We’re back this week from our secret bunker in Prison City with another dev log featuring Programancer and his insights into the game’s journey and some of the references he’s made to various existing media…
Question #4: Can you describe the journey you took and how it feels taking the game from a concept to a nearly completed title at this point?
Programancer: Technically, Prison City started as a very, very simple and vague idea–”What if there was an NES action approach-a-thon in the spirit of Mega Man, Power Blade, Shatterhand, etc., except every level you enter has a unique entrance sequence for the player?”- so in my head, the intro to the Rooftops level is what I would think about- the player coming in from a zipline and breaking through the window of a building before starting the level.
It wasn’t until RetrogradeJam 3 in 2022 that I had decided to flesh all of that out and see what I could come up with using (and updating) systems I had already refined from other projects I have made, and build a simple plot around it. Since then, it’s been a lot of thinking up cool ideas to introduce into levels and letting those ideas grow organically- some stayed the same, but many evolved into something emergent and different. Now that the game is nearly finished, it’s crazy looking back on how it has grown since it started as a 10-day jam game. Very surreal!
Question #5: Why “Detroit” Prison City?
Programancer: I knew I wanted to set the game in a real world location, and, growing up in Michigan, it made sense to me to go with Detroit! It’s the setting for some of my favorite 80s movies- something I love to pay homage to- and I think it’s easily one of the most immediately recognizable cities in Michigan~
When asked about making references to existing media, Programancer gave an extensive list with some highlights including:
1. The contact for Rooftops (I. Simon) is a reference to the following:
- Iroquois Plisskin from Metal Gear Solid 2
- Simon Quest from the Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest (Programancer’s other title)
2. The boss for Rooftops (Hind D) is a reference to the following:
- The Hind D in Metal Gear Solid
- Liquid Snake in Metal Gear Solid
- The Pilot's name is Dutch Eli, a reference to Eli from Metal Gear Solid (Liquid Snake), and Dutch from Predator
3. The boss for Freeway (Fury Rhoads) is a reference to the following:
- Randy Rhoads from Black Sabbath
- Lord Humungus from Mad Max 2
- The title for Mad Max: Fury Road
That's a wrap for this week! Stay tuned for more updates from our secret bunker inside Prison City!
You can wishlist and play the free demo, available now!