2023 / Unity & Unreal
Solo project. Responsible for programming, gameplay, level and enemy design, currently rebuilding project in Unreal Engine.
Set arm cannons to stun
Nestavire is a first person shooter inspired by the Metroid Prime series, particularly the third entry, Corruption. The Prime series uses a lock on mechanic to target enemies with 100% accuracy, taking weight off precision shooting to allow more emphasis on movement. But with the addition of a Wii Mote that could point and shoot, Prime offered a unique twist on aiming. Players can lock on to one enemy and then fire at nearby targets on screen, allowing them to shoot down incoming missiles, target weak points, or even fire at other enemies. This results in a framing that feels closer to an arcade rail shooter than a standard FPS.
I found it unfortunate that such a novel approach couldn’t be revisited on modern hardware and conventions. Later rereleases of the Prime games have tried to convert the pointer controls to a gamepad, but a joystick is a poor substitute in a game built for the Wii mote’s accuracy. And so I started this prototype to prove otherwise, adapting pointer controls to a gamepad while implementing my own forms of aim assist so that pointing your gun with a joystick can be quick and comfortable.
The central crosshair reflects the raw position of the joystick and dictates the direction of gunfire while lock-on is not in use.
The brackets will search for the closest suitable target to the crosshair and highlight them.
The outer ring is used for the players manual lock on while the inner ring automatically selects a secondary target unless the stick is currently resting in neutral.
Once the foundation was set, I wanted to see what features could be laid on top of this control scheme, so I tied the physical movement of the gun to extra functions. For example, moving the joystick from one side to another will swing the gun in that direction, producing a melee attack similar to the parry action introduced in the modern 2D Metroid games.
I also wanted to make changes to the template that I wanted to see from the Prime games, such as making each beam type a distinct fully fledged weapon.
Wave Beam – Cover piercing shots along with a remote controlled bomb.
Plasma Beam – Short ranged flamethrower that can be converted into a long range slash.
Grapple Beam – A tether that can deliver physical strikes by sending pulses down the line.
Trailers and demonstrations will be released at a later date.
Jordan Hales 