Nexus Overdrive Devlog #1 - Project Beginnings

This marks the start of a new journey to create a fun and well-crafted retro shooter. We've already released a pre-alpha demo showcasing some early mechanics tests!

Retro FPS/Boomer Shooter

Our goal is to create a retro FPS similar to the early first-person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. In short, it's a Boomer Shooter.

Mechanics

The gameplay will resemble modern shooters, but there will be no jumping or weapon reloading.

2.5D Style

The game will not feature jumping or vertical camera movement. Like in Wolfenstein 3D, the game will use a projection of a 2D map. There will be no elevation, and all enemies will be on the same level as the player, making these mechanics unnecessary.

Instead of 3D models, the game will use sprites for weapons, items, and, in the future, enemies.

Progress So Far

We have released a pre-alpha build (0.0.1) with a small test map to evaluate the most basic mechanics. The prototype includes shooting mechanics, item pickups, and damage systems. In this demo, we’ve made the axe, revolver, submachine gun, and shotgun available. However, prototypes for additional weapons are in development and will be added in future updates.

Movement mechanics and basic menus with rudimentary but functional options are also in place.

Technical Details

One noteworthy aspect of the pre-alpha build is its size—approximately 750 MB. This is primarily due to the Unreal Engine libraries and drivers for Windows, which alone take up 500 MB. We are actively working on optimizing the build size as much as possible.

Next Steps

For upcoming demos and updates, we aim to introduce a more polished map, new features, and improvements to movement and shooting mechanics.