Dead Prince
Banned
just take your main, and change everyone to red and call it the enemy. and add one with a fedora.
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GAF Indie Game Development Thread 2: High Res Work for Low Res Pay
- Thread starter Jacksinthe
- Start date
- Status
just take your main, and change everyone to red and call it the enemy. and add one with a fedora.
Mikado
Member
Can't remember if M2015 was fully switched over the the Viewport 2.0 renderer but if so you can try changing the viewport renderer from Viewport 2.0 to Legacy. That fixes a host of issues with Quad Draw in M2016, including bad sorting of quaddraw wireframes.
dancrane212
Member
Speaking of programmer's needing art I ended up posting online about paying someone to put together a "real" model to test my systems on compared to my objects made up of default cubes in Unity. Don't want to keep working on building things that might not work with an actual character model. Surprised that once I told most folk what I was looking for (no texture/low-poly) they would suggest I do it myself and sent some great tutorials/resources.
Still needs to be rigged but I'm hoping that for testing things like rotation, animation and everything else it will work out. Once I get further along to in development I'll probably end up paying for something of a higher quality - have to get to that point first though!
Still needs to be rigged but I'm hoping that for testing things like rotation, animation and everything else it will work out. Once I get further along to in development I'll probably end up paying for something of a higher quality - have to get to that point first though!
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
I don't think I could ever learn to draw. I'm so horrificly bad at drawing people laugh every time I try to draw even the simplest thing. My handwriting is also ugly as sin. I wonder if they are related.
Dead Prince
Banned
Probably not. I can't draw but my handwriting looks better. Also when I try to draw its always curved lines and wanting everything to be symmetrical.
I'll check tomorrow, but I think I'm already in Legacy mode. Don't think I even could change that to anything else without it reverting back to Legacy immediately xD Maybe I should just get M2016 right away instead?
Didn't know that existed.
Mikado
Member
I'll check tomorrow, but I think I'm already in Legacy mode. Don't think I even could change that to anything else without it reverting back to Legacy immediately xD Maybe I should just get M2016 right away instead?
Thinking back, I think maya 2016 might be the first one that defaults to Viewport 2, since it temporarily broke rendering of our legacy-draw custom plugins hah. Other than that it's pretty good except for the fact that quad draw still gets stupid slow when trying to do retopo with dense meshes.
If you're on the subscription, there's no reason not to grab & install 2016 as well. Maybe it will work better? Sounds like you're rocking an older card so that might be a problem - though I have a 5870 on my home machine and it works ok.
Also it's not unheard of for Maya preference files to become Haunted. You could try deleting/moving it and seeing if it fixes your issue (while simultaneously causing the issue of having to redo all your preferences).
Warm Machine
Member
We just announced our new game today. It is called Star Bridge and the trailer will be out tomorrow at around 11am pst.
Cheers - looks like its probably worth picking up - had a read at the authors wiki page and it gave me a bit more of an idea about the book.
Hope the launch goes really well - great art style - another title on my w/l!!!!
rhophiehalul78
Member
Hi guys!
Our game, Mediocre Monster is currently featured in the Square Enix Collective!
If you have any thoughts and input please comment on the page and don't forget to vote!
We are still in the early stages of development so a lot might still change.
Our game, Mediocre Monster is currently featured in the Square Enix Collective!
If you have any thoughts and input please comment on the page and don't forget to vote!
We are still in the early stages of development so a lot might still change.
Everything can be learned given the right amount of time and will.
I see, thanks
Yeah I've got a really old hd4870 Radeon card :/ Where are these pref files?
And what preferences do they control? Only thing I've changed is turning on autosave xDEdit: I've tried deleting my preferences, but I don't think I have any. Also tried deleting each object's history, I'm already in legacy mode and tried changing that to no avail, and I also tried exporting and importing my objects into a new scene and nothing worked. Even in a new blank scene, it crashes every time :/
dancrane212
Member
We just announced our new game today. It is called Star Bridge and the trailer will be out tomorrow at around 11am pst.
Great to hear - really enjoyed what I've played of Orbitron. Curious to see how the game is an "updated and modernized take on a classic game type".
SeanNoonan
Member
Jebus, aren't menus just the dullest part of gamedev?
I'm almost done rewriting the menu for the Jack B. Nimble 4.0 update. Should have some gifs for screenshot saturday unless I decide to go our to something ;D
I'm almost done rewriting the menu for the Jack B. Nimble 4.0 update. Should have some gifs for screenshot saturday unless I decide to go our to something ;D
borborygmus
Member
Yeah, hooking up menus to the various game functions is incredibly obnoxious. If your game instance isn't already a totally self contained module (and it should be!), it helps to refactor it that way.
Dead Prince
Banned
UE4 is so overwhelming. Was checking it out yesterday.
Theanine3D
Member
Do you mean interface-wise or just the engine as a whole?
UE4's interface is such a cakewalk compared to UE3 or UDK. The interface in UDK made my head hurt, total cluttered mess. But UE4's just makes perfect sense to me.
I actually like doing menus, though I do still put them off towards the end. With a title menu you get a chance to be really creative. I think back to games like Banjo Kazooie where the main menu is not just a boring mess of buttons, but instead it's the inside of Banjo's house and every menu option moves you around the house. Coming up with stuff like that is really fun to me.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Menus would be like the month before release for me hahahaha. Unless I just want a change of pace for a bit - but they are extremely rote.
Dead Prince
Banned
lol. i can't compare to past stuff.
SeanNoonan
Member
Yeah, it's just I need a better wrapper for the levels What's currently there in the current iOS release is very hacked and very bespoke; not even slightly extendable.
Also, side note, has anyone with a game on the appstore moved country and managed to change their address in iTunes Connect? I can't find anywhere to do it and Q&A online seems to suggest emailing for a change of address request!? What in the actual fuck?
SeanNoonan
Member
I don't think so. Unless of course you literally mean before you've even prototyped the game at all
I can see pros and cons for both though.
I don't think so. Unless of course you literally mean before you've even prototyped the game at all
Yea. I do mean that. I just find that it helps to have the structure in place of menus prior to designing the game. I generally use the same basic template/menu/level loader for every project I start.
SquirrelWide
Member
I wonder how much correlation there is between programmers finding menus boring, and their menus being boring. The only menus that have really caught my eye are Destiny's and pretty much anything touched by the guys behind Persona/Catherine (Team P?).
SquirrelWide
Member
I'd do whatever keeps you motivated (unless you have an issue blocking you that you're just avoiding). As for the lighting, I know you're still working on it, but it's too dark/obscured.
What came to mind as something you might want to consider is how Killer is Dead handles it. It's nighttime, but everything is clearly defined. (Note: if you're going for a more obscured look, I still feel like there's improvements to be made).
Warm Machine
Member
Hey guys. Here is the trailer for Star Bridge. It is available NOW on the App Store!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLu30g9kjsA
This was the two of us here over about 6 months using Unity 5. Because it is Unity there is actually a control pad PC version that may get released in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLu30g9kjsA
This was the two of us here over about 6 months using Unity 5. Because it is Unity there is actually a control pad PC version that may get released in the future.
Mikado
Member
Where are these pref files?
Link to location of pref files for various OS/Platforms
userPrefs.mel is usually the culprit. Back it up somewhere before messing with it or deleting it, in case it wasn't the problem.
dragonelite
Member
Hey indie devs is this the place to also ask questions about current game engine architectures?
Because i want to make a The Settlers(1,2,3 and 4) clone, will probably never
publish it but doing it for the new technical challenge and curiosity as a big gamer.
Because i want to make a The Settlers(1,2,3 and 4) clone, will probably never
publish it but doing it for the new technical challenge and curiosity as a big gamer.
Thanks I'll try it tomorrow. But I also got 2016 for free and quad draw seems to work fine there so I'll probably just migrate to that from here on out.
Yeah. It took me over two weeks to get my menus running last month. Wasn't the most fun part of the game's development. To make it easier to add new screens later on that fit with the current layout, I wrote something like a generic menu system in UE4 (also handling gamepad/keyboard input, button selection etc.) before creating the actual screens. Works better than expected, so at least I'm happy with the result.
Disorientator
Member
Finally completed the -very- simple Wii U (Eshop - US for now) game I was working on.
Objective is to destroy all the targets in each level/world as fast as possible. (record locally saved)
There's so much more features I'd like/planned to implement but unfortunately so little time. (damn full time job)
Features:
- 720p 60fps
- Off-TV
- Gyro aiming (Metroid Blast-ish)
- 10 levels/worlds
Direct-feed gameplay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R35uWvL5R40
Hey guys! I'm working on my first prototype in Unity. So far, this is what I have:
It's a local multiplayer twin stick shooter. You have 2 minutes to kill your opponents. Whoever has the most kills, wins. Each life is 1000 HP.
Your shots are slow and weak, but as they ricochet off the walls they gain both speed and power.
Players have three modes:
Attack and Defense mode come at a cost. They fill up your "burnout" meter (not visible right now, and the reason for this long post lol), and when the meter is full, it must cool down to 0 before either mode can be used again.
So far, the game has been pretty fun to play locally. I had been using Unity's UI components but when I refactored my code and made players into prefabs, I started looking for a better solution.
But I'm lost. The game is difficult enough, so keeping track of UI on the side is ridiculous. So I was wondering if anyone has any visual reccomendations for what I should be trying to achieve, and/or some advice on implementation?
There should be some way to indicate health (I was thinking of flashing players between their color and white) and the "burnout" meter, which should be some sort of normal meter that fills and unfills.
Here's a screenshot. If anyone has any gameplay suggestions too, I'd be all ears. Thanks for reading!!
It's a local multiplayer twin stick shooter. You have 2 minutes to kill your opponents. Whoever has the most kills, wins. Each life is 1000 HP.
Your shots are slow and weak, but as they ricochet off the walls they gain both speed and power.
Players have three modes:
- Default: Low rate of fire and normal speed.
- Attack: High rate of fire and high speed.
- Defense: No attacking, fast speed, and a large radius which sucks up shots onto a stack. The last shot you sucked up, will be the first you shoot. That means those perilous high velocity shots become yours.
Attack and Defense mode come at a cost. They fill up your "burnout" meter (not visible right now, and the reason for this long post lol), and when the meter is full, it must cool down to 0 before either mode can be used again.
So far, the game has been pretty fun to play locally. I had been using Unity's UI components but when I refactored my code and made players into prefabs, I started looking for a better solution.
But I'm lost. The game is difficult enough, so keeping track of UI on the side is ridiculous. So I was wondering if anyone has any visual reccomendations for what I should be trying to achieve, and/or some advice on implementation?
There should be some way to indicate health (I was thinking of flashing players between their color and white) and the "burnout" meter, which should be some sort of normal meter that fills and unfills.
Here's a screenshot. If anyone has any gameplay suggestions too, I'd be all ears. Thanks for reading!!
Got a chance to sit down and hash out the dynamic splitscreen camera thing I was asking about a bit ago, pretty happy for a first pass. I'l add more flashy things to it later down the line, but for now it works;
Pay no attention to the Robot boy tutorial asset I'm using right now, and the squiggles in the background that are supposed to represent a city.
If you "burnout" on Defense, can you still use attack and vice versa? Or if you "burnout" you're stuck at the default mode or you can't fire at all or anything like that? If it's the first one, that could be tricky to indicate visually. If it's one of the latter two, that'd be easier.
The best visual indicator I can think of is when the player "burns out", they have a grayed out/smokey particle effect to them. Flashing them could also work, or temporarily turning them into, say, yellow/purple. Maybe have them noticeably slow down when burned out so as to make it a risk to use those modes. If they're using a controller, them vibrating the controller could be a nice feature to if that's possible.
For other features, whenever there's a color-intense game, I always, always look for ways to make it more accessible to colorblind people. It's great when I see the options. The absolute best would be to let the players customize the color of their avatar, special effects, etc... which can be a bit tricky but in my mind are worth everything to implement.
Pay no attention to the Robot boy tutorial asset I'm using right now, and the squiggles in the background that are supposed to represent a city.
If you "burnout" on Defense, can you still use attack and vice versa? Or if you "burnout" you're stuck at the default mode or you can't fire at all or anything like that? If it's the first one, that could be tricky to indicate visually. If it's one of the latter two, that'd be easier.
The best visual indicator I can think of is when the player "burns out", they have a grayed out/smokey particle effect to them. Flashing them could also work, or temporarily turning them into, say, yellow/purple. Maybe have them noticeably slow down when burned out so as to make it a risk to use those modes. If they're using a controller, them vibrating the controller could be a nice feature to if that's possible.
For other features, whenever there's a color-intense game, I always, always look for ways to make it more accessible to colorblind people. It's great when I see the options. The absolute best would be to let the players customize the color of their avatar, special effects, etc... which can be a bit tricky but in my mind are worth everything to implement.
I'm not sure what you mean by engine architectures but if you are starting in gamedev you should try several free engines, see the one you like more and start making tutorials and small games until you feel confident enough to make such a huge project like a Settlers clone.
So this "technical challenge" would be investing a few years of your life.
So I've got the core gameplay of my game mostly finished, I think. And that's good.
But... after all the hours I've spent on it, I don't have any idea if it's actually fun. I've lost all objectivity when it comes to my game because I've played it so much. I guess I need playtesters to decide that, but 1) It's not nearly ready to be playtested, and 2) I don't have any money to pay playtesters in the first place.
I just don't want to wind up with a game that's awful. That would suck for both me and my artist, who's probably put more time into the project than I have at this point. How do I know that I'm not wasting my time?
But... after all the hours I've spent on it, I don't have any idea if it's actually fun. I've lost all objectivity when it comes to my game because I've played it so much. I guess I need playtesters to decide that, but 1) It's not nearly ready to be playtested, and 2) I don't have any money to pay playtesters in the first place.
I just don't want to wind up with a game that's awful. That would suck for both me and my artist, who's probably put more time into the project than I have at this point. How do I know that I'm not wasting my time?
timetokill
Banned
You can have some of us playtest it. I'm willing to play it for a short time and give feedback in return for the same whenever I get around to having a playable prototype of my game.
Hey dude! Thanks for the advice. I really like your burnout idea for a visual indication.
If you burnout, you're stuck in the default mode. You can attack, but your rate of fire is very slow and you travel slower.
And yeah, definitely a good idea! Right now I have rotating color palettes, like in Splatoon, but this is just programmer art for now. I'd like something equally colorful in the end though. Good idea on the color blind, I'll definitely keep that in mind.
Still kinda stumped on how to handle health and the meter itself... anyone have ideas?
Does anyone know a way to do a "clock" like meter in Unity? Like a circle that fills clockwise?
liliththepale
Banned
Does anyone know a way to do a "clock" like meter in Unity? Like a circle that fills clockwise?
This has code specific to GameMaker, but the practices are more general.
http://yal.cc/gamemaker-circular-cooldown-rectangle/
Do you have a local meet up for indie game developers? There's one in my city that was invaluable when it came to this stuff. Fellow devs are great since they can see beyond the not so pretty work in progress stuff. If not, try sharing it with the online dev communities.
Still kinda stumped on how to handle health and the meter itself... anyone have ideas?
Does anyone know a way to do a "clock" like meter in Unity? Like a circle that fills clockwise?
http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/14770/creating-a-circular-progressbar-timer.html
I just finished doing this for my health bar the other day, and this link helped... kinda. It also took a lot, a LOT of screwing around.
Basically, you want something that transitions the meter from opaque (empty) to transparent (full) - like this:
Then you apply a material to it. I just created a new material and used the same image as the material's image, though I don't think that matters. What does matter is the Shader you use. I used Unlit/Transparent Cutout, which seems to work well enough.
Then when you slide the alpha cutoff for the shader from 0 to 1, it should fill up your meter. And you can change this value in code.
Hopefully this helps.
That would be nice. Like I said, though, it's nowhere near ready for playtesting. Maybe in a couple of weeks I'll have a completed level to show off.
Good idea. There actually is an indie dev meetup group that I go to sometimes. Haven't been in a few months, though. I'll have to go next month.
dragonelite
Member
With Engine architecture i mean stuff like is the entity component system still the architecture to use or did that changed.
I know it will take a few years that's why i'm not sure i will ever publish it.
I'm a programmer by job, but more in the mobile and enterprise space it comes with
different kinds of challenges then game development. So i hope to carry some of the stuff
from game engines back into my work and vice versa.
GroundCombo
Member
You can do this directly with the UI Image component. Use a full circle image (on top of a different-colored background), set the fill type to Radial and twiddle with the fill amount.
timetokill
Banned
Another head...
Not sure which one I like better.
Not sure which one I like better.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
I'd really like to work with one of my friends in the future, but her art for an individual character is... literally triple digits. It kills me. They get work, and that's great, but I'm not going to be the asshole that goes "look, I want to work with you, but you keep telling me every other artist is going to charge me what you do when I know for a fact they'll charge two to five times less".
I got art for Army for $20/character, and even in that case, Amber (our art director for that game) told me later that she should have charged me $45.
I'm also not stupid and I understand the difference in quality between different pieces, but I just guess I wanted reassurance that I wasn't an asshole (even if I have not talked to her about art for a future project yet).
liliththepale
Banned
You'll have to show me (remind me?) what the characters for Army look like. At that rate, it sounds like the artist was knocking one out every hour or half hour. But a good character portrait usually takes three to ten hours, unless it's a simple art style. There's lots of refinement that takes a portrait from good to great.
In any case, if you think you can keep finding artists to go for lower prices, more power to you. If an individual thinks the job is worth it, it's not my business to get in the way of that.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Army was weird because I probably still would have ended up with Amber even if we were not so low on funds (and I was way wiser to the dev world), but I most likely would have looked more. I honestly would have vetted more. I worked with Amber on many pitches for DC that never even got to the point of an actual pitch. So bringing her on was a way to finally work with her. She did 68 characters for us.
liliththepale
Banned
Army was weird because I probably still would have ended up with Amber even if we were not so low on funds (and I was way wiser to the dev world), but I most likely would have looked more. I honestly would have vetted more. I worked with Amber on many pitches for DC that never even got to the point of an actual pitch. So bringing her on was a way to finally work with her. She did 68 characters for us.
I saw the link to your other friend's work in the PM. It's honestly a lot better than this. Not that I think this is bad by any stretch, just that the other art is a whole lot better. That's why she can charge so much more.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
I also guess some of my reluctance is working with people I don't know.
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