Stuff Under the Header

2/20/2009

First Travesty

What is this you ask? Distorted Travesty is an action platformer being created in Game Maker. The next few paragraphs will explain this in more detail.




Characters


Jerry
The character you control. He's a hardcore gamer who likes to kick ass. Short tempered and does whatever he feels like regardless of the consequences. Jerry's gaming skills have far surpassed everyone else in the world, and while he doesn't typically flaunt this "natural ability" of his, he knows he kicks ass. Because of this amazing ability, he can transfer this to the real world. He also has the ability to learn new random things on the spot.

Jeremy
Jerry's life-long best friend, who is also a gamer. You control his identifier ability. He likes to hack and play jokes on people and doesn't like corporate entities. During the course of the game, he sits on the 4th wall and assists you using his laptop and awesome knowledge. He will also often use word play, using phonetic mix-ups and clever rhetorical excursions.

The Darkness
A mysterious entity who's motives are unknown. It can cause a Phase Distortion which is also unknown. Everything about it is unknown, even to the creators of it. The only thing that is known about it is that it's unknown. It does however seem to have a corporate aura about it which is quite unnerving to those around it.

Hexor
He seems to be in league with the unknown entity. Like Jeremy, he has access to hack the world from his laptop. His skills seem to be both inferior and superior to Jeremy's hacking skills. He has sold his soul to corporate entities in favor of who knows what.

Gameplay

Movement
Jerry can move and jump like any other, however, he can also perform a quick dash forward or backward which makes him invulnerable to all enemy attacks during the duration of the dash. He will also gain the ability to dash mid-air which also prevents damage from enemy attacks.

Attacking
Again, Jerry can attack like any other, however, if different directions are held while attacking, it will change the type of attack he performs. Also, if attacks are continually executed, his 3rd attack will have 50% more power. While attacking in mid-air, if Jerry has any downward momentum when his attack connects, he will bounce up and stay in the air longer, giving him more time to punish his foes in the air. This can also be used for getting across large gaps.

Spirit & Elemental Energy
When a spell is cast, it takes some Spirit Energy as well as some energy from the associated element it is cast from. These energies automatically replenish over time, though kicking ass in combat will speed this up. Spells have many uses outside of combat as some can be used to get around easier and solve puzzles. Jerry will eventually learn to summon up rocks to use at platforms, as well as summon up wind which will throw off airborne enemies and projectiles. He could also use the wind spell to move the rocks he summons up.

Fusing
When an element is active, it is fused into Jerry's hand. While an element is active, it will have properties of that element applied to the attack. If Fire is fused, enemies with a fire weakness will take more damage while enemies with a fire resistance will take less damage. It also takes a little bit of elemental energy from the associated element with every attack made while an element is fused.

Rave Mode
As Jerry battles the many bad things in the world, he will gain Rave Energy. The better he does in combat, the more Rave Energy he will build. When he has enough, he will be able to enter Rave Mode. While in Rave Mode, Jerry is completely invulnerable to all enemy attacks and his power will be amplified by quite a bit. Not to mention he'll look bad ass in the process. He is still vulnerable to traps however.

Awesome Points
When Jerry does really well in combat, such as getting high combo strings, or kill chains, he will get Awesome Points. The more of these you have, the better. Earn as many as you can, they will eventually be helpful. One benefit for having them is enemies will start to award more experience.

Crippling
Every opponent has what is called a Cripple Point, which is a weakness to a certain attack/skill or combination of attacks/skills. When the Cripple Point condition is met, your opponent will be crippled for a short time. While in the Crippled state, it's Physical and Spirit Defenses drop by 40%. This is a great way to get through an opponent with high defenses.

About Jeremy & the 4th Wall
Jeremy has access to the world while sitting on the 4th wall. From there, he can see what you see, however, he is able to hack the world when given enough time to alter the way things work within that area. As the game goes on, Jeremy will learn new hacking tricks in order to change things in your favor. Some of the spells Jerry learns can also carry bits of "cheats" in them from Jeremy as well.