Special moves are done by holding up or down and pressing an attack button. Choosing which mechanics to take from either genre was our biggest initial priority.įirstly, we wanted to completely remove the execution barrier by making moves as simple as possible. We wanted to create the feeling of power one gets from pulling off a big combo in a fighting game, but in a brawler setting, with more enemies and more opportunities for chaos.

ShatteredRealms features a mix of brawler and fighting game mechanics. We found we had a shared vision, and we proceeded to refine the core concepts and mechanics of the game together. It was through my posting that I started collaborating with Dawid Strauss, a fellow fighting game enthusiast and artist at Free Lives, who had previously worked on Broforce. I posted the prototype on the local game dev forums for feedback and got a really good response. It had all the basic elements: combos, juggles and a Style Gauge (reminiscent of the one found in Devil May Cry), as well as plenty of hit stun. I proceeded to add a liberal dose of programmer graphics, and eventually it started to look a little more like a game. The first bare bones prototype looked like this: I decided to build a few separate prototypes in order to test specific elements (state machine, hitboxes, slow motion and so on), and then take what I’d learned and create a combined prototype.

I wanted to give players the opportunity to pull off stylish combos with minimal effort, but in a brawler setting with loads of enemies and sense of progression.Ī lot of inspiration was drawn from the Guilty Gear Fighting Game franchise, which is known for its fast combat, and brawlers like Alien vs Predator and Battle Circuit gave me insight into which mechanics work best in that genre.ĭevelopment for Shattered Realms started about two and a half years ago. I remember how fun it was to do a combo and have the other player cover your gaps, or bail you out when you were under attack. The initial concept for the game came from playing Street Fighter Alpha 3’s Dramatic Battle mode with friends (essentially two-player co-op against an A.I.

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