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Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor

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F

Five

Banned
Jobbs said:
I made some initial attempts at blood particles by using a little red ball graphic. thoughts?

http://gfycat.com/ImaginarySecondhandAbyssiniangroundhornbill
Click to expand...

I'm not loving it. It looks overly bombastic, like a firework. It probably doesn't help that the effects which stay on the screen the longest (the oval sparks and the new blood) have basically the same pattern. I would probably tone down the blood drops and let the smoke/mist linger a bit longer.

As is, it reminds me the newer Killer Instinct

KI_zpseef722ce.gif


edit: damn, didn't mean to add onto the train of replies. There was only one when I started typing this out.
 
J

Jobbs

Banned
thanks guys. I didn't actually notice them bouncing -- they're basically copy paste of my sparks with red blobs instead of yellow sparks as graphics. XD

I've tried different motion patterns and it's hard to make them look a lot like blood as is. I think different graphics all together are needed.
 
F

Foshy

Member
Jobbs said:
I made some initial attempts at blood particles by using a little red ball graphic. thoughts?

http://gfycat.com/ImaginarySecondhandAbyssiniangroundhornbill
Click to expand...

imo the bombastic explosion looks a bit off. It works with the second guy because the death is instant, but I personally don't like how the first one just normally takes damage without reacting too much and then spontaneously bursts into pieces when the health hits zero.

Maybe keep it for instant deaths and tone it down otherwise? Just an idea.
 
O

OldmanAndroid

Member
I'm getting massive framerate drops when I use fraps, any tips? Normally I can run in highest settings at 60fps. With fraps, I get around 20 - 30 fps, running on lowest settings.

Really need a new computer.
 
M

_machine

Member
OldmanAndroid said:
I'm getting massive framerate drops when I use fraps, any tips? Normally I can run in highest settings at 60fps. With fraps, I get around 20 - 30 fps, running on lowest settings.

Really need a new computer.
Click to expand...
I think Open Broadcast Software was a bit faster for me, but I guess recording will always use processing power.
 
D

Dead Prince

Banned
i was going to make the Lost Magic magic system in Construct2 until it involves doodling and not just hitting one of the 8 elements lol.

i'm sure it's doable if i add more lines so it can go over and figure out how much it hits it. we'll see.

lost_magic_0061.jpg
 
L

Lord_Balkan

Member
Jobbs said:
a new attempt at the blood stuff. changed it up a bit and darkened the color.

http://gfycat.com/RemorsefulInconsequentialBlackfly

http://gfycat.com/TepidMildBunting
Click to expand...

Already looks a lot better I think! One more thing though, is it possible to maybe increase the gravity on them or something? The fact that it has similar movement to the sparks seems off, and maybe trying to make the blood 'heavier' by increasing their gravity or making them lose more energy when coming on contact with other geometry.
 
I

Ito

Member
naumov91 said:
Already looks a lot better I think! One more thing though, is it possible to maybe increase the gravity on them or something? The fact that it has similar movement to the sparks seems off, and maybe trying to make the blood 'heavier' by increasing their gravity or making them lose more energy when coming on contact with other geometry.
Click to expand...

I'm with him, the blood should feel like it's heavier. It looks a little bit like confetti.

Which sprite or shape are you using for the blood particle? I can't tell it propperly but it looks like the same you use for the sparks. I think a more "splashy" sprite would look better.

(Also I'm sorry if splashy isn't a word)
 
G

Granadier

Is currently on Stage 1: Denial regarding the service game future


Congrats to Davision and mantrakid for your games being on Steam. It's great to see games from here show up on "Popular New Releases"

It's a little late, but I want to say it anyways since I just came across Davision's game today, and mantrakid's a few days ago.
 
L

Letterbomb

Banned
What tools/engines would be best to use if I wanted to go about making a 2D fighter? I currently know JavaScript and C#, so I was thinking Unity would be a good bet, but I've been told that Unity is really only used for 3D games, even though they have some options for 2D. Was also told XNA... I don't know. Need your advice GAF!
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Letterbomb said:
What tools/engines would be best to use if I wanted to go about making a 2D fighter? I currently know JavaScript and C#, so I was thinking Unity would be a good bet, but I've been told that Unity is really only used for 3D games, even though they have some options for 2D. Was also told XNA... I don't know. Need your advice GAF!
Click to expand...
I have no qualms with Unity's 2D toolset if you are going 100% sprite based. If you plan on using some sort of skeletal animation, you can do this with Unity, to an extent, but there are tools like Spine which help for rigging and animating sprites. I'm going out on a limb and guessing you are sticking with static frames vs keyframes for a fighter so you won't have to worry about skeletal animation of sprites. Its incredibly easy to import sprite sheets and create animations. Mecanim can be a headache at times but is very usable once you adjust to the learning curve.
 
M

MrNyarlathotep

Banned
Letterbomb said:
What tools/engines would be best to use if I wanted to go about making a 2D fighter? I currently know JavaScript and C#, so I was thinking Unity would be a good bet, but I've been told that Unity is really only used for 3D games, even though they have some options for 2D. Was also told XNA... I don't know. Need your advice GAF!
Click to expand...

XNA is basically officially discontinued, and is lurching along in a community reverse-engineered monodevelop zombie state, so it would be hard to recommend it to someone who isn't already pretty heavily invested in using it.
 
H

HassanJamal

Member
I've just started to make one of my games. A very long way off from completion.

Game is basically a 2D fighter/possible platformer but with the idea of precision attack points.

Wanna ask this part of gaf, which of the models is much more preferred and if so, why?

b456903235b867014c854fd6241b9888-d81x3u0.png
Click to expand...

4e8528212f8950f7db2aa8d02b76515b-d81x3z0.png
Click to expand...

The colors and design is not final, just wanna see which is much 'nicer' looking. Also, some pixel art tips would be grand.
 
G

GulAtiCa

Member
Demo submitted to Nintendo! Hopefully no issues found. Once released, will help give me some extra views, since so few demos on eShop. :)
 
P

Pasta_Soup

Member
HassanJamal said:
I've just started to make one of my games. A very long way off from completion.

Game is basically a 2D fighter/possible platformer but with the idea of precision attack points.

Wanna ask this part of gaf, which of the models is much more preferred and if so, why?

The colors and design is not final, just wanna see which is much 'nicer' looking. Also, some pixel art tips would be grand.
Click to expand...

I like the simplified style of the top one - but the shapes/proportions seem off. One foot is much larger, the pose is a bit awkward, and the face shape is a bit weird. It's also a little strange that the hair has no black outline, but you use the black outline for pretty much every other line in the character. The second one seems more consistent within itself.

All in all though, a solid first go at it. For pixel art tips - I'd recommend doing a TON of research on pixel art and sprites that really inspire you. Download sprite sheets and animation gifs, study them, try copying them a bit for practice, and apply the techniques you learn from them to your own work. I keep an inspiration/research folder on my computer at all times, that I'm constantly updating and studying. From there, it's just lots of practice! There's also plenty of tutorials online to help you get a solid base.

Oh, and practicing regular drawing is also invaluable. Pixel art is its own medium, of course, but learning how to draw people, animals, objects, etc regularly without pixel art will really help you with your pixel work. Don't have to be amazing at it, but understand form, line, and value will help greatly contribute to the quality of your pixel renders.
 
L

Letterbomb

Banned
AbsintheGames said:
I have no qualms with Unity's 2D toolset if you are going 100% sprite based. If you plan on using some sort of skeletal animation, you can do this with Unity, to an extent, but there are tools like Spine which help for rigging and animating sprites. I'm going out on a limb and guessing you are sticking with static frames vs keyframes for a fighter so you won't have to worry about skeletal animation of sprites. Its incredibly easy to import sprite sheets and create animations. Mecanim can be a headache at times but is very usable once you adjust to the learning curve.
Click to expand...

Well great! How about 2D physics? Will Unity work out well for a simple fighter? I reviewed their 2D system quickly and it seems they have some pretty useful tools. I just wonder if using Unity is overboard for what I'm planning to design? And if it IS overboard, if that's even a negative thing? (Like will game size be much larger than needed after the fact, etc.).

MrNyarlathotep said:
XNA is basically officially discontinued, and is lurching along in a community reverse-engineered monodevelop zombie state, so it would be hard to recommend it to someone who isn't already pretty heavily invested in using it.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll steer clear.
 
H

HassanJamal

Member
Pasta_Soup said:
I like the simplified style of the top one - but the shapes/proportions seem off. One foot is much larger, the pose is a bit awkward, and the face shape is a bit weird. It's also a little strange that the hair has no black outline, but you use the black outline for pretty much every other line in the character. The second one seems more consistent within itself.

All in all though, a solid first go at it. For pixel art tips - I'd recommend doing a TON of research on pixel art and sprites that really inspire you. Download sprite sheets and animation gifs, study them, try copying them a bit for practice, and apply the techniques you learn from them to your own work. I keep an inspiration/research folder on my computer at all times, that I'm constantly updating and studying. From there, it's just lots of practice! There's also plenty of tutorials online to help you get a solid base.

Oh, and practicing regular drawing is also invaluable. Pixel art is its own medium, of course, but learning how to draw people, animals, objects, etc regularly without pixel art will really help you with your pixel work. Don't have to be amazing at it, but understand form, line, and value will help greatly contribute to the quality of your pixel renders.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the first one does look odd and quite rough but currently, seems to be the more popular one compared to the second one. To be honest, drawing aint my thing cause I suck at it. My concept artist is much more better at it than me. Digital art is more my streamline.

Oh and thanks for the input and advice. Been doing the updating my folder part and its quickly getting full of pics and tuts now. I'm currently looking at the Megaman Z games on GBA for pixel art reference. If it aint too much, could you post some pixel art tutorials? Hopefully there are some I've missed that could be very useful.
 
P

Pasta_Soup

Member
HassanJamal said:
Oh and thanks for the input and advice. Been doing the updating my folder part and its quickly getting full of pics and tuts now. I'm currently looking at the Megaman Z games on GBA for pixel art reference. If it aint too much, could you post some pixel art tutorials? Hopefully there are some I've missed that could be very useful.
Click to expand...

I don't know any specific tutorials off the top of my head. I'd just try googling for them, I'm sure you'll find plenty of good ones.

SeanNoonan said:
Here's what you can expect in the Halloween update for Jack B. Nimble:
Click to expand...

I love the colors in this - and that parallax looks great!
 
M

_machine

Member
Jobbs said:
worked on the title screen this morning:

Click to expand...
Like the simplicity, but I've personally always preferred the "cursor/pointer/whatever" to be implemented within the options rather than that classic on left of the options like X shooting the text in Megaman X. I don't really know why though, maybe I don't like asymmetrical layout of it or something.

It's been a rather exhausting day since in 8hrs of work I've not achieved anything substantial with the trailer and I couldn't get the software to work on my home computer and when you add weeks of work, work, work I can certainly sense that my productivity is lowering so I'm gonna try to get some more rest.

I'd be interested to hear how you guys manage the feel of overloading yourself?

I personally feel like reading and listening to music, reminiscing about old gaming experiences and exercise usually charges me up and motivates me to do my best again.
 
S

spazchicken

Member
@blastprocessing thank you! And your game looks interesting! :)


_machine said:
It's been a rather exhausting day since in 8hrs of work I've not achieved anything substantial with the trailer and I couldn't get the software to work on my home computer and when you add weeks of work, work, work I can certainly sense that my productivity is lowering so I'm gonna try to get some more rest.

I'd be interested to hear how you guys manage the feel of overloading yourself?

I personally feel like reading and listening to music, reminiscing about old gaming experiences and exercise usually charges me up and motivates me to do my best again.
Click to expand...
I have to make a list of what needs to be done, or else I get overwhelmed and and everything is just foggy .
We talked about that last week on our podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-2Z1yTD9NM or http://indieteamup.podbean.com/e/6-i-just-want-to-jump-off-my-hoverbike-and-stare-at-the-bushes/ if you're bored!
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Letterbomb said:
Well great! How about 2D physics? Will Unity work out well for a simple fighter? I reviewed their 2D system quickly and it seems they have some pretty useful tools. I just wonder if using Unity is overboard for what I'm planning to design? And if it IS overboard, if that's even a negative thing? (Like will game size be much larger than needed after the fact, etc.).
Click to expand...
Well, Unity's physics feel like physics. If that makes sense. If you want your character to be driven by physics, use physics. If you want a more 2D "feel" to controls that are sharp and crisp it is best to roll your own physics and controller. At least in my experience. Nothing wrong with physics but if you do go that route, by gosh edit the physics settings globally and not just in a Rigidbody2D component :D

I managed a pretty decent platforming controller using Unity's physics and our own controller but we chose a more flexible route for STRAFE and rolled our own physics and controller due to it being a combat platformer. Needed that extra precision and predictability.
 
O

OldmanAndroid

Member
_machine said:
It's been a rather exhausting day since in 8hrs of work I've not achieved anything substantial with the trailer and I couldn't get the software to work on my home computer and when you add weeks of work, work, work I can certainly sense that my productivity is lowering so I'm gonna try to get some more rest.

I'd be interested to hear how you guys manage the feel of overloading yourself?

I personally feel like reading and listening to music, reminiscing about old gaming experiences and exercise usually charges me up and motivates me to do my best again.
Click to expand...

That sucks, so easy to burn yourself out.

I personally just have to force myself to take a day or two off every once in a while. No turning on my computer. Usually those are the days where I get the biggest creative breakthroughs. I'll go for a bike ride/snowboard (depending on season), or noodle on my guitar, or just play a ps4 game.

I also sort of have milestones. I might add in more content, but then can't relax until all the new bugs are completely gone...can't even watch a tv show without obsessing over a bug. This might last a week or more. Once the milestone is hit, greatest feeling ever.
 
SeanNoonan

SeanNoonan

Member
_machine said:
It's been a rather exhausting day since in 8hrs of work I've not achieved anything substantial with the trailer and I couldn't get the software to work on my home computer and when you add weeks of work, work, work I can certainly sense that my productivity is lowering so I'm gonna try to get some more rest.

I'd be interested to hear how you guys manage the feel of overloading yourself?
Click to expand...
I know how you feel. Not sure how many other people there are doing this, but I'm working on AAA stuff during 9-5 and my iOS indie efforts in the evenings and weekends. It's hard staying motivated to sit in front of a computer and do "more of the same" when I get home - having a night off every so often to do something else (or play games) really helps.

Now that I've finished Far Cry 4 and Jack B. Nimble I'm taking a month off to go back home and relax - gonna still get the Halloween patch released, but I've got the bulk of that done. Getting away from it all is needed sometimes :)

...it was also really taking a toll on my health too. This break is gonna be good!

Stay healthy ;)
 
C

cbox

Member
_machine said:
Like the simplicity, but I've personally always preferred the "cursor/pointer/whatever" to be implemented within the options rather than that classic on left of the options like X shooting the text in Megaman X. I don't really know why though, maybe I don't like asymmetrical layout of it or something.

It's been a rather exhausting day since in 8hrs of work I've not achieved anything substantial with the trailer and I couldn't get the software to work on my home computer and when you add weeks of work, work, work I can certainly sense that my productivity is lowering so I'm gonna try to get some more rest.

I'd be interested to hear how you guys manage the feel of overloading yourself?

I personally feel like reading and listening to music, reminiscing about old gaming experiences and exercise usually charges me up and motivates me to do my best again.
Click to expand...

I actually just turned down 3 freelance design projects because I've been overwhelmed for about 3 months now. Working 9 to 5 and then coming home to 5 more hours of work was incredibly exhausting. A shame because I love the work, but I've been putting off creating a new shwip trailer for too long now, gotta get back into the swing of things.
 
M

_machine

Member
ConvenientBox said:
I actually just turned down 3 freelance design projects because I've been overwhelmed for about 3 months now. Working 9 to 5 and then coming home to 5 more hours of work was incredibly exhausting. A shame because I love the work, but I've been putting off creating a new shwip trailer for too long now, gotta get back into the swing of things.
Click to expand...
I know how you're feeling; there have a been a few great opportunities right there for the taking but I know that I'm already having more work than I can do properly so I have no choice but to turn them down. It does suck because they all felt interesting and something I wanted to learn. They even immediately excited me despite already being quite exhausted with the work I have going.

Luckily though, today we actually got some work done on the trailer. It won't be the best ever because we simply lack the experience to pull it off perfectly in what little time we have. But still, it feels like we have something that could be decent.
 
J

Jobbs

Banned
I'm actually putting the user experience type things into the game (namely the ones that relate to how power ups work) and am sorta struggling with how much to explain how it works and how much not to. it's defnitely a tricky thing to approach, because I want there to be an element of mystery, but I also don't want it to be so unexplained that it feels somehow annoying or unfair.

my overall goal is to feel like some of it is just try things and pay attention and learn, and it can be hard to thread that needle especially when game systems start to have acouple layers of depth.
 
A

Ashodin

Member
Jobbs a good mix of "learn by doing" and "learn by watching" is probably best in your game. Some stuff show off how it works in the background, some stuff just have the player given the tool and scenario needed to use it to progress.
 
S

so1337

Member
Pehesse said:
Cross posting from the screenshot saturday thread, just because!

LastingPowerlessAnnashummingbird.gif
Click to expand...
i6lK1FoN0zdih.gif

I don't know if this is the place for art critiques but your game sooo close to animating really nicely.

I made a few changes to your idle animation. A single "wrong" frame/inbetween can break the illusion of form and shape, like the bottom of the thighs sort flopping around because it changes it's shape from convex to concave from one frame to the next. Try to avoid that (if you're using Photoshop that's a lot more difficult).

It's really tough to stay on-model when it's fighting game because are so many frames of animation but I feel like it's important. Fighting games are all about characters so they need to be as believable possible. Having a model sheet for each character can be very helpful. Another approach is to constantly compare new animations with frames you're particularly satisfied with (for example the idle animation). Lastly, be careful about still properly conveying mass when there's a lot of foreshortening.

I do hope this helps at least little bit.

edit: Goddamnit, top of the page.
 
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