggressive and versatile boss that makes use of the increased battlefield size.
If you're still here, I hope to see you when Gunlocked 2 launches later this year. Thanks for reading!