wondermega
Member
Some gifs of Blast Rover. If these are too big, let me know and I'll pull them (I was judging by what people posted on the other pages)
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor
- Thread starter chubigans
- Start date
- Status
To give an honest critique, I feel like the pause on the front step is a little long. He dips slightly as if he were dropping his shoulder. I dunno.
After staring at it for a while the animation starts to look like a dance move rather than a walk cycle.
The animation quality is stellar though. I like that you are going for an asymmetrical walk cycle. It adds character to it.
More_Badass
Member
Do you have a Twitter page, site for this? Look like it's going to be a mobile title. Any other info?Some gifs of Blast Rover. If these are too big, let me know and I'll pull them (I was judging by what people posted on the other pages)
Mystic River
Member
I've been wondering the past few days, is there any tool that helps you build a game UI and manage it easily? I've been stuck most of this week just doing simple UI screens and still have quite many more to do and wondering if I missed some really nice tool that can help me doing it. Anyway, if anyone knows of any good free tool let me know.
Chaing topic , I just wanted to have something that looks like ME style, and did some drawings today and did this a few hours ago.
Chaing topic , I just wanted to have something that looks like ME style, and did some drawings today and did this a few hours ago.
BibiMaghoo
Member
I have some design questions I would like to pose to those who have worked on, or released an RTS game.
Specifically, how do you balance the time it takes to do things, with the available options for a player to use? For example, in my game you can base build and research new buildings, and likewise research new combat units, but obviously a player needs something to do while they are building up a base. There is exploration to keep a player busy, and minor skirmishes, but I want to know how people balance the actual time it takes.
So player receives resources (lets say every 3 minutes)
Player spends resources of building / research / units
Player continues to explore / combat
Player gets resources again.
I don't know if I'm making sense here, but essentially I need to know how long you can effectively leave a player without something to do without it being an issue. How long it is acceptable to make a player wait for something to happen they have instigated?
It's a hard thing to answer, hence me asking here
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Specifically, how do you balance the time it takes to do things, with the available options for a player to use? For example, in my game you can base build and research new buildings, and likewise research new combat units, but obviously a player needs something to do while they are building up a base. There is exploration to keep a player busy, and minor skirmishes, but I want to know how people balance the actual time it takes.
So player receives resources (lets say every 3 minutes)
Player spends resources of building / research / units
Player continues to explore / combat
Player gets resources again.
I don't know if I'm making sense here, but essentially I need to know how long you can effectively leave a player without something to do without it being an issue. How long it is acceptable to make a player wait for something to happen they have instigated?
It's a hard thing to answer, hence me asking here
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Since Jobbs and Ash posted a few pics/info on bosses I figure I'd continue the trend as I do not see it discussed much here, so here is the first boss of STRAFE:
A few notes on the encounter:
The boss is the first boss of the game and thus, must be treated as an introductory boss. We chose room bounds similar to that of Mega Man games as it should instantly feel familiar to players of these types of games. This was an important decision for me, as I felt adding a bit of subliminal recognizance would ease the player just enough to feel familiar with the layout that they become more comfortable taking chances.
The mechanics that drive this "Sound Blaster" type boss are a cross between AI and scripted/pattern-based sequences. We chose a middle-ground between the two as an introductory boss, we wanted to challenge the player just enough with the AI's decision-making and at the same time, throw some scripted sequences at the player so the player understands causality. The AI works in a few basic stages and performs situation-appropriate sequences BUT has the ability to break at any point, just not re-arrange the sequence. He watches the player's position, health, lives left, his own health and is mindful of line-of-sight to player with any room objects. He has, at current, two melee abilities and two ranged abilities and one combination of both.
Since he is a "Sound Blaster" of sorts, he needed those types of attacks (specials) like the ability to BLAST SOUND waves at the player and his overpowered BASS DROP alongside your typical melee styled attack patterns, charges, jumps, etc. He was fun to make, for sure.
Notes on the aesthetic:
He kinda sorta looks like a speaker cone which is what I was going for, however, I didn't want to use a larger design simply because at this stage of the story, he was just an ordinary night club owner and the infection had not had a chance to completely corrupt every partition of every hard disk (levels are hard drives, acts are partitions).
He's a Sound Blaster, it's only fitting he is in the back room of a Discotheque. I may still edit the backdrop further, but the disco lights are functional, cast rays of light and are animated. The two DJs up top should be recognizable to anyone who knows their silver/gold helmets.
A few notes on the encounter:
The boss is the first boss of the game and thus, must be treated as an introductory boss. We chose room bounds similar to that of Mega Man games as it should instantly feel familiar to players of these types of games. This was an important decision for me, as I felt adding a bit of subliminal recognizance would ease the player just enough to feel familiar with the layout that they become more comfortable taking chances.
The mechanics that drive this "Sound Blaster" type boss are a cross between AI and scripted/pattern-based sequences. We chose a middle-ground between the two as an introductory boss, we wanted to challenge the player just enough with the AI's decision-making and at the same time, throw some scripted sequences at the player so the player understands causality. The AI works in a few basic stages and performs situation-appropriate sequences BUT has the ability to break at any point, just not re-arrange the sequence. He watches the player's position, health, lives left, his own health and is mindful of line-of-sight to player with any room objects. He has, at current, two melee abilities and two ranged abilities and one combination of both.
Since he is a "Sound Blaster" of sorts, he needed those types of attacks (specials) like the ability to BLAST SOUND waves at the player and his overpowered BASS DROP alongside your typical melee styled attack patterns, charges, jumps, etc. He was fun to make, for sure.
Notes on the aesthetic:
He kinda sorta looks like a speaker cone which is what I was going for, however, I didn't want to use a larger design simply because at this stage of the story, he was just an ordinary night club owner and the infection had not had a chance to completely corrupt every partition of every hard disk (levels are hard drives, acts are partitions).
He's a Sound Blaster, it's only fitting he is in the back room of a Discotheque. I may still edit the backdrop further, but the disco lights are functional, cast rays of light and are animated. The two DJs up top should be recognizable to anyone who knows their silver/gold helmets.
New post for a new page! Shwip beta available to play!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q79lvqczrfie3id/AAA6bwh5C7t0TWOAthS2Tz_Za
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q79lvqczrfie3id/AAA6bwh5C7t0TWOAthS2Tz_Za
you know, it's funny you should say that, but so do I. and I don't seem to mind. maybe I'm nuts. XD not sure I can explain it.
TheHollowNight
Member
Here's our screenshotsaturday image!
Jacksinthe
Banned
Weird, Chrome just said it was malicious and blocked it.
hmm my chrome just said the same thing. Any ways to build the project in visual studio to avoid this? There's an installer that's built when the game is published.
( I promise it's safe
)Jacksinthe
Banned
Chrome blocks anything with an exe that isn't well-known.hmm my chrome just said the same thing. Any ways to build the project in visual studio to avoid this? There's an installer that's built when the game is published.
( I promise it's safe
Makes sense
Looks awesome, Samban. Are you planning to make a story or is it more of an bomberman game for the 21th century?
Even tho i loved Hotline Miami i could never master it, this looks like something Hitman is missing out on.
Using a silenced weapon in that GIF? The reaction seems slow on the AI.
Even tho i loved Hotline Miami i could never master it, this looks like something Hitman is missing out on.
Using a silenced weapon in that GIF? The reaction seems slow on the AI.
I'm impressed but also saddened since I want to have a very similar look in my game with space backgrounds and a ship.
Thanks for the compliment! I'm actually planning something rather different with this. It's going to be released in episodic chunks, and the story will be directed/influenced by GAFers and myself. I'm just waiting until I can make threads to really get the project going.
As far as the AI, these are the easiest enemies so they are pretty slow. Harder enemies not only react to sound, but they even do things like notice bullets that pass by them even if they don't actually get hit by them. Also, they will attempt to walk out of the line of fire, flank you, and run to cover more often.
What engine are you using? If it is Unity, there are some tools out there that go beyond the basic GUI setup within Unity. Unity also includes GUIStyle and GUISkin classes that add on quite a bit of customization. This is something they are addressing in 4.6 though whenever that releases, (hopefully before the summer is up). From what it looks like, the whole UI system will be vastly improved within Unity.
BlindGUI
NGUI
Video discussing UI changes for 4.6
Nice work!!
Bunch of people have been tweeting us about how much fun they're having, it's making me all excited n stuff!
wondermega
Member
Thanks! Here's a link I posted several pages ago (facebook vid). Twitter
And some details 'cuz you asked - game is kinda like Moon Patrol meets Super Meat Boy - mobile & PC - made w 2 other gaffers, 160 levels. Putting the polish on now, hoping it will be out within the next month's time. Watch my FB & twitter for news (I'll update in here also). Working on 2 other games which should wrap up soon as well.
In other words - I am exhausted
(apologies if these gifs are a bit big, if you click them they link to webms which load faster)
I'm kind of interested in having an alternate, more explosive death for most enemies if you hit them hard enough -- sort of like you see in fallout 3, where the enemy explodes into a bunch of parts.
I already have various "generic" gibs in my inventory, so I have plenty of stuff to get started working on such a thing.
When an overkill death occurs, first I remove the main sprite from the character and swap it with zombie gibs in roughly the right positions to compose the figure. To help get this dialed in, I froze the gibs in place when they spawn so I could script them out and trial and error until each one is about in the right spot. There are additional sparks and smaller gibs that spray out a bit more haphazardly, as well.
With this done, I apply various forces to the body parts when they spawn to try and make a satisfying kill. This is what I have so far:
It may not be perfect yet, but it's ballpark. If anything is missing I think it's some nice blood sprays, which I am still thinking about how to approach.
I'm kind of interested in having an alternate, more explosive death for most enemies if you hit them hard enough -- sort of like you see in fallout 3, where the enemy explodes into a bunch of parts.
I already have various "generic" gibs in my inventory, so I have plenty of stuff to get started working on such a thing.
When an overkill death occurs, first I remove the main sprite from the character and swap it with zombie gibs in roughly the right positions to compose the figure. To help get this dialed in, I froze the gibs in place when they spawn so I could script them out and trial and error until each one is about in the right spot. There are additional sparks and smaller gibs that spray out a bit more haphazardly, as well.
With this done, I apply various forces to the body parts when they spawn to try and make a satisfying kill. This is what I have so far:
It may not be perfect yet, but it's ballpark. If anything is missing I think it's some nice blood sprays, which I am still thinking about how to approach.
Nice work!!
Bunch of people have been tweeting us about how much fun they're having, it's making me all excited n stuff!
Oh man, that whip attack is sick haha.
Sàmban;122761822 said:
I'm officially calling this game "Contract."
What do you think of the name indie GAF?
Looking good, the animations are nice and the artstyle is clean. Reminds me of Hotline Miami. What are you planning to do with the game?
It'd be cool if you could see a remnant of a hit on their bodies ( from the direction of fire ) and maybe a few sparks that fall down right as they hit, overall it looks incredible!
thanks
-- as for leaving impact wounds wherever you hit, doing that in a way that totally works sounds a bit tricky to me. I'd need to use some kind of decals, but since the art is totally flat, 2D art, it's hard to not make that look strange.Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you know that my combo system for Unity3D (GAC) is on the 24 hour Asset Store deals for 60% if anyone is interested. Link http://bit.ly/1nP9b0Q
Thanks,
jrDev
Just wanted to let you know that my combo system for Unity3D (GAC) is on the 24 hour Asset Store deals for 60% if anyone is interested. Link http://bit.ly/1nP9b0Q
Thanks,
jrDev
Geminosity
Member
Oop, I don't post in here as often as I should XD
Looking good! Just curious but have you tried holding the gibs in place like in the first gif for a for brief period before sending them flying? The gibs taking the place of the monster looks kind of cool and seeing it transition, however briefly, before the parts scatter could be interesting. Might look a bit more arcadey than what you're after though? I dunno, it's just a thought I had :3
Looking good! Just curious but have you tried holding the gibs in place like in the first gif for a for brief period before sending them flying? The gibs taking the place of the monster looks kind of cool and seeing it transition, however briefly, before the parts scatter could be interesting. Might look a bit more arcadey than what you're after though? I dunno, it's just a thought I had :3
yeah, this is actually how I REMEMBER it being in fallout 3, where you get a quick glimpes of the gibs sort of seeming to stand in place before flying out. gonna be testing this idea.
I'd be careful with too much gore. What you have going looks great quite honestly, and I'm not too sure you need to go much further.
For example, the first builds of Dust were incredibly bloody... like, miles of arterial spray. This was just for testing, and while it looked cool it didn't add much, and looked a bit 'look at me, I'm edgy!' I like to think I reached a much larger audience with that decision, particularly since I had to rate against the ESRB.
thanks
I guess you could create layers of impact wounds over a comp of the enemy in Photoshop and then extract the transparent layer? Would definitely look sweet
thanks -- I doubt the gore will go much further for regular enemies than this. that said, if I had to get an ESRB rating it'd likely be M anyway -- unless I cut ideas out of the game just for the sake of changing the rating, which I have little appetite for. one of the great things about being indie is making what you want to make.
also -- I've never made a decision to be "edgy", I just do what I want to do.
btw - I'd be curious to see blood spray dust footage.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Trying to get the tutorial level first steps in order and I am unsure of how it is coming along. I'm very much an all-or-nothing kind of guy and seeing such slow pacing here worries me. I have seen far slower pacing in first levels but part of me is like "this is 2014, people already understand basic side-scrolling action games" and throw them to the wolves from the get-go. The other part of me knows there are some people that just aren't the greatest starting out at these games and need to take it slow.
Another issue I have is that what you see here in terms of enemies, is pretty much it without AI. We are nearing 15 enemy types all with their own unique behaviours. The 1st level "cannon fodder" type enemies are few and far between. Pretty much just because I am never a fan of enemies that just run, stand still, or bounce between points. I probably should be making more of these (as seen by the runner) for early levels so people can get used to controlling STRAFE.
Thoughts on the following?
If not loading:
http://stuff.absinthegames.com/lvl_1_gameplay.gif
Also: The environment isn't complete and the red voxel explosions are just particles, at the moment. I am still dressing up enemies to properly explode, adding physics to their particles and using correct particle count/color for each enemy death. There are a lot of effects like this that aren't finished due to prioritizing mechanics.
Thanks for your time, GAF.
Another issue I have is that what you see here in terms of enemies, is pretty much it without AI. We are nearing 15 enemy types all with their own unique behaviours. The 1st level "cannon fodder" type enemies are few and far between. Pretty much just because I am never a fan of enemies that just run, stand still, or bounce between points. I probably should be making more of these (as seen by the runner) for early levels so people can get used to controlling STRAFE.
Thoughts on the following?
If not loading:
http://stuff.absinthegames.com/lvl_1_gameplay.gif
Also: The environment isn't complete and the red voxel explosions are just particles, at the moment. I am still dressing up enemies to properly explode, adding physics to their particles and using correct particle count/color for each enemy death. There are a lot of effects like this that aren't finished due to prioritizing mechanics.
Thanks for your time, GAF.
Trying to get the tutorial level first steps in order and I am unsure of how it is coming along. I'm very much an all-or-nothing kind of guy and seeing such slow pacing here worries me. I have seen far slower pacing in first levels but part of me is like "this is 2014, people already understand basic side-scrolling action games" and throw them to the wolves from the get-go. The other part of me knows there are some people that just aren't the greatest starting out at these games and need to take it slow.
Another issue I have is that what you see here in terms of enemies, is pretty much it without AI. We are nearing 15 enemy types all with their own unique behaviours. The 1st level "cannon fodder" type enemies are few and far between. Pretty much just because I am never a fan of enemies that just run, stand still, or bounce between points. I probably should be making more of these (as seen by the runner) for early levels so people can get used to controlling STRAFE.
Thoughts on the following?
If not loading:
http://stuff.absinthegames.com/lvl_1_gameplay.gif
Also: The environment isn't complete and the red voxel explosions are just particles, at the moment. I am still dressing up enemies to properly explode, adding physics to their particles and using correct particle count/color for each enemy death. There are a lot of effects like this that aren't finished due to prioritizing mechanics.
Thanks for your time, GAF.
This is looking really nice, movement is solid! I'd recommend putting a limiter on vertical camera movement, so that the player can never leave a certain safe zone. If you want it to look smooth just have your camera 'catch up' faster depending on how close your player is to the top or bottom.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Thanks, Noogy! We are constantly tweaking that silly thing (camera). There's a lot of functionality we have with it in terms of panning, effects, movement, follow, etc - we layered a lot so it can transition smoothly. We do have safe zones in place that do accelerate/decelerate camera movement based on distance but even those are a constant tweak. The player escapes the FOV in that GIF because I didn't capture the whole screen
I am straight up in love with this game so far. That teleport-to-wall mechanic is shades of FFXV, and it is awesome.Trying to get the tutorial level first steps in order and I am unsure of how it is coming along. I'm very much an all-or-nothing kind of guy and seeing such slow pacing here worries me. I have seen far slower pacing in first levels but part of me is like "this is 2014, people already understand basic side-scrolling action games" and throw them to the wolves from the get-go. The other part of me knows there are some people that just aren't the greatest starting out at these games and need to take it slow.
Another issue I have is that what you see here in terms of enemies, is pretty much it without AI. We are nearing 15 enemy types all with their own unique behaviours. The 1st level "cannon fodder" type enemies are few and far between. Pretty much just because I am never a fan of enemies that just run, stand still, or bounce between points. I probably should be making more of these (as seen by the runner) for early levels so people can get used to controlling STRAFE.
Thoughts on the following?
If not loading:
http://stuff.absinthegames.com/lvl_1_gameplay.gif
Also: The environment isn't complete and the red voxel explosions are just particles, at the moment. I am still dressing up enemies to properly explode, adding physics to their particles and using correct particle count/color for each enemy death. There are a lot of effects like this that aren't finished due to prioritizing mechanics.
Thanks for your time, GAF.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Thanks, Feep! It's a special attack/escape that can be used for a multitude of situations and level design in the later half of the game ultimately invites creative use of wall stick/special attack mechanics to get by. We are trying to present interesting situations in which to use it without feeling forced and giving the player a few options as to what they feel is its best use in any given situation. It has a cooldown so it isn't spammable but it can be used as a traversal tool as level design dictates.
Thanks again!
Oddly enough, speaking of cameras and GUIs and controls, I seem to have spent all my development time this weekend on improving state machine, camera, and user interface behavior.
It is not flashy work but HOPEFULLY it pays off. I have most of the changes done that I wanted. I will try to make one more GIF in the next few days and hopefully it will be an improvement, since no one commented on the abrupt pan last time.
It is not flashy work but HOPEFULLY it pays off. I have most of the changes done that I wanted. I will try to make one more GIF in the next few days and hopefully it will be an improvement, since no one commented on the abrupt pan last time.
Thanks, Noogy! We are constantly tweaking that silly thing (camera). There's a lot of functionality we have with it in terms of panning, effects, movement, follow, etc - we layered a lot so it can transition smoothly. We do have safe zones in place that do accelerate/decelerate camera movement based on distance but even those are a constant tweak. The player escapes the FOV in that GIF because I didn't capture the whole screen
Ah, gotya
superNESjoe
Member
Could use some insight or suggestions GAF.
I'm adding co-op to my game GunWorld and my first hurdle has been pretty polarizing for the team and our local friends.
GunWorld is a NES style side scrolling action game, and it features scrolling screens similar to the original Zelda or Mega Man series. When the player reaches the edge of the screen it pauses and scrolls to the new screen.
Obviously this is complicated if you add another player.
First thought was that the first player to reach a scroll zone simply freezes until the other catches up, but this makes sections where you can go multiple ways more complicated. It also makes up and down scrolls really jarring as you can end up falling right back into a downward scroll zone if both players arent perfectly timed.
The second thought was that the first player to touch a screen scroll warps the other player to them immediately and just does the scroll as normal.
Any feedback on how you'd like this handled as a player?
I'm adding co-op to my game GunWorld and my first hurdle has been pretty polarizing for the team and our local friends.
GunWorld is a NES style side scrolling action game, and it features scrolling screens similar to the original Zelda or Mega Man series. When the player reaches the edge of the screen it pauses and scrolls to the new screen.
Obviously this is complicated if you add another player.
First thought was that the first player to reach a scroll zone simply freezes until the other catches up, but this makes sections where you can go multiple ways more complicated. It also makes up and down scrolls really jarring as you can end up falling right back into a downward scroll zone if both players arent perfectly timed.
The second thought was that the first player to touch a screen scroll warps the other player to them immediately and just does the scroll as normal.
Any feedback on how you'd like this handled as a player?
Make a rectangular area near the transition points wherein if both players are standing on it and looking at the direction of the next screen, they scroll.
OK, I think I finally have both snapping and panning working at an acceptable level for testing. I will probably want to tune them further, change things, and/or provide user options, but here is what I have come up with.
Old version:
http://abload.de/img/camera_jump2wuap.gif
New version:
http://abload.de/img/camera_snap_and_panueii3.gif
If the mouse moves over a square that overlaps the edge of the window, the square snaps to be fully onscreen. I am hoping that this snap is short enough that it is easy to track visually. For longer motions, I use a camera pan. It is fast, but hopefully less confusing than jumping directly to the final point.
It is starting to get difficult to make decent GIFs out of this, so I may need to start trying to record videos or find an alternative to gifcam.
I hope I have not added some stupid performance-killing code in with the user interface and camera code I did this weekend!
Old version:
http://abload.de/img/camera_jump2wuap.gif
New version:
http://abload.de/img/camera_snap_and_panueii3.gif
If the mouse moves over a square that overlaps the edge of the window, the square snaps to be fully onscreen. I am hoping that this snap is short enough that it is easy to track visually. For longer motions, I use a camera pan. It is fast, but hopefully less confusing than jumping directly to the final point.
It is starting to get difficult to make decent GIFs out of this, so I may need to start trying to record videos or find an alternative to gifcam.
I hope I have not added some stupid performance-killing code in with the user interface and camera code I did this weekend!
RastaGundam
Member
hi everyone,
have been lurking, unable to post forever... (account linked to ages-old work email)
wanted to share Narcosis. It's a first-person survival story - think Gravity, at the bottom of the ocean.
we're a small, international collective with varying degrees of "industry experience," but hoping to break free of our day jobs to pursue this full time. We're using Unity, and aiming for a 2015 release.
plenty more at the usual social media suspects, but this trailer does a good sense of the look/feel we're going for. Any and all input, criticisms or support are appreciated!
have been lurking, unable to post forever... (account linked to ages-old work email)
wanted to share Narcosis. It's a first-person survival story - think Gravity, at the bottom of the ocean.
we're a small, international collective with varying degrees of "industry experience," but hoping to break free of our day jobs to pursue this full time. We're using Unity, and aiming for a 2015 release.
plenty more at the usual social media suspects, but this trailer does a good sense of the look/feel we're going for. Any and all input, criticisms or support are appreciated!
- Status