Click above to see gameplay or find more footage on Youtube:
Game Screens
Concept
I made Life of Climb to share my love of climbing.
As far as I am aware this was the first climbing game to provide a realistic full range of movement. Swipe the touchscreen from a hand or foot to a hold. The climber manages the move intelligently. Then things get fun:
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You will fall off if you keep choosing poor holds or let your feet hang in the air.
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RPG style stats increase your abilities and unlock new actions.
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Two different characters with different advantages.
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Hazards such as wildlife, wet holds and rockfall - requiring different sometimes puzzling solutions.
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4 different play 'modes' inspired by different types of climbing. These have unique stat increases and power-ups which cross-over to the other modes.
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Greater rewards if you complete a level without any falls.
Programming
The game was built in Godot as it was lightweight and optimal for 2D.
Life of Climb is therefore coded entirely in GDScript, a language based on Python.
The most challenging area of programming was the character movement. Inverse kinematics are calculated each frame with up to 4 points of contact and 12 pivots.
Released in 2022, this game was developed before AI coding tools.
Publishing
Life of Climb was shortlisted for the Pocket Gamer Big Indie Pitch in February 2022.
Life of Climb was then self-published on Google Play and Apple App Store.
Ratings and reviews on Google Play were positive. Average rating hovers around 4 out of 5 stars, with 15 out of 26 ratings giving 5 stars.
The game had over 10,000 downloads while it was viable.
Credits
Life of Climb would not have been possible without a little help from my friends:
Voice FX:
Neil Cavendish
Vanessa Cantrell
Additional SFX:
Freesound.org - authors available on request
Mixing:
Dave Mountain, Attic Sounds (www.theatticsounds.co.uk)
Menu music:
'The Moment' by SpicMusic10, sourced from Pixabay
Game testers:
Ned Cantrell
Arthur Nyholm-Cantrell
Jim
Tom
Leira
Toby Friend
Christiana Naziris
Matt Beals
Ela Calin (www.elacalin.com)
Main Font:
Rocksalt by Stuart Sandler and David Cohen, Sideshow
Game Engine
Godot v3.3 (https://godotengine.org/)