Support NeoGAF

[cbox]

We're releasing our beta playtest for one of our modes this friday, if anyone's interested you can sign up here!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11GNYiY71SK3xX8MBCTbMGGHrY5jDEUaBsuIe9bzrhnI/viewform?usp=send_form

It'll be arcade mode, 3 minutes of mayhem - all weapons and high scores.

 

[Feep]

Sunshafts

I don't think this reads like you want it to. It looks like mud waterfalls. = ( I would make it yellower and cut down on the wavy-ness...sun shafts don't vary at the edges like that.

 

[superNESjoe]

We're releasing our beta playtest for one of our modes this friday, if anyone's interested you can sign up here!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11GNYiY71SK3xX8MBCTbMGGHrY5jDEUaBsuIe9bzrhnI/viewform?usp=send_form

It'll be arcade mode, 3 minutes of mayhem - all weapons and high scores.

Signed up. I know the stress of doing these, I'll be launching an alpha playtest of GunWorld within the next two weeks.

EDIT: Speaking of, here's some new enemies we've been working on for the past few days.

This is a basic Alien Drone.

Meet Chad, a native inhabitant of GunWorld. He's one of the many indigenous creatures that will be making life hard for you.

Finally, this is Running Ron, one of many unique Alien units.

 

[Ashodin]

I don't think this reads like you want it to. It looks like mud waterfalls. = ( I would make it yellower and cut down on the wavy-ness...sun shafts don't vary at the edges like that.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MUD SIR

HUH

 

[Paz]

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of workflow do you use for texturing, Paz?

Well I'm a terrible artist so I don't do any of the textures Tim's tools of choice are photoshop and max, with a wacom tablet.

I can ask him to post up some more detailed stuff if you'd like? My area is design so I'm mostly working on concepts/balance/level layouts/behaviors.

 

[kamakazi5]

I don't think this reads like you want it to. It looks like mud waterfalls. = ( I would make it yellower and cut down on the wavy-ness...sun shafts don't vary at the edges like that.

Lol, I can't unsee.

 

[Ashodin]

Lol, I can't unsee.

I MADE IT BETTER

 

[BomberMouse]

I MADE IT BETTER

Looks even more like mud...

 

[Ashodin]

Okay back to my original idea then, sideways!


Going to let the artist handle it /./

 

[sbkodama]

Are you making the engine for this?

Hello, no I don't make the engine and use the blender game engine for this.

Here is a new gif for the beginning of the game.
I need to setup some little things again and will probably make a video after.

 

[electroflame]

Okay back to my original idea then, sideways!


Going to let the artist handle it /./

I think the problem is that it doesn't match the lighting for the rest of the sprites. Everything else is lit at an angle, but the lighting shafts are always straight-down. Maybe doing them semi-diagonally so it matches the rest of the lighting would look better.

 

[Raonak]

I just got an idea for a rougelike pokemon game.
fuck. got too many projects i want to work on.

 

[Rubikant]

I just got an idea for a rougelike pokemon game.
fuck. got too many projects i want to work on.

http://www.pokemonmysterydungeon.com/

 

[Raonak]

http://www.pokemonmysterydungeon.com/

Ah, forgot that existed.

well, I was thinking more like a traditional pokemon game, but with lots of randomly generated elements.

so towns would be randomly generated.
starter pokemon selection would be randomly generated.
routes connecting towns would be randomly generated. with random selection of pokemon, which you can catch.
Healing items rare. Pokeballs would be rare. with permadeath, so if a pokemon faints, you can't use it anymore.

some randomly generated caves/forests.

To make it more interesting, I think TMs might transfer across playthroughs, but are one use.

endgoal is to get 8 gym badges.
A secondary goal is to complete the pokedex, the pokedex progress transfers across playthroughs.

 

[Blizzard]

Considering that recent 2013 salary survey for solo developers (57% made less than $500 in a year?), that's super depressing since I'm considering trying fulltime development so I can at least say I chased my dream once. Oh well.

On an actual game-related note, I'd welcome opinions on camera movement. Right click map drag seems fairly reasonable, and I have that working. But what if you left click a square and it is right next to the edge of the map, so the square (or an associated popup GUI) would be offscreen? Here is the snap I added as a test:

This is presumably way too much of a jump. What do you think? Any ideas for making sure whatever gets selected stays onscreen (even in a windowed environment) without being too confusing?

 

[ryanthelion123]

Hi long time lurker, excited to join the indie community.

So I'm just beginning game developing and downloaded Unity free. I am have very little programming knowledge in Javascript and Python. What do you guys recommend for an absolute beginner to use in Unity Unityscript or C#? Unityscript seems easier and it seems hard to find resources for C# for an absolute beginner.

 

[Mystic River]

Looks even more like mud...

I would say it doesn't looks like mud anymore but not like sunshine either, it has to make things even brighter, most probably you will need to either use a multiply color effect to make it looks like light otherwise you will keep getting a kind of mud color, and add some dust or pixel dust may help too to look cooler.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Well I'm a terrible artist so I don't do any of the textures Tim's tools of choice are photoshop and max, with a wacom tablet.

I can ask him to post up some more detailed stuff if you'd like? My area is design so I'm mostly working on concepts/balance/level layouts/behaviors.

It doesn't matter too much if he's busy. Just wondered if you guys used any software like quixel suite or substance designer for your textures and maps.

 

[gundalf]

I will release soon my first Game ever and it is called Klatsche (German for Swatter).
This game is inspired by the Fly Swatter Game from Mario Paint but with some light RPG Elements.
In this game the flies comes in waves and each kill gives you EXP. So overtime you can reach more Waves
and defeat stronger foes.

Here is a screenshot:

Hopefully this game will turnout to be fun!
I am also working on some additions like a AR 3D mode but at this moment i rather like to move on and go back to my main project (which i hope to be able to show some screenshots soon).

 

[Jacksinthe]

I MADE IT BETTER

Definitely needs more of an off-white translucency with vertical variance in line saturation. A few Lighter colored particles flying around like dust particles only within the bounds of the sunshaft will do much to cement the illusion of sunlight.

 

[missile]

Thanks for this. I'm going to save this and spend some time trying to learn how to integrate it. Appreciate it.

Start with Euler. Can't get any easier.

 

[2+2=5]

I MADE IT BETTER

I think that this image can help you

I'm not an expert but i think that sunshafts should be not exactly rectangular.

EDIT:
even better

 

[razu]

I will release soon my first Game ever and it is called Klatsche (German for Swatter).
This game is inspired by the Fly Swatter Game from Mario Paint but with some light RPG Elements.
In this game the flies comes in waves and each kill gives you EXP. So overtime you can reach more Waves
and defeat stronger foes.

Here is a screenshot:

Hopefully this game will turnout to be fun!
I am also working on some additions like a AR 3D mode but at this moment i rather like to move on and go back to my main project (which i hope to be able to show some screenshots soon).

I like!

 

[Jobbs]

I think that this image can help you

I did it too!

as for why ashodin's shot doesn't look like a lightbeam, I think a part of it is I don't understand the terrain shape at all at the entry point that well. we go through two shades of brown and it kinda "muddies" everything. so it just looks like a brown line. it also should be brighter, I think.

it's also possible to sell the idea with simple pixel art.

 

[AusRoachman]

So I decided to try and see wh I go making a pirate ship roguelike game inspired by ac black flag, so I have been researching and buying lots if different models

- pirate ship
- looking at lots of water packages, no unity pro so I am limited
- storm particles and day/night cycles
- various other model packs such as forts , islands e.t.c

I have a rough plan to start out with and see where it leads, I want to focus on exploration and making that a huge reward, starting in a small ship, plundering, looting and capturing towns to buy new ship uprades e.t.c , further out from base gets harder and harder including storms.

After months of trying little prototypes and learning tons of techniques I think I have finally found a game I will continue with beyond the prototype stage

 

[V_Arnold]

So I decided to try and see wh I go making a pirate ship roguelike game inspired by ac black flag, so I have been researching and buying lots if different models

- pirate ship
- looking at lots of water packages, no unity pro so I am limited
- storm particles and day/night cycles
- various other model packs such as forts , islands e.t.c

I have a rough plan to start out with and see where it leads, I want to focus on exploration and making that a huge reward, starting in a small ship, plundering, looting and capturing towns to buy new ship uprades e.t.c , further out from base gets harder and harder including storms.

After months of trying little prototypes and learning tons of techniques I think I have finally found a game I will continue with beyond the prototype stage

This sounds absolutely fantastic! I am looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[cbox]

Signed up. I know the stress of doing these, I'll be launching an alpha playtest of GunWorld within the next two weeks.

Thanks! I'm nervous for sure, mostly if it works on everyone's machines - though we have faith.

 

[JulianImp]

So I decided to try and see wh I go making a pirate ship roguelike game inspired by ac black flag, so I have been researching and buying lots if different models

- pirate ship
- looking at lots of water packages, no unity pro so I am limited
- storm particles and day/night cycles
- various other model packs such as forts , islands e.t.c

I have a rough plan to start out with and see where it leads, I want to focus on exploration and making that a huge reward, starting in a small ship, plundering, looting and capturing towns to buy new ship uprades e.t.c , further out from base gets harder and harder including storms.

After months of trying little prototypes and learning tons of techniques I think I have finally found a game I will continue with beyond the prototype stage

I'm kind of partial against buying art assets for a game, since it's often a lot better to have your own custom-made assets to give the game its own aesthetic and also some coherence. For prototypes, I'm happy with having programmer art such as a bunch of primitives in different colors and sizes. Of course that wouldn't work for art-driven games, but then pre-made assets wouldn't cut it, either.

 

[show me your skeleton]

I did it too!

as for why ashodin's shot doesn't look like a lightbeam, I think a part of it is I don't understand the terrain shape at all at the entry point that well. we go through two shades of brown and it kinda "muddies" everything. so it just looks like a brown line. it also should be brighter, I think.

it's also possible to sell the idea with simple pixel art.

i think that image shows the main difference between a good light shaft and a bad light shaft, the light 'spills out' over the side of the hole (i guess someone here might be able to explain why). also dust motes, definitely.

 

[Rubikant]

I will release soon my first Game ever and it is called Klatsche (German for Swatter).
This game is inspired by the Fly Swatter Game from Mario Paint but with some light RPG Elements.
In this game the flies comes in waves and each kill gives you EXP. So overtime you can reach more Waves
and defeat stronger foes.

Here is a screenshot:

Hopefully this game will turnout to be fun!
I am also working on some additions like a AR 3D mode but at this moment i rather like to move on and go back to my main project (which i hope to be able to show some screenshots soon).

Ahh the memories! The first complete indie game I released was also loosely based on that Mario Paint Fly Swatter game, though I deviated quite a bit in the long run (for one thing its all about little robots rather than fly swatting). The main thing I took from the original game was the idea of dodging attacks using the accuracy and speed of a mouse device rather than a game controller, which I've seen so very few games capitalize on (plenty use the mouse to aim, but not many to dodge).

Its ancient now but if you want to check it out to see if there's any ideas you can pull from it, its called Minebot Arena and is freeware. I know the art is crap, but it was a solo effort and I'm not an artist.

http://www.zauron.net/minebot/

Lot of people liked Minebot Arena so I bet they'll like Klatsche as well!

 

[Rubikant]

I MADE IT BETTER

What blending type are you using for the beam over the background? I suggest Additive blend for light beams. Multiply can also work but I prefer using Multiply for when you have both light and shadow in a single "lighting layer", for just a single light-casting object I find Additive to give me the best results. Just straight alpha blend never really works that well.

 

[Ashodin]

Thanks for the advice guys, but the artist will draw up a nice overlay instead.

 

[nicoga3000]

I'm really at a loss on where to start learning Unity. Are there any suggested "step-by-step" games out there that will get me used to the engine, how things work, and able to start tinkering effectively?

 

[Ashodin]

That indie dev money thread is super depressing!

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

That indie dev money thread is super depressing!

I just do it for the chicks, anyway

 

[Jacksinthe]

I'm really at a loss on where to start learning Unity. Are there any suggested "step-by-step" games out there that will get me used to the engine, how things work, and able to start tinkering effectively?

What are your goals? What are you looking to create? What are you willing to learn? What is your current state of development knowledge and ability?

 

[-Winnie-]

I'm really at a loss on where to start learning Unity. Are there any suggested "step-by-step" games out there that will get me used to the engine, how things work, and able to start tinkering effectively?

Unity have some official tutorials that you can look at. https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules

I'd also encourage you to come up with a small idea for a game that you'd be passionate about making and go ahead and make it. Passion will go a long way during the learning process.

 

[superNESjoe]

That indie dev money thread is super depressing!

What thread are you talking about? I think I missed it.

 

[nicoga3000]

Unity have some official tutorials that you can look at. https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules

I'd also encourage you to come up with a small idea for a game that you'd be passionate about making and go ahead and make it. Passion will go a long way during the learning process.

What are your goals? What are you looking to create? What are you willing to learn? What is your current state of development knowledge and ability?

Thanks - I have an idea, one that I've wanted to do for years. But GM can't do it because it doesn't really do 3D stuff. A 3rd person action game would be the best description of my project.

 

[-Winnie-]

Thanks - I have an idea, one that I've wanted to do for years. But GM can't do it because it doesn't really do 3D stuff. A 3rd person action game would be the best description of my project.

As long as the idea isn't too grandoise (you don't really want to start learning by doing a massive dream project), you should totally go for it. Starting small when you're new is important, it lets you gradually build up your skillset and confidence over time.

What's the idea, out of curiosity?

 

[nicoga3000]

As long as the idea isn't too grandoise (you don't really want to start learning by doing a massive dream project), you should totally go for it. Starting small when you're new is important, it lets you gradually build up your skillset and confidence over time.

What's the idea, out of curiosity?

Yeah, moving to a new engine and environment is weird but exciting. The nice part is that the game I'm aiming to make will be very adaptable to new ideas as I go.

I've got things lined up to do a PSO style game. I've got most of the concept done, but assets will be a bummer. Thankfully, I can use basic models for getting the environment, interactions, and systems in place.

 

[Ashodin]

What thread are you talking about? I think I missed it.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=860374

This one!

Professionally Poor for real

DOOOOOORS

 

[Jobbs]

playin' around with effects again.. filling up the screen with actors like this doesn't seem to slow it down pretty much ever (unless you're telling them to do something intensive). in this case the sparks are being recolored (and resized, and rotated) by the engine and each have collision physics, so you'd WORRY that maybe it slows down... and it doesn't. testament to at least some things about stencyl being more powerful than you might expect.

 

[cbox]

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Crazy effect, looks insane!

 

[Rubikant]

playin' around with effects again.. filling up the screen with actors like this doesn't seem to slow it down pretty much ever (unless you're telling them to do something intensive). in this case the sparks are being recolored (and resized, and rotated) by the engine and each have collision physics, so you'd WORRY that maybe it slows down... and it doesn't. testament to at least some things about stencyl being more powerful than you might expect.

Nice! How crappy of a system have you tested it on?

One thing I find challenging as an indie dev is figuring out what minimum requirements I should list for my games. Big studios can afford to test their product on a wide variety of PC hardware (or pay another company to do so) and figure out what can and can't handle the game well enough. How do indie devs do it?

I don't even know for sure if the min sys req's I put up for Volgarr on Steam are all that accurate, they are basically just the crappiest computer I had available (my old netbook) which fortunately could run the game well enough. Its possible it would run decently on something worse than that, or that a system with similar specs but, like, different component manufacturers might not run the game well enough, I have no idea.

That's why I try to target the worst hardware I can find and use the oldest tech available that can do what I need. For example Volgarr has a rendering option that uses only DirectX 7 (though it also has a DX9 and OpenGL 1.3 renderer now for maximum compatibility). Minebot Arena ran on DirectX 1.0 (even though I believe 6 or so was available at the time). No one is going to complain if the game runs anyway even when they are below min req's right? That's my thinking anyway. So if you are sure that pretty much any machine made in the last 7 years or so can run the game just fine, you're probably going to get a pass if your listed min sys req's aren't super accurate.

Anyone figured out a better way to deal with the need to list min sys req's on their PC indie games?

 

[Jacksinthe]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=860374

This one!

Professionally Poor for real

I imagine a grand majority of those independent developers work on mobile clones with nothing but store-purchased assets and YouTube tutorials. While there's no guarantee that ambitious, original projects will make it anywhere, several here have blasted by those very numbers in Kickstarter alone by the thousands.

I'd say its not a perfect vertical slice of "indie", rather, containing more hobbyists than serious development efforts.

Topic: completely broke my shit today bringing TTF down to 0.4ms. Things go dumb at that clip so I added an option to set framerate cap alongside disabling Vsync. Some people like to get their speed on.

 

[Ashodin]

playin' around with effects again

Looks awesome man! Love the physics and effects.

BEHOLD THE TWIG KING

 

[Rubikant]

I imagine a grand majority of those independent developers work on mobile clones with nothing but store-purchased assets and YouTube tutorials. While there's no guarantee that ambitious, original projects will make it anywhere, several here have blasted by those very numbers in Kickstarter alone by the thousands.

I'd say its not a perfect vertical slice of "indie", rather, containing more hobbyists than serious development efforts.

Topic: completely broke my shit today bringing TTF down to 0.4ms. Things go dumb at that clip so I added an option to set framerate cap alongside disabling Vsync. Some people like to get their speed on.

Yeah I was just talking to my wife about this and saying it feels like there needs to be at least 2 classifications of indie devs - the "serious" indie devs and the casual hobbyist indie devs, to use your terms. At least for stuff like this salary report... I don't want to sound pretentious and say dev x is "better" than dev y but lumping all "indie" devs together makes this data not very useful for those looking seriously into getting into indie game development as a potential career path. Its very skewed due to how much the hobbyist devs outnumber the serious ones.

 

[Jobbs]

Nice! How crappy of a system have you tested it on?

On my computer, which is sort of medium desktop, it runs fine. I also test it on my brother's computer, which he built as cheaply as possible in 2012. it has this for a gpu and this for a cpu. in other words, it's pretty unimpressive. and the game seems to work just fine on it (I haven't tested it thoroughly enough to say it NEVER drops a frame, but it seems just fine).

the important thing for the stand alone projects stencyl exports seems to be having some form of GPU with some form of dedicated GPU memory. in other words, integrated graphics = bad. I tested it on my cheap laptop (integrated graphics) and it runs pretty poorly. same story with my mom's cheap laptop with integrated graphics. I don't know yet that I can do anything about it, so for now I accept it.

 

[Blizzard]

Topic: completely broke my shit today bringing TTF down to 0.4ms. Things go dumb at that clip so I added an option to set framerate cap alongside disabling Vsync. Some people like to get their speed on.

Stupid question, what's TTF?