Stealth (Placeholder Name)

January 2024 - July 2024

Stealth was a 2D top-down stealth shooter, mainly inspired by The Escapists 2 and METAL GEAR SOLID.

You would have to complete various objectives on individual maps while avoiding getting spotted by enemies.

Around the map, you would find items that would help you in various ways, such as giving you access to secret areas or make it easier to slip through enemy patrols.

In fact, most systems I wanted in the game were already completed! Such as...

• a flexible weapon, item and equipment system
• a flexible attachment system
• a very weird-coded but still functional crafting system
• a working objective & end screen system with a final score!
• a really cool floor system
• an unfinished, a bit buggy, but still working enemy AI code, compatible with all main enemy statuses (ALERT, EVASION, CAUTION)

I would show some of these, but they don't work! Because just before I abandoned the game, I was trying to add controller support! And because of that, opening any "station" will crash the game due to missing variables!

So, in short, this is one of my favourite game projects because of how technical it is!

Oh yeah also, the game would have included online multiplayer! I tried implementing it, but I had, and still have, NO idea how to make online multiplayer GameMaker games, especially with UDP networking!

However, this game would also be a turning point for me.

Every game before this has been cancelled because I would lose motivation and interest and I could not figure out why.

But this time I learned.

I was making a pure video game.

What I mean is that I was focusing purely on the gameplay, and not the story or theming. Now yes, gameplay should be first and foremost, but having a story and interesting environments is still really important.

For example: ULTRAKILL! It's gameplay is fantastic, but what I really find admiring about it is its story and environments. Both are just so interesting to think about and to see! Just look at the entirety of Layer 7! (If you have played the game!)

I have never come up with a story before or during the prototyping of my games (well, Grapple Game is kind of an exception...), and that was a big problem! Making a really fun game was not actually appealing to me and and although it was fun to do, it was never a true motivator for wanting to see a game to completion!

So I would come up with a fun game idea, spend a few weeks prototyping and then forcefully abandon it, without thinking about the story.

Now with any of my past games, you could make the argument that I could come up with the story after prototyping the fundamentals, but in my opinion, it is way better to come up with a story/theme first and then come up with the game. The best example of this would probably be UNDERTALE and DELTARUNE.

So this time, I intentionally stopped working on this game and began thinking about what my next game should be that I will love to make, which ended up being my Life game.

Last modified: