TeleBlast
TELEBLAST is a fast-paced, local multiplayer, combat game set in a time of explosive teleportation. Up to 4 players can take to the arena to try to outplay and outblast their opponents in a round-by-round battle for supremacy.
Each player will be in control of a teleporter which they can shoot out and then activate to teleport to with the distance that the teleporter traveled influencing the size of the resulting explosion.
So do you remain mobile by teleporting short distances but only causing small explosions or do you remain immobile and cause a massive explosion trapping your opponents with nowhere to go?
The game features a wide array of maps, game modes, and modifiers that allow you to customize your game and keep each match fresh and exciting. The simple concept will keep you and your friends engaged for hours!
Features
- Easy to grasp hectic multiplayer action. New players can pick up and play quickly and easily through intuitive controls and simple mechanics.
- Multiple maps with more in development. Challenge each other on a number of maps with more on the way. Early Access will have 2 maps with more being developed.
- Multiple game modes and modifiers under development. The simple gameplay can be modified and customised to your liking with more options always being added.
How it started?
TeleBlast was originally conceived during Global Game Jam 2018 where the theme was “transmission” which for me sparked ideas around teleportation as transmission of matter. Having done a number of game jams in the past but never having anything to show for it, the priority was to come up with an idea so simple that allowed me to build it within the first 8 hours and spend the rest of the time polishing it.
The game was originally called Major League TeleBlast and had a very light and bright theme inspired by a game called VIDEOBALL. I showcased the game at the game jam event in Perth and got some good feedback but it wasn’t until I played the game with my friends that I began to realise the possibilities.
Major League TeleBlast on Global Game Jam
After Global Game Jam
I continued to build on TeleBlast after the game jam showcasing it at a few local events to get feedback on the direction of the game. One of the first things I did was shorten the name and change the theme to give the game a more arcade-y feel.
I worked on the game during my commute on the bus, in cafes on my lunch break and late into the night after work. I would use our weekly board games night to test out new features and get feedback from my friends which would shape the direction of the game. When the opportunity came around to enter the game in for the PAX Australia indie showcase, I took the chance.
I never really expected to be chosen for the PAX Indie Showcase so when I got the email early one morning to say that I had won a booth at the convention, I was completely in shock.
PAX Indie Showcase 2018 Winners
Showcasing PAX Australia
Showcasing TeleBlast at PAX Australia was an absolutely unreal experience not only to have people play the game but also enjoy it enough to bring back their friends and play it over and over again. I managed to convince some of my closest friends to come over to Melbourne and help showcase the game because they had shaped a lot of the direction for TeleBlast.
I released TeleBlast into Steam Early Access the morning of the first day of PAX so that people who played the game at the convention could get a copy as soon as they got home. I remember being a bundle of nerves that first morning but the people around me gave me a ton of support and advice needed to remain calm and succeed.
Some of the highlights of PAX included having Rami Ismail, co-founder of Vlambeer, and Jerry Holkins, the co-founder of Penny Arcade, come to play the game, however, none of these moments compare to having my parents come and experience PAX.
Where is it now?
After PAX, I finally crashed. 10 months of building the game in my spare time finally caught up with me and I got really burnt out. After burning out on games development, I came to resent it a bit and couldn’t find the motivation to continue work on it. This feeling has continued for a number of years.
As it stands, TeleBlast is still in Steam Early Access but realistically it may never be complete. For me, its a part of my life I look back on quite fondly because I got to do something really cool in showcasing something I build at PAX Australia and I’m at peace with it not being complete.
Its something I may come back to in the future and rebuild so that I can say that “yes, I have built a full game” but overall it was a great experience.