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RETOOLED News

Hotfixes n Balance changes + Ability Notifications

Hi there!

I will talk more about the future content of RETOOLED in the coming weeks but for right now I've a small patch with some fixes, balance changes and a few quality of life features.

Fixes:
- ICARUS top floor was missing collision near roof beams, now fixed.
- ICARUS objective display, destroy fuzes will now displayed correctly on phase 3.
- RE-Watch, you can no longer skip the fight after the meltagun pickup.

ESD Grenade, increased the energy gained from it, as long as its not overcharged.

Ingame menu now features an "Restart lv." button.

Feature/QoL - Ability Ready Notifications - Default On
Added a Ability Ready Notification pop up just below your crosshair as well as a sound effect. This should allow you to more easily determine when Dash has recharged or any of your other abilities.

RETOOLED is now available!

The day we've all been waiting for has arrived—RETOOLED is officially out and ready to redefine your FPS experience! A heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who has joined us on this incredible journey. Your support, enthusiasm, and feedback have made this moment even more special!

I've teased you with mini-trailers that showcased the arsenal, the arenas, and heart-pounding combat. Now it's time to dive in and live the action yourself! RETOOLED promises a unique blend of momentum-based gameplay, strategic thinking, and intense combat puzzles.

  • Experience the rush of high-stakes combat puzzles!
  • Navigate through race track-like arenas designed to challenge your quick reflexes and strategic thinking.
  • Take on a wide roster of enemies, each playing a unique role in pushing you into the 'fun zone'.
  • Experience the "Arena Master" systems that adapt the gameplay based on your actions and positions.

I've poured my heart and souls into making RETOOLED not just another game, but an unforgettable experience that stands alongside its peers in the FPS genre and the best part? We're just getting started.

So, gear up, bunny hop into the action, and let's make some unforgettable gaming memories together!

Feel free to share your game experiences and feedback. I can't wait to hear what you think!

🎮 Get RETOOLED Now! 🎮
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1997590/RETOOLED/

Deep dive #4 - What is easy and what is hard?

Salutations! It is time for the fourth post in the deep dives series, today we are looking into how RETOOLED is handling difficulty levels.

To start off this deep dive I would like to explain my view on difficulty levels and their goal in RETOOLED as I believe the perception of what a certain difficulty level should be differs a lot from gamer to gamer.

It is important to me that I do not alter the core gameplay DNA when creating different difficulty levels in RETOOLED. I do not want RETOOLED to go from a momentum shooter to a cover shooter, instead the idea is to increase the pressure on the player. To achieve this:
  • I have created an “attack token” request system for AIs where they have to ask for permission to attack. This gives me greater control to not only make sure there aren't too uneven difficulty spikes within a map but also establish the baseline pressure for each difficulty level.
  • I slightly tweak AI behaviors like their reaction time to player focus, their need to avoid being targeted, defensive abilities cooldown and their charges.
  • Attack option selection to either slightly favor weaker or stronger attacks dependent on difficulty level.
  • Minor stat boosts, some % are AI dependent so not all are equal.

[h2]Normal[/h2] is the intended way for RETOOLED to be experienced. RETOOLED is meant to be challenging so the normal difficulty level can seem tough.

100% attack tokens
100% damage
100% health
Standard behavior/reactions
Starts levels with the intended amount of extra lives.

[h2]Easy[/h2] is for those struggling with normal, it’s more of cruise mode for the player but expect to die if you lose focus.

60% attack tokens
80% damage
80%(ish) health, AI dependent
Slower reaction times, slightly favors weaker attacks than baseline.
Starts levels with +1 of the intended amount of extra lives.

[h2]Hard[/h2] is for those that are looking for a challenge and It is recommened as a second playthrough. Knowledge of weapons and abilities combos as well as a few locations of extra lives throughout the levels is recommended.

140% attack tokens
120% damage
120%(ish) health, AI dependent
Quicker reaction times, slightly favors stronger attacks than baseline.
Starts levels with 0 extra lives.

[h2]Extra lives[/h2] are your limited checkpoints! Struggling with a certain section of level? Be on the lookout for extra lives throughout the level to increase your likelihood of success. If you die without any extra lives then you will have to restart the level.

I have strived to make sure each death occurring in RETOOLED feels fair and made sure you have the tools/options to avoid them.

RETOOLED is meant to be challenging and is carefully crafted to give you a power trip and a sense of accomplishment once mastered.

[h3]The wait for RETOOLED is almost over, on the 25th of september it will be in your hands![/h3]

And remember, join the Discord to discuss the game and find out about the latest updates:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1997590/RETOOLED/

7 days to release!

Hey everyone,

Only 7 days left to release of RETOOLED! I'm very excited and I hope you are too!

I'm already working on the first content patch for RETOOLED and streaming some of the process on Twitch. If you are interest in whats being worked on and a behind the scene look at game development be sure to give me a follow. https://www.twitch.tv/swarmcreations


And remember, join the Discord to discuss the game and find out about the latest updates:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1997590/RETOOLED/

Deep dive #3 - The colosseums

Back again! For the third post in the deep dives series we are taking a look at the process of creating an arena you fight in.

There are quite a few steps creating an arena for RETOOLED and very deceivingly time consuming.

Flow structure
First step is to think of a flow structure that is unlike a previously created arena and then draw it on paper. This process is very iterative and works like a check gate to whether the initial idea has some flow structure problems in certain areas of the arena and if the idea is actually worth continuing working on.


With comment underneath: “This step requires a bit of imagination, if the player is at position X, what possible paths exist? From experience, a good design is having at least 3 paths available at most times.”

Blockout
Next step is creating the blockout of the arena in Unreal Engine. Testing the feeling of running around in the arena, trying the different paths, figuring out if the scale and distance of things feels right. Checking different sightlines to see if something needs adjusting.
The second pass of this blockout phase is to look at the current paths and try to add divergent paths to them. By having these divergent paths emphasizes the use of different movement abilities the arena is now starting to feel like a playground coming together.

AI prep
All this work and we haven’t even added the AIs YET !?... well it still requires a bit of prep work to get them working on new arenas and…
.
.
.
.. It’s done!

Arena Masters
For RETOOLED I have designed something called an “Arena Master”. It is essentially an object that lets me define how I want the fight to start, progress and end. There are a few arena fight “types” we can construct with this object and even mix them together.
  • Wave
    Pure wave based or alternatively we could spawn an initial wave and as you destroy some bots more gets spawn in until the wave is consumed.
  • Hydra
    Starts with a smaller initial wave and as you destroy some specific (or any) bots the amount of active bots increases. 6 turns into 12, 18 etc.
  • Phases
    Similar to wave type but instead of having waves with a clear ending they add on top of each other until a completion condition is met.
    Endless
  • Each of the previous types can be modified to be endless that will only stop as a completion condition is met. Perhaps a certain character is destroyed or an environmental puzzle is solved etc.

To retain the DNA of a specific arena fight I tell individual AIs what spawn position I would like them to favor depending on the player position. Thanks to this setup arena fights in RETOOLED very rarely have specific spawn positions for certain AIs so it becomes essential to think and react in the moment of a fight.

Stringing a few of these together in sequence or mixing them together, it can get complex quickly.

Playtest, playtest and playtest…. Ohh did I mention playtest?
Now the playtesting and adjustments begins. It is only now can you get a holistic view of the initial arena idea you had.

Environment pass
All that remains is prop creations, lightning, bug hunting, optimization etc.


That is it for this deep dive on RETOOLED but it is not all. Follow along as there is more to come and of course… Thank you for reading!

And remember, join the Discord to discuss the game and find out about the latest updates:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1997590/RETOOLED/