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What is this???

Shield Cat is a game that is being created by me (Roxy) using Gamemaker Studio 2 for computers and potentially game consoles and phones. It is a game about a pink otter named Lance who can spin his tail to attack enemies. He can also run, jump, roll, and throw things!

Who is Lance?

Lance is the main protagonist of the game! He looks like this:


You can read about Lance's control scheme by clicking here.

Check out this gameplay demonstration

Look at him go!

Lance's Actions
Soon, Lance will be able to jump. He can also dodge roll to avoid attacks, and he'll have a variety of things that he can throw. Anything he can throw will take up his Magic Meter, which will recharge depending on certain conditions. Examples of things he can throw include:

• Shield: The Shield will fly in the direction Lance throws it and will deplete his magic meter. It will attack enemies it hits, and do more damage on the way back to Lance. If Lance is able to catch it, his Magic Meter will be recharged immediately. Otherwise, it will recharge gradually once the shield is destroyed or lost. He can later upgrade it to chase after enemies and be able to fly farther.
• Dagger: Lance can throw a dagger and it depletes his magic meter. The meter will start recharging immediately after he throws. The dagger will fly very fast in the direction the player chooses, and if it hits an enemy it will do a lot of damage to that enemy. You can upgrade the dagger later to explode on contact with the enemy to damage nearby enemies.
• Lance: Lance can throw a lance, which, if it does not hit an enemy, will hover in the air where it lands. Once it is hovering, you can press the attack button again and it will spin while Lance spins. The initial throw will cost half the magic meter, and each spin will take some magic until you run out of magic. If throwing the lance cost all your magic, you'll be able to spin it only once. (You can throw another lance instead of spinning the first one, and then you can spin both of them until you run out of magic.) You can upgrade the lance to have a wider spin radius.
• Fire: Lance can throw fire. Fire will burn enemies and cause them to take fire damage. They will also take damage from the burn you inflict on them. You can throw fire until you run out of magic, and you can get more powerful magic later on. You can also use the fire to light lanterns.
• Ice: Lance can throw ice, which will damage enemies and might cause them to freeze for a time.

The magic meter will recharge after it has been depleted, and you can't use any more special moves until it has recharged completely. 

Upgrades
You can find coupons around the game world. You can redeem these coupons at the shops for health upgrades or magic upgrades (to have a bigger magic meter to throw more stuff.) You can also find the different types of things Lance can throw. If you, for instance, find the Dagger, and then you find the upgrade, now you will have the dagger that explodes!

You can also purchase health and magic upgrades from shops with Pretty Petals, as well as weapons and upgrades. If you later find the coupons in the field, or the weapons upgrades that you can't use, you can sell those to the shop for Pretty Petals. So basically, you can either search around for everything, or you can just search for money and buy everything.

Random Mode
I plan on implementing a Randomized mode that randomizes the location of all the weapons and coupons that you can find. I should note that, if you get a weapon (like a Dagger), any other instances of that weapon will become the upgrade for that weapon. For example, if there's a dagger in the train area, and another in the underground area, the first one you get will be the initial weapon, and the second one will be the upgrade. If you bought it from the shop already, then the first one you found will be the upgrade, and the second will be something you can sell back to the shop. So, Random Mode won't lock you out of getting into any areas. If, for instance, you can't find the Fire Magic and you really, really want it, you can just go buy it from the shop - but where's the fun in that?

Game Difficulty Modes
I plan on implementing the following difficulty modes:

• Chill Mode: Enemies do half damage and Lance does 1.5 damage. You don't really have to worry about anything, just enjoy the game!
• Regular Mode: Enemies do 1x damage and so does Lance. So pretty much just regular difficulty.
• Cool Mode: Enemies do 1.5x damage and Lance does 75% of the damage he'd usually do. For a challenge!
• Fun Mode: Enemies do 2x damage and so does Lance. You either beat up enemies right away or you lose. For fun!
• Custom Mode: Set how much damage Enemies and Lance do. Want to make everyone do 50x damage and OHKO each other? Sure, knock yourself out (literally)

Cheat Codes
You'll be able to enter special cheat codes if you find the special menu for it. You'll be able to control things like Lance's health, movement speed, walking through walls, and whatnot. I should note that if you use cheat codes, then achievements will be disabled! They're just for fun.

The Plot of the Game

The plot is simple. The King has gone on vacation, and now the leader of the King's Guard, the Shield Cats, has decided that she rules the land. Now Lance, as a Shield Cat, has to protect the land and stop her and all her evil henchmen!

The game will see you going to about 6 areas, exploring, and ultimately defeating the henchman who has taken over that area. You are free to do the areas in any order, but be prepared for a challenge if you do the last area first! After you've completed all the areas, you'll be able to go to the King's Castle where you'll fight the Leader of the Shield Cats! Will you win? I hope so

Why Patreon and not like, Kickstarter or something?

I'm not nearly famous enough to get the kind of support I'd need to make the game on Kickstarter at this time, and I also don't want to take that much money from people at once. I like to think that I can see this through to the end. I mean, I gave up on art so many times, but now I'm really good at it (or that's what everyone tells me, anyways) and I've been drawing solid for about 4 years now for tons of clients. I've found a determination that won't go out so easily though, but, just in case I find out in a couple years or so that I'm just not able to do it, everyone on Patreon can just cancel out their pledge and that's it, rather than me taking a bunch of money up front and then ghosting on everyone.

I believe in you Roxy and I will support you!

Great! You can either support me on Patreon, or if you prefer, you can give me a one-time support on [KoFi]. You can find out what kind of prizes you'll get by looking at the different tiers, and I'll be able to add more later as time goes on. If you don't have any money to support, that's ok! You can still follow me on Patreon for regular updates, or you can also follow and reach out to me on social media. You can also join the discord chat [here], but you wont be able to send messages (sorry!)

I don't believe in you and I won't support you

You can believe whatever you want but I'm making the game anyways so when it's released you can play it and tell me if you believe me then or not.

Who are you Anyways?

I'm Roxy, an artist and programmer who's learning how to make music as well. This is the first real game I've made, but everyone says I'm doing a good job, so I must be doing ok! I've been drawing and writing code for a long time. You can see my art on  [ Weasyl] or [FurAffinity] if you like, or talk to me on  [Twitter]and [Mastodon]. You can also join the Shield Cat discord chat by clicking [here]

I've always wanted to create a game which is inspired by games that made up my childhood and were inspirational to me, such as Startropics 2, Zelda 1 and 3, and most importantly, The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang. To that end, Lance attacks by spinning his tail and throwing his weapons if you hold the attack button down, but I'm doing more than just making a game that copies other games I've played - I want to make something original. I've been messing around with Gamemaker since Gamemaker 4 was new, so I know about it a bit I hope.