ZOE

ZOE - A Drawn On Film Shmup


ZOE is a side scrolling looping arena game, and is the first title currently in development by Retchy Games. Music and sound design is by Tom Pegg, programming, artwork, design, animation and additional sound design is by Retchy.

Inspired by the experimental drawn on film animations of early 20th Century artists such as Norman McLaren and Oscar Fischinger, ZOE takes place on a looping length of 35mm film stock and aims to emulate the visual style of those films while immersing the player in the drawn on film world of the main character - the period inspired soundtrack wobbling and distorting as they dash and take hits from enemies, the camera zooming in and out to reveal the edges of the film and the animator readying their attacks, and the crackles and pops of the sound design as enemies are destroyed.

Story
The player character, Zoe, is rudely awoken by the animator as they paint over her pristine surroundings with garish colours and annoying enemies, and must take the fight to them in order to get back to her peaceful slumber. The player takes control of Zoe as she shoots, dashes and pounds her way through the variety of weird and abstract enemies that are put in her way, as well as the various tools the animator uses to make them.

Gameplay Overview
ZOE is a hybrid twin stick shooter and run and gun game. While flying, the player can shoot in two directions, has independent eight way movement and is able to dash through and pound enemies. While on the ground the player has slightly slower movement speed, but can shoot in five directions. Certain situations and enemy placements may make it advantageous to be on the ground, or to be flying, and the player must navigate these situations in order to take down all of the enemy waves and get to the animator boss fights as quickly as possible.

The main Arcade mode consists of 5 levels which are all themed around the current tool that the animator is wielding - the opening Brush level, for example, has hand drawn, slightly wobbly looking enemies and the animator's Brush appears occasionally throughout the level, painting them in, whereas the Knife level has a more rigid cut-out style, and subsequent levels are themed around the other tools of the animator.

Levels are structured into waves of enemies (referred to as 'Reels') and are broken up by brief periods of downtime when the player can purchase power ups and upgrades from the shop.

An extended boss rush 'Frame Trap' mode is also planned, with additional timed enemy waves in between the bosses, playing out on the static screen as seen in the Arcade mode boss fights.

Controls

 * Flying - Holding the jump button while on the ground will transition the player to the flying state if they have enough Energy.
 * Shoot Left Button/Stick - Shoot weapon left.
 * Shoot Right Button/Stick - Shoot weapon right.
 * Move Buttons/Stick - Move independently from shooting direction.
 * Dash button - Dash in the direction of movement.
 * Pound Button - Pound downwards.


 * On Ground - If the player misses an enemy or energy button while pounding, or if they fly all the way down to the ground, the player will transition to the the grounded state.
 * Jump Button - Press to jump, hold to enter flying state.
 * Shoot Left Button/Stick - Shoot weapon left.
 * Shoot Right Button/Stick - Shoot weapon right.
 * Shoot Left + Shoot Up Button/Stick - Shoot weapon diagonally up/left.
 * Shoot Right + Shoot Up Button/Stick - Shoot weapon diagonally up/right.
 * Shoot Up Button - Shoot weapon up.

Health / Energy

 * Health - Health is represented by the health bar at the bottom of the screen and can be refilled by pounding one of the green triangles at the bottom of the play area.
 * Energy - While flying, the energy bar depletes and must be refilled in order to continue flying. The player can use their dash move to plough through most enemies, but doing so will cost additional energy. If the energy bar depletes, the player will fall to the ground. Pounding the blue dots at the bottom of the play area will refill the energy bar (as well as restore the colour to a portion of the background, and send a laser upwards taking out most things in it's path) - one dot is enough fully replenish energy, but there is a finite supply of energy dots for each level. Special weapons purchased from the shop will convert your energy bar into a segmented ammo gauge, and should you run out of ammo your gun will revert to the standard gun at it's current upgrade level. If flying as it runs out, the player has a last minute chance to pound an energy dot to refill their energy and carry on using the powered up weapon before they hit the ground.

Bosses / Frame Trap
Levels are interspersed with 'mid boss' sequences offering the opportunity to deal early damage that will carry over to the end of level boss fights, and to earn some bonus points if the enemies it spawns are all taken out.

Once the final Reel of each level is complete, a short countdown begins before the 'Frame Trap' is initiated and the boss fight begins. During this time the player can position themselves in an area of the level that has some remaining energy and/or health resources to use during the boss fight. Once the countdown ends, the camera stops scrolling with the player and pulls out to reveal the edges of the frame, trapping them in the current portion of the level. The player is now able to move freely around the screen and take on the boss.

Apple Shop
The Apple Shop appears between the 'Reels' of each level and provides an opportunity to upgrade your weapon, character stats, or purchase a perishable power up. Apples collected from downed enemies are used as currency in the shop. Their base value is dependant on the enemy, but will decrease over time as they shrink in size and eventually blink out, encouraging the player to pick them up quickly. Apples move towards the player when they are within a certain range, which can be upgraded in the shop. Any Apples left over at the end of each level will be converted into points. Shop Items
 * Base Weapon Upgrade - Permanently upgrade your base weapon, currently up to level 4.
 * Homing Weapon - Rapid fire homing missiles automatically aim at nearest enemies. Consumes energy and must be reloaded to continue using. Will revert to base gun if energy runs out.
 * Spread Weapon - Rapidly firing spread of 5 bullets. Consumes energy and must be reloaded to continue using. Will revert to base gun if energy runs out.
 * Heavy Weapon - Slower moving projectiles explode into 3 pieces which each deal damage to enemies. Consumes energy and must be reloaded to continue using. Will revert to base gun if energy runs out.
 * Player Speed - Increases player speed up to level 5.
 * Shield - Grants three free hits to the player.
 * Apple Gravity - Sucks Apples and Bananas towards player from greater distance. Increases to level 6.
 * Points - Purchase points. The amount of points available scales with the current multiplier, as does the cost.

Chain Multipier
The chain multiplier is increased by filling the chain gauge - when the gauge is full, the multiplier increases by 1, and when empty will decrease by 1. The current chain multiplier is applied to the base score of every enemy when they're killed. The gauge increases by damaging or killing enemies, and will decrease after a period of time where no damage to enemies has occurred. The gauge can also be paused for a short period by pounding energy/health dots, offering an opportunity to keep the gauge up while dashing to an offscreen enemy.

Bananas
Bananas award bonus points to the player when picked up, and behave similarly to Apples in terms of value scaling over time. Their value when collected is also multiplied by the current multiplier. They are dropped by specific enemies that are spawned by the mid boss of each level, and an explosion of multiple Bananas can be triggered when certain criteria are met relating to those enemies.

Time
A time bonus is added to an end of level multiplier. The quicker the level is completed, the higher the time bonus multiplier will be.

Clear Percentage
The number of energy and health dots popped, and therefore background colour restored, is calculated as a percentage of the total and is added to the end of level multiplier.

Excess Apples
Any unspent Apples will be converted to points at the end of each level.

Strategy
The scoring strategy is focused on getting kills as quickly as possible, keeping the multiplier gauge up, dashing between enemies and figuring out the best ways to quickly take out individuals and formations. Dashing through enemies is often the quickest method, but the resulting energy loss can see the player fall to the ground where they are less mobile, so there is a balance to strike between dashing, pounding for more energy and shooting enemies.

Tips
 * Chip damage to the boss as it appears throughout the levels will be carried over to the boss fights, which will help in defeating them more quickly.
 * Taking out the enemies that the mid bosses spawn will result in bonus Banana point pickups.
 * A high percentage of button clears will award a good bonus, but pounding for excess energy runs the risk of taking the player out of the enemy to enemy flow, and running out of resources at critical moments such as boss fights.

Development History
ZOE started development in 2018 and is scheduled for a 2022 release.

Video References
Norman McLaren - Boogie Doodle 1941 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgJ-yOhpYIM

Oscar Fischinger - An Optical Poem 1938 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcHsysPGSt0

References & Contributors

 * 1) Retchy Games: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/retchy_games
 * 2) Written by the developer (Retchy)