Withstander

Welcome to WITHSTANDER : an First Person Shooter with no game overs .

Withstander is  built around one core FPS problem :

Players are forced to play hard parts , which could lead to quitting before they get to fun parts.

So , to address this issue we removed losing (Woah!) and everything that usually comes in these games - terrible checkpoints , overused autosaves and autoloads that feel like a band aid fix to bad pacing, speedrun timers and other self-depricating mechanics that can't just decide whether we want the player to enjoy the work we did or make sure the player actually finishes the level.

Now with losing removed , we added new unique features that are usually a balance nightmare in those FPS -  regeneration and revives . While in other games regeneration uses a consumable or is limited , here you regenerate all of your health and all of your ammo ,so you can stop playing cautiously and saving ammo for a next fight , that just limits the ways you can play this game .Revives are infinite , but our character takes time to get to his feet , and , to ensure that he won't get revive camped (a new way of spawn camping) we give you  invulnerability and two chain shotguns to blast your attackers and make space for yourself , no punishment otherwise for getting downed : only time and low health . And to further incentivise aggressive plays we add to your regen (like adrenaline) the damage you dealt.

The other thing are the weapons : they suck , a lot of people have no clue about balancing and just focus their thoughts on weapons they hate playing against without thinking about the bigger picture : we need all weapons to be on the same level to be balanced , but people would rather nerf everything to the ground and then complain about game being too boring instead of making sure that everything is strong , fun to use and a huge variety of good weapons that would keep the game from getting too stale .

Map design is one of those issues , we have hand-crafted levels , which are nice to explore , but take way too much effort for something that could be missed or ignored and on the other spectrum we have procedurally generated levels which run into the issue of being either way too simple and bland or being incredibly confusing to navigate . I would like to be in the middle and focus on gameplay intractability , as i feel this has not been explored much , while it could really make sure that everybody will have unique experience from the game , based on how much they interact with the level . But back on the topic of level detail , I won't be making super low details , like trash and clutter and instead focus on the believability and impressiveness of environments : big screens, grand rooms and huge contraptions , like interactable fire doors .

And if given opportunity I would like to bring life into our game : give a charming and expressive protagonist , an artstyle that isn't too simplistic or too realistic , hostile bosses that break a stereotype of an overpowered drug addict , but rather a respectable foe , that adapts to your game style and will force you into a fair and tense fight.

So in hindsight we are going to have :

Regeneration that lets you dump your whole ammo pool and not have to care in the world

Infinite revives that don't punish you for recklessness and give you an opportunity to get some space with invulnerability and powerful shotguns

Accuracy and proactivity is rewarded by negating damage you receive with boosted regeneration from damage you deal.

Level that keep their visuals optimised , interesting and interactive , catering to your playstyle and not enforcing any playstyle one too much.

Bosses that aren't given a thousand overpowered buffs , but rather they respond to the player's actions

And more things that even you can suggest , that would be ridiculous and game breaking for usual FPS ...

Already done (in this early prototype on it's way to alpha)

Base for all shooters (Main (+ alt fire for shotgun) , reloading with visible timer, HUD (shows when weapon is firing ,empty ,invulnerability timer and ect), slots for weapons)

Simple enemy AI and friendly turret AI

Regeneration systems and boosts via damage

An early prototype of a first level (want to redo)

Reviving and after-revive invulnerability 

Next Up :

Alt-Fire modes (early shotgun version implemented) that should be unique enough to not just be a +a -b on the stats

Explosives and gear

Auto-Crafting menu for building stationary defenses and equipment (health packs, turrets, traps)

Weapon pickup + unlock progression

Pre-game Loadout selection system

Gameplay modifiers that significantly shake up the rules , just like our alt-fires

Responsive bosses.

Support me :

Right now , I am encumbered with my day job , which I would gladly leave , if i could pay myself even a minimum wage . Right now ,as of this moment , Donations are closed , so if you want to support ,contact me via Patreon or here at , Itch.io ,so i could know , that I can devote myself to doing what I really love - designing fun games that I would also enjoy playing . We do everything in-house , no assetpacks , no Ai generated content for our game (maximum some brainstorming for last 5% of my ideas) , if we would rather hire a skilled and passionate person to work for us full-time than gamble on freelancers .

My Vision & Community

My objective with all games I make is too make other gamers and developers experiment more with genres and get off the copycat conveyor .Every game solves a design problem of a genre and believe me ,there are plenty of bad design decisions in gaming I want to give an solution for . If we get successful and run out of ideas , we will move towards supporting newer projects with an iron fist to ensure that the teams are incentivized to give their best. 

In additions to that I want to discuss gaming as a whole , the humble beginings , the rise and fall of game series , unique ideas from forgotten games , brainstorm new ideas for gaming with talented developers , artists ,animators , writers and designers .

In addition to that i want to give lessons on tools I'm good at (like right now Unreal 5 Blueprint coding) ,make shorts to attract attention with unique mechanics and content , give you updates on the project and have a lot of discussions in a form of Q&A or podcasts + attend events to discuss gaming with other developers , players and students .