This is the story of a dragon
who played too much Zero Ranger...
Main Concept:
  • Game is a side-scrolling shoot-em-up, but with a map. I think.
  • There are four characters who the player / players control collectively:
    • EIGHT is a kobold with an eye for machinery. Their cargo ship is the one used by the player throughout the game.
    • NATHAN is possibly a zebra? He's a pretty good pilot, but not good enough to prevent crashing and being stranded near Eight at the start of the game. He's currently trying to find and challenge his old mentor.
    • PENROSE is a blind kobold who sees through cameras. Her motives and goals are unclear, but she's clearly trying to get somewhere...
      • Defeating The Collector adds Penrose to the party, unlocks modules, and enables Incoming! warnings for all levels.
    • SPARKY is a dragon android thing with no impulse control. They just want to enjoy the wide, wide world as much as possible.
      • Winning against Lisa adds Sparky to the party, unlocks modules, and enables secondary objecives for all checkpoints.
  • The main weapons in this game are a set of drones with tractor beams called The Crane. Intended for stacking cargo crates and manipulating objects in port, the Crane can pick up and throw loose level objects, deflect enemy rockets, or even hurl entire enemies against walls.
  • After rescuing either Penrose or Sparky, MODULES are unlocked. Modules are pieces of equipment that are operated independently from the Crane. The ship can be equipped with two modules, one on top and one below.
  • There are a few different modules whose properties change based on who is operating them and how:
    • The Turret automatically targets and fires bullets at enemies onscreen. Turrets can only fire at enemies on the same side of the ship as they are on. Pressing the module key makes the turret treat the nearest target as higher priority.
    • The Cannon fires explosive projectiles at enemies directly in front of the ship. It is more powerful than the turret, but does not turn to face new targets.
    • The Shield provides a second, smaller health bar for the ship that has to be emptied before the ship can take damage. Shields regenerate slowly during the level and fully during checkpoints. Pressing the module key while the shield is full empties the shield and releases a shockwave that disables enemy projectiles.
    • The Loader automatically grabs a preset item from the ship's inventory and keeps it nearby, easy for the Crane to take and throw. Pressing the key returns whatever the crane is holding to the inventory. Holding the module key allows you to select a different item to use.
Perk List

Perks are unlocked as characters engage in more battles and complete more story objectives.
The ship has up to four seats; a Pilot's seat, the Crane cabin, and two seats for the Modules. Perks unlocked by each character are only usable if they are sitting in the seat that the perk works with.

Pilot
  • QUICK FIX - Eight - Ship is repaired a little during checkpoints.
  • CHARGED HULL - Penrose - Taking heavy damage restores the shield to full.
  • READY OR NOT - Sharkey - Once per level, use the ability to grant the Crane a temporary Overclock, greatly reducing charge time and increasing capture radius.
  • SALVAGE - Eight, Sharkey - Defeating enemies near the ship gives the player money.
  • RCS RECONFIG - Nathan, Eight - The ship moves faster.
  • PRECOGNITION - Penrose - Incoming! indicators show up earlier.
  • CACTUS PLATING - Sharkey - Taking ship damage or colliding with enemies damages nearby enemies.
Pilot - Special Unlock
  • DON'T STOP ME NOW - Nathan - Ship hitbox shrinks if it hasn't been hit for a few seconds. Unlocked after defeating Nigel.
Crane
  • MULTITASKER - Eight - The Crane can hold multiple items. Use Alt-fire to grab up to three extra items. Throwing now throws all held items at once.
  • QUICK REFLEXES - Nathan - The Crane moves and charges faster and has a larger capture radius.
  • ARMOURED CRANE - Penrose, Nathan - The Crane and its held item absorb enemy bullets.
  • Y.E.E.T. PROTOCOL - Sharkey - The Crane can grab larger enemies and has a faster charge time.
Turret module
  • MANUAL OVERRIDE - Nathan - The Turret no longer auto-acquires targets, but is much faster and deals much more damage. The Turret can also be made to fire on enemy projectiles.
  • D4K-KA OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM - Sharkey - The Turret is faster and deals more damage.
  • ACTIVE DEFENSE - Penrose - The Turret can and will fire on enemy projectiles.
  • PULSE TURRET - Penrose, Eight - The Turret now fires beams of energy that instantly deal damage to all targets in its path.
  • DRAGONFIRE ROUNDS - Sharkey - The Turret now fires projectiles instead of bullets. Damage dealt per second to a single target is unchanged, but the projectiles deal damage to several nearby targets when they hit.
Cannon module
  • MANUAL OVERRIDE - Nathan - The Cannon no longer auto-fires, but is much faster and deals much more damage over a wider area.
  • DRAGONFIRE SHELLS - Sharkey - The Cannon's projectiles deal more damage but travel more slowly. The projectiles also leave a trail that damages enemies a little.
  • PULSE CANNON - Penrose, Eight - The Cannon now charges and fires beams of energy, instantly dealing damage to everything in its path. Fire rate and damage per single target are unchanged. By default, the Pulse Cannon will only fire when two or more targets would be hit, or if a boss's weakpoint would be hit. Pressing the module key still triggers manual fire.
Loader module
  • AUTOLOADER - Eight - Pressing the module key while the Crane is empty toggles Automatic mode. While in this mode, the Loader will automatically pass the preset item to the Crane whenever it is empty. Returning an item to the inventory ends the mode. The mode also ends if there are no more of the preset item in the inventory.
  • RAILGUNS!!!!! - Sharkey - Pressing the module key throws the item at the target nearest the cursor. Multiple targets can be selected, in which case the railgun will fire once at each target.
Shield module
  • PARTICLE SHIELD - Nathan - Shields have much more health but do not regenerate normally. Destroying an enemy, projectile, or item near the ship restores shield health. The Shockwave now deals actual damage.
  • SELECTIVE SHIELDING - Penrose - The shield is much more effective against projectiles, but a little worse against energy attacks and direct damage.
  • SUPERCOOLED COILS - Penrose, Eight - At full shields, enemies and projectiles are pushed away from the ship. Shields also begin to recover immediately after releasing a shockwave.
  • OVERCHARGED COILS - Eight - Shields have more health and the shockwave takes up a larger area.
  • AGGRESSIVE EMITTERS - Sharkey - Taking shield damage has a chance to damage, stun, or even disable nearby enemies. A shockwave is released whenever the shield is destroyed. Shields take a little longer to regenerate.
Palette tests. I knew I wanted it to have a very limited color selection. Maybe 16 colors. And I knew I wanted it to have purple. I eventually decided on grey and orange for the other two colors, making a simple 16-color palette that I have fallen horns-over-heels in love with.
5 pinks, 5 oranges, and 6 greys. Most of the assets on this site use the same pallete.
As for the assets in the test: we have a decorative border with the palette in. We have the game's signature Crane module and the forcefield it generates. We have early radio portraits for Eight, Nigel, Perose, and a mystery AI. And we have an attempt at a dialogue pane, complete with tests for other colors of frame.