As I mentioned before, Ghost Song's development was completely rebooted in early 2018 using a new engine. The new engine I was alluding to is Unity. The reason for the change wasn't mere impulse -- Unity does have powerful features, but I wouldn't have restarted everything just because the grass was greener. I was facing serious technical issues and I realized the game would never be stable or bug free as it was.
With this reboot came the opportunity to re-evaluate everything, and incorporate some new design ideas that weren't possible before.
Generational change
From the new version of the game
Before we look at a couple of direct comparisons, there are many mechanics and features in the new game that just didn't exist at all in the old. The combat in the current game is truly a hybrid system - A hybrid of shooting and melee. You can use various melee weapons you may find along the way, or just club enemies with your gun barrel!
Your gun barrel has its own heat level, and it becomes more red as it fires. This causes some weapons to underperform, but in certain situations it can actually be useful -- As one example, meleeing while unarmed - using the barrel to club the enemy - If it's red hot, you get added heat damage. Heat level rises and falls based on what you're doing with the gun and the context of your surroundings.
Shooting as a system has also been enhanced, though, and while you can still run and gun as you would expect in this type of game, you can also lock yourself into an aim mode and aim freely with the analog stick.
From the new version of the game
New and Old
One thing I want to preface with is I understand that aesthetics and enjoyment of features are subjective, and I understand there may be people who enjoy particular aspects of one version or the other more. That's inevitable, and -- in my opinion -- It's also hard to appreciate just how much more smooth and responsive the new game feels compared to the old until you just play it for yourself. It's also noteworthy that the character is larger on screen compared to before, which I feel makes the experience a bit more immersive.
So -- regardless of your preferences, the versions do look different, so here's a few new vs. old comparisons.
Running:
NEW:
OLD:
Dashing:
NEW:
OLD:
Air flipping:
NEW:
OLD:
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Again, if you like certain aspects of the old version, I do understand, because there was a slight stylistic departure that was intentional and it's something I enjoy very much.
What's less subjective, though, is what the new technology allows that wasn't possible before. In the previous version of the game, the character was rendered and animated in a completely traditional way. The character was animated from individually drawn frames of animation, played in sequence, just like old school SNES games. With the new game, we're actually rendering the character in real time using 2D skeletal rigs. This is not unlike something you'd see from Vanillaware.
The advantages of using this system are numerous, and they actually allow for game mechanics that either weren't possible or simply weren't practical the old way. For example, free aiming -- You can aim in any direction. This is highly impractical with traditional animation.
We can also make real time changes to the model in-game. Examples of this are visor colors, accessories, clothes -- All things that can change in the game, and to some extent the player has the ability to make choices about these things. We can also make other changes to the character in real time, such as when we make the character get splashed in an enemy's blood or slime on its boots (which are things that happen).
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Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek at the game, and I really hope you like the direction I've taken it in. There is a demo coming in 2019 that members of the public will have the opportunity to play, but I don't have a final release window yet.
Matt