Flightless

Notice: This page is under a pilot based on Forum:The WIP problem.

Flightless is an upcoming multiplayer platforming-exploration game set for release in the coming future. The game was first announced through a preview image on September 27, 2011, with more information revealed on October 15, 2012, over a year after the image was released on the Nitrome blog.

The game was mentioned on Aaron Steed's twitter account weeks before its October 15th announcement under the name "ladder game", and was also mentioned by Mat Annal during an interview with Gamasutra. It was on October 15, 2012 Nitrome provided much more about the game, pitching it to Steam Greenlight, the game's minisite, and trailer.

Currently, the game's demo has been released, and is available to play. The game's full version will only be playable if enough people vote "Yes" to the question "Would you buy this game if it were available in Steam?" during its phase in Steam Greenlight. The game will be Nitrome's first purchasable game.

Controls
Pressing the P button on the keyboard will bring up the pause screen, which sort of acts like a help menu. When the game is paused, fullscreen can be toggled on and off, controls for each character can be toggled, one can reset the demo, go to the game's Steam Greenlight page, and toggle the Music and Sound effect on and off.

Below lists the basic controls for each character. Controls can be changed by going to the pause menu, clicking a button that corresponds to a key, then pressing the key one wants to map that action to.

Player 1 Move left/right: ←/→ Create ladder: Space Climb ladder up/down: ↑/↓ Player 2 Move left/right: A/D Create ladder: E Climb ladder up/down: W/S

Fullscreen
Fullscreen enlarges the game's screen to a 4:3 ration. During fullscreen, only the player who uses the keyboard keys (←↑↓→), mouse, and the space bar can play the game.

Gameplay
Flightless is an exploration puzzle game where the players control two ducks. The game is described by Nitrome as a Metroidvania, mixing the elements of the 2D Metroid games and elements of the 2D Castlevania games. Flightless does not have any levels, but is instead divided up into rooms. Each room somewhere has an exit to another room. As the player is a flightless, jump-disabled bird, the player relies on creating magical ladders to progress through each room.

Creating a ladder will cause to move vertically up, until it hits a platform of wall. Upon coming to a stop, the player can climb up this ladder. The player at any time can move horizontally off the ladder, or continue climbing up it. The player cannot create a ladder while still on a ladder, the player can also only have one ladder at a time, creating another ladder causing the previous one to disappear.

Fifty gems are scattered around the different areas, which the player can collect to unlock areas.

When the player gets their duck down to an open area in the demo, a giant beetle attached to a capsule with what is presumed to be a heart will fall out of the sky and roar. This is most likely a boss, in which the player has to fight. After the beetle roars, an ending message pops up on the screen, giving players the option to continue exploring or vote for Nitrome in Steam Greenlight.

September 27, 2011
Nitrome released a preview image of the game they were currently working on, also announcing the artist of the game.

September 19, 2012
The game's programmer, Aaron Steed, announced on his Twitter account that he wanted play testers for it before it was pitched to Steam Greenlight, a section of Steam that allows for people to pitch beta versions of games to Steam that users will vote on, a game that receives enough support being added to the Steam service and able to be purchased and played by other people.

Playtesters would likely be able to point out bugs and comment on the game, which would be why Steed would be looking for playtesters.

September 28, 2012
This game has been accepted by Steam Greenlight.

October 15th, 2012
The game's name was announced and a few videos were uploaded by Nitrome. A demo of the game was released on nitrome.com, the demo being as long as an usual Nitrome game.



Trivia

 * The main character in the game was seen climbing up a ladder out of Balloons Inc. in the Nitrome 2.0 Skin.
 * This game's preview blog post was the only blog post to specify who the artist was before the game was released.