cheapskate

About the Game

READ BEFORE YOU BUY:

• DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU EXPECT AAA

  • this is a solo / indie developer sharing pre-alpha early progress

  • this is not a AAA studio using "early access" as free advertising 2 weeks before release

• DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU EXPECT A COMPLETE FINISHED PRODUCT

  • this pre-alpha development is being shared on early access strictly for anyone curious, I'm not asking anyone to buy this

  • this construction site is a collection of unfinished gameplay mechanics, gameplay systems, and menus with no handholding

  • if you are curious to follow early development, join in now, otherwise this game is not ready for you and you should not spend your money

• DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU EXPECT ANALOG STICK SIM: THIS IS NOT A SIM SKATING GAME

  • this game uses "classic", "arcade" "professional skateboarder" "bird last name" style input controls (can't use game and person names for reasons)

  • this game uses snappy digital trick triggering (arcade style) but attempts to keep the world realistic in dimension, speed, and jump height (sim style)

• IF YOU BOUGHT THIS GAME AND THOUGH IT WAS GOING TO BE FINISHED OR AAA AND YOU'RE ANGRY

  • feel free to contact me so I can work out some kind of refund if it's past the refund period

  • you can also drop by the Discord to contact or share complaints / feedback

  • again, not trying to make money or take money from an early access, this is for curious people who want to follow updates from a solo-dev. I'm fully aware there are AAA games for under 5 dollars (that were made by entire AAA studios a decade ago but whatever, money can go far on Steam so not trying to rip anyone off here)

  • let me know if there's a more clear way to communicate all this

• BASICALLY: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, SERIOUSLY YOUR MONEY WOULD BE BETTER SPENT ON AAA LIVE SERVICE

IF YOU ARE STILL INTERESTED, THEN CARRY ON. OTHERWISE, THIS GAME IS PROBABLY NOT FOR YOU AND YOU SHOULD NOT SPEND MONEY ON IT. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING.

WHERE IS DEVELOPMENT AT:

WHAT IS THIS GAME:

• THIRD PERSON SANDBOX FOCUSED ON ACTION SPORTS

  • primarily skateboarding but other modes will come (bmx, mtb, ski, snowboard, speedfly)

  • basic off board walking controls, with extended controls to come (climb, shimmy, wallrun, melee combat)

  • simple story mode with mission progression through levels, simple session mode with basic challenges

  • mod support so people can create their own content (levels, characters, challenges, missions, stories)

WHAT IS CURRENTLY PLAYABLE:

• CORE GAMEPLAY MECHANICS

  • Character

    • first pass blockout character with separated static mesh components for future player customization

    • first pass blockout animation poses for all actions and tricks

  • Skateboard

    • first pass blockout skateboard with separated static mesh components for future player customization

  • Offboard 3rd person controller

    • walk, run, jump, double jump, climb

    • caveman into fliptrick, grab trick, manual, grind, or slide

  • Onboard 3rd person controller

    • supports player selected default stance and recognizes switch

    • skate, crouch, ollie, spin

    • manual and nose manual

      • with balance meter

    • 8 fliptricks triggered with d-pad direction & button

      • kickflip, heelflip, pop-shov, treflip, hardflip, inward heel, varial flip, varial heel, 

    • 8 grinds/slides triggered with d-pad & button

      • with balance meter

      • with separate detection and scoring support for frontside and backside

      • grinds:

        • 50-50, 5 oh, nosegrind, feeble, smith, crook, over crook

      • slides:

        • nose slide, tail slide

        • boardslides triggered by landing on rail sideways (and button)

        • separate detection and scoring support for boardslides and lipslides

    • Natas spins

      • 3 variations

      • middle of board, nose, and tail

    • 8 grab tricks triggered with d-pad & button

      • nose, tail, melon, indy, japan, stalefish, madonna, benihanna

    • wallrides (frontside & backside) triggered by landing on wall with button

    • slappies and wallies into wallrides from ground with button

    • wallplants to jump off walls and change direction (frontside & backside)

    • reverts to switch stance or scuff speed (frontside & backside + manual / nose manual support)

    • powerslides for style (hold both revert direction buttons mid revert, frontside & backside + manual / nose manual support)

  • Scoring

    • complete combo tracking

    • complete trick detection and scoring with score degradation for repeat tricks within combo

    • rail monitoring during combo for balance degradation for repeat rails and balance healing for fresh rails within combo

    • separate grind trick and slide trick balance degradation and healing

    • separate manual and nose manual balance degradation and healing

    • heal manual / nose manual balance with offboard run during combo

    • per level session and all time high combo and high bail score tracking in game save

  • Levels

    • there are 4 work in progress development levels meant to support testing for all the gameplay mechanics

    • a tight skatepark by a beach, a slower more open skatepark on a rooftop, a mellow plaza spot under trees, and a downhill city level

    • there is also a gap test level for developing and testing the gap systems, it's included just for something extra to skate

  • Time of Day & Weather

    • each level supports 4 different times of the day for different lighting and feel

    • each level also supports 4 different types of weather for different environment set dressing and feel

  • Gaps

    • complete gap system supporting detection for air, air tricks, manuals, grinds, slides, running, and wallrides

  • Story Mode and Session Mode

    • early separation of base game modes

      • a story progression framework with NPC style objectives

      • a free skate mode with player selected configurable challenges

  • Story Mode Challenges

    • Objective system has been created to manage Story Missions and Level Sidequests

      • 4 test Photographer sidequests exist in the beach skatepark level to test the system

  • Session Mode Challenges

    • player configurable challenges that can be activated from the pause menu and are fully supported in the beach skatepark level

    • optional timer, and optional challenges: high score, high combo, collect skateboard parts, collect skulls from risky spots, smash 5 billboards, find and grind our mascot cheapass

    • high score, high combo, and smash billboards available in all levels (except gap test, which just supports high score and high combo)

  • Multiplayer

    • host or join a game with a host code (peer to peer, no account needed), skate with friends (no gameplay modes yet, but high scores and high bails get notified to everyone in the lobby while everyone is skating so you have some context at least for now)

WHAT IS CURRENTLY CUSTOMIZABLE:

• SKATEBOARD

  • HOW TO ACCESS SKATEBOARD CUSTOMIZATION:

    • switch to walking (L1 + R1 / LB + RB)

    • then sit (Circle / B)

  • WHAT'S CUSTOMIZABLE:

    • Deck: top, middle, and bottom ply color

    • Deck: bottom graphic

    • Deck: grip tape

    • Trucks:

      • toggle and color risers

      • color:

        • base plate, base cups, hanger pivot, hanger bar, king pin, bottom bushing, top bushing, pivot bushing, washers, nuts

    • Bearings:

      • toggle and color bearing shields

      • color:

        • bearing casings, bearing rings, bearing balls

    • Wheels:

      • color:

        • wheel core, outer wheel

WHAT IS CURRENTLY MODABLE:

• LEVELS

  • there is a complete modding pipeline so anyone can import any geometry into Godot, add any gap triggers, surface tags, and rail splines, and export to a format the game will read by just putting your level in the game's "Levels" folder

  • visit our discord for details on where the public Godot modding tool is available and for information how to use it and join the community, when in doubt just ask us

WHAT IS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT FOR UPCOMING UPDATES:

• CORE CUSTOMIZATION SYSTEMS

  • skater customization (body, clothing, accessories)

• CORE GAMEPLAY MECHANICS

  • vert air (quarter pipes, bowls, half pipes, etc)

• CORE GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS

  • multiplayer support for session mode challenges

  • multiplayer support for host to configure and start challenges

WHAT IS ON THE ROADMAP FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT:

• CORE GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS

  • set of story based missions with NPCs and cutscenes 

  • filmer side quest system with filmer NPC and cutscenes

  • NBD (gaps) side quest system with 'epic spot' buddy NPC and cutscenes

  • level interactions that change skateable level geometry

  • character customization (hair, clothing, accessories)

  • progression system through objectives and levels

  • mod support for custom characters, missions, and progressions

  • Steam Workshop support so people can sell their mods

SOLO-DEV PROCESS

• I'm working on this as much as I can, I'd rather be doing this than anything else

• Game updates happen frequently, so things change quickly.

• There have been over 50 updates since Early Access began.

• Again, thanks for looking.

NO GENERATIVE AI WAS USED TO CREATE THIS GAME BECAUSE I HATE THAT CRAP

• No gen ai "art"

• No gen ai "music"

• No gen ai "writing"

• No gen ai "vibe coding"

• No gen ai "coding helpers"

• No gen ai "repository / deployment management"