I'm no expert, but make sure you contact rockpapershotgun, and set up a page at indiedb. Im a big fan of the TIGforums, i believe they have a kickstarter section.
Thank! Yours too. Hope that verification comes through soon.
The usual suspects as far as outlets beyond Facebook and Twitter are pretty much TIGSource, IndieDB, Reddit's r/IndieGaming and/or r/Kickstarter, and, of course, GAF. There are others (and I might be missing something decent, it's late), but generally speaking you're talking about severely diminishing returns on your effort beyond that.
Eh. Durrrrrrr. Launching a Steam Greenlight page with your KS linked at the top at the same time as your campaign can do a ton to send traffic your way while you're still at the top of the Greenlight queue. Might even work better now with the revamped storefront/discovery, and maybe there's something to do with the new groups/curators that seem to be popular, although I haven't looked into that stuff all that closely yet.
Hopefully you've seen this before, but just in case you haven't, here's a pretty darn good resource to make sure you're covering all of your Kickstarter basics: http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on
And here's something one of our artists came up with today:
We'll be using that for the trailer, but any feedback would still be nice. You can see the actual arena at the back of the Golem where you will be fighting for the control of these things.
Some of the heartiest laughs I've had come from bugs while developing. Like lowrider moon rover.
Some of the heartiest laughs I've had come from bugs while developing. Like lowrider moon rover.
I feel like Shaun Spalding's Youtube channel is exactly what you're looking for.I'm an illustrator trying to make a simple platformer to work on a project for uni--I'm currently using GameMaker and I'm having a lot of trouble with controls, physics, animation/sprite changes.
I've tried youtubing tutorials for platforming mechanics and such, but I've yet to find any really in-depth guides which explore the very beginnings to the finishing touches of coding. That said, I'm not necessarily looking for something which will baby me through the making of a full game, but enough to put together a smooth feeling proof of concept for a game and perhaps teach me the mechanics behind various programming concepts to allow me to play with it.
The main things I'm interested in learning would be placing in animations which activate by pressing various keys (I did managed to make it so while moving it displays a walk animation, but completely failed at implementing a 'sprint' animation change when holding shift and moving)--and also changing animation when interacting with objects or perhaps using a 'skill' with certain key presses--as well as changing things like movement speed or a 'dash' or something.
(cont.)
if keyboard_check_direct(vk_shift)
{
sprite_index = sprite_run;
}
else
{
sprite_index = sprite_walk;
}
If anyone does know decent resources for this (preferably free) I'd be truly grateful
Have you tested out what happens you run away? Players are going to not stick around and wait for it to finish. I had to test a lot of stuff in the game that way. I test for asshole players.
you can't leave the arena without multi jump. I think of everything.
Future kids "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww mannnnnnnnnnnn"
in any case, I have to design things in such a way that player is not allowed to do anything that breaks it -- I keep this in mind at all times, trust me. you'll see in many examples I spawn temporary walls at the entrance of an area just to make sure the player can't leave until something plays out.
you can't leave the arena without multi jump. I think of everything.
Am I wrong on this? How much do smaller devs really use these assets? Do they perhaps frequently use meshes with new, custom textures instead of the old ones? Or do people mainly create their own graphics assets? And I suppose this question doesn't have to be limited to Unity, but it's a nice example of a complete development/store environment.
Working on my next SageScrolr video, covering some of the enemies. Tonight I'm doing an Indie Corner Live show showcasing Wii U indies (as is GregWiggleton)!
Watch it here at 8 PM EST: (2 and a half hours from now)
Also, not sure if I should make a thread for it, seems worthy to make a thread about a show showcasing Wii U indies.
you saw my twitter post about the verification deal?
I'll check out all those thank you! Yeah, had planned about the greenlight and no, have not seen that lobster guide(haven't really check out reddit) . Thank you all for the invaluable information and hope it will help others as well
As far as progress goes, put in our underground path segment in the game last night. Have to kill those lines that are created in the waterfall.
Does anyone have any suggestions for tileset decoration? I'm kind of stumped and feel like I need something else to throw in the yard here. Haycart already has a presence in town and I'm not trying to get too redundant with stuff.
Does anyone have any suggestions for tileset decoration? I'm kind of stumped and feel like I need something else to throw in the yard here. Haycart already has a presence in town and I'm not trying to get too redundant with stuff.
Also, is there a set rule as to whether or not the trees and bushes should use the same color palette? I'm leaning towards keeping them separate so that you can distinguish the breaks without having to use too dark of an outline, but I dunno if that's gonna get me yelled at or not.
remember the time I said something like -- I have trouble designing enemies because I don't want to draw from enemies that seem "too" video gamey and diminish the tone of the game (which I believe resulted in wall slugs)?
I'm facing that sort of decision again. I was looking at this room:
http://www.gfycat.com/PoshSlowAlligatorsnappingturtle
and I was thinking how if I was actually playing the game, this room would be far more engaging if it had some kind of creature hopping around between those two platforms. but that repetitive mindless motion I feel is somehow "unserious" or something -- at least, that's my instinct. So I'm, as usual, feeling a bit pulled into two different directions.
I'm starting to soften a bit, and just think -- you know, maybe screw it, just put something hopping back and forth there.. people are perfectly capable of compartmentalizing a serious story and gameplay that can at times be unrealistic or even silly. right?
I'm starting to soften a bit, and just think -- you know, maybe screw it, just put something hopping back and forth there.. people are perfectly capable of compartmentalizing a serious story and gameplay that can at times be unrealistic or even silly. right?
you can control the camera with the right analog stick, and once used to playing the game it becomes second nature to check out what's ahead (or below).
that said, yeah, I may tweak the room a bit if I'm actually going to have an enemy hopping there.
I admit seeing the enemy hop out of screen might be a good clue-in in what's down there.
Hmm, a well maybe? Lanterns hooked to metal poles, or stone lanterns (even better if you have day/night cycle, but still could work out as decor even during the day)? A small vegetable garden?
- small patches of dirt
- dirt mound (perhaps the dog buried its bone there)
- children's toys or left out tools
- wild flowers or weeds
- pumpkin patch
- benches or tabling
- signs
I noticed the variation in overall hue, but what stood out to me more was that the bushes are more texturally similar to the grass than the to the trees. I'm sure it's effected by the fencing covering much of the shadowing, but I think it would help to see more contrast between the tops of the bushes and the adjacent grass. It's not a problem when there's the wagon or the house behind, but putting bush in front of grass is a little too low-contrast for my tastes.
Looks great as always. I'd like the "stream" to be a little less dotted and a little more cohesive. I assume this is a particle effect with some kind of attractor attached to the player? Is this a build-in feature of Stencyl?
One last thing I have to ask as I'm wondering for quite some time now: What's up with those filenames?
How much do smaller devs really use these assets? Do they perhaps frequently use meshes with new, custom textures instead of the old ones? Or do people mainly create their own graphics assets? And I suppose this question doesn't have to be limited to Unity, but it's a nice example of a complete development/store environment.
Looks great as always. I'd like the "stream" to be a little less dotted and a little more cohesive. I assume this is a particle effect with some kind of attractor attached to the player? Is this a build-in feature of Stencyl?
I managed to get as far as I did thanks to a couple of his videos, and he tends to be really good at explaining certain concepts in the coding. I will definitely check out the rest of his videos.I feel like Shaun Spalding's Youtube channel is exactly what you're looking for.
https://www.youtube.com/user/999Greyfox
As for your bolded question, try something like...
Code:if keyboard_check_direct(vk_shift) { sprite_index = sprite_run; } else { sprite_index = sprite_walk; }
Animating in games is particularly hard, because programatically computers are dumb and need to have every single use case explicitly outlined to them - they can never read between the lines, so if you want to say something like "Play this animation while they are moving, unless shift is held down in which case play this animation unless they are falling in which case play this animation unless they are hit by something in which case play this animation unless they are standing still in which case play this animation" you pretty much have to literally type that out in code.
As far as progress goes, put in our underground path segment in the game last night. Have to kill those lines that are created in the waterfall.
This gives me the chance to ask you guys - as in you, Jobbs, Noogy... Basically, who made/are making 2D sidescrolling games with hand-drawn graphics - one question: what is your approach when you conceive and actually design your backgrounds? How do you deal with patterns and repetition?
Looking at Dust and Ghost Song, you can spot some recycled element, but it's usually very minor and always so subtle that it's impossible to pinpoint any proper 'tile'.
I'm in the process of cleaning up Stage 1-1 map, which is basically this massive 2000x36000 px PSD file, with no real tiling in it, so I'm wondering how to proceed and possibly simplify it.
Thanks in advance guys.
This is brilliant Matt, thank you.well, speaking for myself, I don't use "tiles" very often in the traditional sense. I realized a while ago that I find the process of making that sort of thing to be stifling. What I use is a more organic approach. I make all sorts of individual objects-- rocks, chunks of rocks, trees, plants, stamps containing various shapes and patterns -- and I just treat the level environment like a canvas and the various graphics and stamps I've made as the brush. I can resize and rotate individual graphics in the scene editor, too, which is frequently done to help fit things together.
there aren't any "hard rules" when you do it this way as to what works and what doesn't, and while I haven't perfected it, I've learned a lot.
While you do see repeated assets, which is pretty much unavoidable in this type of game, the nature of how things are made (many parts mixed together) makes it less obvious. If you look at the gif I posted last night -- this one http://www.gfycat.com/AgedRedChimpanzee -- see the weird tree thing poking out of the ground toward the left side of the screen? then after the player walks right, you see another similar thing poking out over to the right. These are the same graphic, but since it's been resized and reoriented, it doesn't stand out as being a repeat, but it is.
remember the time I said something like -- I have trouble designing enemies because I don't want to draw from enemies that seem "too" video gamey and diminish the tone of the game (which I believe resulted in wall slugs)?
I'm facing that sort of decision again. I was looking at this room:
http://www.gfycat.com/PoshSlowAlligatorsnappingturtle
and I was thinking how if I was actually playing the game, this room would be far more engaging if it had some kind of creature hopping around between those two platforms. but that repetitive mindless motion I feel is somehow "unserious" or something -- at least, that's my instinct. So I'm, as usual, feeling a bit pulled into two different directions.
I'm starting to soften a bit, and just think -- you know, maybe screw it, just put something hopping back and forth there.. people are perfectly capable of compartmentalizing a serious story and gameplay that can at times be unrealistic or even silly. right?
It looks like one chunky graphical element, and the only repetition I could spot (it's not even obvious) is a simple texture pattern. If you don't mind me asking, how does that layer look in Stencyl? Is it one, single actor or many smaller actors put together?
Why not something coming out of the pit that slowly reaches for the player? Speed it up as necessary until it provides the proper amount of tension. Have it's max range be just outside of those pillars. You can use it as a chance to introduce the player to that enemy, and later on potentially have Metroid style platforming sequences where the player is almost literally being hunted by these mysterious, daunting creatures. Have them be subtle in the environment, maybe just a "glow" of some sort that turns out to be attached to the main grabbygrabby thing, that once it has a LOS on the player starts to creep up towards them.
You can totally do "serious and atmospheric" while still making that spot more engaging.
I think in this case you're overthinking it -- sometimes I make larger graphics all in one, roughly the length of the screen, and use them for stuff like this. since they're as big as the screen, you tend to not spot patterns. I use them in conjunction with other pieces, too, like all those big green tree bark looking things which are separate.
like the dudes who reach out of pits in super metroid and try to grab you?
I think in this case you're overthinking it -- sometimes I make larger graphics all in one, roughly the length of the screen, and use them for stuff like this. since they're as big as the screen, you tend to not spot patterns. I use them in conjunction with other pieces, too, like all those big green tree bark looking things which are separate.
I've found that I often make something for one specific composition, created art to fit that specific circumstnace, then later find other uses for it in other places. anything goes. I believe that's how that particular piece started.
I get it, thank you once again.
And you're right, I'm a bit all over the place with this matter. I should probably stop thinking about it and just do it. Stage 1-1 is pretty much a linear, tutorial-like run, so trial and error wouldn't be that big of a deal.
Been slowly making my shmup in Unity. Implemented respawning and forgot to flag that the player was alive again:
https://www.gfycat.com/EmotionalAppropriateHarvestmen
Sigh, still so much to do...