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[Turfster]

Here it is!

There Came an Echo Vertical Slice

Be nice ; ;

I love the banter! It wasn't entirely clear who Val was at the beginning, though. I thought a woman was demoing the game at first
Music seems slightly too loud compared to the voices, even after the fade, but that might just be me.
I'm wondering how well the voice recognition would work for me, but I'm really looking forward to trying

 

[Feep]

I love the banter! It wasn't entirely clear who Val was at the beginning, though. I thought a woman was demoing the game at first
Music seems slightly too loud compared to the voices, even after the fade, but that might just be me.
I'm wondering how well the voice recognition would work for me, but I'm really looking forward to trying

Yeah, all four voice actors used different mics (just friends helping out), and I didn't really bother with levels too much. = D

 

[Ashodin]

This will not be a requested feature at all, because it will be in the game. >.>

oh well then! That settles that.

I love the banter! It wasn't entirely clear who Val was at the beginning, though. I thought a woman was demoing the game at first
Music seems slightly too loud compared to the voices, even after the fade, but that might just be me.
I'm wondering how well the voice recognition would work for me, but I'm really looking forward to trying

Audio mixdowns and fixes will come later as the game gets ready for release. Right now it's all just placeholder.

 

[Makai]

I just got a call back from Nintendo. After a month of that application being in the back of my mind, it was shocking to hear from them so suddenly. Shocking and paralyzing.

I... I think I'm allowed to make something now, I think.

Yeah, I was surprised. Unlike you, though, I assumed I had been given a silent rejection after a week of no response. I had completely forgotten I had even applied.

 

[Turfster]

Audio mixdowns and fixes will come later as the game gets ready for release. Right now it's all just placeholder.

Yeah, I figured.
I had to say something besides "I want it now!!!", right?
Now back to rewriting a complex economic agent system that my colleague always manages to break in ways I can't reproduce...

 

[Five]

That looks and sounds really good, Feep! I look forward to playing it when you finish.

 

[Jobbs]

Here it is!

There Came an Echo Vertical Slice

Be nice ; ;

Nice work Feep. I know you said this is mostly placeholder, or virtually all placeholder, but I'd still like to emphasize my own strong preference for some nice feedback when someone shoots someone else -- this should feel consequential, we should feel the impact. This could mean some nice blood and gore (not sure what rating you're after) or it could not mean that, but either way I think we need some nice impact and feedback to it. In the course of the game you'll be shooting a lot of people so it should be really satisfying.

I feel like this is something of such high importance for games, and so many games don't seem to "get it". Again, I know this is all placeholder and you could be way ahead of me, but that's just my two cents based on the material available.

 

[Feep]

Nice work Feep. I know you said this is mostly placeholder, or virtually all placeholder, but I'd still like to emphasize my own strong preference for some nice feedback when someone shoots someone else -- this should feel consequential, we should feel the impact. This could mean some nice blood and gore (not sure what rating you're after) or it could not mean that, but either way I think we need some nice impact and feedback to it. In the course of the game you'll be shooting a lot of people so it should be really satisfying.

I feel like this is something of such high importance for games, and so many games don't seem to "get it". Again, I know this is all placeholder and you could be way ahead of me, but that's just my two cents based on the material available.

I do appreciate the feedback, and I agree, there's no visceral impact whatsoever when a bullet hits. The bullet effects are going to change significantly, which is why I haven't done anything, but at the very least a burst of light and a sound effect will be added, and likely I'll be doing more work with the "faint" animations. (We have one where the guy goes flying back, but they were clipping right through walls and stuff.)

I'll likely do raycasts around the soldiers to see which animations are "safe". = D

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Blizzard]

Yeah, I was surprised. Unlike you, though, I assumed I had been given a silent rejection after a week of no response. I had completely forgotten I had even applied.

I keep checking my email, since I haven't gotten anything in a week or two. I'm hoping I get the same month of silence and then an email asking about a time to call.

 

[Raonak]

wow Feep, that looks fantastic!

 

[scaffa]

that building has an eyepatch o_x

It sure does. Wanted to give the buildings a bit more of a wacky look. And one way to fix a broken window is with an eyepatch

 

[Chris_Bischoff]

Hey guys, just want to throw my hat in the ring as well!

Here is the info directly from the website:

John Maracheck awakes from Stasis on the Groomlake, a seemingly derelict spacecraft.
This repurposed mining ship, conveniently outside of the jurisdictional influence of Earth, is in a decaying orbit around the gas giant – Neptune.

Cayne Corporation is a trillion dollar, multinational company which has played a pivotal role in human technological, medical and scientific advancement for decades. The Groomlake is operated by this conglomerate and provides a secret platform for horrific experimentation and illicit research.

John is in tremendous pain, his wife and daughter are missing and time is running out as the Groomlake plunges further into the swirling blue methane clouds.

Stasis is an upcoming 2D adventure game by indie developer – Christopher Bischoff.

Taking control of John, the player must interact with the environment and complete puzzles to progress further in the story and explore the Groomlake’s mysteries.

The graphics are created from highly detailed, two-dimensional artwork that is drawn from an isometric view point.

Inspired by the adventure game Sanitarium and the art of Crusader No Remorse; Stasis has a unique visual aesthetic that brings this horrifying tale to life.

Stasis has been a passion for almost three years. Chris, a 3D artist by trade, has spent a year of his free time in graphics research and story design and a further two years creating the graphic content for the game.

Stasis delves into the struggle between good and evil while delivering a fun and challenging adventure experience and an epically engaging story.

The world of Stasis harkens back to Sci-Fi classics like Alien, Event Horizon and Sunshine.
It is set in a time of blurred morality, where corporate pursuit of profit outweigh the rights of the few.
In this dystopian future, an ordinary man must make the best of an extraordinary situation and save his family.

And some screenshots for good measure!

Im currently using VISIONIARE ( http://www.visionaire-studio.net/ ) to create the game. Its an AMAZING program, and if there is anyone with no programming knowledge, and you want to create an Adventure Game, there is no contest for a better engine!

Games Website: www.stasisgame.com

-Chris

 

[Servbot24]

Damn son. How big is your team?

 

[F-Pina]

Hey guys, just want to throw my hat in the ring as well!

Here is the info directly from the website:

And some screenshots for good measure!

Im currently using VISIONIARE ( http://www.visionaire-studio.net/ ) to create the game. Its an AMAZING program, and if there is anyone with no programming knowledge, and you want to create an Adventure Game, there is no contest for a better engine!

Games Website: www.stasisgame.com

-Chris

Chris dude, this is amazing work you are doing here. Congratulations.
One thing that you shows us all, is that we are all finally coming to the age where artists can create a game without a programmer.

I hope everything goes well on the finishing stages and publishing.
I also believe, you will get your funds on kickstarter easily dude

Cheers!

 

[Chris_Bischoff]

Damn son. How big is your team?

Its just me so far, but if I get funding I do hope to be able to bring on a professional musician for the Soundtrack!
Ive done all of the ambient music myself, but when it comes to actual musical compositions, I'm pretty shyte.

Chris dude, this is amazing work you are doing here. Congratulations.
One thing that you shows us all, is that we are all finally coming to the age where artists can create a game without a programmer.

I hope everything goes well on the finishing stages and publishing.
I also believe, you will get your funds on kickstarter easily dude

Cheers!

Thanks man!
Yeah-with the tools we now have access to, individual artists can really produce some incredible stuff! It feels like we are back in the early days of Team 17, and id, where the next big games will come from small, passionate teams. Its a truly exciting time to be an artist!

And thanks very much for the confidence on the Kickstarter! Its a truly terrifying experience to put the game out there, and hope that people will respond...but incredibly exciting! The support that the different gaming communities have shown is just awesome.

 

[Feep]

Awesome things

Hey, welcome! And congratulations on your progress thus far; everything looks fantastic! But if I may offer a point of critique...

Adventure games are very dependent on their writing to be awesome. I have no real evidence of the level of quality of your writing in general (I'm sure it's good!), but I do think a copy editor might be able to help you. The line above,

"OK John, when the airlock opens you're going to get sucked out. Are you ready?"

Should probably be written as

"Okay, John. When the airlock opens, you're going to get sucked out. Are you ready?"

The second reads much more professionally, even though they're the same actual words (which are totally fine, I might add). This kind of polish is extremely important for me in writing, and I'd imagine others as well.

You might be able to do it yourself, and if so, great! But make sure promotional materials you send out are as high-quality as possible.

Also seriously the game looks rad and I am very much looking forward to playing it. = D

 

[Chris_Bischoff]

Hey, welcome! And congratulations on your progress thus far; everything looks fantastic! But if I may offer a point of critique...

Adventure games are very dependent on their writing to be awesome. I have no real evidence of the level of quality of your writing in general (I'm sure it's good!), but I do think a copy editor might be able to help you. The line above,

"OK John, when the airlock opens you're going to get sucked out. Are you ready?"

Should probably be written as

"Okay, John. When the airlock opens, you're going to get sucked out. Are you ready?"

The second reads much more professionally, even though they're the same actual words (which are totally fine, I might add). This kind of polish is extremely important for me in writing, and I'd imagine others as well.

You might be able to do it yourself, and if so, great! But make sure promotional materials you send out are as high-quality as possible.

Also seriously the game looks rad and I am very much looking forward to playing it. = D

A completely fair point! So much so, that one of the things I will be spending the KS funds on is a professional copy editor and writer to give the dialogue and all the in game writing a much needed level of polish.

 

[missile]

Here it is!

There Came an Echo Vertical Slice

Be nice ; ;

I see quite some potential in this game, but I also see all the work neccesary
to realize it. If you guys can replicate the concept image in-game, or even
improve on it, the game will be kicking!

 

[TheHollowNight]

That's good to hear
So it is UE4 then?

Can't wait for the release of UE4 myself, mainly also because they ditched UnrealScript. It's been over a year since I saw the demo at GDC, I miss it

We've no idea if we will actually get it early or anything. Hopefully! But that's most likely what we're discussing next Tuesday in our conference call. Fingers crossed. We're already making use of the current UDK to port art assets over and set up the packages and folder structure so it's less hassle if and when we eventually upgrade to UE4. We will move to it once it's publicly available anyway if we aren't able to get it at the present time.

I'm quietly optimistic though, all of this shitstorm has ignited a fire within the team, and I'm really looking forward to the quality of visuals we can pull off with Unreal in comparison.

 

[Hazaro]

@Chris Hot damn.

@Feep Have you thought about blending checkpoint names to art assets in the game? e.g. Stencil style A2, B4, etc on walls? I can understand visibility and reaction time being drastically worse though

 

[BurritoBushido]

Im currently using VISIONIARE ( http://www.visionaire-studio.net/ ) to create the game. Its an AMAZING program, and if there is anyone with no programming knowledge, and you want to create an Adventure Game, there is no contest for a better engine!

Games Website: www.stasisgame.com

-Chris

Awesome stuff, dude. Really brilliant work. I looked at Visonaire a while back, does it still only export to PC? It would be really killer if they could export to mobile. Adventure games are such a great fit for tablets

 

[Turfster]

One thing that you shows us all, is that we are all finally coming to the age where artists can create a game without a programmer.

As a programmer without an artist (or an artistic bone in my body), I am unsure how I feel about that. I wish the other way around worked more often too!
Great work tho, Chris, it looks amazing and I definitely want to play it.

 

[Servbot24]

As a programmer without an artist (or an artistic bone in my body), I am unsure how I feel about that. I wish the other way around worked more often too!
Great work tho, Chris, it looks amazing and I definitely want to play it.

The artist will probably always have to learn some basic programming. And the programmer can also do some basic art.

 

[Lautaro]

The artist will probably always have to learn some basic programming. And the programmer can also do some basic art.

So the artist end up with a shitty programmer and the programmer ends up with a shitty artist. Everybody wins! (jk)

 

[RelentlessRolento]

Never heard of visionare studio so I'll be adding to my presentation for next week. I'm doing an artist's visual programming workshop... but not for gaming artists but contemporary art people.

awesome work!

 

[Turfster]

The artist will probably always have to learn some basic programming. And the programmer can also do some basic art.

Basic art takes ages for me (like, a day or two to do something a 'real' artist would probably do in a few hours), and never looks very good in the end

 

[Jackano]

Yeah, I was surprised. Unlike you, though, I assumed I had been given a silent rejection after a week of no response. I had completely forgotten I had even applied.

I keep checking my email, since I haven't gotten anything in a week or two. I'm hoping I get the same month of silence and then an email asking about a time to call.

Just be patient. Iwata specifically said back in June iirc, that Nintendo handled previously experienced developers/companies before the rest.
As for me, I applied back at the GDC in March, no response until this September (see my posts in the NWF thread), then my appliance got back and forth between NoA and NoE, then a couple days ago I have been approved (without the phone call lol).


So I just registered to an indie devs event near Paris at the end of the month. Not cheap (enter ticket is 75€ / $100) but I will be able to stay for the entiere first day, probably something good to ear there.

 

[Lautaro]

Basic art takes ages for me (like, a day or two to do something a 'real' artist would probably do in a few hours), and never looks very good in the end

It's the same for me, I just think that believing that you can replace a programmer with a tool is as wrong as me saying that I can replace an artist because I can model a few things in Blender. It ties you to absurdly simple projects because anything more complex will leave you stuck.

 

[Jobbs]

Hey guys, just want to throw my hat in the ring as well!

And some screenshots for good measure!

...

Games Website: www.stasisgame.com

-Chris

OUTSTANDING! Truly outstanding. I will buy it at a high price.

 

[Ashodin]

Here it is... my first Apexicon Trailer.

http://youtu.be/qBtr1H334m0

Be nice everyone. Also it contains a big fact:

I'm going to launch the Kickstarter for the game on November 1st.

As always, if one of you great GAFers would love to start the thread for it when we get closer to November, that would be awesome.

 

[pixelpai]

Here it is... my first Apexicon Trailer.

http://youtu.be/qBtr1H334m0

Be nice everyone. Also it contains a big fact:

I'm going to launch the Kickstarter for the game on November 1st.

As always, if one of you great GAFers would love to start the thread for it when we get closer to November, that would be awesome.

Saw the trailer and I think you have a really great concept going on there. I also like the art and the presentation; reminds me somehow of the dialogs in Fire Emblem. Thumbs up.

 

[Ashodin]

Saw the trailer and I think you have a really great concept going on there. I also like the art and the presentation; reminds me somehow of the dialogs in Fire Emblem. Thumbs up.

Thanks a lot! I've been working hard since June on the game, and I really want to lift it off the ground!

 

[Feep]

DAT TEXT ADVANCE SOUND EFFECT

I will back it with the force of a thousand wordsmiths

 

[Ashodin]

DAT TEXT ADVANCE SOUND EFFECT

I will back it with the force of a thousand wordsmiths

If Feep loves it, I'm golden

 

[Blizzard]

Hey guys, just want to throw my hat in the ring as well!

Here is the info directly from the website:



And some screenshots for good measure!

Im currently using VISIONIARE ( http://www.visionaire-studio.net/ ) to create the game. Its an AMAZING program, and if there is anyone with no programming knowledge, and you want to create an Adventure Game, there is no contest for a better engine!

Games Website: www.stasisgame.com

-Chris

Your art is fantastic, great work. I can only program so maybe I should fear for my job (or take up making tools).


And just after asking yesterday in this thread, today I got the call from Nintendo! I get to sign up for the Wii-U developer stuff and look into getting a devkit. I got lucky in not being at work or something. They called without warning after work, and the guy was really nice.

 

[toddhunter]

Basic art takes ages for me (like, a day or two to do something a 'real' artist would probably do in a few hours), and never looks very good in the end

That has always been my problem. I'd code up the game engine and then end up with something that looked awful and get discouraged :|

After all, you can always hide bad code if it still works. If anybody ever needs help in that regard hit me up. I've done a few bits and pieces for projects before when people are stuck.

 

[gfdoom]

If you can believe it, I have all 8 aims for this done, 8 angles for aerial shooting, and 8 angles for crouch shooting.. oy...

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this character. Most of what I have to do now is the "fun" stuff that doesn't involve aiming.

umm wow!!! these are excellent! I just discovered this thread and I'm blown away at the hotness coming from you guys. I know you had a WiiU stretch goal that didn't quite make it, but I hope it'll find it's way to the system someday cuz it's an automatic day one purchase for me!

 

[Popstar]

I was thinking of making a very teeny tiny iOS game (on the side from my main project) to teach myself one of the various open source frameworks available.

But which framework IndieGAF? Cocos2D-x seems pretty popular? Any other recommendations for a C++ programmer?

 

[Blizzard]

After setting up an account and looking through the Wii U developer website, I just want to say that the whole process and agreements seem super reasonable for developers.

I don't know how much market is there for Wii-U eShop games, but at the very least I get a good impression about the whole devkit/SDK/website/Nintendo setup. I hope whatever group is running it gets some success from their efforts.

 

[missile]

... One thing that you shows us all, is that we are all finally coming to the age where artists can create a game without a programmer. ...

That's an interesting proposition! And I think there is some truth to it given
all the tools available. However. Just because an artist can push the buttons
of a tool doesn't mean (s)he will make a good game, likewise with pushing the
buttons on a digicam won't make you a photographer all of a sudden. I expect
that many games will come from such artists over the years, yet they will face
difficulty to stood out of the masses of all the artists now making games with
likewise tools, since, despite different in art style, they will likely use
similar predefined mechanics, etc. offered by the tool and as such these games
might be similar within this regard. This might be sufficient, yet I think to
differentiate from the pack you have to come up with something more
interesting than all the other artists do, i.e. going beyond the predefined
stuff the tool has to offer, which may likely push the artist into programming
practice to make his game distinguish from many others. So to build sort of a
unique game the artist might become a programmer as well, or (s)he may work
together with a good programmer. But if you look at it, this isn't much
different from today's or yesterday's practice. What's different is the vector
of approach in making games. In the end the artist will need sort of some
programming skills and the programmer some sort of artist skills do build
something that distinguishes from the pack. So having an artist who
understands a little about programming and a programmer who understands a
little about art might perhaps be a very good combination. And I can't see how
this differs from today's practice across all major studios building
successful games.

 

[scaffa]

It's Saturday and here's a screenshot. Started working on a different store yesterday and here is the result so far. I hope it's clear what type of what store it is Not liking the character much, going to change that today I think.

 

[Bamihap]

Our game Ichi got featured by Google:

It took 1.5 year and 20+ adjustments to the game, but we finally got a feature in all major stores

 

[MrOddbird]

It's still Saturday right?

 

[Turfster]

That has always been my problem. I'd code up the game engine and then end up with something that looked awful and get discouraged :|

After all, you can always hide bad code if it still works.

Exactly. Some bits of my code might be Kludgemonsters from hell, but the only one that'll ever see them will be me (and maybe some other poor soul that got roped into working on it), and as long as they do what's expected of them, nobody will care.
If my stick figures walk around as if they're constantly being tasered, though...

 

[Mikado]

Is 'dat sum #screengifsaturday?

I updated the player's model and redid her running and dodging animations for Canto this week. Feels much better already.

This upcoming week is combat animation overhaul (maybe I'll finally get rid of the sailor-moon twirl attack my partner has been razzing me about for a year now hah).

 

[Jobbs]

Is 'dat sum #screengifsaturday?

I updated the player's model and redid her running and dodging animations for Canto this week. Feels much better already.

This upcoming week is combat animation overhaul (maybe I'll finally get rid of the sailor-moon twirl attack my partner has been razzing me about for a year now hah).

woh woh woh! stop the clock! what the heck is this game? how many people are making it? it looks badass.

 

[Piercedveil]

This looks insane! Really nice work.

 

[Mikado]

woh woh woh! stop the clock! what the heck is this game? how many people are making it? it looks badass.

This is Canto, the game my wife and I dropped out of society to build haha. At its peak there were roughly five people working on it (the two of us and some part-time contractors).

These days there's just the two of us.

 

[Turfster]

This is Canto, the game my wife and I dropped out of society to build haha. At its peak there were roughly five people working on it (the two of us and some part-time contractors).

These days there's just the two of us.

Holy cripes that is beautiful...
I'm so jealous now (Note to self: find artistic wife, since I can do the coding

 

[Feep]

Is 'dat sum #screengifsaturday?

I updated the player's model and redid her running and dodging animations for Canto this week. Feels much better already.

This upcoming week is combat animation overhaul (maybe I'll finally get rid of the sailor-moon twirl attack my partner has been razzing me about for a year now hah).

It's almost ludicrous for me to give a critique on such an absurdly beautiful game, but if anything, I would tone down those leaf explosion footsteps. There aren't any leaves on the ground, and those things are rocketing upward. Maybe for the roll it's okay.