A quick update for those who don’t follow my discord or devstreams.

If the public alpha has taught me anything, Little Hellions needs online play. Like ~ good online play. From it’s necessity during the height of the pandemic, to simply bringing players together, it couldn’t be clearer.

But such a change is a massive undertaking, and why I have been noncommittal up until now. In order to make it happen, a complete overhaul of architecture will have to occur ~ and until recently that simply wasn’t possible for a solo developer like myself. But possibilities are opening up. Currently, I’m exploring Platform Fighter Engine; a framework built for Game Maker, the engine Little Hellions already uses. PFE has built-in rollback netcode and a litany of quality of life features. It’s a promising avenue since I wouldn’t have to switch engines!

I am currently pursuing external funding in order to support this change, be it finding a publisher, applying for grants and so on. Normally devs don’t share this sort of information, there’s a lot of inside baseball to it, but I think transparency is important in this case as ~for the time being~ updates for the current version of Little Hellions will slow down as I pursue these avenues.

I apologize that Little Hellions continues to be a slow production, but I truly believe it in the best interest of the game in the long term. Couch multiplayer ~as much as I don’t want it to be~ isn’t really a thing anymore. Of course, all versions of the game going forward will still support it, but I want to make the game accessible to anyone who is willing to give a try, even if they don’t have friends close by to play it with.

Nonetheless, thank you for supporting Little Hellions and drop a comment if you have any questions!

Until next time, Bomb Pig loves you! ❤️

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Hi everyone, Professor Onion reporting.

Little Hellions has finally launched in Early Access, ain’t that a thing. While it’s been a long road since development started in 2015, there’s still much to do before the game reaches 1.0. Bombpig and I will certainly be busy over the coming months so I’d like to outline what you may expect going forward.

Content & update schedule

Little Hellions will receive updates early each month up to 1.0. Patch notes or “Lab Reports” will publish here with content highlights, as well as gestures toward what may be in the next patch. Hotfixes may push early for particularly egregious bugs, but for the most part bug fixes will be rolled into the monthly updates.

Coming up

In-game Lab Reports

Lab Reports will be accessible in-game so you don’t even need to leave the Hellevator to hear what’s new. They’ll also include cute little anecdotes among other things.

More levels

Currently the level list for the Bone Yard (world 2) and Dread Noodle (world 4) are incomplete. I’d like to finish these up before tackling Stabbyland (world 3), which is currently not in the game. Were world 2 and 4 completed, the game would have 18 arenas as of the next update

That’s all for now everyone, Bombpig loves you! ~ ❤

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A new trailer has been released as part of 2022’s Gamedevs of Color Expo Direct.

The post Little Hellions coming to Steam early access October 31st, 2022 appeared first on DIEMART.

Little Hellions is a competitive four player arena battler with a twist ~ players can’t attack. Instead players can “hex” one another, that is, trade places instantly. With enough spatial awareness and sharp timing, players can evade deadly traps while swapping opponents to their doom. The last one alive is the victor!

Trailer below.

Little Hellions is our first commercial project and has been in development since 2015. It’ll be available ~ when it’s ready. If you want to keep up, you’re already in the right place. Stay tuned for further development news as it comes. 🖤

For our presskit, look no further.

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I have a creeping suspicion that being a person on planet Earth will always feel like the end of days?🙃

It’s easy to imagine the simplified, abridged version of the past as somewhere easier to be. Without the compromises, the dirty details, the moment to moment struggles – “then” can seem a lot more appealing than it really should be. But the fact of it is being a person has and will always be hard. There will always be struggles, regrets – things left unresolved. People determined to hurt others whether it’s because of hate, ignorance, or more than likely ~ both. History never “ends” and we don’t “know better” just because we’re on the present’s precarious edge. We’ll continue to make mistakes and hurt each other.

In short, video games can seem kinda irrelevant in 2019?

While, again, I won’t gesture towards saying we know better ~ I think it’s safe to say at this point that games certainly won’t save us. Yes, games can say and do so much. They can truly touch another person’s heart and be there for them in difficult times. As Matt Lees put it much better than I “Games are places where disenfranchised people live”.

But even so (as he also pointed out), at least for now the reach of games is limited by who games are made for. Who has access to technology, or the novelty to even afford it? Who is “intended” to be holding a controller, or can even comfortably use one? Regardless of the highs many of us have experienced with games, the uniqueness of the medium is also what bars it from reaching the people who can truly benefit from it.

All of this makes dedicating oneself to developing games ~ difficult to navigate ~ to say the least. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in a room full of indies, I was the most pessimistic about games as a whole, or at least the culture surrounding it.

And yeah ~ I get it, a game studio certainly doesn’t make a great first impression with the words “video games might not be all that great”.

But nothing can grow without a little self reflection, and games’ capacity for good can only be broadened when both the people playing and making them become willing to examine their limitations and blunders. Games criticism is by no means a new thing. But a generation who’s grown up with it and games, navigating tumultuous times full of existential threats? That’s new. And maybe good? Probably?

~ Maybe? ¯\(ツ)/¯

While I don’t have any illusions that Schadenfreude will further carve the path towards gaming as a vehicle for social good, it’s easy to compel oneself to find the virtue in one’s work, especially in a creative endeavor. As much as I would like to turn this around and say “but games are good! Schadenfreude will do good!”, those aren’t really my words to say are they? What I can say is that I want to try to make cool things about loving yourself and others. Fun and silly things that, hopefully, help people feel proud of who they are. But the success of that is not mine to judge. I must be pragmatic ~ my games and art may very well not change much of anything. I could even make things worse if I’m not careful. But I wanna try. I wanna help. I want to put smiles on people’s faces and help others find acceptance and self validation. And I, myself, want to learn.

So yeah, this is a video game company. Yes, it needs to make money in order to exist. Capitalism is still here. But we’re also a platform by the nature of our existence and by the fact that we have a developing audience. We don’t want to take that for granted. If people can make room for another indie game company, then the least we can do is make it some sort of force for good and self reflection, despite the limitations.

So ye humble gamer, if you’d have us, we’re Schadenfreude and we wanna be good to you. Maybe make a joke or two while we’re at it. It’s up to you to decide if we succeed in the end.

~ Jace

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