Over the past half a year the team has been working on cleaning up Deluge and getting it as close to our vision as possible. By now you've gotten a chance to look at some of the stellar art and level design, but aesthetic is only one part of the equation. It's not enough for a game to look good, it also has to feel good to play. At Floodgate Arts we're committed to getting the best out of our tools that we can, shooting and moving included. We'd like to take a brief tour through what we've been doing to make sure everything feels snappy and responsive once we get the game into our players' hands.
To start, let's talk movement. Doom isn't exactly known for its weighted movement, with the player sliding and gliding around everywhere. Deluge is a slower-paced game that's more reliant on keeping your distance than circle strafing, so that won't work here.
That's why the player's movement is seeing a complete overhaul from what you're used to in the GZDoom engine. We'll be going with more Quake-like movement, giving the player more control when they change directions and stop. While there won't be any bunnyhopping or rocket jumping, we've got some other tools for the player to use while exploring the world of Deluge.
First, the sprint mechanic has been reworked. The player will move much faster when sprinting, but can only do so while running forward and if they have stamina. Rest assured, your character won't need to catch their breath every three seconds. There are some more interesting ways to use your stamina, so we've given the player plenty to work with. For instance, we've added a slide for when you crouch while sprinting, allowing you to quickly get under tight passageways, shoot around corners, and even slide down ramps.
Second, the player can now climb certain walls and obstacles, giving them more vertical freedom while checking every crevice for secrets.
Another new mechanic we've added is the ability to pick up objects and carry them around. Similar to the original Deus Ex and Half Life 2, you can use this to manipulate props and help find secret areas throughout Deluge's maps. You may even find other clever uses for it. Got an area without any cover? Maybe you can make your own. Maybe those barrels over there can be moved to set up a trap.
Be warned, though, as the player isn't the only one who has some new movement to traverse the environment. Your enemies are deadlier than ever to match, so you'll need to be on your toes to make sure you don't get caught with your back against the wall.
How important is shooting in a first person shooter? I'd say pretty important. As one of the main ways you'll be interacting with the hostile monsters of Deluge, it's paramount we get it right. Throughout your journey you'll find a handful of weapons with diverse firing modes to help you with each weapon coming with its own alternate fire mode to boot. Whether it be lighting a room up with the Flare Gun or picking enemies off at range with the Rifle, all of our weapons have been designed to fill a specific niche in the sand box. You'll find no Doom pistol here. Melee has also seen quite the overhaul, allowing the player to make their own combos to tackle our monster roster.
We've also looked to more modern games for inspiration to make firing feel just as visceral as it looks. Bullet casings flying out, strong recoil (both actual and visual), and heavy sound design all help the player to feel immersed when in the middle of combat.
Alongside your weapon arsenal is a plethora of abilities the Anomaly will acquire along the way. Whether it be as simple as shining a light in dark areas or as complex as grabbing props with telekinesis, you'll need to use all of these abilities to withstand the hordes of Deluge. There may even be some secret abilities hidden throughout.
Abilities will be powered by an energy system that slowly restores over time. How you use it across your abilities is up to you, but it'll be limited in combat so make sure to choose wisely.
That wraps up our current talks about Deluge. What about the future? There's a lot more planned than what we showed here, but for now we'll be keeping that under wraps until it's ready to show off. Stay tuned for some big news in early 2022!
I swear to god, the progress you guys made with Deluge is nothing short of astonishing. It looks better than at least some AA games and more fun to play, makes it look like kinda of a steal to have this for free when there's so much love and care put into it.