Escape Industries

Category: Design

  • Defining Buffs, Equipment, and Roles

    Defining Buffs, Equipment, and Roles

    What a week! When I first got into gaming, nobody told me that inventory/equipment/stats/bonuses/buffs was this herculean rite-of-passage that stymies so many beginning RPG devs. Player equipment – and passive benefits thereof – were literally the first thing we ever talked about when we started making Fingeance. Several months later, we’re finally able to implement…

  • Death Mechanics in Fingeance

    Death Mechanics in Fingeance

    Greetings Friends! Today’s article is about something we all spend a lot of time doing: dying in video games. Adding death to a game is a lot like cooking with spice: some people don’t like it, many do like it, and to some, the dish is meaningless without it. This article will look at why death is so…

  • Alternate Fire Cannons

    In a previous version of our game  (we’ve been doing this for nearly a year now), every cannon came with an alternate fire option. This was back when different kinds of hulls existed for the player to buy. Alternate fire shots were accessed by holding the shoot button down for a period of time, which…

  • Debuffs and You; A Crash Course

    Hope you’re having a good time playing the Fingeance Alpha Demo! If you’ve played it a few times, you’ve no doubt come across an enemy or part that applies freeze. That is an example of a debuff. A debuff in most games weaken a target’s abilities in some way, and in our game they work…

  • New Parts, More Progress

    Escape Industries has been working really hard to bring you fine folks the Alpha Demo of Fingeance on June 1st. I’d like to share a couple new parts we plan to have ready on that day. Keep in mind that these parts are still in progress. Unfortunately, I can’t get pictures of these parts (the art…

  • Shock Shield Tuneup Time

    Shock Shield Tuneup Time

    The Shock Shield. This thrumming bulwark of porpoise-punishing power might be the marquee item for Fingeance, and we’ve all but ignored it on this site. Stephen wrote a primer on it here, but it deserves a second look. You see, the Shock Shield isn’t the only defensive item in Fingeance. Once done, the game will…

  • Beginner Level Creations

    In preparing for Fingeance’s demo release (out June 1st!), I’ve been updating older chunks and creating a new beginner level as an introduction to the game for newer players. If you’ll bear with me, I’d like to go over what a beginner level for Fingeance looks like. Right in the beginning, the player is dropped…

  • Level Design Progress – It’s happening!

    This past week has actually been productive for me design wise, despite having to get through finals week (maybe it’s from all the procrastination I’ve been doing…). I’ve completed a few parts that I’ve been meaning to hash out for a while, and am now currently working on the level design for Fingeance. I realize…

  • Game Design Update: The Gatling Gun

    Hey folks! It’s that time of the year where the more exciting and fun stuff (like this blog…) has to get put on the backburner for the more important and boring things (like finals…). Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do much game design work this past week. This blog post and likely next week’s…

  • Freshmaker: Revisiting Boss Design

    Freshmaker: Revisiting Boss Design

    Escape Industries is a small studio. Three of us, working odd hours around jobs and school, are attempting an ambitious project. For this reason, we spend a lot of time on two things. First, making tools to increase our productivity. Second, using design tricks to cram replayability into every nook and cranny. This article looks…