A Kickstarter has launched for WaveLand, a game built entirely on the mechanic of directional air dodging.
In competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee, players have learned advanced techniques to move faster and more precisely. One of these techniques is referred to as wavedashing. To pull it off, you short hop while holding either the down-right or down-left button and air dodge into the ground. What occurs is a type of slide. When doing these in succession, you can slide across the entire stage.
Reddit user Lex_slayerpride uploaded a video demonstrating how it works.
WaveLand’s creator, Logan Foster, has built an entire game around wavedashing. It’s a technical game that requires a good amount of skill, and it’s all about reaching each level in the shortest time possible.
Digital Trends reached out to Foster to get some insight on what he hopes to achieve with WaveLand.
“I would often find myself trying to wavedash in other games” said Foster. “I love the movement in Smash and always wanted to see how it could work in a single-player game.” A demo is available to download. For those with some Smash knowledge, it’s pretty easy to pull off wavedashes. Foster has also added some other interesting mechanics, like being able to wavedash up walls, and is hoping to make it ideal for speedrunning. As of now, the game doesn’t support native GameCube controller support, but it’s definitely something Foster will have in the final product.
“As far as art and atmosphere goes, the influence from Dustforce and Hyper Light Drifter is clearly there” said Foster.
Playing the demo, we noticed that a good amount of attention was also given to music and sound design. “Sound is the easiest way to convey emotion” said Foster. “The sound effects in WaveLand make your actions feel really responsive.” Sound will play a major factor when speedrunners are dissecting the game to get the best times possible.
While the game is looking promising at the moment, there might be a technical barrier too high for new players to overcome. “That’s definitely an issue” said Foster. “I think that the mechanics have been tuned down enough to be doable by most people interested in going fast” but “I created the current demo with Smash players in mind.”
Foster is hoping to have a more robust tutorial mode that intuitively showcases all that’s possible with WaveLand’s mechanics.
WaveLand currently has a Kickstarter goal of $8,100. If successfully funded, it will be released on PC in March 2017. A demo is available to download on the game’s Kickstarter page.
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