Traxmaster Software is working on a very interesting project, that literally lets you change the shape of the virtual world.
Exception is a very interesting project from Traxmaster Software, which is basically a one man company. Over the course of 3 years, the developer willtrax on (Tigsource) has created a wonderful variation of the classical platformer. There are two distinctive features of this project. First of all, it features a beautiful neon art style with very vivid visual effects and fluid animations. Secondly, it was a certain feature, that allows changing the layout of the level on the fly.
The art style of Exception is absolutely amazing. It was actually done by the programmer himself, with no additional artistic help.
The primary mechanic is a level transition process which flips around the entire level or specific elements. This is a different approach to the traditional platformer and introduces some interesting level design opportunities. Level design with this mechanic in mind has been challenging as the transitions demand careful consideration of pre-transition and post-transition placements. Several times I designed obstacles that could be easily circumvented by the player once a level transitioned.
The level design project looks incredible. The way you interact with the levels really changes the whole level design process and demands incredible level of detail.
Interestingly enough, this project was created without an artist. The sole developer created most of the assets with Blender and edited the neon materials in Photoshop & Filter Forge. Unlike many indie projects, Exception is a pretty big game. It features 128 levels with a lot of interesting challenges. You’ll be able to get Exception some time in 2017. It will be available for PC, Linux and Mac.
Author: Kirill Tokarev