Two Schizophrenics The Devblog

Guns! Guns! Guns! (and explosives)

Well, spent a large part of the day getting rid of virusses on my laptop so I didn’t get as much work done on One Man Army as I was intending to. But I still owe you guys a new post! After all, I had almost 80 hits yesterday- wow! Guess there’s lots of interest.

Guns! It’s a large part of what the game is about. Whenever I’m designing guns for the game, I keep a few things in mind. First and probably foremost: “Would i want to have this gun?” It’s important to me that the game is fun to play, and since shooting guns is such an important mechanic, I think it’s of utmost importance to have guns that are fun to use. Second, “Don’t I already have something like this? If so, is this still worth putting in the game?” Diversity seemed to be a great big deal for the early playtesters. If a lot of guns are alike, the gameplay goes stale rapidly. Lastly, “Can I do interesting things in level design if this gun brings a new mechanic?” perhaps not the question I’m most concerned with, but still a good one to think about. Especially now that I’m designing the actual levels, having puzzles that use special guns are lots more fun that the usual press-the-button-to-open-a-door or find-the-right-coloured-key. Of course, there have been a bunch of weapons I had cut from the game already, either because they didn’t bring anything new to the table or because they were just no fun.

Enough talk! Here’s some weapons (and pictures!)

Shoots bullet at a rather slow pace, but firing rate can be overridden by repeatedly pulling the trigger. Still doesn’t do damage for shit though. Good thing it has infinite ammo.

Has been standard issue for a while. Produces a nice stream of hot lead from the business end, but tends to run out of ammo quickly.

Shoots nails. Nails things to other things, mainly. Requires to be used in close proximity to be rendered effective since the nails don’t carry very far.

Might be a bit heavy for a person to carry, and is usually found mounted. Contrary to popular belief, the Gatling Gun does have limited ammunition. Not too accurate of a weapon, but the sheer amount of high-speed bullets compensates.

Put one on the floor! Stick one to the wall! Watch from a distance as your oblivious targets get blown to smithereens! Place them by standing next to a wall or crouching on the floor, and detonate them while standing.

These are not all by far, but if you have any suggestions or brainfarts, let me know in the comments!

Fuzzy baby seals,

~Brian