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- Rogue – Levels are randomly generated and get progressively harder as the player progresses through them. The player’s goal is to defeat a boss to unlock the next biome.
- Perma-Death – Death is permanent for the individual characters, but they are cloned back to level 0 and can be used for other missions.
- Perma-Progress – Any upgrades the player purchases or any checkpoints the player unlocks are saved. If a mission fails all loot will be lost. At the end of each level, the player must decide to leave the dungeon and keep their loot or continue to the next level and risk it all.
- Platformer – A side scrolling 2D platformer. The main locomotion of the player is walking and using a jet-pack. Attacking is done in two to four directions (depending on the weapon equipped).
- Squad Based – Never journey alone! Bring along several squad mates with different tools and weapons to help you dive deeper. Balance your squad with miners, healers, heavy weaponry and explosives.
- Destructible Terrain – mine and blow your way through the level to collect gems, create a shortcut, or gain an advantage over your enemies.
- Progression – As squad member kill enemies and clear cave sectors they gain XP. When they gain enough XP the go up a level and a random perk is assigned. These will be lost on death and can be changed for gold back at base.
- Three Biomes – explore the ‘Dark Cave’, ‘The Underwater’, or the ‘Lava’ biomes on your quest to save the world.
- Economy – Loot can be obtained in the form of Gold and Gems. Gold is used to buy new crew DNA (unlock characters) and re-rolling perks. Gems are used to upgrade your gear, the number of people in your squad, the starting health of characters, etc.
- Story – a fun, light story about the impending destruction of earth, bureaucracy, the military, and sci-fi culture.
- Local CO-OP – 2 (shooting for 4) player local multiplayer. A holo-deck ‘arena’ is planned (see stretch goals) to add death-match gameplay.
- Controller Support – This game was designed for both keyboard/mouse and controller support.
- Released – First on PC and if successful (see stretch goals) released on MAC, Linux and mobile.
- Sci-Fi – I love reading all types of science fiction {Asimov, Niven, Heinlein, Card, Howey, Clark, Wells, etc.} and have always tried to include that genre in my games.
DOWNLOAD ALPHA DEMO – MIRROR1 – MIRROR2 – MIRROR3
WEBSITE – THESUPERFLUOUS.COM
TWITTER – @The_Superfluous
FACEBOOK – thesuperfluousgame
INDIEDB – the-superfluous
Adam Truncale Interview by Peter Ward
What is your first gaming experience?
I think the first game I remember playing was “Oregon Trail” on the Apple IIgs. It probably wasn’t my first game, but it made a big impact on me. It told a story, it had action (hunting), it was infinity re-playable, and most of all it was fun.
What got you into programming games?
I first started programming in Basic as a kid. I’d go to the library and get those books where you’d type code and you’d have a completed game. I was hooked! How cool was it that I could make a computer guess a number I was thinking? Since then I played lots of games and learned to program. It wasn’t until after college that I really started to create games I thought people would enjoy.
What development tools or coding did you use?
My love language would be Java. I know it really well and I actually teach it as my ‘real’ job (I am a High School CS teacher). I’ve made several games in it using LWJGL. Then I found GameMaker. It was so easy to prototype new game ideas without having to build (or tweak) an engine like in Java. It would compile into Android, iOS, PC, Mac, Linux with a press of a button. So I just went with it. I first started creating Android games with a few of my students and once again I was hooked. Four years later I am still making games and loving it.
What hurdles did you have making your current game?
Programming comes easy to me, I could do it all day long. The issue I had with this game was/is marketing. As other indie devs will tell you, we aren’t the best at talking with people or communicating our idea for our games. This is the first PC game I’ve made so I knew if I wanted to be successful I’d need to step out of my comfortable developers cave (my garage office) and present my game to the world. I thought it might be scary, but I was surprised to be greeted by other devs that were peeking out of their cave too. The experience has been very positive.
After the completion of the game, what game will you make?
I have already been thinking about that. I’d like to create another game in the same universe as “The Superfluous”. A continuation of the story, but maybe a different game style. Ideas are still floating around in my garage cave 🙂
What other games have you made you made?
Besides the hundreds of game prototypes that will never see the light of day, I’ve published several Android games. https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=6201851602460773082
My favorite computer was my Amiga and console the Megadrive do you have a favorite?
I’d have to say the Commodore 64 was my favorite computer. It had sick games (like M.U.L.E.), and the best graphics at the time. My favorite console would be the SNES. We never had a console in my house until the NES. We were a computer family. The SNES made games like Final Fantasy which really spoke to me. It is the only ‘old’ console I still have hooked up.
What is your favorite retro game?
Oh man, that’s a hard one. As a gamer and a game developer, that’s a really hard question. I love all games and all styles. My favorite PC games would be Fallout 1 and 2, Rogue, and NetHack. My favorite SNES game Final Fantasy III. My favorite NES game (don’t laugh) is Excite Bike.
Do you still game on the current consoles if so whats your favorite game?
The last console I owned was a Xbox 360. I find I enjoy games more on the PC than the console (my library of 700 Steam games should attest to that). Maybe it’s the controller?
What’s the worst game you have ever played?
As many good games as I’ve played, there is just a load of bad ones. The first one that comes to mind is “Big Rigs”. I mean what racing game has no collision?
Finally, what game or feature would you like to see on Retrogamesmaster in the future?
What can I say, I love Indie games. You should do more of those 🙂