荧烛 Ember Glimmer Demo

This Demo was rushed out because I’ve been developing full-time at home for too long, and I wanted to achieve some results in the Steam Next Fest in June. But the result wasn’t good — the completion is low, there’s little playable content, and the experience is very short. The main story prologue I originally planned to include in the Demo hasn’t been implemented either. But now that the Demo is live, I’m no longer in a hurry. I’ve been working on this for so long, there’s no need to rush anymore. I’ve canceled my participation in the June Steam Next Fest and will leave this Demo here, updating it slowly until the quality becomes acceptable.

Since this is an indie game made by just me, my productivity is very limited. But I’m doing my best. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. Although I can’t fulfill all of them, I will try my best to make improvements. I’m an artist who self‑learned programming — specifically Unreal Engine 5 Blueprints. Game development turned out to be far harder than I imagined. I spent several years building the game’s code framework. Judging from this Demo, there don’t seem to be any major issues with the code. So from now on, I will put programming aside and focus on art, story, and gameplay.

I like playing Warframe and Terraria, so I mimicked Warframe‑like melee combat, skills, and key bindings, as well as Terraria’s inventory system. However, these two conflict with each other: Warframe uses 1,2,3,4 for skills, while item shortcuts also need 1,2,3,4. So I made a trade‑off and placed the item hotbar on keys 5 and beyond. I don’t have a better solution, because F1,F2,F3,F4 are also far away. During development I often encounter such trade‑off problems, and many times there’s no perfect solution.

In the future, I will add more melee weapons and magical implements, and reduce the presence of guns, so that the game shifts toward RPG rather than TPS — firearms will become just one of many weapon types. I might remove the TPS tag later. The combat system will focus more on skills and melee combat.

Regarding the game world: after all, this story is about the Mutation Management Bureau, so there will be weird tales and urban legend elements. However, I don’t plan to make it very scary (e.g., monsters suddenly jumping at the player), because if it’s too scary I would need to change the game’s tags.

In short, I will update this Demo slowly until the quality is okay.

Story Background

The first-generation AI mecha Unit 0, known as "Zero", was the first AI to develop self-awareness. On a meteor shower night, she betrayed humanity, seizing control of all existing AI mechas and defecting—including the "Black Box", a mecha created by humans to preserve the spark of civilization. She also lifted the seal of the sacred mountain, causing an imbalance in the world's supernatural energy. Prior to this, the seal of the sacred mountain had only been regarded as a myth.

The world began to mutate. The infiltration of void energy distorted and alienated reality, blurring the line between dreams and the physical world. Creatures once confined to legends and myths began to appear, and mutation incidents broke out everywhere. Out-of-control previous-generation AIs and void-born aberrations posed a mortal threat to humanity. The world government drafted the finest talents from the military and police, and recruited powerful individuals from society to form a formidable organization dedicated to combating mutations—the Mutation Administration. Most members of the Administration are espers with formidable supernatural abilities, some innately gifted and others trained rigorously. They shoulder the responsibility of investigating the source of mutations, eliminating mutation threats, and safeguarding order.

From peaceful cities to void-corroded twisted realms, and to abandoned facilities controlled by previous-generation AIs, every mutated area hides unique environmental narratives and hidden clues. As you explore deeper, you will encounter a variety of characters, and understand the world through exploration and storytelling.

Gameplay

As a 3D third-person shooter loot-based game, its core gameplay focuses on the dual experience of "combat excitement" and "collection & progression". The real-time combat system allows players to freely switch between firearms and melee weapons, achieving smooth battles through dodging and combo chaining. There are various types of ranged firearms to adapt to different combat distances and tactical needs; melee weapons are also diverse, with high-tier weapons featuring sword aura. Players can switch weapons freely during battles, and flexible movement and shooting deliver an exhilarating combat experience.

The game features an item drop system and a crafting system. Equipment, materials, and consumables are categorized into multiple rarity levels: Common, Uncommon, Advanced, Rare, and Epic. Surplus items can be stored in the warehouse. Players can collect materials to craft weapons and equipment, purchase items from shops, or obtain loot from enemies—strengthening themselves through various means.

It also boasts a diversified elemental specialization system. Each character has exclusive elemental specialization skills that consume energy points to cast. Health and energy can be restored via consumables or map drops, while innate exclusive skills do not consume energy. Players can freely combine skills, movement, melee & firearm attacks, and throwing weapons for combat.

There is a wide variety of enemies, from void-alienated beasts to out-of-control previous-generation AI mechas equipped with weapon systems, and to void-born aberrations. The differing combat strategies required for each enemy type make every battle full of challenges.

Travel, fight, and grow in this perilous world. Confront out-of-control AIs and void aberrations, defend order with your weapons and courage, and write your own legend.

Author's Statement

This is a 3D TPS indie game developed solely by me, so both my resources and energy are limited. I am actively working on it.