December 25th, 2012 | By Tom Christiansen
Tagged in: Dreamwagon Games | fps | Haxel | voxel
Haxel is an upcoming space-based first-person shooter from development duo Phil Diffenderfer and Jesse DeMarco, of Dreamwagon Games. With destructible maps, low system requirements, multiple gameplay modes, supposed high modding potential, and ranked online gameplay, Haxel has a lot going for it.
The development team has been working on Haxel for a little less than a year, with Phil, the lead designer, beginning development of the game’s map editor, some time before that. Back in May, the pair started discussing what sort of game they wanted to create, using the map editor Phil had developed. “We started to develop a port to XNA,” Phil explained, “and then scrapped that idea sometime over the summer, and decided to focus on the concept as a PC title.” Haxel will be the team’s first PC title, as previously, Phil and Jesse worked on Fight Monkey of Magic, which ended up on the Xbox Live Indie Game store.
So, since this past summer, with Phil as the lead developer, and Jesse as the game designer, Haxel came into existence. The name Haxel is a combination of the name of Phil’s first game, Axe, and the main inspiration of Haxel, the Halo series. “We are trying to capture pieces of every FPS we have ever loved as well as make the game customizable so the Haxel community can share what environments and game modes they enjoy playing,” Phil explained.
To spur the modding community, Dreamwagon Games plans to include the very tools they used to create Haxel, with every purchase of the game. So far, Haxel is set to include a map editor, modeler, animator, and potentially more. However Haxel will not simply be a box full of modding tools and an empty sandbox, so to speak. Haxel is planned to release with many multiplayer modes including the traditional deathmatch, capture the flag, and free-for-all, as well as modes like “token hunting”, hunter and hunted, and defend the base.
The multiplayer battles will take place either locally, or through Haxelgaming.net for ranked matches.
The guys at Dreamwagon Games are finishing up getting a playable release out for the community to test out, and they are also working on setting up a Kickstarter campaign, which is where Haxel will initially be available from. “The Kickstarter price will be five dollars for the game and the editor. We have not yet finalized a price for the finished version,” Phil said via email.
Phil said early, closed testing, feedback has been great, “…we can’t wait for the broader gaming community to check it out.”
Visit Haxel’s official website, and keep an eye on IGM in the coming weeks, as we continue to cover Haxel’s development.
Tom Christiansen (227 posts)
The Editor in Chief of IGM, Tom is essentially a nerdy Viking. He has a near constant craving for burgers and beer, and satisfies his instinct to pillage and plunder through video games. Tom stands tall, bearded, and doesn't care much for small talk. He loves talking about indie games though, so never hesitate to tweet him: @TomScott90 or email him: tom@indiegamemag(dot)com.