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Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor

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P

Pehesse

Member
Is it still time to vote for number 1?

Also, if it's not too late and there's still a need for it, I could do Honey icons (or others, really) to complement Abe Bly's, but I'm not sure what's required?
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Pehesse said:
Is it still time to vote for number 1?

Also, if it's not too late and there's still a need for it, I could do Honey icons (or others, really) to complement Abe Bly's, but I'm not sure what's required?
Click to expand...
You make it 12-7!!!

1.54f more hours to go!

You can draw anything. They aren't going to be specific to any one header :D

EDIT: 30 MINUTES LEFT TO VOTE then I procrastinate on finishing the thread for a day.
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Ranger X wins the new thread title with:
High Res Work for Low Res Pay

With a mention to Pehesse who suggested PAY and Blizz who suggested RES

WOOOOO

Now I can finish this and it'll be up in a day or two.
 
D

Davision

Neo Member
Got me a 3D printer. This are my first 3 prints:
GzA9Qt9.jpg


The monster has this eyes look effect:
3RDtQCP.gif
 
C

CMZinac

Neo Member
Decided to add some platforming navigation elements to my fighting game, Fearless Night, as an experiment. These features won't actually go into FN, but might keep extending this prototype and see if it leads to something new.

http://youtu.be/3HT-P4EobaI

The major changes include the ability to face any direction and 8-way directional influence during jumps. You can to maintain your current direction by using the "hold" button.

Try it out here if you want!
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54811597/TinimusPrototype.zip


Not sure if I'll explore this further!
 
I

Ito

Member
AbsintheGames said:
Narrowing down thread title choices:

1) High def work for low def pay
2) Steam says I'm green, bank says I'm red

CAST YOUR VOTES

1 or 2
Blue pill or red pill
poTAYto or poTAHto
Zig or zag
X or O (choose square wisely)
Click to expand...

EDIT: Damn I was too late :(

Also working on Spirit Huntress again so

RUE3y1V.jpg


The hooded girl, the car, and the monster are animated.

I'm currently trying to make that "glitter/shine" effect on the metallic objects not static.

I took a capture of the whole scene, but in the game, the camera starts focusing on the upper part, then scrolls down with a little parallax effect (mostly the foreground and background palmtrees).

I like how I'm handling these cutscenes, it's not that they look like professionally animated ones, but I'm fond of it. Specially since they are not taking much time, I only work on these on spare hours.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
The inspiration cycle is heartbreaking sometimes.

Last night I think I dreamed about some sort of real-life version of what could be a game mechanic. After I woke up, I thought well, I should write that down before I forget it. It wouldn't apply to my current game, but maybe some day.

Then I thought about it, and maybe it WOULD work with my current game with some adjustment. Maybe a unique mechanic! Writing it down.

Then I thought about how it would work, and the consequences of it, and realized it is basically equivalent to a mechanic in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a game I just started playing for the first time last night. I decided to ditch the idea after that, felt like my subconscious had somehow been super unoriginal. :(
 
F

friken

Member
Davision said:
Got me a 3D printer. This are my first 3 prints:
GzA9Qt9.jpg


The monster has this eyes look effect:
3RDtQCP.gif
Click to expand...

fun stuff. I bought a cheap china knockoff of the makerbot and I love it. was the monster from thingaverse? If so what's the name so I can dl and print it. I'm always looking for a new desktoy :)
 
D

Davision

Neo Member
Diablohead said:
nice stuff!

your own personal printer machine? mind if I ask how much that cost?
Click to expand...

Yea, it is a low end printer called UP! mini, it cost me 650 euro which probably translates to 650 dollar. It seems to be very good for the low price but then again I'm a total 3D printing newbie.

friken said:
fun stuff. I bought a cheap china knockoff of the makerbot and I love it. was the monster from thingaverse? If so what's the name so I can dl and print it. I'm always looking for a new desktoy :)
Click to expand...
My UP! mini is also from china! What is the name of yours? Those are all my models, older models that I tweaked a little for printing. But the monster had some problems, upper teeth broke off a bit, lots of hard to get out support has been printed in the mouth and the separate tongue was much too thin.But I intend to improve it later on and then I can also upload that.
 
D

disap.ed

Member
thomasmahler said:
Spent about 4 hours so far on this little Arcade Racer Prototype:

raceGame_01.png


Requires an Xbox Controller:

A to Accelerate
X to Break
RB to Drift
B to boost after you picked up one of the yellow thingies

You can play it right here:

http://www.warsoup.com/RacingGame/RacingGameWeb.html

Or if you prefer an executable:

http://www.warsoup.com/RacingGame/RacingGameBuilds.zip

Would love some feedback :)
Click to expand...

Doesn't work for me. It loads but keys don't work :/
EDIT: Works now, don't like the drifting, lacks feedback and a benefit like MK's boost mechanic.
 
C

cbox

Member
thomasmahler said:
Spent about 4 hours so far on this little Arcade Racer Prototype:

raceGame_01.png


Requires an Xbox Controller:

A to Accelerate
X to Break
RB to Drift
B to boost after you picked up one of the yellow thingies

You can play it right here:

http://www.warsoup.com/RacingGame/RacingGameWeb.html

Or if you prefer an executable:

http://www.warsoup.com/RacingGame/RacingGameBuilds.zip

Would love some feedback :)
Click to expand...

Feels nice! I like how the weight shifts left and right when you turn. What do you have planned next?
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
About 15 minutes of Cosmos condensed into 2 minutes. I can't call it procedural "generation" (that would be unfair use) as much as I can call it procedurally built. This is without the main player or enemies in the scene. When the player and enemies are in the scene the environment will change based on player health, difficulty level and time spent playing as time played and difficulty level increase. There's a lot of small things like this I do that will probably go unnoticed during gameplay but at least I know they exist and work. I'm fine with that. I like little details that people might not notice - even for something as exceedingly simple as this game.

Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSubc67gw_o

ALSO - iPhone users - currently the Beta is under review but if you send me your email addresses I will make sure to get you guys in when it passes review :D

Android Beta has been a great success so far and I'm pleased with the results so we are wrapping up and getting ready to test release candidates on that side. Now onto iOS.
 
I

Ito

Member
Hey Absinthe, do you have skype?

I have a cool idea for the new thread but I'd like to talk about it with you first place!

Please add me.- (search "itoaragon")
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Ito said:
Hey Absinthe, do you have skype?

I have a cool idea for the new thread but I'd like to talk about it with you first place!

Please add me.- (search "itoaragon")
Click to expand...

Added - but I usually prefer Goog Hangouts :p You will be my only Skype friend :D

Michael Armbrust said:
Or you could just add first person mode to the existing game and make it like flatland!
Click to expand...

Ha!

I have done a bit of re-conceptualizing STRAFE as its previous form was from nothing but scope creep. I figure if I'm going to have an on again off again relationship with it while I work on other things I might as well start from the ground up.

He's a computer program, right? Programs have updates which allow them to do cool new things. So I created subroutines and coroutines for the Strafe character which allow him to perform abilities. Some are combat related and others are traversal related. The kinda-neat coroutine I'm working on for him right now has to deal with platforming and level traversal - the viewport of the game is obviously Orthographic but I am working on a traversal element that explodes the scene into Perspective at runtime allowing you to swap "layers" from the foreground to the background and the like as a mechanic.

It's a bit fuzzy at the moment trying to get the camera to transition between the two rather than flipping the ortho bool and leaving it at that but I'm working on depth traversal for several planes.

Also not as much of a pain but still tricky is enabling/disabling collision between these planes depending on where the player is and doing it in a way that doesn't hinder the player's ability to move freely.

Another huge pain is enemy AI. I only have a few enemies early on that are pattern-based as you learn the ropes but the rest are AI controlled. I have ideas on how I can make some enemies work during these transitions - perhaps some will just deactivate their AI and go into a waiting pattern while others might be smart enough to follow you between planes.

I got the idea when editing and toggling 3D/2D - the exploded zed view is kinda sweet to zip through with the camera. I think it would be an interesting mechanic to explore some more when I have time to work on it.
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
So I'm done editing graphic headers for the new thread and going over editing for grammatical and spelling errors now.

For reference - thread title:
GAF Indie Game Development |OT2| High Res Work for Low Res Pay

I should be ready to go 100% tomorrow night if everyone else is ready to go. I'll post then.
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Kritz said:
Don't we need another half thousand posts before hitting the limit?
Click to expand...

Yes. I wasn't sure when to exactly get that ball rolling but I'll be watching. Just finished with the thread. I will be going over it but it is finished and literally ready to copy/paste at a moment's notice.
 
P

Popstar

Member
Kritz said:
Don't we need another half thousand posts before hitting the limit?
Click to expand...
There's no actual limit. The 20,000 posts thing is just a guideline because the database starts to slow down on really long threads.

The new thread can be posted whenever it is ready.
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Popstar said:
There's no actual limit. The 20,000 posts thing is just a guideline because the database starts to slow down on really long threads.

The new thread can be posted whenever it is ready.
Click to expand...

Roger that. I'll hook it up tomorrow then. Going to sleep on it then review once more in the morning.
 
K

Kritz

Banned
A'ighty then, I look forward to updating my subscriptions tomorrow.

Since the thread's moved away from multiple 10mb gifs per page, what's the easiest webm solution for posting on GAF? I've traditionally used imgur for their GIFVs, but I imagine more people have webm plugins. And I do love making dumb animated highlights of goofy development bugs.

EDIT:

I am perhaps enjoying setting my cupboards on fire a bit too much for such a simple system interaction: http://i.imgur.com/pQh3Uhb.gifv
 
T

thomasmahler

Moon Studios
ConvenientBox said:
Feels nice! I like how the weight shifts left and right when you turn. What do you have planned next?
Click to expand...

Next things on my list for this prototype are:

  • Implement a proper boost system: Lots of people want it to feel like Crash Bandicoot Team Racing, but I'll try to do the Ridge Racer Boost first: You have to drift to build up your boost meter and you can only get boosts this way, not through powerups.
  • Ensure that you have to stay on the track to gain maximum speed, simliar to Super Mario Kart. Once you drive over the curbs into the grass / dirt, your current speed will take a big hit and you'll have to drive perfectly for a bit to again gain maximum speed, further reinforcing that it's all about your driving / drifting skills.
  • 2 and 4 Player Local Splitscreen. I want this thing up and running at 60fps and 4 player mode, so I can playtest with friends and family all the way through development.
  • Proper Gravity System. Right now, the car always sticks to the ground, I need to make sure the gravity feels proper and allows for some cool jumps off ramps, etc.
  • Stick with and perfect gameplay before doing a visual pass: I'll probably just keep this to simple models and a sorta 'ambient occlusion' look for a long time and perfect the gameplay that way. In terms of visuals and art direction, I want it to kinda look like the marketing material for Stunt Race FX:

    51204_front.jpg

  • Implement Powerups that aren't as fucking crazy as the recent Mario Karts, but still add a bit of a tactical element to the races. Think Super Mario Kart: A Red Shell / Star should be the most powerful powerup you can get, no blue shells, bullet bills, triple red shells, etc.
  • Quickly implement the Lap Timers, Ranks and the Laps themselves, so people can properly race against one another.
  • Try a quick 'Battle Mode' that is similar to Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64.
I think with these things in place, racing against one another should already be a ton of fun. I kinda want it to feel like the Super Mario Kart sequel that Nintendo never made, where it's still totally about driving and drifting skills and a little less about random powerups.
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
An overnight realization that adds some work to my project.

I don't want to show the real game in trailers since seeing someone play through a puzzle tells you exactly what you need to do, so what I think I'm going to have to do is make some slightly different variations of my environments based on the same concepts, but with things hidden in different places.

I guess I'm going to have to spend some time with matinee too to program in a nice smooth camera pass. This is going to be a chunk of work, but it means I can make the trailer entirely in game and have it be a single take, putting text in game etc.
 
S

superNESjoe

Member
Does anybody have any suggestions for melee contact that feels like it's got some "oomph" to it? In my upcoming game I have this mechanic where players hit objects and cause them to fly across the screen really fast, and I'm trying to nail that feeling of power.

The best I'm working towards now is having the two colliding objects "freeze" for a few frames as the hit is delivered.
 
W

welly_59

Neo Member
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.prawnbox.aballstale

So my friend has ideas that he wants to get into game design so I said I would help him out with a project. The outcome is a balls tale, and android game which is linked above.

I'm no super coder, and I'm definitely no artist but I thought it would be good for him to see through a project and realise how much is involved before diving in deeper than he can swim.

Its a fun puzzley type of game, touch controlled with google play leaderboard integration.

Any feedback on the game mechanics and level design itself would be greatly received.
 
F

friken

Member
Davision said:
Yea, it is a low end printer called UP! mini, it cost me 650 euro which probably translates to 650 dollar. It seems to be very good for the low price but then again I'm a total 3D printing newbie.


My UP! mini is also from china! What is the name of yours? Those are all my models, older models that I tweaked a little for printing. But the monster had some problems, upper teeth broke off a bit, lots of hard to get out support has been printed in the mouth and the separate tongue was much too thin.But I intend to improve it later on and then I can also upload that.
Click to expand...

mine was branded CTC. dual extruder makerbot clone. lots of fun!
 
G

GulAtiCa

Member
PEGI payment/materials now fully paid for/sent off. So should get my rating for my Wii U title (ZaciSa: Defense of the Crayon Dimension!) in a few weeks. Sending off paperwork to USK Germany by Thursday as well. Just waiting for the SD card to get here. I plan to submit the game to NOE by end of the month for a possible late Feb/early March release.

This will set me back about $800 ($400ish already paid for for PEGI). So hopefully won't take me to long to get my money back.
 
Ecto311

Ecto311

Member
I'm sure its been asked a million times before but is it better to learn programming or learn it as I learn to make a game? Been toying with a game idea for a long time and finally want to do a bit with it but not sure if I am better off learning python or something similar since I am dumb as shit or if watching some of the "lets make a game" youtubes and going with that info to make this thing. Might even try game maker instead of the Unity path I was looking to take.
 
H

HellBlazer

Member
Ecto311 said:
I'm sure its been asked a million times before but is it better to learn programming or learn it as I learn to make a game? Been toying with a game idea for a long time and finally want to do a bit with it but not sure if I am better off learning python or something similar since I am dumb as shit or if watching some of the "lets make a game" youtubes and going with that info to make this thing. Might even try game maker instead of the Unity path I was looking to take.
Click to expand...

Dead thread, try OT2: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=965454 :) There has been some discussion about where to start in the last few pages of the new thread actually, so check that out.
 
S

SHARKvince

Neo Member
Guys, I've got a bit of a confidence crisis.

I'm super excited about what I'm cooking up with my mates, but I'm not sure if anyone will even be interested in what we'll do, or if it's even something people will want to play.

Does it sound interesting to play as a character who can pick up comics in a slighty futuristic version of India, and become the superheroes of the comics she picks up?

Does it sound interesting to play as a cat with a telekinetic scarf?

...I personally do think these ideas are pretty kick-ass. But that's me, saying that about my own projects, so it doesn't really count.
I think I've just let my small depression get the better of me and contaminate my passion for my projects... I hope it's just that, anyway.
 
R

RanciscOS

Neo Member
Hi everyone,
I'm not sure if this is the right thread to post this, so I'll try. I will embark on my first proper game project and my team and I plan to use OpenGL but we're not sure about which library to use. We are considering either using the glut library (we learned this at school) or the sdl one.

Thanks in advance :)
 
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