When we started working on Doughlings: Arcade, there were a couple of things that we wanted to achieve.
Powers
We are fans of both Arkanoid and DX ball. One of the challenges that we faced was to capture that feeling, the old school gameplay experience while keeping it unique at the same time. There are really good breakout games in later 2010s and we had to create something really different to give arcade fans what they are looking for. That's when the Show Off was born. It may look like just power-ups first. But when you get used to the gameplay, you will realize that these personas are not just temporary powers but also a totally new way to experience Doughlings: Arcade. "Be anyone, do anything" as we call it.
Story
"Why do you have a story in a breakout game?" you may say, but we do because with the story, we have created the world, personas, targets and of course levels. Morpheus is not just a stick to bounce the ball. He is someone, a hero to save his friends. Doughlings are not just bricks, a people that are getting closer to a certain end. That's why you are not killing, but healing them with the cure of Morpheus. This won't be easy, but a fun journey with a lot of challenges.
Progression
You have the gameplay, you have the powers and the world with many different targets in it. So what else? Of course the laboratory. One of the downsides of other breakout games was the lack of progression. With Doughlings: Arcade, you have the opportunity to upgrade your personas any way you like. The more you make high scores, the more you will gather items to make you stronger. There is no upgrade in the lab which is unnecessary. As you face stronger targets in very difficult levels, you will realize how much the lab is important.
Controls
Let's be honest here. Breakout and brick breaker genres couldn't catch up with the current gamer needs. Controls are one of the parts that other games lack at the moment. Some of them have keyboard support but not the gamepad. Some of them have gamepad support but not the mouse. Most of them don't even have customizable keys. What we are giving you with Doughlings: Arcade is a full freedom. Do you want the keyboard? Good, and don't forget to change keys as you want. Gamepad? Why not, plug in and ready to go. Mouse? Well, we know that some of you like gaming with the mouse so we will add it too. Full control, full freedom, full fun.
Be a Level Designer
And of course the Level Editor. As Hero Concept we did our best to create a well-designed breakout experience with 90 different levels (including 15 secrets). But we know that you can do it better. Not just making it, you can show it to the world and let them play too! We will let all players create their own levels with everything in Doughlings: Arcade, upload it to the game and let other users to play and rate. We are sure that it will be so more fun to see your design at the top of the most liked levels. So prepare your imaginations. :)
Doughlings: Arcade may not be the best brick breaker game out there. But we know that it will be one of the unique ones among all. We recommend you to give a try with the release on May 9th and see it for yourself. Until then, have a nice week.
Hero Concept Team
Doughlings: Arcade - Our Vision
When we started working on Doughlings: Arcade, there were a couple of things that we wanted to achieve.
Powers
We are fans of both Arkanoid and DX ball. One of the challenges that we faced was to capture that feeling, the old school gameplay experience while keeping it unique at the same time. There are really good breakout games in later 2010s and we had to create something really different to give arcade fans what they are looking for. That's when the Show Off was born. It may look like just power-ups first. But when you get used to the gameplay, you will realize that these personas are not just temporary powers but also a totally new way to experience Doughlings: Arcade. "Be anyone, do anything" as we call it.
Story
"Why do you have a story in a breakout game?" you may say, but we do because with the story, we have created the world, personas, targets and of course levels. Morpheus is not just a stick to bounce the ball. He is someone, a hero to save his friends. Doughlings are not just bricks, a people that are getting closer to a certain end. That's why you are not killing, but healing them with the cure of Morpheus. This won't be easy, but a fun journey with a lot of challenges.
Progression
You have the gameplay, you have the powers and the world with many different targets in it. So what else? Of course the laboratory. One of the downsides of other breakout games was the lack of progression. With Doughlings: Arcade, you have the opportunity to upgrade your personas any way you like. The more you make high scores, the more you will gather items to make you stronger. There is no upgrade in the lab which is unnecessary. As you face stronger targets in very difficult levels, you will realize how much the lab is important.
Controls
Let's be honest here. Breakout and brick breaker genres couldn't catch up with the current gamer needs. Controls are one of the parts that other games lack at the moment. Some of them have keyboard support but not the gamepad. Some of them have gamepad support but not the mouse. Most of them don't even have customizable keys. What we are giving you with Doughlings: Arcade is a full freedom. Do you want the keyboard? Good, and don't forget to change keys as you want. Gamepad? Why not, plug in and ready to go. Mouse? Well, we know that some of you like gaming with the mouse so we will add it too. Full control, full freedom, full fun.
Be a Level Designer
And of course the Level Editor. As Hero Concept we did our best to create a well-designed breakout experience with 90 different levels (including 15 secrets). But we know that you can do it better. Not just making it, you can show it to the world and let them play too! We will let all players create their own levels with everything in Doughlings: Arcade, upload it to the game and let other users to play and rate. We are sure that it will be so more fun to see your design at the top of the most liked levels. So prepare your imaginations. :)
Doughlings: Arcade may not be the best brick breaker game out there. But we know that it will be one of the unique ones among all. We recommend you to give a try with the release on May 9th and see it for yourself. Until then, have a nice week.
Hero Concept Team
Create, Share and Play - Level Editor
Level Editor allows you to create your own levels with everything in Doughlings: Arcade.You can create, share it with other players or even play/rate other levels created by players around the globe.
Targets, DNAs, difficulty and even the background is up to you. With its user-friendly interface, you can show your creativity to the world in no time.
Create
In the Create menu, you are granted with tools to craft your very own level. As you progress in Doughlings: Arcade, new items will be available for you to use and you can choose and use whatever you want. The only thing that you should consider is the design rules. Here are the rules that every player should learn before creating a level.
Creation
You can't use stuck targets in healing objective.
You can't use stars in freeing stuck objective.
You can't put totems or wormholes to the top row.
Two mines can't be placed side by side.
There can't be 2 or more stuck targets at the side of a stuck target.
There can't be 2 or more indestructible targets at the side of a stuck target.
You can't pıt map objects under lives, stars or DNAs.
Publishing
There must be at least 3 stars in healing objective.
There must be at least 3 stuck targets in freeing stuck targets objective.
The number of both stars and stuck targets must be divisible by 3.
There must be at least one map object at the side of stuck targets.
The wormhole limit for each level is row count/6.
The top row can't be empty
By following these rules, you can create any level with any crazy ideas and share it with the world. Don't forget that you can always save your design and continue to edit later or delete. Beware that it is not possible to edit or delete any published level so check twice before releasing any level to the public.
Play
Besides creating your own levels, you can always play other designs from many players around the world. At the Play menu, there is no requirement or rules. You just need to choose the level you want and click to play. It is possible to like or dislike any level that you complete and adding them to your favorites.
At the browse menu, there are some icons that you should know their meanings.
Thumbs up: Shows how many players liked that level.
Play: Shows how many times that level is played.
Guitar: The success rate of that level.
Cup: High Score of that level.
Each level comes with a "preview" option which can be seen on the right side of levels. This will help you to see how the level is designed, which targets are used and how is the overall difficulty of the game without playing it.
And you can always search the level you want to play at the Search menu with the level name, player name or ID.
When?
With the release of Doughlings: Arcade, the Level Editor will also be available to all players. The closed beta testers are started to dig in with their crazy designs already. So if you want to participate in our beta, just send a mail to info@heroconcept.com and we will grant you the key. :)
See you on the next blog!
Doughlings: Arcade will be available "almost" everywhere!
Another week and we are here with another great news. As you may know Doughlings: Arcade will be released on May 9th and Steam will not the only place that you can find our game. Let's see where and when you can check out our game.
Kinguin Greenmangaming Indie Gala Fanatical G2A and possibly Humble Bundle
These are the worldwide sellers that you can buy Doughlings: Arcade with the release or before. We will let you know when pre-order pages are ready to go.
How about the price?
This is something that we want to reveal with the release. But we can tell you that you will receive 10 hours of gameplay with a really low price. We are doing our best to reach many people as possible with a reasonable price tag. Oh, by the way, Doughlings: Arcade will be available with 20% discount option for 1 week so keep your eyes on. :)
At the upcoming days, we will reveal more details about the game and especially Level Editor. Don't forget to check out our social media pages. See you soon!
Nothing is better than showing your work to the people after many months of development. Here we are, looking at the Steam Page of Doughlings: Arcade and it feels really good. And we have almost one more month to go until the release. We would like to thank our families and friends for their overwhelming support since day one and it is time to serve what we have cooked.
Doughlings? What is that really?
Brick breaker and Breakout games were huge parts of the gaming in late 80s and also 90s. With their challenging dynamics, unique power-ups and skill-based designs, games like Arkanoid and beyond have a special place in our hearts. This is the starting point of Doughlings actually. We wanted to create something similar but also something unique in its own way. You can easily see the similarities but as you keep playing, you will realize that the game is much more than a traditional brick breaker game.
Once Upon a Time…
Let us introduce you Morpheus and his friends. The story starts in a galaxy far far away, where Doughlings live in their dimension in peace. Dr Morpheus, one of the folks in that town was the genius one among all. One day, a meteor fell from the sky and crashed into the town. At first, the destruction affected their home but then the sickness started to spread all around the planet. The friends turned into foes by losing their minds and Dr. Morpheus, the only Doughling who managed to run, locked himself in his house. He knew that something had to be done so, he decided to find a cure to save his people.
Days have passed, long nights turned into mornings and one day Morpheus has finally found the cure. But he knew that it was too late but there was no choice. Friends he knew once were sick and he was the only one who can end this. As heroes always do, he has to save his people.
Why Doughlings is Unique?
We know that “unique” word may sound a bit exaggerated but we believe it is true. When you review similar games since Arkanoid, it is easy to see that there is a similar pattern that many follow. Of course, there were some games which came up with different ideas but not that much. So we wanted to try something different with Doughlings.
Personas and Upgrades Doughlings lets you play with 7 different characters (including Morpheus) among 90 different levels. Each character comes with special powers and abilities which you can easily upgrade in the laboratory. This allows players to create their own way and play style which is critical for certain levels.
Show Off Power-ups are important parts of brick breaker games. In Doughlings you won’t simply collect power-ups. Instead, for each character you play, you will able to unleash a unique power as you play. These Show Off powers won’t come as collectible items too. Players have to gather enough “excitement” items to enable the Show Off ability, which makes everything more strategic than just getting the power up and using right away. As you become more experienced, you will know when and which Show Off you should use. We are very proud off with this system so hopefully, you will like it as well.
Level Editor Let’s say you have completed Doughlings or played enough to show what you can do to other players, rather than just high scores. Level Editor will let you create any level you want with any targets and items in the game. You can create, test and share it with the world. Or you can just simply play levels from other players and rate them, or beat their high scores. This is something that we really want to show you soon and we can’t wait for levels that dedicated players will create in time.
How About the Difficulty?
Let us tell you this up front: Doughlings arcade is not a “chilling” game. You have to be focused, patient and get ready to fail a lot. Because what we want to achieve with Doughlings: Arcade is to bring the old school, challenging arcade game experience again with a modern look and unique design choices. Of course, the game will not punish you right at the start. But as you progress, you will feel the pressure and the need of skill with each different level.
And Release Date?
Our target release date is May 9th and hopefully, there won’t be any delay. Doughlings: Arcade will be available on Steam and also at many websites like Greenmangaming, Kinguin and G2A. Please don’t forget to have a look at our coming soon page and if you like it, follow or add it to your wishlist. We will be here again with more news soon.
Until the next blog, farewell!
And Here We Are!
We were waiting for this moment for a really long time. As Hero Concept, Doughlings: Arcade has a very special meaning for us and finally, we can share what we have been working for almost a year now.
Doughlings: Arcade is created for arcade fans and players who love to taste the good old classic games again. What we want to achieve with Doughlings is to give you the feeling of joy, fun and of course challenge as you progress. You will lose no time to learn the game right from the beginning but being an expert will take a bit time. :)
What you see here is what you get with the release: a polished game with almost no bugs (hopefully) and one of the best brick breaking experiences in the market for a really low price. (The price will be announced soon.)
From this day, we will keep giving you more details about the game as the release date gets closer. Right now we need to get back to the development and do our best to give you the best experience. Until then, farewell!
