Topic: ANATHEMA - Classicvania Coming to Steam

[piscesdreams]

So, it has been an extremely long time since I have shared anything straight out of the game besides concept renders.  Once we were greenlit on Steam in May last year, I spent about 5 months completely reworking the engine while Gren and I worked on the overall design.  I will share more soonish, but I mostly wanted to let everyone know the project isn't dead and has plenty coming soon.  I've kept it close to my chest for a while and if all goes smoothly over the next few months, I hope to have a public demo available around March or April.

I've mentioned some of these previously, but here are some tidbits regarding the revamp.  Most animations now are motion captures and as such are much more natural and fluid, stairs are gone completely and we now have ramps ala MegaMan X and SotN, gameplay is faster paced and more action oriented, hearts have been replaced by souls as a subweapon ammo, candles have been replaced by soul cages, you can double jump, wall slide and wall jump, subweapons are no longer clones of Castlevania subweapons and have their own unique properties, Item Crashes are called Deathbringers and you have a crossbow-shotgun (haven't actually named it yet) that is a permanent secondary weapon in addition to your whip-scythe. Haven't named this yet either.

Since there is tons of new info, when the time comes to really showcase the new version, I will be making a new thread since this thread will be old info.

In the meantime, here is your first glimpse (tease) of the revamp.  Hope you enjoy!



And an animated gif for good measure.

[Jop]

new look its great!!!

[darkmanx_429]

I totally am digging the new style of gameplay. Way more action oriented. Very Ninja Gaiden-ish.

[AuraTeam]

wow pretty nice gameplay can't wait to play it 

[X]

So, it has been an extremely long time since I have shared anything straight out of the game besides concept renders

I'll say! I feared this project might have been scrapped.

[VladCT]

So... How does that crossbow-shotgun work, exactly? :V

[theplottwist]

I must say I'm liking a lot what I'm seeing. There is no battle in that GIF, yet I can feel a lot of action going on.

[eryson]

Very Beautiful Environment and Scenario!! i'm liking it much more than the Older Style!! 

[zangetsu468]

This is actually how the Shadow of the Beast remake should be, and reminds me of the original game - not the PS4 remake, which is looking too MoF'y for my liking.

[Kingshango]

Wow what a step up from the last update. Nice work.

[TheTextGuy]

Wow
Love the new look of the game!  It's even better looking at it in motion since it's so fluid.

[piscesdreams]

Wow, thanks for the positive comments everyone.  I didn't really expect this positive of a response.

new look its great!!!

Thanks very much! It's been a very long work in progress to bring it to this level, especially with the new rendering techniques that I have learned.

I totally am digging the new style of gameplay. Way more action oriented. Very Ninja Gaiden-ish.

Ninja Gaiden (at least, OG NG on the NES) is a huge influence for Gren and myself.  While the games certainly had their flaws, they are definitely some of the best for their era.  We wanted to take a dash of NG as inspiration to bring some new flavor to the mix.

wow pretty nice gameplay can't wait to play it 

A demo will be coming soon.  Hopefully around March or April.  I want to make sure that it is very well polished.  Maybe one day I'll release the original demo as well, I just don't really want it out in the open to be played and confused for this new version.

I'll say! I feared this project might have been scrapped.

Nope!  Delayed, but still very much alive.

So... How does that crossbow-shotgun work, exactly? :V

It goes boom, much destruction.  I kid.  It has a dedicated button and you have a finite amount of ammo that is much more scarce than your subweapon ammo (souls).  The idea is that Gren and I are huge fans of Evil Dead, and of course, fans of the boomstick.  We wanted to give Aurora a projectile based weapon that isn't a nuisance like the dagger, but doesn't copy other Castlevania weapons.  We came to the crossbow and I suggested making it fire multiple arrows at once, similar to a shotgun's spray.  When it is fired, there is a bit of a blowback as you can see in the gif after whipping the statue.  This is to somewhat compensate just how powerful it will be, but again, ammo will be VERY scarce.

I must say I'm liking a lot what I'm seeing. There is no battle in that GIF, yet I can feel a lot of action going on.

Thanks!  That's the goal.  The original demo felt about like what you would expect from a Classicvania.  It was a bit slow and overall felt very similar to the locomotion of Castlevania IV, but in the end it just felt too much like a copy.  So we are opting for a faster paced gameplay that will be much more intense.  A lot of care is being placed into the environments to bring them to life so that it isn't just run, kill, run, kill.  It is very important for the environments to be as intractable as possible.  We ultimately want the player to feel like a death machine.  We feel this will come from living environments and meaty yet swift combat.

Very Beautiful Environment and Scenario!! i'm liking it much more than the Older Style!! 

When we decided to revamp the game, I learned a ton of new rendering techniques and practiced the craft as much as I could to really work on the lighting and presentation.  It looks like it is paying off!

This is actually how the Shadow of the Beast remake should be, and reminds me of the original game - not the PS4 remake, which is looking too MoF'y for my liking.

I've never played Shadow of the Beast, but I looked up the original and the PS4 remake and I can definitely see what you mean. 

Wow what a step up from the last update. Nice work.

Thanks!  The original version kind of makes me cringe in comparison, but it was a neat prototype.

Wow
Love the new look of the game!  It's even better looking at it in motion since it's so fluid.

The best part is the gif is only 30 FPS, the game actually runs at 60 FPS so it's even more fluid than what you see here.


Thanks for all the comments everyone, I hope I didn't miss responding to anyone.  If I did, call me out, I didn't intend to.  We look forward to sharing more soon.

[ProjectDread]

I've always felt that your projects had their own personality which I've enjoyed, and I'm really excited to see you move away from the original Classicvania concept you had. The graphics fit in nicely and I particularly like how you put time into small, subtle things like the background trees moving in the wind. I'm eagerly awaiting to get my hands on the demo and see how it plays, but until then wonderful job Pisces. Your game has come a long way and your attention to detail has not gone unnoticed. 

[piscesdreams]

Thanks very much! I wish I could stand back and see it from everyone else's perspective. I'm putting a lot of effort into the environments and overall atmosphere. Having grown up to enjoy the horror movies of the 80s I have come to value atmosphere very much. Having said that, this is just the first glimpse of much to come. I appreciate the kind words and look forward to showing more soon.

[zangetsu468]

@piscesdreams Is the main character's weapon a scythe?