Tis the Season

Hello everyone! And welcome back to another short but very thrilling update. Like last time I may have a few things but like the saying goes, sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words.

Yep! Our Steam page is finally up and everyone should be able to find our game. It is a great step to finally getting our first version of the game out there to the public and I’m happy to announce that our game is currently under review to get approved and be put out there. We don’t have an official release date yet but it is coming out this Fall!

The team is really happy to be this close to releasing our student indie game with all the positive feedback that it has gotten from our peers, our teachers, and other game developers who’ve had the chance to play it on our past events. For a game that was in development for only 6 months we’re really proud of what we achieved. One could say that this is a solid footing that could serve as the base for something more in the future. Like many popular games out there, ForzeBreak takes a single concept and mechanics and gives players the wheel to do all sorts of crazy tricks to wreck their opponents to their heart's content.

One of the things that we found very interesting during our development and testing process is that this is a game that can use to great advantage how long it takes to play. What I mean is that matches are quick, around 3 min. So if you are waiting for other players online for other games such as PUBG, one can quickly launch ForzeBreak and play a couple of quick rounds. Not only that but it is also intuitive to players who have played similar games. Of course like every other game there might be situations in which it might be a little more difficult to get the hang of it, especially if competing against more experienced players, but it results in encouragement to keep trying rather than frustration.

In preparation for the upcoming release here are a couple of instructions and tips from one of the developers:

Once one runs the app you can type in a name that will be displayed during a match by clicking where it says player. Once that is done, players can head in to the online menu where they will join a room that can hold up to 4 people. If you are the first person to get there (meaning your name is at the very top) that means you’re the host so don’t click ready until everyone else has done so, make sure you are the last otherwise you will start the match on your own!

Before a match starts one can take a look at the different vehicles available and their unique stats of speed, power, energy, and damage they can take. The logic here would be that the faster a car is the less damage they can take and inflict. The heavier a vehicle then they can dish out and receive tons of damage at the cost of mobility. So there are a few different options for players to try out to find out the play style that best suits them.

For the gameplay itself, players can use controllers and keyboard both for the menu and gameplay. I personally recommend an Xbox controller as one can feel right at home with it (especially Rocket League players), but that doesn’t mean a good old keyboard and mouse will slow anyone down.

As the match finishes one will be able to look at the number of points they managed to score. After that they are free to hit the rematch button or quit the game. Rest assured that if you select rematch you should be able to select another vehicle in case you want to change.

I will leave at that for now in order to not spoil the experience for newcomers but we are open to hear what people like best about their experience. We should have a subreddit page close to our game’s official release and we will post it on the following updates.

This is the last week before the team’s graduation from UC Santa Cruz Games and Playable Media Master’s program. It will be a brand new stage for us as each one of us take on a new venture but we’re glad that we came together to create such a fun game in such a short time.

As always we’ll keep you updated on any upcoming news and developments. Good luck with school everyone! We’ll see you soon.