[RMVX] Hellcat - The Nightmare Begins 0.1.2

For those whom it may concern, the game contains sparse amounts of coarse language, religious themes and cartoony animated violence.

Spoiler for:

Good day everyone, shortly before I released Intelligence 1.1.9 I started work on a game which would be inspired from FPS' of old, with a fusion of newer third person shooters (Like ratchet and clank) but with my own story, characters and world... and my comedic way of doing things, this game would have taken a lot longer but I challenged myself, in july/august I get swamped by birthdays, so I thought instead of giving everyone a crappy MSpaint Cake like tradition would endow, I decided to finish up this game and give them early access, much like a Friends and Family Alpha.

Thus this game's first Demo was completed long before schedule, because my friends birthday was on the 6th, and sadly it was all ill hells of overdue, and now on 7/11 at 7:11 PM (my time) I give you Hellcat, the Nightmare begins, its a top down shooter with so far very little in the way of rpg elements, levelling up grants you practically nothing and im thinking of just making it a level one shooter at this point, there are no skills, items and weapons will be your main force of firepower. Enjoy fellas!

Spoiler for:

- Vlad's ABS is the system used, version 9 to be specific, there are very few bugs with this version and the diversity in paths and note tags make it the optimal build.
- Eight Fun weapons of varying style and output.
- No Ammo, seriously that shit gets annoying.
- Platforming consisting of a regular jump and a longjump.
- Puzzles that spice up levels and give you a reason to try out each weapon.
- Secrets are hidden around the Heldathian plane, some rather obvious, some more inconspicuous.
- Superjump pads for extended platforming.
- Two Exciting Bosses who will be your progression stonewalls, most likely.
- Items can be hotkeyed for easy quicky use.
- Goes more into the lore of Hellcat, a being in Intelligence who was hinted to have backstory.
- Look into the three worlds beyond.

Spoiler for:

Hellcat
Race: Girocat
Age: 4 human years
IQ: 117
Origin: Brisbane
Gender: Male

Hellcat is a happy laid back Girocat who had lived a great peaceful four years, secluded in his Mansion and quite blissfully oblivious to Maw's presence on Earth in year 2048, until one day his life is quite literally turned upside down as he is seemingly entered into Heldath by a fissure outside his house. He then continues onto explore not only Heldath, but the other two realms of after-existence.

He is the sole protagonist of the game, and the only character the player directly controls.

"Whoa! Is that a rocket launcher?"

Nola
Race: Cat (Burmese)
Age: 5 human years
IQ: 111
Origin: London
Gender: Female

Nola is a friendly tomboyish Burmese who uses a Giant Shuriken, she is known as the Black Death in Heldath, and is apparently reputable even by Seradath's degree. She has yet to hint at her past life, deeming it unimportant and a waste of breath.

She is very loyal to Seradath and claims to be one of his most trusted Dark Assilants.

Nola is never actually played, but she is the first character you meet who stays alive beyond your original encounter, she is a burmese cat originally from London, and she did actually know Pep rather well, and makes a brief appearance as an Innkeeper in Intelligence.

"I see you have taken care of our clinically retarded do-gooder! This is good, and I will reward you not only with an audience with his Dark Tyranny, but also with a weapon. Chances are that if he has any need for you, you will need it."

Seradath
Race: Angel (Fallen)
Age: 711 Years
IQ: 711
Origin: Gal'vana (Exiled)
Gender: Male

Seradath's Demeanor is chilly and foreboding to those who barely know him. He holds the powers of a Demigod, thus Omnipotence is not a trait he posesses, he does still have respectable power by virtue of his two wings. He singlehandedly rules over Heldath and still seems happy to engage his jailor in combat. Being exiled to Hel'dath by Gal'dath 612 years before the present day, he seems to be complacent with the world he lives in, and would quite happily remain dormant if it werent for interferences by the powers of Gal'vana.

"Discard any thoughts you had on angels, they are not the creatures of divine grace the books you've read growing up in Brisbane would lead you to beleive."

Spoiler for:

Hellcat had enjoyed his 4 years of life, dwelling in his mansion and blissfully anaware of Maw's presence on his home plane. One day on his weekly shopping trip, he is greeted by a fissure, a fissure to Heldath itself. In time, it would be learned that Heldath isnt all that bad, and if its residents are to be beleived, Gal'vana is worse for its smug factor, everyone is said to be an arrogant self-righteous douche. An encounter with a one winged angel only cements it.

Hellcat is set upon by a few errands before he can speak to the Overlord of his new after-existence.

Spoiler for:

You start of on Earth, in the year 2048, long after humans have left in 2032 and animals have accrued substantial intellect, 4 years before Intelligence's present timeline. You start in the Mansion in Brisbane, the same one you send four oddball heroes to pilfer in four years time. Soon after you are in Heldath, marked by Blood rivers, ashen terrain, and dead trees, but that is only a small part of Hel'dath's palette, you'll find bright blue sapphire areas, crystalline ruby passages, a purged area (found in a secret) and it changes to a modern dark teal icy/techno scape when you reach Seradath City, streets are usually adorned with braziers and there seems to be small slits in which functioning door portals can rise from and lead to different areas.

Its unlike any common 'Hell' idea you would know, there is actually no fire of the regular orange color nor dead charred bodies laying around.

Spoiler for:

Tutorials for those who haven't used and abused Vlad's ABS

Pickups, complete with Novelty DooM 'Bwabop' sound!

Oh... Item Tooltips, what would I do without you?

Descent to Heldath

Iconic Weapon Pickup, complete with 'Chit-Chit'.

This is a sign.

The more you know.

Probably the most ambitious recolours I've done yet!

Mildly Inconspicuous rock.

You'll hear a sound and get a notification when you find a secret.

Seradath City

Naxon, the Friendly Lich Errand Giver

Summonable Doors, brought to you by Monsters Inc.

Ruby Rush Roundabout

More Helpful Info

Sapphire Squash Sepulcher

Ooh, thats a Monsters Inc. Gate

I wonder if we can find Horazon here...

The after effects of negotiation.

This is looking pretty archaic and yet modern at the same time.

THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!

Damn no Horazon, just some wanna be douche, with his douchebolts about to hit meh.

Oh well... close enough.

Super Secret, might take you a while to find this one.

Performing Keyhole surgery on iron gate, nyah.

Spoilers below. Oh wait, you already know who these guys are, dont you?

Spoiler for:

Double click the blue cube once downloaded, open up the folder it created, double click Game.exe

Spoiler for:

0.1.2
General:
- More guidance was given. Particularly in the Ruby Rush and Sapphire Stroll instances.
- Lilith has been replaced by Snowball, he should be a fair bit more tongue in cheek and quirky than his blonde predecessor.
- Naxon has been given his own graphic and sprite.
- Shooting weapons now costs Energy (MP), amount varies dependent on damage and power.
- Title screen and Gameover backgrounds changed to avoid google image search debacles when crediting.
- Messagebacks have been added for all signs spread throughout the afterlives.
- Time Bomb of the Ancients now has a unique animation.
Encounters:
- Nola' damage has been nerfed slightly, and should now feel much more entry level.
- Mauriel's jerk fayse D8< Bolts now cover all layers of the screen, no more refuge in the secret area.
- Mauriel's jerk fayse D8< Orbs can now bypass impassable terrain.
Bugfixes:
- Most bugs on both boss encounters should now be corrected.
- Animations cast at events or the player now stay in position regardless of map scrolling.
- Signs are more fluently written to make them easier to understand.
- Removed the requirement for a completely unnecessary font.
- Guns no longer have push back, balancing the Hellpistol to not be an obnoxiously imbalanced winner gun.
0.1.1
General:
- Arrows added to give guidance.
Bugfixes:
- Fixed some Passabilities which let you walk on showers, toilets etc.
- Fixed misleading hotkey Tutorial.
- You no longer need to download the Monotype Corsiva font.
0.1.0
General:
Releases Demo for Public Review

Spoiler for:

THE ORDER OF CREDITED PERSONS BY NO MEANS REFLECTS
THEIR AMOUNT CONTRIBUTION TO THE GAME.

STORY DEVELOPMENT
BIZARRE MONKEY

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
BIZARRE MONKEY

MAPPING
BIZARRE MONKEY

HEAD DEVELOPER
BIZARRE MONKEY

IDEAS MANAGER
BIZARRE MONKEY

IDEA CONSULTANTS
LOION
SHARINA
SJUNIOR

CHARACTER PICTURE AND FACESET ARTWORK
BIZARRE MONKEY
ENTERBRAIN RESOURCE SITE
RPG MAKER XP RTP

WING FRACTALS
~SHD-STOCK

CHARACTERSETS
AINDRA
BIZARRE MONKEY
LUNAREA
FAMITSU GENERATOR
MEGATRONX
SORUVE

ART ASSETS
LIAMYTHESH (ETHEREAL CROSSBOW)

ANIMATION SHEETS
BIZARRE MONKEY
LEXUSX/TIMMAH

TILESETS
AVADAN
BIZARRE MONKEY
CELIANNA
DKAINERU
KURURUMILK
LUNAREA
MEGATRONX
NIGHT'WALKER
RELM
TRETIAN

FONTS
ALLEN R. WALDEN
MARTIN HOLM

PARALLAXES
BIZARRE MONKEY
RPG MAKER VX ACE RTP

BATTLEBACKS
BIZARRE MONKEY
RPG MAKER VX ACE RTP

SCRIPTING
BIZARRE MONKEY
CRIMSONSEAS
MODERN ALGEBRA
STORMCROSS (AKA CRAZYNINJAGUY)
VLADISLAUS
WORATANA
YANFLY

MUSIC CREDITS

MUSIC BY MATT UELMEN
THE ARCANE SANCTUARY

MUSIC BY BOBBY PRINCE
BUNNY
DEMONS ON THE PREY
DONNA TO THE RESCUE
FACING THE SPIDER
HELL KEEP
HIDING THE SECRETS
I SAWED THE DEMONS
INTERMISSION FROM DOOM
KITCHEN ACE
NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT ID
ON THE HUNT
SIGN OF EVIL
SINISTER
SUSPENSE
THE DEMONS FROM ADRIAN'S PEN
THE IMP'S SONG
THEY'RE GOING TO GET YOU
VICTORY THEME
WALTZ OF THE DEMONS
ENTRYWAY
ICON OF SIN

MUSIC BY SETH "BEATFOX" PEELLE AND MICHAEL GUY BOWMAN
ANOTHER TASTE FOR JUNGLE ADVENTURE

MUSIC BY CHRIS GEEHAN & DAN BYRNE MCCULLOUGH
DARK STROKE

SOUND EFFECTS FROM DOOM 95/DOOM II BY
ROBERT PRINCE

SOUND EFFECTS FROM HERETIC
KEVIN SCHILDER

SOUND NOTES

I MADE NONE OF THE AUDIO IN THIS GAME. THE WORK
BELONGS TO THE ABOVE AUTHORS AND I GIVE THE ARTISTS
FULL CREDIT FOR THEIR EXCELLENT SOUND.

ALPHA DEMO TESTERS
LOION
SJUNIOR

BETA DEMO TESTERS
BIZARRE MONKEY

SPECIAL THANKS
LOION
RAVEN BLUE INDIGO
SEMOLOUS
SJUNIOR
STORMCROSS

TERMS
IF YOU NOTICE I'VE MISSED CREDITING ANYONE PLEASE
INFORM ME AT THE WEBSITE YOU DOWNLOADED THIS GAME FROM.
I WANT EVERYONES WORK TO BE RECOGNIZED.

ALL CONTENT THAT WAS NOT CREATED BY ME IS COPYRIGHTED
TO ITS ORIGINAL CREATOR/OWNER.

BIZARRE MONKEY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT MAY
HAPPEN BEFORE, AFTER OR DURING THE TIME YOU PLAY THIS GAME.

Spoiler for:

There are a few things that aren't implimented yet.

- Guns will consume Mana in the future, so its not just wasted space on your status bar.
- Power ups, these are difficult to figure out and so I left them for the time being.
- Fixing guns with rapid fire being able to knock opponents back over and over, currently you can power through the whole demo with the Hellpistol or the Deflector
- The other three quarters of the plot.

This is a demo, and should be treated as such. Its rather short, I play through it in less than an hour usually, your experience will likely vary, depending on how many secrets you find, how long it took to find each, and how much bosses tend to stonewall you.

There are to my stomach-churning disgust, still some RTP faces in there, by which I mean there are only two, Naxon and Lilith. Which is unacceptable, I know. I'll probably fix that up in 0.1.1 or something.

This is the first time I've been ready be a deadline, and posted to the exact minute of intention.

Dont underestimate any boss, they are the cornerstone essentials of the game, since random encounters simply dont exist. Thus they are tough.

I'd rather make awesome bosses than pallete swaps, and I'm sure you'd rather that too.

Some Bosses can take a couple seconds to die after there health bar is entirely depleted, this is a bug with Vlad's ABS.

Combo text is a different font to all of the others, if you dont have the font it may give you an error, to avoid this download the Monotype Corsiva font here.

This is my second game people actually know about, I know I did make Terra exist but everyone swiftly forgot about it so I'm not going to even count it, infact I've already said its entire plot is non-canon. Its in a completely different galaxy anyway, one that is destroyed long before the humans left earth, it was one of the first galaxies Maw destroyed when he escaped from his Imprisonment on Gaseous.

Also, because I need somewhere to put it, heres the arching chronology of my games. Think of it as a timeline. There will likely be massive spoilers in here, so dont open it unless you've played both this game and Intelligence to the end, or if you simply dont care. But if you haven't done either, theres not much point.

Spoiler for:

1632 - Humans still live on earth, Menagerie's plot starts.
1652 - Menagerie's plot ends, in which Galaxia is turned to stone and all galaxions with the exception of Zardari die.
1662 - Zardari destroys the Gemini Galaxy
1672 - Zardari near destroys all of Nadine.
1682 - Zardari destroys Parcelmailia
1692 - Mr Universe reinstates a destroyed Parcelmailia as Postmartia.
1732 - The Haven Galaxy and a good deal of unnamed Galaxies are obliterated by Zardari
1792 - Zardari's reign ends, he discovers the Blue Sun, tries to enter it and is exiled to another universe.
2008 - Maw is released.
2009 - Maw Destroys Terra and the Sunless galaxy in tow.
2012 - Maw arrives at Earth on December 23rd, kills swathes of humans.
2032 - The Humans abscond, using twenty years of constructive effort to create a proper fleet of ships that can sail the galaxy.
2034 - Earth Starts undertaking incredible changes, wildlife starts replenishing and the planet repairs its ozone layer.
2035 - Yasondre starts enhancing animalistic intellect and lifespan.
2037 - Mammals become the dominant species... again.
2045 - Bugs are extinct, the mammals really hated them.
2048, July 11th - This game's plot takes place.
2049 - The Trustworthy Heroine "defeats" Maw with a recently gathered warband of previously warring cats and dogs.
2050 - Maw is sealed within a containment cell. The Treaty of Happy Good Fun Times is signed by the United Dalmations, and thus all mammals are forced by law to cooperate, which actually goes really well.
2051, Febuary 13th - The Runaway Feudist and the Peregine Con-artist become friends.
2052, Febuary 13th - RF and PC have a one year friendship anniversary, Interrupted by Messenger's Crash, and then shortly after by Trustworthy Heroine, the three become friends.
2052, March 4th - RF, PC and TH move to TH's House in Mallanganee.
2052, March 14th - Intelligence's plot starts, PC releases Maw, RF, PC and TH die, return to life the same day, go o0n grand adventure, meet Hellcat for the first time.
2052, March 17th - Intelligence Act 1 Ends, Maw is defeated, the party rest.
2052, June 28th - Act 2 begins, Pyro starts fucking shit up, et cetera.
2052, July 11th - Act 2 ends, Pyro is defeated.
2062, March 14th - Brisbane becomes more technologically advanced as Act 3 begins, Jolt starts wrecking shit up.
2062, June 28th - Jolt is defeated, ending Act 3.
2062-2072, The other 4 Old ones are defeated, setting off the summoing for the Gatekeeper.
2072, Gatekeeper is fought and eventually defeated, finishing off the last presence of the ancient ones, and Intelligence's linear storyline.
2092, Zardari is re-entered into the Universe, and starts fucking shit up, as he does. Bringing about the Intelligence expansion.
2095, Zardari is finally defeated, and Galaxions are able to rest in peace.
2100, Optional Bosses and non-linear content enter Intelligence, Osmose, other galaxies and the afterlives are all enterable. This is about when I start fading out Intelligence as a game, ha ha. I'll also likely be 30 at this stage.

Is this game gonna make me nope quit as well?

Ah haha, I think its far less likely...

Also I found a miniscule inconsistency, the game tells you items are bound to "Q W E R T Y" where in reality I changed it to utilize 1, 2, 3 ,4 ,5 and 6.

At least you improved on your computer drawing skills with your Hellcat.
Also it's still made in paint isn't it?

At least you improved on your computer drawing skills with your Hellcat.
Also it's still made in paint isn't it?

Not Really with Hellcat, thats the same picture that is used in Intelligence, it just has some blending enhancments added with photoshop in the titlescreen.

Yeah, most of its made in paint.

The Title screen is done mostly in photoshop, Hellcat has some filters so he doesnt look so immediately MsPainty. You can see his real picture in Screenshot 26 and the Characters summary.
The Banners and Text for the title screen is Photoshop too, instead of using like usual.

Really, I think the place my improved computer drawing skill has really shown is in some of the Item Tooltips.

Oh yeah, Anathema and Benediction show I can actually do 'spriting' okayish.

Spoiler for:

Looks at the Glowy shit in Anathema's hand (the one on the right.) to see what I mean, all done in paint.

For the record I didnt make the wings, ~shd-Stock from Deviantart holds that cred.

Been playing it now. At first I got one floor lower and there I was like "Huh? Why cant I get rid of the cat?"
Had to restart the game to understand that. Got hit by the first trap and then went "There must be a sign somewhere around here"

You should make it a bit more obvious that people should read signs.
Oh, and the picking up items should be walking over them fluently and picking it up. People who don't know what it is will go looking for it in their Arsenal.

Also, then I got down 2 floors and I was like "Huh, what should I do here?". Then I found it, thinking of your other game and I was like "Aha!". Add an arrow to where you can go outside.

And I found some bugs as in toilets and a shower I can climb onto to the top...

This leach thing asks me to retrieve a yellow key but I can't seem to get out of that cave.
Oh, okeee!!! I found it!


For the rest, love it so far...

Allright... So I completed the demo in about 15 minutes and this is what I have to say!

Love this concept, also like the artwork and the gameplay.
Some bosses are rather difficult but after 2 or three times of trying I beat them.

If I were you I'd put in a RETRY and make them start talking again or something like that because it's rather nasty to get killed and start loading again. Retry and Save-spots would make it more interesting.

Been playing it now. At first I got one floor lower and there I was like "Huh? Why cant I get rid of the cat?"

Sorry about that, the Tutorial Screen outdatedly stated that Q W E R T Y are the hot keys instead of 1 2 3 4 5 6. Thats been fixed.

Had to restart the game to understand that. Got hit by the first trap and then went "There must be a sign somewhere around here"

You should make it a bit more obvious that people should read signs.

Yeah, I'll definitely do that later, for now a PROTIP: READ SIGNS. SAVE OFTEN will probably serve well if placed at the beginning of the thread.

Oh, and the picking up items should be walking over them fluently and picking it up. People who don't know what it is will go looking for it in their Arsenal.

If you know a way to bypass message wait out, let me know, I'd love to have it so the message shows but with no pause to progress.

Also, then I got down 2 floors and I was like "Huh, what should I do here?". Then I found it, thinking of your other game and I was like "Aha!". Add an arrow to where you can go outside.

Done.

And I found some bugs as in toilets and a shower I can climb onto to the top...

Fixed.

This leach thing asks me to retrieve a yellow key but I can't seem to get out of that cave.
Oh, okeee!!! I found it!

Those ruby pebbles do need to blend in less, hmm... Maybe I'll make a super jump pad for that instead.

For the rest, love it so far...

Allright... So I completed the demo in about 15 minutes and this is what I have to say!

Love this concept, also like the artwork and the gameplay.

I'm glad such a force rushed last minute tuning game went over so well with you, thanks for sticking at it.

Some bosses are rather difficult but after 2 or three times of trying I beat them.

I agree, the bosses are rather brutal, I'll probably nerf Nola a little since currently she hits like a runaway ice cream van. She's a boss I've lost to more than I have the second, and I am responsible for designing both.

If I were you I'd put in a RETRY and make them start talking again or something like that because it's rather nasty to get killed and start loading again. Retry and Save-spots would make it more interesting.

This was definitely something I considered, but it didnt make the cut due to self-given deadlines... its a miracle I got this game on two sites at 7:11 PM on 7/11/2012 (my time), in 0.2.0 I'll add that kind of system for sure.

Oh, and the picking up items should be walking over them fluently and picking it up. People who don't know what it is will go looking for it in their Arsenal.

If you know a way to bypass message wait out, let me know, I'd love to have it so the message shows but with no pause to progress.

Easy, don't show it! If you want to know what it is and does, go to inventory!
Perhaps you can create tutorial signs that show a picture with foods, bombs and whatever you just found in the tutorial part, after that you should learn to look in the inventory for items you found and don't know or remember.

Fair call, I'll try that and see how it pans out.

Edit: Yes, thats far more fluid, I'll have that be the dealie in 0.2.0

Looks neat! I will try it out sometime.

Thanks Modern Algebra, i've started working full time on Menagerie between operating a Minecraft server I made recently, sadly that means there wont be updates for this for a while. :<

Made any progress lately??

I want to show this to my brother and my dad!!! He liked Unreal Tournament '99 very much, I think he might like this as well 

No, not much at all! :<

All my time developing is being poured into Menagerie, since there is some decent requirement for this to get longer, I'll happily start working on it again.

Planned features for 0.2.0
- Another 15 minutes of gameplay. (at the very least)
- Using most weapons costs mana. (Mana wont be a useless stat!)
- Powerups, these were going to be in initially, but they didnt work correctly. Might make a custom item system for these, similar to Heretics deal.
- Rewording things for better easier understanding.
- Wandering monsters.
- Non-Linear dungeons that you can pilfer.
- Waypoints and possibly town portals of some sort.
- Ambient sound. (Actually already implemented, it features the creepy ambient sound from 1994 Heretic)
- An easier way to switch weapons. (Preferably a quick select like in Ratchet and Clank).
All I can think of currently.

My development has shifted back to Menagerie, so yeah, nothing new on this until after 12/12 this year.

Then I get to juggle around 3 Huge games. Dx

Advice: pick one and stick with it, you'll benefit more in the long run.

Yeah, Intelligence is the one that will keep getting updates. Once Hellcat and Menagerie are at the release version, its just small bug fixes and Intelligence updates from there.

That is until I release this piece of shit.

BUMP
To Version 0.1.2

0.1.2
General:
- More guidance was given. Particularly in the Ruby Rush and Sapphire Stroll instances.
- Lilith has been replaced by Snowball, he should be a fair bit more tongue in cheek and quirky than his blonde predecessor.
- Naxon has been given his own graphic and sprite.
- Shooting weapons now costs Energy (MP), amount varies dependent on damage and power.
- Title screen and Gameover backgrounds changed to avoid google image search debacles when crediting.
- Messagebacks have been added for all signs spread throughout the afterlives.
- Time Bomb of the Ancients now has a unique animation.
Encounters:
- Nola's damage has been nerfed slightly, and should now feel much more entry level.
- Mauriel's jerk fayse D8< Bolts now cover all layers of the screen, no more refuge in the secret area.
- Mauriel's jerk fayse D8< Orbs can now bypass impassable terrain.
Bugfixes:
- Most bugs on both boss encounters should now be corrected.
- Animations cast at events or the player now stay in position regardless of map scrolling.
- Signs are more fluently written to make them easier to understand.
- Removed the requirement for a completely unnecessary font.
- Guns no longer have push back, balancing the Hellpistol to not be an obnoxiously imbalanced winner gun.