The Looter Dev Update #6: Designing Survival

Welcome back to another devlog. This time we want to talk about survival mechanics in The Looter. My name is Walczak and I handle the programming side of the project. The first idea behind The Looter was simple: let’s make a game like Resident Evil, but in 2D. The main challenge was designing survival systems where the player always has just enough resources to push forward. This is our first game, and we are a small, unknown studio, so we want to make the experience approachable for everyone rather than cranking the difficulty lever too high or turning it into an extreme survival simulator.

In The Looter, resources should be available, but never infinite. Games like Resident Evil or The Last of Us do this extremely well - you usually enter a fight with just enough ammo to survive.

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Early designs of shooting and death animations

CHALLENGES

We want firearms to be the main way of dealing damage, with melee weapons serving as a last resort, support option, or finishing tool. From my own gaming experience, I tend to hoard limited resources like I’m saving them for retirement. I remember playing The Final Station - a game that inspired us a lot - and using melee attacks almost all the time, barely touching my pistol, and God forbid the shotgun. We wanted to avoid this behavior, so we introduced several mechanics that actively encourage players to use firearms.

Using 360 in a different combat scenarios

GIVING THE PLAYER PROBLEMS

One of the best definitions of video games I’ve ever heard is “solving problems for fun.” In The Looter, the core problem is always limited resources. Throughout the game, there are multiple solutions available, and it’s up to the player to decide how to deal with them. Just like in real life, many problems can be solved with money - and our game is no different. Players can buy blueprints that allow them to craft ammo and quick-use items using gathered materials. This introduces meaningful choices. For example, producing handgun ammo and frag grenades requires some of the same materials, so the player must decide which item they prefer.

Steam post image Old art of Looters securing the loot

Another option is upgrading either a weapon’s magazine or the quiver. Magazine upgrades greatly increase ammo capacity for one weapon, while quiver upgrades slightly improve ammo and quick-item capacity across the board.

Steam post image A glimpse at the upgrade menu

AMMO CAPACITY AND STORAGE

Initially, we introduced ammo and quick-item capacity limits (frag grenades, flashbangs, etc.). Once the player reaches the maximum capacity, they can no longer pick up more ammo. This creates the uncomfortable feeling of leaving resources behind, which pushes players to spend ammo more freely. While this helped reduce hoarding, it also created new problems. When players died, they were often left with little or no ammo, and seeing resources they couldn’t pick up felt frustrating. To solve this, we introduced a storage system inspired by FromSoftware games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls. The system works like this: the player still has a maximum carry capacity, but if they pick up ammo or items while at the cap, the excess goes into a virtual storage. Stored resources automatically refill the player’s inventory when space becomes available. This does reintroduce some hoarding behavior, and during QA we observed testers with 200+ handgun ammo. This is something we’re still actively tuning.

Steam post image Display of ammo count in the inventory

FOCUS

Every weapon - melee or firearm - has a powerful alternative mode. The Focus bar fills when the player defeats enemies, destroys crates, or uses Focus items. When the bar is full, the player gains a Focus point. Focus points can be spent on alternative firing modes for firearms or buffs for melee weapons. Using a firearm’s Focus mode also grants extra ammo “from thin air,” making it a deliberate way to conserve resources.

CORE WEAPONS

The foundation of The Looter is simple: enemies chase the player once they spot them, and you must take them down before they reach you. To keep combat engaging, each weapon comes with its own attachments, upgrades, and quirks.

Handgun A reliable all-rounder that can carry you through the entire game. It offers solid damage, widely available ammo, and multiple upgrade paths. Attachments include a laser sight for extra precision and a three-round burst mode for dealing quick damage. Inspired by the USP Compact pistol that Leonardo Di Caprio uses in the Blood Diamond movie. Steam post image

Shotgun The king of close-quarters combat. At short range, it can hit multiple targets and deal tremendous damage. However, it’s ineffective at long range, making it a high-risk, high-reward weapon. Attachments improve fire rate, and the Focus mod Dragon Breath adds a burning effect to the shots, making it extremely deadly. Inspired by KS-23 Shotgun.

Rifle A fast-firing, spray-and-pray weapon with noticeable initial recoil. This can be reduced by attaching a grip. Its Focus firing mode launches a powerful rocket-like projectile that sets enemies on fire. The rifle is inspired by Polish wz. 96 Beryl.

MELEE WEAPONS

There will be two melee weapons in the game:

• Knife – A fast starter weapon with low damage that can be temporarily buffed using Focus points.

• Axe – A heavier weapon focused on raw damage. Its Focus buff improves damage negation.

360° AIMING

One of the biggest design decisions when making a 2D shooter is the aiming system. We decided to allow free 360-degree aiming. This makes gameplay more dynamic and opens up a lot of design possibilities. Players can shoot padlocks to unlock ladders or knock down hidden treasures, similar to Resident Evil 4. It also allows us to build mechanics like precise weak-point hits and stuns. Other games that inspired our 360 aiming were Shadow Complex, Apotheon, The Final Station and Rochard.

Handgun aim, shoot and reload animations

FINISHERS

To make combat more engaging and encourage melee usage, we introduced a Finisher system. Most enemies have vulnerable spots, such as heads or glowing bubbles. Shooting these spots fills a stun meter. This mechanic is inspired by modern God of War titles. Once the stun bar is full, the enemy is temporarily stunned, allowing the player to perform a powerful finisher. This is also an effective way to save ammo. Players can also trigger stuns using flashbangs or environmental hazards like explosive barrels.

Unique brutal death animation

There are also unique finisher death animations for the axe. Currently, players need to unlock the ability to perform finishers, and to be honest, we’re still debating this decision. From one point of view it is nice that players will unlock the new mechanic and get a feeling of getting more powerful and progressing. The disadvantages are that finishers are really cool looking. Jaime Greisemer the legendary designer of Halo games once said that the most important for the players is the 30 second loop of the game. After seeing that most of the people know whether they want to continue playing or not. We want to implement the finishers in this 30 second loop. First things the player will do will be to shoot the enemy, get the stun (it can be scripted regardless if it was headshot or not), perform a cool finishing move and collect some loot. The 30 second rule was introduced some time ago when the game market was not as saturated as today so the battle for player engagement is even harder now. Another problem with locking finishers behind an upgrade can be a possibility that some players will never find the upgrade material thus never see one of the coolest mechanics in The Looter.

Old capture of flashbang stun gameplay

THE CAMPING PROBLEM

The Looter is a 2D platformer with 360-degree aiming, which naturally introduces camping issues. Players can exploit high ground or ceiling spots to safely attack enemies, sometimes making combat feel “cheesy”.

Old art of Looters camping

We try to minimize this through enemy placement, but sometimes it’s unavoidable - and can even feel like a reward for smart positioning. The key is making enemies react appropriately, such as retreating or moving unpredictably. Enemies that don’t respond to being shot feel strange and unpolished, so reaction is essential.

Shotgun in action

FINAL THOUGHTS

Looking back, we think we’ve landed on some solid combat and survival mechanics. This was one of our biggest problems during the game development cycle. For months - maybe even years - we were hesitant to show The Looter because we felt the combat was dry and uninteresting. Another fear was the lack of enemy variety. At the moment we achieved an interesting and in some ways unique combat and survival mechanics. We still need broader playtests, but the foundation is finally there.

The Looter