Diablohead
Member
so good! looks great in motion.
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Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor
- Thread starter chubigans
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so good! looks great in motion.
Nah. = D But voice acting is so important in TCAE that I really wanted to make sure I got great performances all around.Dude, you live in a different world to me
An estimate of the cost?
Each SAG/AFTRA actor will cost me approximately $1000/day after full pay and union fees...each "day" is four hours maximum, three voices maximum. The recording studio + mastering was about $8200 for three days of six hours each. 20k? 30k?
Wil Wheaton was...more. = D But he largely paid for himself in the Kickstarter campaign.
Hi guys, I rarely venture outside of the Lego Thread let alone the gaming side but I thought I'd share the teaser to something myself and some colleagues are working on. It's pretty light on content (purposefully) But I'd be interesting in gauging peoples interest in it.
Teaser Link
Teaser Link
Hi
Zero interest because I don't know what I just watched. I watched it twice, and the only thing I know is it's probably related to a video game because you posted it in this thread.
But some context: I'm probably not your audience. I can't stand teasers of any kind, and I even hate 99% of trailers. The only thing I care to watch about a game is actual gameplay. As soon as I see narrative stuff, or like "in a world..." in a trailer, I just turn it off.
Dude, you live in a different world to me
Feep is money. Cash money.
BomberMouse
Member
Hi
Zero interest because I don't know what I just watched. I watched it twice, and the only thing I know is it's probably related to a video game because you posted it in this thread.
But some context: I'm probably not your audience. I can't stand teasers of any kind, and I even hate 99% of trailers. The only thing I care to watch about a game is actual gameplay. As soon as I see narrative stuff, or like "in a world..." in a trailer, I just turn it off.
I feel the same way. I suppose it's a syndicate inspired game but I hate teasers of teasers, especially one like this one. I really don't like the whole "this guy is awesome and will make something awesome again", for me it's the equivalent of "John Romero's About To Make You His Bitch".
I'm pretty sure the game could be awesome, but the teaser comes off as trying too hard.
Hi
Zero interest because I don't know what I just watched. I watched it twice, and the only thing I know is it's probably related to a video game because you posted it in this thread.
But some context: I'm probably not your audience. I can't stand teasers of any kind, and I even hate 99% of trailers. The only thing I care to watch about a game is actual gameplay. As soon as I see narrative stuff, or like "in a world..." in a trailer, I just turn it off.
Both valid criticisms, we're all new to interfacing directly with the public when it comes to this kind of thing, we all come from larger companies who are used to having that all handled for us. Romeroing it up was the last thing we wanted.
I guess if you get what we're talking about and the prospect excites you it has served it's purpose, however if you have no idea what it's about or the idea doesn't even interest in the slightest it's falling on deaf ears.
OccamsBlender
Member
I figured most folk on this thread would rather make their own stuff than be part of someone else's project which is how I feel a lot of time when people ask me about pixel art. Tho sometimes, other peoples' projects have really psyched me up!
But then I feel like my quality is inadequate...
Just experimenting with a 3D zelda inspired tileset. Dunno where this may take me. I could think of many possible outcomes, e.g a dungeon level editor. There around 15 unique "grids". Thinking about combining the doors into one, for ease of use.
Perhaps a ready made 2D Zelda engine on unity could speed up things (but then it would need to be converted to 3d and bla bla bla), but If this is going to turn into a Zelda inspired game I would think of some unique items; except for a jumping item, and the lantern; it would act as a spotlight, and creepy monsters would be lit up by it (not very original but still cool). Perhaps one could point me to the right direction (regarding tutorials and examples which a similar to the game i might be trying to achieve)
Trying to keep the geometry and texture res low.
Diablohead
Member
I like these a lotCream get the money.
Some sprite work:
Just experimenting with a 3D zelda inspired tileset. Dunno where this may take me. I could think of many possible outcomes, e.g a dungeon level editor. There around 15 unique "grids". Thinking about combining the doors into one, for ease of use.
Very much reminds me of Soul Blazer (SNES)
It reminded me of Bomberman 64 because of a multiplayer stage haha. Looks cool.
So... steam-punk it? (I know Bomberman is not steampunk, but that somehow clicked in me)
Looks awesome, great attention to detail in all the animations.
I get some Red Star vibes. Intentional?
Also what kind of movement options are there? Sometimes games of this type devolve into endless circle-strafing / back-peddling, interesting movement options can alleviate that to some degree. (Or at least make it more interesting)
Edit: Changing floor will help this a lot.
I'd probably muck around with the sound clip in audacity for hours.
Stuff like that is going to hold me back.
Thank you for not using GIFCam or making something low framerate.
We're using fraps to capture at high frame rates, virtual dub to spit out frames, and ImageReady to make the gif (inside photoshop). Unfortunately I don't have photoshop so I'm relying on my co-developer to help here, if anyone knows of a cheaper alternative I'm all ears! Oh and we're cutting down on the colours and such to keep the file size down.
Not specifically red star, but we are inspired by games with big bright aesthetics, like what people used to describe as a 'Sega game' where they had to be very inviting, especially at the arcades.
We have some movement options via 360 degree movment, weapon switch dodge hopping, and acceleration power ups, but our battery mechanic means the player is required to push into the horde of enemies to stay alive so you can't just run around or hide from the enemies. You have to be aggressive to succeed but that can be dangerous so there's a bit of a balance in how you approach things.
Not sure what you mean by changing floor, like the graphics of the floor in that level? We have several levels with dynamic level elements (drastically changing floor layout etc) so we're hoping that keeps things fresh, we actually just wrote up a big piece on our blog about how we made the blocks level http://www.assaultandroidcactus.com/ - I learned to script in unity by making this level
You're welcome, we're targeting 60fps on a moderate pc so it's important to show things in motion!
OccamsBlender
Member
Cream get the money.
Some sprite work:
Got a BG in mind? Whatever you do, make sure you don't mix BG and character pallets.
I have a suggestion -- when you post sprites, scale them up to at least 2x size, maybe even 4x. It's so tiny it's hard to tell otherwise.Cream get the money.
Some sprite work:
Make sure you use a scaling option that does not blur the pixels at the larger size though.Also SanaeAkatsuki has good advice about the background.
What did you use to make it?
Hey mate, this is indeed me
I'm pretty ok on the frame capture front, fraps into virtual dub is a super easy workflow and lets me pick the scenes I want. I'll have to find a free/cheap alternative to photoshop so I don't rely on Tim for the actual gif-ing part.Fraps high fps recording > virtual dub > ImageReady in Photoshop.
Thanks!
8:00am, Vienna city, clear sky.
A new day, a new line of code.
Gonna be a lovely day.
Today I'm gonna implement environment variables into the craft's firmware,
like main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp), which then will be made
accessible for other programs running on the BDC via functions like getenv,
setenv, and putenv. And of course, you will also be able to set new
variables from the console and use them as parameters for other programs
being started from the console. The environment variables should somehow
represent the state of the craft and should also be used to operate it.
finding people complementing each other on a project.
missiles accelerate while homing in on their target.
If you replace 'Teaser' with for example 'Something we are after', then it
would fit the thing much better, I guess, since the video didn't teases
anything. A video game teaser should be the equivalent of the hottest girl
unfolding.
A new day, a new line of code.
Gonna be a lovely day.
Today I'm gonna implement environment variables into the craft's firmware,
like main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp), which then will be made
accessible for other programs running on the BDC via functions like getenv,
setenv, and putenv. And of course, you will also be able to set new
variables from the console and use them as parameters for other programs
being started from the console. The environment variables should somehow
represent the state of the craft and should also be used to operate it.
Quite a budget. Thx for sharing!
Indeed. It's perhaps not the best thread for combining forces, i.e. for
finding people complementing each other on a project.
So you put me in the game? Even copies of mine?! Ha! Well, I like how the... Micro Missiles ...
...
missiles accelerate while homing in on their target.
If you replace 'Teaser' with for example 'Something we are after', then it
would fit the thing much better, I guess, since the video didn't teases
anything. A video game teaser should be the equivalent of the hottest girl
unfolding.
If you replace 'Teaser' with for example 'Something we are after', then it
would fit the thing much better, I guess, since the video didn't teases
anything. A video game teaser should be the equivalent of the hottest girl
unfolding.
Yeah we're working on a real video for the campaign. With little snippets of info leading up to it. That will be our draw hopefully, this is just to test the water and sort of raise awareness among those who would be interested in the idea we're pushing (which isn't everyone to be honest)
I hope you don't think I'm being mean...I really want you guys to succeed...but I think you're hiding behind the "this isn't for everyone" thing a bit too much. Having a niche game and a niche product is fine, but if you want crowdfunding to succeed, you need to be able to take the wide variety of people who stumble upon your page and make the ones who should be interested stick around.
As is, that trailer can't possibly do that; it contains no information for whatever niche that might be. You can surround that video with other clips designed to give a bit more context, but what's the point? It kills forty-five seconds of time for almost literally no reason, and it isn't well-produced enough to warrant just watching it because it's pretty or cool.
It would be a nice framework to cut in small snippets of alpha footage, but I have to agree with the others in this thread. You should never compromise your artistic vision for the masses, but this is marketing...you've gotta show something.
Sorry if I'm being rude.
No, detailed criticism is good. but this is just the first piece of our marketing, it is aimed directly at those who "get it". Future stuff (especially the actual kickstarter page is where the real content and info will be.
With that said though obviously the content is lacking in this first "teaser" and it needed more to entice people.
No problem. When?
You got a lil under fire, but that's perhaps just our way saying Hello over
here. Don't know.
I mean, you just wanted to show something good/cool and it got wreck in seconds. xD Anyhow, the cool thing about the video you posted
is the bold statement you guys made. Not because I want to judge you guys on
it, no, but because I like the driven nature that comes with it. If it only
would last forever. Too many people have it just only in the beginning. Having
it throughout the whole development cycle will make a great game for granted.
And I hope you guys are fueled that way.
I've been ignoring the update for Monodevelop all this time. Finally updated to see what it was and now I find out Monodevelop is dead. Xamarin doesn't look bad though so
far.
far.
Thanks for the tip.
I have a suggestion -- when you post sprites, scale them up to at least 2x size, maybe even 4x. It's so tiny it's hard to tell otherwise.
Also SanaeAkatsuki has good advice about the background.
What did you use to make it?
Cool, looks better! Once you start putting them on backgrounds you'll see if they contrast well enough, if you need borders, and so forth.I've been ignoring the update for Monodevelop all this time. Finally updated to see what it was and now I find out Monodevelop is dead. Xamarin doesn't look bad though so
far.
Thanks for the tip.
OccamsBlender
Member
I've been ignoring the update for Monodevelop all this time. Finally updated to see what it was and now I find out Monodevelop is dead. Xamarin doesn't look bad though so
far.
Thanks for the tip.
Looking at the colors, yea...I definitely think you should start experimenting with BG. At least, your character has colors I personally tend to use for my BGs(darker, lower saturation values) compared to interactive objects and characters.
Not to say that you HAVE to have saturated characters and duller BGs, but it's something you will have to deal with as your development progresses.
Here's an extreme example from Pixel Joint of keeping them pallets separated:
BlazeHedgehog
Member
After a bumpy road getting my previous two games to work on actual iOS hardware I am back working on the third and final game I've been contracted to do
According to my original deadline I should've been done by now, but I'm only just now getting to the point where I am making level graphics
Thankfully I've been given a bit of an extension so with luck I can sprint to the end!
According to my original deadline I should've been done by now, but I'm only just now getting to the point where I am making level graphics
Thankfully I've been given a bit of an extension so with luck I can sprint to the end!
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
You were contracted to make three full games at the same time? Damn.
BlazeHedgehog
Member
Small ones. The previous two games use procedural systems instead of hand-made levels. Like Canabalt, sort of, but with a little more variety (then again, I never could get very far in Canabalt.)
First two took me 4-6 weeks each, with another week-ish to identify why they weren't working on iOS and fix them.
This third game will be the most involved of the trio and will require me to actually design some levels. Or level, depending in my time
You made this by yourself? What engine? Looks very impressive!
Oh btw, I much prefer simple videos like that instead of hype trailers
Me and a fellow gaffer have been working on a game together the last month or 2, so far it is all concepts and figuring out the mechanics, I am very eager to actually be able to see it working, haha. Would love so dearly to just put life aside and work on it full time, but alas. :/
I like how easily distinguishable the character's limbs are, distinctly separating the torso, arms, hands, legs and feet from each other by using different colors.
It also looks much better at this scale, as I was unable to make out the pupils or that headband/glasses/bunch of lighter-colored hair at 1x scale. The angry expression in the running animation is also kind of hard to distinguish since the skin and eye color is dark enough that it's hard to notice when you replace it with a black eyebrow.
I'd suggest that youtry to make the irises stand out more so it's easier to distinguish them as part of the eyes. Otherwise, they're kind of dark and desaturated enough to be blended with the rest of the face/hair.
Yeah, working full-time on a game would be godly, but I also believe that working on game development full-time would force you to take "boring" jobs to pay the bills. Several small and medium-scale Argentine developers slowly spiraled down into doing games for clients more and more as they needed money to fund their own projects, which is kind of a shame, I guess, but you do need to get the money from somewhere.
You made this by yourself? What engine? Looks very impressive!
Oh btw, I much prefer simple videos like that instead of hype trailers
Me and a fellow gaffer have been working on a game together the last month or 2, so far it is all concepts and figuring out the mechanics, I am very eager to actually be able to see it working, haha. Would love so dearly to just put life aside and work on it full time, but alas. :/
Thanks, but I reserve the right to make a hype trailer later.
I'm making the game by myself (though I have an audio genius who is going to be making the music and sound for it once it's a bit closer to done). I'm primarily an artist, and I work with other people sometimes, but in this case there's a certain amount of relief in being able to tinker and iterate on my own without having to explain or bounce things back and forth.
This has been sort of my "baby", and my pet project, over the last almost-a-year. Playing Dark Souls is what made me first realize how much I wanted to make my own metroidvania game, and there have been many growing pains as I went from humble beginnings trying to make the character move and jump, up until sometime in the last few months when it really started to come together into a game I'm proud of. It's much more feature rich already than I ever would have imagined in the past.
If you'll indulge me, one of the things I liked in Dark Souls was the lonely world, populated by the occasional NPC who seems to be caught up in his own story. My game has some of that. Another old gaming thing I like is the nemesis character who the main character runs afoul of and does battle with several times throughout the game. For me this is hard to resist, so I'm doing it. A menacingly slinky, 8 foot tall android will catch up to you several times in the game. He's an important part of the story.
I detest modern game design where the player is constantly prompted with what to do next. I prefer classic game design (or the rare modern gem like Dark Souls) where the game attempts to make things somewhat logical, but does not hold your hand or even particularly care if you win or not. In some games back in the 8 and 16 bit days, the lore and mystery of the game wasn't limited to its fiction. It's a goal of mine to richly reward exploration and experimentation by making very significant content completely missable, and also include some hyper rare things that most people won't see in order to maybe help the game have some "supra-fiction" lore of its own.
I'm admittedly a novice game designer, I've never made any game remotely like this before -- but I know what I like, and my guiding principle here is that the possibility of the player doing something wrong, or not always knowing everything, or the possibility of perhaps failing are all necessary in order for real drama and adventure to exist.
There's a ton I could talk about -- Hell, I could talk about what I've done in the game and what I plan to do all day long, as I'm sure those in my life could attest, I'll talk your damn ear off. But I'll try to restrain myself before I get too obnoxious.
Diablohead
Member
Made some backups today of all my game work, even though the game is only a few MB big as it stands without many levels made yet, I have about 11GB of backup from 2+ years of work.
my new 16GB usb stick might not be big enough by the end of development.
I do have two internal HDD's but I like to backup stuff away from the PC in case anything ever happens.
my new 16GB usb stick might not be big enough by the end of development.
I do have two internal HDD's but I like to backup stuff away from the PC in case anything ever happens.
so if you lose that stick and your computer you're fucked?
I'm so terrified of losing my work that I regularly do backups in multiple locations, remote and local.
Diablohead
Member
well yeah I would be! I can't burn dvd's right now as my drive stuffed up a year or so ago, I did have older builds on a smaller usb stick, bought a high quality 16GB to backup on instead of some unknown brand, I also have an external HDD but it's old and I really want a good branded one with 5 year cover on it, I might also send some zipped files to my cousin too.
.. and my keyboard batteries are nearly dead, missing letters everywhere lol
My biggest loss would be all the sprites and artwork I have for the game, that has taken me the most time so far.
You might want to look into something like Dropbox, SkyDrive or Google Drive to have your files stored offsite someplace safe and then have your files backed up every X days or have them always in sync so that if something does happen to your current files, you'll only lose a few days of work at most.
Looking at the colors, yea...I definitely think you should start experimenting with BG. At least, your character has colors I personally tend to use for my BGs(darker, lower saturation values) compared to interactive objects and characters.
Not to say that you HAVE to have saturated characters and duller BGs, but it's something you will have to deal with as your development progresses.
Here's an extreme example from Pixel Joint of keeping them pallets separated:
Color changes:
Diablohead you need to back up online. If you are beyond the prototyping stage (which you are) you need multiple backups.
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