ZOE
Capsule (Apr 21 2021)
| Developer: | Retchy Games |
|---|---|
| Music: | Tom Pegg |
| Program: | Retchy |
| Art: | Retchy |
| Release date: | TBD |
Contents
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. Programming, artwork, design, animation and sound design is by Retchy, with music and additional sound design by Tom Pegg.
The game takes place on a looping length of 35mm film stock and it's visual style, theme and music are inspired by the experimental drawn on film animations of early 20th Century by artists such as Norman McLaren and Oscar Fischinger. 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 of a twin stick shooter and a 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 the animator 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 style enemies and the Brush appears occasionally throughout the level to paint them in, whereas the Knife level has a more rigid cut-out style. Subsequent levels are themed around the other tools of the animator. Waves of enemies (referred to as 'Reels') are broken up by brief periods of downtime when the player can purchase power ups and upgrades from the shop.
An extended Boss Rush mode is also planned.
Controls
- Flying - Holding the jump button while on the ground will transition the player to the flying state if you 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 if flying or jumping.
- Grounded If you miss an enemy or energy button while pounding, or if you fly all the way down, the player will transition to the the grounded state.
- Jump Button - Press to jump, hold to enter flying state.
- Shoot Left Button - Shoot weapon left.
- Shoot Right Button - Shoot weapon right.
- Shoot Left Button + Shoot Up Button - Shoot weapon diagonally up and left.
- Shoot Right Button + Shoot Up Button - Shoot weapon diagonally up and right.
- Shoot Up Button - Shoot weapon up.
Health / Energy
The player has Health and Energy bars - 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 - one dot is enough fully replenish energy, but there is a finite supply of energy dots (and health dots, represented by yellow triangles) for each level.
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.
Items
- Apples - Each enemy drops an Apple when killed. Their base value is dependant on the enemy, but will decrease over time as they shrink in size, encouraging the player to pick them up quickly.
- Bananas -
Shop
The Apple Shop appears between the 'Reels' of each level and provides an opportunity to upgrade your weapon, character, or purchase a perishable power up. Apples collected from downed enemies are used as currency in the shop.
- 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 with energy. Will revert to base gun if energy runs out.
- Spread Weapon - Rapidly firing spread of 5 bullets. Consumes energy and must be reloaded with energy. 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 with energy. 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.
Scoring
Strategy
Development History
Gallery
Video References
References & Contributors
- Retchy Games: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/retchy_games
- Written by the developer (Retchy)
