Ok, so the new(er) look is in, done and everything is working kinda nice.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way but hey, sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
So what is DRM? Aside from an obscenely objectionable thing that some people insist has some use or worth in this digital age, natch. Is it SYNSO3? No! It’s not. But it very nearly was.
The original plan: DRM was a codename for what SYNSO3 would be and it looked like this…
…and I liked it looking like that, too. But I’m working to a deadline and the way I was building it, it just wasn’t doable. More so when I broke some of the stuff by accident and realised that the amount of time it would take me to uncouple everything, when effects trigger effects that trigger effects that trigger effects would be time that I’d be better spending crying in the corner. When I realised that should anything break again closer to the deadline, I’d be fucked because everything was so tied into other things. That’s when I realised I had to stop and do something else.
Once I’d finished having a mild panic attack or twelve, anyway.
But I didn’t really want to do something something else. Not really.
So I gutted over a months work, pulled out the bits I could keep and rebuilt the entire thing. DRM HARDER. Safe in the knowledge that I still have all the stuff sitting there for when I don’t have a deadline, for when I don’t have to worry if something breaks because I can fix it in my own time. It’s a shitty thing but it’s also a good thing. Knowing when to bail out and not fuck it all is something I’ve had to learn. I’m glad it’s something I was able to learn even though the circumstances are always saddening.
But we can rebuild it. We can rebuild it stronger. We did rebuild it stronger. And that’s what DRM is now. It’s a spiritual relation to SYNSO in many ways, but it’s a different approach. For one thing, it’s level based rather than 4 stages you can cruise through any time. Something I’ve wanted to do for a while but never really felt I could as a SYNSO game, anyway. It’s still in the same universe, it’s what happens when you throw a Death Ray Manta into the SYNSO universe. DRM, gerrit? Oh le sigh.
For a short while, it was a little bit more Llamatron than it is now. It had some crazy graphics, you’d be fighting toilets, zombies and things. But it didn’t look right. It didn’t look like it was mine. He’s a cute chicken but you won’t be seeing him around anymore. He’s had to egg off for a long sleep in the garden of lost game ideas.
Anyway, looking back at Niall’s Neonlights, I realised I still had a lot I wanted to do with the art style for Squid Harder. Unfinished business, if you will. Only now I can do it at HD resolutions.
After some consideration also, scoring is in the Zaga-33 style. Your room is your score. The higher the room, the higher the score. Beyond that, I don’t care how many enemies you do and do not manage to shoot. You will be shooting a lot of enemies. There will be pretty colours as the enemies explode.
Oh, almost anyway. There’s also Space Bounty. Which will probably change into something else but for now, that’s what it’s called. Space Bounty. Shit, eh? Better name suggestions greatly appreciated.
DRM is an incredibly pretty game where you proceed through levels blowing stuff up in pretty colours. It’s also, perversely, about letting you fuck around with it in various ways.
It’s not the game I’d set out to make but I’m glad it’s a game that will exist. I hope you’ll be glad it exists too. You can play it in a few weeks. Promise.