Pre-Alpha Release

This version is the first version for OVERKILL that is published. After playing around with the main mechanics during previous versions, I believe that the game finally got to a playable state where it is eligible for testing. 

Since this is the first version, I'll be covering the current main mechanics down below, and the next development logs will be containing the essential changes compared to the version before it.

Dodge Mechanics

The gameplay is shaped around different dodge mechanics, currently, two of them are present. The first one is the regular dodge, which requires the player to press the buttons that appear on the screen from left to right before the enemy attacks. 

In the following image, the player has succeeded in pressing W, S, W, and D keys before the enemy attacks so the hero has dodged the enemy's attack.

The second dodge mechanic is called the rage dodge, where buttons spawn from the left and right sides of the screen and come towards the center and the player is required to press the button with the associated key when they reach the box in the middle in order to rage dodge. 

If failed, the player does not get attacked which was the case with the regular dodge, but the enemy rages and has its stats increased.

There are also four different difficulty levels for the game to be played at, which have noticeable effects on the attack intervals of the enemy and the struggle to dodge.

Attack Mechanics

Currently, there is not much to talk about different attack styles since there aren't many, but besides from health bar which is present for both the enemy and the player, the player also has a rage bar that fills upon dodging successfully and attacking the enemy normally. 

When the rage bar is full, the next attack the hero is going to perform is a rage attack, which is a few normal attacks followed by a much powerful attack. 

In the upcoming versions, I'm aiming to increase the action by adding different heroes with different attack patterns, and all heroes will have skills depending on their role which I think will also enhance the gameplay once the enemies become more complex with their dodge mechanics.

Execution Mechanic

The last mechanic that I'll cover is actually where the game's name, OVERKILL, comes from. After the enemy is defeated, the hero can perform a final execution attack which earns the player a certain amount of overkill points, causing the hero to level up and gain a stat bonus. 

The amount of overkill points that are gained upon execution depends on certain stats of the hero and can be further increased by constantly pressing the attack button.

There are different stats the hero has, but I currently haven't implemented a page inside the game which explains what they do. I think that their abbreviations are somewhat understandable and they can also be learned by experimenting in debug mode, but I'll be adding an information page inside the game soon which will contain the explanation for each different stat.

In the upcoming versions, I'm planning to make a certain portion of overkill points that are gained throughout a single session to be able to be spent on various cosmetics, permanent hero upgrades, hero unlocks, boss unlocks, skill unlocks, and so on to increase replayability of the game.

Artifacts

After each enemy is defeated, the player can advance in the session by selecting one of the randomly offered artifacts. Currently, there are six different item types. These artifacts also have four different rarity levels which indicate the stat increases of the items. 

The lowest rarity level is common (white), followed by uncommon (green) and rare (blue), and the current highest rarity level is epic (purple).

In the upcoming patches, more rarity levels will be added and some items with higher rarities will have the ability to change the gameplay entirely by tweaking certain mechanics. Apart from rarities, there also will be more item types in the future.

What's Next?

My first priority will be adding new mechanics until the game can offer more than a couple hours of different content, and the first few things that are on the line are legendary items, a different character, skills, and a post-game screen.

This development log was focusing on all the mechanics that are currently in the game. The upcoming ones will, similarly, contain the new mechanics and changes that are related to the older mechanics.

Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts about the game, every inch of feedback is highly appreciated!