It’s Time to Change the Old Demo and Why (Part One)

Devlog 04

Get a free Steam key when the game is fully released by participating in our new fight system playtest! 👉 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/jwc5bq9CkN to join the playtest and secure your key.

Important Note: The current demo will be unavailable starting August 17th, and it will be replaced by the new demo.

In past devlogs, we talked about our dream and the earlier prototypes that led to the current demo. We shared our vision, story, and challenges, but we never really discussed its gameplay mechanics especially the fight system.

With a completely different new demo coming soon, it’s time to go back to the beginning and explain how we ended up with the current demo’s mechanics, and how these decisions will influence the upcoming demos.

From the start, we knew that in an action-adventure game, the “action” part needed to have a real, meaningful impact on gameplay. So the first thing that came to mind was focusing on the fighting mechanics. We began with a simple, over-the-shoulder camera style, centered on the player, with a few basic combos and a simple parry system.

First fight system Video here:

The system was simple yet functional. At that time, the idea was for close, one-on-one, personal fights, which also matched the overall gameplay vision we had. The original version was also supposed to include stealth mechanics. So while Sorosh was busy working on the fight system, Ahmad was working on gameplay features and the stealth system.

For this, we needed a fully functional traversal system so the player could move vertically, crouch to hide from enemy patrols, and use other sub-mechanics to stay undetected.

First playable area video here:

But that didn’t stop us from refining the fight system. Soon, it was time to integrate the character model into the fight system, adding improved attack combos.

First implementation here:

The final result for the current demo’s fight system was this:

With the fight system on track, it was time to refine the gameplay systems further. But simple mechanics weren’t enough for us. In addition to the traversal system, we gradually developed a more dynamic, directed camera system similar to older action games.

Watch both videos here:

After the demo, everything started to change. One mechanic after another evolved, and with a mix of a new art style and our team’s growing capabilities, the game began transforming into something much bigger.