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This game is in early access. It's still in development and the current version may be buggy or incomplete. Follow along to watch it as it develops!

Free

Just a Robot - Combat Prototype

Version: 0.1.1

Just a Robot is an action RPG in early development.

Setting

The moons of Jupiter, and other places in the solar system, in a future where sentient robots struggle for survival in a world that sees them as interchangeable and replaceable components.

Plot

You play as a mercenary reassembled from damaged and discarded components by a not entirely selfless benefactor. You must choose your own path through a world filled with ruthless warlords, thieves, powerful corporations, fanatical religious groups, and a mysterious insurrectionary group known as the RUST, who will all want to use you for their own ends.

Gameplay

A goal I have for this game is to have the combat feel symmetrical. That is, I want the enemies to have weapons and abilities on a similar level to the player, more or less, and to use them in a plausible manner. Currently I'm thinking to achieve this through 2D cover based shooter combat, but if that is not working out in prototypes I may switch to some other type of combat system.

Aside from the combat, I expect the game to feature a variety of upgradeable weapons and defensive systems, a number of planets, asteroids, ships and space stations to explore, and a wide variety of mission types.

Prototype

The downloadable prototype demonstrates the basic combat mechanics as they currently stand, but not a lot else about the game. There is no end-game, just waves of enemies to provide an opportunity to see what the combat is about.

Controls are WASD to move - hold right mouse button to aim, which slows your movement, and left mouse to fire while aiming.

Please leave feedback if you have any, and follow me here or on twitter for further updates and prototypes as development progresses.

Another Change in Art Direction

After thinking about the last concept art I posted for a while I decided I wasn’t happy with the look of it after all. The palette especially was too saturated, and didn’t allow for enough contrast between the environment and characters.

I decided to start a new palette from scratch while designing a grungy indoor tileset, which after a few iterations led to this little scene:

I recoloured and redesigned the main character a bit in the process, mostly with an eye to improving the head shape.

Once I was fairly happy with the new palette I went about applying it to some outdoor scenes. It worked fairly well for them I think, though they might have too much of a daytime feel now.

This one is a roadside shrine to the Creators (i.e. humanity) that in this world are worshipped as gods by many. I designed a number of symbols for this religion based around humans being the progenitors of the machine race, and also around the idea of incorporating them into a social “body” with humans as the head. I also tried to incorporate the symbology of a number of actual religions to suggest a continuity with them, but not an allegorical association with any particular one… Anyway, that should maybe be its own post :P

The RUST are one of the factions in the game - a techno-anarchist militia with a growing presence on the Jovian satellites. I guess I don’t really have a lot more to say about them right now.

Anyway, I’m still not really happy with the character design/colouration, particularly the clothing, so that is definitely still a work in progress!