"In the current AI boom, what is it all about using AI to make games? AI making games is actually developers using artificial intelligence to program and develop games. You may be surprised how AI can make games? The editor is also very surprised, let the editor take you to understand together. ”
——The above paragraph is from a certain "marketing number generator". Obviously, many years later, such nonsense generation AI can no longer be called artificial intelligence. With the fire of a GPT, the topic of how far AI can replace people has become a hot spot.
At this very moment, such a game suddenly appeared on Steam, "claiming" to be a horizontal action meat pigeon that "asked" by asking AI, and the name of the game is "Neon Sequence".
"Neon GPT 5.0, help me design a different Rogue!"
In the PV on the Steam store page, "Neon Sequence" split itself into four keywords: "different Rogue", "several non-pixel characters", "more cultivation content", "electronic sound, step on music to fight", and handed it to "NeonGPT" for design. In fact, behind the embarrassment, it is also to show the core selling point of the game and the brainstorming of the development stage, and the creators will exchange their identities with the players to ask how we want to play a different Rogue game - casual Build construction, multi-class multi-character dimensions, long-term external cultivation elements and gameplay with a little electronic beat.
Game Think Tank was fortunate enough to qualify for this game. After some in-depth playing, the author found that this "game that pretends to be created by AI" really seems to have something.
Soon
I think I can save this one
The magic of roguelike games lies first of all in the construction of the Build system, through the nesting of surprises, each game needs to have both "strategizing" and "quick intelligence" strategies, combined with a unique way of play.
The infinite possibilities come from the multiplication of systems, so the more elements that can change randomly, the deeper the game expands geometrically.
The first is the core "sequence" props, which are currently divided into 7 themes, a total of 156 promotion props, each theme has its own core output methods, such as the sneak attack behind the launch of missiles, the missile fear target has the special effect of turning and running, further continuing to expose the enemy's weakness, that is, the powerful "breaking sequence" of a single attack. Each of these seven themes has its own areas of expertise, but in the Rogue adventure, a set of construction is designed to withstand all-round stress-resistant challenges.
Therefore, the design team has set up several "fusion sequences" for each theme, which represent bridges between different constructions and are also the key to each game of "Hu Card", for example, it takes a lot of luck elements to trigger lightning strikes in the lightning sequence, from the electric chain lightning, and then converted into lightning strikes, but to make the missile in the breaking sequence critical attack is very simple, the sequence fusion of breaking + lightning can greatly increase the frequency of lightning strikes and increase group attack capabilities. The system has intimately added sequence guides and collection rewards, encouraging players to explore more undiscovered fusion routines.
The second more innovative element is "rhythm armament", which can directly replace the protagonist's various attack moves, and is also the most limited resource point in the game, each level is only rewarded once, as the core function connected to the ACT gameplay, can largely determine the basic idea of the playing routine, for example, Lilia's rhythm skill originally consumed energy for additional dodging, and after replacing the weapon, it became a forward launch air blade, and the move connection almost became another character. Of course, the replacement of weapons also depends on the face, and according to the sequence combination in the hand, the most reasonable combination of moves is conceived.
The third level of nesting of the game is based on complete randomness, each fantasy will generate such a nine-square grid "rhythm link" buff group, through the adventure to obtain three-color chip insertion, you can change the lit buff effect at any time, connect a line on any vertical and horizontal, you will get a super high percentage bonus effect. Sometimes the single-grid buff cannot match the effect of the set, sometimes the suit is collected but there is no cooperation of weapons and sequences, and if you want to crush all the way under high difficulty, one of the three systems is indispensable, and it is almost impossible for a blind cat to meet a dead rat.
This kind of Rogue gameplay that can and must adjust tactics from beginning to end is closer to the essence of Roguelike, grasping the dynamic probability in infinite possibilities, the depth of the game's strategy and operation requirements for players is not low, and the obvious difficulty gradient can be felt at each level, once the equipment is dropped, it has to pay a lot of life value.
Did Neon + House get a head?
Horizontal action roguelike games are not a rare genre on Steam, quite a lot of pearls in front, but also the battlefield of the world's developers creativity and inspiration concentrated competition, at this time often stylized games can kill a way out, is the skeleton minions anti-hero counterattack, or the headless horseman replica 2D black soul, I believe that every developer has its own reasons to do and different confidence.
The idea for "Neon Sequence" came from a House music festival event organized by the studio, where neon lights matched the beat of the music to allow the developers to find a unique scene, and the electronic sound seemed to have the magic to pull people into another space.
The art and visual elements of the game have to be said to be really eye-catching. The Neon-style art design is easily reminiscent of last year's hit Trigger Club animation "Cyberpunk Edge Walker", but in fact, this high-contrast anime style is not exclusive to the Saipon theme, it also often appears in steam wave or new wave artwork, their common genes come from the nostalgic retro of the eighties and nineties, the bombardment of saturated colors, just like a fantasy dream, but also reminiscent of platforming and reel clearance games such a very nostalgic game composition.
This is a world where sound is the power of sound, and the dopamine brought by electronic music keeps people healthy and optimistic, and in more places, the effects of "noise" alienate people and machines into manic monsters, so people who can control the "power of electric sound" are called "echoers" and fight against evil.
The Echoer's ability to rewind audio allows for repeated defeats, explaining why players can challenge over and over again. Different regions summon completely different illusions and BGMs, players can add enhanced facilities to the map by upgrading their hardware labels, and when the equipment is strong enough, the possibilities for players in the adventure are richer, and with a variety of details filled, the developers make this limited perspective Rogue game present a broader vision. The game's development content will also include unlocking NPCs for the management of various facilities in the main base, and interacting with these characters can learn more details about the worldview, and can also bring powerful favorability accessories to battles.
The depiction of the worldview is integrated into the infrastructure system and the NPC favorability system
However, it may be difficult for the player to feel this daily and unusual drastic change by overlaying the scene with music, but we can restore the combat to musical elements in reverse. All the special effects in the game, including the afterimages left by the displacement skill and the shape of the shock wave generated by the attack, are visually presented in the form of audio spectrum, and the cute characters cooperate with the rhythm of the beat, and the note waves that fall all over the screen in the flashing and moving to build a sharp and refreshing and dynamic battle scene, achieving the dual synaesthesia of visual + hearing.
After upgrading the broadsword, the protagonist's general attack finishing technique comes with an electric guitar sweeping sound, and the attack effect has also become a vibrato line
No one can beat me in my BGM
Regarding the combination of cross-elements, the biggest idea of the game is the combination of music and gameplay, with the beat input skill can have a completely different move form, the heroine Lilia plays "Pull the knife and chop" at the bar of the quarter note, it will be upgraded to "dimensional chop", the entire skill performance will be accompanied by invincible judgment, is the perfect skill for the integration of attack and defense in the early stage of the game.
Different characters will also have different key characteristics, the third protagonist Mars's beat skill is a charging attack, players need to charge in advance two and a half beats before the bar line, the actual play is very testing the familiarity with the background music, release the perfect charge of the attack sound, there will be a swing note rhythm similar to Funk music.
Interestingly, the level designers also left a disturbing challenge in the difficulty confrontation, in the "Nightmare Sound" room, the bass beat of the background music will be disrupted by the reverberation, and the large tide of enemies according to the wave will test the psychological pressure of the player to silently count the beats.
Earlier we talked about the protagonist's special ability "Neon Space", in the game, the impact of this music on the real world also actually plays a role in the gameplay, in this state, the protagonist will add the electronic audio track he represents to the current scene BGM, covering and tuning into a brand new track. The character model and surrounding scene will also become Glitch-style neon lights. In the basic state, only special moves can be transformed for a short time, and the increased firepower is also limited, but through specific Perk combinations, various trigger conditions can be greatly enriched to make the invading BGM play longer.
This experience of "playing music" while playing games is actually full of exploration fun. If different BGMs correspond to different combat styles, including the difference in picking up props in each game, it will also affect the performance effect of the music, then the overall creativity of the game will be greatly improved, but the current development team prioritizes ensuring the recognition of screen information, and limited release of equipment and playing styles with a low threshold for rhythm to test players' acceptance of rhythm combat.
At the beginning of the year, we focused on analyzing the characters from the grandfather level of action games, Shinji Mikami's "Hi-Fi Rush" from Tango Studio, which is also the gameplay design of "Beat +", combining the veteran experience of 3D platformers, all prop elements in the scene are involved in the swing of the background music, and the behavior of both enemies and friends must also be pressed on the beat, and the extremely realistic setting promotes the linear flow of the entire game. Compared to "Neon Sequence", Rogue's gameplay and 2D perspective may limit the game and music to be completely bundled, but Rogue's diversity is also an advantage, perhaps after the official release, we suddenly unlock a "I'm crazy" character Build, and then we can experience a cooler rhythmic battle.
Epilogue:
In fact, after experiencing the downturn of domestic games in 2022, we found that the panacea of "martial arts cultivation + sandbox" is not an iron law that can be fresh, and community content will largely bring unexpected traps to the development team.
The appearance of "Neon Sequence" has brought the national single market in 2023 back to the right path of gameplay and artistic creation, and presented the delicacy and beauty of independent games through the overall stylization of content form. We are also very happy to see more such behind-the-scenes teams, gradually coming into the public eye, using game language and game content to express their own thoughts.