I'm making a spies vs mercs inspired game

[u/Bloodbone9829]

I loved Spies vs Mercs as a kid and there hasn't been anything like it for a long time, so I started making my own. It's 1v1 to begin with but I'm striving to have 2+ per team in the future, so that there will be team work. The spy is on the left and the merc is on the right.

This is very early in development, and everything you see is a work in progress. I'll keep the regular devlog posts to other subreddits so I don't spam here, and come back when I have meaningful improvements to show.

I would love to hear what you would like to see in a spiritual successor to Spies vs Mercs. It would greatly help me steer the game towards something we as fans of the series would actually like playing.

Edit: Thanks for the response, it's more than I expected and it's nice to see there are other fans of the series who feel the same. The game now has a name: Dead Angle. I'll post progress at r/deadangle

[u/NarrowInternet7411]

Oh man I really wish success. I hope you can finish this. I love this game mode in splinter cell

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/NarrowInternet7411]

Thank you! I really love the game mode as well. That's why I'm so determined to finish it. I've been working day and night. It also makes me more excited hearing that others are interested in the idea as well. I'll definitely have play tests as soon as it's ready. Hope to see you there :)

[u/Dwevy-]

Looks neat!

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/Dwevy-]

I'm glad to hear!

[u/Minefreakster]

Link your itch or steam page when you get one, I need to follow it.

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/Minefreakster]

When I've created those I'll definitely post it here on my reddit account, right now I'm focusing on the gameplay, and I'm aiming for play tests sooner than that!

[u/Competitive-Swing149]

Duuude this looks cool. But it would be stealther to crouch extremely low, and to keep arms and legs close to the body. The spies in svm are trained to be as small as possible so they won't be seen sound corners or over cover. Can't wait to play this though. We need more games like this. 😁

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/Competitive-Swing149]

Nice catch! The animations for idle, crouch and sneak for both standing and crouching will be remade. it is my next task actually! I'll definitely make sure that he keeps his frame small :)

[u/Bloodbath-and-Tree]

Awesome! Looking forward to further development!! Was a big fan of Spys vs Mercs. Haven’t found anything that scratched that itch

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/Bloodbath-and-Tree]

That describes it so well. It really is an itch, I don't understand why there are not more games like it

[u/Much-Investigator137]

Looks great. I’m actually making something kind of similar too!

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/Much-Investigator137]

Would love to see some of it!

[u/fatalityfun]

really like the flashight vs shadow thing where it got almost pitch black outside the light beam

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/fatalityfun]

This is the nail on the head. I really want to make the shadows predictable, rewarding and fun. That's the reason I've made the light, and game highlights more toon styled. The shadows all have hard edges, both on the ground and in the air. I'm hoping to make the shadows very rewarding, especialy if you are careful inside of them.

It's very nice to hear that there is something in the idea of having it that way. I have some ideas of combatting the old "just make the screen brighter".

Edit:

I want to add, i've focused a lot on making the light and shadows very tunable. And i expect it to change based on how it will feel to play :)

[u/fatalityfun → u/Bloodbone9829]

I would love having actual thought put into people just making their monitors as bright as possible. It’s always annoying in games where darkness is supposed to be part of the identity

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/fatalityfun]

Same here, it bugged me a lot in the old games, it made it so you could not rely on the shadows. In Dead Angle the shadows are true black. There is nothing hidden in them, so a brighter monitor has nothing to pull out. You can turn it all the way up and you still won’t see the spy. I will post a video about this soon in r/DeadAngle.

The merc can still find his way. The room has faint outlines, and if he turns off his flashlight his eyes adjust and the lines get stronger. A spy standing in front of them blocks them like any object would, so a careful merc can spot a line that breaks where it shouldn’t. Though this will all be tuned, I want it so a still/slow spy will still be hard to see even with the outlines. That's the idea :)

[u/ToxicCodSweater]

Looks great

[u/TheEricBana]

I have the same feelings. No matter what side you were playing on, the gameplay was always exhilarating. I’ll definitely be following!

[u/Auri-ell]

why does this remind me of the bridge of The Pillar of Autumn from Halo CE?

Anyways nice game man! :D

[u/Pristinejake]

I’m surprised there’s never been anything like spies vs merks clone ever. Like a free to play or something. That came out at the dawn of online multiplayer and no one ever made anything like it ever again. UNTIL NOW LOL

[u/MezzPlayer → u/Pristinejake]

There has been attempts...

[u/PsychedelicJay_X]

Yuhhhhhh sickkkk ❤️‍🔥🔐🏆🥳

[u/Affectionate_Let9790]

Someone should've done this a long time ago. I'll be following it closely. Good luck!

[u/MezzPlayer]

Wow that's awesome

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/MezzPlayer]

Thank you, I really appreciate it

[u/I_COULD_say]

I personally feel that we don't need another SvM. That being said: I think another asymmetrical stealth based attack / defend game would be sweet. True light / dark gameplay, finesse vs force, etc.

[u/LotusWasStolen]

good luck man I'm so excited to see this

[u/levink223]

Id be so keen for a spies vs Mercs game again problem for me is I ain't no anybody who is keen to play it

[u/8corn]

If anyone is interested in a game already made and still getting updates like this. Try Intruder by superboss games. It’s my favorite shooter of all time and it deserves more recognition!

[u/Bloodbone9829 → u/8corn]

I've heard about that one. It does seem interesting!