Sooo, who are these characters? And why do I care about them enough to make a game about them? Well, story time. Back when I was doing clickteam software stuff, I had this grand idea of a grand, expansive game that looked like cave story and played like a metroidvania. Cause, every body loves metroidvanias right? Right. So, anyways, I had stuff planned, I had a level map, I had the characters powers planned, and the whole intricate weapon changing system plotted out. So, what happened? Someone shot down my art. And shot it down hard. So I killed it and tried to start a different game staring a box in a box world. But the name was taken by a comic strip. So I eventually killed that one too. But anyways, I never thought about these characters again until I had the bright idea of experimenting with a lunar lander prototype. And then the Experimental gameplay 101 things theme happened. And I thought, what a better opportunity to try and bring part of this game idea back? So. I settled on an exploration lunar lander with character dialogue. So. Who are these characters again? Well, this is what I can remember from the original Tribute.
Poddie:
Poddie is the robot like thing with the antenna on her head. Yes, her head. She's also not a robot, she's a Nohm, a half spider like alien species. She's also wearing an armor suit. In the original game, both characters had different powers. Poddie concentrated on the weapons department. She had a laser that could shoot in 360 directions. She had homing missles. She could hover. And she had armor so she had extra health. She was also able to fire various lasers, rockets, throw up defensive shields, and drop mines. She is more suitable for the larger, tougher enemies. The weapons could charge up and do extra damage like a power shot. She was basically a power house.
Mike the Cat:
Mike was a bit different then Poddie. For one, he would go through the entire adventure with no shirt. Nada. So, what could Mike do?
In total, his powers include the following:
1.Jump
-Wall, Double, Triple, Hover
2.Shot
-Various spreads, Charged, Wall passing, Minor freezing.
3.Lift
-Picks up a small item/enemy and tosses it.
4.Locate
-Scans the surrounding area for secrets.
5.Control
-Takes over different enemy types.
7.Empower
-Increases Poddie's Attack/Defense.
8.Purge
-Does a screen clearing blast attack for some enemies. Decreases 50 boss health points.
The goal of the original game, was to slowly restore Mikes memory by planting flowers. You see, Mike originally only saw things in black and white. But, they signed on to a job of planting flowers at forgotten memorial monuments. The first flower they grew sprouted rather quickly and created a shock wave, healing his mind entirely for a second, and then almost everything was gone again. Hence, the shocked expression he has. The more flowers they plant, the more he remembers and learns, leading up to a climax that had them saving the planet they live on. You can find the original game blog here: Create-games.com
I was so pumped for that game. It was my first flash game too. I was just learning on how things worked. But yeah, I made the mistake of letting a critique shut down the project. And I never looked at it again. So. Here's hoping that this game will live up to it's namesake and hopefully be a good game to play. All right, enough from me.
Laters!
-xhunterko
