Hey Jetstreame fans! I'm James Richards and I'm the team
lead and Game Designer for Dragon Drop. This is going to be the first in a series of articles where we will be focusing on one of our many projects that we will be releasing during the rest of this year and let you know what it is all about. Dragon Drop is a platforming
game that will be coming out for the iOS, Android & Blackberry this Spring.
The core mechanic of the game
is the unique ability to drag and drop platforms and other objects
into the game to guide your hero to the end of the level. Dragon Drop has been a concept that I have thought about since my sophomore year of college. Back then, I simply called it "Stick Platformer." It was just one of many game ideas I
had used for a class project at the time. I grew rather fond of the
concept and saw a lot of potential in it. I attempted twice back in
college to get a group of students together to work on the game, but
things fell through due to a number of difficulties and scheduling conflicts that I had with the other students. The project was shelved for some
time and I used the game design document as a portfolio piece. In September of 2011 I started an
internship with the company now known as Jetstreame. Around
March of 2012 we started development on the title but it wasn't until
September or so that we finally got a solid team together. We brought on Vanny Sou as our programmer and Ashley Waldorf as our artist. In December of 2012, I launched a
Kickstarter campaign for the game to raise $1,000 for development
costs. Fortunately, we were successfully funded
with 36 total backers. Now we're working on finishing the game.
Our new goal is to have the game ready by the middle of May.
Dragon Drop takes traditional
platforming and puts the power of choice into the player's hands. The
player could use their allotted platforms and other dropable tools
strategically to grab all of the enticing collectables, or they could
head straight for the goal and just grab what is in front of them.
The game is all about having fun. I want the player to enjoy the
story, experiment with items, but most importantly; play it their
way. The game is divided into three worlds
each with 8 levels. After
completing a level the player is taken to the world map where they
can use the map fragments they have collected during gameplay to
unlock new levels. If a player is diligent enough to collect every
map fragment they may even be able to skip a level or two if they
desire.
At the end of every world is a boss
battle. We're working very hard to make sure these fights make it
into the final product. Hopefully we will be able to deliver this
element to you. There are also many power-ups that can be
found during gameplay including a Sword, Umbrella and Spring Boots.
The "dropable items" that the player can use include a Platform, Trampoline, Stone, Dynamite and a Candle. There are some
great gameplay scenarios that result from using these items.
We are dedicating all of the free time
we can to create a game that we believe in. We are not trying to turn
over a quick buck or make the next Angry Birds. We are simply trying to
express our creativity and make a fun game for our fans. The support we have received from our friends, family, the gaming community who just want to see a small studio
succeed is inspiring. Thank you all for your support, we can't wait to
share our game with you!
For more updates and information on
Dragon Drop keep coming to the Jetstreame Blog or check out my own Personal Blog about the game.
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