Dear Synthwave and TheFloorIsHacked! enthusiasts.

The time has finally come, we are at the point where we can release the game in its final form. We still wanted to add so much stuff to this game, we worked so hard on, with a lot of passion.
Within the time limit we have we are very proud of what we created as a team! We feel like we created the game we invisioned as best as we could. By doing that we created a fun party co-op game that can be enjoyed by you, your friends and your family! 

And so before I begin with the final breakdown of our game as always... Music! The whole guideline and feel for our game from the start,
it has been fun to introduce you guys to different styles within the genre, with that being said here is a last tune for now...

This song was one of the songs that we had for quite some time in our level and in a way it brings us back to the earlier days of building the game. From now on it is a song that brings back memories. 

All features and decisions we made for the game, and why we made them:

- We opted for bobble head style characters and this is why we chose to only change the heads of the characters, to define which player is which.
We tried to keep the topics of the heads as close to the vaporwave aesthetic as possible, and we decided to have 5 colors in the character select to give the players freedom of choice. 

- Our game is a party game focused on short quick games, with a high replayability value and competitiveness, from a 1v1, up to a free for all with 4 players.
In our opinions the perfect party game to enjoy on a fun night with your friends and family!!

- From the start we had this idea of having multiple ammo types to switch up the way the game is played and to have different interactions with the playing field.
During production we opted to choose for one ammo type of each style, one that has a different effect on how the tiles get destroyed and one that influences the tiles to give players a status effect. Split (cluster) ammo for the first and freeze ammo for the later.
This gave us a good representation of the idea we had and gave a lot of ideas to build upon. 

- We also wanted to have different tile types.
This started with the idea of having different patterns for the tiles. 
However this idea didn't add enough to the actual gameplay so we focused on other elements first, that actually influenced the gameplay.
This is a feature that could still be implemented later on just to give it more of a visual change of the playing field. 

-We also had the idea to make the playing field slightly move up and down like a sine wave, but this seemed to give some people a nauseating effect.
That is why we only implemented movement and tilting of the tiles when hit but in a very subtle way.
After that to give a bit more variation in the field we opted to add tiles that need multiple hits. 

- During the production we noticed that there sometimes is a stalemate when both players are out of ammo, or when they are both trying to play tactical.
This gave us the ideas of implementing a punch and a hazard system.
The punch made it so that now there could be close combat between players, which makes them chase each other.
Thanks to the hazard system players are more inclined to stay on the move. 

-for the bullet and ammo representation we went with more simplified designs compared to the beginning. The more complex ones where not readable and the simplified versions were.

- One thing we noticed is since the camera angle was so far up a diegetic cannister on the back and a colored outline, wasn't really working out and players would (sometimes) have difficulties to see where they where aiming at.
That is why towards the end we got rid of the cannister on the back and the colored outline of the character.
Instead we added an ammo representation to the HUD. 

We then decided, to add a reticle to the player character, in order to represent the direction they are aiming. Additionally this also helped the player to better decide where they are on the playing field, thanks to the added light  of the Niagara particle. 

-We also opted for a slight delay after every round by integrating a countdown in the form of "Ready, Set Go!!!".

Mainly to catch your breath and get ready for the next round.
Otherwise we noticed that some players would get killed almost instantly, since there was no pause and most players immediately start firing. 

 - The game truly came alive during polish where all aspects of the game got sound- and visual effects.
Since the game was based on a music genre with a specific aesthetic, it became clear during the polish stage that this was the secret ingredient the game was still missing after this everything just blended together.

With all that being said I now proudly present to you the gameplay trailer or our game!

We hereby say Thank you for all the support! And we wish you a lot of fun with our game:

TheFloorIsHacked!

Group26 over and out!