Planetary Pest Control

Features:

- Asymmetrical 2-player couch-coop action!
- 2 Unique characters with distinctive abilities and synergies
- An exciting story set over 6 levels, with up to 2 hours of gameplay!
- A striking comic book style set on a vibrant fungal planet

Play the game here: https://dangerzone-ga.itch.io/ppc

Play as either Wrench, an alien monkey mechanic, or E.V, his sentient robot companion. Wrench uses his agility to jump and dodge around the bugs and collect resources to keep E.V reloaded, repaired, and ready to fight. He can use his wrench and zap trap to smack enemies around and slow down the swarms.

E.V is much less nimble, but they pack a heavy punch. Their machine-gun, rockets and earth-shaking melee makes them a formidable exterminating machine. On their own they can't make it, but working as a symbiotic team Wrench and E.V. can crush all in their way!

Project Development

This game was created over the course of 8 months with 14 core team members at Falmouth university, plus another 3 people working on the game as freelancers. We are all really proud of what we've accomplished, we hope you enjoy the finished game!

The initial idea for the game was inspired by a scene in the Matrix Revolutions, where mechs are protecting Zion and when they run out of ammo, people have to run out into the battle with ammo trolleys and resupply the mechs. Since then the core of the game has always been about this interdependent relationship between two different yet synergistic characters.

We really liked the idea of a monkey-like mechanic for the support player and a mech as the damage dealer. Their size difference coupled with the organic vs hard surface designs really highlighted their differences, and we felt gave a lot of room for interesting and humorous chemistry between the two. They also served as the faces of the game, and represented the world which the game was set in, so we wanted to make sure we got these designs right.

The world went through many iterations. Initially it was set in the mega-sewers of a dystopian earth, and the two characters were fighting an infestation deep underneath a layered city. However, we realised that this dark tone wasn't in line with the fast-paced style of gameplay, so we ended up redesigning the world to be much more light-hearted. We ended up going for a colorful space-faring adventure, set on an uncharted fungal planet. This let us have a lot more fun with the world, and really supported the characters and gameplay emerging from development.

We spent quite a while early on figuring out an art style for this game. We ended up settling on an amalgamation of comic styling, punk culture, and retro-future tech. We felt this combination was unique and eye-catching, and fit with the game well. After the world redesign the punk elements faded a bit, as it's hard to convey punk culture in a natural world. However, you can still see the remnants of it in the character designs.

Even in the first dystopian city iteration of the game, we knew we wanted bugs as the enemy. There was something appealing about the main characters working the everyday job of pest control, except the pests are horrifically mutated and deadly. As we transitioned to the new, colorful world, the enemy design changed to reflect this. They are a hive mind and are part of the fungal network around them. This is reflected in their visual and ludic design: Fungal plates and tubes grow out their bodies, and they act as one connected organism.

Version History

Here you can see the progress the game made over 8 months. It changed a lot from the dark, on-rails subway prototype into the colourful, bombastic adventure the game now is! Development has had its ups and downs, but we managed to pull through and make something we are all extremely fond of. We hope you enjoy playing Planetary Pest Control as much as we did making it!

The Team

Louis Sullivan - Creative Director/Artist - https://www.artstation.com/louis-j-sullivan

Sam Auber - Programmer - Twitter: @digitalbasilisk - samauber.me

Louis Foy - Programmer - Twitter: @LxShades - http://louisfoy.games/

Adrian Carter - Programmer - Twitter: @AdrianCarter777 - adrian-carter.wixsite.com/portfolio

Karl Eric Eggert - Engine & 3D Character Animator - https://www.artstation.com/karleggert

Martyn Ward - Lead Rigger/Animator - Twitter: @DogeSecret - https://www.martyrigz.co.uk/

Thomas Pepper - VFX/Environment Artist - Instagram: @tompepper.art - https://www.artstation.com/tompepper

Will Snowden - 2D Artist - Twitter: @WillSnowden1 - https://www.artstation.com/willsnow

Nate Bedford - Character and Concept Artist - artstation.com/natbed

Ed Freifalts - Shader/Environment Artist - https://www.artstation.com/eduardsfreifalts

S. Rodyakin - UI Artist- Twitter: @srodyakin - artstation.com/srodyakin

AJ Kerr - Producer/Writer - Twitter: @AJK3RR - ajkerr.co.uk

Josh Ward - Designer - Twitter: @joshlward98

Aled Garrett - Designer - Twitter: @AledGarrett - http://aledgarrett.com/

Freelancers

Will Jennet - VFX Artist - https://www.artstation.com/willjennett

Marcus Yarnell - Audio SFX - Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarcusYarnell - https://open.spotify.com/artist/3JdGxyslDWVIMGHQ6jcr6n

Lorenzo Roncarati - Audio OST - https://www.instagram.com/brelim.wav/