AENiGMA GAME: STORM HACKER

About This Game

KEY FEATURES

• PILOT A TURBO CHARGED HOVER JET SKI IN HIGH-SPEED 3D ACTION PLATFORMING ACROSS BREATHTAKING REALITY STORMS.
• UTILIZE UNIQUE HACKING ABILITIES TO MANIPULATE YOUR CRAFT AND THE STAGES YOU TRAVERSE.
• TEST YOUR CREATIVITY AND SKILL IN MULTI ROUTE LEVEL DESIGN THAT IS A BLAST TO REPLAY.
• EXPLORE BEAUTIFUL ANIME AND JRPG INSPIRED PRE-RENDERED HAND PAINTED HUB WORLDS.
• EXPERIENCE AN EMOTIONAL STORY WITH CHARACTERS YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH.

FEATURES IN DEPTH

HIGH SPEED 3D ACTION PLATFORMING
– Inspired to be as if it is a game for the non existent SEGA Dreamcast II, enter 3D action stages called Reality Storms filled with multiple route sections designed to give either optional additional challenge or a second chance to show off your skill if you fall from a higher platform or road.
– Unique set pieces from giant cyberpunk cityscapes, and ancient Ruins, all the way to holiday themed fantasyscapes.
– Every enemy is also a tool for traversal, chain together your attacks and disc collecting to maximize your score and route.
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FUTURISTIC HOVER JET-SKIING
– When you enter a Reality Storm you will pilot the lightning fast super hover jet-ski called the Storm Runner. With it you can drift, jump, air dash, and even wall-ride on signs. All eyes are on you, the best Storm Hackers utilize their skill and personality to conquer a storm.
– You can possibly scrape your way through the game with just turning and jumping but if you make full use of your ship’s momentum, full suite of abilities, angle, and hacking power ups you can take on the game’s most optimal and difficult routes or maximize your efficiency on your favourite ones. Easy and fun to learn, hard and extremely satisfying to master!

REALITY HACKING
– SOFT HACKS: Press the action button while in a soft hack zone to utilize it. you can use the soft hacks focus time to plan your next route but don’t wait too long or your opportunity to hack will disappear
– HARD HACKS: Smash through these to have an instant effect, unlike soft hacks these do not have a focus zone so go after them wisely.
– WHAT DO THESE HACKS DO?: Anything from slowing time, to making structures appear out of thin air, who knows the kind of crazy ways you can manipulate your craft and the world.
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PRE RENDERED HAND PAINTED HUB WORLDS
– Between Reality storms get lost in heavily detailed beautiful hand painted environments based on techniques used in classic games like JRPGS and Boku no natsumi.
– Get to know characters and culture on each planet and aboard your cruise ship with a visual novel like interface that allows you to experience your iteractions immersively in first person.
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UNIQUE ANIME INSPIRED ART DIRECTION
– Art inspired by my own art which is in turn inspired by 80s and 90s anime OVAs and classic Heavy Metal magazine artists like Moebius.
– Curated design, no procedural generation, the environment is all hand made and painted, every corner a story.
– Almost all the assets 3D and 2D were built from ground up and hand painted by me
– Due to this not being a giant team effort, it allows me to have a very focused art direction.

STORY/LORE

BROKEN MONDAY
In a future where humanity spans the stars, sudden massive enigmatic storms appear as if overnight, devouring all in their path. Few have returned from a storm’s sharp teeth but those who have, speak as if they have seen another universe.

KAIRA
“priestess by birth, a hacker by choice, and a force of nature by design.”
– Kaira lives in a small lagoon village on vacation planet called Tikibara working as a mail delivery girl.
– When she is not doing side hustles like mail delivery, Kaira is torn between her interests in tech and her birthright responsibilities as a priestess. As a result she feels like she has no one to completely relate to and nothing she excels at but she takes pride in it in a way.
– One day, while performing her priestess duties and studying the storms through her modified headphones, she makes a startling discovery that changes everything.

FAQ AND EXTRAS

Game length and repeatability
– Storm Hacker is being designed to respect your time but be an infinite playground. I am aiming for the main story to be completable in an evening but reward mastery by having multiple routes and collectibles through out action stages that in turn unlock challenges and minigames.

Main Inspirations
Wipeout meets Sonic. I liken it to a Dreamcast era Sonic game where you instead pilot a hyper fast hover jet ski.While similar to Sonic Adventure the level design has multiple routes that jump between speed and platforming sections unlike in Sonic you must aim your jump dashes at enemies with the consideration of the downward force and angle you hit them as it contributes to your momentum and bounce height, but thanks to the controls being closer to the depth of a racing game this is much easier to pull off.

Difficulty
– I have taken inspiration from Sonic games by having multiple second chances be through multi tiered routes as well as a health system where you only need one disc to stay alive. Any hard sections will have generous checkpoints, I like games that are challenging but not frustrating.

About the developer

“The Universe is a Love Letter, what you do with your life is a Love Letter back”

Ahoy! I am Derek Weselake AKA art of WEZ. I am normally a concept artist/Illustrators that works in the AAA game, film, and animation industries and have worked with studios like CAPCOM, Microsoft, SEGA, Riot, and 343 on a variety of game and animation projects. I started this project as a way to get to know my teams and industry better and to become a better asset as a concept artist. I love game design so much that I could not help but call my game studio “Love Letter Industries” as anything I make is a Love Letter back to the industry that means so much to me.