ew no that's gross ew ew ew
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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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ew no that's gross ew ew ew
I tried this and also tried to make the stones less round. Unsure if it looks better or not.
A little bit back on the topic of lighting, somehow I want this to happen:
It's a poor edit (and doesn't even account the torch), but somehow I want to get it so that when it thunders outside, it becomes like the second image for a moment.
While I'm not sure it would be dynamic, I wonder if what I could do is after making a map, draw a sort of overlay and then at times make the window objects change and then darken the overlay.
The bricks still look kind of round because you have the highlight just in the top corner instead of across the top of each brick but it does look better. If you want a lightning effect like in your example the best way is to use a surface or shader to replace the darkened areas with a lit up portion or vice versa. But a cheaper way would be to just put darkened semi transparent tiles over the room in all areas except the windows' light, and when the lightning strikes hide that tile layer for a moment.
The way it looks in your example the room is already mostly lit up by default, you would have to change that if you want the lighting to look more realistic.
Jacksinthe
Banned
I just figured with all the pen 15s and jay-jays in your game you'd be looking to knock a piece off. Just tryna help a brother out some stress.
Lilith:
Too lazy to quote, but your animations look a *lot* better. However, if I could point something out in the run/walk animations, watch the chest area. I think it could use more tweening, personally.
Kalentan:
Like said earlier in the thread, use less variance in your colors. In fact, I suggest finding a game that you like the aesthetic of, and just straight up use their.. what the shit is the word? Damn. Color key, thing? COLOR PALETTE. That's what I was looking for. So, like if you like the look of MC, use it's color palette. You'll notice there aren't very many "similar" shades, usually, so that each pixel matters and fits into a cohesive whole.
ephemeral:
I hate you for making something that I can't play with right now. SO MUCH FUN TO BE HAD.
Lots of testing done this week. 4/9 bosses are now locked in mechanically, 100% functional and implemented. Two more are conceptually done, just need to finish programming them and testing 'em. Another two I know *what* they are, but not the mechanics. Buddy has been playing the game for the first time, so I've learned a lot in the past two weeks.
1) My dungeons are "fine." They aren't bad, but they aren't anything world shattering either. Hopefully I can figure out a low-effort way to improve them, but I'll need to spend some time examining 2D Zelda dungeons in the next month or so.
2) My "no leveling in an RPG" approach actually fucking works. This is stellar to me. I was actually able to accomplish making combat with random mobs something that *wasn't* necessary if you didn't want to be bothered with it.
3) The downside to the above is that random mob encounters can feel pointless. They have the obvious benefit of providing Gold, so that you can save/heal/buy gear, but otherwise random mobs were pointless. "Why do them if you don't have to?" Not sure if this is actually a problem. I'd love to discuss this point with anyone who has experience with this.
4) Boss fights are (supposedly) stellar. Mechanically intensive, difficult encounters, but none of the psuedo-random crap that JRPGs typically spit out. Almost every single mechanics targeting systems are identifiable, and you can plan your way through a fight. When told that fights were based around World of Warcraft's raid bosses, I was told "oh, that makes sense." Think I nailed it.
5) The second area, Transyl, is far better than the first area, Aldsea. This doesn't shock me. Aldsea was made on the fly as I learned how to use the engine. Granted, I still don't think I'm anywhere near adequate at game making, however I'm able to recognize the issues that the first area has, and plan on remedying them down the line. The biggest issue is a lack of coherency, as Transyl's story was designed in full before implementation. So, writing as a whole is just stronger, and there's a sense of direction that is sorely lacking in Aldsea.
Fixed countless game-breaking bugs, and several minor ones. Through the current testing point, the only legitimately bad bugs are mostly visual. NPCs not pathing properly during cutscenes. Enemy battlers not drawing if they die and then are resurrected in combat (can still be targeted, health bar seen, fully function. Just can't see their battler). There's a crashing issue that I'm trying to work through, but seems to happen fairly infrequently (twice across a ~6 hour test).
Bonus question: Would there be any interest in a video showing how my implementation of boss mechanics works? Essentially, how I'm implementing a boss, what the mechanics are supposed to be, and testing the circumstances/functionality until there exists a new fight. Granted, everyone in here is at a much higher level than me, and so.. probably not, then. Hrm.
Too lazy to quote, but your animations look a *lot* better. However, if I could point something out in the run/walk animations, watch the chest area. I think it could use more tweening, personally.
Kalentan:
Like said earlier in the thread, use less variance in your colors. In fact, I suggest finding a game that you like the aesthetic of, and just straight up use their.. what the shit is the word? Damn. Color key, thing? COLOR PALETTE. That's what I was looking for. So, like if you like the look of MC, use it's color palette. You'll notice there aren't very many "similar" shades, usually, so that each pixel matters and fits into a cohesive whole.
ephemeral:
I hate you for making something that I can't play with right now. SO MUCH FUN TO BE HAD.
Lots of testing done this week. 4/9 bosses are now locked in mechanically, 100% functional and implemented. Two more are conceptually done, just need to finish programming them and testing 'em. Another two I know *what* they are, but not the mechanics. Buddy has been playing the game for the first time, so I've learned a lot in the past two weeks.
1) My dungeons are "fine." They aren't bad, but they aren't anything world shattering either. Hopefully I can figure out a low-effort way to improve them, but I'll need to spend some time examining 2D Zelda dungeons in the next month or so.
2) My "no leveling in an RPG" approach actually fucking works. This is stellar to me. I was actually able to accomplish making combat with random mobs something that *wasn't* necessary if you didn't want to be bothered with it.
3) The downside to the above is that random mob encounters can feel pointless. They have the obvious benefit of providing Gold, so that you can save/heal/buy gear, but otherwise random mobs were pointless. "Why do them if you don't have to?" Not sure if this is actually a problem. I'd love to discuss this point with anyone who has experience with this.
4) Boss fights are (supposedly) stellar. Mechanically intensive, difficult encounters, but none of the psuedo-random crap that JRPGs typically spit out. Almost every single mechanics targeting systems are identifiable, and you can plan your way through a fight. When told that fights were based around World of Warcraft's raid bosses, I was told "oh, that makes sense." Think I nailed it.
5) The second area, Transyl, is far better than the first area, Aldsea. This doesn't shock me. Aldsea was made on the fly as I learned how to use the engine. Granted, I still don't think I'm anywhere near adequate at game making, however I'm able to recognize the issues that the first area has, and plan on remedying them down the line. The biggest issue is a lack of coherency, as Transyl's story was designed in full before implementation. So, writing as a whole is just stronger, and there's a sense of direction that is sorely lacking in Aldsea.
Fixed countless game-breaking bugs, and several minor ones. Through the current testing point, the only legitimately bad bugs are mostly visual. NPCs not pathing properly during cutscenes. Enemy battlers not drawing if they die and then are resurrected in combat (can still be targeted, health bar seen, fully function. Just can't see their battler). There's a crashing issue that I'm trying to work through, but seems to happen fairly infrequently (twice across a ~6 hour test).
Bonus question: Would there be any interest in a video showing how my implementation of boss mechanics works? Essentially, how I'm implementing a boss, what the mechanics are supposed to be, and testing the circumstances/functionality until there exists a new fight. Granted, everyone in here is at a much higher level than me, and so.. probably not, then. Hrm.
I made some shadow tiles and did some testing. Unsure if that helps or not.
Also:
http://i.picpar.com/jVLb.png
Unrelated but that is an image of a premade indoor place in the YoYoRPG, it shows how far the game is supposed to be zoomed out.
Should be noted that the game will not contain any day and night cycles. All areas will have a set time of day.
floatstarpx
Member
Some work on 3D-er-izing the old pixel art characters for Bomber Crew:
(in motion: https://pbs.twimg.com//tweet_video//CefQSLkXIAESLZl.mp4 )
(in motion: https://pbs.twimg.com//tweet_video//CefQSLkXIAESLZl.mp4 )
spazchicken
Member
Haha thanks . Yeah, but not till we get things really polished wich probably won't be till around the summer
spazchicken
Member
Working on some layers, so much to do yet
Working on some layers, so much to do yet
That is some damn good fire.
Jacksinthe
Banned
That looks really good! Digging it.Working on some layers, so much to do yet
PirateHearts
Neo Member
just wanted to share what I've been working on
Whoa, took me a second to figure out what I was seeing, but that looks super clever.
You NAILED the feeling of a forest on fire; the different layers of smoke, the awesome looking fire...and some crazy art to top it off. Great job!Working on some layers, so much to do yet
Great concept and looks really cool as well! It´s a bit hard to grasp what´s going on at first and some platforms overlaying doesn´t look good, you should have care with that. But just a minor detail as I always have to say something bad about everything, the game looks amazing.just wanted to share what I've been working on
Those effects are really nice. What's your secret for sorting? I notice there's some glow from the flames when they peek through foreground bushes leaves?Working on some layers, so much to do yet
thank you, ha, I spent several weeks trying to come up with a 'cool' way to have them overlay and eventually gave up since all my ideas obstructed playability.
thanks
spazchicken
Member
thanks guys!
thanks
I think all I have left is the falling ashes and random billows of smoke in the background as far as effects gothanks! Sorting is def a pain in the butt to keep things organized enough to not have clipping . Start with 1 sorting layer at a time, hide it and do another lol. Yep, UE4 has some great emissive effects
tamaster92
Member
thanks guys!
thanks
thanks! Sorting is def a pain in the butt to keep things organized enough to not have clipping . Start with 1 sorting layer at a time, hide it and do another lol. Yep, UE4 has some great emissive effects
Is that done in paper2d or just made to look 3D?
Also all the VR stuff makes me wanna mess with that but gotta focus and not get distracted like normal
spazchicken
Member
Is that done in paper2d or just made to look 3D?
Also all the VR stuff makes me wanna mess with that but gotta focus and not get distracted like normal
Yep, lots and lots of paper 2D sprites! But still debating whether to do 2D or 3D bosses .
I'd LOVE to do a VR game, in fact we plan on our next game one!
tamaster92
Member
I just realised I wanna take the climbing in VR from that one cryengine thing and make first person shadow of colossus.
Imagine in VR seeing those HUGE creatures then climbing them and stabbing the weak spot..
A man can dream...
spazchicken
Member
That would be pretty awesome!
tamaster92
Member
Out of my skill range sadly
spazchicken
Member
I think out of most people's skills , you need like 20+ people apparently
the color separation goes higher the closer you are to this thing (it's not QUITE as blurry as the gif presents, the gif just has some trouble with it)
http://gfycat.com/CapitalWeepyHagfish
I am sure this will please 100% of people
http://gfycat.com/CapitalWeepyHagfish
I am sure this will please 100% of people
That's some yummy coloring
liliththepale
Banned
I agree with Jumplion.
I'm curious if you've thought about taking the direction you're facing into account? ie: less separation when you're looking away from the creature instead of towards it.
Ok so i started to design my very first game. Using stencyl, and would like some advice on the main character design. I want to design it as an endless runner (similar to Punch Quest), but you play as a duck...that was transformed into a tank.
Never worked with sprite work before (always use vectors or premade sprites for mini projects). Realized how discouraging spritework can be. After looking at a lot of tutorials, i managed to go from never making a sprite to these:
(most proud of this one. looks better when shrunken down)
(made by a buddy of mine, actually)
only the last two have acutal wheels on them so far, but that's what i have so far. I was wondering, since these take quite a bit of time to make for some reason, what would be the best approach for getting the game done in a realistic time frame? For example, what style of art should i go for? Im not very experienced in sprite work (obviously), should a more GBA/NES style work? Again, im trying to aim for a Punch Quest style gameplay/wackiness, and i want to be able to most properly/realistically portray that. Thanks
Also i hope this is the right place to post this.
Never worked with sprite work before (always use vectors or premade sprites for mini projects). Realized how discouraging spritework can be. After looking at a lot of tutorials, i managed to go from never making a sprite to these:
only the last two have acutal wheels on them so far, but that's what i have so far. I was wondering, since these take quite a bit of time to make for some reason, what would be the best approach for getting the game done in a realistic time frame? For example, what style of art should i go for? Im not very experienced in sprite work (obviously), should a more GBA/NES style work? Again, im trying to aim for a Punch Quest style gameplay/wackiness, and i want to be able to most properly/realistically portray that. Thanks
Also i hope this is the right place to post this.
thank you =]
it's actually probably too much separation. I was looking at it again and think it goes a bit far. I think rather than simply dialing that effect up so much, I should look at adding another effect. FX are always the answer. Always.
And the effects like RGB are meant to sort of indicate some kind of strife/interference from the proximity of the forces inside him interacting with those inside you, so line of sight isn't really the cause.
just wanted to share what I've been working on
Woah.
I love these kind of puzzles where you can solve it by changing the angle. Really crisp style your going for as well.Working on some layers, so much to do yet
Looks amazing! I get a very Ori and the Blindforest feel from it!
--------------
Well, I made my rain animated and tried for a "lighting" effect. Not the best transition, but it's kind of cool.
Also the first enemy you will encounter:
The Accursed, these strange creatures of a strange black gooey mass, have long since existed in the
deep underground. They seem to grow in the shadows and thus thrive in the darkness. Rarely would
people encounter them, yet stories from adventurers who braved into the planets depths could recount
horror stories. They have at times, buried themselves in the skeleton of a human and control them, yet
they can be dangerous even when not like this.
When magic vanished from the world and the endless night set in, these creatures escaped from the
depths and into the surface above. Many fallen humans have had their corpses and skeletal remains
taken by them. So it is that in this dark age, the few remaining have to contest for territory with these
creatures who have long since taken control of most of the world.
MusicGaf, I want to create the music for my game, but I have no idea where to start. I don´t want to make anything too complex (no orchestral music or such), just simple music you could find in something like Super Mario World or Sonic 2. What programs do you guys recommend? What online resources/tutorials are there to help me grasp the basic concepts and start making some simple songs?
floatstarpx
Member
(most proud of this one. looks better when shrunken down)
this one looks the best, to me. I think it has a better style to it without the wheels, actually.
Does anyone here have industry experience and/or commercially released a game where freelance contractors were used in the process? I am looking at hiring a concept artist to design some of the characters for my game. I am however unsure about the legal formalities (should we sign a contract etc), how should the communication and iteration process go, etc. It would be great if I could speak to someone about this who has done this before and can share some experience.
LordRaptor
Member
I haven't used contractors in any form of indie development, but you absolutely do need some form of written contract or agreement that work done on the game is work for hire and that the work produced is the property of the legal entity that owns the rights to the game, not of the artist that produced it.
spazchicken
Member
Looks amazing! I get a very Ori and the Blindforest feel from it!
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Well, I made my rain animated and tried for a "lighting" effect. Not the best transition, but it's kind of cool.
Thank you!
I like the rain! The lighting is cool, though it should just "flicker" for a split second. Right now it feels like someone turned a light on ^ ^
----------------------------
Just released my 9th Game dev vlog about making my fire forest area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9_pGkVLKhU
I decided to give doing some pixel art a go. These are my first attempts.
So much to learn and to get right. Size, perspective, lighting, colours... I'll keep trying though!
An attempt at a Mother 3 style sprite of Santa from 999:
Playing around with recolouring an ugly little pixel house:
Some Paladin guy:
So much to learn and to get right. Size, perspective, lighting, colours... I'll keep trying though!
Yeah. I already made it shorter but I think I will have a fade transition for when it goes away. So it will still be sudden when it appears but fade out when going back to normal.
Well, now that I got that, I need to figure out the whole weapon equipping and actually have it appear when walking about. The YoYoRPG base has it so the attacking animation and the actual weapon are separate but I'm not really sure how to make that also work for being idle or walking since it's not my own code I need to really learn it.
Some concepto art of 3 minibosses, these are the first verisons so they´ll surely change, but I´m vrey happy with how they´re looking:
They are:
Let´s hope my spriting abilities are up to the task of doing them justice.
They are:
- Nezumi: A mouse which is also a scientist who has developed a technology to travel between dimensions. It represents the virtue of Wisdom.
- Ookami: A wolf and proud warrior, rival and best friend in other circumstances of the main character. She represents the virtue of Honor and is famous for being very strict and for her infinite claws which can even cut through time itself. I´ll have to make some changes so she resembles more a wolf than a panther
- Washi: An eagle who can control the weather. He represents the virtue of Mercy, but with a twisted interpretation: he thinks killing his prey is a merciful act as that way he ends their suffering in life.
Let´s hope my spriting abilities are up to the task of doing them justice.
liliththepale
Banned
I'm trying to design a creature that tucks itself into a ball that can roll around.. it's a simple idea but very hard to design/animate.
looking at armadillos.
this shit is so rad!
I thought you already had that worked out?
You might want to look into Monster Hunter's Uragaan.
http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Uragaan
I'm trying to design a creature that tucks itself into a ball that can roll around.. it's a simple idea but very hard to design/animate.
looking at armadillos.
this shit is so rad!
Ori and the Blind Forest had an enemy you encounter early on that is kinda like that if I remember correctly.
EDIT: oh wait never mind, they just kinda charged you
still they had an interesting design if you are interested in checking it out
http://oriandtheblindforest.wikia.com/wiki/Enemies_of_Nibel?file=Ram.jpg
oh you mean this thing?
http://gfycat.com/SnarlingSimpleEmperorpenguin
yeah that's long finished, it's actually one of the enemies I'm more proud of due to his complexity.
that said, I cheated a bit on the transformation, it sorta just folds up, telescopingly, into a ball, which was far easier.
Now I"m making a creature that I want to tuck itself into a ball, armadillo style. This is the rare friendly creature.
Uagaan is dope but for some reason I feel like there's another rolling ball monster in MH. I clicked your link expecting one thing and got another.
Ori makes me angry with its beautifulness.
Incidentally I'm thinking of starting on the enhanced edition tonight.
liliththepale
Banned
Oh, probably. I haven't played all of the games.
Sounds good! I've never animated something like that so I can't offer any advice.
for what its worth your game gives me ori vibes!
here's a game I wanna make in the future
the game world has "hunter" npcs and "hunted" npcs, and they dynamically travel the world in pursuit of their individual agendas. they are all named and individual characters.
when you play you can align with either side and interfere. if enough hunteds escape, you get one outcome, if enough hunteds are eliminated you get another outcome, and your actions in this would decide what the story arc is for your character
I always liked how in Metroid 2 you had an exact number of metroids in the world and you had that counter there and you needed to kill all of them. This would evoke that.
thanks =)
I actually need to be careful about playing it because it is a self esteem knock.. any time i start to feel good about what I'm doing, if I load up Ori on my 42 inch TV and behold its gorgeous backgrounds and all the wonderful effects I just feel useless
the game world has "hunter" npcs and "hunted" npcs, and they dynamically travel the world in pursuit of their individual agendas. they are all named and individual characters.
when you play you can align with either side and interfere. if enough hunteds escape, you get one outcome, if enough hunteds are eliminated you get another outcome, and your actions in this would decide what the story arc is for your character
I always liked how in Metroid 2 you had an exact number of metroids in the world and you had that counter there and you needed to kill all of them. This would evoke that.
thanks =)
I actually need to be careful about playing it because it is a self esteem knock.. any time i start to feel good about what I'm doing, if I load up Ori on my 42 inch TV and behold its gorgeous backgrounds and all the wonderful effects I just feel useless
quick and dirty
I kinda just envisioned an easier way to do it and took the shortcut, since it's a very small creature
looks good! also it looks very cute I don't want to hurt it D:
thanks and you don't kill it, it's a friendly
that's what I thought would happen, but back when I made my trailer I quickly found there was too much and I needed to edit out things I liked
Right now I'm just making a last minute gameplay trailer for my IndieCade submission (figured why not), but I'm super close to getting the full game completely ready for the Android store. Need to add just a bit more pizzaz visually, and then take the plunge.
uploaded a clip of stuff I was working on today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDddCLLZeTg&feature=youtu.be
you can see the beginnings of the ball critters at the end, it needs more work, but basically they just play a little game of tease with the player. will have sounds and stuff later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDddCLLZeTg&feature=youtu.be
you can see the beginnings of the ball critters at the end, it needs more work, but basically they just play a little game of tease with the player. will have sounds and stuff later.
First major testing ended today. Final playtime was just over 6 hours to complete everything in the current build (roughly the first 2 thirds of the game), while missing 2 bosses and 3 quests in those zones (total). That 6 hours was not including resets due to dying (player refused to use "checkpoint" consumables for some reason, insisting on resetting to menu and reloading save), or the faster speed that a player would have from knowing *how* to do things on subsequent runs. I'd guesstimate the main story at about 4 hours thus far, which is in line with expectations. What I did *not* expect was just how BIG the second zone is. The first zone ended at roughly the 1.5 to 2 hour mark, and the rest of that time, 4 to 4.5 hours, was spent in zone 2. Considering neither zone is done, I'm actually quite happy with that.
Feedback was very positive. Plenty of bugs still exist. Game isn't done. Can't ever get ahead of myself. But it was weird. Watching someone play this content that I created. Watching someone interact with it. Laughing at cool stuff, getting serious in tense moments, pissed off when RNG screwed with them.. Playing the game. Was weird as hell seeing it not as "this horrible amalgamation of ideas and my personal shittiness," but a fun, albeit buggy, game. The thing I'll never forget though, is when my tester compared it to Golden Sun and Chrono Trigger in terms of gameplay quality. I have so much to learn and live up to. How do you guys do this day after day?! The pressure of people looking forward to this.. thing I made is outrageous, and only one person has played it. How do you deal when you've got legitimate fans?
As always, loving the stuff you guys are putting out. Your games look incredible. Your ideas are brimming with possibilities. If I can create these moments for people to enjoy, every single one of you can do it ten times better. Stay positive. Keep working on it. No zero days. You guys are a continuous source of inspiration and positivity. Much love. <3
Feedback was very positive. Plenty of bugs still exist. Game isn't done. Can't ever get ahead of myself. But it was weird. Watching someone play this content that I created. Watching someone interact with it. Laughing at cool stuff, getting serious in tense moments, pissed off when RNG screwed with them.. Playing the game. Was weird as hell seeing it not as "this horrible amalgamation of ideas and my personal shittiness," but a fun, albeit buggy, game. The thing I'll never forget though, is when my tester compared it to Golden Sun and Chrono Trigger in terms of gameplay quality. I have so much to learn and live up to. How do you guys do this day after day?! The pressure of people looking forward to this.. thing I made is outrageous, and only one person has played it. How do you deal when you've got legitimate fans?
As always, loving the stuff you guys are putting out. Your games look incredible. Your ideas are brimming with possibilities. If I can create these moments for people to enjoy, every single one of you can do it ten times better. Stay positive. Keep working on it. No zero days. You guys are a continuous source of inspiration and positivity. Much love. <3
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