Behind the Release of Axis Descending: Scope Creep and The Unbeaten Path

The Nexus before/after. At times color choices alone take a fair amount of time to decide.

My general development methodology and process is not unlike the way people tend to traverse levels in games with an occasional optional path or two. Providing deviations from the core linear path taps into the curiosity of the player, ideally rewarding them for exploring and making them wonder what was missed if they chose to ignore it. At times, you find nothing at the end of a long pathway and feel frustrated as you hoped to find something useful, new, or fun. Over the last few weeks I've been developing the first two levels of Axis Descending and crafting the tutorial/introductory experience. After finishing the first level, I deviated, doing some exploring of my own in an effort to fix bugs, modify some narratives, or iterate on art/animation. Most of the time, I did fix those bugs and I felt happy with my iterations. Other times, I found out that bugs were not entirely fixed, and needed more of my time to resolve, or that my iterations weren't quite what I was hoping for. Like a spiky-haired hero in a JRPG, I sometimes find myself discovering a measly Potion instead of a new weapon or key item. Yet, when I land that path that shows me something new, I can't wait for more.

Typically, these new paths open up my mind and introduce all forms of Scope Creep. In general these moments are said to be avoided, but like a monk meditating in a waterfall, you can become one with the stream, be unphased by the rushing current, and simply become a part of it. These moments can offer some fantastic insight and retrospect that benefits the project in the long run, or blindly encourage the unprepared and lead them to dismay and destruction. You can choose to ignore the potential creep, but if you follow that path in hopes of finding some treasure you're taking a risk. Even with careful management and planning the new idea may derail and never work out. Is it worth the time?, you may ask, but it never becomes clear. Experience and knowledge with provide you with the confidence needed to know when it is done, but that only comes with time, practice, and above all the exploration of what you're trying to dive into.

My Grandfather, who spent much of his free time woodcarving, creating and painting small-medium scale plane models and painted regularly on canvas said this about art: "A good artist knows when to stop". Much can be said about that statement and what can be derived from between its lines. I don't remember many of the things my Grandfather told me while I was growing up. Between that and the story about how he was called a "Cherry Boy" during the Korean War by natives because he had a lady waiting for him back in the States, I may have one or two stories. They probably involve binge watching television with him. Iron Chef and Law & Order SVU, specifically. Over the years I've argued for and against his statement, but now my perspective on it has changed. You can argue it this way and that way, but if we're talking about it and considering it, we're doing something right. We are evaluating ourselves and critiquing our time management and ability. We have to embrace doing the wrong thing sometimes, but we only know it was wrong in retrospect.

Don't be afraid of Scope Creep. Embrace it without fear and use it to your advantage. All it is doing is giving you insight and an opportunity to analyze your progress and take steps necessary to make informed decisions. See also: Epiphany.

Axis Descending is a Metroidvania game with Action, RPG, and Rogue-like mechanics weaving a narrative about a man trying to fix something. He made some mistakes and is going to slash, dodge and double jump his way through his enemies, collecting their loot to upgrade his gear. If defeated, he retains everything he has looted, but will have to redo the levels he had completed.

After completing the tutorial levels, you are given access to "Drop 1", which consists of 5-8 randomized levels resulting in a boss fight level. If you perish in level 3, you'll return to your player ship where you can do "Drop 1" once again. Each time you access a "Drop Sequence", level 1 may be one of 3 areas. It may be an enemy airship you have to infiltrate and destroy, it may be an enemy fort on a floating island, or it may be a rare friendly ship with a quest to locate a lost item found elsewhere. To avoid the frustration of reaching a boss fight, dying, then having to restart all of those levels again, there is a potion that can be made in the game that acts as an "extra life", Making this potion is done via fishing, which was the result of traveling the unbeaten path. Earning it through alternative methods other than the core gameplay mechanics is an appealing change of pace for players and something you'll be able to experience in Beta 3.

Examples of upgrades and skins currently available. More will be added before Beta 3 goes public.

On a side note: Setting foot in an area unlocks that area to be explored directly from the player ship, allowing backtracking without the annoying task of repeating Drop Sequences for the chance you get the intended area to appear.

Below is an example list of tasks, things to consider, and goals for Axis Descending's Beta 3 and beyond. All of these are taken in my "AxisTodo" notepad++ file that acts as my project doctrine and management sketchbook. By arranging of all this, it helps me prioritize these ideas, be it Scope Creep or fundamental tasks, and compartmentalize things to aid in development.

Beta 3 Core Goals (To be added before public beta)

• Intro Cutscene
• Inner Monologue "Ghost Axis" Controls Tutorial
• Villain/Nexus Tutorial Levels
• Port Severn/Rinpoche Levels (Quests, NPCs and shops/Player Ship)
• Drop/World Map Select

Beta 3 In-Development Update Goals (To be added during public beta)

• Wardrobe UI (Swapping weapons, armor, helms)
• Fishing (How to get HP, MP, Revive Potions)
• SFX by Dylan Packard
• Dual Weapon Type (Dual daggers, dual swords, axes, etc. with rapid strikes)
• Polearm Weapon (Staff, Lance, etc. with enhanced reach)

Level Design Notes

• Axis' jump height without High Jump is 1sq (tile)
• Axis' jump height with High Jump is 2sq
• Pinnacle platforms must be 3sq wide minimum due to Wall collision getting sassy when side by side one another
• Avoid generating "steps" of tiles to ascend in early levels, as you constantly have to jump up over every step and that is NO FUN
• Ground tiles are wider than 1sq to avoid straight up falling between sq or skipping along them
• All Wall tiles must extend an additional sq down to avoid Axis from diagonally cutting through the world collision
• More destructibles, people love breaking stuff
• More interactables, like ropes and grass that gets pushed around
• Jump + Dodge gives added horizontal distance, use this as an intermediate gating mechanic
• While close to a wall, dodging away from it gives you a huge horizontal distance boost, fix this bug/transform it into another intermediate gating mechanic for reaching hidden areas
• More hidden/expose-able areas in the environment, like bombable walls and walls destroyed by tools/abilities
• Hookshot Claw can grab wall clippable objects and pull Axis to them
• Hookshot Claw should be able to pull boxes or other objects to Axis as well
• Utilize Axis' lightning abilities to interact with machines, charging them up, activating them, or shorting them to solve puzzles
• Tilesets: Airship, Nexus, Grassy Isle, Sandy Isle, Winter Isle, Port

Quests & NPCs

• Jahn in The Pit, nearby the world map/level select area, emphasizes conveyance for player's lost on what to do
• Art Collection Quest, giving players a scavenger hunt and reasons to jump back and forth between NPCs and various locales in the world
• Bosses are immortal and return if you repeat a drop, unless a specific item is used, which activates Hard Mode for that encounter and allows you to earn pieces of Axis' Relic Armor
• Once all Relics are collected, Axis gains access to a new set of armor and special bonuses

General Mechanics

• Introduce two camera modes: Combat and Exploration, that either center the screen to focus on combat and avoid jittery movement due to Axis' dodging, or Exploration that shows more of the screen ahead of the player's current direction
• Implement a potion that acts as a one-time Revive. This will avoid frustration for players who are quite a few levels in and want to avoid the Rogue-like "reset to hub level and lose level traversed progress" mechanic, while additionally giving them a goal to pursue with the item/materials to create them.
• Implement a Camera Shake to be used for tension, effects, and so on
• Main Menu options for Quality, Resolution, etc.
• Fishing game on the Rinpoche (player ship) that provides materials used to make health/mana/revive potions.
• Fishing poles and lures can be found and swapped, changing 

As a solo developer, I'm not managing a team of people or planning around dependencies. I'm developing a game straight-ahead, handling everything at once while only being able to focus on one thing at a time. This requires going through the iterative cycle a few times whenever I implement something. Realistically, I'm going to be spending a lot of time on some things. At times, those things will not have been worth it, but if we consider how necessary it is to explore within our designs, we'll find merit in failure.

Axis will be able to get his haircut! Also, helmet, hood and masks skins will be available to collect.