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[MetaWaddleDoo]

It's called isometric view. I was never a fan, but that's its name.

Doesn't an isometric view imply that the view is also viewed from a diagonal point of view, like in FFT or Disgaea? I don't think that's quite the right term for this.

EDIT: Missed the post above me. Forgot there were multiple pages and stuff. >___>

 

[Rubikant]

Oh, I see. Maybe 3/4 perspective is a better term:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThreeQuartersView

Hmm, yes, 3/4 perspective also has several variations but I think that's as accurate as I would get to let people know what kind of perspective I'm talking about!

Someone PM'd me an example of a combat-oriented game in a similar perspective (actually think it may be literally isometric!) that I had forgotten about - Bastion. Its a bit more gun-focused rather than melee-focused as I was thinking, but its a good example of the kind of reference I was looking for.

 

[dani_dc]

well - here's a small prototype I'm currently working on feel free to give it a try and let me know what you think (be gentle, please )

The ground controls felt pretty good (played it with gamepad). I had issues controlling the length of the jump, I got the hang of it at some point but it was still pretty easy to mess up, and I had very little control after hitting the ground from the jump.

Depth of Field was a bit aggressive, otherwise it looked pretty nice for a prototype.

Glad to see you picking up unity

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

First, what would you call the perspective being used by Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger and the like, if you had to describe it without using those games as reference? Does it even have a name?

I've always seen it referred to as "top-down" without any qualifiers that differentiate it from 'actual' top down

Second, what game in that perspective would you say had the most engaging and satisfying real-time action combat system, all other aspects of the game aside? Obviously Chrono Trigger was menu-based RPG combat so it doesn't fit what I mean, I'm talking more Secret of Mana or Link to the Past style of combat. I know there were a few other games with action combat in that perspective, but did any of them really focus on the combat more than the examples I just listed, perhaps with things like blocking, dodging, knockback physics, combos, power hits, counter attacks, etc etc?

The vast majority of titles I have enjoyed using that perspective tend to be shooting action rather than melee action;
Chaos Engine
Pocky & Rocky
Mercs
Zombies ate My Neighbours

with SoM and LTTP being the exception rather than the rule.
The only games I can think of that weren't in the 'shooting' style were very much LTTP influenced more than anything else - titles like:
Alundra (which uses environmental attacks with things like picking up boxes and flinging them)
or Story Of Thor (which had a very basic melee combo system)

It's called isometric view. I was never a fan, but that's its name.

Isometric usually refers to angled, like Diablo or Populous.

EDIT: I should refresh open tabs before replying I guess

 

[Jobbs]

is fire tv for games a thing? I chatted with a dev today who seemed pretty big on it.

 

[Rubikant]

The only games I can think of that weren't in the 'shooting' style were very much LTTP influenced more than anything else - titles like:
Alundra (which uses environmental attacks with things like picking up boxes and flinging them)
or Story Of Thor (which had a very basic melee combo system)

I remembered Alundra but didn't think it really went far beyond LttP, which also let you throw pots and stuff at enemies, but I'd never heard of this Story of Thor game! Very interesting, thanks!

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

I remembered Alundra but didn't think it really went far beyond LttP, which also let you throw pots and stuff at enemies, but I'd never heard of this Story of Thor game! Very interesting, thanks!

LTTP is one of those games thats so influential it tends to overshadow everything else in that space unfortunately

EDIT:

is fire tv for games a thing? I chatted with a dev today who seemed pretty big on it.

I don't know if its still true, but at one point the Amazon appstore made more money for Android devs than the Google Play store did.
I'd imagine Fire compatible games do better than you'd first think.

 

[Ashodin]

Because the music is so amazing, you can find a hidden sound test and listen to the music!

 

[Jobbs]

Because the music is so amazing, you can find a hidden sound test and listen to the music!

how many levels/bosses will this game have?

 

[Ashodin]

how many levels/bosses will this game have?

At launch, three levels and a boss. After launch, I'm updating with two more and another boss for free.

The level I will be working on after launch is a Ghost Song tribute level.

 

[Jobbs]

At launch, three levels and a boss. After launch, I'm updating with two more and another boss for free.

The level I will be working on after launch is a Ghost Song tribute level.

oh really? better have some scary mutant freaks in it!

 

[Five]

I wrote a system for procedurally generating those smasher halls from Bowser's castle today.

I'm pretty happy with the results, but I might tinker with it some more to make it more sophisticated later. Right now it basically just creates the bottom path by picking steps at most one tile in height up or down, then runs a ceiling pattern above that gets too low every third or fourth tile. What I might add is spike hazards on the ceiling and parts of the floor/ceiling that are immobile. Anyway, making systems like this is always fun.

For reference, this is what the level data looks like pre generation:

 

[Lord_Balkan]

I posted some screenshots like half a week late for screenshot Saturday, so I decided to post them again actually on Saturday. I've been working on the shader for this gun and I think I improved it. I basically used microfacet shading (with some hacky stuff) but I think it turned out well.

This is what it looked like before:

 

[Mystic River]

Lot of new things added into my game this week.

Added electronic components so if your ship is damaged some of those components will blow up and need replacement parts, want to enhance your laser turrets? no problem get better components and it will rotate faster, fire faster, or any other thing, also added a lot of new AI behaviours to crew members to automate many tasks and make it feel more alive.

you can read the full article at http://mysticrivergames.blogspot.com/2014/11/electronic-system-panels-and-automated.html

Graphics still in progress but what matters for me the most now is game mechanics and fun factor more than eye candy.

 

[Vigilant Gambit]

I prototyped a game idea, and I've played it with a bunch of different people. When I took it to a buddy's house, it was a hit, and people played for hours. When I played it with another friend of mine, as well as my girlfriend, they didn't really like it very much at all.

The main difference between liking it and not liking it, so far, seems to be based solely on how much of a fighting game enthusiast the player is.

I feel like now's the time to make the decision as to whether I should can the game entirely, or continue iterating on it until I can figure out how to make it fun for a wider audience. The best analogy I can come up with as to the reception of the game is that it's closer to Sportsfriends than Towerfall.

For reference, here's a gameplay video.

If I cancel the game, I plan on making something like Windjammers. At the very least, in making that game, I wouldn't have any doubts about its fun factor; I already know that it's theoretically there if I can at least meet the bar set by the game that created the concept. I'm also much more excited to work on that than I've ever been for my current game, which I made for a game jam and only continued development on because people seemed to like it.

If I keep working on it, I'll have to sit and puzzle out the mechanics that would make it fun for people in general, and I'm not sure where I'd begin with that without adding complexity to the game (which I was hoping to avoid). The first options that come to mind are subtractive; somehow limiting the player's options in terms of, for example, swinging the sword. But I can't shake the feeling that, at this point, I'd be polishing a turd.

I'm leaning very strongly towards canceling the game, but the amount of work required to make something like Windjammers is astronomical compared to Sphere Blade. Off the bat, it requires halfway-decent character models and animations, where as I could get away with throwing fancy materials on spheres in my current game. On the other hand, it would be a great learning experience, which is half the reason why I'm doing this anyway.

 

[Five]

The control mechanism reminds me of Pole Riders from Sportsfriends (video). Not something I enjoyed much myself, but my brothers and some of my friends liked it a lot, so there is definitely a market.

 

[Foshy]

Because the music is so amazing, you can find a hidden sound test and listen to the music!

aww yessss

 

[Noogy]

I wrote a system for procedurally generating those smasher halls from Bowser's castle today.

The procedural stuff is really cool (I'm always a fan of that in side scrollers)... but WOW I really love her animation. Really fluid with just the right amount of 'pop'.

 

[Five]

The procedural stuff is really cool (I'm always a fan of that in side scrollers)... but WOW I really love her animation. Really fluid with just the right amount of 'pop'.

 

[Dascu]

I concur with Noogy, the animation looks great.

 

[_machine]

Have to agree with Noogy and Dascu; it looks not only really fluid, but somehow really distinct and I love the small hop at the end. Her arm must be really strong though, holding a sword like that must be tough work

 

[Jacksinthe]

I also agree. First thing I thought of when looking at that GIF was how beautifully done her animations are. Very impressed.

Now a quick update on Infinite Cosmos:

Mimic

Skul

Blok

Some Ship Supers:
Volt

Spectrum

 

[Vigilant Gambit]

The control mechanism reminds me of Pole Riders from Sportsfriends (video). Not something I enjoyed much myself, but my brothers and some of my friends liked it a lot, so there is definitely a market.

It's actually not exactly like Super Pole Riders. It uses the left and right triggers to rotate the sword, instead of using the right thumbstick to point it directly where you want it to go.

After sleeping on it, I feel pretty good about outright canceling my game. I just wanna fix one last bug before I call it.

 

[Foshy]

It's actually not exactly like Super Pole Riders. It uses the left and right triggers to rotate the sword, instead of using the right thumbstick to point it directly where you want it to go.

After sleeping on it, I feel pretty good about outright canceling my game. I just wanna fix one last bug before I call it.

I think it looks fun, but I'm not sure if it's worth expanding it into a full game. Maybe you could add it to a bigger project as a hidden extra if that makes sense?

 

[Pehesse]

Haven't commented on plenty of very spiffy looking stuff in the last couple of pages, but it's all looking very, very good. Congrats to all for good progress, good press, good news, and good upcoming releases!

As for this screenshot saturday, here's a preview of the three new grapple moves from this week:

I'm still missing the last two grapple moves, one to allow throwing the opponent the other way and another attack. And then, I'm done with animating this character! I CAN'T WAIT TO BE DONE ANIMATING THIS CHARACTER

 

[friken]

I wrote a system for procedurally generating those smasher halls from Bowser's castle today.

Looks great... need to see her get squished

I CAN'T WAIT TO BE DONE ANIMATING THIS CHARACTER

Very top notch 2d animation and looking really fun

 

[_machine]

We're still having issues with the thing crashing in actual builds (works just fine in UE4 editor), but here's what our Deck Builder looks like at the moment:

We will be redoing the card templates though and the part which tells you your deck price balance isn't clear enough to understand at first so we'll be redoing that as well, but do you think it looks like it's in shippable state?

EDIT: the font is going to change as well, not sure if the buttons should be redone as well.

 

[OldmanAndroid]

I can't wait to release Horizon Danger, but I guess when the time comes I probably think differently about it.

Got enough time to polish everything since Greenlight is moving like a snail on acid and was planning to be done with it around december. 2nd Q in 2015 seems more likely with the way things are going.

In a way I dont mind the extra time but the uncertainty when I can release it is sorta my biggest fear. Don't want it to be a never ending story

Damn, sorry to hear. Seems tricky to figure out when to put the game up on greenlight. Was your game basically finished when you put it up? Have you had any press with any website (rock paper shotgun, etc)?.

I worried about this myself. That was sort of my plan, put it up on greenlight when the game is done (and I have a decent trailer), focus all my energy on marketing, while also adding in any more polish. I can see how putting it on greenlight too early, and getting slow results could be discouraging.

Started working on the kitchen, trying to get the camera angles and lighting in a room can take weeks before I am happy with it. In this pic, a ghost momentarily appears outside the window, projecting his shadow into the room.

 

[Mystic River]

Haven't commented on plenty of very spiffy looking stuff in the last couple of pages, but it's all looking very, very good. Congrats to all for good progress, good press, good news, and good upcoming releases!

As for this screenshot saturday, here's a preview of the three new grapple moves from this week:

I'm still missing the last two grapple moves, one to allow throwing the opponent the other way and another attack. And then, I'm done with animating this character! I CAN'T WAIT TO BE DONE ANIMATING THIS CHARACTER

everyday getting better and better! by the way, how many characters are you planning for your game? looking at the animation frames count it seems that it will require a lot of work to add more characters.

 

[Lord_Balkan]

I also agree. First thing I thought of when looking at that GIF was how beautifully done her animations are. Very impressed.

Now a quick update on Infinite Cosmos:

Mimic

Skul

Blok

Some Ship Supers:
Volt

Spectrum

Those animations look sweet!

 

[Pehesse]

Looks great... need to see her get squished




Very top notch 2d animation and looking really fun

Many thanks I love your ships as well, as I think you know by now - if doesn't seem to be the spirit of the game, but if there's a reference to gurren lagann anywhere while using those drilling ships, I think I wouldn't need to play any others :-D

(and I agree that Abe Bly's stuff is looking pretty awesome!)

everyday getting better and better! by the way, how many characters are you planning for your game? looking at the animation frames count it seems that it will require a lot of work to add more characters.

Thanks a lot as well!
I'm planning for four main characters, and about half a dozen secondary characters with a lot, lot, LOT less moves (to save on time and sanity). Most importantly, none of the sub characters have grapple/grappling animations, which are the most time consuming. All of the subs are meant to be fought off-ring, which means a little difference in presentation and context - I'll be getting to that early next year.

Of the four main, I'm almost done with three of them, and I'm planning to do the fourth one at the beginning of next year as well, after a little animation rest :-D

 

[Candescence]

I wrote a system for procedurally generating those smasher halls from Bowser's castle today.

Yeah, I'm gonna jump on the 'this looks great' bandwagon, haha. Interesting use of procedural generation here.

 

[scaffa]

Damn, sorry to hear. Seems tricky to figure out when to put the game up on greenlight. Was your game basically finished when you put it up? Have you had any press with any website (rock paper shotgun, etc)?.

I worried about this myself. That was sort of my plan, put it up on greenlight when the game is done (and I have a decent trailer), focus all my energy on marketing, while also adding in any more polish. I can see how putting it on greenlight too early, and getting slow results could be discouraging.

Started working on the kitchen, trying to get the camera angles and lighting in a room can take weeks before I am happy with it. In this pic, a ghost momentarily appears outside the window, projecting his shadow into the room.

Horizon Danger was far from done when I put it on Greenlight. But at the time I felt that what I showed was enough to give a clear idea what the game was going to be. Much has changed since then but that was something that I didnt see coming at that moment, more stages, different weapons, music, better graphics ect. In the last few weeks I rewrote a lot of stuff that even makes it easier to add new stages, weapons, characters and powerups.

In a way I dont mind the extra time since everything I add now will make the game better. Two weeks ago there was an article about Horizon Danger on Destructoid, which was totally awesome, and that helped a lot with Greenlight. Greenlight % raised about 8% since then. http://www.destructoid.com/horizon-danger-looks-like-my-kind-of-pvp-platformer-283024.phtml

But now im cautious to contact other sites again since im adding some stuff that will improve the game again and don't want to show an outdated version.. Oh well it's all a learning experience and happy that I have gotten this far with my first game That is what I remind myself of whenever I feel a bit discouraged.

Your plan sounds alright and that is also my plan for the next game. Have a game that is almost done, have a super awesome trailer and focus on marketing.

 

[friken]

I sure procrastinate on UI stuff, but I finally started making the dialogue ui for stardiver. Note the animation is placeholder (stiff and repetitive test animation. idle/chat/irritated/ec are planned) and the ui still needs a little tweaking, but its coming along:

gfycat for this one (110mb gif)

http://gfycat.com/UnequaledRemarkableIbex

 

[Jobbs]

we may have solved or at least reduced the crashing issue. XD

not sure yet until more testing. hoping.

 

[Five]

Wow, thanks all!

I sure procrastinate on UI stuff, but I finally started making the dialogue ui for stardiver. Note the animation is placeholder (stiff and repetitive test animation. idle/chat/irritated/ec are planned) and the ui still needs a little tweaking, but its coming along:

gfycat for this one (110mb gif)

http://gfycat.com/UnequaledRemarkableIbex

Yeah, this is coming along really nicely. I love all the bouncing and energy. Keep it up!

 

[Jobbs]

I sure procrastinate on UI stuff, but I finally started making the dialogue ui for stardiver. Note the animation is placeholder (stiff and repetitive test animation. idle/chat/irritated/ec are planned) and the ui still needs a little tweaking, but its coming along:

gfycat for this one (110mb gif)

http://gfycat.com/UnequaledRemarkableIbex

beautiful

Wow, thanks all!

you're going to need to teach me the art of spine 2d one day

 

[Lord_Balkan]

Closer and closer...

 

[Five]

beautiful



you're going to need to teach me the art of spine 2d one day

Haha, certainly. Did that end up getting proper implementation in C2 yet?

 

[Jobbs]

Haha, certainly. Did that end up getting proper implementation in C2 yet?

no idea, I hear it's possible in stencyl but it's not actually officially in yet.

not sure yet what engine I'll be using next time, though.

 

[Five]

no idea, I hear it's possible in stencyl but it's not actually officially in yet.

not sure yet what engine I'll be using next time, though.

Bah, I got C2 and Stencyl confused. Sorry. I'm not very good at keeping track of who uses which engine.

 

[kerotan_eater]

Okay ... so this probably makes me seem like a complete noob. I'm beginning a small indie team, full of inexperience people. I am in no ways a technically minded guy ... I have a graphics designer who can work with UDK and Blender and I've potentially got a guy who can work with JavaScript.

Is there any way these two people could work together to make a 3D game? Could say guy 1 transition into Unity to work with Javascript guy ... could Javascript guy transition into a coding language similar to one used in UDK and/or Blender?

Am I not making any sense whatsoever?

 

[Jobbs]

next week im gonna hide something in the map(it will be fairly reasonable to find but not easy) and the first one of my backers to find it and send proof will get a weapon named after them in the final game.

I haven't posted anything publicly (I don't believe, anyway) that gives away anything pertinent to this secret, so everyone should be eligible. A few of you may have inside info, but I'm sure you know who you are and you are not qualified!

here's where I'd like to get guidance though -- I think I probably want to limit the eligibility only to anyone who has backed, but that may decrease some of the fun on neogaf (since I'm giving keys to neogaffers who may not have backed). what do you guys think?

 

[Blizzard]

Okay ... so this probably makes me seem like a complete noob. I'm beginning a small indie team, full of inexperience people. I am in no ways a technically minded guy ... I have a graphics designer who can work with UDK and Blender and I've potentially got a guy who can work with JavaScript.

Is there any way these two people could work together to make a 3D game? Could say guy 1 transition into Unity to work with Javascript guy ... could Javascript guy transition into a coding language similar to one used in UDK and/or Blender?

Am I not making any sense whatsoever?

Are you talking about UDK or UE4? For UE4, if everyone has paid for a month of the subscription and gotten the same version, everyone can use that and it has the Blueprint graphical scripting language that most anyone should be able to learn how to use.

If you're talking UDK, there's still Kismet for graphical scripting which may provide some of what you want to do. UDK UnrealScript may be old, nasty, and confusing. If you're talking Unity, there's C# for programming/scripting which may not be too bad for a Javascript programmer to pick up.

Overall here are the main two things I would say:
1. The technical complexity may largely depend on the sort of game and mechanics you are making. If you are using Unity to do a "three-quarters" top down action game, or if you are using UDK to make a first-person shooter, it may be really simple to learn. If you want to add some sort of unusual animations, or wall-climbing, or procedural content, someone will probably need to learn how to program.

2. With all due respect, no matter how "technically minded" or not you or any team member is, I would like to believe that within reason most any average person can learn how to accomplish a lot with such tools as the ones you mention. Heck, you could all learn to program, and the more of you that end up understanding the basics of scripting in your tool of choice, probably the better for you all in terms of self-education and being successful at making a game out of it.

You end up in a situation where as David Bowie said, "Nothing is impossible, Mr. Angier. What you want is simply expensive." The expense for you is time, patience, dedication, and the learning curve. Your best bet if time is critical is probably for the person who is comfortable with Javascript to start going through tutorials on Unity with C# (or UDK, or UE4, or whatever you choose).

 

[cbox]

A first attempt animating with bones. I think i'm gonna like this

 

[friken]

A first attempt animating with bones. I think i'm gonna like this

neat. what program?

 

[friken]

- I think I probably want to limit the eligibility only to anyone who has backed, but that may decrease some of the fun on neogaf (since I'm giving keys to neogaffers who may not have backed). what do you guys think?

How about if it is a gaffer, you buy them a beer... or virtual beer if not attending any game events together in the near future.

 

[Granadier]

neat. what program?

Looks like Blender, but I could be wrong.

 

[Pixels]

Love the character animation. Nice!

 

[Pixels]

Built nearly the entire game as MMO but having second thoughts. May build a server inside the client and make the first version single player. Not keen on paying and maintaining an authoritative server(s)... hmm Would have to be F2P if MMO otherwise low priced as single player. Shrug.