Mercenary. Borderlands inspired RPG shooter!

Hi! This is my new game Mercenary. It's still in very early development, but I've been working on it for a while and wanted to get some feedback.

Mercenary is a Top-down RPG shooter game. I wrote "Borderlands inspired" because I was aiming for an open world game with lots of quests to keep you busy.

Mercenary still doesn't have all of the graphics or animations in yet because I've been focusing mainly on gameplay.

Here are some pictures of actual gameplay.

The start of the game. Where your player is in his crashed ship.

Turning in the first quest and recieving a new one from your pilot.

The first "boss", a Slugmother surrounded by space slugs.

I even added a functioning multiplayer! You can put something in the "game name" box so that only people with the same game name can join, or you can leave it blank to join the main server.

Here's the link

Mercenary

I gave the game a try. I found gameplay to be way slow, especially with my walking and shooting speeds and I was unable to equip new weapons, even when I found one. Boss instakilled me with his homing either missile or slug, which I couldn't avoid or destroy due to slow walking and shooting speeds.

It has potential, but I was either playing it wrong or it has a few game play elements to correct.

Also, here is some top down shooting artwork you could use for free http://opengameart.org/content/topdown-shooter

Thanks for the reply melaniko

First off, you can't just run into areas with enemies that shoot. You have to try to be sneaky. You can fire a few shots and then hide behind a wall. Also You don't "equip" weapons. To use them you have to "buy" them. Since there are no stores in the game, you buy or sell weapons on the spot, the price of the weapon is in the weapon description.

I do agree that the start can be a little slow and most of the guns that you find early on are really bad, but as you progress and level up your character, you do get faster and you can find really powerful guns.

I just uploaded V0.1.5.0!

This version includes-

A door to the UFO to keep you out until you get the quest.

Gun cases that can be opened with money to drop a weapon.

Just Uploaded V0.1.6.0!

This version includes

• Shotguns!!!!!! They shoot a spread of bullets!
• A waypointer to point you towards your next quest
• Fixed some multiplayer bugs
• Fixed bullets disappearing after an enemy was killed
• Changed multiplayer chat log to include players disconnecting
• improved collision polygon for heart pickups
• Made all guns spawn at the same angle. (They aren't rotated or "upside down")

Hope you enjoy these new updates! I plan to start incorporating better graphics next!

Version 0.2.0.0. Uploaded!

This version doesn't add much, but marks the last big update before I start the next area!

This version does include

• Accuracy for guns

Just uploaded V0.2.1.0!

This version fixed a couple of bugs from 0.2.0.0

It also includes the beginning of the second map(though there are no quests in it yet)

Just uploaded V0.2.3.0! (I was on vacation with no internet so I couldn't upload V0.2.2.0)

This version include a quest in the new map

• Increased gun case prices
• A menu (Press "tab")
• Defense for your character
• A notice for when you level up
• Changed some graphics
• Fixed some bugs

Just uploaded V0.3.0.0

• Added 2 more gun types
• increased bullet speed
• added more animations and graphics
• increased gun prices
• added more info in weapon descriptions
• added menu in game that tells controls
• added points that can be spent upon leveling up

for some reason, this update broke the multiplayer - I'll fix that as soon as possible!

Just uploaded V0.3.1.0

This version fixed the multiplayer bugs and added a few quests.

V0.3.1.1 uplooaded

Just a patch fixing enemies dropping infinite weapons & rewards

Just uploaded V0.3.2.0

• This update included features to allow loading old characters into newer games, after you make a character in this version, you will be able to load him into the newer versions and keep all of his stats!!!

• Fixed gun cases in multiplayer not dropping shotguns, double furys, or double anarchys
• Fixed gun cases in singleplayer not dropping double furys or double anarchys
• Fixed selling a weapon as host giving you money equal to the buy value
• Fixed buying a weapon as host not destroying the weapon off the map
• Changed the way the game saves/loads to allow loading older characters into newer versions
• Changed the way the game saves/loads to allow loading a game from a list instead of typing the character's name
• Modified thugs to generate a weapon to use themselves and drop that weapon upon death
• Added pressing F9 in the main menu deleting all save games
• Changed the color of some of the interface so you can see it better on black tiles

Just uploaded V0.4.0.0

This update included elemental weapons!!! (Ok just one gun that sets enemies on fire, but I can add more later.)

Updates -

• Fixed killing several enemies not advancing quests
• Added saving to multiplayer
• Made disconnecting from multiplayer return you to your own map
• Fixed hosts in multiplayer being able to exceed their maximum health by picking up hearts
• Fixed multiplayer chat log not logging level ups
• Made multiplayer chat log clear upon entering a new map
• Redid the dialogue in multiplayer to have less bugs and work better
• Fixed the quest menu as a peer in multiplayer being blank
• Added longer buffer when saving to make sure that everything saves correctly
• Remade gun graphic to look like a gun instead of a present
• Redid the gun cases to drop better guns
• Increased the Flame Wardens fireballs's speed
• Changed the color of some tiles to make the interface easier to read
• Fixed peers in multiplayer not getting rewards from killing most enemies
• Fixed entering a new map taking away some money and xp
• Added next quest
• Added "Fireball" enemy type
• Added a gun that inflicts a buff. This will allow creating similar weapons in the future.
• Fixed some guns not shooting at all due to the game thinking that it supposed to shoot 0 bullets

V0.5.0.0 - "The Multiplayer Update"

• redid all of the multiplayer to use much less bandwidth
• changed the way peers move(It's not perfect, but I think it's still better)
• Improved the way that peers shoot to ensure that the fire rate is met correctly
• Fixed hosts not regenerating health automaticly
• Added leaderboards for the version on the Scirra website

Here is a full changelog of Mercenary from version 0.1.5.0 I will constantly update this post instead of adding new ones

V0.1.5.0

• Added a door to the UFO
• Tweaked the Multiplayer
• Added Gun cases that can be bought to drop weapons
• Started animating Space Slugs
• Added 5 more modifiers for guns(for a total of 10 modifiers, Broken, Old, Rusty, Worn, Common, Rare, Deadly, Mythical, Godly, and Legendary)
• Added screenshots(press middle click to take screenshot.)
• Added checkbox to switch between optimizing multiplayer for internet or LAN
• Capped Gun Range at 1000
• Capped Gun Fire Rate at 100

V0.1.6.0

• Added Shotguns/Sweepers! These are guns that shoot a spread of bullets!
• Added Compass
• Added Waypointer
• Fixed Bullets disappearing after an enemy was killed
• Fixed "The Slugbuster 3.0" Name not showing up as a peer
• Fixed peers not able to see some gun names that were left on the ground during server creation.
• Improved Collission polygon for Heart pickup
• Made all guns spawn at the same angle
• Changed chat log to include players disconnecting

V0.1.6.1

• Fixed gun cases always spawning a level 1 gun
• Fixed special guns appearing as shotguns (*blank*x*blank*)

V0.2.0.0 - "Storyline Update"

• Added gun accuracy
• Finished 1st map
• Re-added everything from V0.1.3.1 because of a save failure!

V0.2.0.1

• Fixed info on guns not always appearing right
• Fixed guns in moon base not showing info
• Fixed layering as a peer

V0.2.1.0

• Started creating 2nd map
• Fixed guns dropped by gun cases in multiplayer not showing info
• Fixed guns dropped by NPCs not showing info

V0.2.2.0

• Fixed guns equiped after a shotgun shooting multiple bullets
• Added second moonbase
• Added a few quests to the second map
• Fixed thugs leaving the first thug base
• Added Defense, this levels up with your player
• Added level up notice
• Added another variant of thugs
• Increased price of gun cases to be exponential
• Changed crater graphic to rock graphic

V0.2.2.1

• Fixed Peers not able to see "Thugbuster"

V0.2.3.0

• Added an inventory/menu screen (Press "Tab" to open; Press "Tab/Escape" to close)
• Added stats to menu
• Added weapon to menu
• Added quest to menu
• Fixed killing thugs not progressing through quest

V0.3.0.0 - "Gameplay Update"

• Fixed waypointer bugs
• Fixed typos in some quest descriptions
• Add points to spend upon level up
• Animated spitters, slugmother, and wormlord
• Added control menu to main menu
• Increased projectile speed
• Increased gun prices
• Added double fury and double anarchy weapon types
• Added price gained for selling weapons in their description

V0.3.1.0

• Fixed the multiplayer acting slowly
• Added more quests
• Added pre-load screen
• Added timeout after loading to make sure game loads properly
• Made the compass square

V0.3.1.1

• Fixed most enemies dropping infinite weapons

V0.3.2.0

• Fixed gun cases in multiplayer not dropping shotguns, double furys, or double anarchys
• Fixed gun cases in singleplayer not dropping double furys or double anarchys
• Fixed selling a weapon as host giving you money equal to the buy value
• Fixed buying a weapon as host not destroying the weapon off the map
• Changed the way the game saves/loads to allow loading older characters into newer versions
• Changed the way the game saves/loads to allow loading a game from a list instead of typing the character's name
• Modified thugs to generate a weapon to use themselves and drop that weapon upon death
• Added pressing F9 in the main menu deleting all save games
• Changed the color of some of the interface so you can see it better on black tiles

V0.3.3.0

• Changed hp and xp to be displayed as bars instead of numbers
• Fixed thugs always dropping a weapon upon death

V0.3.3.1

• Fixed hp not working as a host in multiplayer, including invincibility

V0.4.0.0 - "The Elemental update"

• Fixed killing several enemies not advancing quests
• Added saving to multiplayer
• Made disconnecting from multiplayer return you to your own map
• Fixed hosts in multiplayer being able to exceed their maximum health by picking up hearts
• Fixed multiplayer chat log not logging level ups
• Made multiplayer chat log clear upon entering a new map
• Redid the dialogue in multiplayer to have less bugs and work better
• Fixed the quest menu as a peer in multiplayer being blank
• Added longer buffer when saving to make sure that everything saves correctly
• Remade gun graphic to look like a gun instead of a present
• Redid the gun cases to drop better guns
• Increased the Flame Wardens fireballs's speed
• Changed the color of some tiles to make the interface easier to read
• Fixed peers in multiplayer not getting rewards from killing most enemies
• Fixed entering a new map taking away some money and xp
• Added next quest
• Added "Fireball" enemy type
• Added a gun that inflicts a buff. This will allow creating similar weapons in the future.
• Fixed some guns not shooting at all due to the game thinking that it supposed to shoot 0 bullets

V0.4.1.0

• Tweaked The Hellfire to deal less fire damage for a longer time
• Added fire particles that fireballs create upon splitting
• Capped player speed at 600
• Changed the leveling to only give you 1 point upon leveling up
• Changed the leveling to give you less stats upon leveling up
• Added the final quest of the second map
• Added "Shockwave" boss

V0.4.2.0

• Fixed Shockwave's lightning not hurting you
• Fixed Shockwave's lightning not getting destroyed ever
• Fixed a bug with the weapons
• Fixed the Flamewarden's fireball not getting destroyed in multiplayer
• Added outline to hp pickup to make it more visible
• Changed the color of some tiles to make text more visible
• Fixed Killing Shockwave not advancing quest
• Lowered Shockwave's damage and range

V0.4.3.0

• Added turrets & gun cases to Shockwave's base
• Fixed some doors not opening upon loading
• Fixed typo in Shockwave quest dialogue
• Made turning in Shockwave's quest drop another Hellfire
• Increased reward for killing Shockwave
• Increased the first Hellfire's base damage
• Removed some of the thugs from Shockwave's base
• Increased the damage of the Spitter
• Lowered the difficulty of the thugs in Shockwave's base

V0.4.4.0

• Fixed weapons being able to stack on top of each other
• Made equipping a new gun drop your old one on the ground
• Made enemy bullets destroy upon touching a player
• Made enemies respawn automaticly
• Removed pressing f10 to respawn enemies
• Made selling guns give you Xp
• Changed the loading screen to display a bar instead of a percentage
• Made hearts only consume if hp is not at full

V0.4.4.1

• Fixed dropping weapons creating tons of bugs
• Fixed equipping weapons merging bullets
• Fixed some messages not logging correctly in the chat log
• Capped most stats, the cap is determined by your trait
• Changed the leveling to be more fair for all traits
• Fixed the UFO corners so you can no longer shoot through them

V0.4.4.2

• Fixed peers gaining rewards upon entering new maps or joining games

V0.4.4.3

• Fixed peers gaining rewards upon entering new maps or joining games again
• Fixed peers buying gun cases taking away some of the hosts money
• Increased fire rate of the Slugbusters

V0.4.4.4

• Fixed not being able to turn in Shockwave quest in multiplayer
• Fixed disconnecting from multiplayer breaking quests
• Fixed peers not getting rewarded for every quest
• Fixed Intelligence and Greed level caps

V0.4.4.5

• Fixed lightning not being visible to peers
• Fixed a couple more Multiplayer bugs

V0.5.0.0 - "The Multiplayer Update"

• redid all of the multiplayer to use much less bandwidth
• changed the way peers move(It's not perfect, but I think it's still better)
• Improved the way that peers shoot to ensure that the fire rate is met correctly
• Fixed hosts not regenerating health automaticly
• Added leaderboards for the version on the Scirra website

V0.5.1.0

• Fixed particles not syncing
• Fixed the Worminator not showing name for peers
• Added space capsules that can be opened by shooting them, these pods can drop weapons, money, xp or health
• Started adding some sound effects(not music)
• Disabled shooting when menus are open
• Added First quest in third map

V0.5.2.0

• Changed shooting sound to sound better with higher fire rates
• Fixed Space Capsules not dropping weapons
• Added more opportunities for enemies to respawn
• Increased Fire Damage
• Redid the weapon spawn tables to be more fair & accurate. The new tables also allow weapons achieved farther into the game to have worse stats.
• Allowed all enemies to drop elemental weapons
• Fixed The Hellfire name merging when dropped
• Fixed slugs always turning to one direction
• Fixed turning in Shockwave's quest granting too many rewards

V0.5.3.0

• Increased the quality of the weapons that gun cases and capsules drop
• Increased the chance of gaining a fire weapon from fireballs
• Made The Flamewarden always drop a fire weapon
• Fixed fire damage only affecting slugs
• Added medics to heal you when ran over
• Fixed gaining rewards due to being kicked
• Fixed host's logs not working like peer's
• Made being kicked or signalling error return you to singleplayer
• Added the next quest of the third map
• Added "Blastrock" enemy type
• Increased overall damage of fire

V0.5.4.0

• Fixed some multiplayer bugs
• Fixed worms turning upon being shot
• Fixed fire weapons not showing names correctly as peers
• Fixed chat log not logging peers leveling up correctly

V0.5.4.1

• Fixed getting too much xp as a peer
• Fixed GUI in the 3rd map

V0.6.0.0 - "The 2nd Elemental weapon update"

• Fixed wall not opening in the 3rd map
• Fixed worms leaving caves
• Added Blastrock to multiplayer
• Fixed peers not gaining full rewards for all quests
• Added rewards to more quests
• Fixed getting some rewards for quests twice
• Added Freezing elemental weapons
• Added Exploding elemental weapons

V0.6.1.0

• Fixed elemental weapons dropped by peers saying "crappy"
• Fixed emperor/king fireballs not showing health in singleplayer
• Changed spending a point on defense giving you a whole point
• Rescaled the enemies in the third map
• Fixed blastrocks getting stuck in walls
• Fixed a few more bugs in the third map
• Added the next quest in the third map
• Added "King Blastrock" boss in third map
• Added "Eruptor" ELemental weapon
• Fixed bugs with NPCs dropping custom weapons

V0.7.0.0 - "The 3rd and final Elemental weapon update"

• Added instructions to open menu in spaceship at the start of the game
• Regulated fireball speed
• Fixed worms leaving their cave too often
• Fixed some enemies not moving correctly
• Improved The Hellfire's stats
• Added Shock elemental weapons
• Added The lightning rod shock elemental weapon
• Added gun cases to the third map
• Added another reward room to the King Blastrock quest
• Added Spitter queens quest to third map
• Darkened the dune sand to make text easier to read on it

V0.7.1.0

• Added full gamepad support (X-box controllers only)
• Fixed getting too many rewards from certain enemies as a peer
• Lowered fire rate of Shockwave's Sidearm
• Added a shield that increases with level and automaticly recharges
• Removed health regeneration
• Added some images to help with gamepad play
• Increased Blastrock's blast damage
• Increased damage and fire rate of legendary sniper rifle in first moonbase

V0.7.1.1

• Fixed slugs having 100% drop rate in multiplayer

V0.7.1.2

• Fixed peers not shooting with keyboard controls

V0.7.2.0

• Added next quest in the third map
• Added frozen slugmother boss
• Added freezer elemental weapon
• Made disconnecting from a multiplayer game save progress
• Increased shield capacity
• Increased minumum bullets for shotguns & sweepers to 6
• Fixed slugmothers in multiplayer giving rewards to peers when creating baby slugs instead of on death
• Changed recharge rate of shields
• Changed recharge rate of health at medics
• Fixed game not autosaving equipped weapon name correctly
• Increased the difficulty of the mega thugs in the first map

V0.7.2.1

• Fixed some button pictures not hiding correctly
• Fixed not turning when not moving with gamepad
• Edited instructions to include gamepad instructions
• Fixed gamepad pointer being visible when it's not supposed to
• Fixed Clearing savegames only clearing current one
• Edited Controls screen to include better controls
• Added notice to main menu
• Made your defense affect your maximum shield
• Added LB to manually save with gamepad

V0.7.2.2

• Fixed pressing LB not saving game
• Fixed buttons pictures not working correctly

V0.7.3.0

• Added ability to delete one player at a time
• Added next quest in third map
• Finished a maze in the third map
• Lowered maximum shield
• Lowered required progress for the thug quest in the first map
• Fixed there being 6 mega thugs instead of 5
• Fixed Pressing LB not always saving
• Added pictures to new game screen to help with creating new characters

V0.7.4.0

• Improved weapon spawn tables
• Added xp notices
• Added red screen tint when health is low
• Fixed turrets dropping xp incorrectly
• Fixed player layering for peers

V0.7.4.1

• Fixed various enemies not getting created correctly
• Changed xp popups to be more visible
• Fixed enemies in multiplayer not turning correctly

V0.7.5.0

• Added interactive tutorial
• Added settings menu
• Fixed peers dealing damage equal to the hosts
• Removed text from the spaceship in the first map

V0.8.0.0 - "Storyline Update/Gun Spawn Update"

• Improved gun spawn tables again
• Finished the third map
• Made deleting a character delete the data too
• Added caps specific to each weapon type
• Tweaked fire rate & range a little bit
• Added test sound button to settings menu
• Fixed intelligence/greed scores not uploading to the scirra site correctly
• Added "The Pulsator" weapon
• Fixed killing emperor fireballs in the third map not updating waypointer
• Increased the damage of blastrocks
• Lowered the health of enemies in the third map to make it easier
• Fixed entering room with frozen slugmother creating infinite xp popups
• Fixed not taking damage from the frozen slugmother
• Fixed slugmother animation not looping
• Removed ability for frozen slugmother to create baby slugs
• Fixed frozen slugmother creating acid balls from the middle of it's body

V0.8.1.0

• Made fire damage scale with weapon damage
• Fixed the edge of the tutorial being white
• Fixed peers having increased weapon stats
• Fixed host & peers not able to shoot simultaneously
• Lowered the reward for all enemies in the third map
• Changed particles setting to graphics setting
• Made turning the graphics down affect fire particles
• Made exiting the game set the status text to "Saving Game . . ."
• Changed the graphic for Killer

V0.8.2.0

• Added first quest in the fourth map
• Fixed frozen slugmother not showing health
• Fixed Shockwave's sidekick showing frozen slugmother's health
• Fixed freezing weapons not freezing
• Fixed spitter queens not showing health correctly
• Fixed enemies not taking fire damage in multiplayer correctly
• Increased overall fire damage
• Fixed some of an NPCs words to be more accurate

V0.8.2.1

• Fixed Frozen Slugmother not showing health correctly
• Fixed attacking emperor fireballs in the third map damaging space slugs

V0.8.3.0

• Redid modifiers to affect specific stats instead of the whole weapon. New modifiers are : Crappy, Simple, Inaccurate, Slow, Weak, Accurate, Quick, Deadly, Mythical, Godly, Legendary.(Note:New modifiers result in slightly better overall weapon spawns)
• Added next quest in the fourth map
• Fixed some typos in NPC dialogue
• Made turning settings down disable animations
• Slightly changed the color of worms and guns to make them visible in more browsers
• Lowered the downscale quality to run better on low-res screens
• Lowered required kills for the second thug quest

V0.8.4.0

• Added next quest in the fourth map
• Added a quest with an interactable lever, this will allow adding quest in the future to require more than just killing certain enemies
• Lowered the rewards from killing space slugs in the fourth map
• Added boss "The Beast"
• Made respawning or entering a new map restore your shield
• Fixed hosts regenerating shield faster than peers

V0.8.5.0

• Added next quest in fourth map
• Added "The Swarm" special weapon that heat-seeks enemies(Can bog down computer if targeting multiple enemies, will work on fixing this soon)