End of July-August sound like a good idea to me. Can't guarantee I'd participate, but then again it might make for a nice change of pace, especially if we try to do some collabs!
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GAF Indie Game Development Thread 2: High Res Work for Low Res Pay
- Thread starter Jacksinthe
- Start date
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End of July-August sound like a good idea to me. Can't guarantee I'd participate, but then again it might make for a nice change of pace, especially if we try to do some collabs!
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Thanks!
Not that much really, the hair now moves (was static before) and some small details here and there. The animations that were more changed where the 2 charged specials (for example, it didnt had the OK light effect, so now yo really know when is ok to let it go to throw the special punch as its time sensitive), and the hit damage one that was totally different before.
He has in total 30 separate animations.
Mental Atrophy
Banned
Wanted to give arrow projectiles a nice arc, but since it's just a visual animation for a 2D game I didn't want to bother doing any kinematics or proper physics. Opted to just make it a function of sin multiplied by the distance such that larger distances produce higher peaks. Lazy and it looks good enough. Also modified my screen shake object so it can be attached to anything that has an x and y coordinate, so I can rumble anything and everything. Haven't done much programming lately so this was pretty good for a short session.
Mystic River
Member
using same settings, then my guess is that your gif doesn't have too many colors in general so 256 colors may fit cartoon style, but I get some strange things due to the number of colors, maybe the color reduction algorithm doesn't place nice to me :-/
That's weird. I'll check it out. I'm not really doing anything special in the code that would cause that. I wonder if it's because WebGL is in preview mode on Unity?
Here's the standalone builds and the Unity web player version. I only had time to test the windows build since I'm already working on Star Blaster 2. Still doesn't go past the 2nd stage either.
Mac
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wc42vcvcq8crvai/StarBlasterMac.zip?dl=0
Linux
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k86r6mseeg2xsa3/StarBlasterLinux.zip?dl=0
PC
https://www.dropbox.com/s/148shdid0vpmmo1/StarBlasterWin.zip?dl=0
Unity Player - says development build even though I didn't release it that way. There is a null reference exception in the game over screen but it's fine.
http://thefreesignal.com/sb/Browser.html
Jacksinthe
Banned
This might be a good time to discuss source control in this thread, and how everyone should use it all the time
Perforce is free for up to 20 users if you want local control, very powerful and great at dealing with large repositories. There are also online places that are cheap/free and mainly used for code repositories, though I have less experience with online solutions.
Source control is great. I have had nothing but issues with it. Our previous project was fine using Bitbucket and GIT - our current broject never wants to upload or download correctly. Lots of missing files, sometimes SourceTree just hangs forever. Try doing it manually from bash and I get errors, etc.
I've created and re-initialized several times, checked all of my settings over again - it just doesn't like this project for some reason. Don't know why. So I just backup and handle my own version control locally as well as keep nightly backups of the project (every night) online and on backup storage here. I am redundant 3x.
I liked using BitBucket but it has given me nothing but issues alongside SourceTree. Curious if it is a Win 8.1 issue as I've switched from 7 between projects. Don't know. At this point don't care to know. I've done it a billion times without fail but this time it's been giving me hell forever.
/shrug
I still recommend it, though. Online and local source control is important.
theepicoftyler
Member
Perhaps this isn't the best place to ask this, but I hope I can gain some insight. It's not game development related, but hear me out...
So I work at a public research institution as a geologist, and I've been exploring applying terrestrial or close-range photogrammetry to problems in geology. It's been great so far, I've modeled some rock samples, and I'm working on modelling some large bedrock outcrops now. (The idea is to remove some of the estimation of field geologist, by bringing back a to-scale 3D model that we can make precise measurements with).
The issue I am having is that I am taking the processing time to generated the highest resolution models I can, which is fine for my uses, but it's making in hard to share my work with others due to file size contraints and the fact that some computers just can't handle that complex of files. Here is a model I've generated; keep in mind that this sample is about a foot long at it's widest point: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ocfc4gvokyl3wb5/quartzmuscovite.pdf?dl=0 (Also, I don't know if PDF is a good way to display these models, but I don't know a way to send them around to people other than this at the moment). If you look at the wireframe, it's a huge amount of triangles for such a small object. If I pull this model into a 3D modeling suite of some sort, is there an easy way to reduce the amount of triangles while maintaining as much integrity to the geometry as possible? Or would I need to d a lot of tweaking by hand?
Thanks to anyone who can provide some insight.
So I work at a public research institution as a geologist, and I've been exploring applying terrestrial or close-range photogrammetry to problems in geology. It's been great so far, I've modeled some rock samples, and I'm working on modelling some large bedrock outcrops now. (The idea is to remove some of the estimation of field geologist, by bringing back a to-scale 3D model that we can make precise measurements with).
The issue I am having is that I am taking the processing time to generated the highest resolution models I can, which is fine for my uses, but it's making in hard to share my work with others due to file size contraints and the fact that some computers just can't handle that complex of files. Here is a model I've generated; keep in mind that this sample is about a foot long at it's widest point: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ocfc4gvokyl3wb5/quartzmuscovite.pdf?dl=0 (Also, I don't know if PDF is a good way to display these models, but I don't know a way to send them around to people other than this at the moment). If you look at the wireframe, it's a huge amount of triangles for such a small object. If I pull this model into a 3D modeling suite of some sort, is there an easy way to reduce the amount of triangles while maintaining as much integrity to the geometry as possible? Or would I need to d a lot of tweaking by hand?
Thanks to anyone who can provide some insight.
I wasn't able to see the model in the PDF (my PDF reader probably doesn't support 3D) but yeah, it should be easy to reduce the geometry.
It's a common workflow now to create initial 3D models without worrying about polygons in a "sculpting" tool and reduce later. Most modeling packages will include some sort of mesh decimation tools / retopology tools (as an example: decimation in Maya or retopology in 3D Coat).
Retopology generally implies a more manual but more controllable process than mesh decimation.
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
You can write your own shaders. They are basically config files. If you do that you can write it to have exactly the properties you need and then users just need to choose this shader and don't have to pick any options in the Advanced-Shader. I can't really help with those custom shaders though, because I only experimented with it once (basically building a variant of the 2D/Sprite shader which I then did not need because the GUI shader did what I needed).
I noticed that SourceTree sometimes is a bit buggy.
I've been using TortoiseHG ever since and that works a whole lot better. SourceTree also has load issues when you have lots of files which I don't have with TortoiseHG.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Trying this today. Thanks for the heads-up, Unain!!
Mikado
Member
Yeah, I know it might be possible to do with shaders, but I've only learned the very basics of Unity shader programming in college, so I still can't code specific things for things such as this. It'll probably be worth looking into it, though, since asking users to use advanced import settings might put the off of trying some of the features that require it.
Still, that is something that could've be fixed if only Unity decided to not force "clamp" import settings for sprites and UI textures...
ken_matthews
Member
I finally brought the team to appreciate that merge dinosaurs and lasers is a good thing!
That's awesome!
So cute. ❤️️
Is this the same game you've been working on for awhile or something new?
Mikado
Member
Haha thanks. This is technically something new. A long-weekend prototype put together to try out some more interesting physics-based locomotion.
Bonus: 1st Person vomitcam.
I was running this on a three monitor setup at the office the other day and had to go lie down for a bit after a few minutes of playing it.
Vive/HTC GOTY material right there.
jimmythepage
Member
ahah thanks! I still wonder why the team was so against them xD
SeanNoonan
Member
Regarding source control, I've been using perforce with Unreal and have had zero problems so far. Thoroughly recommend setting up a perforce server.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Things
HellBlazer
Member
Just FYI Ludum Dare is August 21-24, so you might not want to do it too close to that.
theepicoftyler
Member
Thanks! Is there a way to do this in Blender or another free software solution? I don't have access to a Maya license.
ken_matthews
Member
Started working on the space station interior for our game. Here's the basic layout for a bar on the station. Its far from complete, and so far, I've only made one texture for the stool cushion (I hate UV and texture mapping....). I just threw in our game character reference to make sure everything is the correct scale. The background and lighting are placeholders (just to get a better sense as I model) till the assets are mapped and imported into UE4. I plan on adding some sort of arcade game/ATM and a counter that runs along the left side. Still not sure how I want to design behind the bar.
Very nice. What are you using to make this?
Because I would like to work in something where you assemble machines and movement is controlled by physics but I doubt that I can cut it with Unity's rigidbodies (ofc I haven't tried it so I don't know).
Mikado
Member
Its far from complete, and so far, I've only made one texture for the stool cushion (I hate UV and texture mapping....).
Nice. Have you tried Substance Designer? I tried the demo, but I'm not sure if it will really solve all our texturing problems. Seems like it mostly moves the work from the art domain to the tech-art domain (where we're already over subscribed). That being said, it seems like it could be pretty useful if you need to make custom textures for a bunch of mechanical objects.
It's using Bullet physics in our own engine. The hull is a dynamic rigid body but the legs are simulated with a bunch of convex sweep tests and internal magic which ultimately apply forces to the hull. No Bullet constraints or anything. I'm not normally a big fan of physics-driven character movement, but it's great for vehicles. I like to keep as much stuff as possible out of the physics engine's domain and keep it in the application-level code where we have control over it.
ken_matthews
Member
I looked into it a while back and considered it, especially since they have a plugin for UE4, but ultimately decided not to. I think we're are going to keep our base materials relatively simple with only color and normal maps, (maybe some speculars), and utilize the PBR work flow in Unreal, then use decals and material layers to drive variety. And honestly, I feel like I do not have any more neurons to spare for learning a new program. Between UE4, Maya, Mudbox, Motiobuilder, Ipi Mocap Studio, Photoshop, Marvellous Designer, Cubase, and a bunch of technical applications I deal with at work, I don't have the energy to get proficient in another one, nor do I think my brain can handle it. I might be tapped out....
It's certainly my favorite so far; great stuff. I mostly suck at commenting on or giving feedback for art, but I really can't think of anything else to say, I really like the style.
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
Though I haven't used it for a game, I have played around with Substance Designer quite a bit, and I really like it. Really simple to use. Nice node system, and you can bake all of your maps directly within it. There are some really good video tutorials for it too.
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
I have read that Nintendo announced in march that they will join IARC in order to make international age ratings for downloadable games free for the developer on the eShop. However, they are still not listed on the IARC page as a partner, only the Google Play Store and the Firefox Store are listed there. Is there anything known when they are expected to join IARC? Considering I'm from Germany and would like to have my game on the German eShop, find it highly unlikely to earn back the 1200 it costs to have an age rating in Germany otherwise (let alone earning this amount of money just from German buyers), this is quite a relevant thing for me. Developing a game just for fun is really costly if you add up costs for age ratings and what I assume is the cost for a Wii U dev kit...
Also, in case someone has already gone through the age rating questionnaire of IARC via Google Play Story: Are you allowed to share the questions one has to answer? If not, can you tell me if there is anything abotu religious content in it? I think my game will not have any problems with sexual content (I guess a tank top on a sprite is no nudity), violence (very abstract) or drugs (do not play a role in the game), but religion - a fantasy one with elements from christianity and hinduism - plays a big role in the story and I vaguely remember Nintendo was said to be very allergic to that in the US in the 90s - I wouldn't want the game to be banned in the US due to religious content, so it might be important to plan on this in advance while writing the story.
Also, in case someone has already gone through the age rating questionnaire of IARC via Google Play Story: Are you allowed to share the questions one has to answer? If not, can you tell me if there is anything abotu religious content in it? I think my game will not have any problems with sexual content (I guess a tank top on a sprite is no nudity), violence (very abstract) or drugs (do not play a role in the game), but religion - a fantasy one with elements from christianity and hinduism - plays a big role in the story and I vaguely remember Nintendo was said to be very allergic to that in the US in the 90s - I wouldn't want the game to be banned in the US due to religious content, so it might be important to plan on this in advance while writing the story.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Yeah, good call
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Haha thanks. This is technically something new. A long-weekend prototype put together to try out some more interesting physics-based locomotion.
Bonus: 1st Person vomitcam.
I was running this on a three monitor setup at the office the other day and had to go lie down for a bit after a few minutes of playing it.
Vive/HTC GOTY material right there.
That really cool! Thinking of VR?
Started working on the space station interior for our game. Here's the basic layout for a bar on the station. Its far from complete, and so far, I've only made one texture for the stool cushion (I hate UV and texture mapping....). I just threw in our game character reference to make sure everything is the correct scale. The background and lighting are placeholders (just to get a better sense as I model) till the assets are mapped and imported into UE4. I plan on adding some sort of arcade game/ATM and a counter that runs along the left side. Still not sure how I want to design behind the bar.
I really like this scifi bar. And yeah, texture mapping is sometimes bothersome, had some problem when I was trying to make the town for another game.
Portrait to fit the new Artstyle.
Does she look good enough?
New Avatar too haha
So smoooth
And a new cool character! And thanks for the animation compliments!
Mystic River
Member
Haha thanks. This is technically something new. A long-weekend prototype put together to try out some more interesting physics-based locomotion.
Bonus: 1st Person vomitcam.
I was running this on a three monitor setup at the office the other day and had to go lie down for a bit after a few minutes of playing it.
Vive/HTC GOTY material right there.
now it all makes sense finally! there aren't any real heaxapod tanks because the crew will be vomiting inside! what an enlightened post
looks nice but I don't think I can play it for more than a few minutes, that's a good idea! I can add a vomiting arcade machine into my game lol!Jacksinthe
Banned
Doing things.
Let there be waves!
Mikado
Member
I really like heavy "switchology" type sims like the DCS series, but I'm not sure how well they work with VR headsets, since the VR controller/manipulators aren't precise enough yet to actuate sophisticated in-world cockpit controls, and you can't see your real-world hotas or keyboard.
I got a chance to try out Valve's Magic Hat and while the control system is way better than any other VR solution I've seen, it's still a bit frustrating to manipulate tiny objects - feels sort of like interacting with the world with salad tongs. I'm not sure that trying to operate anything more complex than a joystick or lever would feel too good. I wonder what the solution will be to this down the road? Maybe including finger pose data somehow (so you can poke and point at things?)
In the meantime, we do have TrackIR support running though, which is a reasonable compromise I guess.
Just experimental. The cool thing is that the stretch is done with a 1:1 copy
of Bresenham's line drawing algorithm. No kidding. xD
I did a small improvement to this algorithm to get rid of pixel dropouts by
properly supporting fractional stretching ratios where each output pixel is
now a weighted average of a fractional number of source pixels. Looks a tad
smoother now. However, this works only superior for one-dimensional scaling.
Hopefully they are quick about getting it implemented.
And, if your game is under 300MB or so (not sure exact size), it's actually like 350 luckily.
My 1st Wii U game finally launching in EU (& Germany) in a few months. Really hope it makes back it's money. Paid like $700 USD for total rating costs. I'm sure in long term I will.
Looks great, she is really getting ready for that fight. The only part that looks odd is that when she lands after a jump she stands still for a moment but the screen keeps scrolling,
looks like she is sliding there.
So much life in there! Just that the right hand color seems too dark when compared to his left.A little late for the screenshot saturday shenaningans, but was really excited to show this:
Ouch. Howmuch of a hassle is it to get around to all the rating agencies? and do you get any help from Nintendo here?
jimmythepage
Member
Friendly reminder for fellow devs that think about cross promotions on KS, do not contact other developers through the KS message system, while one positively replied and accepted the other four ones reported us for spam apparently.
Better get in touch with twitter/email I guess.
And now it seems like we can't update the images of our page, it's just a coincidence, but it kind of suck.
Better get in touch with twitter/email I guess.
And now it seems like we can't update the images of our page, it's just a coincidence, but it kind of suck.
Just released the second public alpha demo of ROLL PLAYING GAME with many improvements and reworks based on playtester feedback (special shout-out to taku!). I wrote a blog post detailing the changes since the last demo: http://roll-playing-game.com/blog/2015/06/release-of-junes-public-alpha-demo/
Direct link to the alpha: http://felinefuelledgames.itch.io/roll-playing-game
Feedback is, as always, appreciated.
Direct link to the alpha: http://felinefuelledgames.itch.io/roll-playing-game
Feedback is, as always, appreciated.
taku
Member
Excellent. It's time to roll, once again!Just released the second public alpha demo of ROLL PLAYING GAME with many improvements and reworks based on playtester feedback (special shout-out to taku!). I wrote a blog post detailing the changes since the last demo: http://roll-playing-game.com/blog/2015/06/release-of-junes-public-alpha-demo/
Direct link to the alpha: http://felinefuelledgames.itch.io/roll-playing-game
Feedback is, as always, appreciated.
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
This sounds a lot more reasonable, thanks for the info. If they don't get it implemented by next year, when I plan to have my game ready, I'll have a look at the character portraits and if I can get down to 300MB (or whatever it is). For now, where a lot of the expensive stuff (i.e. music, portraits) is missing, I'm very far off that mark, but it's always better not to have to worry about such huge additional cost.
Good luck there! What is the name of the game?
I ran the Unity Player version on Firefox and it didn't have the same problems. Previously on the WebGL version I don't think I even saw the WASD etc. text on the start screen, only the "click to play" text.
Nice catch! Didn't see it before. I should be able to do something about that, thanks!
Jacksinthe
Banned
Ahhhh. Nice! I have never seen that LDA until I just looked it up. Doesn't look too complicated with simple maths and a bit shift? I'm skimming at the moment so I may be mistaken - unless I write the math I'm usually very bad XD
They help somewhat. Like they give us information about what is needed for other region ratings and what to expect, where to get them/etc. But of course were are on our own to get the actual ratings done. They did make ESRB easier, and that was already easy. In the past for ESRB, even though free, you needed to signup with them (via actual mail) and submit rating/etc. Nintendo seemed to work with ESRB have have a special Nintendo page on ESRB org that allows you to get a new rating without creating an account. Very convenient.
In Europe it will be called ZaciSa: Defense of the Crayon Dimension!
It's a Tower Defense game. Where you try to survive as long as you can while building up your defenses and getting higher and higher scores.
Here is a initial trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muNfioPBK-Q
Gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB4QUXTVBH8 (All of inputs takes place on the GamePad, so might be hard to tell what is going on in the initial trailer above.)
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Debating if I'm putting too much darkness and fog in this area, my game is graphically impressive but I like to do a lot of post-processing effects to give it a certain look and feel, in this sequence your lighter has gone out and you're investigating a series of roads. I want it to be dark and oppressive and have composed a musical piece for the area and some events and lead-ins, and almost done with it, but debating if I should keep the fog and darkness where it's at, it certainly obscures the players vision, but too much so?
I think Apple just added some assistance on this in the form of "app thinning": http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/0...ajor-boon-for-8gb-and-16gb-iphones-and-ipads/
Some parts of it look to be iOS9 specific, but BitCode might actually be exactly what's needed and might function right now. The official documentation is a bit lacking atm though...
Do Wii U games need to be rated with USK or something to hit Germany? I haven't really looked in to all the ratings stuff yet as we are still nailing down our final strings and cut scene content first (Which is required for PEGI etc).
Probably going to try and get Wii U + PS4 + Vita + PC all rated at the same time whenever all the content is in one version, the whole ratings thing seems so annoyingly complex and obtuse with nobody having all the information :/
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