HellBlazer
Member
Dude, please, don't embed 50-meg gifs. :\
-
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GAF Indie Game Development Thread 2: High Res Work for Low Res Pay
- Thread starter Jacksinthe
- Start date
- Status
Has the term "Comcast'd" been invented yet for being bumped over a monthly bandwidth cap and charged extra?
Teknopathetic
Member
"Has the term "Comcast'd" been invented yet for being bumped over a monthly bandwidth cap and charged extra? "
Comcast'd has already been reserved for randomly losing your internet connection.
Funnily enough, Comcast is only beginning to add bandwidth caps next month, they were pretty lenient about it for a long time before that. The cap they had previously was not enforced and then for a few years they didn't have a cap at all.
"Comcast'd has already been reserved for randomly losing your internet connection.
Funnily enough, Comcast is only beginning to add bandwidth caps next month, they were pretty lenient about it for a long time before that. The cap they had previously was not enforced and then for a few years they didn't have a cap at all.
@jhmtehgamr20xx: I share your comments on gimp, have used it for about 10
years. However, it's not about me using any such programs. Well, I think a
good portion of the game making artists/programmers may also do their graphics
just using simple or embedded editors coming along with a toolset, like
SeanNoonan and BlazeHedgehog said in using Paint style built into Construct
and Paintshop Pro, respectively, because they fit the purpose for some
games/graphics already. Thx for the hint on Corel's Painter.
@Noogy: I think I will have a deeper look on Painter's filter plugin
structure, if there is one at all. Thx for your comment. :+
years. However, it's not about me using any such programs. Well, I think a
good portion of the game making artists/programmers may also do their graphics
just using simple or embedded editors coming along with a toolset, like
SeanNoonan and BlazeHedgehog said in using Paint style built into Construct
and Paintshop Pro, respectively, because they fit the purpose for some
games/graphics already. Thx for the hint on Corel's Painter.
@Noogy: I think I will have a deeper look on Painter's filter plugin
structure, if there is one at all. Thx for your comment. :+
Yeah
It was the whole idea behind the project, after all.Most I know have been cited already, but I just remembered another that's actually on my quickbar: Clip Studio Paint/Manga Studio 5 (different names, but same soft). It's marketed as being primarily for comic drawers, and while it has a wide range of comic-specific tools, it's also a fine illustration and painting tool on its own.
One of its practical advantages is that it's often sold for dirt cheap (got my license on amazon for something like 10 bucks a few years back), and usability wise I'd rank it between painter and photoshop. The main caveat to its use, for me, is its shortcuts, same as with Painter. It's why I stick with PS after all these years - I just know how it works, and moving to another wouldn't simply require to learn the other from scratch, it'd also require "delearning" the PS reflexes :-D
(Maybe there are some plugins for Painter/Clip Studio Paint that'd allow for a user interface similar to PS's...? Wouldn't know, I don't use plugins for any of these).
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Hi guys, the mobile game that we were working with has finally released on iphone/ipad, and I could get some codes fro my fellow inde gaf devs.
The game is Super Helmets on Fire DX, and is a runner with story, bosses, unlockables and zero microtransactions (I think its sold for 3 euros right now).
You can keep them or gift them if you want (only one per person please), but if you keep them and try the game I hope you like them (and opinions here are obviously welcome).
I would have get also android codes, but the google store doesnt give codes it seems (or so I was told by the publisher).
So here they are. 5 codes If someone wants one, and they are already all used, maybe I can ask for some more.
Im putting on email tags so only gaf members can take them, just quote this message and you will see them:
CODE
CODE
CODE
CODE
CODE
The game is Super Helmets on Fire DX, and is a runner with story, bosses, unlockables and zero microtransactions (I think its sold for 3 euros right now).
You can keep them or gift them if you want (only one per person please), but if you keep them and try the game I hope you like them (and opinions here are obviously welcome).
I would have get also android codes, but the google store doesnt give codes it seems (or so I was told by the publisher).
So here they are. 5 codes If someone wants one, and they are already all used, maybe I can ask for some more.
Im putting on email tags so only gaf members can take them, just quote this message and you will see them:
CODE
CODE
CODE
CODE
CODE
zero shift
Banned
Hi guys, the mobile game that we were working with has finally released on iphone/ipad, and I could get some codes fro my fellow inde gaf devs.
The game is Super Helmets on Fire DX, and is a runner with story, bosses, unlockables and zero microtransactions (I think its sold for 3 euros right now).
You can keep them or gift them if you want (only one per person please), but if you keep them and try the game I hope you like them (and opinions here are obviously welcome).
I would have get also android codes, but the google store doesnt give codes it seems (or so I was told by the publisher).
So here they are. 5 codes If someone wants one, and they are already all used, maybe I can ask for some more.
Im putting on email tags so only gaf members can take them, just quote this message and you will see them:
CODE
CODE
CODE
CODE
CODE
Shoot. I want to enter one of the codes in but I have my iPad at home.
Thanks, yeah the controls are super simple: "right/left side of the screen" type of a deal.
Candescence
Member
Alright, another sorta shitty clip, except recorded with a proper Unity recording thing and maybe not using the best codec. (Also, the AI broke, lel.) But oh well.
http://www.gfycat.com/PointedInsecureAnaconda
Shooting, slicing and shielding. A rather basic emulation of some of CrossCode's mechanics. I felt stupidly guilty about using mechanics from another indie game (and one that isn't even released), but they work so well that I can't help it, and besides, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's not gonna be a complete imitation, however, what with different abilities and attack types for players and NPCs (the two protagonists will play very differently, the first being melee-focused with a crossbow that has a long reload time, and the second being a magic-focused fighter with projectiles, AOEs and a token melee as a last resort), but the mechanics from CrossCode mesh extremely well with what I was originally trying to do with combat anyway.
http://www.gfycat.com/PointedInsecureAnaconda
Shooting, slicing and shielding. A rather basic emulation of some of CrossCode's mechanics. I felt stupidly guilty about using mechanics from another indie game (and one that isn't even released), but they work so well that I can't help it, and besides, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's not gonna be a complete imitation, however, what with different abilities and attack types for players and NPCs (the two protagonists will play very differently, the first being melee-focused with a crossbow that has a long reload time, and the second being a magic-focused fighter with projectiles, AOEs and a token melee as a last resort), but the mechanics from CrossCode mesh extremely well with what I was originally trying to do with combat anyway.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Unreal Engine 4 physics driving me nuts:
Atleast I'm having some fun with it here:
Made tons of physics assets setups in UE3 with ease, keep having nasty problems in UE4. Maybe because it isn't Havoc anymore.
Oh look it's my future.
Project Babel's second dungeon is officially being made. With that said, there are some things I'd like to put out there.
I am a first time developer. I've toyed with concepts and mapping in the past, but until I gave RPG Maker a real chance, I never considered myself skilled enough to bring any ideas to life. I also must say though, you guys in this thread are fucking inspirational. Seriously. Every day I deal with self doubt. The path ahead just looks longer every day, despite the work I put in. It's SO easy to get caught up in the overarching ideas to forget about the "small" stuff that ties things together. "Oh, I'll do 3 areas, 3 dungeons, one overarching story, but each area has it's own story that is inconsequential to the bigger tale."
It's only because of this thread that I've made it this far, being able to look in here and see that you guys also have these same doubts. I look at what you've made, and I find myself excited, for you, and for myself. Your games are incredible. Ghost Song looks stellar. Honey looks absolutely beautiful. That board game that just launched (sorry, I forgot your title!) is jawdropping. Then there's when the Transistor looking game was shown to be full 3D. I fucking dropped my jaw. The fact that you guys ever have any doubts at all is mind blowing. Yet you still show so much drive, and share your enthusiasm with the rest of us. So thank you.
So, onto the bigger thoughts on my mind. Dungeons are difficult. My original design for the first dungeon in Project Babel (Shrine of Aldsea) was very haphazard. It was an amalgamation of rooms with no underlying flow. Quite frankly, I think the only thing that kept it "fun" in early playtests was the circular layout. So, before designing dungeon 2, I spent quite a bit of time reworking the Shrine and came to the following conclusions:
1. Puzzle difficulty doesn't really matter.
Well, it does a bit, but not really. The player ultimately just wants to feel clever, so having incredibly intricate puzzles that require graphs or some such shit aren't really fun. I think it's easy to quickly over-design a puzzle. I'm not saying ditch your complex puzzles entirely, but scale them back. Spruce maybe 1 or two "gotcha" puzzles throughout a dungeon, but certainly not every room.
2. The player won't question it.
So much of my design decisions would have been easier if I had realized this. I spent so much time worrying about how the player was going to think about how X NPC would have noticed the boss monster/hidden paths/treasure chests throughout an area, and why is that there? Nah. They don't. As long as you don't point it out, most players won't give it a second (or even a first) thought.
3. Your tone will be set almost immediately.
As I'm designing Zelda-esque dungeons, I thought a lot about how a dungeons "feel" is established in the first chamber. It sets the tone, and how the player interacts with that first room will set a standard for the proceeding halls/pathways/rooms/chambers/blah. Take Deku Tree, for example. On stepping in, you immediately get the impression that this is an ancient place, with hints of "this is bad shit right here" strewn about. Then you climb to the top of the main chamber. And then you discover the underbelly of the beast, and it redefines the tone entirely.
4. Circles are fun.
This is very specifically a dungeon design thought. I've come to the conclusion that circles (or squares, if you want) are incredible. I'd say roughly the first half of your dungeon should be attached to a central chamber. Remember, that central chamber will define how the player "feels" in your dungeon, so use simple puzzles in that first chamber. Introduce basic mechanics there. Then, the second half (or whatever metric you use) can shift tone slightly without feeling off. From there you can introduce harder puzzles, since you've given the player a solid foundation to understand how to interact with them. By having the player start in a specific chamber, go do some stuff, and then return to that chamber gives it a vibe of "alright, this is a good checkpoint for progress." Just remember to give some sort of feedback of things that have changed, so that the player knows they've progressed, since the chamber has changed somehow. For this, I'm heavily taking cues from Deku Tree, Dodongo's Cavern, Forest Temple, and Stone Tower Temple. East Palace, too.
5. Don't be me, have environmental interaction.
I'm an idiot. I'm a first time designer, and I chose to make a fucking turn-based RPG. I am literally the dumbest person alive. These things are stupidly complex. Here's my damage formula for attacking:
Additionally, I've always hated dungeons in turn-based RPGs. They always feel "bad." Very few games do dungeons correctly, and since Zelda does them well, I decided on that style of dungeon. The result is that I have 3 dungeons that can't use trick puzzles, like hookshot/arrow/bomb puzzles. That ties me to pushing puzzles, switch puzzles, keys, and very few other things. I've come up with some (what I think are) neat ways to use these in a turn-based game (aka will only work in this type of game), but the design space is incredibly limited. If you ever design Zelda-esque dungeons, for the love of god, have some sort of interaction with the environment.
Welp, those are my current thoughts on designing dungeons/content. I'm sure at this point I'm preaching to the choir (you bunch of talented fucks), but if even one person gets some sort of help out of this, then I don't mind. Hope to share more stuff soon.
I am a first time developer. I've toyed with concepts and mapping in the past, but until I gave RPG Maker a real chance, I never considered myself skilled enough to bring any ideas to life. I also must say though, you guys in this thread are fucking inspirational. Seriously. Every day I deal with self doubt. The path ahead just looks longer every day, despite the work I put in. It's SO easy to get caught up in the overarching ideas to forget about the "small" stuff that ties things together. "Oh, I'll do 3 areas, 3 dungeons, one overarching story, but each area has it's own story that is inconsequential to the bigger tale."
It's only because of this thread that I've made it this far, being able to look in here and see that you guys also have these same doubts. I look at what you've made, and I find myself excited, for you, and for myself. Your games are incredible. Ghost Song looks stellar. Honey looks absolutely beautiful. That board game that just launched (sorry, I forgot your title!) is jawdropping. Then there's when the Transistor looking game was shown to be full 3D. I fucking dropped my jaw. The fact that you guys ever have any doubts at all is mind blowing. Yet you still show so much drive, and share your enthusiasm with the rest of us. So thank you.
So, onto the bigger thoughts on my mind. Dungeons are difficult. My original design for the first dungeon in Project Babel (Shrine of Aldsea) was very haphazard. It was an amalgamation of rooms with no underlying flow. Quite frankly, I think the only thing that kept it "fun" in early playtests was the circular layout. So, before designing dungeon 2, I spent quite a bit of time reworking the Shrine and came to the following conclusions:
1. Puzzle difficulty doesn't really matter.
Well, it does a bit, but not really. The player ultimately just wants to feel clever, so having incredibly intricate puzzles that require graphs or some such shit aren't really fun. I think it's easy to quickly over-design a puzzle. I'm not saying ditch your complex puzzles entirely, but scale them back. Spruce maybe 1 or two "gotcha" puzzles throughout a dungeon, but certainly not every room.
2. The player won't question it.
So much of my design decisions would have been easier if I had realized this. I spent so much time worrying about how the player was going to think about how X NPC would have noticed the boss monster/hidden paths/treasure chests throughout an area, and why is that there? Nah. They don't. As long as you don't point it out, most players won't give it a second (or even a first) thought.
3. Your tone will be set almost immediately.
As I'm designing Zelda-esque dungeons, I thought a lot about how a dungeons "feel" is established in the first chamber. It sets the tone, and how the player interacts with that first room will set a standard for the proceeding halls/pathways/rooms/chambers/blah. Take Deku Tree, for example. On stepping in, you immediately get the impression that this is an ancient place, with hints of "this is bad shit right here" strewn about. Then you climb to the top of the main chamber. And then you discover the underbelly of the beast, and it redefines the tone entirely.
4. Circles are fun.
This is very specifically a dungeon design thought. I've come to the conclusion that circles (or squares, if you want) are incredible. I'd say roughly the first half of your dungeon should be attached to a central chamber. Remember, that central chamber will define how the player "feels" in your dungeon, so use simple puzzles in that first chamber. Introduce basic mechanics there. Then, the second half (or whatever metric you use) can shift tone slightly without feeling off. From there you can introduce harder puzzles, since you've given the player a solid foundation to understand how to interact with them. By having the player start in a specific chamber, go do some stuff, and then return to that chamber gives it a vibe of "alright, this is a good checkpoint for progress." Just remember to give some sort of feedback of things that have changed, so that the player knows they've progressed, since the chamber has changed somehow. For this, I'm heavily taking cues from Deku Tree, Dodongo's Cavern, Forest Temple, and Stone Tower Temple. East Palace, too.
5. Don't be me, have environmental interaction.
I'm an idiot. I'm a first time designer, and I chose to make a fucking turn-based RPG. I am literally the dumbest person alive. These things are stupidly complex. Here's my damage formula for attacking:
Code:
(((a.atk*1.4)+a.atk*1.2)/(b.def*1.4))*((100-rand(16))/100.0)*(a.atk*1.5)Welp, those are my current thoughts on designing dungeons/content. I'm sure at this point I'm preaching to the choir (you bunch of talented fucks), but if even one person gets some sort of help out of this, then I don't mind.
Hope to share more stuff soon.ken_matthews
Member
Unreal Engine 4 physics driving me nuts:
Atleast I'm having some fun with it here:
Made tons of physics assets setups in UE3 with ease, keep having nasty problems in UE4. Maybe because it isn't Havoc anymore.
looks like what happens when your collision capsules overlap. depending on how you built your skeleton, you physics asset may need a lot of manual editing; UE4 almost never auto-generates them correctly.
GAF Indie Game Development |OT3| What is an indie dev? A miserable little pile of self doubt. But enough talk! Go back to work.
(Agree with your dungeon design points, too!)
Did a little Logo animation yesterday, I animated this inside Unity, with Unity animator, it's quite handy! Although, it can easily get cumbersome for more complex stuff.
But all in all, it's really great tool inside unity, I think we have over 200 little animations done with Unity animator in the game
Heres how the timeline looks inside the animator:
But all in all, it's really great tool inside unity, I think we have over 200 little animations done with Unity animator in the game
Heres how the timeline looks inside the animator:
Ah thanks
I honestly feel like worse than shit that the game is taking forever. Hopefully home stretch soon...
This is the detonation test:
http://www.gfycat.com/CanineRapidGraywolf
edit:
redid the green fog to make it cooler.
http://www.gfycat.com/LiveJealousHowlermonkey
GAHD DAMN I NEED THIS GAME
So, is the initial explosion going to be the only thing that does damage, or will the fog do very minute amounts in later builds?
I like how it messes up a couple of times before putting the power symbol in! Very niceDid a little Logo animation yesterday, I animated this inside Unity, with Unity animator, it's quite handy! Although, it can easily get cumbersome for more complex stuff.
But all in all, it's really great tool inside unity, I think we have over 200 little animations done with Unity animator in the game
No, that isn't it.
I turned collision off where they could collide and made constraints small enough. I did setups around 50 times in UE3 without those problems, the physics editor there is pretty much the same except the UI looks different. My guess is when chains are long enough or too much weight is on too much bones it fails to calculate the simulation and becomes all jittery. With the knight I setup before I had no problems except that I had to weld the first spine bone to the pelvis because it fell just off. That skeleton had only 2 spine bones and 1 neck bone. The wizard has 3 spine bones and 2 neck bones and all these cape bones and 2 hat bones but even with welding bones it keeps getting jittery.
ken_matthews
Member
No, that isn't it.
I turned collision off where they could collide and made constraints small enough. I did setups around 50 times in UE3 without those problems, the physics editor there is pretty much the same except the UI looks different. My guess is when chains are long enough or too much weight is on too much bones it fails to calculate the simulation and becomes all jittery. With the knight I setup before I had no problems except that I had to weld the first spine bone to the pelvis because it fell just off. That skeleton had only 2 spine bones and 1 neck bone. The wizard has 3 spine bones and 2 neck bones and all these cape bones and 2 hat bones but even with welding bones it keeps getting jittery.
I dealt with what looks like the same exact issue, just saying, might want to try it before you dismiss it...
Just offering a solution that worked for me
I think the wizard animation in that gif looks awesome already, just keep it (electro shocks?).No, that isn't it.
I turned collision off where they could collide and made constraints small enough. I did setups around 50 times in UE3 without those problems, the physics editor there is pretty much the same except the UI looks different. My guess is when chains are long enough or too much weight is on too much bones it fails to calculate the simulation and becomes all jittery. With the knight I setup before I had no problems except that I had to weld the first spine bone to the pelvis because it fell just off. That skeleton had only 2 spine bones and 1 neck bone. The wizard has 3 spine bones and 2 neck bones and all these cape bones and 2 hat bones but even with welding bones it keeps getting jittery.
Thanks guys
Right now the fog doesn't do anything, but maybe it should?I made a mistake when rigging up the breakable pieces of this room which I found sort of amusing and oddly satisfying.
http://www.gfycat.com/UnnaturalIndolentDouglasfirbarkbeetle
The question is how exactly could I make this into a design idea? Moving pieces of ceilings and floors. I like how it LOOKS and it was fun pushing them around, so can I do something with that?
electroflame
Member
You could always to something like lava below the floor, so if you aren't paying attention the floor piece you're on can sink into the lava. Or you could make a puzzle room out of aligning movable floor/ceiling pieces in the correct order.
Alternatively, it could be neat just to have the floor and ceiling undulating, with it reacting to your movement -- no gameplay function needed.
TheHollowNight
Member
Thanks guys
I made a mistake when rigging up the breakable pieces of this room which I found sort of amusing and oddly satisfying.
http://www.gfycat.com/UnnaturalIndolentDouglasfirbarkbeetle
The question is how exactly could I make this into a design idea? Moving pieces of ceilings and floors. I like how it LOOKS and it was fun pushing them around, so can I do something with that?
You could do some Fez-style cryptic puzzle where you bash your head into the correct 'levels' for the pieces to sit and it unlocks a spooky secret
electroflame
Member
Like permanent brain damage!
TheHollowNight
Member
the spookiest of all video game secrets! #gamesrotthebrains
Thanks guys
I made a mistake when rigging up the breakable pieces of this room which I found sort of amusing and oddly satisfying.
http://www.gfycat.com/UnnaturalIndolentDouglasfirbarkbeetle
The question is how exactly could I make this into a design idea? Moving pieces of ceilings and floors. I like how it LOOKS and it was fun pushing them around, so can I do something with that?
I like the idea of "floor is lava" that the poster above me presented, incredibly fun. Ceilings..
Just an idea. I also think the fog should do like 1 damage per second, personally. It's enough that it's negligible, but after a series of them it adds up. Also rewards skill by being avoidable, which is interesting to me.
Thanks guys
I made a mistake when rigging up the breakable pieces of this room which I found sort of amusing and oddly satisfying.
http://www.gfycat.com/UnnaturalIndolentDouglasfirbarkbeetle
The question is how exactly could I make this into a design idea? Moving pieces of ceilings and floors. I like how it LOOKS and it was fun pushing them around, so can I do something with that?
Light physics puzzles come to mind, maybe there's a barrel laying on top of the reacting floortile, player needs to lift/shake the tile to make it roll over to fire so it would explode and open a jammed door?
Or maybe something or someone has fallen asleep on the top floor, wake it up by smashing the floor...
Or just good old mario bros style mechanic, if a certain type of enemy walks over the tile and player bounces the tile, enemy will retract to it's shield or just stumble.
Unreal Engine 4 physics driving me nuts:
Atleast I'm having some fun with it here:
Made tons of physics assets setups in UE3 with ease, keep having nasty problems in UE4. Maybe because it isn't Havoc anymore.
Looks like most triple-A games to me. Ship it!
Mental Atrophy
Banned
Been trying to talk myself into it for forever, but I finally decided to start learning network programming and what not. Signed up for a free Amazon account and am using an EC2 instance to test this stuff out. Graphics are either temporary or not, depending on how serious I get about this and determine I need to pixel my own graphics.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87770923/output009.webm
But I've expanded my framework and GUI module a bit, so that'll be useful for other projects. Best addition is an InputBox() widget so I can make games where players need to type shit for names or whatever.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87770923/output009.webm
But I've expanded my framework and GUI module a bit, so that'll be useful for other projects. Best addition is an InputBox() widget so I can make games where players need to type shit for names or whatever.
Light physics puzzles come to mind, maybe there's a barrel laying on top of the reacting floortile, player needs to lift/shake the tile to make it roll over to fire so it would explode and open a jammed door?
Or maybe something or someone has fallen asleep on the top floor, wake it up by smashing the floor...
Or just good old mario bros style mechanic, if a certain type of enemy walks over the tile and player bounces the tile, enemy will retract to it's shield or just stumble.
Hah, thanks guys, and zserv I love your diagrams, I get the feeling you did design diagrams for me in the past on something.
I do sometimes use ideas that develop in here. For example, the wall slugs way back.
I put in a very minor scanlines overlay. I had a scanlines overlay before, but I removed it because it was too risky -- some people could find it distracting. I *like* scanlines, but it also is a tradeoff because what you gain texturally, you muffle your game a bit and lower the fidelity a bit.
What I did today was put them back, but they move slightly, and they also are extremely faint. I sorta like it.
http://www.gfycat.com/MatureOpenDove
It's hard to really even demonstrate it in a gif, since it's still pretty subtle even in full screen direct capture.
I will do shitty diagrams whenever I deem it necessary!
Your scanlines. Are they just an overlay, a shader, how do they work? It might be cool to play with the idea of them becoming more intense and noticeable in certain situations. Granted, that's very much something that could be held off on until the core game is done, all things considered.
Dungeon 2, which will probably just be called "The Crypt" is around halfway done. The core layout for the first half is complete, need to figure out a couple of puzzles that I'm happy with, but the next immediate goal is the second half. The first half of the crypt revolves around a color puzzle. You enter, and you can go three ways, left, right, and up. The right path is locked. The upper path leads to a room that has a doorway, sealed by.. Something.
This is the first room on the left-most path. The goal is to immediately draw the players attention to the divide, and the pillar across it. The player will move through the wing of the Crypt (CIRCULARRRR) and eventually find themselves on the opposite side of the divide. Through a means of interaction I'm not gonna spoil quite yet, the orb and pillar will "become active" and light up. Then, the player will move through the right wing, and by activating both pillars in both wings, the seal on the door to the main chamber will be broken.
So, the second half of the dungeon needs to be tonally similar, but different. To that means, it will still retain the core idea of left, right, up (which will lead to the bosses chamber), however what unlocks the bosses door will be an addendum to the mechanic that unlocks the main chambers door.
Hopefully, this will feel rewarding to players, and they'll feel rather clever for figuring out how it works.
RobotNinjaHornets
Banned
Trying to get back into game programming again. Not gonna try to do everything myself this time either, so it might go a tad better, been messing around with Phaser and it seems pretty nice (though I am still disturbed by it being JS)
Anyway, was thinking about default control schemes and I've realised I have no idea what people think is good for a 2D platformer on keyboard, since I always use a controller. I assumed WASD to move & space to jump would be best, but I was just seeing how Cave Story's movement feels and having arrow keys to move, Z to jump and X to shoot actually worked quite well. So now I have no idea what to think. Thoughts?
Anyway, was thinking about default control schemes and I've realised I have no idea what people think is good for a 2D platformer on keyboard, since I always use a controller. I assumed WASD to move & space to jump would be best, but I was just seeing how Cave Story's movement feels and having arrow keys to move, Z to jump and X to shoot actually worked quite well. So now I have no idea what to think. Thoughts?
You may already be planning this, but I -highly- recommend configurable controls. Different people are right-handed, left-handed, have different keyboard layouts (QWERTY, QWERTY split which I use, AZERTY, or even the rare DVORAK), and different preferences. Locking in something is likely to cause annoyance and frustration.
For a default though...I guess arrows + ZX isn't bad. I personally don't really like using the arrow keys on my keyboard in games but I understand you have to pick a default.
timetokill
Banned
Oh wow, I'm jealous!!
thanks!
Gifcam hasn't worked well for me ever since I changed to windows 8 (I'm still not changing to windows 10; too afraid it could break something I need) it won't capture anything at higher than 16 frames without the speed messing up. Not sure what that's about.
Typically to make a high quality gif I'll capture using fraps, then l load the video into virtual dub where I'll trim it to just the part I want for the gif. I'll apply a "resize filter" to change the resolution if I need to, and I typically change the framerate to 33. Then export the images to a folder.
Import the images into photoshop using "load files to stack" under scripts, and select all the images. From there I can make them into an animated gif by opening a simple animation window and selecting "create frames from layers". There's a "reverse frame" option in the menu because it tends to load them backwards. Then I set the frame delay to 0.3 and export the gif.
It sounds like a lot of steps but at this point it only takes me a few minutes, which I view as worthwhile for producing higher quality gifs.
AusRoachman
Member
Ive decided to upload a video of my new turn based game. Its abit lower res so ill work on trying to upload a hd version.
Would love to get everyones opinions on art style e.t.c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8GIWIY-_Ho
and some quick gifs of some of the units
Command Post
Orbital Cannon
Tank
Flyer
Anti Air
Would love to get everyones opinions on art style e.t.c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8GIWIY-_Ho
and some quick gifs of some of the units
Command Post
Orbital Cannon
Tank
Flyer
Anti Air
Candescence
Member
So I finally figured out why there weren't any shadows being cast in my scene, and fixed that. As well, I switched the camera perspective on a whim to see how it looks currently, and for some reason, without changing any other settings, everything looks, erm, fine. Somehow.
Also, I've figured out a stopgap solution for my lack of modelling-fu - using 'tiles' for assembling stuff, constructing the 'tiles' in ProBuilder and extending them out in certain directions, while using the castle tileset stuff from the platformer proto as textures. Not perfect, but it looks neat.
Also, I've got the proto chars smacking each other with melee attacks. Actual showing off of that will come later when there's a bit more polish and attack variety.
Also, I've figured out a stopgap solution for my lack of modelling-fu - using 'tiles' for assembling stuff, constructing the 'tiles' in ProBuilder and extending them out in certain directions, while using the castle tileset stuff from the platformer proto as textures. Not perfect, but it looks neat.
Also, I've got the proto chars smacking each other with melee attacks. Actual showing off of that will come later when there's a bit more polish and attack variety.
Thanks man, I'll use this approach.
We wanted to release some footage today as gifs in Twitter, but Twitter messed all our efforts into a miserable pile of compression artifacts. In the end, I decided to try the Twitter video support, I guess it's decent enough, still bad compression. But at least it's right the in the twitter feed now.
https://twitter.com/Oddrok/status/667358169102970880
We will probably do a short video tomorrow with audio, hopefully.
Jobbs/Matt! Your stuff continues to look incredible. The atmosphere and exploration looks pretty much perfect.
On our end, we've finally released a new trailer for Hollow Knight! After PAX Aus we got annoyed at seeing our crummy old trailers from last year appearing in press articles, so we gave ourselves some time to put a proper new trailer together, one that actually shows off the game as it currently looks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GXyV9EvB_g
The focus is on combat/enemies, which makes me really happy cos I've spent the last three weeks or so getting all of the enemy behaviours done.
On our end, we've finally released a new trailer for Hollow Knight! After PAX Aus we got annoyed at seeing our crummy old trailers from last year appearing in press articles, so we gave ourselves some time to put a proper new trailer together, one that actually shows off the game as it currently looks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GXyV9EvB_g
The focus is on combat/enemies, which makes me really happy cos I've spent the last three weeks or so getting all of the enemy behaviours done.
yeah, dude, it's out of this world, you're making me look bad. I liked being the big metroidvania guy in here.
also ari showed me the new site. it's awesome.
There's a simple trick to making these. It goes: Buy Wordpress theme > Install theme > Replace text and images > Enjoy!
Bloodember
Member
This looks awesome.
Looks great! I love the variety of enemies and their different behaviours.
HellBlazer
Member
Awesome trailer and the game looks amazing, great work.
Why did I read the comments? ;_;
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
That looks super rad.
diddykong13
Member
I really need to stay up to date with this thread - I keep missing some awesome stuff!
I keep drifting in and out of doing work on my game as university workload increases and decreases so I haven't really made much progress lately
But I have updated my website finally (here - feedback is much appreciated!) and started implementing gamepad controls into the game - gameplay was easy to get working with gamepad inputs, but the UI is proving to be a little more troublesome. I am aiming to allow Mouse, Touch or Gamepad inputs interchangeably at any time during the game - it's one of my biggest gripes with many PC games because often when plugging in a controller everything goes haywire, so I'm trying to make it as seamless as possible.
Has anyone else here put support for all three methods simultaneously into their game, or do you just make the user select one before playing? I'd be interested to hear if anyone else had any issues with the logistics of this - I'm just putting my issues atm down to the fact that I designed the UI interactions without thought for gamepad support
I keep drifting in and out of doing work on my game as university workload increases and decreases so I haven't really made much progress lately
But I have updated my website finally (here - feedback is much appreciated!) and started implementing gamepad controls into the game - gameplay was easy to get working with gamepad inputs, but the UI is proving to be a little more troublesome. I am aiming to allow Mouse, Touch or Gamepad inputs interchangeably at any time during the game - it's one of my biggest gripes with many PC games because often when plugging in a controller everything goes haywire, so I'm trying to make it as seamless as possible.
Has anyone else here put support for all three methods simultaneously into their game, or do you just make the user select one before playing? I'd be interested to hear if anyone else had any issues with the logistics of this - I'm just putting my issues atm down to the fact that I designed the UI interactions without thought for gamepad support
- Status