Polygonic Tempest - Devlog #1: Game Development Progress Overview
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the first devlog for my game Polygonic Tempest! I’ll be keeping you all updated on the game’s progress, design choices, mechanics, and any other cool features as development continues. Let's dive into the latest developments so far.
Core Game Concept
Polygonic Tempest is an endless survival bullet hell game with a top-down fixed arena. The gameplay is focused around dodging incoming bullets and surviving waves of enemies. It’s a roguelike, which means there are upgrades, abilities, and permanent progression between runs, but there are no bosses or mirror dashes—just the pure thrill of dodging as the game ramps up the difficulty.
Key Features:
-
Endless Survival: The game gets harder and harder as you progress, with increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
-
Dodge-Only Gameplay: Players cannot deal damage, only survive by dodging bullets.
-
Upgrades & Progression: Permanent upgrades to abilities between runs to help with the difficulty curve.
Development Platform & Tools
I’m developing Polygonic Tempest using GDevelop on a fairly old laptop (Acer Extensa 5220, Windows 7 Ultimate, Intel 965 Express Chipset, 3GB RAM).
Key Mechanics
-
Dodge-Only Gameplay: As mentioned, the player’s goal is purely to survive by dodging bullets rather than fighting back.
-
Character Upgrades: Between each run, the player will have a chance to upgrade their abilities and stats.
-
Boosts During Gameplay: There are power-ups like speed boosts, health regeneration, and invincibility that can help the player during gameplay.
Abilities
Here are two of the core abilities so far:
-
Reaper Dash
-
A quick dash move that leaves behind a decoy to attract enemy bullets temporarily.
-
This ability has a cooldown and a visual indicator showing when it’s ready.
-
-
Reaper’s Silence
-
This ability silences all enemies within a certain range, temporarily stopping their attacks.
-
When activated, the screen is shaded purple, and the game’s audio is distorted or muted.
-
Boosts & Power-Ups
There will be several boost types the player can collect during gameplay:
-
Movement Speed
-
Health
-
Damage Resistance/Invincibility
-
Elemental Boosts (these may come into play later)
Power-ups are designed to increase the player’s survivability, and players can activate or upgrade them during their runs.
Visual Feedback
To ensure the player is always aware of what’s going on, I’m adding multiple forms of visual and audio feedback:
-
Ability Cooldown: Visual overlays, glow effects, and text popups will clearly indicate ability status.
-
Reaper’s Silence Feedback: When activated, a distinct purple screen filter and audio distortion will let the player know that it’s in effect.
Save System & Permanent Upgrades
I’ve implemented a system using GDevelop’s Storage to save the player’s permanent upgrades. This means things like movement speed and health will be carried over across different play sessions. Players will have a sense of progression between runs, which is essential for roguelike games.
Achievements
Achievements will be an important part of Polygonic Tempest, rewarding players for their skill and perseverance. Some of the planned achievements include:
-
Survive for specific lengths of time (1, 10, 20, 30 minutes).
-
Dodge a certain number of bullets in one run (100, 500, 1000).
-
Survive through particularly tough bullet mazes and high-density enemy waves.
-
Max out your boosts.
-
Complete runs without taking damage or using any power-ups.
There will also be hidden achievements, rewarding players for exploration and skillful gameplay. If multiplayer is added in the future, there will be achievements related to that as well.
Visual Style
Polygonic Tempest will feature a 2D pixel art style, with simple character designs and icons in 8x8 or 16x16 resolution.
The color palette will focus on dark purples and blacks for the background, with neon-colored UI elements to provide a striking contrast.
Development Progress & Notes
-
I originally started with a platformer concept, but after some experimentation, I decided to switch to the current bullet hell setup, which I’m enjoying much more.
-
I’m still polishing core mechanics, particularly the abilities and wave progression and I'm planning on adding 4 more abilities which are already in the.
-
I expect game development to slow down a little bit as school opens, but I’ll continue working on it during my free time.
Planned Scenes
The game is still in the early stages, but here are the planned scenes for the game:
Note: Some are already done or have the base model of it.
-
Title Screen – Starting point with options to start a game, access settings, etc.
-
Upgrade/Shop Scene – For upgrading abilities and stats.
-
Gameplay Scene – The core gameplay loop where you survive waves of enemies.
-
Achievements UI – A screen to display all achievements unlocked during gameplay.
UI Features (Work in Progress)
I’m actively working on the game’s UI. Here’s what I’ve planned:
-
Ability HUD – With cooldown indicators for each ability.
-
Boost Tracker – To show what boosts the player has.
-
Achievement Popups – Notifications when you unlock an achievement.
-
Upgrade Levels Display – Showing progress on each upgrade or power-up.
Current Focus
-
Ensuring that ability cooldowns and readiness are clearly visible to the player.
-
Implementing and saving permanent upgrades properly across runs.
-
Polishing the effects for Reaper Dash and Reaper’s Silence to make them feel satisfying and impactful.
-
Testing wave progression and ensuring that the difficulty curve is balanced.
Studio & Developer Info
-
Studio Name: StarByte Games
-
Developer: Diyogan (16 years old)
-
Solo Development: I’m working on the game all by myself, sharing my progress on Itch for those interested in following the development journey.
That's all for this devlog! I'll keep updating you all on the progress as it continues. Feel free to leave any thoughts or suggestions, and thanks for following along!