NOTE: All assets shown in this devlog are a work in progress, and do not represent the full game or the SAGE 2024 demo.

Good evening, friends!

It's been a while since our last devlog (sorry about that!), but we've been hard at work on what's to come for our next demo, and I'd like to ring in the approaching summer blaze with some deep dives into what's been going on behind closed doors since we last talked, and trust me: we have a LOT! Just don't mind the mess in our footage, please. Let's get to it!

SAGE 2024, here we come!

As a lot of you in the scene probably already know, the dates for this year's Sonic Amateur Games Expo have been formally announced, which, in turn, means our next demo officially has a release date: September 6th!

Having the chance to debut our passion project at this huge event was nothing short of an absolute joy, and I have immense respect for all of the fine folks making that magic happen. I'm planning to work closer with the SAGE staff and give back to the community more this time around simply because of how much I've fallen in love with the event, both within Shootem and outside of it.

There's actually something else coming alongside the new demo, but we'll talk about that later in the devlog! All I'll say for now is that it'll be a way for the players to directly help us make the game the best it can be!

Did someone say revamped controls?

As mentioned in our last devlog, one of the things we learned about the SAGE 2023 demo was that the control scheme we went for, which was a more arcade-styled 8-directional aiming system, very much hindered player control when it came to aiming shots at the ball. With how much this was brought up to the team, I went back to the drawing board and completely gutted the player code to function with full 360 aiming on both mouse/keyboard and gamepad, and I'm happy to say that the game now controls EXCELLENTLY!

To complement the new controls, we've also added some new mechanics that take advantage of the new ways you can handle the ball in-game!

Dynamic Ball Speed

You're free to shoot the ball however many times you please, but be careful! The more you shoot the ball, the faster it gets! See that speedometer at the top of the screen? It's not just for looks, it's your way of keeping track of how fast the ball is going at any one moment! Be crafty and shoot the ball only when necessary, or take risks and make the ball go at MAXIMUM SPEED!!

Taunting

What do you do when you get in a little over your head, though? Simple: strike a pose and stop that pesky ball right in its tracks! With a single button press, you can taunt to bunt the ball, completely halting it and sending it backward at a reduced speed. Use this to reposition the ball in a crunch, or save it from going out-of-bounds with pure unfiltered style!

Special Weapons

Look, I get it: sometimes, a lowly pistol isn't enough to get the job done, and we agree! During gameplay, you might get the chance to level up your firearm into one of many different weapons, which can drastically change how you play the game! We already have a lot of ideas for weapons, but we'll show those off later!

The more, the merrier!

Another new feature we briefly hinted at is a very exciting one for us: multiplayer! The game can now be played with up to four players at once, resulting in a chaotic party experience with a little competition added in for safe measures!

When playing in multiplayer, each player has their own score, and whoever shot the ball last, or is "holding" the ball, takes all of the points earned until the level ends, UNLESS the ball is stolen by someone else! Work together to clear the bricks, but go head-to-head for the high score and bragging rights!

Also, something that can be seen in that GIF above: palettes! If the current look of your favorite character isn't quite your style, simply change your palette to something that better screams "you"!

Multiplayer will be ready in time for the SAGE 2024 demo, so we hope you enjoying breaking bricks with your BUDS!

There's no "I" in TEAM!

Mr. Shootem can't go at this whole "saving the world" thing alone! Playable characters are also coming with the new demo!

Play as Dude Duddson, the billionaire coffee tycoon...
Play as Home Runna, the athletic and pompous youth with a burning passion for baseball...
Play as Bea, the half-demon half-human who's crossed dimensions for a better life...

...OR!

Crossovers

We're working very closely with a handful of indie developers to bring their characters to life in the game! While we're not ready to reveal the whole bunch just yet, I would like to mention that we preferred to work with friends of the team, just to keep things simple license-wise. But, that doesn't mean there aren't a couple of surprise appearances! You'll just have to wait and see!

We're confident that we've gotten our hands on an eccentric cast of characters that would fit in with the rest of the Shootem crew very well! So, with that said, why not do our first reveal?

I think it's time to...

MAKE WAY FOR THE KING!!

Straight from the USC's Mystic Island, it's King Quincy from Super Freaks!

With myself being such close friends with SuperFreaksDev, and after Scruffy had a cameo in the SAGE 2023 demo, it was only inevitable that we would get a playable Freak in the game, and now, the time has come!

Sadly, this is the only crossover character we will be revealing today, and probably for a good while after, but we have plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned to see who will break out next!

We need YOU!

Our last stop of the night is something that involves... you, the player!

Remember earlier when I said that we're opening something else alongside our next demo on September 6th? That something else is... a Kickstarter campaign!

I will be 100% straightforward: this was not the direction I wanted to take Mr. Shootem in, as the whole thing simply started as something I wanted to make just to say I made a game. But, the truth is this: with how much the game has changed since its inception back in high school, and with a crew of super talented and awesome people at my disposal that deserves way more than just a credit in a silly little video game, it's become very apparent that this game can no longer be made with just pocket change.

And that's why we're asking for your help to make this game the best it can be!

In the tradition of being 100% transparent, let me be very clear: regardless of how the Kickstarter performs, the game will come out! However, without the funding we need, it will be very difficult to pay my team, and we may be forced to cut back on planned content and potentially even delay the game past our current expected release window.

As thanks to anyone who is trusting enough in us and Mr. Shootem to back us on Kickstarter, we're ready to reward our backers with goodies such as free copies and soundtracks, beta testing access, exclusive physical merchandise, and much more!

We'll have more info on the Kickstarter as we get closer to the date, but please bear with us until then! Doing crowdfunding is scary!

Conclusion

Well, that's about it from me!

I wanted to push out a devlog before I went on vacation here in about a week, as I won't be doing any gamedev stuff during the time I'm gone (I'm actually going to be meeting some of the team members in-person for the first time! Exciting!).

As always, thank you all for the love and support we've gotten since this project went full-speed. We're all super proud of our work, and we're ecstatic to show it all off very soon!

Take care!
- Ryan