Wildfire - a stealth platformer inspired by immersive sims

ThePhotoshop on 20/4/2015 at 08:35

Hey everyone,

You remember (http://www.sneakybastards.net) Sneaky Bastards? We held a stealth game jam, and then made a 100 page magazine about Dishonored.

Well, now we're making a stealth game.

Inline Image:

http://i.imgur.com/8cEUOxi.gif

It's called (http://www.wildfirega.me) Wildfire, and it's a stealth platformer where you control the elements. It's heavily inspired by games like Thief and Far Cry 2, along with Mark of the Ninja.

I'd love for you to check it out!

Kickstarter: (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dhindes/wildfire-0)

Steam Greenlight: (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=406104811)

Inline Image:

http://i.imgur.com/084llEl.gif

Let me know what you think!

henke on 20/4/2015 at 08:46

Oh cool. I heard about this just a moment ago on (http://crateandcrowbar.com/2015/04/17/episode-088-the-rotating-racism-node/) the Crate & Crowbar podcast. Didn't realize it was you guys behind it. The game looks pretty cool, I'll be sure to give the alpha a spin. :)

Also I don't think your KS and Greenlight links go to the right places.

Renault on 20/4/2015 at 14:18

Here's the correct Greenlight link: (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=406104811)

The game looks cool, but it doesn't exactly look stealthy with all the fire being flung around. I'll keep an eye on it though.

Here's the working Kickstarter link: (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dhindes/wildfire-0?ref=nav_search). I think you guys should have asked for more $$$!

henke on 20/4/2015 at 15:01

Backed!

Played the alpha. Really good stuff. Great, unique concept and I can see it leading to a lot of fun puzzles. I did enounter a bug though, when going down in the caves the bridge at the bottom with 4(I think) enemies on it caught on fire and started burning, I fell through into the water below. I restarted at the last checkpoint but the half-burned bridge did not regenerate, so there was no way for me to get onto it or make progress. :erg:

Pyrian on 20/4/2015 at 15:38

Looks pretty good. :)

Quote Posted by Brethren

I think you guys should have asked for more $$$!

Per, or total? Asking for too much to fund mostly just decreases your chance of getting any money at all... :p

Dev_Anj on 20/4/2015 at 17:23

So this is why you haven't been publishing stuff for a while. :p

Just kidding, but I'm interested in the concept, as long as the stealth allows for readable and manageable alert states while still providing some tense moments. Also I'm curious, do you plan to make a stealthy Metroidvania? It could be 2D or 3D, but I think it would make for a very interesting game.

ThePhotoshop on 20/4/2015 at 23:17

Wow I can't believe I put the wrong KS and Greenlight links in. Thanks for pointing that one out!

I know that fire seems like the antithesis of stealth, but fire is really just a tool to enable stealth. It's a rough equivalent, but think of it like a noisemaker arrow or a smoke grenade.

Totally agree about readable alert states. I wanted to do this entirely through the enemy animation, but I added Mark of the Ninja-style icons for people who want extra clarity. We will have the option to toggle them off, though.

A stealthy Metroidvania would be cool. I know the MOTN developers had discussions about that for their game, but I think you need to either come up with a fictional reason for enemies respawning (otherwise you're traversing old areas with every guard KO'd) or prevent players from removing enemies from play entirely. Backtracking and stealth creates a whole bunch of design issues.

faetal on 21/4/2015 at 11:18

Guards could wake up after being KO'd?

Thirith on 21/4/2015 at 11:44

Or reinforcements could come and check if they don't hear from the other guards and patrols, and if they find bodies - or if they don't find anyone or anything - they might stay in those areas, because obviously something bad went down.

I don't think the fictional reasons are much of a problem; it's more about coming up with a system that is interesting and fun to play. If stealth takeouts result in guard escalation, so to speak, this would have to remain enjoyable to deal with for the player, because otherwise stealth stops being much of an option.

Starker on 21/4/2015 at 17:13

Looks good. I'm broke, unfortunately, but I'll help spread the word around.