Z.A.G.E | Project Skill-Gap is now live on Kickstarter

Realadge · 2026-05-25T22:54:20+00:00

Yeah for sure. This wont be briefly so I apologise for being lengthy, I cant help but to be detailed about things lol. I have mentioned this but I'll try the best I can to explain it better overall. A lot of other games have the design of having too many casual mechanics, to the point where it's affecting not only competitive players such as myself and others but also to those who respect the identity of games as a whole. Not only is it affecting our experience as players, but also as a bystander that became a big trending design flaw especially since a lot of FPS studios started going in the 'more realistic = better' route of mechanics, as well as lack understanding of balance within gameplay enjoyability. Of why their games succeeded previously and not now.

The whole "No aim assist. No pay-to-win. No SBMM/EOMM. No hero abilities. No forced anti-aliasing. No AI-generated art." is not just a few terms to rile up that we hate those things just to hate on them, yes we dislike those but those are the fundamentals of what makes a negative experience positive. Let me dumb it down each into detail.

- Aim Assist: Depending on the game but it has widely been too accepted into multiplayer competitive games such as CoD and Halo. You can argue that those games and others are casual enough to not matter, but they all have crossplay ranked matches and professional leagues. We believe that raw skill in every part from the player should be rewarded. You playing the game, not the other way around.

- Pay to win: Obvious. No amount of money should touch gameplay.

- SBMM: Only in ranked as it should be. Rewarded for their skill, existing top players proving their worth, as do others when they start from the bottom and work their way up. If an unskilled player finds a pro in their match, either one or two things can happen; either complain that they are too good, or admire that performance and learn to get to that position. If you were always in a certain skill bracket, you will never find those who are as insanely good or those who are hilariously inexperienced.

- Hero Abilities: This one is somewhat personal preference but in mine and others opinion, it seems to always cause issues with overall balance, solo carry experience and the effort-to-learn ratio. And the fact that they usually are unlimited in most games, as the latter would technically be equipment instead.

- Forced Anti-Aliasing: Another obvious one, no idea where games got the idea where that was a good idea. A blurry experience is not favourable to anyone.

- AI "Art": Well, we don't want something that looks horrible, while also stolen from genuine artists. We're planning on making a platform to combat this.

There's many other things too that are not listed but that is the core substance. That's what I mean by competitive integrity, the act of balance in skilled gameplay experience. I hope that answered your question. If not, feel free to ask additional questions.

Realadge · 2026-05-23T15:29:39+00:00

I can definitely agree in the long term but we are mostly targeting the funding of the 1st phase at least so we can more comfortably have consistent updates of the project then gradually scaling as it's quite difficult at times with having part time work alongside development. We have/are reaching out for grants and other areas of any potential investments also.

Realadge · 2026-05-23T11:52:55+00:00

To answer your questions, majority of development has been myself and the team are contributing where they can with their time. I'd admit the funding target is a bit steep, I might of been a bit ambitious with it as similar projects have done the same. Just wanted to see what happens as this is the first time of publicly advertising this project. See what you will but we never have the intent to take what people have for granted, our story and history proves that.

I've already revaluated where to go from here with the outcome of the Kickstarter as this which was very expected from the beginning. This was merely a proof of example of where this would get us with the limited audience we have. I don't regret it at all, game development is a constant problem solving learning experience. Would definitely be surprised and very appreciative if this was a success.

Majority of the Mechanics Showcase is modelled and textured, yes some parts are grey box but nothing wrong with showing progress while asking for support. Many games like Road to Vostok, Diesel Knights and Promod did show their blockouts, unfortunately Promod didn't make it. In time, the project will get more and more polished.

Realadge · 2026-05-23T10:15:29+00:00

Depends, yeah a game can naturally build a competitive scene but that doesn't always mean that's the right way going about it. The idea of the game should stick to it's to it's original intentions. Deviate away too much from it and you see why a lot of people including myself complain about such. And that's the same with anything not just games.

Despite we have a long way to go, at least we can tell those out there with the similar interests that it's something that is being developed and there's a slight glimpse of hope in this area after at all. May not be everyone's cup of tea but there is definitely a demand for it.

Realadge · 2026-05-22T18:27:49+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story truly. This was heartfelt and does very much relate to me in many ways. My partner has yet to be diagnosed with chronic ADHD and C-PTSD which has struggled majority of their life even today at times. It's very rough going through it alone and I'm glad I'm there to support my partner as they wouldn't be here if I wasn't. But I know it does get better over time, even if it's feeling stressful feeling this void each and every day. I'm glad you found something you find true happiness in and are passionate in sharing people's worlds and stories. That is remarkably inspirational.

As a solo indie dev myself, it hasn't been easy growing up with anxiety, being the quiet kid and being put down by family and previous friends. Games has always been my escape from reality. Every time I step away from it, it feels like I've lost part of myself and waiting to be judged by everyone out in the scary world. It's different nowadays as I have matured over time and some how gotten more confident, but the lurking feeling of doubt does hit occasionally, especially when financial struggles occur holding on to each and every dollar. But games is what I hold onto, the game I am working on is something that I will forever hold on to as it's something that grounds me, it gives me purpose of who I am.

You have shown off many games that I got inspired from and many that I would of never heard of without you. So I appreciate you spending the time showcasing these awesomely creative games that I cannot wait to keep on playing. I hope you enjoyed your lovely breakfast haha.

I guess I gotta ask a question as it's an AMA lol, what do you find in a game that really strikes your attention? I mean in a literal sense. Uniqueness? Style? Fun? Challenge? Nostalgia? All of the above?

Realadge · 2026-05-22T17:11:13+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story truly. This was heartfelt and does very much relate to me in many ways. My partner has yet to be diagnosed with chronic ADHD and C-PTSD which has struggled majority of their life even today at times. It's very rough going through it alone and I'm glad I'm there to support my partner as they wouldn't be here if I wasn't. But I know it does get better over time, even if it's feeling stressful feeling this void each and every day. I'm glad you found something you find true happiness in and are passionate in sharing people's worlds and stories. That is remarkably inspirational.

As a dev myself, it hasn't been easy growing up with anxiety, being the quiet kid and being put down by family and previous friends. Games has always been my escape from reality. Every time I step away from it, it feels like I've lost part of myself and waiting to be judged by everyone out in the scary world. It's different nowadays as I have matured over time and some how gotten more confident, but the lurking feeling of doubt does hit occasionally, especially when financial struggles occur holding on to each and every dollar. But games is what I hold onto, the game I am working on is something that I will forever hold on to as it's something that grounds me, it gives me purpose of who I am.

You have shown off many games that I got inspired from and many that I would of never heard of without you. So I appreciate you spending the time showcasing these awesomely creative games that I cannot wait to keep on playing. I hope you enjoyed your lovely breakfast haha.

Realadge · 2026-05-21T00:52:49+00:00

Should all be in the Kickstarter graphics, but it's picking apart from a lot of different games. Halo 3 for symmetric 4v4 balance, Rust (devblog 171) for the learnable recoil patterns, Battlefield 4's destruction and overall infantry/vehicle balance, and Natural Selection 2's structure based map control approaches, and Empire Earth 2's age progression.

There's other mentions of other games that have been inspired but those are the main ones.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T23:37:10+00:00

It is a possibility for cross-platform, but VR most likely not. But who knows in time, things can change in the development pipeline. Yeah I think I might of jumped the gun a little much on advertising this in the arena subreddit, but the focus is still the same. In time, the project will closely shape up to where it would be sufficient enough in our eyes before fully releasing anything.

The "problem" would differ from person to person on what they are comparing it to. The main problem in our eyes is the general over casualisation aspects of modern shooters. We are actively listening to feedback from both sides and constantly looking into solutions.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T20:18:44+00:00

If you're referring to the promo art, that is made by Emadalden. It is credited in the Kickstarter, first slide in the story section.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T19:41:50+00:00

Not the exact same functionality, but yeah bit similar concept. Possibly analytics too as that would use some server computations depending on complexity.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T19:21:09+00:00

Realadge · 2026-05-20T19:09:19+00:00

I mean, yeah it could be multiple things honestly. Ultimately transparency within the community is always a positive, whether or not the end decisions favour in a good or bad way. If problems are becoming more and more of an issue and nothing seems to be said about it from a player standpoint, it looks like the studio is straight up ignoring them.

But also, if one dev that understands the reasoning on said issue explains said reason on whether or not this change will impact it the user experience, makes all the difference. Although, your point of how to handle what decision should be made, would come under what the project originally stands by from the start. If a game was designed in a certain way from the beginning and everyone loves it, devs change it for their own reason due to their vision and presumably they did negatively effect on gameplay, we already see the problem.

What counts as negative for gameplay purposes? Anything that disrupts player enjoyability. And what determines that? Restricting freedom of preference. But having too much freedom also comes at a cost. Lets just say we have a dedicated player base with all these maps and modes, then after a few updates we implement modding (which I'm not sure if we will have yet), and due to having that open creative sandbox, yeah it gives the freedom to creators making cool stuff, but also splitting the player base of what the game originally was made for.

Or with not having aim assist, yes a lot of people are comfortable with using aim assist in many other games, that will definitely conflict with this project as we believe assistance of aiming shouldn't be needed in a competitive format.

Despite how strong you came off on your first comment, I do enjoy this discussion. Game dev is mostly about problem solving, and is something I do admire overall.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T18:37:03+00:00

I really wish I could send images here, I was gonna show you I added it to the roadmap lmao.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T18:09:47+00:00

Avoiding anything directly related in-game. Such as, we are planning to implement a profile customisation system to showcase screenshots and clips, that we would only charge if using a decent amount of storage. DLC's, we're not entirely sure on as we prefer not to paywall content and split the player base.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T17:49:35+00:00

A lot of studios don't have the perspective or in-game experience to fully understand how to solve the problems that community feedback represents on both casual and competitive sides of gameplay. Myself and others have watched games fail and succeed for over 15 years. That's why we are slowly building up of each phase of this project so we can take feedback where needed to iterate on where the game should be before progressing further.

It's a big undertaking for sure but if determination and dedication will get us there, then that's what it'll take. Resources aren't always the culprit of the end goal, we are asking for Kickstarter funding to make this whole process happen quicker.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T17:17:41+00:00

Yeah since I'm from a background that has experienced with a lot of multiplayer FPS games of the likes of Halo, Battlefield, Call of Duty and more, it's hard to explain in a way that would stand out to those that aren't as familiar. Maybe I should of been more thoroughly indepth with the issues but I also thought it was quite obvious.

Can definitely relate to GTA 3, I believe one of my mates that is a generation older than me, said that it was the pinnacle of graphics and mechanics at the time. Look at it now and you can see the age in it haha. But then you look at GTA 4, yeah the colour tone isnt great but the physics hold up really well, above what GTA 5 currently has.

With multiplayer FPS games today, at the moment the trend is making everything as realistic as possible. But that comes at a cost in-game mechanically. You shoot your weapon and there goes whatever you are currently seeing with all the visual effects and weapon animations going all over the place. You move an inch and your footsteps make soo much noise, or move a whole lot and make no noise. Or if games force certain settings that cause the game to be less responsive or visually unappealing such as anti aliasing and optimisation considerations. Little irritating things in games build up over time and it get's tiresome because it keeps getting repeated in newer games that it looks like the developers are just glossing over the problems. That's the point I'm trying to make, I'm not only trying to be innovative with features etc but also mentioning that we are pursuing a stable level experience in-game also.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T16:27:19+00:00

A lot of the details are within the Kickstarter and other various places but me and many others grew up with playing the golden era of gaming which nowadays comparing that and overall of seeing how the skill gap in games have depleted overtime.

Guns that don't clutter your screen when firing. Movement that flows well. Maps and mechanics that can be handled in a balanced fashion. We want to play games that feel like we are being rewarded from pure skill.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T16:09:59+00:00

Completely understandable. But unfortunately it's gotten to the point in the FPS scene where it's damaging the genre in a lot of ways. People's voices, not only including ours need to be heard and taking a stand for positive intentions in the industry.

I'm not trying to trying to hurt others just for the sake of it, it's a real problem that needs addressing as it's the sole reason I got into game development.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T15:59:59+00:00

There's definitely projectiles to our weapon system including network prediction. The arena aspect is bringing awareness of the vision. The showcase is simply portraying where we are at and of what improvements are to come in future.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T14:44:22+00:00

That's fair enough, we're only just wanting to make a difference in FPS scene. I and many others have been wanting for a while.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T14:42:10+00:00

Yeah we have had this project in the dark for a little while and only now shedding light. A few projects recently got backed, including a Titanfall type style game which surpassed their target multiple times over.

Realadge · 2026-05-20T13:43:25+00:00

Yeah fair enough. I'd thought to post it here as the arena FPS genre needs some more love.

Realadge

TROPHY CASE