Dimension Drifter [Early Access / TPP / Indie]

Dimension Drifter is a new game by Paul Schneider best known for his DOOM2 mapset Unloved. Paul has made a bunch of cool games in the past including GunGirl 2 (free), Super Panda Adventures and UNLOVED (the game). DD is a TPP action shooter with randomly arranged levels, much like UNLOVED (hand-made chunks but random layouts) and some sort of "choose your own adventure" interludes between maps. Paul is making this all by himself, except for music which is by James Dean.

The game will hit EA tommorow (in 10 hours to be precise). I have no idea if it's gonna be good but I enjoyed his previous games so hopefully this won't be an exception.

Here's the latest gameplay video with commentary:

Gee, she moves so fast.

I hate to rain on your parade, but the game looks common and default. As good as the gameplay may or may not be, it just seems bland and generic beyond "hey we poot some boobs in game so it would sell batter."

Paul is just listed as a publisher. So Paul publishes and someone else makes the game or is he a member of the developer... but then publishes the game alone?

Good luck out there.

It just looks like Unloved with a reskin?

A 3rd person looter shooter with randomize levels sounds like my cup of tea :) 

I've played the current build for a couple of hours. Here're the impressions I posted on Steam.

"Much like in UNLOVED the combat foundation is really good. The gameplay itself is nice, weapon sounds are cool and it just feels good to run around and blast enemies with a shotgun. The alternate fire modes are fun and detonating bombs mid-air is actually pretty satisfying. So the basics are absolutely fine.

The problem is that the levels, or should I say 'a level' just... look like crap. Unlike in UNLOVED the currently available location is very abstract and doesn't really resemble anything - it looks like a bunch of random rooms, corridors and platforms that do not seem to have any specific theme. I'm not sure if that's subject to change but the current level of detail is extremely low - the rooms are very empty and under-detailed. In UNLOVED every location had a well-defined theme. Yes, the levels were twisted and messed up but a basement looked like a basement, clinic looked like a clinic, etc and there were A LOT of things everywhere: benches, chairs, tables, bookshelves, all sorts of equipment and stuff. In DD there are some crates, barrels and monitors on walls and that's it. Just about anything looks more detailed than that.

I do appreciate the fact that the map 'chunks' are more elaborate in shape and that there is more verticality. The minimap works really well though I wish it'd show the exit because sometimes it's really hard to get back to it if you decide to explore some more before finishing the level.

Overall the navigation is problematic. The map chunks do not really have as much diversity as the ones in UNLOVED and running through corridors that all look pretty much the same, same style, same everything, gets kind of confusing.

Let's be honest about it: everyone would prefer proper, non-random, fully hand-crafted levels.

I'm also not a fan of the TPP view. I mean, TPP in an action game like this is basically a worse version of a FPP view - it plays exactly like a FPP game but it's harder to evaluate your position when dodging, looking around or shooting from around the corner. Especially painful when using bombs or explosive shells. I mean, bouncy boobs aren't really a worthy trade-off for all the problems a TPP view introduces.

In terms of level progression, there isn't much to say. I can't say I like all the switch hunts where you might flip a switch that opens a secret door on the other side of the level. I know there's an arrow leading to it but it reminds me of all the horrible DOOM levels where people force you to backtrack for 10min. Thankfully that's optional... kind of... because you obviously WANT to get all the loot.

I really don't like how the switches are handled. Because they're on the top of pillars I find them hard to notice and I often miss them.

Another thing is the whole customization. I understand it's not finished but what exactly is the point? You can set a color for every part of your gun... like you EVER look at your gun when playing. You don't. Then we have all the unlockable alternative skins for guns which are... all EXACTLY the same, except they have different colors that... you can set manually anyway. Huh?

I was very curious about the whole story / choose-your-own-adventure interludes between missions. However the current version is disappointing. You never get to choose anything, you just kind of click 'next'. So far every time there's 'a choice' the good option is locked so you have to choose the wrong one anyway. Then you eventually get to choose both but you already know that the new option is good so... what's the point? Hopefully this will be expanded. And I mean GREATLY expanded.

The whole story progression is really weird. In E1 you get the same texts like three times because you keep going back in time or something and you go through the same "events" except that eventually some new options unlock for no reason. I mean, it's text, it can be anything and it still gets reused a couple of times. Come on. Also the story itself doesn't seem to fit the visuals at all. This whole occult / satanic thing was fine for UNLOVED but here it feels like it's from a different game.

In terms of balance, I'm playing on medium and there are serious problems with ammo and health. It's playable but the resource stinginess seems a bit too much for my taste.

As for bugs, there are some problems with the level generation. Walls under windows often have mis-aligned textures, crates clip through walls. The big L-shaped room with an angled staircase has a mis-aligned texture when there's no door in it. Some of the level-up rewards don't seem to work.

The biggest problem is the level of detail and the overall theme of maps because neither of them really exist. It really sucks because the game would have been really good if the levels were not as bad as they are now.

I know it's Early Access and stuff. But even then I try to think how UNLOVED looked when it was released in EA and honestly the levels (those parts that were available) looked absolutely fine. In DD there's just emptiness. This needs A LOT more diverse level chunks, more textures, more objects, more everything. Again, I understand that episodes will have different themes and such. But I really hope that those map layouts will get serious overhauls because they don't look finished at all."

On 9/27/2018 at 7:58 PM, geo said:

Paul is just listed as a publisher. So Paul publishes and someone else makes the game or is he a member of the developer... but then publishes the game alone?

The developer is BlueEagle Productions - which is Paul himself. Basically he's doing everything by himself.